Chapter 14: Pit the Great King

At dawn, the sea tide receded greatly; after the fishermen sent out a glimmer of light on the horizon, they all came out to gather seafood.

Prince You woke up at the usual morning time, only arriving leisurely after it was fully daylight. By then, most of the adults gathering seafood had already left, leaving only a few children lingering on the beach, picking up small seafood that the adults disdained, to take home and feed the chickens and ducks.

The Great King shouted excitedly and lunged toward the beach, waddling behind people to see what everyone was doing. The children of the fishing village mostly watched warily this well-dressed outsider, and when he approached they all scattered.

Those with good natures gave him a shy smile, then turned and left; Baili Jing also didn't mind, quietly following from afar to learn how to gather seafood from them.

Zhao Bao and the Grand Tutor watched from behind with relieved expressions, 'Now that's how a child his age should be!'

Especially the Grand Tutor, after yesterday, found that the Great King handled matters with great principle, and was quite pleased.

Now he thinks the Great King is good in every way.

Xu Zhi hadn't yet lowered the curve of his mouth when he heard the Great King running ahead let out a tragic 'Ah-woo~' cry and burst into tears.

Grand Tutor: ……

Baili Jing saw the village children skillfully picking up shellfish and small fish left on the beach by the receding tide; after observing, he thought it seemed that besides seaweed, anything could be picked up?

He immediately joined the search; the sharp-eyed Great King spotted a crab the size of an adult's palm hiding behind a rock, 'Wow~' Good luck~

The Great King, who had only seen cooked crab at palace banquets, reached out to grab it—and then… there was no afterwards, his scream shot straight up to the clouds.

That crab was stubborn, clamping onto the Great King and refusing to let go.

Not far away, the child Wan Qie ran over, pulled him, and ran toward the sea; the Great King stumbled along, and when they reached the shore Wan Qie helped press both his claw and the crab into the water.

Once the crab entered the water, it finally agreed to release the Great King's claw.

Wan Qie had never seen such a stupid child: 'That crab has no meat; pinching hurts—why pick it up? … So stupid, even more stupid than my younger brother.'

The Great King was unconvinced, holding his claw with a miserable expression, his words choked with sobs: 'Boo-hoo, crab is delicious! Also, thank you for saving me……'

Zhao Bao finally came running, shouting, 'Young master, are you alright?'

Baili Jing pouted, raised his hand to show Zhao Bao, 'Where is it not injured?'

'My hand is broken!' the vicious pinch was so severe he was certain his fingers were broken.

Zhao Bao jumped in fright, took his pale, tender little hand and examined it left and right—not a wound in sight, not even a mark. He glanced at the newly arrived Grand Tutor Xu, meaning: 'His Highness is just being delicate; nothing's wrong!'

Baili Jing felt wronged; he had momentarily forgotten the Heart of the City Lord's invulnerability to blades and spears—why did his piercing pain leave no mark?

The Great King foolishly turned his chubby little hand over and over, looking for the wound: 'Where is the injury? Didn't it bleed a bowl of blood?'

Zhao Bao coaxed him, 'Young master, if you want to eat crab, later we'll buy some fat ones from the fishermen who go out to sea.'

In a flash, Baili Jing finally belatedly recalled the Heart of the City Lord.

While walking on the beach, scolding the 'pit the king' game, it turned out that the invulnerability to blades and spears was real, and the pain was real too—he'd been bouncing along with a sore butt the whole way, having enjoyed no blessing.

Baili Jing's sea‑gathering failed; he also remembered the pretext for this outing, and at noon prepared to do some proper business—understanding the livelihood of You Prefecture.

He then went over and clung to the child Wan Qie who had just helped him, enthusiastically striking up a conversation.

Seeing that he was half a head taller, he kept calling him 'big brother'. Zhao Bao could hardly keep the corners of his mouth from twitching, 'If you're this sweet to your own brother in the palace, the Prince of Yu wouldn't have to drag you along unwillingly!'

'……Brother Wan, I came here to study with my teacher; this is my first time seeing the sea, and your place is truly wonderful.'

Wan Qie is a person of few words; he had never seen such an enthusiastic person like the Great King, only occasionally grunting in response.

When they were far enough from Zhao Bao and the two adults, Wan Qie felt a bit more relaxed. He proactively asked the enthusiastic chubby child, '……What does "studying abroad" mean?'

'……It means you can't just stay at home studying behind closed doors—that's dead study, detached from reality. Reading ten thousand scrolls is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles; I've read at home for a few years, barely recognizing a few characters, now I've come out with my teacher to gain experience, and that's how I ended up here. Brother, have you studied?'

Wan Qie pursed his lips, 'I don't want to study; what's the use of reading? I want to be a grand general!'

'That's amazing! I believe you can do it, brother!'

Baili Jing, the Applause King, having finished the pleasantries, got straight to the point: '……Brother, how much arable land does your family have? Is there enough food to eat? All along I've heard that the Great King allows each household to reclaim five mu of land rent‑free.'

'We have no land suitable for growing wheat here—it's all sand. If I can't become a grand general, I'll have to fish for a living, with no land to plant on……'

……

The honest fisherman's child, after a short while, had all his details figured out by the Great King—even information about where his aunt married and how many people were in his household was grasped by the Great King.

Before leaving, Baili Jing had Tongchen fetch his Thousand Character Classic and give it to Wan Qie, urging him to finish reading it, as completing the Thousand Character Classic is a necessary condition to become a grand general in the Great Jin.

At noon they ordered several kinds of fish at the only restaurant in Dragon Head County; although they were by the sea, the variety of seafood served here was not large, basically centered on fish.

They were also the only two tables of customers in the restaurant; the proprietor personally served the dishes, and throughout the meal they could barely keep their mouths shut.

Prince You ate with great satisfaction; in Chang'an he never had the chance to eat such fresh and varied seafood.

Having eaten and drunk their fill, they began to speak foolishly: 'Grand Tutor, the fish here are so delicious; if shipped to Chang'an surely many would buy them—why is Dragon Head County still so poor?'

Xu Zhi patiently asked him, 'Your Highness, what do you think of yesterday's mountain road?'

Great King: ……Understood.

It's hard enough to jolt out of You Prefecture, let alone transport all the way to Chang'an!

After this, Prince You already had in mind an advanced concept: to become rich, first build roads.

Great King's Diary:

【May 12, Dragon Head County.

Met a young brother who saved the king's claw; he wants to be a grand general.

He said being a grand general would certainly let him live longer than fishing.

He said in the village, every household has someone who stayed out at sea and never came back.

He said he wants to live longer to protect his mother and sister.

I also hope he can live forever.

I don't know what's going on, but I'm feeling a bit flushed……