Their time in Shanhaiguan was short.
But the war situation changed rapidly. Just as when they were holding on to Guanzhong, they never thought that Mongolia would join forces with Qi and Zhou to besiege the Jin Dynasty.
As a result, under the multi-front attack, the Jin army's front line was defeated step by step until they lost everything.
Qi and Zhou encroached on part of the Jin Dynasty's land, and so did Mongolia. The situation in the north changed from a three-way balance of power to the Chu-Han War. The fleeing Jin people headed towards Baekje, and were no longer a force to be reckoned with.
Xu Shiqing was wearing a cloak and leaning against the pavilion pillar in the imperial garden, looking at the schools of koi in the pond with boredom.
The previous dynasty was awarding rewards according to merit, and a group of people from the harem also went to watch the fun, so the palace was very deserted.
There was a rustling sound in the grass, again and again.
Xu Shiqing listened for a long time and couldn't help but said, "Come out, I saw you."
There was just a tuft of hair there, swaying back and forth. It was a tiger-skin hat. He was not that blind.
He was a well-dressed child, his eyes full of curiosity and pride.
"Are you from the underworld?" Before he could finish his words, Xu Shiqing heard a strong wind approaching.
"...Senior Brother?" Gao Qishan was stunned for a moment, then calmed down and walked over to the child, bowing and saying, "Second Prince, you shouldn't be avoiding the servants so deliberately."
Apparently, the second prince not only did not attend the celebration, but also avoided his servants and wandered around.
Xu Shiqing understood. He did not feel any ill will towards the prince who had caused trouble for his junior sister, but it was indeed very dangerous for a child of about six years old to hide around without anyone watching.
It is not worth promoting.
As if he noticed the unanimous disapproval in their eyes, the Second Prince stamped his feet. He was still too young, and facing two gangsters, he spoke even more bluntly.
"I'm going to go out into the martial arts world and become a hero!"
Shock flashed in Xu Shiqing's eyes, and he turned to look at his junior sister: Is this child still not awake?
"You're a prince," Gao Qishan said. This was commonplace. These royal descendants were all so abstract. Wasn't it just that the prince wanted to be a gangster? At least he didn't say he wanted to be a bandit.
The tiger hat on the second prince's head seemed to be glaring at them.
"Aren't you all heroes?" the Second Prince was puzzled. "The storybook says you shouldn't be teaching me secret manuals and peerless martial arts by now, right?"
"...Prime Minister Guo's residence has many followers from the martial arts world." Xu Shiqing said, "As Your Highness, if you want to learn martial arts, you only need to ask His Majesty, right?"
"..." The Second Prince grumbled, "They are all fame-seeking guys... and my brother has already become his disciple... I don't want to share a master with him."
"I am just an ordinary person." Xu Shiqing thought to himself that he was still a child.
"You are a Sword Immortal!" The Second Prince almost jumped up: "Father wanted to reward you but was rejected!"
"..." Xu Shiqing looked at Gao Qishan silently, but the second junior sister looked away as if nothing had happened.
The sword immortal frowned in distress, and a few strands of his hair fell down, casting sparse shadows on the immortal face carved out of white jade, as captivating as the swaying shadows of trees in the water.
"That's just a title." Xu Shiqing said after a long pause, "Besides, in your Highness's eyes, what do heroes and the martial arts world look like?"
"To be a hero and fight for justice, to take revenge..." The Second Prince thought for a moment: "He is so righteous and yet he fights and kills."
"I want to live that kind of life. The palace is too boring!"
His eyes sparkled with longing: "I want to become the most powerful martial artist, drink the best wine, make the most friends, and become the most famous person in the world!"
Gao Qishan's lips twitched, and she thought to herself: That's a nice thought.
"..." Xu Shiqing was also quite speechless. He was quite unrealistic. "Your Highness, do you know how long it takes to get from Bianjing to Jinling?"
"...Well, three days?" asked the second prince.
Xu Shiqing chuckled: "Half a month, and that's just riding a fast horse. If we use a carriage and don't take the official road, the speed will be even slower."
The storybooks sound nice, and big things pass by in a flash, but in reality, heroes spend most of their time on the road, and they do things like doing justice in a hurry, and most of the good deeds are done without leaving a name.
After all, knights rarely go out without a purpose. They are either protecting an convoy, attending a meeting, or fulfilling a commission or hunting down a wanted criminal... They don't have time to worry about whether the things they do on the road can increase their reputation. In other words, what they do is actually a way of making a living.
After all, escorting or commissioning tasks were usually paid, and attending meetings was generally a way to pave the way for the former, to build a reputation.
Second Prince: “…”
I was devastated! My illusions were shattered!
"First, do we have to sit for so long?" The prince was shocked by the hardships of the journey. "And we only have dry food to eat on the road? Just dry bread? And we can only sleep in the wild!"
"We get robbed occasionally," Gao Qishan kindly warned. "If you don't have money and don't know anyone at your place of stay, you'll have nowhere to go and nothing to eat."
Xu Shiqing looked at his second junior sister. When she went out to train on her own before, she was very wild and obsessed with uncovering wanted posters. She killed people so much that everyone in Jianmen thought she was possessed and they rushed to capture her.
Killing is harmful to a warrior's state of mind, which is linked to martial arts. If one is not careful and develops a mental demon, the circulation of internal energy will be disrupted, and he is very likely to die suddenly.
You can imagine how frightened they were at that time.
"Then why are you still willing to travel around?" the Second Prince asked. "You are a sword immortal. Wouldn't it be better for you to accept the emperor's reward and become an official in Kyoto?"
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