Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2658 Still Vigorous in Old Age 42.0
“It not only fits the name ‘Little Loach Prince,’ but also our description of him: a cunning old fox.” Shen Cha sighed softly. “We asked those who had met him before, and their opinions on him varied. But one thing they all agreed on was that Master Falian was very thoughtful and considerate, and his words were pleasant to hear. Even if his words were unpleasant, they wouldn’t be too hard for them to accept.”

"He can speak human language to human beings and ghost language to ghosts. This ability is ingrained in his bones. After all, he was once a prince. Although he left the palace at a young age, he still received a court education. He still has this instinct." Chu Han smiled at Shen Cha, recalled the situation when he met Master Fa Lian, and slowly said, "Moreover, even when he was in exile, he was still very particular about his appearance."

"What does it mean?"

"I remember he was wearing a crescent-colored robe with a fox fur coat over it, soft sheepskin boots, and carrying a hand warmer." Chu Han chuckled. "Even his guards were dressed very uniformly. To put it bluntly, standing in the city, they were like cranes among chickens, very conspicuous."

"Whether you call him an anomaly or not, he's definitely someone I've never seen before, so he's bound to attract a crowd." Shen Haolin glanced at Chu Han and said, "Back then, the Shen family army had just moved in and hadn't had time to restore order. The local thugs were still quite active. Dressed like that, they were probably already eyeing him. As for why they didn't make a move, it was probably because of his guards. They were still assessing each other's abilities; if they could win, they would fight, and if they couldn't, they would run."

"That's absolutely right. Among the onlookers were quite a few burly, idle people who seemed quite happy to see us having a conflict, and eager to join in."

"They want to wait for you to start fighting so they can take advantage of the chaos to steal from you."

“I see.” Chu Han spread his hands. “Although we hadn’t thought of that, we tacitly didn’t give them the chance. The little prince wanted to settle things as quickly as possible and extricate himself from this dispute to avoid being discovered by the Duke’s or Marquis’s mansions. But we were different; we deliberately delayed to see what kind of person he really was.” He shrugged and said, “As a result, the onlookers saw that we were just arguing and not fighting, so they got bored and sneaked away.”

"Well, how should I put it? If these people weren't really struggling to make ends meet, they probably wouldn't be doing this kind of work. After all, when we first arrived, the entire city was completely shut down, and the government offices were deserted." Xue Ruitian looked at Shen Cha. "Right?"

"Yes!" Shen Cha nodded. "During a Liao-Jin raid, the old man on our side took his family and disappeared without a trace. These people," she sighed, "were the young and strong men I was talking about, capable of fighting on the battlefield. However..."

"what happened?"

"They all later died in an accident."

"Accident? What kind of accident?"

"It should be considered a natural disaster!" Xue Ruitian explained. "When we were repairing the city gates and the houses in the city, everyone was very enthusiastic in helping. Even these seemingly idle and lazy people came to help. As I said, as long as they have something to do, they won't do anything like stealing. Later, the repairs were almost finished, but one night, a sudden earthquake occurred, and many of the newly repaired houses collapsed."

"Buried inside?"

"Hmm!" Xue Ruitian nodded. "In order to rebuild the house quickly, they worked at night as well, and as a result..." He sighed helplessly, "There are many empty houses in the city that are unclaimed, and that's why."

"I see." Chu Han sighed as well, saying, "I take back what I said earlier; they were indeed loyal people." "And then?" Shen Cha wasn't too concerned about those details; she was more interested in the exchange between Chu Han and Master Fa Lian. "What exactly did you two say?"

"Actually, they didn't say much. It was because his guards bumped into my men while protecting him, damaging the gifts I was about to give to Lao Shen and Lao Xue. If they apologized for bumping into people and breaking things, we wouldn't care. But they neither apologized nor made amends, and just walked away with their chins held high. Not only that, but there was also some kind of thing with them."

Upon hearing Chu Han's words, the children exchanged glances and muttered the same thing in unison.

"Eunuch!"

Chu Han had good hearing; although the children's voices weren't loud, he still managed to hear them, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

“Well said, eunuch.” He sneered. “I really don’t know where you found this piece of trash. You’re always good at flattering the powerful and belittling the weak.”

“It’s probably someone who’s been following him all along.” Shen Cha thought for a moment. “Yan You once said that there was such a person by his godfather’s side, and the situation was the same as his godfather’s.”

"Does 'like his godfather' mean," Chu Han touched his face, "that he's the same as us?"

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “Yan You’s exact words were that Mr. Qiu was fair-skinned and beardless, with a very high-pitched voice, and his mannerisms were not those of a respectable person.” She briefly described the appearance of Mr. Qiu that Yan You had described to her, and looked at Chu Han. “An arrogant, sarcastic fellow, is that him?”

“It’s him!” Chu Han sneered. “Now that you mention it, I remember my brother mentioning that the Little Prince has a senior brother surnamed Qiu, but he was expelled from the sect and went to Jiangnan because of some things in his early years. Now that I think about it, it must have been premeditated.”

"After Master Falian and the abbot of Xiangguo Temple left Xijing City, the only trace they left was that they went to Jiangnan. It seems that my senior brother made arrangements in advance." Shen Cha nodded. "Grand Uncle, please continue."

"That thing looked disgusted, saying that something dirty touched his young master, and not only did it not ask us to pay for it, but we also expected them to pay for our things and apologize to us. It's just wishful thinking. Of course, what it said was even harsher than what I said. You've all seen the smug look on the faces of some species. Just understand it yourself."

“Alright.” Shen Cha and Xue Ruitian exchanged a glance, and both couldn’t help but laugh. “But if they want to get away as soon as possible, why provoke them?”

"This was before I arrived; their attitude changed noticeably after I got there."