"Xiao Gang, isn't this a bad idea?"
Flender was a little nervous too. Taking a prince as a disciple sounded wonderful, but a single misstep could stir up no end of trouble.
What on earth had gotten into Yu Xiaogang? He usually treated politics like raging floods and savage beasts, so why was he taking the initiative to cozy up to the imperial family?
"Exactly, exac-ah! Ahem, I'm honored by your regard, Grandmaster, but my ambitions lie elsewhere. What virtue or ability do I possess to deserve becoming your disciple?" Xue Beng had been about to nod outright, but worried that would embarrass him, he switched to an official tone he was unused to.
"Don't rush, Xue Beng. You aren't meeting us in your capacity as a prince right now, and I never said I wanted to take the Fourth Prince as my disciple."
"You're the most representative student of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. If you and I, Shrek's chairman, became master and disciple, it would make the relationship between our academies appear closer."
"Prince Xue Beng, you aren't actually some contemptible wastrel. Everyone here can see that."
"Gulp!" Having his disguise exposed made Xue Beng's heart skip a beat, leaving him feeling a little wounded.
"And you don't seem particularly interested in the imperial family itself, do you?"
To the Grandmaster, Xue Beng was still far too green. Thinking there weren't many people around, he had relaxed the act he usually maintained. At heart, he was very easy to see through.
Still, he had to admire Xue Xing's training, which had taught him to play a useless wastrel so convincingly.
No, perhaps Xue Beng really was rather useless. His long-term training had merely made him seem less contemptible, so all he needed to do was play the wastrel properly.