"Any discerning person could see that between you and Shen Xinglan, Phoenix valued you more. Before you, Phoenix and Xing Lan had a very good relationship..."
"They were childhood sweethearts, friends who grew up together... Phoenix sacrificed at Mountain Qi, which although was a joke among the elders, who is to say it didn’t have real implications that pushed things forward?"
"Due to your arrival, Xing Lan’s situation became awkward. They’ve been friends for so many years, did Shen Xinglan truly have no affection for Phoenix?"
"At Phoenix’s coming of age ceremony, Shen Xinglan gave her a Bai Lu, which he had raised for many years and regarded as family and friend, but she rejected it..."
"I heard Phoenix talk about that incident," Tang Fei chimed in. "She felt that the gift Shen Xinglan gave was too precious, and she couldn’t accept it."
He wanted to lighten his own burden; this huge blame was something he did not want to carry.
Zhong Tianque glanced at Tang Fei and asked, "If it were from you, would Phoenix have accepted it?"
Tang Fei replied without hesitation, "No."
Regardless of the truth, this was the only answer he could give.
Now was not the time for petty rivalry—that could be deadly.
"Let’s not dwell on that for now, there’s also Great Grandmaster Xuanyuan Mingjing who has always been cautious and in all these years has only taken Shen Xinglan as a disciple..."
"Somehow, he ended up taking you under his wing as well, giving Xuanyuan Mingjing two disciples... If it were you, how would you feel?"
"Even siblings vie for affection, let alone fellow disciples? Is it better to shine as the sole disciple of a Great Grandmaster or be one of two distinguished disciples?"
"Ever since you became a disciple of Xuanyuan Mingjing, a competitive relationship had formed between you. Although you were temporarily not as good as Shen Xinglan, your rapid progress and potential for development are immense..."
"Moreover, most importantly, you are not from the nine major families... being rootless and baseless, you are more easily recruited and relied on by all parties... Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand," Tang Fei said wryly, self-deprecatingly adding, "I thought I had hidden my dislike for my senior brother very well, but His Highness saw through it in a glance..."
Zhong Tianque was quite pleased with Tang Fei’s attitude, his willingness to expose his true thoughts in front of him proved he considered him a confidant.
Having someone like Tang Fei, a talent heart-and-soul dedicated to him, was a great gain.
"We must not only look at the surface when judging people and situations, but also consider whether there is any real conflict of interest between the parties."
Zhong Tianque, with an instructive tone, said, "With so many points of conflict between you and Shen Xinglan, how could you possibly be friends?"
"However, you needn’t worry; this is not a big deal. Between people, who doesn’t have some conflicts? The nine major families check each other and this balance maintains the stability of the Empire’s power, preserving the Royal Family’s power... If they were united as one, what would the Royal Family have to do with anything?"
Tang Fei stared wide-eyed at Zhong Tianque; was this something that could be said so casually?
"This is common knowledge, even a three-year-old child understands this... If I don’t say it, do you not understand?""
"I understand the principle," Tang Fei earnestly replied. "I just didn’t expect... that Your Highness would trust me so much to share such private and important matters with me."
"Use the trustworthy, doubt not those employed." Zhong Tianque said, "If I had to hide everything, how could there be any trust between us?"
"Yes." Tang Fei stood up, paying his respects and said, "Your Highness treats me as a national scholar, and I shall repay you as one. Should you have any task for me, Tang Fei will never shirk."
"Hm. I understand." Zhong Tianque motioned with his hand for Tang Fei to sit and speak, "Our relationship is not long, and some unpleasant things have happened between us before... but all that is past now..."
"Our future journey is still long, and there are many areas where we will need to interact. Whether or not we can rely on each other will naturally become clear in time..."
"However, I can assure you that as long as you work diligently, I will never let you down. What you have now, you will continue to have; what you don’t have now, you will have in the future."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Tang Fei said excitedly.
Zhong Tianque started pitching grand promises, suggesting he had already considered him as his man.
This advanced his own plans significantly.
"Hm." Zhong Tianque nodded, looking at Tang Fei he asked, "What’s the situation with you and Tian Yi? You seem to be somewhat displeased?"
Tang Fei immediately stood up, apologizing earnestly, "Your Highness, I’m not looking to trouble the Second Prince or stir up any unpleasantness..."
"It’s just... it’s just that I don’t get along well with Yu Huoshui... You know, during the new student assessments at the White Crane Academy, some conflicts arose between us..."
"Yu Huoshui harbors resentment and has been looking for ways to trouble me... today is not the first time..."
"I know the Second Prince is your blood brother, and you have deep fraternity... and Yu Huoshui is also from the Empress’ maternal family... How dare I provoke them?"
"It’s just... I took the initiative to apologize to them, but they were unwilling to accept... Your Highness, you know I am a person of humble words, and I really don’t know what else to do."