Made your choice?

"A Betrothal Letter?"

Li Zhiwei's gentle expression faltered slightly before her gaze fell on the painting and calligraphy.

She had indeed painted this Mandarin Duck Painting.

And she had written those four lines of verse herself.

But calling it a "Betrothal Letter" was rather too much of a stretch.

Yet in the very next moment.

Her clear eyes suddenly fixed on it, as though she had discovered something.

For she abruptly realized that the poem Jiang Xiaobai had just recited was an acrostic!

Zhi-a kindred soul's song before the falling flowers.

Wei-a fine rain gently stirred the mist beyond the willows.

Pin-spring's breeze was engaged to trim a sheet of silk.

Shu-a letter completed beneath the bright moon, sent to your side.

The first characters of the four lines were unmistakably... Zhi, Wei, betrothal, letter!

"Ah?"

Li Zhiwei gave a soft cry. Surprise and embarrassed indignation deepened the blush already on her face, and she immediately reached for the painting.

But Jiang Xiaobai seemed to have anticipated this. With a lift of his wrist, he drew it back before she could touch it.

"Miss Li, give it some careful thought."

Jiang Xiaobai looked at her, a faint smile playing at his lips, though his voice was more serious than before. "There isn't much time left."

"Because in three days, I'll enter the palace for an audience with His Majesty."

At those words.

The embarrassed anger on Li Zhiwei's face momentarily froze.

She naturally understood what he meant.

The results would be posted in three days.

If Jiang Xiaobai truly entered the palace as the Top Graduate, many things would leave no room for maneuver.

Jiang Xiaobai said nothing more. He simply put the painting away carefully, then turned to the guard, who was still standing there in a daze. "Let's go."

With that, Jiang Xiaobai turned first and headed for the door.

Only then did the guard snap out of his stupor. He hastily answered and hurried after him.

As the door opened softly and slowly closed again, silence returned to the study.

Li Zhiwei remained where she stood, motionless for a long time.

She gazed at the closed door, her usually calm, gentle eyes now brimming with surprise and curiosity.

Jiang Xiaobai...

The Profligate Heir who supposedly did nothing but eat, drink, amuse himself, and idle his days away seemed an entirely different person from the man she had seen today.

Especially when it came to the talent and cunning he had revealed.

Whether it was his response at the Poetry Gathering, his words in the study, or even the acrostic he had left on a painting before departing...

None of it allowed her to reconcile him with the useless wastrel of the rumors.

At that thought, the lingering embarrassment on Li Zhiwei's face gradually gave way to seriousness.

She knew very well that Jiang Xiaobai's proposed cooperation had been no joke.

If it truly worked out.

It would offer the Jiang Family a path to survival.

And for her Li Family, it might well be an opportunity too.

A little while later.

Li Zhiwei finally exhaled softly. Without lingering any longer, she turned and left the study.

Meanwhile.

Jiang Xiaobai led the guard through the corridors and courtyards of the Chancellor's Residence toward the main gate.

Once they stepped outside and the night breeze brushed over them, the guard finally could not hold back. With a wry smile, he asked quietly, "Young lord, will this... really work?"

"I do think what you said made sense, but the problem is... Chancellor Li and our Marquis's Residence have never been on good terms!"

"Besides, surely something like this can't be settled by Miss Li's agreement alone?"

"That's why we have to see what she chooses."

Jiang Xiaobai merely smiled. "If Li Zhiwei really is clever, she should understand that the Jiang Family may not be the only one caught in this game."

Seeing the guard's worried face, Jiang Xiaobai laughed. "What, don't you trust me?"

"It's not that. I'm worried the Marquis will beat you to death when he finds out you chose Miss Li!"

The guard gave a bitter smile.

Jiang Xiaobai's expression stiffened slightly. Before he could speak, hurried, heavy footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

At the same time, a voice rang out, thick with anger. "Fine, fine, fine! Well played, Li Bingzhang! I'll remember this!"

"You'd better not give me an opening. If you do, I'll make your life hell!"

As he spoke, Jiang Jingcheng strode out through the gates of the Chancellor's Residence, his face livid and his brow heavy with unmistakable anger.

Clearly.

His conversation inside had not gone pleasantly.

And that was indeed the case.

After entering the residence, he had brought up nothing else. He had merely said that his son had spent years behaving outrageously, and since the boy was finally willing to show his face at a Poetry Gathering, he had come to take a look!

Even if his son learned no real skills, at least he could broaden his horizons and absorb a little scholarly air.

Ordinarily, such pleasantries should have been heard and let pass, but that old bastard Li Bingzhang refused to show him the slightest courtesy.

Instead of taking up the conversation politely, he had held his teacup and leisurely delivered a few barbs.

The gist was that the Jiang Family was a military household that had always looked down on scholars, yet now they were willing to send their wastrel son to a Poetry Gathering.

He had even added blandly, "This truly brings splendor to my humble dwelling."

The words sounded courteous.

But coming from Li Bingzhang, they carried an unmistakable flavor of mockery.

What Jiang Jingcheng hated most about these civil officials was their sneering, double-edged manner of speaking.

On any other day, he would have swept his sleeves and walked out long ago.

But for his son's sake, he could only swallow his anger and sit there listening.

Who could have known that, seeing him hold his temper, Li Bingzhang would casually add another remark?

"Tonight's guests are all young scholars, proud of heart and upright in spirit, and most careful to cherish their feathers."

"A Poetry Gathering is, after all, a contest of refinement."

"If someone fails to understand the proper bounds and makes a laughingstock of himself, he often isn't the only one others laugh at."

Those words targeted not only Jiang Xiaobai, but Jiang Jingcheng as well.

That was why Jiang Jingcheng's face had darkened completely. The moment he stepped outside, he could no longer suppress the fire in his chest.

After finishing his curses, Jiang Jingcheng swept his gaze around and spotted Jiang Xiaobai and the guard, who had just left the residence.

He paused briefly, then immediately frowned. "You're out already?"

"Mm!"

As Jiang Xiaobai answered, he looked at his father, who was clearly seething with pent-up anger, and his gaze grew somewhat odd.

Obviously.

The old man had probably come off worse against Li Bingzhang.

"We'll talk in the carriage!"

Jiang Jingcheng snorted coldly, then swept his sleeves and headed toward the carriage parked nearby.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiaobai followed with the guard beside him.

Once he climbed into the carriage and the curtain fell.

The atmosphere inside the already cramped compartment immediately grew oppressive.

Jiang Jingcheng sat leaning back, his expression still unpleasant, as though he remained furious over what had happened.

Jiang Xiaobai glanced at him and was just about to speak.

But before he could say anything, Jiang Jingcheng asked in a low voice, "Which family's daughter did you choose?"

At the blunt question, a faint sheen of cold sweat appeared on Jiang Xiaobai's forehead. Then he said quietly, "I think... she's just an ordinary girl!"

"Ordinary is good. An ordinary girl means fewer complications!"

Indeed, any girl who could enter the Chancellor's Residence to attend the Poetry Gathering would at least come from an established family, however ordinary she might be.

Jiang Jingcheng immediately smiled. "What's her name?"

"Oh, I think it's Li Zhiwei..."