The Crown Prince Has Too Many Plans

Yushang couldn't help but stare at Ye Yunhe blankly. 

Was this some sort of joke? He couldn't quite tell if this senior brother of Yujia's was messing with him or not. 

Seeing Yushang's response— or lack thereof— Yunhe repeated again, "Who are you? Are you afraid of answering now? You seemed quite willing to admit that you were no Third Young Master before."

Yushang took a step back, shaking his head in disbelief. Seeing how Ye Yunhe continued on with his appearance of ignorance, it didn't seem like he was joking. Yushang wasn't certain that the man across from him wasn't lying either, but with what he saw right now, Yunhe seemed genuine enough. 

"You don't know who I am…" Yushang started slowly, using this time to organize his state of panic. 

Ye Yunhe didn't recognize him! 

He didn't know that he was the crown prince!

Yushang could've totally denied all accusations and gotten away with it!

At that moment, Yushang wanted to facepalm. Or to smack himself loudly on the head. Or to ram his head into the nice-looking wall behind him.

The fact that he gave away that he wasn't a young master of the Bo Family…

Did he seriously have to reveal his identity now?

But maybe he had a chance to save this situation. He might be able to say something, come up with some wise lies, or just do something to set things straight.

If he had the chance to not reveal who he was to Ye Yunhe— trusting that Yunhe didn't remember him— Yushang would aspire not to. After all, he wasn't quite sure how close Yunhe was with Yujia. 

The end goal to all of this was for Yujia to not find out. Yushang didn't want her to treat him with fear just because of his identity, or for her kindness to him only coming as a result of his status. He had seen too many of those people. 

When the time was right, Yushang naturally wanted to tell her about who he was and all of these related things. Now, however, just wasn't the right time to reveal these things.

Thus, if Yunhe decided to reveal these truths to Yujia without Yushang's knowledge or permission, he would honestly prefer to avoid a situation like this.

Yushang came up with a long list of potential responses to tell Yunhe, though he was positive that half of them were complete nonsense. 

First, he decided to test the waters by saying, "That was a joke before. I was just testing you. I'm the Third Young Master, no lie."

Yunhe narrowed his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm not a gullible idiot, unlike my junior sister, who might believe everything that you say."

Oh. So he wasn't one of those people Yushang could trick with pure confidence. That made the challenge of his entire task double in difficulty. 

Yushang put on a bigger smile, straightening his back to perfect posture. If pure confidence couldn't convince Yunhe, then he would use even more confidence. 

Confidence was the key to all things in life. 

And hence, time for Plan B. 

"Alright, you got me there," he sighed, throwing his arms up with a shrug, "I was telling a lie before. You're right— I'm not the Third Young Master. I'm the First." 

Yunhe blinked. "Bo Zhijun?"

"Yes," Yushang nodded, scrambling through his lacking memories of that individual. 

Who was Bo Zhijun again? Yushang faintly remembered there being some joke around Bo Zhijun's name in the capital. Though he had a name that meant "handsome1", Bo Zhijun was famously below average in terms of physical appearance. He should be in his late twenties this year. 

At this thought, Yushang gulped. 

He was only eighteen. And he had to admit that his physical appearance was very much above average, just as he told himself every morning as his daily boost of confidence. 

How could he compare himself to Bo Zhijun?

Plan B was not well-thought-out at all. Not a bit. 

Yunhe scrutinized Yushang's face, catching onto these details as well. 

"You know," Yunhe stated, his expression dead, "The more you speak, the more trust I lose in you."

Internally, Yushang cursed at himself. 

Why? Why was he like this? Why was Plan B such a failure?

But he still had a chance. As long as he chose to speak the right words next… 

Alright. 

Confidence. 

He had to have confidence in himself. The less confidence he had, the less he would be able to deal with all of this. As long as he could manage to fool over Ye Yunhe with confidence—

Plan C?

"Alright! Those were all just tests. I am neither the Third Young Master, First Young Master, Second Young Master, or any young master of the Bo Family. I am your long lost brother. Long time no see, brother."

Yunhe stared at him.

"Don't believe that? Alright, I admit, that was a joke as well. I'm actually a beggar on the street who your junior sister graciously saved, so now I repay her debt by showering her with wealth."

Yunhe stared at him. 

"I'm a deity descended from the heavens who comes to bestow… great wealth… haha…"

Yunhe stared at him, and minute by minute, as this went on, Yushang's confidence crumbled. 

He couldn't understand why he was becoming so tongue tied. Why every word coming out of his mouth sounded like pure gibberish. Why he was spouting complete nonsense that no one would believe. Why this pathetic attempt was his Plan C, Plan D, Plan E, and possibly even Plan F. 

Yushang could usually come up with brilliant comebacks. He always had a response no matter what. This was what those in the court complimented him with. When he had an argument he wanted to stick to— such as the other day, when he convinced his father to invest more resources to solve a major flooding issue the court had to deal with— he could always convey it well. He liked to think that he had a natural flow with words. 

So why was all of this turning out like such?

Why was it that when it came to the topic and threat of his identity being revealed, he couldn't quite make any sense? Even when he thought about the words that just came out of his mouth, he would wince at the sheer ridicule of all of it.

Yushang took a deep breath. He clasped his hands around his head. 

These plans were not working out. Even Yushang had to come to terms with that, as much as he hated to admit. 

So finally, he decided to be honest. 

It hurt him a little. He admitted that it hurt him. All these plans, failing spectacularly, one by one. His confidence had failed him. 

Yushang dropped his hands, staring at Ye Yunhe straight in the eyes. Unconsciously, his fingers tightened into fists.

"I'm the Crown Prince. That's who I am. No lies, no deceptions, no more trickery."

After this grand reveal occured, Yunhe stared back at him, his expression unreadable for a few solid moments. 

Yushang waited for the bowing now. He waited for the surprise and the reverence that came as a result of this revelation. Though he admitted that this was his last resort, he did quite enjoy the idea of Ye Yunhe kneeling and bowing to him. 

That would be a nice sight to see.

Yet contrary to his expectations, with a sudden sweep, Yunhe picked up his scroll that he dropped on the floor earlier. 

Before Yushang could respond, Yunhe raised it up and smacked the air in front of him, roaring, "Scammer! I'm tired of your lies! Get out!" 

At that moment, Yushang's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Yushang ducked. He stumbled back away from Yunhe, but Yunhe chased after him relentlessly, raising his scroll and repeatedly smacking it in Yushang's direction. 

"What are you doing?" Yushang exclaimed, dodging another swing from Yunhe. 

"Get out of Lingxin! Am I not making myself clear?" Yunhe yelled in response, his face flushed. 

"Why? I'm telling the truth!" 

"You think I'd seriously believe you? I don't need someone like you around my junior sister!" 

He swung at Yushang again, which this time, Yushang didn't manage to dodge. The blow made contact with his back, pain jolting him as it hit. 

Yushang lurched forward, pure shock taking over him. 

He had never been beat like this before! Who would dare to lay a hand on him like this? And for what? For telling the truth? 

What was this? What was this tyranny? 

But he couldn't even freeze for a second— Yunhe took this momentary pause as a chance to swing forward again. This second blow smacked Yushang right on the head, breaking him out of his shock and slamming him forward. His feet, out of pure instinct, tripped forward once more.

Yushang could only internally cry as he stumbled and ran, putting as much distance as he could between himself and that violent scroll.

Thus, just like that, Ye Yunhe chased Fu Yushang around the yard, similar to how a farmer would chase a chicken to catch and slaughter. 

…

Yujia sat at a table next to her master, who was lazily eating sunflower seeds and staring out at the scenery around them. 

She sipped at a cup of newly brewed tea. 

Her master called her over to just talk about art. It seemed like he felt quite inspirational when he woke up, and he immediately wanted to bestow some major knowledge to her. So, she sat and listened as he slowly talked about his life and art stories.

The warm tea tasted delicate and fragrant on her tongue. 

She wondered what was going on in her courtyard during this absence. 

Hopefully, Bo Zhizhong and Ye Yunhe were getting along decently?