Cang Ling watched as Xiao Jiangbai ate the steamed bun bite by bite like a little hamster before saying, "Let's go, I'll find you a good family so you won't go hungry anymore."
Xiao Jiangbai quickly hid behind the old beggar, his eyes blinking as he watched Cang Ling. When he saw Cang Ling coming towards him, Xiao Jiangbai hurriedly ran to the other side, sensing a frightening aura emanating from this man.
Cang Ling had played with him for so long, he was running out of patience. He picked Jiang Bai up like a little chick, ignoring Jiang Bai's struggles, and strode forward.
Little Jiangbai was still howling, tears streaming down his face again. "Grandpa, Grandpa, waah, save me, Grandpa." As Little Jiangbai watched his grandfather's figure getting further and further away, he shouted even louder.
Cang Ling's eardrums were about to burst from Xiao Jiang Bai's shouts. He was about to raise his hand to knock him unconscious and take him away, but Xiao Jiang Bai's pitiful eyes reminded Cang Ling of his past self.
He comforted himself, "Forget it, why bother arguing with a child?"
He took Xiao Jiangbai back and walked to the old beggar's side. He picked up the already stiff old beggar, found a spot, dug a big pit, and put the old beggar in. At this moment, Jiangbai seemed to realize something and watched Cang Ling dig the pit without saying a word.
After Cang Ling dug the pit, he put the old beggar in, glanced at the silent Xiao Jiang Bai beside him, and said, "I don't know what kind of luck you had in your life, but in the end, you met such a silly boy who protects you. It's good that someone cares about you."
After saying that, Cang Ling picked up a shovel and buried the old beggar. Jiang Bai did not stop him. This time, little Jiang Bai truly realized that his grandfather would never come back. He cried silently.
Cang Ling looked down at the child who was sobbing and crying with snot running down his face, sighed, took out a steamed bun from his pocket and placed it in front of the old beggar's grave. He looked at Xiao Jiang Bai and said, "Here, I promised you I would give him a steamed bun too. I did it. You should keep your promise and come with me now."
Xiao Jiang nodded gently, his eyes brimming with tears. His grandfather was gone, and there was no one to protect him anymore. He was going to leave with the person in front of him who looked somewhat like a bad guy.
Cang Ling stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Jiangbai's hand, and pulled him away. Xiao Jiangbai tried to struggle, but he knew that his grandfather could no longer protect him. He looked back at his grandfather's grave every few steps until it was completely out of sight. Only then did Xiao Jiangbai burst into tears. He asked between sobs, "Will I never see my grandfather again?"
Cang Ling didn't know how to answer the question. He had been in the Dark Guard Camp since he could remember, and he had long been accustomed to life and death. He had countless wronged souls in his hands. He only knew that as long as the other party did not die, or if he failed to complete the mission, then he would be the one punished or killed.
For the first time, he realized that the separation of life and death might be difficult for ordinary people to accept.
He knew he should tell the little kid the truth, cruelly tell him that yes, the old beggar was dead and he would never see him again, but looking into the little beggar's wet eyes, he just couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Fine, fine, let's just say he did a good deed," Cang Ling lied for the first time in his life, saying, "He went to another place to set up your home first. You will meet again after you pass away."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jiangbai asked excitedly, "Really? That's great! Grandpa went to decorate the dilapidated temple. I hope the temple can be like Xiaohua's sheepfold. Xiaohua's sheepfold doesn't leak when it rains, but the dilapidated temple leaks when it rains. When Grandpa finishes decorating, you can come to my and Grandpa's house to play." Xiao Jiangbai kept talking, and it seemed that Grandpa's work in decorating the new house really comforted him.
Cang Ling looked at the child who had just been crying his heart out, but now looked on with great anticipation for his new home. He didn't want to see him so happy, so he said sarcastically, "Who wants to play in your shabby house? Even a dog wouldn't go."
Little Jiang Bai was too young to hear the sarcasm in his words, and happily said, "Great! There are no dogs in the new house, so they won't steal my and Grandpa's food."
Cang Ling didn't expect the other party to say that. He looked at the even happier child and a trace of regret flashed in his eyes. He was clearly a prince, but because his birth mother was of lowly status, the emperor disliked him. There was infighting among the monsters and demons in the palace, so he was abandoned by the emperor and thrown out of the palace to fend for himself.
Unexpectedly, she was picked up by an old beggar and raised by him, thus saving her life. She should have left the palace to grow up, but the emperor remembered her and now she is used as a pawn and bound by others.
Just as Cang Ling was lost in thought, he felt the child tug at his sleeve and say, "You just said you weren't going to my house to play. So where is your house? Can I come and play there?"
Xiao Jiangbai looked at Cang Ling expectantly. Cang Ling paused, then said coldly, "No."
"Why?" Xiao Jiangbai continued to ask.
"Because I don't have a home either," Cang Ling said indifferently. The word "home" was too distant in his memory.
“You don’t have a home either, so why don’t you join my and Grandpa’s home? That way you’ll have a home and family.” Xiao Jiangbai said happily, pulling Cang Ling along.
"Shut up, you're too noisy." Cang Ling looked at Xiao Jiang Bai with a face full of impatience.
"Okay." Xiao Jiangbai covered her mouth, looking aggrieved.
And so, Cang Ling took him to Jiangnan. This journey lasted for half a year. From the capital to Jiangnan, the two of them relied on each other and gradually developed their own unique way of getting along.
After arriving in Jiangnan, it was already winter. Cang Ling learned that Jiang Yan, the richest man in Jiangnan, would be inspecting the estate. So he cruelly left Xiao Jiang Bai outside in the cold for half the night until he fainted. Soon after, Xiao Jiang Bai started to have a fever.
Cang Ling had calculated the time perfectly. The next day, he placed Xiao Jiang Bai on Jiang Yan's inevitable route and said, "Remember, I have poisoned you. You need an antidote every month. Come out and get the antidote from me on the seventh of each month."
Xiao Jiangbai nodded in a daze. He felt very hot and his head was spinning. Seeing that he was very sick, Cang Ling sighed, knocked Xiao Jiangbai unconscious and put him on the road. Then, he flew to a big tree next to him and waited for Jiang Yan.
Soon, Jiang Yan's carriage appeared. As it approached Xiao Jiangbai, the carriage slowly came to a stop. The coachman said to the person inside the carriage, "Master, there's a child on the road. It looks like he's fainted from the cold."
There was a moment of silence inside the carriage, then a sigh was heard, and it was said, "A-Fu, go down and take a look."
"Yes, sir." The coachman jumped off the carriage, walked to Xiao Jiangbai's side, checked his breath, and said, "Sir, it's a child, still alive."
The carriage window opened from the inside, and looking at the child in Afu's arms, he said, "Put him in the carriage, and we'll have someone in the village who knows medicine take a look at him later."
"Yes, sir." Afu placed Jiang Bai on the other side of the carriage and continued driving towards the estate.
After they left, Cang Ling climbed down from the tree and looked at the little beggar who had been taken away by Jiang Yan. Great! His plan had succeeded. Now they had a spy in the Jiang family, which would make everything much easier.
The little beggar was so young, they probably wouldn't be very wary of him. They might even take him back to their mansion and raise him as a servant. Once he became a servant in the household of the richest man in Jiangnan, the little beggar would never have to go hungry again.
But what Cang Ling didn't expect was that when he saw the little beggar again, he had transformed into the eldest son of the Jiang family, and also the first young master of the Jiang family, Jiang Bai.
Xiao Jiangbai thus became Jiang Yan's adopted son. His father treated him very well, providing him with food and clothing so that he would never go hungry again.
There was also his mother, but she always seemed to be sick. Every time his father visited her, he was so careful. His mother liked him very much. She said that in her family home, there was also a child about his age named Li Shang.
Xiao Jiang thought, if only Brother Li Shang were in the Jiang family, Mother would be even happier to see him, and if she were happy, maybe her illness would be cured.
But a year after Xiao Jiangbai arrived at the Jiang family mansion, his mother passed away, and his father was heartbroken. He wondered if it was because he was unlucky and had caused his mother's death.
Why would the servants in the manor say that? Little Jiang ran to ask the teacher, who simply rubbed his head and said, "It's all fate, it's not your fault."
Later, it seems that my father overheard the tutor talking about gossip in the mansion. So my father sent the servants who were gossiping out of the mansion. My father became more cheerful and later married a new wife.
Although the new wife and father were husband and wife, they were somewhat like strangers. They were like two strangers living under the same roof, neither of them bothering the other.
Later, Jiang Bai learned that the new wife also had someone she loved, but her parents forced them to be together, so she had to marry her father. Her father, however, still loved his mother, which is why he married the new wife, and they lived a life where they did not disturb each other.
As promised, Xiao Jiangbai went to see Cang Ling every month until he turned eight.
After he turned eight, his father Jiang Yan took him to various parts of Yin Kingdom to do business and showed him scenery different from that of Jiangnan. Cang Ling did not go with him, but instead gave him two years' worth of antidote at once, saying that he had something to do and could not go with him.
Two years later, when he met him again in Jiangnan, Jiang Bai was somewhat disappointed, but he also knew that Cang Ling was very busy and could not stay in Jiangnan to give him the antidote every month.
As Jiang Bai grew older, he realized that he was a pawn planted by Cang Ling in the Jiang family, and his relationship with Cang Ling deteriorated further.
Cang Ling repeatedly suggested to him that the Jiang family's assets be transferred, but he refused each time. Sometimes, when he got angry, he would delay giving himself the antidote by a day. But Jiang Bai was also stubborn, so he endured the pain and fought against Cang Ling.
But each time, Cang Ling would give him the antidote. Jiang Bai was also afraid that Cang Ling would tell his father that he was a spy. So, ever since Jiang Bai took over the family business, he used the Jiang family's connections to run his own shop. Every time Cang Ling asked him to transfer the Jiang family's assets or asked for money, he would give it to Cang Ling from his own assets. Cang Ling said that they were working for Prince An.
But he remembered that Prince An had died long ago. Jiang Bai thought speechlessly, if he wanted to lie to him, he should have found a reasonable excuse, but he had to find someone who was already dead to take the blame.
Jiang Bai thought that his and Cang Ling's master must be a very powerful person in the court.
Jiang Bai never imagined that one day he would actually meet the long-deceased Prince An and the master he had never met.
Jiang Bai's life continued in this dull way. His father was getting old, so Jiang Bai was even busier. He spent all his time inspecting the estate and shops.
He also learned medical skills from a highly respected physician in Jiangnan, so that he could heal himself if he fell ill again.
One day, when Jiang Bai went out to collect herbs, he found a girl at the foot of a cliff. With the heart of a healer, Jiang Bai took the girl home to treat her. When she woke up, Jiang Bai learned that the girl's name was Jing Xi.
Jing Xi is intelligent, brave, and beautiful. She is resourceful and has her own unique set of twisted logic and ideas. Most importantly, Jing Xi will protect him.
Jiang Bai had never seen a girl like this before. As he spent more time with Jing Xi, he developed feelings for her in a different way. So, he chased her from Jiangnan to the capital.
Jing Xi is so popular that even the Crown Prince has developed feelings for her. Jiang Bai feels a little inferior. Can he really compete with the Crown Prince for Jing Xi?
Heaven seemed to have heard Jiang Bai's prayers. Fortunately, he truly won Jing Xi's affection, and Jing Xi agreed to be with Jiang Bai. They will soon be able to become husband and wife.
But why, why is he always just a little bit short? Just a little bit short and he could have lived, just a little bit short and he could have been with Jingxi forever, just a little bit short and he wouldn't have had to be caught in the middle between his father and the old emperor.
Why, despite being a prince, did he end up on the streets, starving and suffering? Why, despite being the son of the richest man in Jiangnan, was he threatened and bound? Why, even the girl he liked could not be with him?
Why is it always him who suffers misfortune? Jiang Bai was unwilling to accept it, but he had no choice but to compromise.
Jiang Bai fell into a deep sleep. Jing Xi looked at the battered and bruised Jiang Bai, who was growing weaker and weaker. Jing Xi sat by the bed, stroked Jiang Bai's face, and whispered, "Jiang Bai, even if it's the gates of hell, I will definitely pull you back."
Jing Xi bent down and kissed Jiang Bai's lips, then got up and walked outside. Jiang Bai's life belonged to her; she wouldn't give up on him, and no one could take him away!
Jing Xi straightened her night clothes. Seeing that it was almost dawn, she didn't care about anything else. Even if she risked being discovered, she had to go out and find medicine for Jiang Bai.
Just as Jing Xi had found her chance and was about to go out, suddenly, her arm was pulled back. Jing Xi immediately swept her leg and kicked out. When she saw who it was, she tried to pull back her leg, but it was too late. The other person took a solid kick from her.
Jing Xi looked at the person who had arrived, frowned, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Logically speaking, shouldn't he be in the capital? Why is he in this imperial palace?
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