The whole mix-up truly caught Ji Wu by surprise.

However, it did not disappoint him.

His personal little attendant was clumsy and not very smart; it was inevitable that Shen Yuhuai would discover his secret scheming behind their backs.

The palace was guarded on all sides, the Shen household had so many servants, and on top of that, countless spies hidden everywhere. Shen Xuefeng wanting to sneak him secretly back to the Shen residence was simply a fantasy.

Therefore, Ji Wu agreeing to him did not really mean he wanted to visit the Shen residence with Shen Xuefeng.

He wanted to find out what would happen if their plan was exposed — if people found out that a useless prince was secretly colluding with the Shen family. How would those old foxes in the former dynasty’s harem react?

At this point, Ji Wu had to discard his previous guesses and became certain that this foolish yet handsome young master was acting on a whim, not trying to lure him out of the palace to take advantage of him. Otherwise, Shen Yuhuai would never have shown such panic when she saw him.

Shen Yuhuai was scared — she feared that one careless move by Shen Xuefeng would forever tie the Shen family to him, which would definitely cause considerable trouble for the Shen residence.

So… Shen Xuefeng was not an undercover agent. He really just wanted to invite him out for Lantern Festival rice dumplings.

Thinking this over, Ji Wu lowered his gaze to his own hand. Just now, this very hand had been clasped by Shen Xuefeng’s. It was the first time in his life he had such a strong interest in this person.

Shen Xuefeng hadn’t approached him to take his life, then what was the purpose?

Ji Wu slowly curled his fingers into a fist, as if to tightly hold something, his dark pupils swirling with intrigue.

If that’s the case, then he might as well play along and go with Shen Xuefeng’s plan. That silly little fool wanted to do his homework every day for him and stick to him everywhere, right? Fine, he’d give him that chance.

He wanted to see what this little fool was really up to.

If Shen Xuefeng heard this, he would surely be angry.

Why else? It couldn’t be just to go home and get scolded.

The Shen residence’s carriage rolled out from Chang Le Gate, and Shen Yuhuai immediately began scolding.

“How old are you, Shen Xuefeng? Do you know you’re not a child anymore? Huh?”

Shen Xuefeng tightly gripped the carriage window and whispered, “Sister, calm down, don’t be angry.”

Miss Shen had always had a bad temper, but every time she faced her brother’s soft, weak demeanor, she was helpless. She took a few deep breaths and tried to keep her tone fitting for a noble young lady.

“Fortunately, I was the one who discovered it today. So many people are flooding into the imperial capital now; if ill-intentioned people exposed this, what would others think of our Shen residence? They wouldn’t believe you were kindly inviting a schoolmate over — they’d think Father has been secretly cooperating with the Third Prince all these years while hiding in court!”

Shen Xuefeng closed his eyes and said nothing.

“Besides, that Third Prince doesn’t look like a good person. The moment I appeared, he suspected I was conspiring with you to sneak him out,” Shen Yuhuai frowned at Ji Wu’s apparently innocent look. “You spend every day studying with someone so scheming — won’t he eventually cause you harm?”

Shen Xuefeng blinked.

Wait, how exactly would he cause him harm?

Although he didn’t have much talent for political intrigue, it wasn’t like he’d be ruined by a protagonist-type character. But seeing his sister still deep in thought about Ji Wu, he obediently kept silent.

Shen Yuhuai was still confused: “I never noticed this person when I went to the palace to meet the Grand Princess before. How come you, who rarely even enter the palace, could immediately spot him?”

“Spot” wasn’t quite the right word, but Shen Xuefeng didn’t dare correct her. “I just… liked the look of him.”

Shen Yuhuai sized up her younger brother and sneered, “Just liking the look of him? Before, I thought the Third Prince wasn’t worthy of you, but now that I think about it, his brain might be sharper than yours. If you had a bit of cleverness, you wouldn’t be stuck on the straight path.”

Seeing his sister give him a heartfelt, lecture-like scolding like a high school teacher, student Shen Xuefeng could only nod obediently to show he’d remember.

On the way home, he begged Shen Yuhuai not to tell their parents about this incident. Seeing how pitiful he looked, Shen Yuhuai agreed.

That night at the dinner table, when the matter was brought up, both Shen Lan and the Princess of Yongtai’s faces changed.

Shen Lan wore an expression full of disappointment — no, it was more like hating clay for not turning into a wall: “Shen Xuefeng, is this what you learned from those famous ministers at Chongwen Academy every day?!”

Then Shen Xuefeng was punished.

Of course, given his weak constitution, he couldn’t really endure corporal punishment. So his father and mother simply put him under house arrest and also arranged a short break from studying at the Chongwen Academy, saying they needed time to consider whether to continue letting him be Ji Wu’s personal companion reader.

Shen Xuefeng didn’t expect the punishment to be so severe. If he couldn’t continue as the companion reader, how could he carry out his plan to cultivate the incompetent prince into a tyrant?

Seven days passed, the house arrest ended, but the short break from the academy wasn’t over yet. Shen Xuefeng spent his days inside the mansion writing and reading. Life was so comfortable that sometimes he forgot he was actually a bug with a mission who had accidentally entered a game world. Honestly, he wished he could just live like this forever.

Today, Shen Yuhuai was going to patrol the East City Gate. Around noon, she sent someone to the Shen mansion to deliver a message to Shen Xuefeng, saying they were bringing his lunch.

Miss Shen had always been picky with her taste and especially particular about cooks. So Shen’s parents had specially set up a small kitchen in her courtyard. Whatever she wanted to eat, she simply ordered the kitchen to prepare it.

Some time later, the Princess of Yongtai wanted to open a similar kitchen in Shen Xuefeng’s courtyard as well, but he refused. If he really got a kitchen, the aroma wafting out wouldn’t be food but medicine.

Carrying his meal, Shen Xuefeng got into a carriage and headed toward the East City Gate where his sister was on duty.

On the way, he pushed open the carriage window and glanced outside. The busy main street was filled with many unfamiliar faces of foreign ethnicities — many with curly hair, blue eyes, tall and handsome grassland men. There were also numerous people dressed in the styles of neighboring countries. Seeing so many foreigners in the imperial capital at once made him quite curious.

“Bai Hua, why has the capital been so lively these past few days?” he asked.

“Young master, you forgot — the day after tomorrow is His Majesty’s birthday. These are probably envoys rushing to the capital to celebrate the emperor’s birthday,” Bai Hua whispered from outside the carriage.

“Oh…” Shen Xuefeng closed the window and thought for a moment.

This event did exist in the game’s storyline. It was only on this day that players could truly determine which faction their character belonged to — because almost all the important protagonists gathered at the emperor’s birthday celebration.

Shen Xuefeng vaguely remembered that at the banquet, the Crown Prince’s faction took the lead, successfully gaining the favor of the Great Ji Emperor — the reigning emperor of the Gan Feng dynasty.

This was a very important plot point, because the southern kingdom of Nanzhao, located southwest of the Great Ji dynasty, had recently been ambitious, eyeing the border’s fifteen cities greedily and refusing to pay tribute. The Nanzhao envoys had come this time to test the Great Ji Emperor’s attitude and to show off their national power, giving the Central Plains people a warning.

As expected, Ji Changran, just like any protagonist in a feel-good novel, crushed Nanzhao at the palace banquet, humiliating them. The Gan Feng Emperor was pleased and generously rewarded him with many treasures, even transferring some real power from the Princess’s hands to him.

Thinking of this, Shen Xuefeng suddenly said, “Huh.”

That’s not right. Ji Wu was supposed to be the real overpowered male lead in this game. Why was the first important plotline focused on Ji Changran? It just felt off.

He tapped his head, feeling like something important had been forgotten, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall it.

Just as he thought he might grasp the vague, elusive clue from his memory, Bai Hua called outside, “Young master, we’ve arrived at East City Gate.”

Shen Xuefeng snapped back to reality and replied, “Oh, okay, okay.”

He took the food box and stepped out of the carriage to deliver lunch to his sister.

It was early spring now; the weather wasn’t as cold as before. The willow trees planted along the city walls had sprouted green branches, and the warm breeze felt gentle and pleasant.

At noon, the sun was blazing. Shen Xuefeng was afraid of the sun, so Bai Hua carefully held an umbrella over him to shield him from the heat.

After delivering the meal, Shen Xuefeng thought for a moment and turned to the attendants following behind, saying, “I want to take a walk on the street. Bai Hua following me alone is enough, no need for so many people.”

The attendants whispered “Yes,” then subtly glanced at Bai Hua. Seeing him nod, they withdrew.

So, master and servant slowly strolled along the riverbank by the city wall until they reached the busiest street in the imperial capital. Shen Xuefeng’s gaze was immediately drawn to the vibrant and colorful new sights before him.

This street was lined with taverns, tea houses, and inns. Vendors on both sides of the road shouted out their wares without pause, while the shops displayed their newest styles, calling out to the passersby.

Shen Xuefeng liked everything he saw, but he was well-behaved; at most, he would admire and touch things out of curiosity, but had no intention of buying.

Bai Hua reminded him from behind, “Young master, is there anything you want to buy?”

“No,” Shen Xuefeng shook his head.

Seeing the obvious desire in the young master’s almond-shaped eyes, Bai Hua whispered, “It wouldn’t be bad if you bought some to give to your father and mother as gifts.”

Shen Xuefeng’s eyes lit up.

Right, buying some to keep at home for later — there would definitely be occasions to give gifts.

He first bought several folding fans, then picked up a bunch of strange and curious little trinkets from the vendors. Along the way, he noticed an umbrella shop, paused for a moment, and decided to go inside to take a look.

He especially liked carrying an umbrella when he went out — except on cloudy days, it was basically always with him. Over time, his classmates at Chongwen Academy recognized the unique green umbrella from afar and knew Shen Xuefeng was coming.

Before even entering the shop, a waiter came out eagerly to greet him. Shen Xuefeng didn’t follow inside immediately, but instead picked up a white oil-paper umbrella displayed at the door and carefully opened it, holding it above his head and spinning it around a few times.

The umbrella was somewhat heavy — not as handy as the ones made for him by the Princess of Yongtai — but the patterns painted on it were special. He had never seen an umbrella with moons and stars painted on its surface before.

“Bai Hua, I want this one,” Shen Xuefeng said, clearly fond of it.

Bai Hua took out his coin pouch and stepped forward to ask the price. The two held the umbrella together. From the angle of a tea house diagonally opposite, it was impossible to see how close the two stood; only the green umbrella surface was visible.

“You’ve been watching the Shen mansion for so many days, you finally spotted your friend, huh?”

At a street-facing spot on the third floor of the tea house, a young boy rested his chin on his hand and complained to Ji Wu, “Why does your friend always carry an umbrella? I can’t even see what he looks like.”

Ji Wu stood quietly by the railing, her subtle gaze fixed firmly on Shen Xuefeng’s back beneath the umbrella.

“Since you’ve seen him, aren’t you going to say hello?”

The boy stood up from the table and walked over to Ji Wu, pouting, “If you don’t go down, then I will. I want to see what your friend looks like.”

Before he finished speaking, Ji Wu already put on her black veil and turned to leave.