Chapter 296 Li Su's Side Story: All About Raising Pigeons (Part 1)
This is a long story.
That year, I was in the courtyard outside Sichuan, preparing to steal my father's pigeons to pluck their feathers and roast them, when a middle-aged man in a yellow robe, exuding an air of grandeur, appeared.
He was on horseback, I was in front of him, and pigeons were hidden behind me.
He looked surprised, and I felt guilty. I pointed to the house behind us with my other finger: "The one you were looking for, the one that raises pigeons, it's here..."
He was even more surprised and dismounted from his horse.
My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly said, "These pigeons are well-raised and very fat, but they're quite expensive, ten taels of silver each..."
Before I could finish speaking, I heard my father roar behind me, "Li Su! You little brat! You get back here right now!"
Without thinking twice, I dropped the pigeon and ran, only to be tripped by a sneaky guy who tripped me with his outstretched leg, sending me sprawling into a mouthful of mud.
That day, I was stunned.
The pie in the sky that my dad promised me back then, the daydream he bragged about, actually came true!
"Father...you really are royalty?!" My eyes were stretched too wide, extremely dry, but I couldn't close them.
The guy in front of me, dressed in rags, who spends all day sitting in the yard sunbathing and rocking back and forth in a rocking chair, whose pigeons are more precious than me, is actually the former crown prince of the Great Wei?
"What? Your father is so imposing, do you think he's lying to you?" He glared at him, puffing out his beard, and snorted coldly.
I frowned, looking at the stark contrast between the two brothers, and then at the roll of fat around my father's waist. I rubbed my eyes and said, "Dad, you're putting me in a difficult position. Just tell me what you want to hear! There's no need to make things so hard for your son!"
As soon as I finished speaking, I regretted it.
I never imagined that my first meeting with the Emperor of Wei would begin with my father chasing me around the yard with a ruler in hand.
I suspect that my future setbacks in pursuing my dreams are directly related to that initial experience that almost made him laugh himself to death.
Later, my father tied me up and, like a wanted criminal, forcibly took me back to the capital.
I am Li Su, the son of the former Crown Prince Li Ying, and the heir apparent of the King of Pingyang of the Great Wei. I was six years old that year and had a restless dream of wandering the martial arts world.
But my dad is very practical; he keeps urging me to raise pigeons.
"Pigeons are good, pigeons are wonderful, a cage of pigeons knows the world, and fears not a thousand armies. My son! Raise pigeons!"
These words, coming from the mouth of someone dressed in fine clothes and eating delicacies, whose every inch of him exuded wealth, sounded like a dream.
"No, I want to go to the martial world! I want to become the leader of the martial arts alliance!"
Everyone has a dream!
That being said, he usually suffers from leg or back pain, and I'm the one who takes care of his cage of pigeons.
Until one day, a little white bird that had flown away for a long time flew back, with a bamboo tube covered with a red lid tied to its leg.
I curiously took it apart and looked at it for a long time. My dad, who claimed to be unable to move due to back pain while sunbathing, suddenly had his back pain cured. In a flash, he almost flew in front of me: "Open it quickly!"
He was unusually solemn, and I couldn't bother to investigate his feigned illness. I quickly unfolded the note inside.
A small piece of paper clearly stated, "Great Victory at the Border."
My father said "good" three times in a row, then turned around and went into the palace.
On that day, the name of the Third Prince, Li Jin, shone like a light throughout every corner of the capital.
Only I remained unconcerned: "Defending the country is his duty. He should just do what he's supposed to do. Why make such a big fuss? If he's so capable, he should become the leader of the martial arts world!"
To my surprise, my father, contrary to his usual behavior, snorted and said, "You can't even beat him, and you call yourself the leader of the martial arts alliance? Give me a break." He glanced at me and said, "Since you don't want to inherit the family business of raising pigeons, you might as well find a young lady from a prominent family as soon as possible, get married when you're old enough, and let me hold a grandson."
He sighed, "If the hawks and hounds I built with my own hands were to perish in your hands, then I would truly have committed a terrible sin in my past life."
I didn't hear the last two sentences; all I heard was him saying that I couldn't beat Li Jin.
That won't do, I won't accept it.
I am the heir apparent of the Prince of Pingyang. I am a disciple of the top martial arts master in the palace. Everyone says that my lightness skill is superb, and my swordsmanship is even more unpredictable and mysterious. If I can't beat Li Jin, wouldn't that be too embarrassing?
"When he comes back, I'm going to fight him!"
At that moment, my dad looked at me and gave me a disdainful look: "Still waiting for him to come back..."
I thought he was just making casual remarks, but it turns out I was too naive.
When I woke up, I was already more than a hundred miles away from the capital.
The carriage sped forward, with only a letter beside me—a post introducing me to the Black Flag Army.
There was also a little note: If you can't even beat him, then there's no point in coming back to talk about the martial arts world!
I sat in the carriage for a long time, thinking, before finally lifting the curtain, looking at the driver, the steward, and pursing my lips: "Uncle Zhang... am I really my father's biological son?"
But Uncle Zhang hesitated for a moment.
He actually hesitated for a moment.
"I think so."
I:"……"
I am Li Su, the heir apparent of the Prince of Pingyang. I am handsome and skilled in martial arts. When I was just over ten years old, I was sent by my suspected "stepfather" to the front-line military camp in the most brutal battle of the Great Wei.
Until I saw Li Jin, who was only six years older than me at the time, frowning and looking disgusted: "Nonsense! What are you doing, you little brat?!"
At that moment, I was furious. I grabbed the longsword next to me and started fighting with him.
After the fight, he looked at me with a surprised expression: "...You do have some skill. Stay." Then, he added meaningfully, "Here, you will be my personal bodyguard. You must not go more than five steps away from me."
I refused to accept it and pointed at him, saying, "Let's fight again!"
He was about to leave when he heard this, raised an eyebrow, turned around, glanced at me, and said, "Change your clothes first." Then he left with a smile.
Only then did I notice that my clothes had been torn to shreds by his attack, and that the cuts were fatal.
If that had been a real fight, I would have died several times over.
Seeing his inexplicably swift and skillful swordsmanship, I was filled with admiration and unconsciously followed in his footsteps.
"I'll beat you one day!"
Whenever I said that, Li Jin, who was leaning against the table, would smile slightly and say dismissively without looking up, "Okay, I'll win sooner or later. I'm always waiting for you to come and fight."
But strangely enough, no matter whether I ambushed him or fought him head-on, I could not touch him at all. In half a year, I ruined more than a dozen sets of clothes.
"Why is this happening?!" After failing again, I lay on the ground, panting heavily.
Li Jin didn't take it to heart. He picked up his sword, walked over to me, squatted down, and looked at my face with a smile: "You have long arms, so please be kind to me."
I smacked my lips.
Perhaps seeing that I was still not getting it, Li Jin suddenly leaned forward and pressed down, his smile deepening, which sent a chill down my spine.
He said, "Your master was defeated by me. You can't use his methods."
Only then did I realize what had happened, and I slapped my forehead.
"General, let me tell you a scary story." I looked at Li Jin with a pitiful expression.
He paused slightly, then listened with surprise as I finished speaking.
I said, "I might really not be my father's biological son."
After saying that, he let out a long sigh.
This wasn't even the most desperate moment for me.
I thought it was just because I was too young and lacked practical experience that I couldn't beat Li Jin, so it was normal.
Later, when I went to the front line with him, he looked at the enemy camp that dared not come out to fight, raised his eyebrows and asked me if I wanted to make a name for myself and return home in glory.
I didn't think about it carefully at the time.
After all, it is an honor for a man to go to war to protect his country and have the opportunity to make a name for himself. There is simply no reason to refuse!
So, witnessed by everyone, I saw Li Jin, along with another madman named Zhou Zheng, the two of them and their two horses, charge towards the enemy camp with a spur of their horses.
The version my father received was that the Third Prince Li Jin, along with his left guard Zhou Zheng and right guard Bai Yu, charged in and out three times, routing the enemy forces, who fled in disarray and disbanded on the spot.
The truth is, I chased after them, trying to persuade them to turn back. Seeing that they had already rushed inside, I had no choice but to risk everything and shout at the top of my lungs, "Don't be impulsive! You'll both have good lives at home! Don't do anything rash!"
They couldn't get those two lunatics to move.
It moved the enemy on the other side to tears.
This caused their morale to plummet, and the three of us became legends in that battle.
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