Chapter 33: The Prince Was Beaten, and He Advised His Servant Not to Kill Him
"... Ouch, I got goosebumps just listening to this."
Xiao Qinggu suddenly turned sideways with his back to Twelve, "Go to sleep quickly, go to sleep quickly, you will be busy again when the sun comes up."
Twelve had said everything he needed to say, and seeing this he stopped talking and turned his back to Xiao Qinggu.
"Shang Twelve." Xiao Qinggu grabbed his hair and played with it for a while, not feeling sleepy at all.
She called out to Twelve, but received no response.
"......actually......"
Xiao Qinggu's voice was so soft that it even covered the sound of rain outside which was gradually dying down.
"I also believe that the Shang family will not collude with Langjiang and will not commit treason."
"Thank you, Princess."
Xiao Qinggu: “?!”
"You're still awake?!"
"Go to bed right away."
Xiao Qinggu: "......"
Twelve asked her: "Princess, do you want to be the emperor?"
Xiao Qinggu deliberately waited for a while before replying to her: "Half I do, half I don't."
Twelve replied after a while: "Please explain clearly, Princess."
Xiao Qinggu immediately pulled most of the quilt over and said, "No more talking, go to sleep!"
Twelve didn't say anything else. Xiao Qinggu kept the same posture and waited for a long time, then raised his head furtively to see if she was asleep.
He didn't move at all, he must be really asleep.
Xiao Qinggu pursed her lips and pulled the quilt a little closer.
What if she got sick? What if word got out that she, a princess, had snatched someone else's blanket while sleeping? Where would she put her face?
It was the hour of Chen, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky, a rare sight today. However, the innkeeper and the waiter didn't know whether they should be happy or not.
Not to mention that most of the guests of the inn suddenly left in the middle of the night without saying a word, and two of their account books that recorded their daily accounts were also missing, leaving only a lonely ingot of gold where the account books were originally placed.
Hiss...The shopkeeper touched his beard, feeling that something was wrong.
"Boss, what should we do?"
The waiter also felt that the gold had a smell of conspiracy.
“...Never mind!” The shopkeeper bit the gold and finally put it in his pocket.
"Two years of bad accounts have been stolen... No, bought. This is a gold ingot! I can't even buy it with five account books!"
On the other side, upstairs, Twelve was reporting to Shang Yuwan and Xiao Qingxu what she had gotten out of Xiao Qinggu last night.
"That's all?"
Twelve lowered his head and replied, "Yes, there is nothing else."
Xiao Qingxu asked Twelve to step back, while Shang Yuwan sat aside, staring at the ledger in his hand, thinking secretly in his heart.
From Twelve's tone, it seemed they had only met once in Yanmen as children. She had some recollection of the chase at age five... When had she saved Xiao Qinggu? She did remember feeling she'd been tricked and secretly pushed into a beggars' den.
"What are you thinking about?"
Shang Yuwan came back to his senses and said, "Nothing, have you found that person?"
Xiao Qingxu nodded, "They will be able to meet each other in a while."
"What do you think this time?"
Xiao Qingxu pondered for a moment before speaking: "The Shang family's unjust case is related to the emperor, otherwise he would not have sent the Longwu Army to arrest us."
Shang Yuwan was not surprised by this. Their actions were not completely covert. She would have found it strange if no one else from Kyoto had stepped forward except the prince.
"Are you injured?"
Xiao Qingxu shook his head. "I took tonic medicine yesterday, so I'm fine."
Shang Yuwan thought of the overwhelming smell of medicine last night and asked, "Really?"
"really."
Shang Yuwan nodded, but she didn't show it on her face, and she was muttering in her heart.
How weak is this person? He's just taking some tonic, how could the medicinal taste be so strong?
Xiao Qingxu smiled bitterly in his heart.
If the person whose medicinal smell was so strong was Twelve or Shang Mingqi, Shang Yuwan would definitely not believe it so easily.
Shang Yuwan looked out the window, watching the sun rise only to be covered by dark clouds again not long after it came out. "How much did the water level rise from last night's rain?"
"It's about a foot high."
"Has the prince made any moves?"
Xiao Qingxu himself found it strange. "As usual, he asked the city lord to increase the manpower to build dams and dig canals. He used the food supplies he brought with him. The resentment of the refugees responsible for digging ditches and building dams has subsided a lot. Some people have inadvertently learned that it was the prince who silently helped behind the scenes. Now his reputation has risen..."
Shang Yuwan noticed that he was hesitant to speak and asked, "Anything else?"
Xiao Qingxu's eyebrows knitted together, truly puzzled. "The follower said that the prince seemed to have been hit in the face."
Shang Yuwan: “?”
Got beaten? The prince got hit in the face?
"...Have you found out who hit him?"
Xiao Qingxu shook his head. "This matter was kept very secret, and almost no news leaked out. It was Lou Ke who took the risk and went into the mansion to investigate."
Shang Yuwan was confused for a moment, "The Longwu Army was killed, and the emperor was angry?"
Even the mask couldn't hide Xiao Qingxu's doubts. "Your Majesty's anger is just a slap in the face? A real slap in the face?"
The two of them looked at each other, unable to understand who could slap the prince in the face so bluntly.
"The prince didn't respond?"
Xiao Qingxu shook his head. "It seems that he still has the time to deal with the flood in Luzhou City."
Shang Yuwan and Xiao Qingxu suddenly felt something at the same time.
Could it be that someone behind the Crown Prince was behind this?!
"But if this punishment is because you failed to kill us last time, isn't it a little too late?"
Shang Yuwan was about to speak when a loud shout suddenly came from outside: "Xiaoman——!"
It was Lou Ke who brought back the disheveled Xiao Man. When she saw Xiao Qinggu rushing towards her to hug her, although she looked excited, she still backed away repeatedly.
"Ms....Miss, don't touch me!"
Xiao Qinggu immediately stopped and looked at Xiaoman's dirty clothes. There was an abnormal blush on her face. He quickly took everyone to take a bath and called Ji Suxian to take her pulse.
"You've been soaking in the water for a long time, haven't you? You have a slight fever, but it will be fine after taking some medicine. It's nothing serious."
Ji Suxian didn't fall asleep until the morning last night. She didn't get enough sleep at all. After leaving some pills for her fever, she crawled back to her room to catch up on some sleep.
Xiaoman saw Xiao Qinggu guarding her bedside and struggled to get up, but Xiao Qinggu pushed her down.
"If you're sick, just lie down. I'll tell them what you need. Don't worry, they'll listen to me."
Xiaoman asked cautiously, "Princess, who are they?"
Xiao Qinggu thought for a moment, "The people from Baijialou said they wanted to help me ascend the throne and become emperor."
"What?! No!" Xiaoman's face changed, and she sat up suddenly and grabbed Xiao Qinggu's hand, "Princess! They are trying to put you in an unjust position!"
Xiao Qinggu blinked, smiled, and asked her, "Helping me ascend the throne and become emperor, why is it putting me in an unjust position?"
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne is a foregone conclusion. They are trying to sow discord between the Princess and the Crown Prince!"
Xiaoman's cheeks turned even redder with anxiety. "If, if, if the Crown Prince knew about this, if His Majesty knew about this, how could the princess survive?!"
"Let's take a step back and say, Princess loves to travel the mountains and rivers. Princess doesn't like the confinement of the palace. They're making you a puppet, a bird in a cage! Princess, you won't be free anymore!"
"My way to survive? Freedom?" Xiao Qinggu's smile gradually faded. "But the people of this world will have no way to survive."
"My second brother withheld my food. What he has given me now is not enough. The refugees are only restraining themselves from causing trouble because of his status and their temporary 'survival'."
"In Dayu, the suffering of the people is far greater than just these few. Xiaoman, you have traveled with me through the people of Dayu. You should understand the suffering of the people as well as I do."
Xiaoman was speechless for a moment and could only look at Xiao Qinggu with red eyes.
"Princess, Princess." Xiaoman grabbed Xiao Qinggu's hand and was unwilling to let go.
"You are really going to compete with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
Xiao Qinggu lowered his eyes and looked at Xiaoman's slightly trembling hands.
"They said that my second brother was involved in the massacre of the Shang family, and they have evidence they want to show me. I haven't made up my mind yet, but it won't be too late to make a decision after I see the evidence."
"But what if it's fake?"
Xiao Qinggu laughed softly, "I've confirmed that Shang Twelve is real."
“…” Xiaoman’s heart trembled.
If she was acting before, she was really a little panicked now.
"Xiaoman, we are master and servant, right?" Xiao Qinggu slowly broke free from Xiaoman's hand, and rubbed her palm with his fingers, trying to find out in the palm lines the hardships they had experienced together over the years.
She wanted to see whether Xiaoman's true love for her was hidden in these lines.
"You'll listen to me, won't you?"
"Of course Xiaoman would..." Xiaoman's pupils trembled for a moment.
"Don't kill them."
Xiaoman's breathing stagnated, Xiao Qinggu raised his forehead, and his brows softened.
"You've been by my side since we were little. You claim to have some martial arts skills, though they're not very advanced. Yet, you've always been able to protect me, lead me out of danger, and secretly eliminate those who wanted to kill me. I originally thought you belonged to my father, but since last night, I've realized I was wrong."
"I don't know who you belong to, and why you risk your life to help me every time I'm in danger."
"If you're truly loyal to me, how about you just listen to me this time?"
“…”
Xiaoman was shocked to realize that she had been making a big mistake all along.
After all, Xiao Qinggu came from the imperial palace, so how could he completely trust the people around him?
Even she, who had been with the princess since she was a child, couldn't do it.
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