In a private room of a small teahouse in Chongmingyuan.
Liang Jingyu, with his exceptionally handsome and dashing appearance, was embracing another man.
The two were exceedingly intimate, frequently clinking glasses and speaking with their foreheads pressed together.
This was the scene Liang Jingning first witnessed when he found Liang Jingyu in Chongmingyuan.
Upon seeing how forward and attentive the man seated beside Liang Jingyu was, he initially assumed the man was merely a boy kept by someone from the pleasure district.
However, after Liang Jingyu introduced him, he learned that this man, whose handsome features made him look like a woman, was none other than the renowned painter Tang Bo Yin.
Few of his paintings survived, but each surviving piece was a treasure.
He was most skilled at painting beauties.
He could bring out three points of beauty from a person who possessed one.
From someone with five points of beauty, he could portray ten.
The beauties in his paintings seemed alive.
Their charming smiles, their beautiful eyes, every frown and glance, every jest and scold, leaped from the paper.
As a fellow admirer of beauty, Liang Jingning also greatly appreciated Tang Bo Yin's artwork.
Upon seeing his first painting, he had immediately considered him a kindred spirit.
Only someone who truly loved beauty could create such profound and spirited art.
Liang Jingning was also a man who appreciated beauty, but he favored poetry and prose. Although he was well-read in the Four Books and Five Classics, he found the act of painting tiresome.
Therefore, he cherished Tang Bo Yin's paintings even more.
He had also tried to find ways to meet Tang Bo Yin and befriend him.
However, after searching everywhere in the capital, he failed to get any news of him.
He never imagined that he had already become a favored guest of his good cousin, Liang Jingyu.
Hidden away in a place of pleasure and revelry like Chongmingyuan, how could he possibly find him?
The first time he caught them in Chongmingyuan was because someone had quietly reported it, allowing him to arrive and catch them red-handed.
Initially, both were somewhat embarrassed, feeling that him witnessing their relationship was not good.
They were both quite nervous.
However, Liang Jingning was a clever person.
In front of them, he immediately ordered someone to find the most dashing boy from the pleasure district to accompany him.
Thus, with one pair here and another pair there, it was no longer awkward for them to look at each other.
Such scenes had already occurred several times.
Women possessed beauty.
Men also possessed their own unique beauty.
Of course, drinking and reveling with a man did not prevent Liang Jingning, a man of passion and romance, from having intimate contact with women.
Since following Liang Jingyu and living such a life, he had regained interest in Su Yu Ru, whom he had grown somewhat tired of.
He was already considering taking her into the Prince of Duan's manor.
However, regardless of his relationship with Su Yu Ru.
Their four-person gatherings had become the norm.
They no longer felt awkward doing even the most intimate things in front of each other.
Their relationships had indeed become very strong.
Therefore, when Liang Jingning's servant rushed to his side, hesitating to speak, it greatly angered him.
He felt there was nothing that needed to be hidden from them.
After all, they had shared such a significant secret.
Liang Jingning urged, "Speak quickly, just say it in front of everyone."
The servant glanced at him, then at Liang Jingyu opposite him, wanting to blurt it out.
But at least a basic professional ethics restrained him.
Preventing him from blurting it out as he wished.
Instead, after a moment of thought, he said, "Reporting to the Heir, Miss Su seems to be shopping nearby. Would you like to select two pieces of fabric for her at the 'Nishang Fang' to surprise her?"
Liang Jingning had initially thought it was some important matter, but then his face fell:
"Is this what you call a matter? It's ruining my mood.
Go ahead and choose two bolts of silk for her, and also the newly launched cotton clothing from their shop."
The servant acknowledged this, and while Liang Jingning lowered his head to caress the boy's cheek, he quietly raised his hand to wipe away some sweat.
"Ah, I was so scared, so scared.
My young master almost got me into trouble just now."
Imagine if he had spoken out about what the person just sent had said in front of everyone, it would have been a big mess.
His heart fluttered precariously.
His intuition told him that this was not something he could handle.
But the Heir was not cooperating at the moment.
He had no outlet for his efforts.
He had no choice but to run out, thinking he might as well report it to the Prince when he got home.
Not two steps out of Chongmingyuan, his path was blocked.
"Yu Shu, where are you going?" Liang Jing Chen stared at the delicate-looking servant before him.
His and his master's whereabouts were always under his control.
Normally, the two of them appeared in pairs, but today was peculiar.
He had run out alone.
"Li-little, greetings to the Second Young Master." Yu Shu, with a major matter weighing on his mind, was feeling very uneasy.
Seeing the usually imposing Second Young Master suddenly appear terrified him, and he quickly knelt to pay his respects.
Liang Jing Chen's eyebrows deepened, his eyes subconsciously flicking to a middle-aged man in scholarly robes behind him.
That was Zhuge Yuan, a strategist kept by his father, the Prince of Duan.
He had been ordered by the Prince of Duan to bring him to find Liang Jingning.
Liang Jing Chen was initially unwilling to lead the way, as Liang Jingning's current actions were not suitable for others to see.
But on second thought, if Liang Jingning dared to do it, what was there for him not to see?
Besides, it was a good opportunity for the strategist his father valued most to see what kind of character the Heir of the Prince of Duan's manor possessed.
However, as they reached this point without entering, they saw Yu Shu sneaking out.
Liang Jing Chen naturally blocked him, asking what he was doing sneaking out behind his master.
"Li-little, little, I didn't sneak out, I was planning to return to the manor to deliver a message to the Prince." Yu Shu was almost frantic.
The person who gave him the message said the event would happen in half an hour.
He had already been dawdling for a long time.
Now, he didn't know if he could make it back on his own two legs.
He was so anxious he was about to cry.
"What matter is so urgent?" Zhuge Yuan frowned, looking at the servant before him, who was as limp as a puddle of mud.
He thought to himself: the Heir's servant is too incompetent.
No, it's not just the Heir's servant who is incompetent.
In fact, during the Dragon Boat Festival last time, the Heir was also this incompetent when facing the attacking assassins.
Either he was so scared he cried profusely, or he pushed others out to take the blame.
How could such a person handle important matters?
Zhuge Yuan harbored deep doubts.
He felt he should appropriately remind the Prince.
Otherwise, wouldn't he be taking the Prince of Duan's salary in vain and receiving his favor for nothing?
Seeing Yu Shu like this, Liang Jing Chen, however, had another thought.
He recalled the letter that Shen Yun had sent him previously.
It stated that recent rumors were greatly unfavorable to the Crown Prince.
The Emperor had become suspicious.
But one should not relax because of this; one must be even more cautious and vigilant.
After all, a cornered dog will leap over the wall.
Linking these thoughts, Liang Jing Chen had not been idle in recent days. He had dispatched all his subordinates to gather information everywhere, especially regarding the movements of the Eastern Palace.
Indeed, he had uncovered quite a bit of insider information.
Of course, his people held low positions within the Eastern Palace, so they could not inquire about the deeper matters.
But from this, he inferred that the Eastern Palace was likely planning some major moves.
Perhaps the person before him was a breakthrough.
Liang Jing Chen said gently,
"Seeing you like this, you must have something important to say. Why don't you tell me? We came on horseback, and we'll gallop back to the Prince's manor, and it won't cause any delay."
Yu Shu hesitated for a moment, then thought that he wouldn't make it in time.
If the Prince was not notified, the Prince of Duan's manor would be dealt with by the Crown Prince as it had been more than ten years ago.
The masters in the manor would not fare well, and he, a mere servant, would die a tragic death.
With a grit of his teeth and a stomp of his foot, he thought that it wasn't that he was disrespecting his master on purpose, but that his master himself had not listened.
Now, for the sake of the bigger picture, he had no choice but to convey this news to the Second Young Master.
"Second Young Master, I, I heard that in the manor, in the manor there is, there is a dragon robe..."
The last two words were as light as willow catkins, carrying no weight at all.
Liang Jing Chen, who was closest, did not hear them.
However, because he was mute before and did not speak well, his hearing had not been very good, so he had learned to read lips.
He saw the lip movements for the words "dragon robe."
Liang Jing Chen's body trembled. He finally understood the reason for Shen Yun's warning.
He immediately turned back and whispered to Zhuge Yuan, then pointed to Yu Shu with his finger to the guards behind him, turned, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the Prince of Duan's manor.