Chapter 53 Jiangnan, ah, it's a wonderful place…

In fact, Fenglin Town is located between Yejing and Jiangnan, about the same distance from both sides. Therefore, the group traveled early and late and finally arrived in Jiangnan on the last day of April.

As the carriage traveled along the official road, Seventeen couldn't help but feel a little sentimental. Everyone said that Jiangnan was a wealthy and prosperous place, and even the official road here was better built than in other places.

The carriage was very discreet, but the guards recognized it as belonging to the Prince of Huainan's residence. So they simply lifted the curtain to confirm its identity, bowed, and let the person in.

Seventeen lifted the curtain and peered outside, her curiosity piqued.

The customs and atmosphere in Jiangnan are somewhat different from those in Yejing, which can be seen from the clothing of the people.

The men of Yejing dressed more ruggedly, emphasizing practicality. If they were to be considered handsome, they could only rely on their faces. The women, on the other hand, preferred more dignified dark colors, and their embroidery often featured various animals, showcasing the northern style. They also had a habit of wearing gold and silver, which jingled and jingled, making them seem worth a fortune as they walked.

The men from Jiangnan seem to be more gentle and refined. Seventeen thought of Xie Qingyan, who dressed like someone from Jiangnan.

Women from Jiangnan seem to prefer colors like peach, pink, and yellow. Their clothes are lively, cute, and graceful. Their waists are as supple as flowing water, and their necks and hands are adorned with many ornaments, though at first glance, most of them are made of jade, perhaps because the area is rich in jade.

Although their style and attire differed, the smiles on their faces and the incomprehensible shouts they uttered were exactly the same as those in Yejing.

Seventeen lowered the curtain and laughed, "How lively!"

Long Zhaoming chuckled and said, "That's for sure. Jiangnan is the place that pays the most tribute to Yejing every year. It's no joke that it's the richest place in the world."

Mingyue glanced at him, and Long Zhaoming immediately put down his crossed leg and coughed lightly to cover up his slight embarrassment.

Seventeen, though confused, still clapped her hands knowingly: "Then the Prince's mansion must be quite luxurious, right?"

"Ah, uh, no, my brother previously... strictly forbade us from squandering money..."

Long Zhaoming's guilty eyes darted around, but he dared not look at the bright moon.

"I see. Then Your Majesty is truly..."

Seventeen thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with a suitable word. He hadn't read many books, and at this moment he was at a loss for words.

"Really what?"

Long Zhaoming looked at Seventeen with an air of anticipation, then secretly turned to look at Mingyue.

Seventeen scratched his head, thinking for a long time but unable to come up with a suitable word.

"Yes, His Majesty is very good!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage suddenly lurched, nearly causing all three people inside to fall to the ground.

Long Zhaoming immediately frowned and asked in a cold voice, "What's going on?"

"Your Highness, uh, why don't you come out and take a look?"

Xiao Mowen's voice came from outside, sounding somewhat hesitant and surprised.

"What are you looking at?"

He lifted the curtain and saw a person lying face down on the ground outside the carriage, not knowing whether he was dead or not.

Why is there someone here?

Long Zhaoming jumped off the carriage, and some commoners who recognized him quickly explained to him: "Your Highness, this person has been on the street for a long time. We don't know where he came from. The government came looking for him, but he refused to go with them and didn't say anything. We don't know if he's mute or what."

"Can't you speak?"

After thanking the man, Long Zhaoming squatted down next to him and nudged him, but there was no response.

"Xiao Mowen, take the person back first, then ask someone to come and take a look."

Xiao Mowen readily agreed, picked the man up with one hand and tossed him outside the carriage. Long Zhaoming greeted the nearby people, then climbed into the carriage and continued on his way to the Prince's Mansion.

Seventeen stood inside the door, observing the situation outside. After Long Zhaoming entered, he asked, "Is this person still alive?"

"They're alive, let's take them back first. We can't just leave them in the car like this."

Soon, the carriage arrived at the Prince's mansion. Xiao Mowen handed the people over to the steward and then led the carriage to the backyard to be tied up. Long Zhaoming, Seventeen, and Mingyue jumped out of the carriage and greeted the steward.

"Uncle Wang—I'm back—"

Long Zhaoming ran happily into the courtyard. This was the first time he had ever been so happy, and he was a little surprised. Mingyue smiled and explained to him, "Your Highness brought Uncle back from Yejing. Um... he is a servant from Your Highness's mother's family. He has watched Your Highness grow up."

Seventeen blinked. His Highness's mother, isn't that Consort Shu? She's a servant in Consort Shu's household, so it's normal for her to have a close relationship with the Prince.

Consort Shu's surname was Wu. Although she wasn't considered a prominent family in Yejing, she was still well-known. However, in recent years, no one from the Wu family had entered officialdom, and they had gradually fallen into obscurity.

Uncle Wang was a servant in the Wu family back then. He could be said to have watched Consort Shu grow up and then watched her get married.

When Long Zhaoming was sixteen, he was granted a fief. At that time, Consort Shu was still alive, so he assigned his uncle to the fief. When Consort Shu returned to her maternal clan in her childhood, the two brothers were always taken care of by their uncle.

Mingyue's gaze softened considerably; he hadn't seen Uncle Wang in a long time.

After greeting Long Zhaoming, the prince's gaze fell on Seventeen and Mingyue. Long Zhaoming introduced them to him: "This is Seventeen, and this is Mingyue. They were both sent by the emperor to protect me on my way back to Jiangnan."

Uncle Wang is almost sixty years old this year, but he is in good spirits and his back is straight without any bend.

Upon hearing this, he glanced at Seventeen and thought the maid was quite well-groomed. But when he looked at Mingyue, he exclaimed, "Eh!"

Long Zhaoming immediately grabbed him, afraid that he would say the wrong thing: "Uncle Wang, Uncle Wang, I want to eat the wontons you make."

Distracted by Long Zhaoming, the prince stopped paying attention to Mingyue and turned around with a smile, saying, "Alright, I knew Your Highness would be craving this after receiving the letter a few days ago."

After saying that, he turned to Seventeen and Mingyue and said with a smile, "You two must have had a hard time escorting His Highness all the way. Why don't you have something to eat together?"

Seventeen's mouth watered at the mention of wontons, while Mingyue, unconcerned, nodded in agreement.

Uncle Wang went into the kitchen to boil water, and Long Zhaoming also slipped in. Only then did Uncle Wang slowly ask, "Who is that Mingyue Guardian?"

Long Zhaoming leaned against the stove and laughed: "Uncle Wang figured it out too?"

“Oh dear, although this old servant is old, I have watched you two brothers grow up. If I don’t recognize you, I’ll cry.”

Uncle Wang made a small joke, and Long Zhaoming laughed as well, whispering, "Your Majesty has important business on this trip, so please don't let it slip."

"I know, Your Highness, don't you trust this old servant?"

Long Zhaoming laughed heartily and then gestured wildly about how to cook the wontons, before Uncle Wang chased him out to stop him from causing trouble.

Seventeen leaned lazily against a pillar, basking in the sun, in a very good mood.

"We've arrived in Jiangnan, so we can rest for a while now."

"Brother Yue, when can we go back to Yejing?" Seventeen looked up at the blazing sun, squinted, and asked groggily.

"It should be soon. Now that His Highness has returned safely to the south, we can return to the capital to report back."

More importantly, some people were getting impatient and needed to get back before then.

Okay~

Knowing that they were about to return home, Seventeen was in a good mood. Although the journey here had been somewhat arduous, she was sure that the return trip would be safe.

Mingyue felt a warmth in her heart as she looked at his smiling face. She reached out and touched Seventeen's head, only to feel the head nuzzle against her palm, clearly showing its dependence on him.

Jiangnan is a wonderful place. So thought the bright moon.

＊

After finishing the hot, fresh, and fragrant wontons, Seventeen felt sleepy. He stood up and yawned, "Your Highness and Brother Yue, please enjoy your meal."

Long Zhaoming looked up from the bowl, which was bigger than his face, and asked, "Is Little Seventeen tired? Uncle Wang, would you please take him to the side room to rest? He must be tired from the journey."

Uncle Wang nodded and said with a smile to Seventeen, "Seventeen, please come with this old servant."

Seventeen looked up with a smile and thanked him, "Thank you, Uncle Wang."

Being looked at by such a polite and beautiful person made Uncle Wang happy. However, before leaving, he remembered something and turned around to say, "Your Highness, the person we brought back has been settled in the Magnolia Garden."

Long Zhaoming paused, chopsticks in his hand, before remembering that they had brought back another person.

"Okay, I'll go check it out later."

Speaking of that person, Seventeen was no longer sleepy. Leaning against the table, she looked at Long Zhaoming and asked, "Your Highness, I'm not going to sleep anymore. Can I go and see that person with you?"

Long Zhaoming chuckled, glanced at Mingyue, and seeing that she had tacitly agreed, he nodded in agreement.

Seeing Seventeen's childlike behavior, everyone present felt somewhat helpless, but since the child was beautiful, no one could bring themselves to refuse her.

And it's a harmless thing.

Mingyue slowly swallowed a wonton and asked, "Aren't you sleepy now?"

"Brother Yue!"

Seventeen was a little embarrassed about his "going back on his word," but being so directly called out made his cheeks turn red.

Uncle Wang looked at this and then at that, and then looked like he had just realized something.

Long Zhaoming didn't know what he had realized, but he just looked at Seventeen and Mingyue and smiled.

The sunlight was just right, falling on the ground, causing the newly sprouted flowers and plants to sway gently, and everything was just the right amount of warm.

＊

"May I have your name?"

Long Zhaoming looked at the boy who had already woken up and asked.

This child looks to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, roughly seventeen. He doesn't look like someone from Dajing; he looks more like someone from the North.

The "Northern Land" he referred to was not the people of Dajing in the North, but rather the people of the North.

The native Northern People were on the verge of extinction due to harsh weather and food shortages, but then a group of Great Jing people came to the Northern People and intermarried with them. Generation after generation, they formed the Northern People we know today.

Thinking that Seventeen was also from the North, Long Zhaoming was somewhat surprised, as Seventeen and this boy looked completely different.

The boy had the typical features of a native of the North, with deep-set brow bones that seemed to hold a pool of water, and his pale yellow eyes that also revealed his unusual appearance.

The boy looked warily at the three people in front of him, and finally his gaze fell on Seventeen.

It's understandable, considering he's only seventeen, looks young and pretty, and still has the appearance of a delicate boy, so it's easy for him to gain the favor of his peers.

Long Zhaoming turned his head and said, "Little Seventeen, you ask Mingyue, let's go out."

Mingyue took a deep look at the boy on the bed, and he immediately shrank back, looking at Mingyue with a fierce, beast-like gaze.

After the door closed, Seventeen asked curiously, "Can you talk?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, then nodded and uttered a single word: "Yes."

His voice was hoarse, a strange mix of youthful awkwardness and impending maturity.

"What's your name? What are you doing here?"

Seventeen sat on the edge of the bed, looking very relaxed, which made the boy relax a little and less nervous.

"My name is... Sugakan."

A question mark appeared above Seventeen's head as he asked in confusion, "What? Which two characters? How are they written?"

Sugan tilted her head and thought for a moment, then took Seventeen's hand and wrote her name stroke by stroke in his palm.

"Sug... Oh, the 'sug' in 'treating human life like grass,' and the 'kan' in 'tangerine'? What a strange name."

This was the first time Seventeen had ever heard of this surname, so she couldn't help but be a little curious.

"Where are you from? How did you come to Jiangnan?"

Sugan tried hard to recall, but could only remember fragmented memories: "I'm... from the North, there's so much snow, I walked, walked all the way here..."

The North? Or did you come from the North?!

Seventeen's eyes widened as he took a closer look at Sugan's appearance, and at the same time, he remembered some things.