Chapter 940: The Prince Arrives

At noon the following day, the sun blazed overhead.

Longyuan lay horizontally across two stones, and Big Girl sat on the sword.

Both small hands rubbed her belly, conveying one message with perfect clarity:

This Princess is hungry again.

Zheng Lin, whose bruised and swollen face had not yet recovered, lay slanted nearby.

With Big Brother here, the two of them...

No.

More precisely, he... could finally rest.

While traveling that morning, Tian Tian had casually caught two wild rabbits.

After skinning and cleaning them beside a stream, he built a roasting rack nearby, skewered the rabbits, and began barbecuing them.

While cleaning the rabbits, he casually caught two fish from the stream as well and put them into the iron wok to make fish soup.

As for the staple food, he used roasted flour carried by eastern Jin soldiers.

To make it taste better, Tian Tian mixed the flour into a paste and pressed it around the inside edge of the iron wok, turning it into flat cakes.

They already had seasonings.

Nothing was lacking.

And Tian Tian genuinely cooked well.

The meal smelled wonderful.

“All right. We can eat.”

“Yay!”

Big Girl immediately sprang up and hurried over.

Zheng Lin burped.

The cloying sweetness of all that shaqima was still stuck in his throat.

He was not actually hungry.

But in front of this elder brother... he did not dare behave too willfully.

In truth, most of the children raised inside Prince Pingxi Residence were allowed to grow up fairly freely.

Everyone understood the rules.

But nobody obsessed over rules.

That was mainly because their biological father had always been an easygoing man.

Zheng Lin, however, knew this elder brother was different.

When it was time to eat, he ate.

When it was time to sleep, he slept.

When it was time for lessons, he studied.

When it was time to practice the saber, he practiced.

He always observed the principle that whatever ought to be done at a given time should be done properly.

“Brother, I’ll just have some fish soup. Big Sister, you eat more.”

“Okay,” Big Girl answered.

Ever since running away from home, this was the best meal Big Girl had eaten.

Her appetite was genuinely astonishing.

But that was not strange.

Spirit children could obtain strength far beyond ordinary people while still very young.

Naturally... their bodies needed to consume much more as well.

Only... while eating...

Big Girl sat directly in front of the wok, eating with tremendous enthusiasm.

Tian Tian and Zheng Lin, meanwhile, half-crouched with their backs toward each other, each facing one direction.

They entrusted their backs to one another.

“Brother, how are things in the army?” Zheng Lin asked while drinking soup.

“Pretty good,” Tian Tian answered. “Following Marshal Gou, I can learn a great deal.”

Big Girl said:

“Mother says Uncle Gou’s greatest ability is knowing how to deal with people.”

Although Gou Moli had spent these years guarding Fan City, he had returned to Fengxin City several times.

Every time he came back, he took the initiative to play with the children.

As the commander responsible for an entire region under Prince Pingxi Residence, he had even voluntarily crouched down and let Big Girl ride him like a horse.

That was not some form of self-humiliation.

Gou Moli genuinely liked Big Girl.

Perhaps... when he looked at her, he could see something of that little Commandery Princess from years ago.

Not in any lewd sense.

Back then, while he was still at Marquis Zhenbei Residence, the young Commandery Princess had once lashed him across the face with a riding whip and left a scar.

At that time, she had stood high above him.

He had been dust beside the road.

Now... he could accompany the little Princess and play with her.

The little Princess would smile at him.

After riding on his back for a while, she would even personally fetch food and drink for him, then sweetly call him “Uncle Gou.”

The satisfaction Gou Moli felt inside was genuine.

The former Savage King had spent his rise groveling to one person after another.

Every other sentence called himself some household hound or Little Dog.

On the surface, he seemed almost unbearably worldly and calculating.

But deep inside... his emotions had always been rich and delicate.

“Brother, do you fight battles here?” Zheng Lin asked.

“Small scraps. Compared with the campaigns I joined Father on years ago, they’re not worth mentioning.”

Tian Tian had once been carried into battle by Zheng Fan himself.

Zheng Lin curled his lip.

He actually wanted to say that he wanted an experience like that too.

But whenever something required him to ask his own biological father for it as “the son”... he always felt strangely awkward.

At that moment, Big Girl, chewing on a rabbit head, spoke.

“Little Brother, when we see Dad, I’ll ask him for you. I’ll tell Dad to take you onto the battlefield too.”

At certain moments... she really did behave like an elder sister.

Tian Tian smiled.

“Little Brother can start as one of Father’s personal guards.”

“What does a personal guard need to do?” Zheng Lin asked curiously.

Tian Tian pointed toward the iron wok in front of them.

“This. And you need to make it taste good.”

“...” Zheng Lin.

“Actually, you can learn a lot staying beside Father inside the central army’s command tent. Brother Xianba spent several years as Father’s personal guard too.”

Chen Xianba was now Vanguard General at Zhennan Pass.

He commanded three thousand elite cavalry.

Nominally, his duty was to clear away Chu feelers extending northward and deal with Chu scouts.

In practice, he often boldly led cavalry across the Wei River to raid horses on the far bank.

“Oh, right, Big Girl. I still haven’t asked. Why did you suddenly decide to run away from home?”

Big Girl blinked.

She seemed to be deciding whether she should say she missed “Eldest Uncle” or “Uncle Gou.”

Zheng Lin, as her younger brother, spoke directly.

“Big Sister missed you.”

Big Girl’s face instantly turned bright red.

Her first instinct was to rush over and viciously pinch the soft flesh on her brother’s arm.

But Brother Tian was sitting right in front of her.

She was too embarrassed.

“Is that so? Big Brother missed both of you too,” Tian Tian answered. “After we finish eating, we’ll keep moving this afternoon. There’s a ferry crossing ahead. Do you want to continue to Fan City, or go straight home?”

“I...”

Big Girl looked toward her younger brother.

Speak!

Zheng Lin sighed helplessly.

“Fan City.”

“Good.”

At that moment, Big Girl once again “considered the larger situation.”

“If we still don’t go home, will Dad worry?”

Zheng Lin badly wanted to say:

Do you think Brother Tian came all this way into the mountains without even riding a Pi Beast just to take a stroll?

“No. You’re with me now. Father and the mothers will be at ease.”

“Mm-hm!”

“Big Girl, eat this rabbit leg too.”

“Okay! Thank you, Brother Tian.”

After the three finished lunch, they continued south along the riverbank.

By dusk, they reached the ferry docks.

Under Tian Tian’s arrangements, the three boarded a ship traveling south toward Fan City.

Several days later... they arrived at Fan City’s river dock.

The gangplank was laid down.

Tian Tian led the two children off the ship.

At that moment... a voice shouted from the docks ahead:

“Well, well, well! Let this Little Dog take a look at who’s come! Who’s come? Ah-ha! Why, it’s our family’s prettiest, cutest, gentlest little Princess!”

“Uncle Gou!”

Big Girl ran toward Gou Moli.

Gou Moli stepped forward, scooped her into his arms, and spun around twice.

“Oh, Uncle missed you to death! Did you like the toys I had people send you last time?”

“I liked them!”

“Good, good. As long as you liked them.”

Gou Moli set Big Girl down.

Then... he very seriously straightened his clothes and knelt before Zheng Lin.

“This general kowtows before Your Highness the Heir Prince. May Your Highness live a thousand years!”

“Rise, Uncle Gou.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Then...

Gou Moli prepared to salute Big Girl as well.

Big Girl tugged at his clothes.

“Uncle Gou, I’m hungry.”

“Good, good, good. The food’s been prepared long ago. Your Uncle Gou personally chose the menu. I guarantee our little Princess will be satisfied.”

“Uncle Gou, I want to ride horsy.”

“Come on, come on!”

Gou Moli crouched down.

Big Girl climbed onto his back.

Carrying her, Gou Moli headed toward the city gate.

“Uncle Gou, I missed you.”

“Uncle missed you too. Heh-heh.”

Tian Tian walked behind them with Zheng Lin.

Many cavalrymen stood around the outer edge of the docks.

Even after the children disembarked, those riders did not leave.

Zheng Lin turned and looked back toward the waterway they had come from.

He said nothing.

“Brother, this place is really prosperous,” Zheng Lin said.

“It still falls well short of Fengxin City.”

“Fengxin City is too cramped,” Zheng Lin replied.

Tian Tian smiled without answering.

Fengxin City was now the greatest city in all the Jin lands.

This little brother of his... had simply grown tired of living there.

“Little Brother, once you’re a little older, Big Brother will suggest to Father that you come train in the army with me.”

“I’ve already grown up.”

“You’re still little.”

The group entered the city and arrived at Gou Moli’s Grand Commander’s residence.

Gou Moli had prepared an extremely lavish welcoming banquet.

Big Girl ate happily.

After the meal, Gou Moli ordered serving maids to enter and take the children away to wash and rest.

“Little Brother, I’m so full.”

Big Girl walked ahead as she spoke.

“Mm.”

“Little Brother, why do you look so distracted?” Big Girl asked curiously.

“Big Sister, are you going to bathe now?”

“Yep. I haven’t bathed for so many days. If we were at home, Mother would definitely scold me.”

“Then go ahead.”

“Okay.”

Big Girl entered her room and told the serving maids beside her:

“Help me bathe. I want to smell nice when I go see Dad later.”

...

Zheng Lin, meanwhile, was led into the room assigned to him.

“Your Highness, we...”

“Leave. I want to be alone. I don’t need anyone attending me.”

“But, Your Highness...”

Zheng Lin raised his head.

His voice turned cold.

“Get out.”

“This servant withdraws!”

“This servant withdraws!”

The maids immediately left.

Zheng Lin did not hurry to bathe.

Instead, he lay down on the bed first.

After lying there for a while, he climbed back up, pushed open the rear window, and silently observed the surroundings.

Then... he slipped out the window and lightly flipped onto the roof.

Big Sister had already been delivered here safely.

Now... it was time for him to truly run away from home.

Yes.

If Big Girl’s escape had come from a child’s pure and simple mischief... then Zheng Lin, Heir Prince of Prince Pingxi Residence, had run away because of a sudden impulse.

But inside that impulse... there was also a certain inevitability.

“Uncle Gou and Brother Tian should have gone to the docks to receive Father. Master should be beside Father right now too. This is the best time to leave.”

Zheng Lin’s movement techniques were extremely agile.

The Grand Commander’s residence was heavily guarded.

But that kind of defense possessed one enormous flaw.

It was extremely effective at stopping outsiders from entering.

When someone already inside wanted to leave... it created blind spots instead.

Add the fact that Zheng Lin’s movement techniques came from Xue San.

A true master of concealment.

Thud.

At last... after avoiding one patrol after another, Zheng Lin dropped over the outer wall of the Grand Commander’s residence.

He immediately entered a nearby civilian house.

When he emerged again, he had already changed clothes.

He had even altered his appearance slightly.

“Mother’s disguise paste really is useful. No wonder Father wanted to learn it too.”

Zheng Lin knew Father cared deeply about saving face.

That was why, at night, he often had Mother disguise herself and change outfits so Father could “study.”

Once he stepped outside...

Zheng Lin made his gaze look slightly dull and tugged faintly at the corner of his mouth.

In an instant, he looked no different from the Chu refugee children along the road.

He did not dare waste time.

Zheng Lin quickly latched onto a convoy transporting supplies from the city to the army camps outside.

Using his small body and nimble limbs, he clung beneath a wagon, evaded inspection, and left the city.

Once outside, after separating from the supply convoy, Zheng Lin began running at full speed.

He knew that the moment people inside discovered he was missing, enormous numbers of men would be mobilized to search for him.

Now... he should be safe.

Unless... the one accompanying Father this time was Third Dad.

“Achoo!”

A painfully familiar sneeze sounded from behind him.

Zheng Lin opened his mouth.

He looked helpless.

But he still turned around.

“Third Dad, Father really has no sense of justice. You’re already so busy, and he still made you come along.”

Xue San waved the little scissors in his hand.

While trimming his nose hairs, he said:

“Isn’t that obvious? Big Girl is one thing. The problem is you, you little monkey. If your godfather didn’t come, who knows where the hell you’d bounce off to.”

“Hehe. I knew you came, Godfather. That’s why I wanted to show you specially what I learned from you. How was it? I didn’t embarrass you, did I?”

“I followed behind you hanging onto your tail the whole way, and you still have the nerve to say that?”

“Right now, I’m obviously still far inferior to you, Godfather.”

“Exactly. Which is why you shouldn’t be in such a hurry. You’re still small.”

“I’m not small.”

“Come on, then. Let’s compare!”

Third Master spread his legs and rolled his hips.

“...” Zheng Lin.

“You haven’t even grown hair yet and you dare talk to your godfather about comparing sizes?”

“Even after it grows in, I probably still won’t be able to compare with you, Godfather...”

“Enough. Enough nonsense. You’ve played enough and caused enough trouble. Come back with me.”

“Godfather, can’t you just close one eye? Let me wander outside alone for a while. Once I’ve had enough, I’ll come back myself.”

“What do you think?”

“Godfather has always doted on me most.”

“Lin’er, you don’t understand. The world outside is very dangerous.”

“Godfather, you should say that to Big Sister.”

“Ah.”

Xue San rubbed his hands, pulled out two daggers, and scraped one against the other.

“Godfather will ask you one more time. Are you coming back with me or not? You can say no. Then your godfather will cut the tendons in your hands and feet and carry you back. Your bones are sturdy anyway. Your mother can stitch you back together afterward, and you can have Dad Ming replenish some blood for you. No big deal.”

Zheng Lin raised both hands.

He knew...

Third Master was absolutely capable of doing it.

All of his godfathers loved him dearly.

Zheng Lin knew that very clearly.

The way they treated him was obviously different from how they treated Big Girl.

But his godfathers were not all gentle fathers...

By comparison, the biological father who sometimes enjoyed beating him was actually the one who tolerated him most.

When those godfathers taught him their skills, the methods of punishment and the cruelty of the process... were things ordinary people could hardly imagine.

Xue San walked up to Zheng Lin.

He reached out and rubbed the boy’s head.

“Blink once, and our Lin’er has already grown as tall as me. Ah. Time spares no one.”

Zheng Lin smiled.

Then patted his own shoulder.

“Hehe.”

Xue San climbed onto Zheng Lin’s back.

Zheng Lin reached back, supported Xue San’s legs, and carried him as they walked back.

“Lin’er, don’t blame your father. The time simply isn’t right yet. At the rate you’re improving, wait a few more years. Where beneath Heaven won’t you be able to go? If some accident happened to you now... your biological father and mother would actually be fine. They’d probably manage to come to terms with it.”

“...” Zheng Lin.

“But we wouldn’t. The rest of us... we’re all counting on you.”

“I understand, Godfather.”

“Good boy. Wait until you’re older. Worst case, several of us can specifically accompany you while you travel the world, just like we accompanied your father back then. Mm. Traveling with you would probably be much more interesting than traveling with your father.”

“Godfather, I’ve always been curious. You godfathers were all so formidable. Why did all of you choose to follow my father... that man?”

“Lin’er, I know you’ve always looked down on your father somewhat. But just as without your father, there would be no you, the same principle applies: without your father, there would be no us.”

Zheng Lin laughed.

“Does that really count as the same principle?”

Xue San nodded very seriously.

“It does.”

Zheng Lin continued carrying Xue San.

“Also, I understand why you look down on your father. At the beginning, several of us felt the same way. Your father is the sort of man who makes endless trouble, acts pretentious, and is unpleasant no matter where you look. He constantly gives you the urge to use a...”

“An axe.”

“Exactly, an axe... Hm?”

Xue San rapped Zheng Lin sharply on the back of the head.

“You little brat. Is that a line you’re allowed to finish?”

“Ugh...”

“Do you have any idea how much suffering that idiot Dad Li endured because of that one sentence? But your father... he does have his charm. At the beginning, the reason we followed him was because we had no choice. There was a debt of gratitude involved, and also... whatever. The point is, we had to follow him. But for your father to reach the position he occupies today, did he rely on us? Yes. About half. The other half of this entire foundation was something your father personally earned. Without your father, we wouldn’t have walked this smoothly either. And another thing. Don’t blame your father for liking Big Girl more than you ever since you were little. You could try sweetening your mouth too. Say a few pleasant things to him. Look at Tian Tian when he was little. So obedient. So sensible. You brought this on yourself.”

“You want me to lick my father?” Zheng Lin shook his head. “I can’t do it. How cheap does someone have to be to do something like that?”

“You brat! Give me those hand and foot tendons!”

After another round of scuffling...

Zheng Lin had no choice but to plead for mercy and put Xue San back onto his back.

“Godfather, when can the seal between my brows finally be removed?”

“Heh. Still a long time. Even with the seal, you still suffer episodes every so often. Without it, tell me: would you be a person or a demon?”

“I actually don’t think being a demon would be bad.”

“Your godfather agrees.”

“I also think ‘Zheng Lin’ doesn’t sound as good as ‘Mo Lin’—Demon Lin.”

“Your godfather agrees.”

“So...”

“But Lin’er, a true demon is not some madman who has lost his mind. That is a beast. A demon is not some idiot that runs wild because it cannot control its own strength. The original meaning of demon... is freedom.”

“I was trying to pursue freedom, wasn’t I? And then you, Godfather...”

Xue San suddenly caught a dragonfly that happened to fly past.

Crack.

He crushed it to death.

Then asked:

“It was free, right?”

He paused.

Then asked again:

“Was it free?”

...

A large ship reached the dock.

A carpet had already been laid across the deck.

Brocade-Clad personal guards descended first in orderly ranks, their expressions solemn.

Then... a figure dressed in a white python robe stepped onto the carpet.

In an instant...

Gou Moli, Grand Commander of Fan City, together with all the generals beneath him and the armored soldiers standing guard around the docks, knelt in perfect unison.

Their voices thundered:

“We welcome Your Highness!”

[End of Chapter 940]