In late May, the Imperial Academy had its farming break, which lasted for a month. Wen Ying did not return to his hometown. With not much time left before the Autumn Imperial Examination, all his thoughts were now focused on the imperial exams.

The summer days were hot, and Ling Qiyan grew increasingly lazy. He even lost interest in going out to play with that group of dandies. He idled away his days in the manor with nothing to do, his only amusement being to figure out how to lure Wen Ying into his bed.

The more Wen Ying gave him the cold shoulder, the more his heart itched as if scratched by a hundred claws. He was determined to get the man no matter what.

Every evening, Ling Qiyan would summon Wen Ying to the main courtyard to accompany him for dinner. Although this kid acted respectfully in front of him most of the time, he never showed the fear or sycophancy that others did when facing him. This was also the reason Ling Qiyan was willing to regard him highly.

What one hasn't tasted is always the best. That feeling of freshness and novelty constantly kept Ling Qiyan hooked.

After dinner, Ling Qiyan still wouldn't let Wen Ying leave, wanting him to play chess and drink tea with him.

"This student needs to go back to study. Perhaps another day..."

"No, it has to be today," Ling Qiyan refused outright. "You've been cooped up in your room reading all day. Even a man about to hang himself needs to catch his breath. Take a break."

Wen Ying could only agree.

They called it playing chess, but His Highness, Prince Yu, was ill-behaved. From time to time, he would reach across the chessboard to tease Wen Ying, or his foot would brush against him in a seemingly unintentional way.

Wen Ying remained calm and composed. He was already quite used to Ling Qiyan's constant harassment with all sorts of petty actions. He would avoid them without a trace, his face revealing nothing.

The more prim and proper he acted, the more fun Ling Qiyan found it. He wasn't annoyed by the repeated rejections anymore; he had plenty of patience to wear him down slowly.

Ling Qiyan took a sip of tea and looked at the face opposite him, which appeared even more incomparably handsome under the candlelight. His heart itching uncontrollably, he made small talk: "Why didn't you return to your hometown for the farming break? Jizhou isn't far. Doesn't your family need to farm? You should at least go see your parents, right?"

Holding a chess piece, Wen Ying said flatly, "This student's father was a hunter; he passed away a few years ago. This student's mother... she ran off with another man when this student was very young."

Ling Qiyan was speechless. 'Was his life that miserable?'

"Then where did you get the tuition for your studies?"

"When my father was still alive, we could barely manage with his hunting. In the years after, I relied entirely on the help of an old gentleman from my hometown."

Ling Qiyan, an imperial nobleman born with a silver spoon, couldn't imagine the kind of life Wen Ying had lived. He was used to being carefree and heartless and didn't have much empathy. His thoughts shifted, and he smiled again, "That's why this prince said it would be so good for you to be with this prince. If you're with this prince, you'll be guaranteed a life of luxury."

Wen Ying looked up at him, his dark pupils betraying no emotion. Ling Qiyan raised an eyebrow, "Is this prince wrong?"

"Your Highness has his reasoning, and this student has his. There is no right or wrong."

'What nonsense!' Talking to this kind of scholar was exhausting—so roundabout and indirect. Ling Qiyan suddenly grew a little angry again and threw down the chess piece in his hand.

"I'm not playing anymore. My back hurts. Come and massage it for this prince."

This His Highness, Prince Yu, was always complaining about an ache here or a pain there all day long. He was extremely delicate. Then he would demand a massage, and usually, after just a few rubs, he would start getting handsy. It was the same every time.

Wen Ying suppressed the displeasure in his heart, stood up, and walked to Ling Qiyan's side. He sat down by the couch and placed his hands on his waist and back.

Ling Qiyan lay prone on the couch, humming along with the movements of Wen Ying's hands. Sure enough, after just a few kneads, he started misbehaving, reaching back to touch Wen Ying's hand, pinching and rubbing it.

Wen Ying pulled his hand away and tried to distract Ling Qiyan, asking him, "Why hasn't Your Highness gone out to play recently?"

Ling Qiyan was a little surprised to hear this. Propping his head up with one hand, he turned to look at him, "You want to go out and play with this prince?"

Wen Ying lowered his gaze. "This student was just asking casually."

Ling Qiyan tapped his chin and thought for a moment. "A couple of days ago, Zhang Yuan and the others mentioned they wanted to hold a polo match. Alright, if you want to play, this prince will take you to see it."

Wen Ying didn't reply, focusing on the task at hand and calmly dodging Ling Qiyan's incessant teasing and petty actions.

Two days later, Ling Qiyan took Wen Ying out of the manor to the polo grounds in the northern part of the capital.

The sons of powerful and noble families in the Great Cheng Dynasty all loved to play polo. The polo ground in the northern part of the city was the largest in the capital, and even the Emperor would occasionally come here for amusement.

When Ling Qiyan appeared, people came over from time to time to greet him, inviting him to sit in the place with the best view.

Wen Ying followed by Ling Qiyan's side. After Ling Qiyan sat down, he knelt by the table to pour him tea and wine.

Ling Qiyan glanced around. When his gaze fell upon a certain spot, he couldn't help but frown. He called Zhang Yuan over and asked, "Why are those people from Duke Wei's Manor here too?"

Zhang Yuan explained embarrassedly, "Your Highness, today's polo gathering was organized by the Elder Princess Huaying. Her Ladyship sent out invitations far and wide, so everyone who could come is here today."

"How come this prince didn't know?"

Zhang Yuan was helpless. "The Elder Princess should have sent someone to deliver an invitation to Your Highness."

After the Empress Dowager, the Elder Princess Huaying was the person who doted on Ling Qiyan the most. Naturally, she wouldn't leave out her grand-nephew for such an event. Jiang Lin, at the side, explained awkwardly, "Your Highness, that day, this servant brought the invitation to show you and reported it to you."

'But you were drunk at the time, dazedly pestering this poor scholar next to you and spouting nonsense, not hearing a word anyone else was saying at all.'

Jiang Lin didn't have the guts to say these words.

'Fine, since I'm already here anyway, I can't just avoid them because I'm annoyed with those people from Duke Wei's Manor. If anyone should be making a detour, it should be them.'

"Where's my aunt? Why don't I see her?"

Jiang Lin replied, "The Elder Princess said she would come later and told everyone to start playing first."

On the other side, the Heir of Duke Wei, Shen Xingyao, was also leading a group of people and indulging in pleasure. With his legs crossed and body leaning lazily, he had a beautiful maiden in his arms, comfortably taking snuff while commenting on the ongoing polo match below. He was having a grand time.

Until someone reminded him, "Heir, His Highness, Prince Yu has arrived. Are you going to greet him?"

"What's the point of going," Shen Xingyao said dismissively. "That cousin of mine doesn't like this heir anyway. Why should I eagerly go over just to be snubbed? The Crown Prince will be arriving with the Elder Princess later. What does His Highness, Prince Yu, even count for?"

As he spoke, he casually glanced over in Ling Qiyan's direction and noticed Wen Ying kneeling to the side, serving Ling Qiyan. His face immediately turned cold. He lifted his chin and asked the person beside him, "Isn't that the poor scholar? When did he get involved with Prince Yu?"

Someone immediately told him, "Heh, I heard that some time ago, he went to Prince Yu's Manor with Zhang Yuan's group, caught Prince Yu's eye, and even gained his favor. He had already moved into Prince Yu's Manor before the Dragon Boat Festival."

Shen Xingyao's expression grew even uglier upon hearing this. He had gone to great lengths to get Wen Ying, but that kid had never given him the time of day, even causing him to be reprimanded by those old fogeys at the academy. They had threatened to report him to his father if he caused any more trouble. As a result, he had gone to his maternal grandparents' home in the south for a month or so, and when he returned, the kid had actually gone and offered himself to Prince Yu.

The meat that was already at his lips had flown away. How could he not be furious? But the person was none other than Ling Qiyan. If it had been anyone else, he would have definitely taught them a lesson!

But then again, who in the Imperial Academy didn't know that he, the Heir of Duke Wei, had his eyes on Wen Ying? Only Ling Qiyan would dare to openly steal his man.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the two for a while. Seeing Wen Ying diligently pouring tea and water for Ling Qiyan, Shen Xingyao grew more and more indignant. He pushed away the beautiful woman in his arms and stood up.

Shen Xingyao came over to greet Ling Qiyan. Ling Qiyan's expression was cold, and he couldn't be bothered to waste words with him. "You're blocking this prince's view of the polo match."

The Empress disliked him, her legitimate eldest son. Consequently, the entire Shen Family followed the Crown Prince Ling Qiyu's lead and paid him, the legitimate eldest son of the Emperor, no mind. It would be strange if Ling Qiyan had a good impression of them.

Shen Xingyao's gaze drifted toward Wen Ying. Wen Ying's expression was calm; he didn't look at him, only focusing on serving Ling Qiyan.

"When did Your Highness take in this little Scholar Wen?" Shen Xingyao stared at Wen Ying, his words laced with a deeper meaning.

"This prince will take in whoever he wants. I don't need to report to you," Ling Qiyan said, curling his lip in disgust. "Stay away from this prince. You stink of smoke. You're fumigating this prince."

The expression on Shen Xingyao's face stiffened slightly. Only Ling Qiyan would be so rude as to say such things, not giving him any face at all.

Snuff was an imported item. After it was introduced to the Great Cheng Dynasty, it quickly became popular among high officials and nobles. Let alone these titled officials, even the Emperor would take a pinch when the mood struck. Shen Xingyao was particularly enthusiastic about it, and Zhang Yuan's group liked it too. But Ling Qiyan despised the smell, so Zhang Yuan and the others never took it in front of him.

Shen Xingyao's face darkened. "Does Your Highness know that I was the first one to set my sights on this Wen Ying? Isn't it improper for Your Highness to just snatch him away like this?"

Ling Qiyan looked at him as if he had heard a joke, his eyes full of ridicule. "So what if I snatched him? What are you going to do about it?"

Shen Xingyao was about to say more, but Ling Qiyan raised a hand, and the manor guards behind him took a step forward. It seemed that if Shen Xingyao continued to be a nuisance, they would directly use force to drive him away.

Shen Xingyao gritted his teeth. With eyes all around, he clenched his fists tightly, ultimately swallowing his anger, and turned to leave.

After Shen Xingyao had scrammed, Ling Qiyan turned his gaze to Wen Ying and teased him, "Little Scholar Wen, you truly are a beauty that spells disaster."

Wen Ying peeled a segment of an orange and silently placed it in the small dish in front of Ling Qiyan.

Ling Qiyan watched him with a wide grin and tossed the orange segment into his mouth. "What, is this prince wrong?"

Wen Ying didn't answer, instead asking him about something else, "Your Highness, you don't take snuff?"

"I don't. It stinks to high heaven," Ling Qiyan said with disgust.

"...This student has seen that you have collected quite a few snuff bottles on the curio shelf in your room."

"They look nice, so they're just for decoration," Ling Qiyan replied casually.

Wen Ying thought for a moment and asked again, "Do Young Master Zhang of Marquis Xian'an's Manor and the others take it?"

Ling Qiyan looked at him strangely. "You're very interested in this?"

Wen Ying kept his eyes down and said impassively, "This student was just asking casually."

Ling Qiyan felt something was vaguely strange and was about to say more when a sudden commotion broke out at the entrance to the polo grounds. The Elder Princess Huaying had arrived.

With her was His Highness, the Crown Prince, Ling Qiyu.

The moment Ling Qiyu's figure appeared, Ling Qiyan's face instantly darkened.