The Poor, Gold-Digging Scholar Is Lavished with Love at the Royal Academy

Jian Qingyan is an impoverished, money-minded scholar who studies hard. As a special admit, he gets into the finest aristocratic school in the capital.

Convinced that his talent has gone unrecognized, he dreams of attaching himself to a powerful patron, rising quickly through the ranks, and reaching the pinnacle of success.

His parents search through the family genealogy and finally find the name of a distant imperial relative from a branch so far removed it could hardly be related. "Son, this is your cousin. His family holds an important government post. If you go to the capital to study and keep on good terms with him, you'll never have to worry about a thing!"

It never occurs to him that his great-grandfather got the name wrong in the genealogy because he was drunk.

When Jian Qingyan meets his cousin on the way to school,

he goes all out to flatter him, acting like the most devoted lackey imaginable and coming up with one thoughtful gesture after another.

He keeps calling him "Cousin" this and "Cousin" that, charming Lu Ancheng, the heir to the throne, so thoroughly that Lu immediately decides to take this country bumpkin under his wing.

With the heir apparent Lu Ancheng as his protector at the royal aristocratic school, Jian Qingyan's life goes smoothly indeed!

Until one day,

seeing how much the heir apparent has come to dote on him, Jian Qingyan figures the time is right and ingratiatingly asks, "Cousin, since we're so close, could you introduce me to a respectable young lady from a good family?"

Lu Ancheng's smile disappears.

"Qingyan," he says, cupping Jian Qingyan's face and forcing him to look at him. "What respectable young lady could possibly be as good as me?"

Theme: It's good to have dreams. Look, this one really came true!