282. The five main characters officially meet.
"The best option? Sending a three-year-old into danger is your best option?" Qu Zijin almost roared, "I don't care what you say, I disagree!"
Xie Wenling, unusually, did not refute.
According to his analysis, this is a good choice with minimal risk.
Logically speaking, he should now adopt a strong stance to shut Qu Zijin up.
but……
After all, it's the little dumpling who needs to go out.
This time, emotion triumphed over reason, and he remained silent for a long time before saying, "...Then I'll go."
He forced himself to get up.
"What are you going out in this condition?" Qu Zijin still disagreed. "Don't go out, nobody go out. Let's rest here and recover first, and then we'll make plans once our injuries have healed a bit."
"This is tantamount to sitting and waiting for death."
"Going out could also be suicide!"
Xie Wenling insisted on his idea: "If we go out, we will still have a chance to survive. If we stay here, our chances of survival will only get smaller and smaller."
"We need proper doctors to treat us, and we need meat while we are recovering."
"Simply eating nuts and wild vegetables, along with those irregular and ineffective treatments, will only make us weaker and weaker, eventually leading to a vicious cycle."
The little dumpling watched the two arguing and pursed her lips.
She understood that both Brother Xie and the Grand Tutor were worried about her, but...
She looked at the small animals outside the door, then at her sick brother Xie.
She felt she had to go.
She took a deep breath, walked up to Ah Zhong and Ah Cheng, looked up at them, and said with unexpected firmness, "Uncle Ah Zhong, Uncle Ah Cheng, let's go. You take Yue'er and hide in the shadows, and we'll quietly follow our animal friends."
“Princess…” Ah Zhong looked hesitantly at the two adults still arguing inside the room.
"Teacher!" Qu Zijin called out urgently.
The little dumpling turned around: "Grand Tutor, don't worry, Yue'er will be very, very careful. Brother Xie is right, the animals are friends, not bad people. We'll go take a look and come right back."
After saying that, she no longer hesitated and took Ah Zhong's hand.
Ah Zhong and Ah Cheng exchanged a glance, and finally picked up the little dumpling. The three of them followed the few small animals that were leading the way and quickly left.
"Teacher!" Qu Zijin chased after him to the door, only to see an empty courtyard and withered branches swaying in the distance.
He whirled around, glaring at Xie Wenling, "You!...If anything happens to her, I!..."
Xie Wenling stared in the direction they had disappeared, his thin lips pressed tightly together: "...She'll be alright."
-
Holding the little dumpling, Ah Zhong and Ah Cheng, using the shadows of the corner and the clutter as cover, quietly followed behind several squirrels and rabbits.
The little animals walked and stopped frequently, turning back every now and then to make sure they were keeping up.
They were eventually led to a secluded, narrow alley on the edge of town, piled with some odds and ends.
As they approached the alley entrance, they heard hushed voices coming from inside.
Ah Zhong immediately made a hand gesture, and the three of them hid behind a pile of abandoned wooden crates, holding their breath and concentrating.
In the alley were Lin Fuman and the little princess.
The little princess's voice was filled with confusion: "Why are we hiding here sneaking around? Since we know that Little Moon and the others might be in danger, shouldn't we go to the government office immediately and ask the officials to help us find them? There are so many people in the government office, they'll definitely find them faster than the two of us!"
Lin Fuman sighed deeply: "Princess, you're thinking too simply. The Prince of Zhennan commands a large army and has been operating in his fiefdom for many years. We simply can't fathom the extent of his influence."
"Moreover, if he actually resorted to violence, it means he was prepared to completely break off relations."
"If you go to the government office now and reveal your identity, what if the officials there have already been bribed by him?"
"Or, what if they are outwardly respectful but secretly detain you and then quietly hand you over to the Prince of Zhennan?"
The little princess gasped, "He...he dares to arrest me?"
Lin Fuman analyzed: "If he really wanted to rebel, what wouldn't he dare to do?"
"Think about it, if he captures you and uses you to threaten the emperor, wouldn't the emperor be hesitant to act?"
"Wouldn't the Prince of Zhennan be even more unrestrained then?"
"Therefore, we cannot easily reveal your whereabouts. At the very least, we must first determine where it is safe and find reliable people!"
The little princess was clearly frightened by this possibility: "Then...wouldn't Little Moon and the others be in even greater danger? What if the Prince of Zhennan finds them..."
She dared not say any more.
The little dumpling hiding behind the wooden box recognized their voices and could no longer contain herself: "Little Cloud! Sister Fufu! The moon is here!"
The sudden noise startled the two little girls in the alley.
Lin Fuman instinctively shielded the little princess behind her and looked warily toward the source of the sound.
When they saw the small figure running out of the shadows, they were both stunned!
"Little Moon?!"
The little princess was the first to react, letting out a delighted scream and rushing over without a care for decorum.
Lin Fuman also ran forward.
The three little girls immediately huddled together.
"Little Moon! It really is you! We found you!" The little princess hugged the little dumpling tightly, crying and laughing at the same time. "I'm so glad you're alright! You scared me to death!"
Lin Fuman, her eyes also red, looked the little dumpling up and down: "Little Moon, how are you? Are you hurt? What about Lord Xie and Grand Tutor Qu? Are they alright?"
"Yue'er is alright! Yue'er is alright!" The little dumpling hugged them back tightly. "Brother Xie and the Grand Tutor were injured, so we hid somewhere! I saw the little rabbit and the little squirrel looking worried, so I followed them here. I didn't expect it to be you! That's wonderful!"
The three little girls hugged each other excitedly for a while before the little dumpling remembered the important matter. She took the hands of the little princess and Lin Fuman and said, "It's not safe here. Let's go back to where we're hiding! The Grand Tutor and Brother Xie are there!"
The little princess immediately nodded, "Yes, yes, yes! Take us there quickly!"
-
In the courtyard, Qu Zijin was restless, constantly looking outside.
Although Xie Wenling remained seated inside the room, seemingly calm, his tightly pursed lips and the occasional glances towards the door betrayed his inner anxiety.
The two of them almost simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief when the little dumpling's tiny figure appeared at the gate of the courtyard.
"Teacher!" Qu Zijin immediately went to greet her, squatted down and carefully checked whether she was alright.
Xie Wenling also relaxed.
But the next second, he saw the two equally travel-worn little girls behind her.
Especially the little princess dressed in a gorgeous fox fur coat, blinking her big eyes and curiously looking around.
He froze completely.
Qu Zijin also noticed that there seemed to be two more children.
He looked up and, upon seeing the little princess's face, his eyes widened instantly.
His face was filled with terror, and the same despair he had shown when he and Xie Wenling met Xiao Tuanzi in Baicao Village.
"Your Highness?! How...how did you get here?!"
When the little princess saw the familiar Grand Tutor, she immediately flashed a bright smile with a hint of pride.
She skipped and hopped to Qu Zijin: "Grand Tutor! It's me! See how clever I am? I secretly slipped out of the palace and found this place with Lin Fuman! Aren't I smart?"
She chattered on and on, completely unaware that Qu Zijin's face went from dark to ashen, and finally to deathly pale.
He pointed at the little princess, his fingers trembling, his chest heaving violently.
"You...you...you..."
He took a deep breath and fell straight backward.
"Huh?"
"Grand Tutor!"
The scene immediately descended into chaos.
The little dumpling cried out in fright.
Ah Zhong and Ah Cheng rushed forward to support Qu Zijin, who had collapsed.
The little princess was also bewildered: "No, really? You don't even praise me, why did you faint from anger?"
"Quick! Help him inside and lie down!" Xie Wenling was forced to get up and give the order.
After a flurry of activity, Qu Zijin was carried into the house and settled in. Two attendants quickly pressed his acupoints to help him breathe.
After a while, Qu Zijin slowly woke up and saw three little heads gathered around the bed with worried expressions.
The culprit in the middle had a big look of confusion on his small face, and seemed to have no remorse at all, even a bit of pride.
He suddenly felt everything go black again and almost fainted once more.
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