As a famous playboy in the capital, Chang Ning had quite a few bad buddies.

They were everywhere!

Playboys always went where the fame was. For example, this club built by the Fourth Prince quickly became famous in the capital. Besides the Fourth Prince’s own influence, part of the credit also went to those pleasure-loving playboys.

Wei Yu took a walk around the club and soon found a bunch of Chang Ning’s frequent hangout buddies.

He first pushed Chang Ning forward, saying, “Brother Chang, come on, your younger brother’s wealth and glory all depend on you!”

Chang Ning was already numb.

Since he was tricked by Wei Yu, he hadn’t struggled at all.

What was there to struggle for?

What’s the use of struggling?

Being clung to by such a shameless thief, could he still expect to stay pure in this world?

Although he clearly didn’t understand what it meant to “lie flat and take mockery,” Chang Ning had already involuntarily grasped the essence.

He looked at the group of friends playing and having fun, who hadn’t realized the danger was coming… uh, I mean his old friends, mixed feelings of sorrow and secret joy welled up in his heart.

Anyway, he couldn’t escape it. Rather than suffer the pain alone, he might as well drag others down with him!

With this selfish feeling that if he was unhappy, no one else should be happy either, Chang Ning went angrily to find his buddies.

The buddies were lounging in the pavilion, drinking and competing in cricket fights. When they saw Chang Ning come over, none of them were surprised and just casually greeted him.

One wealthy young man in purple saw Wei Yu not far away, then asked Chang Ning, “Who’s that? Looks quite unfamiliar. Is he your relative?”

Chang Ning: “… Sort of, but maybe he should come say it himself.”

Not knowing what Wei Yu was up to, Chang Ning turned around and waved to him, signaling him to come over.

Wei Yu brought Fang Sheng along.

There were about a dozen playboys in the pavilion. Half were gathered around the table fighting crickets, too busy to turn around. The other half sat aside drinking.

Wei Yu just glanced at the table side, then bowed slightly toward the young man in purple to show friendliness.

“Hello everyone, I am Wei Jiu.”

At the mention of “Wei Jiu,” everyone was stunned.

The young man in purple had been holding a wine pot, ready to pour wine, but hearing this, he looked at Wei Yu in surprise.

Surname Wei, a member of the royal family?

Jiu—could it be the Wise King?!

There were three people drinking with the young man in purple, and upon hearing this, they all quickly stood up.

The young man in purple stood, quickly straightened his clothes, bowed to Wei Yu, and cautiously asked, “Sir, are you His Highness the Wise King?”

There were not many who could call themselves Wei Jiu, and even among other royal relatives, few ranked ninth… and judging by age, this person indeed fit the Wise King’s identity best.

Wei Yu smiled calmly, “You guess.”

Sun Zhao didn’t guess.

But he thought it was pretty much right.

Unexpectedly meeting the Wise King here suddenly gave Sun Zhao a headache. He glanced at Chang Ning, who had brought the group, intending to scold him a bit, but surprisingly saw Chang Ning looking shocked.

Sun Zhao: …

What, don’t even know the person you brought?

—

A big shot suddenly appeared in the playboy group, and everyone behaved themselves.

In the pavilion, Wei Yu sat on a stone bench someone had cleaned up, looking at the circle of young wealthy men in elegant clothes who all behaved respectfully, and truly wanted to sigh — there sure were a lot of little fat lambs.

They didn’t know each other. After Wei Yu sat down, he signaled them to introduce themselves from left to right.

The legitimate youngest son of the Minister of Justice, the only son of the Rector of the National Academy, the eldest grandson of the Deputy Minister of the Imperial Stables, the legitimate second son of the Vice Minister of Rites…

Every time Wei Yu heard one of their self-introductions, his eyes twinkled.

Wealth!

These people were clearly rich heirs!

Each one was the treasure of their family!

Looking at the restless little fat lambs, Wei Yu smiled and nodded, “Looking at this, you are all dragons and phoenixes among men.”

The dragons and phoenixes were stunned.

Was the Wise King genuinely praising them? Or mocking?

Sun Zhao was the legitimate youngest son of the Minister of Justice and also the core among them.

Being good at reading people, he observed the Wise King’s expression and for a moment couldn’t tell if the words were sincere or sarcastic.

But, it should be fake, right?

After all, calling a group of often-derided playboys “dragons and phoenixes” was hard to believe.

Sun Zhao smiled faintly and said, “Your Highness flatters us. We’re all lazy, neither good at literature nor martial arts, often scolded by our elders. I suppose we don’t deserve your praise.”

Sun Zhao’s words were both self-deprecating and stating facts.

He didn’t understand why the Wise King approached them, but whatever the reason, he laid it out clearly first; whether the Wise King liked it or not!

They really were a bunch of playboys who neither excelled at culture nor military skills. Besides eating, drinking, and playing, they knew nothing. Their only merit was their family background.

If the Wise King just wanted to eat and drink with them, fine, but if he wanted to recruit them… sorry, even if they agreed, they lacked the ability!

To prevent the Wise King from changing his mind later, it was better to make this clear now.

Sun Zhao thought he had expressed himself clearly, but unexpectedly, the Wise King applauded him for his honesty?!

Clap!

Wei Yu clapped his hands, looking at Sun Zhao with an expression that said “Don’t belittle yourself. Mr. Sun, why so modest? While I admire your honesty, is a person’s value only shown through literature and martial arts? You haven’t seen the potential in yourselves! I won’t allow you to belittle yourselves, nor belittle your good friends here. That’s not right, you need to change.”

Sun Zhao was stunned.

The playboys were stunned.

They actually had potential?

Sun Zhao asked, “Your Highness thinks we… have value?”

Everyone craned their necks to listen.

Only Chang Ning, who found the scene very familiar, quietly covered his face.

Wei Yu said earnestly, “Of course. Everyone has their own mission in life. Did your parents give birth to you just to waste family silver?”

“There are many who excel in both literature and martial arts, and the court is full of them, but few make history. You don’t like reading, don’t like martial arts, get scolded by elders and teachers as useless—do you really accept that? Do you really think you’re a useless nobody?”

“Nonsense!”

“I think you’re quite good. Even if you can’t become civil or military officials, why can’t you shine in other ways? Honestly, the first time I saw you, I thought you would be more successful than your respective elders!”

“Don’t you want to be remembered in history, let future generations know your name, and be praised by them?”

“Opportunity knocks but once, time does not return!”