"Buying a spot?" Wu Youren's brow furrowed. "Is it you?"
"How could I afford that?" Liu Jingming spread his hands. "No need to ask who; you'll get the banknotes in hand straight away."
Hostage Manor was merely a slightly more upscale cage. Banknotes were far less important than hard currency—such as blood food and medicinal cuisine.
The one upside, however, was that banknotes were easy to hide.
His meaning was abundantly clear: Wu Youren might not be able to hold onto hard currency, so offering banknotes was actually quite sincere.
Yet Wu Youren knew full well that if someone truly wanted to take it by force, he wouldn't be able to refuse—unless he wanted to end up in the lake again.
He gave a decisive shake of his head. "I appreciate the thought, Brother Jingming, but... I'm not selling!"
Liu Jingming nodded slightly. He hadn't expected Wu Youren to sell the spot anyway.
"I was only asking. You've finally taken a step ahead of the rest of us, and that's worth celebrating. Don't forget about me in the future."
He showed no anger at being turned down, for in his eyes, Wu Youren was now well worth currying favor with.
Unfortunately, their status differed somewhat, and they hadn't been close before, so he could not abruptly shift his attitude too drastically.
Wu Youren had no desire to provoke him. Rather than questioning the reliability of the roster, he stated in all earnestness, "You could give it an earnest try as well, Brother Jingming... If even I could make it, there's no reason you can't."
"I can't copy your trick," Liu Jingming said, casting him a thoughtful look.
The baronet's grandson making the roster had left everyone thoroughly perplexed—just how had he won the prince's favor?
The awareness and ability of Shi Linyuan's circle to keep secrets was up to par; at least for now, no word had leaked.
Most people guessed that perhaps, because of his "attempted suicide," the prince had bent the rules to prevent an even bigger scandal.
In Liu Jingming's view, that was something he could never emulate.
If faking death turned into real death, he would lose everything, and his family would suffer for it as well.
"My family only holds a baronetcy," Wu Youren said with utter sincerity. "Brother Jingming, your surname is Liu!"
Even if your father married into the family, you are still genuinely named Liu!
"That is true." Liu Jingming nodded. Legally speaking, he was a bona fide member of the Liu bloodline, and he harbored deep resentment toward his clansmen's prejudices.
Stirred by the thought, he added, "Then I will give it a try."
Regrettably, not everyone was as simple and direct as Liu Jingming.
That evening, when Wu Youren went to the dining hall for dinner, he deliberately arrived a bit late.
Great Liang's Protocol Office maintained the bare minimum of propriety, providing the hostages with basic food and lodging.
It was only on par with the standard of ordinary Liang commoners, however; if anyone wished to eat better, they had to find their own means.
It was thanks to this provision that Wu Youren had survived this long; otherwise, the mere ten percent of his family allowance he actually received would never have kept him alive.
He thought coming late would allow him to keep a low profile and avoid the spotlight, never expecting the dining hall to be packed to the brim.
Several hostages who never ate in the dining hall were surprisingly present.
Among them was even the concubine-born son of the Duke of Wei.
This man was already over forty—more than a decade older than the Seventeenth Prince—and served not only as a personal guard but also as the captain of the guard escort.
Yet he completely ignored Wu Youren's arrival, merely sitting in the dining hall and leisurely sipping his tea.
The dining hall had never been very large, just over a hundred square meters, whereas the entire hostage entourage exceeded five hundred people.
Beyond the hostages themselves, there were guards, page boys, servants, handymen, and the like...
In normal times, people dined in shifts; given Wu Youren's standing, he typically came in the second wave.
The wretched part was the Jin Garden dining hall's rule: food could only be consumed on the premises and could not be taken away.
A realm as vast as Liang hardly needed to pinch pennies over such expenses; more likely, they were guarding against suspicions of covertly stockpiling grain and rations.
Yet that was utterly ridiculous. It was all cooked food... wouldn't it spoil after sitting for a few days?
Wu Youren figured this was just like corporate gaslighting and subjugation: whether it served a purpose or not, ban it first!
A while back, when his body had not fully recovered, an exception had been made allowing him to take meals away, but now he had to eat inside the dining hall.
With the room packed to capacity, Wu Youren took his portion of food and, like a handyman, squatted outside the dining hall entrance to eat.
Dignity and image truly didn't matter anymore; getting full was what counted.
The Liang people were quite pleased to see them make fools of themselves, so no one intervened.
Before he had taken more than a few bites, two people walked over, and one of them raised a foot to kick his food tray.
If the tray were truly kicked over, the dining hall would ban him from eating for three days on grounds of "wasting food."
Possessing martial arts, Wu Youren dodged swiftly to the side, shifting two meters away before straightening his posture and standing tall.
Shielding his tray with one hand, he glared at the other party. "Are you out of your mind?"
Both men opposite him were fellow hostages, and both outranked him; the one who had kicked out was none other than Lei Lixing, the second son of an earl.
This man had always looked down on him, though under normal circumstances, he wouldn't bother picking a fight without cause—Wu Youren simply wasn't worth the trouble!
Yet this kick was truly too malicious, and Wu Youren found his patience running thin.
"Hand over your spot," Lei Lixing demanded, expressionless.
He was somewhat thin, but his martial strength was nothing to scoff at. Right now, he didn't even bother offering an excuse, moving to seize it outright.
This was simply too contemptuous. Wu Youren gave a slight smile. "Have your elder brother put in a word, and I'll give it to you!"
Lei Lixing's face darkened instantly. "You... have a death wish!"
His elder brother was the earl's firstborn son, and the two brothers actually had a good relationship.
Unfortunately, their biological mother had passed away early, and the earl had remarried and fathered more children.
The position of the eldest son was rock-solid, but as for the second son... those who knew, knew.
What angered Lei Lixing was not that his elder brother's words could never reach Jin Garden anyway, but that Wu Youren was tearing open his old wounds!
Having lived as hostages in a foreign land for eight years, everyone knew everyone else's circumstances inside and out; finding a sore spot was effortless.
"Enough," came a cold snort from inside the room. It was the concubine-born son of the Duke of Wei speaking in an indifferent tone. "Discuss it properly. Do not lose your dignity as representatives of our state!"
With his status, he likely knew why Wu Youren had been chosen for the roster.
Yet he had no intention of stopping the dispute either, merely emphasizing that infighting among the hostages would make them a laughingstock to the Liang people.
Lei Lixing could afford to be unreasonable with Wu Youren, but he dared not disobey this man.
His mouth twitched, and he glared coldly at the person before him.
After a few breaths, he asked in a low voice, "You don't truly want to die, do you?"
"This is the prince's favor," Wu Youren looked back at him, speaking calmly. "If you object, you can take it up with His Highness."
Lei Lixing certainly had the standing to see the Seventeenth Prince, unlike Wu Youren, who could only gaze upon the prince with respectful eyes from afar.
Yet how could Lei Lixing dare to approach the prince? He sneered, "Making the roster through attempted suicide... You are the disgrace of Great Jin!"
This fellow's intelligence network was clearly somewhat lacking.
Wu Youren had no interest in correcting his misconception.
He smiled faintly. "So you merely think His Highness is unfair. And here I thought... you intended to take first place in the next civil class exam!"
Taking first place in civil studies was virtually equivalent to betraying Great Jin; this baseless accusation was rather venomous.
More crucially, that preceding remark about "His Highness being unfair" was hardly any less lethal.
"You've gone too far, Youren," the person beside Lei Lixing spoke up. "No one said His Highness was unfair—only that he was deceived by you."
Hearing this, Wu Youren nodded. "Oh, so His Highness is easily deceived... I didn't know that before."
"You!" Lei Lixing was on the verge of blowing his top again. This bastard's tongue really begged for a beating.
The companion beside him held him back. "Brother Lixing... propriety!"
After all, the Duke of Wei's son was sitting nearby, and pushing things too far was simply inappropriate.
"You... good!" Lei Lixing bared his teeth. "This isn't over between us!"
A youth's grudges truly sprouted out of nowhere; he gave no thought to what wrong he had committed.
Wu Youren's response was simple: he squatted back down and continued eating.
More than just one or two people had their eyes on his spot, and many were quietly watching the scene unfold.
Relying on his noble background, Lei Lixing had acted the most directly and the most recklessly.
What Lei Lixing feared was that if someone else snatched the spot first, the competitor he would have to face would be far more difficult to handle.
Not that he necessarily feared anyone else, but since taking it from Wu Youren required the least effort, why not act quickly?
Yet he had walked away humiliated, which also made the other covetous onlookers realize something: this youngster was not to be trifled with!
More importantly, with the Duke of Wei's son present, turning violent was out of the question, so... that was all they could do for now.
Wu Youren ate exceptionally fast; scions of nobility born into military lineages were well accustomed to eating this way.
In the blink of an eye, he polished off a heaping platter, then got two more refills, devouring them like a whirlwind before leaving immediately!
A growing youth could eat his parents out of house and home. He was full, but the food lacked fat and oil, so he would get hungry again very soon.
Watching him leave, quite a few people shifted their eyes, calculating in silence.
Wu Youren felt quite helpless inside as well, but there was nothing he could do.
His position on the roster was too conspicuous, and he didn't have the virtue to match the position... no, his strength didn't match the position!
The next day, he attended morning class as usual. When class ended, Yan Sanmin deliberately lagged behind to wait for him.
The female hostages usually dined with the prince, but she had already learned what took place in the dining hall yesterday.
She said solemnly, "You'd better sell that spot. I'm serious!"
So, you were the one who wanted to buy the spot yesterday? Wu Youren couldn't help but suspect.
Yet getting him to agree was utterly impossible. He shook his head slightly. "Sorry, I've sacrificed a great deal!"
At his words, Yan Sanmin's expression turned instantly cold. "Don't you have any sense of what your status really is?"
Her remark implied far more than merely being a baronet's grandson.
If Wu Youren knew Lei Lixing's background, how could others be ignorant of his own?
Yet he replied without batting an eye, "If you think it's improper, Sister Sanmin, you are welcome to raise an objection against my status!"
Yan Sanmin narrowed her small eyes, the fleshy cheeks on her face twitching twice. "Fine. Very good... Looks like you've really come into your own!"
The hostages from Great Jin each had their own reasons for being sent to Liang—a true kaleidoscope of human life.
One thing was certain, however: for them to come and serve as hostages, their identities had all been endorsed by Jin.
Chapter 5