Little He and Little Xu were skeptical when they heard what he said. This fella is bragging, right? The lesser tutor taught the crown prince many things before. Forget about the crown prince not being able to learn anything, not even they who were watching from the side could figure anything out.

The crown princess was known for her intelligence. She even gave the crown prince some classes in private, yet he still didn’t learn anything. She was so upset she wasn’t willing to teach the crown prince anything anymore.

Where the heck did this fella get his confidence from? And he said that it’s easy?

Zu An sat down across from the crown prince. He picked up the chessboard and the pieces. Then, he began to explain the rules.

“Huh? So I just need to connect five in a row to win? That’s so easy! Those fellas are acting all high and mighty, so I almost thought that it was a really hard game.” The crown prince was excited and looked like he was a genius.

However, he was soon utterly crushed by Zu An. He couldn’t continue this and said, “Enough, enough, you should do what you have to do for now. Little He, come and play with me.”

Little He and Little Xu were stunned as well. They thought to themselves, so go was this easy? They learned it pretty quickly as well. However, they didn’t dare to play so mercilessly like Zu An. They secretly threw the games, and soon afterwards, the crown prince was smiling from ear to ear.[1]

While they were busy with what they were doing, Zu An used this chance to head into the inner room to pay the crown princess a visit.

The crown princess was sitting in front of a mirror and grooming herself. She pressed the back of her hands against her cheeks, as if she was checking to see how hot her face was.

She immediately put away her ‘young lady yearning for love’ act. With a light cough, she recovered her usual dignified appearance. “What is the crown prince doing outside that’s so noisy?”

“Ah, they’re playing go outside.” Zu An added inwardly, the simplified version five-in-a-row.

“Go?” The crown princess harrumphed. She clearly remembered something unpleasant.

She didn’t feel like wasting any attention on the crown prince and asked, “What do you need?”

Zu An replied, “I didn’t get any new information when I went to the imperial prison.”

He didn’t dare to tell her about King Qi ‘rescuing’ the prisoners, or else she would use this chance to launch an attack on King Qi’s faction in the court. That would create a huge uproar, and then things would develop completely differently from how he wanted them to.

The crown princess voiced her agreement. She clearly didn’t place much hope on this matter either.

“By the way, why did the emperor suddenly summon you?” The crown princess couldn’t help but ask. From her perspective, she really couldn’t figure out what the emperor needed him for.

Zu An replied, “His majesty heard that King Qi summoned me, so he called me over to tell me to do my utmost in helping the crown prince and princess.”

The crown princess was startled. “Is that really what his majesty said?”

“How could I dare lie to you?” Zu An replied. “Actually, even if his majesty didn’t say that, I would still strive to do my utmost until my dying day.”

“Strive your utmost until your dying day…” The crown princess repeated what he said. She didn’t expect this person to have some talent in literature as well. Looks like I really did look down on him before. However, she wasn’t the gullible sort. Instead, her eyes were bright as she stared at him. “Why would you go this far?”

Zu An looked straight into her eyes without evading them at all. “Of course, it is because of the crown princess…”

The crown princess’ expression suddenly changed when she heard what he said. However, she heard him continue to say, “Because of the crown princess protecting me from King Qi earlier. Even though I haven’t studied for many years, I know how to repay gratitude. I will definitely do my best to help the crown princess.”

The crown princess felt relieved and said, “It’s rare to see loyalty like yours. As long as you continue to work well for the eastern palace, both me and the crown prince will not treat you unfairly.”

She didn’t know why, but this man’s style of speaking was a bit similar to Sir Eleven. However, she immediately tossed away the thought. How is that even possible? The two of them were just too different!

She felt her heart thumping as soon as she remembered Sir Eleven. Why did he say something like that?

Could it be that he was teasing me?

But how could he dare? I am a glorious crown princess! He is an Embroidered Envoy who protects the royal family… How could he…

Maybe I’m overthinking things? Maybe that’s not what he meant?

She quickly stopped Zu An when she thought of this. “Wait!”

Zu An turned around and looked at her in confusion.

The crown princess’ cheeks turned red. “I have a friend. There’s a problem that she just couldn’t figure out all this time, so I want to ask Sir Zu for advice.”

Zu An was stunned. What is this woman going to ask me? “Please speak your mind, crown princess.”

But how could he know that this wasn’t a problem the crown princess could ask those by her side, that she would experience absolute social death if she did so? Furthermore, the only ones around her were the eunuchs and maids. The only one who she could maybe talk to was an idiot. She didn’t have anyone else to talk to! On the contrary, Zu An wasn’t that close with her, and he came from a common background as well. He might be able to offer her a different perspective.

The crown princess paused for a moment, as if she was considering her words. “That friend of mine, it’s really my friend!...” As if she was scared that he wouldn’t believe her, she looked into his eyes and emphasized this point.

Zu An couldn’t help but chuckle. “Enough, enough. I know that it’s definitely not you, crown princess.”

The crown princess’ face flushed red. She continued, “She knows a man, and she has a great impression of this man. However, one day, that man suddenly said to me… Ahem, he said some weird things to my friend. I do not know what he is trying to say at all.”

Zu An realized something. “That person said something strange to you… to your friend?”

“Yes… yes…” The crown princess was a bit hesitant.

However, she still told him what Golden Token Eleven said. Then, she added, “My friend’s status is special, so she doesn’t have any chance of being with that man. He knows this as well, but he still said what he said. How can he say something like that?”

Zu An had a strange look on his face. He didn’t expect the words he spoke to help Yun Jianyue out of her predicament to have left this woman so troubled. He could only explain and say, “Maybe that man is just like that. He likes to speak casually and didn’t mean anything more by it. Those words didn’t mean anything else.”

But the crown princess instead immediately stared at him and said, “Nonsense! That man is mature and steadfast! Do you think that he is as frivolous as you?”

Zu An was speechless. I guess once you fall for someone, you see them out of rose-tinted lens. You’ll only think good things about that person. He couldn’t help but say with a mysterious smile, “Looks like the crown princess is quite familiar with this person.”

The crown princess’ heart rate immediately quickened when she heard what he said. She realized that her current appearance was quite unsuitable. She quickly added, “My friend told me all of these things.”

Zu An didn’t expose her and said, “Perhaps that person has some good opinion of you… towards your friend. Even though he knows that there is no chance of anything happening, he was so helpless that he couldn’t hold himself back. That was why he ended up saying something so ambiguous to you… to your friend to express his love?”

As a successful sea king, regardless of whether they are useful or not, as long as the fish is pretty, he would bring them into his side of the sea first.[2]

“Ah?” The crown princess’ lips changed into an O shape. Her heart began to pound. Could it be that this was what Sir Eleven meant?

But… but our identities… how can we…

When she first met the crown prince, she thought that he was just a bit slow. She tried all different ways to teach him and change him, yet he remained an idiot throughout the entire process. After trying again and again, she finally gave up in the end.

She married the crown prince mainly for her family. Neither side felt anything for each other. When she saw that he couldn’t be molded in any way, her heart already became stone cold.

However, this stone cold heart was now beating fiercely. She felt full of energy, as if she was full of anticipation for every moment.

Is this the power of love? She was so frightened by this thought that her red face turned deathly white. She killed this thought and then looked at Zu An. “My friend’s identity is special, so you cannot tell anyone about this. Otherwise, you won’t be able to handle the consequences if she blames you.”

Zu An forced a smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t have a loose tongue.”

He wondered to himself, if the day came when this woman knew about his real identity, would she be so embarrassed that she would stomp out three bedrooms and a living room on the ground.

This scene was really something worth looking forward to.

1. The game of go is much more complex. Instead, most people will play connect five using the black and white pieces, including me when I was younger with my parents.

2. Sea king is slang for fuccboi