The first thing Xiao Bao felt was the cold, hard ground, which hurt his back and was completely different from the feeling of being enveloped in warmth that he had imagined.
Then comes the strong smell of earth, very damp.
There was a faint floral fragrance, but he couldn't name the flower. It was probably some kind of wildflower, but he was too young to recognize it.
"Where am I?" Xiao Bao wondered. "Where is Mother? What happened? I should be in Mother's arms right now. Was that warm embrace just an illusion?"
In the void, he felt a warm embrace enveloping him, and a gentle voice speaking to him—it was his mother… He had struggled to wake up for all of this, for what seemed like a long, long-awaited expectation, only to find it dashed when he opened his eyes.
He closed his eyes again, and memories of the past flooded back. He was Yun Zhaolin, nicknamed Xiaobao, born in the Crown Prince's residence. He was the eldest son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
His father was always busy and often away from home, so it was his mother who took care of him for three whole years—yes, he was only three years old, but he remembered everything that happened during those three years.
He remembered the first words his mother spoke to him when he came from the chaos; he remembered everything after returning to the Crown Prince's residence; he remembered everything his mother did for him.
...He's an idiot!
He has absolutely no intelligence; he can't speak, can't eat with chopsticks, can't put on shoes or clothes, and can't use the toilet...
Many children his age knew how to do it, but he knew nothing about it. He didn't even recognize his mother or his father.
The skills his mother taught him today, such as urinating in the outhouse, he learned in this hour but forgot in the next.
His mother taught him to recognize pears, but he would pick them up and start biting into them. He did this for over a year, but he still couldn't recognize a pear. However, his mother taught him again and again, day after day!
How could a fool like him be here?
He also remembered that a few days ago, a force in the dark had been pulling and pushing him, making him leave his parents and the Crown Prince's residence. So he tried to break free, but failed.
He later climbed a tree and went into the water. With Bai Qi's help, he managed to escape. Immediately afterwards, he was discovered by the people of Xuanwang Mansion, knocked unconscious, and kidnapped.
Father and Mother must be frantic with worry!
Xiao Bao suddenly sat up from the ground, his whole body aching, and he let out an "Ah!" sound.
The maid standing guard at the door peeked over, saw that he was awake, but didn't seem to care.
"He's just a fool, what harm would it do if he woke up?" the maid said.
Another maid chimed in, "That's right, let's concentrate on listening to what's going on outside! If anything seems amiss, we can spot it immediately!"
They were more concerned about the situation outside than the commotion inside the cave, since it was a matter of life and death!
After the simple sound, the surroundings returned to silence, with only the howling of the wind outside.
Xiao Bao propped himself up on the ground and sat up, leaning against the stone wall. The dream he had just had while he was unconscious suddenly rushed into his mind.
It seemed someone told him that he had a sleeping potion on him, which could be used to knock out the guards outside, and even taught him how to use it. They also instructed him that as long as he ran out of the cave and kept running to the right, he would be saved.
After thinking about it carefully, he realized that the person had the exact same face as him, only about two years older.
After the young man finished speaking, he gradually disappeared into the void, but his voice still echoed: "You are finally going to be reunited with your mother, so remember to love her well..."
Little Bao couldn't understand what was going on, and at his age he couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality, but he still reached into his clothes and actually pulled out a small bottle.
He stood up, his small body swaying unsteadily, his tender little feet making drunken gaits, the clattering of his footsteps hard to conceal, and at only three years old, he didn't even think to try to hide it.
The maidservant guarding outside quickly noticed and peeked out again, laughing, "The little fool has been unconscious for so long, but he's actually woken up and can even walk!"
Others also gathered around to look.
"It's amazing. After he bled so much, I thought he would never wake up and would just die."
"But waking up won't help. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess are gone, he definitely won't survive!"
"What a pity, such a beautiful and delicate child is actually an idiot!"
"They're not decorated like jade anymore, they're all dirty now."
Xiao Bao walked up to them, and they immediately drew their longswords to block his path.
"Little fool, you cannot leave this place without Princess Xuan's order!" They had never dealt with a fool before and were momentarily stunned. Perhaps Xiao Bao couldn't understand what they were saying.
But Xiao Bao not only understood, he also took out the small bottle hidden behind his back, opened the cap, and a wisp of white smoke came out.
"This smells so sweet, can you help me figure out what it is?" Xiao Bao's childish voice rang out.
The maids were completely unsuspecting of him, assuming he was a fool, but they couldn't immediately realize that this fool shouldn't be able to speak!
So, subconsciously, he leaned over to look at the white smoke. At that moment, Xiao Bao blew a breath into the white smoke, and the smoke drifted towards the maids.
The smell was indeed very sweet; they took a deep breath, and it was somewhat intoxicating.
At that moment, someone finally reacted and said, "Isn't he an idiot? How can he talk? Be careful of what he's holding—"
But it was too late; the four maids closest to Xiaobao had already fainted.
The two most wary maids, standing on the outermost edge, charged at Xiaobao with longswords in hand. Xiaobao then splashed the contents of the bottle onto their faces...
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