Chapter 453: Simp

Walking a night road.

Encountering a woman hanging from a tree and crying for help.

Count Zheng had seen this kind of opening far too many times.

If the other Demon Kings had all been beside him, he would not have minded rescuing her.

At worst, it would have been a little entertainment to pass the time.

But right now he could not be bothered.

The Princess could not be bothered either.

Count Zheng did not believe for one moment that the Princess’s crossbow bolt had “missed.”

But he genuinely thought her decision to shoot the woman dead without another word while still riding on his back had been beautifully done.

Your family had already been murdered by bandits.

Judging by your appearance, the bandits had probably violated you too.

This mortal world was no longer worth your time.

If you survived, you would likely only continue enduring endless pain and nightmares.

So we’ll send you down to reunite with your family.

Amitabha.

Unfortunately, some matters insisted on dragging you into them.

You could sense the pit ahead.

You could decide to go around it.

Then halfway through the detour you discovered the pit was far larger than you imagined.

At this moment, the woman looked exactly like a malicious ghost.

This world did possess **spirits**.

Setting aside the foreign import that was the Demon Child, Zheng Fan had only recently seen the Regent draw a spirit into his own body.

Earlier still, Zheng Fan had obtained a Jade Figurine Token.

And if one wanted to go even further back—

Sha Tuo Queshi becoming a zombie after death was another manifestation of the same general phenomenon.

But every one of those things was exceedingly rare.

The thing Count Zheng had run into now by comparison felt almost cheap.

Long ago, Count Zheng had already confirmed one thing.

He was no chosen son of Heaven.

Otherwise, how could anyone explain what kind of chosen hero encountered hidden arrows and freak accidents every single time he charged a formation?

So Count Zheng did not believe that simply walking a mountain road at night with a Princess on his back would somehow let him win first prize and stumble across some priceless treasure.

When the female ghost lunged at them the Princess instinctively clutched Count Zheng’s shoulders tighter.

At a time like this, she naturally felt the man beneath her was the person she could rely on most.

And when the Princess tightened her grip—

Count Zheng instinctively shouted:

“Son!”

At a time like this, Count Zheng naturally felt his own son was the person *he* could rely on most.

**Bang!**

The Demon Child shot out from the Princess’s sleeve and slammed directly into the female ghost.

The ghost flew backward like a kite with its string cut.

But the instant it hit the ground it dissolved into a cloud of green mist and scattered.

The Demon Child hovered in the air.

Its body began manifesting.

The shape of an infant appeared.

“A spirit?” the Princess cried in surprise.

She knew her imperial brother carried a spirit beside him.

She had never imagined her own husband possessed one too.

How many secrets was this man still hiding?

But wait.

What had he shouted just now?

The green mist continued spreading.

It seemed to merge with the surrounding environment.

The Demon Child looked faintly confused.

Its gaze swept around the gorge.

It did not look as though it were searching for the female ghost.

Rather it seemed to be searching for something else.

**Twang!**

At that moment, the sharp whistle of an arrow cut through the air.

“Screeeeeeech!”

A high-pitched scream followed.

It was not a human sound.

It resembled some kind of animal.

Suddenly—

Zheng Fan’s vision blurred.

Then almost immediately it returned to normal.

The Demon Child flew straight back.

In Zheng Fan’s restored vision, there was indeed a tree ahead.

There was indeed a rope hanging from it.

But tied to that rope was not a woman.

It was a yellow weasel.

A **huangpizi**.

Below the tree stood a rough ring of stones.

But the fire inside it had gone out long ago.

Judging by the ashes it had been dead for quite some time.

There was a hole in the yellow weasel’s body.

A crossbow bolt was lodged in the tree behind it.

Clearly, that was the Princess’s shot from earlier.

So there had never been any female ghost.

The entire scene had been an illusion created by the yellow weasel.

No wonder the Demon Child had hesitated and searched after appearing.

Clearly, it had sensed something was wrong.

But before it could act again, someone nearby had fired an arrow and broken the illusion for them.

Zheng Fan knew yellow weasels were said to release hallucinogenic gases capable of interfering with the human mind.

The Demon Child’s abilities lay first in direct confrontation against souls and spirits, and second in entering Zheng Fan’s body to enhance his strength.

But hallucinogenic gas at least in theory still belonged to the realm of tangible physical reality.

You could hardly expect the Demon Child to fly out and start developing antidotes like Xue San.

That was not its specialty.

“Were we... bewitched?” the Princess murmured.

Chu territory had many strange creatures.

Of course, compared with the number of humans, such creatures remained extraordinarily rare.

But incidents where mountain spirits and wild anomalies played tricks on people—or even harmed them—were not unheard of.

“Are you two all right?”

At that moment, a middle-aged man stepped out from ahead.

Half his hair had already turned white.

He held a bow.

He looked close to fifty.

“Many thanks for your aid, brave sir,” Count Zheng said.

Given the Demon Child’s ability, a little more time would likely have been enough for it to find the true target and break the illusion.

But the man had still helped them.

So thanks were owed.

The man stopped some distance away, clearly wary.

“Who are you?”

The Princess answered first:

“We’re fugitives.

“My father refuses to let me marry a lowborn man.

“So I had him take me away from home.”

It matched their appearance well.

And it was the most fitting lie.

The man narrowed his eyes.

His gaze swept over Zheng Fan and the Princess once.

Then he said:

“My name is **Jiang Hu**.

“I’m a hunter in these mountains.

“You were just bewitched by a yellow dog.

“A pity.

“My arrow hit the creature, but missed the vital point.

“It still escaped.”

As he spoke—

Jiang Hu looked toward Zheng Fan.

“A lowborn man marrying a noble daughter.

“Heh.

“You’ve got courage.

“You two are on the run, then?

“How about coming to my place for the night?”

“Then we’ll trouble Brother Hu,” the Princess replied.

And so Jiang Hu walked ahead.

Zheng Fan followed with the Princess on his back.

Truthfully, Zheng Fan had wanted to ask from the start why the Green Python called Xiaoqing had given them no warning.

The Demon Child was a soul-form and therefore sensitive toward spiritual abnormalities.

The Green Python, however, was a demon beast.

Whether one called that yellow weasel a huangpizi or a yellow dog if it could confuse the minds of human beings, then clearly it had already become something more than an ordinary animal.

By all logic the Green Python should have detected danger in advance.

But it had given no warning.

More strangely even after this hunter appeared, the Green Python had shown no reaction.

That was deeply abnormal.

Still this was not the right time to discuss it.

Hunters usually possessed excellent hearing.

Jiang Hu brought them to a wooden cabin.

He pushed the door open.

A woman’s voice came from inside.

“You’re back?”

“Yellow dog causing trouble.”

“Again?

“These mountains haven’t been peaceful the past two years.

“Oh?

“You brought people back?”

“They say they’re fugitives.

“I brought them here to rest for one night.”

“All right.

“I’ll prepare something to eat.”

Zheng Fan and the Princess entered.

They saw a woman adding firewood to a stove in the center of the cabin.

She set a pot over it.

Then began pouring water inside.

“This is my wife,” Jiang Hu introduced.

Zheng Fan saluted.

“Greetings, Sister-in-law.”

The Princess also saluted.

“Greetings, Sister Jiang.”

“Oh, why all the ceremony?

“You’re making me embarrassed.

“Sit first.

“I’ll cook something warm for you.”

Jiang Hu gestured for Zheng Fan and the Princess to sit beside the stove and warm themselves.

Then he asked:

“Where do you plan to flee?”

Before Count Zheng could answer the Princess spoke directly:

“We haven’t decided completely.

“We thought we’d hide in the mountains first.

“Now I think we may cross through them and enter Jin territory.”

“Jin?” the hunter asked in surprise.

“There’s a war going on there.”

The Princess nodded, looking faintly aggrieved.

“But Chu has no place left for the two of us.”

Hearing this, Jiang Hu clicked his tongue.

“Heh.

“Then it seems Sister-in-law’s family background is truly not simple.”

A woman capable of saying all of Chu could no longer contain them had to possess an extremely high family background.

An ordinary Chu noble family could not wield that kind of influence.

“Make room.”

The woman approached.

First, she dropped several slices of cured meat into the pot.

Then she added broad sweet-potato noodles.

Finally she covered the pot.

“Many thanks, Sister-in-law,” Zheng Fan said with a smile.

“Meeting is fate.

“We live up here in the mountains.

“Most days there’s no one else around to share a meal with.

“We rarely have guests.”

Jiang Hu smiled and nodded.

Then said:

“Crossing from here into Jin is a long road.

“The mountain paths are difficult.

“And you’ll still need to cross several fast streams.”

The easiest route was naturally Zhennan Pass.

But Chu armies were massed there.

Scouts were everywhere.

Count Zheng obviously could not pass through it.

Still—

Zheng Fan did not answer.

He waited for the Princess to speak.

Because from the moment she introduced them earlier, Count Zheng had already sensed something odd.

News of the disaster at the Qu Clan wedding had already spread through Chu.

Too many nobles had witnessed it personally.

The impact had been too enormous.

There was simply no way to suppress it.

In fact, during the journey while Zheng Fan traveled under the pretense of escorting grain toward Zhennan Pass, the merchants around them had discussed almost nothing else.

Some beat their chests and stamped their feet, lamenting how badly Great Chu had lost face.

Some gloated over the Qu Clan’s humiliation.

Others sighed that if Count Pingye of Yan escaped Chu alive with the Princess, the accumulated prestige he would gain would become almost unimaginable.

Count Zheng often crouched nearby and listened.

The merchants talked enthusiastically.

And Count Zheng listened just as enthusiastically.

For now, the story had probably spread mostly through Chu territory.

Give it another ten days or half a month and the news should reach Yan and Qian.

It was destined to become the biggest piece of “popular entertainment among the common people” at the beginning of the year.

So even if Jiang Hu was a hunter who usually lived in the mountains who could guarantee he had not gone down recently and heard about it?

If he *had* heard then the Princess’s earlier introduction contained an extremely obvious hint.

But Count Zheng did not believe the Princess had overlooked that.

She was not some foolish sweet girl.

If she spoke like this she naturally had a reason.

And Count Zheng was not worried she would betray him either.

If she wanted to turn against him, she could have done so inside the imperial villa.

There would have been no need to humiliate the Qu Clan and imperial house first, then suddenly reverse sides now.

“Yes.

“So I want to ask Brother Hu to guide us through the mountains,” the Princess said.

The woman froze faintly.

Apparently, she had not expected the Princess to make that request.

Zheng Fan, meanwhile, noticed the hairpin in the woman’s bun.

Whether in his previous life or this one, Count Zheng had never possessed much interest in expensive jewelry, gold, silver, or jade.

But after rising in status, his living conditions had improved.

Expensive ornaments and accessories had simply become ordinary household objects.

It was much like Puyi walking into an antique shop:

*I never systematically studied these things.*

*But my family used to have piles of them.*

That hairpin was not cheap.

And the material was not ordinary gold or silver.

Then there was the woman’s extravagance when adding noodles to the pot.

Two broken strands had fallen beside Zheng Fan’s feet.

She had not even bothered picking them up and throwing them back in.

Jiang Hu shook his head.

“Sorry.”

A direct refusal.

Count Zheng silently raised the bowl of water before him and took a sip.

He did not say anything stupid like *I’ll pay you silver.*

Clearly, this household did not lack money.

Or at least they did not care much about it.

The Princess pursed her lips.

Then asked:

“Is General Gongsun still well?”

Jiang Hu’s gaze instantly sharpened.

The woman stumbled backward in fright and struck the table.

Count Zheng continued drinking water.

His expression remained calm and composed.

As though everything had been under his control from the beginning.

In truth, he had no damned idea who General Gongsun was.

Jiang Hu licked his lips.

“Girl.

“Who exactly are you?”

The Princess did not rush to expose her identity.

Instead, she smiled.

“In the past, the Gongsun Clan may not have been a vast great noble house like the Qu Clan.

“But relying on its beast-taming skills, generation after generation of Gongsuns controlled the post of **Steward of the Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate**.

“Countless great clans and powerful nobles treated them with courtesy merely to obtain one fine beast.

“They could truly be called an honored house.

“I never expected them to fall into circumstances like this.

“It is rather lamentable.”

Jiang Hu did not reach for his saber or bow.

He merely clapped his hands.

“Interesting.

“I never imagined that even after hiding here, Phoenix Nest would still find me.”

“You misunderstand.

“I am not from Phoenix Nest.

“Neither is my man.

“We truly are merely fugitives.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

The Princess silently opened her clothing and exposed her left arm.

Hardened wax still covered it.

But through the wax, the Fire Phoenix mark beneath remained visible.

The woman cried out directly:

“Imperial clan!”

Jiang Hu looked hesitantly toward his wife.

The woman nodded firmly.

“It is the Fire Phoenix mark.”

Thoughtfulness entered Jiang Hu’s eyes.

Then, he suddenly drew his hunting saber.

But the blade did not point toward the Princess.

It pointed toward Count Zheng.

Count Zheng remained seated.

His expression did not change.

**Mount Tai may collapse before one’s eyes without altering one’s expression.**

That was something he had practiced professionally.

The woman, however, clearly possessed broader knowledge than her husband.

“The day before yesterday when I went down the mountain, I heard that something enormous happened in Great Chu not long ago.

“They say that on the day of the Qu Clan’s wedding with the Princess, a Count from Yan seized the Fourth Princess in front of everyone.

“I truly never imagined— that living deep in these mountains, I would somehow encounter Count Pingye of Great Yan.”

Count Zheng set down the bowl.

He lifted the lid from the pot.

Looked inside.

Then said:

“I wonder if the noodles are ready yet.”

He had no intention of joining the conversation.

The Princess could handle it.

When it came to being a hands-off boss—

Count Zheng was also a professional.

“Princess...

“Your Highness...”

The woman first knelt before the Princess.

Jiang Hu saw this.

His eyes showed hesitation.

The Princess ignored him.

She turned, personally helped the woman rise, and asked:

“May I ask Sister-in-law’s surname?”

“This sinful woman’s surname is Gongsun.

“My name is **Gongsun Ling**.”

“So Sister-in-law truly comes from the Gongsun Clan.”

“Yes.

“This sinful woman’s husband once served as one of my father’s personal guards.

“On the night Ying Capital changed hands, my husband protected me as we escaped the capital.

“We hid here in the mountains afterward.”

“You have suffered, Sister-in-law.”

The Gongsun Clan had inherited the position of Steward of the Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate for generations.

But nearly a year ago the clan had suddenly disappeared.

The reason for its destruction was simple.

The Gongsun Clan had followed the Eldest Prince.

After the late Emperor died, the Eldest Prince was the first to raise trouble.

He intended to seize control of the court directly inside the capital, Ying Capital.

The Gongsun Clan mobilized its household troops and many demon beasts from the Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate to join him.

But the Fourth Prince had already secured the allegiance of the Imperial Clan Guards.

Several Imperial Clan Guard formations entered Ying Capital at once.

The Shaman Rectors stood behind the Fourth Prince as well.

The Eldest Prince’s uprising inside Ying Capital was crushed without mercy.

The Eldest Prince himself was deliberately allowed to escape the capital so he could continue attracting followers and expose them all for later cleanup.

The Gongsun Clan was exterminated that very night.

This woman was Gongsun Ling.

Her father should have been the head of the Gongsun Clan.

Which meant the Princess’s own elder brother was the man who had exterminated the family of the woman before her.

Jiang Hu looked toward Zheng Fan.

Slowly he lowered his saber.

Then sat again.

Zheng Fan picked up a ladle.

Seeing both women occupied, he began stirring the pot himself so the noodles would not stick to the bottom.

The woman was indeed a Gongsun clanswoman.

But the person who truly possessed ability was probably Jiang Hu.

That also explained why the Green Python had deliberately avoided him.

Back when the Princess used her own Fire Phoenix Essence Blood to attract the Green Python, imperial custom dictated that the beast would later be handed to the Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate for taming.

The Green Python had likely sensed Jiang Hu’s familiar beast-tamer aura.

That was why it deliberately kept away.

So a beast was still only a beast.

When the critical moment arrived you simply could not rely on the damned thing.

Count Zheng decided that once they returned, the Green Python would have to be handed over to the Demon Kings for proper retraining.

A little education in **loyalty** would do it good.

And thinking about matters now the yellow dog spirit from earlier had probably been arranged by Jiang Hu as well.

Essentially, he had placed a sentry post in the gorge.

Whenever movement occurred there, he could detect it and come out to respond.

A talented man.

Jiang Hu spoke:

“Ah-Ling.

“She is your enemy.

“Say the word.

“I’ll kill her and avenge your entire family.”

Count Zheng shook his head.

He sighed inwardly:

*What a simp.*

Still this simp had clearly succeeded.

After all, the woman’s entire family had been destroyed.

Without this simp, she probably would not have survived.

Jiang Hu himself was already a criminal in Great Chu and had no choice but to hide here and there.

Yet after meeting Great Yan’s Count Pingye, the first thing out of his mouth was still:

*If my wife wants revenge, I’ll kill the Princess for her.*

This man probably possessed very little ambition.

An ambitious man would not care what his wife thought at a moment like this.

He would already be figuring out how to secure a road forward for himself.

As for what this woman would choose—

Count Zheng had already guessed.

And Count Zheng believed the Princess had probably guessed as well.

Living in hiding deep inside the mountains, yet still wearing jewelry.

Cooking food without the slightest instinct for thrift.

Apparently not even considering how much risk her husband took every time he went down the mountain to purchase supplies.

Simply put this Miss Gongsun was absolutely not the type of woman willing to spend the rest of her life honestly enduring hardship.

“No.

“No revenge.

“No revenge anymore,” the woman hurriedly said, waving her hands.

“Let it all end.

“Let it all end.”

The extermination of her clan she did not want to pursue it.

The Princess said:

“That was my imperial brother’s doing.

“What does it have to do with me?

“Besides, everyone served their own master at the time.

“The victor became king.

“The loser became bandit.

“That was all.

“And now this Princess broke off my marriage first.

“I have already fallen out with my imperial brother.

“No matter how one calculates the old debt— it cannot be placed on this Princess’s head.”

“Yes.

“Yes.

“It isn’t the Princess’s fault.

“Not the Princess’s fault,” the woman immediately agreed.

Jiang Hu sighed.

“Your Highness intends to go with Count Pingye into Jin territory?”

Zheng Fan continued stirring the bottom of the pot.

He smiled.

“What else?”

“I can pretend I never saw you.

“That is because I bear hatred toward the Regent.

“But I will not guide you through the mountains.

“Because I am a man of Chu.”

“We are all Xia people in truth.

“Eight hundred years ago, we were one family.”

“Heh.”

Jiang Hu looked utterly disdainful.

Count Zheng began ladling noodles into his bowl.

The Princess held Gongsun Ling’s hand and called toward Zheng Fan:

“Husband.

“Stop focusing only on eating.

“Say something.”

Jiang Hu said:

“Nothing he says will matter.”

Count Zheng slurped noodles while agreeing silently:

*Correct.*

*Nothing I say to you matters.*

*You aren’t the one who makes decisions in this household anyway.*

Count Zheng ate half a bowl of noodles and two slices of cured meat.

Then he set down his chopsticks.

“First.

“If you follow this Count into Yan, your life there naturally cannot compare with the Gongsun Clan’s former splendor in Ying Capital.

“But this Count can guarantee fine clothes and excellent food.

“Twenty maidservants.

“Twenty household servants.

“Cooks counted separately.”

This stew really was not good.

“Second.

“This Count can swear to Heaven that I will protect your safety.

“Inside Yan territory, Phoenix Nest will not be allowed to act presumptuously.”

The first two points were merely about daily life.

The third was the real heart of the offer.

“Third.

“His Majesty the Emperor of Great Yan will establish a new **Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate** for the Gongsun Clan.

“The office of Steward will be created.

“Brother Jiang Hu will serve as its first Steward.

“The second Steward— will be your child.

“That office will pass hereditarily without replacement.

“The former glory of the Gongsun Clan— will rise again.”

Jiang Hu’s eyes widened in fury.

He shouted:

“Dream on!”

Beside the Princess—

Gongsun Ling shouted directly at her own husband:

“Fine!

“I agree!”

“...”

Jiang Hu.

Count Zheng began serving himself a second bowl of noodles.

They tasted bad.

But he was genuinely hungry.

Jiang Hu looked at his wife and tried to persuade her:

“Ah-Ling.

“We are Chu people.

“How can we defect to Yan dogs?

“We...”

“If you refuse—

I’ll kill myself right now!”

“The Gongsun Clan was still a noble house of Great Chu!

“How can we do something like—”

“Are you trying to force me to die?”

“Private vengeance is private vengeance.

“National hatred is national hatred.

“The Yan people massacred at Yupan—”

Gongsun Ling pulled the hairpin from her bun.

She pressed it against her throat.

And looked directly at Jiang Hu.

The calm, virtuous woman from earlier had disappeared completely.

In her place stood a woman filled with limitless longing for a better life.

The Princess added one final cut:

“Even this Princess is going to Yan.

“What would be wrong with the Gongsun Clan doing the same?”

“Yes.

“The Princess is right.

“The Princess is right.”

As though receiving encouragement, Gongsun Ling pressed the hairpin harder against her neck.

Blood already welled around the point.

She screamed:

“Jiang Hu!

“Do you agree or not?!”

Jiang Hu gritted his teeth.

Count Zheng lowered his head and continued eating noodles.

Jiang Hu stood.

Retreated two steps.

Then cupped his fists toward Zheng Fan.

“Greetings—

Count Pingye!”

[End of Chapter 453]