Chapter 170

Great King was still happy to have tricked the jade pendant out of his father's place, and he planned to use it as an Imperial Sword.

In Dark Prefecture he casually tossed around, acting like the big boss; in the capital, the number of people who didn't buy his account could be counted on two hands. The day he returned, he went straight to cause a scene before the emperor, thinking he could thereafter rest easy.

After dealing with that unlucky fellow Qian Junior Treasurer, others indeed knew the Dark Prince was a carefree rascal.

The Great King's next-door neighbor, Prince Yu, learned the full story that very day, because while he was exchanging farewell sentiments with the emperor, palace attendants reported that the Prefect of the Capital had also come to apologize.

As soon as Prince Yu left the imperial palace, he frowned; returning to the Office of Hospitality and seeing the Dark Prince occupying the Wu family's neighboring courtyard made him even more annoyed—nothing went right, and he felt everything was off track.

When he came out, Zhou Grand Companion reminded him that the Imperial Father had bestowed the Fish-Dragon Pendant upon the Dark Prince as a personal gift.

At the time he wasn't in the hall, but anyway the jade pendant was hanging from the Dark Prince's waist when he left.

Prince Yu, upon recalling this, felt uneasy: the Fish-Dragon Pendant—what does the Imperial Father mean by this?

How could he be given such a jade pendant for no reason? Did fighting earn him merit at the Office of Peace and Safety? He'd stirred up a crowd demanding apologies—could something have happened in Long Peace a day later that he didn't know about? Or… was he trying to curry favor with the Wei family?

But isn't there some movement in the Western Regions?

It's undeniable that smart people think a lot. After returning, Wei Shen likewise asked about the jade pendant, and the Great King proudly said, "It's not that my Imperial Father gave it to me—he wouldn't just think of giving me something on his own! I, Baili Jing, relied on my own strength and personally asked for it!"

Wei Shen: ……

What strength needs no asking? It must be—cheek.

Let Prince Yu rack his brains over it.

At night, before the Great King went to bed, he discovered White Marsh still strolling outside; he went out and found that this great auspicious beast was not lazily lounging in half-sleep, but standing in the center of their courtyard gazing north.

"What are you looking at? You also read omens? Don't learn my father's superstitions! I, the king, have been harmed by this superstition! What, the Great White has appeared—humph!"

White Marsh said: "Is that the imperial palace?" It asked knowingly.

The Great King recalled the direction: "About right? What's up?"

The imperial palace—its imperial purple aura that should have shot straight to the heavens was veiled in a gray haze, looking slender and frail, and no one knew how much longer it could hold up.

White Marsh wanted to say that your father's Great Jin fate was exhausted; that's why it insisted on making this trip to Long Peace.

But when he turned around and saw the Great King still recalling whether that place was the imperial palace, gesturing with his hand to remember the turns he'd taken on his way back, and scratching his face in confusion, it was obvious he wasn't familiar with his birthplace, Long Peace.

The favored Baili Hu might get a chance to go out and play, and on some festivals he could also visit his maternal uncle's home a few times, but the Great King had truly never been anywhere.

He had been confined in the inner palace for six years; the first time he came out, he just passed Long Peace Street and was enfeoffed to Dark Prefecture.

He's still a foolish child who has expectations of his father; telling him will only add worry. A child, after all, is happy one day at a time.

The building is about to collapse; no one can prop it up, so in the end it's just futile sorrow.

Just let him wait for the reconstruction.

"It's fine, I'll go in and see if I can still get out."

Dawang almost jumped up, frightened into a pitiful expression as if the sky had fallen: "What, what do you mean? You didn't say before that even my imperial father couldn't keep you? Is it all just bragging? Ah ah ah, you dare to deceive me!"

Dawang ran behind Bai Ze and went to push his butt: "What are you still loitering around in the courtyard for? Hurry and hide inside the house; before we return to Youzhou, don't come out! Ah ah ah, you liar!" With looks like yours, who wouldn't want it!

Immediately he comforted himself: "It's fine, it's fine; just because I changed the city gate commandant, we probably won't be inspected when we leave, so just hide in the carriage!"

"Just scaring you. Everything else can be snatched away, but Bai Ze, under this sky, is yours; no one can take it. Tomorrow you take me to see Chang'an Avenue."

This guy has told it many times about Chang'an Avenue, which he passed through when he was enfeoffed. At that time, Dawang, who first stepped out of the palace gates, was dazzled by the street's bustling prosperity; even after going to Youzhou he never forgot it, often mentioning it. And as for someone who could say such heartfelt words, Bai Ze was undoubtedly the first choice, so it has heard them many times.

Dawang wiped a handful of sweat from his forehead: "Do you see me as resembling Chang'an Avenue?"

Bai Ze: ……