Did The Young Prince’s Kingdom Get Destroyed Today? Chapter 138

The little one secretly observed for a while and then, curious, edged closer. He peeked through the window and saw the white-haired woman dozing off. After a short nap, she woke up, had a meal, drank some tea, and took a few laps around the room for exercise.

After a few laps, she sat down and started sharpening a vine with a sharp knife. She worked meticulously, and once she finished, she grasped the vine in her hand and cracked it through the air a few times.

Though the elderly woman appeared old, it was clear that her body was still strong. If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have been able to snap that vine so forcefully.

The little one, watching from outside the window, was slack-jawed at the sight.

The elderly woman had such a strong body! 

The little one thought about his own father and then looked back at the old woman. His big round eyes were filled with envy.

If only his father could be this strong, he would be content.

The little one watched for a long time, incredibly curious about this old lady. He desperately wanted to know the secret to her longevity!

He stayed glued to the window, engrossed in watching the old lady.

After she finished snapping the vine, she began working on some small crafts. She did this for a while before handing over some storybooks to one of the palace maids, whom the little one had assumed was mute.

The palace maid, who had never spoken before, finally opened her mouth after receiving the books. She began to read the stories aloud to the old lady, telling several, each one different from the last.

One story was about a heartless man getting his comeuppance, while the next was a ghost story.

The old lady had quite a diverse taste in stories.

Though her preferences were varied, each story was more captivating than the last.

The little one was completely absorbed in listening.

However, when the maid began telling the last ghost story, the little one shivered in fear.

Despite trembling, he stuck it out to hear the entire story.

The old lady seemed to glance toward the window at one point, but after a moment, she continued listening to the ghost story. Afterward, she switched to a tale of adventure.

Almost two hours passed with the little one remaining there.

The old lady’s life seemed visibly fulfilling. After she finished listening to the stories, she prepared to wash up and go to bed.

Seeing her ready to sleep, the little one finally decided to pull his paws back and leave.

But after staying at the window for so long, his paws had gone numb.

“Plop—”

His numb paws gave way, and he fell to the ground, toppling over onto his side.

This little bit of noise caused the two palace maids inside to glance in his direction.

The maids looked at the window and then back at the elderly woman.

The old lady was leaning back in her chair and didn’t seem to react.

Seeing this, the maids returned to their tasks in silence, continuing to fetch water.

The little one under the window took a good while to recover before getting back on his feet. Once he was up, he glanced back inside the window.

The old lady was still as she had been earlier, not noticing him.

Feeling relieved, the little one withdrew and headed back.

The next morning, bright and early, he snuck back again. This time, he didn’t care about gossip or finding people; he just squatted down to watch the old lady all day.

He wanted to observe her entire daily routine and report back to his parents, hoping it would help them live a long life.

As he stood guard, whenever he got hungry, he transformed back into his human form and mingled with others to get food. He had a good-looking human form, and since no one knew him, he pretended to be a young prince from Great Qing. With so many princes and princesses in the palace, he could easily pass and grab something to eat.

After getting food, he would switch back to his little form and continue observing the old lady without being noticed.

For two whole days, the little one repeated this, carefully documenting the old lady’s daily life. He planned to take his notes back to Shui Shui for analysis to see if this lifestyle contributed to longevity.

While the little one had been running around, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, Huo Qinwu, visited twice but had yet to catch a glimpse of him.

On the third day, the little one was notified that the Emperor of Qing had arranged a banquet for him that evening, and he was required to attend.

The third day.

The little one stopped running after receiving notice that the Qing Emperor had organized a banquet for him tonight, and he was required to attend.

At the banquet, he would be able to meet Emperor Qing.

The little one didn’t have any particular feelings about meeting Emperor Qing; after all, he had secretly seen the emperor before.

Emperor Qing had been playing around in the palace with a beautiful woman, even chasing after her to pull off her clothes.

This eye-burning scene was accidentally witnessed by the little one, who immediately rubbed his eyes with his tiny paws, feeling like his eyes were going to go blind.

After rubbing his eyes, still shocked, he quickly scurried away on his little paws.

Though he knew his own father also liked beautiful women, the little one was certain that his father would never act so shamelessly like Emperor Qing.

“Can I not go to the banquet?” 

In the little one’s palace, a few palace attendants had been assigned to serve him, some of whom had been brought over from the Qi Dynasty.

The attendants from Qi Dynasty were now scared out of their wits.

The people here didn’t recognize the Second Princess, but they did!

The person currently in the palace was not the Second Princess at all, but their little prince.

The little prince had silently taken the place of the Second Princess, and the attendants were genuinely terrified.

The little prince reassured them, saying he would send them all back home.

They knew he wasn’t lying. The attendants who had accompanied the Second Princess as part of the dowry had already been swiftly sent away by the little prince with a wave of his small hand.

The little prince had sent them off with full confidence: “I don’t need a dowry, and there are already plenty of attendants here.”

The other attendants had been sent back, but a few of them had gritted their teeth and insisted on staying behind.

“Y-Your Highness,” one of the attendants whispered as quietly as possible so no one else could hear. “You can’t skip it. You’ve been here for a while, and Emperor Qing hasn’t seen you yet.”

After explaining this, the attendant continued in a low voice, “Your Highness, I’ve spoken with Little Yu, and none of the people in this palace have suspected your identity yet. They all just think that you have some physical condition that’s keeping you from growing properly.”

“But tonight, when you meet Emperor Qing, you can say the same.”

The attendants who had remained were genuinely concerned for the little prince’s safety. They understood the risks of staying. If the little prince’s identity were exposed, they would definitely be implicated. 

Even so, they couldn’t bear to leave the little prince all alone.

This was the Great Qing Dynasty, not their homeland of Qi.

How pitiful it would be for the little prince to be here, all alone.

“I have a plan. Don’t worry,” the little one comforted the attendants as he handed them some cakes to eat.

The banquet was in the evening, and the little one had already been told not to go out, to avoid being late.

But after sitting on a bench for a little while, he decided to throw that advice out the window.

He didn’t have much time left. Wasting it sitting here just wasn’t an option.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Determined, the little one headed out. Once he had made up his mind, no one could stop him.

This time, he didn’t go to see the old lady. Instead, he wandered off to explore other parts of the palace.

While wandering, he even jumped into the water and ended up rescuing someone.

The person he saved was a beautiful woman. There were so many beautiful women in this palace that the little one was starting to feel overwhelmed.

“Don’t move, don’t move!”

The little one anxiously said to the woman in the water, “If you keep moving, I won’t be able to pull you out!”

He was so small, and pulling an adult was already exhausting him!

Finally, after the woman stopped struggling, the little one gathered all his strength and managed to drag her to the shore.

Once she was on land, the woman clutched her stomach, groaning in pain. “My stomach… it hurts so much.”

The little one: “…”

The little one wasn’t like Shui Shui—he couldn’t treat stomachaches.

Seeing the woman’s face turn pale with pain, the little one started sweating nervously.

He had just dragged her out of the water; if he couldn’t save her life, all his effort would have been in vain.

“Where’s the imperial physician? I’ll call the physician for you!”

He tried to think of a solution. “Where’s your maid? I’ll call for help!”

He jumped up and started shouting for help.

The woman on the ground, in the midst of her pain, kept her eyes fixed on the little one as he scurried around, busy trying to help.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, an attendant arrived.

The little one let out a sigh of relief. “I really couldn’t carry you. I’m too small.”

He couldn’t carry the beauty to the physician himself.

As the beauty was being carried away, she reached out and grabbed the little one’s hand. “Good child, what is your name? I will remember your life-saving kindness.”

The little one was speechless.

His ears perked up slightly.

Saving the beauty had been an instinctual reaction—how could he just let someone drown right in front of him? Of course, he had to drag her out.

But now that he had saved her, and hearing her words of gratitude, the little one realized he might actually be repaid for his good deed.

Resolutely, he stretched out his small hand and clasped hers in return.

“I’m from the Qi Dynasty. I’ll be at the banquet tonight,” he managed to say before the beauty was hurriedly taken away.

After revealing his origin, the beauty was rushed off, leaving the little one standing there, blinking his large, round eyes. A small lightbulb seemed to go off above his head.

The next second, the little one busied himself. 

There were simply too many beauties in the Great Qing palace. With his warm heart, he secretly observed them, carefully offering his help whenever he could, building up goodwill for himself.

While he was busy with this, he overheard some news: Noble Consort Jia had suffered a miscarriage.

She had fallen into the water earlier that day, and the baby couldn’t be saved.

Upon hearing this, the little one immediately connected Noble Consort Jia with the beauty he had saved earlier.

Back in his own palace, he asked about Noble Consort Jia.

“Noble Consort Jia is the sister of the Empress of Great Qing. They used to have a close relationship, and it’s said that Noble Consort Jia only entered the palace because of the Empress’s influence.”

“But after Noble Consort Jia entered the palace, there were a few conflicts between her and the Empress, although the Emperor is fond of both sisters.”

The little one listened to these details, but it wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to know more.

When he asked further, Little Yu was able to give him more answers.

“Your Highness, there are three people in the Great Qing palace that absolutely must not be provoked. First, there’s the Old Empress Dowager. She’s around the same age as the Emperor, and though she’s not his biological mother, the Emperor holds her in high regard. It’s said that he has great respect for her.”

“Second is the Emperor. He’s much older than our own ruler, and far more ruthless.”

Little Yu listed two names in one breath. Before she could get to the third, the little one interrupted, “Is the third one the Empress or Noble Consort Jia?”

“Neither,” Little Yu said, shaking her head gravely. “It’s not the Empress or Noble Consort Jia.”

“The third person not to be trifled with is the Crown Prince of Great Qing, Huo Qinwu.”

The little one was stunned.

He rubbed his ears and mumbled, “But I also have an Ah Wu.”

The Crown Prince’s name also had a “Wu” in it.

At that moment, the little one hadn’t yet realized that the two “Wu’s” were one and the same—his Ah Wu.

“The Crown Prince of Great Qing is ruthless and notorious for killing without hesitation. Even the Emperor is wary of him.”

“Your Highness, the three people I’ve told you about are very dangerous. If you ever encounter them, you must be extremely careful.”

“Mm! I know that!”

As they continued talking, it was now less than two hours until the evening banquet.

At that moment, Huo Qinwu arrived at the door again.

When he appeared, his young, handsome face was clouded with displeasure.

Regardless of whether the person from the Qi Dynasty was the Second Princess or not, this individual was far too unruly!

Since their arrival, they had barely spent any time obediently in their room.

Huo Qinwu had already formulated a plan to protect “her,” but now, if “she” continued to act so recklessly, Huo Qinwu thought coldly, he wouldn’t mind letting “her” experience the consequences of her actions.

He disliked trouble and didn’t care about managing others.

Apart from the little one, he couldn’t care less whether anyone else lived or died.

If it weren’t for the little one, his patience would have run out long ago.

“Bang—”

There was just one knock before Huo Qinwu pushed the door open without hesitation.

The door swung open so quickly that the little one inside jumped in fright.

Startled, the little one instinctively grabbed a red bridal veil and threw it over his head.

With a loud smack, the red veil covered his head, leaving him oblivious to who had entered the room.

Huo Qinwu, standing at the doorway, was momentarily taken aback. The darkness on his face was instantly replaced by surprise.

He paused for a moment, and after a few seconds, as if waking from a dream, he stepped into the room.

“Who… who are you?” Little Yu, not recognizing him, tried to block his way and asked.

Huo Qinwu ignored her, his eyes locked onto the small figure draped in the red veil.

“Move,” Huo Qinwu ordered coldly, his tone so commanding that Little Yu trembled and backed away, her legs going weak.

Under the red veil, the little one’s heart was pounding with nerves.

His heartbeat was so loud that he couldn’t even hear Ah Wu’s voice.

It wasn’t until the veil was lifted from his head that the little one raised his gaze—and found himself staring into a familiar pair of eyes.

The two of them froze, staring at each other.

It was only after a long pause that the little one, still in a daze, finally blurted out, “A-Ah Wu?”

Ah Wu hadn’t expected that the person under the red veil would be his little one.

“Ah Wu!”

The little one had been wandering around the Great Qing palace for days, never running into Ah Wu. Now, suddenly seeing him here, all the pent-up frustration and longing for Ah Wu burst out at once.

“Why are you here? You’re here, but you didn’t come find Zai Zai!”

Tears welled up in the little one’s eyes as he buried his small head into Ah Wu’s chest.

Ah Wu gently patted his back, comforting him. “I didn’t know you were here, Zai Zai. I’m sorry—I came too late.”

He had imagined a thousand possibilities but never thought that the one coming in place of the Second Princess would be his Zai Zai.

“I’ve been here for several days and haven’t seen you even once.”

“Ah Wu, I’ve missed you so much.”

The little one clung to Ah Wu, talking non-stop.

Ah Wu held him, patiently comforting him for a long while.

Once the little one’s emotions had finally settled, Ah Wu began to question him: “Why are you here?”

Though Ah Wu already had an answer in his heart, he still wanted to hear it directly from the little one.

The little one hesitated and finally confessed, “I… I didn’t want my second sister to come. I’m still small, so I can wear the red veil—”

He wanted to say that he was still too young, and even if he wore the red veil, it wouldn’t count.

But as soon as he mentioned the red veil, Ah Wu’s eyes turned red.

“You won’t wear it.”

Ah Wu said, “Our Zai Zai won’t wear the red veil.”

Even as a joke, the old emperor was not worthy of having his Zai Zai cooperate and wear the red veil.

The little one sensed Ah Wu’s displeasure and rubbed his soft cheek against him, responding in a sweet voice, “Alright, I won’t wear it!”

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