Chapter 130: Feeling of Family
Jinan is not a fool! He just experienced too much and discovered the rules of the adult world early on. If he pretends to be stupid and naive, adults will relax their guard against children.
If two adults are talking about something serious and a smart child is sitting next to them paying close attention, the adults will immediately send him away or move on to another place to continue the conversation.
But if there is a child who is smiling foolishly and playing by himself nearby, the adults will think that the child does not understand what they are saying and will not be on guard against him.
Jin'an felt that his sister had done such things as dressing up as a man, pretending to be the King of Li, and even pretending to be a eunuch.
The root cause of the problem was that he was running around in the mountains and was caught by bandits, so he had the responsibility to protect his sister.
He played dumb and could help his sister disguise her identity very well. Even if he said something unintentionally, others would think he was a little fool and his words should not be taken seriously.
So far, Jinan feels that he has acted very similarly. Looking at this cold-faced older brother, he treats him as a silly kid.
Jin Sui hugged Jin An who jumped off the carriage. Due to the great impact, she almost lost her balance. Fortunately, Gu Changxiao supported her from behind.
The two siblings put their foreheads together. Jin'an hugged her sister's neck and cried loudly: "Brother Prince, Grandpa and I miss you so much!"
Jin Sui used a handkerchief to wipe his tears and snot: "We will never be separated again."
Gu Changxiao said hurriedly: "It's windy here, let's talk again when we get back to the city."
Jinsui held Jin'an's hand with one hand and Grandpa's hand with the other, and introduced the border town to them along the way.
From the newly built gravel road, to the street lights, to the fields with greenhouses not far away, to the prototype of the city...
Gu Changxiao, who was listening quietly behind him, soon sensed something was wrong, because he found that Jinan glanced at him from time to time, and every time Jinan wanted to ask something, he would be interrupted by Master Ji.
The three generations of grandparents and grandchildren had experienced life and death and had not seen each other for a long time. How could they not talk about their own experiences and only talk about what they saw?
Gu Changxiao coughed lightly and said, "I remembered that I promised Master Cheng to train the soldiers today. I will go to the barracks to take a nap and start training after dawn."
"Master Ji, Xiao An, see you at breakfast."
Jin Sui said with a smile: "Brother Gu, you must have worked hard today, you should go and have a rest first!"
Seeing Gu Changxiao walking away and no one around, Grandpa Ling raised his hand and slapped Jin Sui on the back of the head. Of course, he didn't use much force, but Jin Sui deliberately screamed in pain: "What are you doing, Grandpa? You'll make me stupid!"
Grandpa Ling blew his beard and glared: "It would be better if you were really stupid! Even if you were stupid, you wouldn't do such a daring thing! Are you brave enough to pretend to be the King of Li!"
Jin Sui hurriedly made a hushing sound: "Keep your voice down, or someone will hear you. The assassins sent by Prince Yu are elusive, and who knows when they will appear."
Shaking Grandpa Ling's arm, he smiled and said, "It's all right. The King of Li even praised me for doing a good job! If I hadn't pretended to be the King of Li and saved his army and the border town, everything would have been gone when he arrived!"
Grandpa Ling tapped her forehead and said, "You have escaped death so many times! You still dare to fight the Tartars! Jin'an and I were so scared when we heard the news."
Jin Sui patted his chest and said, "Even if I'm not the King of Li, I would still dare to fight the Tartars! Grandpa, you haven't seen how pitiful the people who were driven into the mountains by the Tartars are."
"And those nobles, damn it, they make me so angry. They act like masters when they oppress the people, but when they hear that the Tartars are coming, they get scared like quails... Ah! You hit me again!"
Grandpa Ling stamped his feet in anger, and said in a low voice with gritted teeth: "Have you forgotten that you are still a girl? Oh my, quickly change your identity back to Master Gu! If you continue to be the King of Li for a while, no one will want you to be your husband in the future."
Jinan smiled and said, "If no one wants me, I'll stay at home for the rest of my life! I'll support my sister."
As if to seize the time and shout a few more times, he shook Jin Sui's hand, his eyes sparkling as he shouted several times: "Sister~"
Jin Sui squatted down and pinched his little face: "How good! Let's go back to the house and eat meat. The meat I brought for you is getting cold."
Grandpa Ling was still asking, "What did Master Gu say? How could he not take such a big thing to heart? How could he let you continue to be the King of Li?"
Jin Sui smiled and said, "He's not in a hurry, and I'm not in a hurry either. So why are you in a hurry, Grandpa? I was forced to do so before, but it's different now..."
She poked her head in mysteriously, and Grandpa Ling and Jin'an really did it. They both poked their heads in and asked cautiously, "What's the difference?"
"Now, he paid me for it!"
Grandpa Ling almost slapped him again, but Jin Sui tried to coax him: "We agreed that we would swap identities once the imperial edict came. We also found a reason. I was ordered by the King of Li to be his substitute in order to lure out the assassin."
Grandpa Ling was relieved, and asked in a low voice: "Then, what about your daughter's family?"
Now Jinsui was the one who got nervous: "Shh! You absolutely can't tell me this! You don't want your granddaughter to be unable to get married, do you? If you say Jisui is a eunuch, everyone can accept it. But if you know that Jisui is a girl, I'm afraid the three of us can only flee into the mountains like refugees."
"Among all the things I have done, which one can a woman do?"
"The prince keeps saying that he wants to become sworn sisters with me. If he knew I'm a woman, I'm afraid it wouldn't be a sworn sisterhood, but a way to silence me and wipe out the stain on my life!"
Jin An asked in a very cautious tone: "What about Dad's case?"
Jinsui and Grandpa Ling looked at each other. None of them had forgotten Ling's father's case. They just didn't expect that Jin'an would become so timid because of it.
As if he had done something wrong by bringing up Ling's father's case! Jin Sui once again said to his brother sincerely: "Of course we have to investigate Dad's case. I promised mother that I would clear Dad's name.
And, Xiao An, I am very happy to play the role of the King of Glory. Everything we experienced was the fault of the bandits, not Xiao An. "
"Don't take the responsibility on yourself! Look, you frown at such a young age, like a little old man. We already have an old man in our family, we don't need a little old man!"
Grandpa Ling was about to slap her again, but he heard Jin'an sobbing softly: "Sister, you really don't blame me? If I hadn't run around at that time, we wouldn't have been caught by the bandits, and we wouldn't have..."
Jin Sui put her finger on his lips and said with a smile: "I will teach you a lesson today. Never punish yourself for the mistakes of others! That incident was clearly the fault of the bandits. How can you be blamed?"
"When we have the ability in the future, we must go back to that bandit's lair and arrest all the bandits and bring them to justice!"
"Also, you are my biological brother, the closest person to me in this world besides Grandpa. No matter what you do, I will never blame you."
"Similarly, if my sister does something that Xiao An doesn't like, you can't blame her!"
Jinan shook his head repeatedly: "I will never blame my sister for the rest of my life. I, I love my sister the most!"
Once again she threw herself into Jinsui's arms and cried, but this time it was not because of the joy of reunion, but because she was crying to vent.
Grandpa Ling was also wiping tears beside him, mumbling: "This child, I have told him so many times on the way that we don't blame him, and this matter is not his fault, why does he still remember it in his heart."
"Which one, Sui Sui, since you can't tell the truth to the prince with your status, what about your father's case?"
Jin Sui said hurriedly, "In fact, I have asked indirectly during this period of time. The prince is very reluctant to talk about what happened in Chang'an. He feels extremely guilty for the people who were implicated and died."
"It's just that he can't protect himself now. He doesn't have enough ability. Let alone going back to Chang'an to overturn the case, he may be in danger even if he leaves the border town."
"Grandpa, you have also been traveling with the prince for two months. Do you think he is a trustworthy person?"
As they were talking, they arrived at the thatched hut. Jinsui skillfully changed the coal balls to boil water, then took out the charcoal stove and lit it. He then put the lotus leaf chicken and mutton that he had just packed, cut them into small pieces and put them on the iron rack to grill.
The iron tongs gave Jinan: "Watch the meat flip over. This is the spice powder. Sprinkle some on the meat when the oil comes out of the grill."
The fragrant smell of meat woke Grandpa Ling from his deep thoughts. He sniffed and said, "Mr. Gu is a man of noble character. He treats people with sincerity, has a strong sense of responsibility, and values friendship. I think he can be trusted."
Jin Sui smiled and nodded: "Not many people can get such praise from Grandpa! You have never praised me!"
"Humph, I'm still praising you. If I praise you any more, you'll be in heaven!"
"Hehe, I also think the prince can be trusted. So let's talk to him directly about our father's case. Even if we can't overturn the verdict now, let him know that we are his partners in this matter."
"Except that I am a woman, I will tell you the truth. Just say that I have been sick since childhood, so you took me to the Taoist temple to be raised."
"Yes, yes, some of the things I did in Border Town were all blamed on the Daomen. Grandpa, please don't let it slip."
Grandpa Ling didn't quite understand: "What's the matter? You need to let me know!"
Jin Sui pointed at the street lamp outside and said, "That, I learned it from the Taoist sect. Did you know that I used firearms to kill more than a thousand Tartars? I learned it from the Taoist sect."
"The new crops planted in the greenhouse outside were grown with seeds found by the Taoist sect. And my medical skills were taught by the Taoist sect..."
"Wait, which Taoist sect of yours has this ability? If a Taoist sect knew these things, it would have been famous long ago." Grandpa Ling slapped his thigh in anxiety. This lie was not easy to cover up!
Even so, he did not ask Jinsui where he learned these things from.
This is why Jinsui likes him. It’s as if Grandpa knows which questions will embarrass you. He never asks you questions and instead helps you cover up your lies.
"Hehe, isn't fooling people what Grandpa is best at? Anyway, no one usually asks about it. If we really talk about it, please be careful and don't let my grandson let me slip."
Jinan was attracted by something else: "Did my sister make this street lamp? And the lightning-inducing firearm was also made by my sister? That's amazing! Can you teach me?"
Jin Sui rubbed his head and said, "Of course you can! You should go to school at your age. I will teach you math, physics and chemistry in person and train you to be a talent in science!"
Grandpa Ling asked hesitantly, "Are you saying that we should settle down in the border town and not leave?"
Jin Sui sighed softly: "This is what I wanted to discuss with Grandpa... By the way, I haven't given this to Grandpa yet."
He took out two gold pieces first: "I earned them!"
Grandpa Ling's first reaction after receiving it was to put it in his mouth and take a bite: "It's actually pure gold! Is it a reward from the prince?"
"Tsk, he's poor as hell, how can he have the gold to reward me! Now he can only write blank checks and make promises, but all this is earned by me, his granddaughter!"
Jin Sui briefly talked about the business with the Yan family, and Grandpa Ling got to the point: "You mean, the prince agreed to give us half of the profits from that business?"
"Of course! They are all family heirlooms and secrets! Even if I can't get married, I have to save some money to find a wife for Jinan!" Jinsui joked.
Grandpa Ling looked at her meaningfully: "How can this be done? That's all your ability!"
Jin Sui said nonchalantly, "What belongs to me is Grandpa and Jin An's! I make money for you. I can only spend as much as I want. Grandpa, don't worry about these details. Anyway, you have to remember that they are all heirlooms of our family!"
"This piece of jade was given to you by the prince, saying that he was thanking you for your help along the way. This jade is not simple, it is a token of trust, and the prince's secret guards can recognize it. Keep it, grandpa."
Grandpa Ling held the jade in his left hand and the gold in his right hand, and after a while he said, "What will happen to this business if we leave the border town?"
Jin An asked anxiously: "If I leave the prince, how can I investigate Dad's case?"
Jin Sui asked softly, "But Grandpa, haven't you always wanted to go back to your hometown?"
Grandpa Ling smiled sadly: "The plague in Luocheng is spreading everywhere, and the way home is blocked."
He didn't say the most important thing. Because of Ling's father's case, they would be looked down upon when they returned to their hometown. He could endure that kind of environment, but he didn't want to make his two children suffer.
"As long as the three of us are together, it doesn't matter where we are, Grandpa. It all depends on what you think, Sui Sui."
Jin Sui was startled. It seemed that Grandpa was inclined to stay in the border town.
She asked Jin'an again: "Haven't you always wanted to go to Chang'an?"
Jin Sui shook his head: "I want to go to Chang'an to overturn my father's case, but if Brother Gu can help, it will be faster. I would rather stay with Brother Gu."
Jin Sui sighed softly: "In that case, let's put this topic aside for now, and discuss where to go after the prince and I have our identities restored."
"I have something very important to do right now, and it's not convenient for me to tell the prince about my father's case."
Grandpa Ling asked hurriedly, "Is it because the imperial envoy is coming? I saw many outsiders looking for the imperial envoy these past two days. Are they going to harm Border Town?"
Jin Sui smiled and said, "They can't cause any trouble. Grandpa and Xiao An will stay at the Tuntian Camp for the next few days. Don't run around and don't let anyone know your true identity. I'll take you to live with me after the storm has passed."
Her and Gu Changxiao's plan was too complicated to be explained to Grandpa in a short time, and there was no need to explain it. Anyway, they were safe and she had no weaknesses.
Grandpa Ling and Jin'an, who had been sleeping in the open air all the way, had no opinion on where to live.
The water boiled, Jin Sui put the sliced red dates in to cook, added some sugar, and poured a cup for each person: "Warm up your body."
Then he cut some mutton for the two of them and roasted the cold, hard steamed buns until they were golden. I don’t know whether it was breakfast or a midnight snack, but the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren were very satisfied with the meal.
After staying up most of the night, Jinsui was very sleepy. He took a basin to soak the feet of Grandpa and Jinan, gave his bed to them, and slept on Gu Changxiao's small couch.
Hearing Grandpa's snoring and looking up to see the two people in the tent, Jinsui felt a sense of comfort and satisfaction he had never felt before.
That's great. I can be with Grandpa Jin'an again! It feels so good to have family around me!
Sorry guys, the update is late today. I will try to update during the day in the future.
(End of this chapter)
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