Did The Young Prince’s Kingdom Get Destroyed Today? Chapter 15

Chapter 15

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Ling Rui, sitting in the carriage, hadn’t seen his self-portrait yet. He was eagerly trying to peek out.

Ling Fu was also impatient, leaning over with him, pulling the curtain slightly to look outside.

“Sixth Brother, there’s nothing yet.”

Outside was just a road, different from what Ling Rui had imagined.

Ling Fu looked at the road and thought, “We haven’t gone out yet.”

“Both of you sit properly for a while. Once we’re outside, we can get off and have a look,” Ling Ning said, taking out the snacks she brought and inviting Ling Fu and Ling Rui to eat together.

Ling Rui looked at the snacks and hesitated for a moment.

He called out, “Yanyan.”

Ji Yan lifted the curtain and glanced inside. Seeing that they wanted to eat, she quickly brought in the food she had prepared.

She smiled and said, “The Seventh Prince just had an upset stomach a few days ago, so we need to be extra careful with his diet. Fifth Princess, Sixth Prince, you should try these too; they are easy to digest and won’t upset your stomachs.”

After handing over the food, Ji Yan closed the curtain, letting the three of them talk and eat together.

Ling Fu, who had also had an upset stomach before, hadn’t learned his lesson. Seeing delicious food, he couldn’t resist eating.

“Fifth Sister, try this,” Ling Rui said, offering the snacks Ji Yan had brought to Ling Ning.

Ling Ning looked at the snacks, then at her younger brother, biting her lip with a complex expression in her eyes. “Noble Consort treats you so well.”

Although Little Seven wasn’t Noble Consort Yi’s biological child, she treated him very well.

Ling Ning, on the other hand, was her mother’s biological daughter, yet her mother often expressed regret over having her.

Both were children, but their treatments were vastly different.

“Yes! Niang Niang is the best!” Ling Rui said, smiling at his sister’s words. He looked at chubby Ling Fu and added, “Sixth Brother is great too!”

Sixth Brother often played with him and taught him things; he liked him very much.

Feeling proud, little fatty Ling Fu pinched Ling Rui’s cheek and said, “Little Seven is great too!”

If he had known earlier that he had such a cute younger brother, he would have come to play with him sooner.

“Fifth Sister, I brought money. If there’s anything you want to buy, just let me know!” Ling Fu patted his money pouch generously.

Ling Rui also took out his money pouch and said, “I’ll buy something for Fifth Sister.”

Though he had a money pouch, he didn’t yet know how to recognize money.

Seeing this, Ling Ning decided to teach him how to recognize money along the way.

The carriage moved at a leisurely pace, and after some time, it finally stopped.

“Young masters and young miss, we’ve arrived,” the senior eunuch, dressed in plain clothes, lifted the curtain and reminded the young princes and princesses inside.

Before leaving the palace, it was agreed that to conceal their identities, they would be addressed as young masters and young miss instead of prince and princess.

The carriage stopped in an open area, and Ling Rui was carried down by the senior eunuch.

“Young master, do you want me to carry you?” Ji Yan asked, approaching Ling Rui.

Ling Rui shook his head and extended his little hands, asking his brother and sister to hold them.

Ling Fu and Ling Ning walked on either side, holding Ling Rui’s hands. It was their first time outside the palace, and they were full of curiosity about the rare sights.

“Just follow behind us, don’t crowd around,” Ling Ning ordered the attendants after they had walked a bit, not wanting to draw attention by being surrounded tightly.

The attendants indeed kept a distance, but Ji Yan and the other two maids stayed close.

They had left in the morning, and the breakfast stalls on the street had not yet closed.

The various breakfast foods emitted a strong aroma, making Ling Fu’s mouth water.

“Fifth Sister, do you want to eat something? I can buy it for you.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Although Ling Ning said she wasn’t hungry, Ling Fu still bought something with his money pouch.

He and Ling Ning each had an oily pancake, while Ling Rui held a small bag of sweet porridge with both hands.

“Little Seven, you’re too young to eat random things.”

Ling Fu, chewing on his pancake, said with a smile, “Tell Sixth Brother if you want something, and I’ll eat it for you.”

Ling Rui: “….”

Ling Rui puffed up his cheeks, not wanting to respond.

The bustling capital under the emperor’s feet was lively and prosperous. Besides the rich variety of breakfast, the roadside stalls were also plentiful.

There were especially many stalls selling masks, one after another.

“Sixth Brother, buy this,” Ling Rui said, pointing at a pig mask hanging at a mask stall.

Though he had a money pouch, he didn’t know how to buy things.

With Ling Fu’s help, the three of them picked out masks.

“Use mine,” Ling Rui said, handing his money pouch to Sixth Brother after choosing his mask.

Perhaps seeing the three children buying things so freely, the stall owner chatted with them, “Little masters, there will be a lantern festival tonight. It will be crowded, so stay close to the adults when you go.”

“A lantern festival?”

Ling Rui, holding his mask, asked in confusion, “What is a lantern festival?”

“A lantern festival is when many beautiful lanterns are displayed on the streets, and many people come out to see them. Young gentlemen and ladies also take the opportunity to go out and stroll,” the stall owner explained patiently. Once they understood, he turned to serve other customers.

After visiting the mask stall, Ling Rui asked Ling Fu to help him put on the pig mask and continued walking.

Suddenly, a commotion caught Ling Rui’s attention.

Taking short steps, he and Ling Fu, also attracted by the noise, ran forward.

When they arrived, they found a crowd already gathered.

Luckily, being short, they easily squeezed to the front.

Ling Ning didn’t run forward; her etiquette did not allow her to squeeze into crowds like her two brothers.

“Young master, slow down,” a maid called after them.

Ji Yan’s heart raced as she watched the young prince squeeze through the crowd. He looked like a small radish among the adults, and she feared someone might accidentally step on him.

“Be careful, Little Seven!” she called out.

Ling Fu, being a bit more reliable, used his hand to shield his brother’s head, preventing any bumps or knocks.

Once they pushed through to the front, Ling Rui looked up and saw a young girl in plain clothes being dragged by two men dressed similarly.

The girl cried and struggled to escape, but the men were pulling her towards a carriage. 

She cried out desperately for help from the bystanders, “Help me, please! I don’t want to go with them. Help me, please!”

Despite her pitiful cries, no one in the crowd dared to intervene.

Ling Rui overheard the adults above him talking, “Poor girl, she looks so young.”

“She is, but we can’t help her.”

“The men dragging her are from the Yong Wang Mansion. See that one with the triangular eyes? He’s a follower of Yong Wang.”

The adults spoke in hushed tones, but Ling Rui didn’t understand much. He didn’t know who Yong Wang was; he just sensed that the adults were too afraid to help the crying girl.

“Sixth Brother,” Ling Rui tugged on Ling Fu’s arm. Ling Fu looked back at him, and after a moment of silent communication, both little “radishes” ran forward.

Ling Fu pointed at the man with the triangular eyes and shouted, “Stop!”

Ling Rui echoed loudly, “Stop!”

Ling Fu continued angrily, “In broad daylight, you’re kidnapping someone on the street! My eldest roy—my big brother said this kind of behavior is wrong!”

Ling Rui tried to repeat the whole sentence but only managed to shout, “Wrong!”

Ling Fu put on a stern face and declared, “I will have you arrested!”

Ling Rui nodded in agreement, “Arrest him!”

The two little boys demanded to have the men arrested, working in perfect unison.

The head servant from Yong Wang’s household was amused, “Which family do you children belong to? Do you even know who I am?”

“You’re a bad guy!” Ling Rui answered earnestly.

Yong Wang servant: “…”

The servant narrowed his eyes. He was in a hurry to take the girl back and didn’t have time to deal with these kids. Otherwise, he would have made them regret drawing attention to themselves.

“I won’t bother with you brats. Go home and drink your milk,” he said, resuming his attempt to drag the girl away.

Seeing this, Ling Rui and Ling Fu ran over and clung to his legs, trying to prevent him from leaving.

Frustrated by the interference, the servant snapped, “You really want to be punished, don’t you!”

He raised his hand to hit the boys, but before his slap landed, his arm was twisted from behind.

The two little boys were then picked up by someone.

The servant fell to his knees with a sharp pain.

“You have some nerve, even daring to touch our young masters,” said one of the imperial guards who had come to protect the princes and princesses. They subdued the two servants from Yong Wang’s household, making them kneel.

With the guards stepping in, Ling Fu immediately put on an air of authority. “Beat them up!” he ordered.

Ling Rui, recalling how the bad men had bullied the girl, nodded in agreement, “Yes, beat them!”

The guards promptly obeyed and soon, the once-arrogant servants were beaten into submission.

Initially, the two men cursed, “We serve Yong Wang. Offend us, and your whole family will suffer!”

But eventually, they began to beg, “Stop hitting us, don’t hit our faces…”

While the two men were being beaten, Ling Rui gently tugged on the girl’s sleeve, trying to comfort her, “Don’t cry. The bad guys have been caught.”

Despite his words, the girl continued to cry and knelt before Ling Rui, pleading, “Young master, please give me a way to live.”

“My Father is a storyteller at an inn. We rely on each other to survive. Yong Wang took a fancy to me and wanted to take me into his household. When my Father refused, his servants beat him to death and now they’re trying to take me away.”

“Young master, please help me.”

Ling Rui: “…”

Ling Rui was stunned. It was the first time someone had begged him for help.

But he didn’t know how to help.

“Yanyan.”

Ling Rui called out, looking for help. When Ji Yan came over, he held out his arms for her to pick him up, and whispered, “Help.”

Ji Yan picked him up, frowned at the girl, and said, “You’re fortunate to have met our young master. Alright, follow my arrangements.”

Helping this girl might anger Yong Wang, but their General’s household was not on good terms with him anyway. If Yong Wang got upset, so be it.

Ji Yan decided to rescue the girl and temporarily place her in the General’s household.

As for the beaten servants, they were taken away by the guards.

Beating civilians, abducting a girl, and nearly harming the princes were serious offenses.

Having done their good deed, the two young princes were picked up and comforted by their attendants.

After walking and stopping along the way, it was almost noon.

Ji Yan looked around and said, “Let’s find an inn to rest. The young master needs his nap after lunch.”

Ling Rui, still in her arms, looked around with wide eyes.

With just one glance, he noticed the sign of a nearby inn.

“Yanyan, look!”

Ling Rui pointed at the inn’s sign, his eyes shining brightly. “It’s me!”

The little dumpling on the sign looked just like him!

Ji Yan glanced at the inn but didn’t see anything unusual. Seeing how much Ling Rui liked it, she decided to stride over.

The inn was fairly decent, so Ji Yan booked an upper room and ordered the best dishes they had.

After making the arrangements, she had those who had followed them from the palace bring all of Ling Rui’s personal items from home and set them up in the room.

Ling Ning and Ling Fu also went up to the room.

Ling Rui wriggled free from Ji Yan’s arms and followed the innkeeper around.

“Innkeeper.”

He called out, stopping the innkeeper, then pointed at the dumpling decorations carved inside the inn and asked, “Who drew this?”

The innkeeper: “…”

The innkeeper was stunned for a few seconds and then asked, “Young master, have you seen the little dumpling in the drawing before?”

Ling Rui hesitated for a moment.

He hadn’t just seen it; he was the little dumpling.

After a moment of hesitation, Ling Rui didn’t say this aloud. Instead, he continued to ask, “Who drew it?”

The innkeeper had a hunch that something was up. 

This inn wasn’t his own business; he was just managing it on behalf of the mysterious owner, who had extensive properties. 

A few days ago, he received instructions to put the dumpling image on the inn’s sign and to pay close attention if anyone inquired about it.

Rumor had it that he was the last to receive the notice because Qi Chao wasn’t one of the wealthiest or strongest states, and the owner initially overlooked this property.

“It was drawn by our owner,” the innkeeper answered, trying to suppress his excitement.

Ling Rui looked at the dumpling again, his eyes sparkling with joy. “I want to find the owner!”

The owner must be Ah Wu!

The innkeeper was pleased but managed to control his excitement. “Our owner isn’t here. Young master, could you leave an address so I can relay a message to the owner?”

Ling Rui beamed and nodded. 

But then he remembered that when he last spoke to Ah Wu, Ah Wu couldn’t hear him. So, he cleverly said, “I can write a letter!”

Ji Yan, observing his conversation with the innkeeper, was confused. 

She made a mental note to report it to the Niang Niang later.

The innkeeper quickly provided paper and ink for Ling Rui to write his letter.

“Little Seven, what are you writing? Let me help,” Ling Fu offered, coming over when he saw Ling Rui preparing to write.

Ling Rui shook his head and softly said, “I’ll write it myself.”

He wrote down the characters he knew, including numbers, to show Ah Wu what he could write. 

Then he drew a picture of his house to indicate where he lived. 

Finally, he even drew a picture of what he looks like now. However, the little figure he drew with circles bore no resemblance to his actual appearance; in fact, they were completely unrelated. 

He ended up writing a letter that filled seven or eight pages.

“All done.”

Ling Rui happily handed the letter to the innkeeper.

Now he had a new way to contact Ah Wu!

As he handed over the letter, Ling Rui also took out his little money pouch. “Give this to him too.”

The innkeeper accepted everything solemnly, promising to deliver it all to the owner.

Having finished, Ling Rui happily returned to his seat, ready for his meal.

Ji Yan put a bib on him and gave him some water to drink first.

With so many people around, Ji Yan found it inconvenient to ask about the letter. 

But looking at the little dumpling Ling Rui had been fixated on, she couldn’t shake a feeling of unease.

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