Jin Xiaoyu looked at Little Xun’s smile and couldn’t help but mutter, “At least you would give me a smile. That person never even smiled to me.”
Little Xun replied to Jin Xiaoyu with a confused face. He did not know what Jin Xiaoyu meant.
Jin Xiaoyu added, “Alright, let’s not talk about it. Sister will finish the rest of the game with you.”
……
They rushed all the way to Baoning City.
Having arrived at the city, Jin Xiaoyu was about to report their cases when they reached the Six King’s residence. But she felt that it was inappropriate after thinking through.
A person who was chased after even by the imperial court now entering the building without any cover – wouldn’t it get the Sixth King into trouble?
Not to mention whether the Sixth King was trustworthy or not, if those officers and soldiers knew that the Sixth King accepted Little Xun and the imperial court held him accountable, would the Sixth King hand over Little Xun or not?
If he handed over Little Xun, it was breaking the promise with the Prime Minister. If he didn’t hand him over, then it was fighting against the whole imperial court.
Thinking about this, Jin Xiaoyu left the horse and pulled Little Xun into an alley.
When they came out again, Jin Xiaoyu became a country girl and Little Xun turned from a little boy to a beautiful little girl.
There was not a single sense of discord as Little Xun dressed up as a little girl.
He had a very fair complexion with a round face. He tied a ponytail and easily became a little girl. Also, he was so young that he did not have to put two steamed buns in his chest to pretend having a breast.
On the other hand, Jin Xiaoyu felt extremely upset.
She sighed, “I used to be the popular and charming boss of the Longmen Inn. I didn’t expect to dress up as a country girl.”
Little Xun looked at her and said sincerely, “Sister, you look good in anything.”
“Really?” Jin Xiaoyu asked.
“Of course.”
Jin Xiaoyu scratched his little face, “I don’t know whether I look good or not in these clothes, but you really know how to sweet talk me. It is worth saving your life with such a huge effort.”
“Thank you, Sis,” Little Xun was very polite.
Jin Xiaoyu added, “Let’s stop talking and find a place to eat.”
She led Little Xun to a restaurant. But in the blink of an eye, she had already disguised herself as country girl, if she went to the restaurant and paid with a bag of silver, she would definitely be eye-catching and would arouse suspicion.
……
After a quarter of an hour, Jin Xiaoyu led Little Xun to a noodle store on the side walk and ordered two bowls of beef noodles.
At least, there were a few pieces of beef in the noodle, and it tasted very good.
Jin Xiaoyu took a few bites and realized that Little Xun was gulping down the noodles, as if he had been starved for a long time. She paused for a while, then picked out the beef granules in her bowl and gave them to Little Xun.
“Sis, don’t you want to eat?” Little Xun swallowed the noodles in his mouth and asked, looking quite good-mannered.
“I don’t like beef. You can eat it,” said Jin Xiaoyu with a sense of indifference.
“Sis, you’re so nice,” Little Xun added.
“It’s not that I am nice. I just don’t want to eat. You don’t have to thank me,” Jin Xiaoyu replied again.
Little Xun took two more bites but suddenly stopped eating.
“What’s wrong?” Jin Xiaoyu asked.
Little Xun’s nose turned red, “Grandpa was also like sister. He especially picked out the meat in his bowl for me to eat. And also those uncles with excellent martial arts who always followed grandpa. I wonder how they are now. Sis, do you think they will die?”
“Of course… not!” Jin Xiaoyu felt guilty when she said this.
Seeing that Little Xun was in a low mood, she added, “No, definitely not! Isn’t your grandpa playing games with those uncles? They lost the game but your game is not over yet. As long as you follow me, we can definitely make it to the end.”
Little Xun wiped his eyes, not letting his tears fall, “Why would they burn the house and kill people if we are playing games?”
“Those are fake. When did you see them killing people? It must be mistaken,” said Jin Xiaoyu but still with a guilty tone.
She didn’t want to lie, but she couldn’t bear to let Little Xun down.
This child was sensible and intelligent for his age, but at the same time naive and innocent. Such a lovable and poor little thing.
Little Xun wiped his eyes again and said, “Grandpa must have said that I should live and be a happy and ordinary person in the future.”
“Yes!” Jin Xiaoyu immediately replied with certainty, “You have to listen to your grandpa. As long as we reach a safe place and settle down ourselves, maybe your grandpa will come, and also your mom and dad! Do you miss your parents?”
Little Xun nodded and sniffed again. “Yes, I miss them. I miss them even in my dreams.”
“That’s right! You have to hold on. As long as the bad guys don’t catch us, we will be able to live.”
Little Xun asked again, “Sis, will you always be with me?”
“Not necessarily, it depends on the situation,” said Jin Xiaoyu.
Little Xun didn’t receive an expected answer and bursted into tears.
Jin Xiaoyu’s heart was softened so she added, “I will try my best to be with you.”
Little Xun smiled again.
“Let’s not talk too much. Hurry up and eat the noodles. It’ll get cold otherwise.”
……
After the two of them finished eating they wandered along the street for a while.
During this period of time, they saw officers and soldiers enter the city. She knew by instinct that these people must be looking for Little Xun, so she quickly pulled Little Xun over to hide.
It was not safe to stay in the inn now. They might carry out house-to-house searches later in the day. It was best to play hide-and-seek with these soldiers.
This was quite an easy task for Jin Xiaoyu. They had disguised themselves anyway, so it was not difficult to escape the search of the soldiers.
……
The Sixth King’s residence.
Li Chengyi and Li Chengru sat in the lobby. A person dressed like a general stood in front of them.
This person was particularly arrogant since the moment he entered.
In his opinion, neither Li Chengyi nor Li Chengru had any power. Although they were in charge of Baoning City, the city was not a large place, and was inferior to even a vounty in Zhongyuan area.
He had come today to discuss about something.
“What do you come for?” Li Chengyi asked indifferently.
He was now sitting with Li Chengru while the general was standing.
The general looked around. There were obviously extra chairs but Li Chengyi did not invite him to sit down.
He said defiantly, “We were appointed to arrest the criminal according to the imperial order. We have followed them all the way to your city, so I want to ask the Sixth King if I he had seen this person before.”
The general spread out a piece of paper and was about to present it to the Sixth King when Li Chengru stopped him.
“You impudent!”
Li Chengru continued coldly, “Who the hell are you? And my brother is the sixth King. How dare you talk to my sixth brother as an equal?”
Seeing that Li Chengyi was calm and composed while Li Chengru was irritable and direct, the general had no other way but to stop walking and pass the portrait to the secretary of Li Chengyi and let the secretary present it to him.
Li Chengyi looked at the portrait and then asked the general, “Sir, are you kidding me? The person on the portrait was clearly a little brat! But you said that he was a criminal according to the imperial order. Do you think that Baoning City is too small, so you can ask me about such a negligible matter? You tell me, did this little brat steal watermelon or green beans? ”
Li Chengru sneered.
The general paused for a moment and replied, “This little brat didn’t steal sesame, nor did he steal watermelon. He is the grandson of the former prime minister, Xun Jianan. His whole family should be executed, but his grandson and himself managed to escape. They are running towards Baoning City all the way. I’m sure it’s because they want to ask you for help, so I came over to ask.”
“How dare you!” Li Chengru patted the table and shouted, “You mean the Sixth King will give shelter to the criminals?! They ran in this direction, so they wanted to seek help from the Sixth King? They might just want to leave the border and flee to the Walazha Kingdom.”
The general knew that they would retort like this, but he continued, “Even if he didn’t seek help from the Sixth King, they have already reached your territory. So I beg your Majesty to search over. If they managed to escape, the consequences would be disastrous.”
Li Chengru added, “This is really strange. They escaped from the capital city and you didn’t catch them as they passed through so many places. You didn’t hold those places responsible but now you come to our place to question us. You want us to take the fall?”
The general, “…”
Li Chengyi asked again, “Didn’t you say they escaped together? Then why is there only a portrait of the boy? Where is Prime Minister An? ”
The general said with a straight face, “He commited suicide last night.”
The general sounded so indifferent as if the dead one was just a dog.
Li Chengyi clenched his fists but quickly restrained himself.
Li Chengru asked again, “You said that Prime Minister Xun has commited suicide, while the little kid fled to my territory. How old is that kid? Can he manage to arrive here alone?”
The general said, “The kid has a few masters protecting him. The boss of Longmen Inn also assisted them to escape. These are very cunning people. It is not difficult at all for them to protect a kid.”
“The boss of Longmen Inn?” Li Chengru remembered this woman and had a deep impression of her.
“Your Highness know this woman?” The general flag asked.
“I have heard a little about her,” Li Chengru replied.
“Since that’s the case, it’s not difficult to explain why the kid managed to escape. This woman is very cunning and is highly skillful in martial arts. Perhaps the kid is with her.”
On the other hand, Li Chengyi said, “Alright, we will cooperate with your request. From now on, I will demand the city’s soldiers to assist you in the search. However, we don’t know if the child fled to my place. Besides, there are not many troops in Baoning City. We don’t know if we can find them.”
The general was finally satisfied and bowed to them, “Thank you, the Sixth King, and thank you, the Seventh King.”
The general felt his mouth so dry as he left. He had been standing there for so long without having a sip of water.
……
In the lobby, Li Chengru asked Li Chengyi, “Sixth Brother, do you seriously decide to help catch the kid? What do you plan to do after getting him?”
Li Chengyi turned the question back to Li Chengzhu, “Do I have other choice? I send soldiers to catch the kid and get him myself. Isn’t it better than that kid falling into the hands of that person?”
“Sixth Brother, you mean, we are only in charge of the search. As for how to deal with the kid after we have caught him, it depends upon us?” Li Chengzhu asked again.
“What do you have in mind, my seventh brother?”