Chapter 2: Prince of You

That day after school, as usual he waited for Old Fourth to disappear before he slowly came out, really too lazy to walk together with Peacock Fourth Brother.

After leaving Hongxue Academy and turning a corner, he ran into Baili Jin leading a entourage of people, mighty and imposing, a spectacle far beyond what he could muster with just a little eunuch.

When that group drew near, Baili Jing finally lifted his chin, gave an arrogant nod, then perfunctorily performed a salute, saying, "Greetings, elder brother." That counted as a greeting.

Exactly, that's the attitude—if you don't like it, you're welcome to make me leave. The six‑year‑old "Rolling Meat" Jing thought thus.

Baili Jin indeed stopped, his tone unchanging, and said slowly, "Long time no see, Third Brother—you haven't changed a bit."

Before Baili Jing could reply, Wang Yan beside him let out a snicker.

"Those who don't know would think he's the prince's elder brother! His attitude is arrogant, he shows no respect for his elder brothers—this is exactly what the Bohai Cui clan has raised in their Third Prince!" As he said this, his words carried a hint of gritted‑teeth resentment.

Baili Jing also didn't really understand.

He was just a make‑weight, a tool of the Weiyang Palace tasked with maintaining maternal virtue over the world—where would such big emotions come from? He isn't Baili Hu, after all.

Baili Jing turned, blinked his big phoenix eyes, and looked at Wang Yan with a clueless expression, saying, "You must be the maternal cousin of my eldest imperial brother, right? Indeed, you're from the renowned Wang clan, whose speech carries a unique rhythm. If I address you as "Third Prince," each word earns me a separate room—I feel much nobler."

!

That little brat actually dared to mock him!

The proud scion Wang Yan, furious to the point of forgetting decorum, pointed at him and shouted, "You——!"

Just as he was about to lose his temper, Baili Jin cut him off, loudly shouting at Baili Jing, "Third Brother!" Following that, Baili Jing's little eunuch Tongchen was so frightened he dropped to his knees.

Not far from Weiyang Palace, he feared his maternal cousin would speak out of turn and give the Cui clan an opening, so he spoke up first to reprimand Baili Jing.

Baili Jing lifted his chin, stuck out a chubby little hand, thought a moment, then added a finger, saying, "I'm six years old—are you six too?" Yes, I'm immature, I admit it.

Baili Jin: ……

What's there to quibble over with a little fool who needs to think even to count to six?!

Almost forgot—Old Third takes three years to learn the Thousand Character Classic, already spoiled by Empress Cui.

Baili Jin quickly saw the point, forced a smile at the corners of his mouth, resumed his elder‑brother persona, and said, "Third Brother, go back now—elder brother won't disturb you."

Baili Jing strode off with his proud little chin high, and Tongchen scrambled up and trotted after him.

Only later did he realize he had been narrow‑minded; the eldest brother was practically a saint! At the very least he'd given Baili Jing's fief‑dreams a solid stepping stone, and next time he'd be sure not to hold his head so high.

When the former court once again asked the eldest prince to take up a fief, the emperor had not yet signaled his stance, but an official took the initiative to bypass the sensitive legitimate second son and proposed, "The third prince is of age for a fief—why not let him set out together with the eldest prince?"

The one who suggested sending the eldest prince to a fief was likely someone from the Cui clan, who dragged in Baili Jing; still, the Wang clan deserves the chief credit.

Nobody mentioned the legitimate second son or Old Fourth; they first set aside the main contradiction and directly brought up Old Third.

No matter how much the emperor favored Lady Wang, after the eldest brother's marriage he could no longer delay. As for the extra Old Third, the emperor didn't even think for a second before approving it.

Soon the former court brought word: the emperor and Lady Wang's beloved son Baili Jin was made Prince of Yu, with the fief of Yuyang, to take up his post after the wedding.

The emperor, regarding the son sent by the candied‑fruit seller as an extra, made Baili Jing Prince of Qiong, with the fief of Qiongzhou, to set out together with the Prince of Yu.

The only difference was that Baili Jing long waited in vain for the formal edict.

Upon hearing the news, Baili Jing pouted, disliking the title "Prince of Qiong" as not auspicious, and worried that something might go wrong with his fief‑assignment. Sure enough, the emperor's edict from ahead soon changed again.

Originally Qiongzhou was practically a deserted southern frontier; when the officials heard this arrangement, they figured the emperor never intended to see this prince again in his lifetime—it amounted to exile.

Granting the princedom of Qiong didn't involve the back‑and‑forth tug‑of‑war that the Prince of Yu's fief did, with supporters and opponents; it still took several days of wrangling to settle.

After all, Yuyang is a fertile fief that stirred the inner palace and the former court into turmoil. Those with sons strive to keep them for their children, while the world's warlords carve up the land—good territories are snapped up, leaving less for others; those without sons strain to hope for future offspring… and so on.

But Qiongzhou had nobody vying for it.

The emperor didn't even pity his son, and the officials had even less cause to.

They had thought it could be settled so hastily and pleasantly, but when it came to drafting the formal edict, there turned out to be opposition after all.

The Minister of War submitted: The third prince's maternal kin, the Marquis of Wei Ting, stations troops in the southwest, too close to Qiongzhou; please, Your Majesty, choose another fief for the third prince.

When the edict finally arrived from ahead, summoning the third prince to an audience at Jianzhang Palace, Baili Jing's heart was in his throat all the way.

Upon climbing the high steps of Jianzhang Palace, his little short legs were trembling.

He couldn't tell whether it was fatigue or nervousness.

Entering the great hall, he kept his head low and honest, following the palace attendants past several officials to kneel before his father's throne.

He knocked his head to the ground in earnest, saying, "Prince Baili Jing pays his respects to the Father Emperor—may the Father Emperor enjoy everlasting happiness in Weiyang."

Emperor Ningde drawled a response, waved his hand, and had the attendant nearby proclaim the edict directly.

The third prince, Baili Jing, is made Prince of You, with the fief of Youzhou, to take up his post on an auspicious day.

All right, Baili Jing's anxious heart finally died.

He strained to recall the map of the Great Jin that Zhao Bao had taught him…

Youzhou, the far‑eastern extremity of the Great Jin's territory.

His fief had shifted from the southern border to the northern border; thinking positively, it's all just sea‑wind blowing wherever it blows. Compared to the scorching southern frontier, he might personally find the climate of Youzhou more tolerable.

In short, he was destined to be exiled to guard the frontier.

He recalled how, just last year, he and the little eunuch Tongchen had dreamed of taking up a fief in Changzhou, whereby he could be with his maternal uncle and grandfather every day, learning martial arts from his uncle and together guarding the southwest.

Although he had only seen his maternal uncle a few times at age four, in his heart the uncle ranks second. First is his maternal older sister, two years his senior, currently residing beside Consort Wei Zhaoyi in Yongning Palace—Baili Zhao.

This year, he hasn't had such dreams anymore—he's grown up.

He's no longer a five‑year‑old child.

He dare not even think of Changzhou; it turns out that even Qiongzhou, three or four commanderies away, is now out of reach.

He will soon be separated east and west from his maternal grandfather and uncle, with the entire vast horizontal expanse of the Great Jin lying between them—perhaps they will never meet in his lifetime.

When the day finally came and the ennoblement settled, he felt far less excitement than he had imagined.

Zhao Bao entered the inner chamber and saw the little prince lying on the bed, head covered only by a blanket, his posture twisted, clothes neat, with a leg dangling outside.

He knelt and paid his respects, saying, "Congratulations, Your Highness, on receiving the fief of Youzhou."

Baili Jing lifted the blanket, rose with his fuzzy hair, and said, "Youzhou is sparsely populated, and it lies near the Xianbei and Xiongnu—what's there to celebrate?"

Zhao Bao looked at him with a head of messy hair; despite his childlike appearance, he uttered such worried, mature words, making Zhao Bao find it increasingly funny.

He got up, picked up the comb, and combed Baili Jing's hair again. "It turns out Your Highness is only worried about these? The Xianbei have had no conflict with Great Jin these past few years; the border is still fairly stable. Besides, there are the border troops at Shanggu Pass—Your Highness need not worry."

Seeing the little highness still pouting, he continued to coax, "Youzhou's territory is vast—several dozen times larger than Yuyang, and then some."

"Why don't you say Yuyang is also several dozen times more prosperous than Youzhou!" He's young, not foolish.

Zhao Ba stayed silent this time, focusing on combing the hair.

Baili Jing propped his round baby-fat cheek with his clenched fists, letting out a deep sigh.

"The key is that my uncle is too far away. Once I go to my fief, I cannot return without an imperial decree; even if my uncle has a chance to return to Chang'an… I won't get to see him……"

But he didn't stay dispirited for long; Baili Jing immediately thought of his treasure!

After sending Zhao Ba away, he flicked his hand to summon the light board that shone brighter than night lamps; the splendid "Capital Prosperity Dream" light board floated into view again. As before, he tapped at 【input city name】, waited for the six gray characters in the frame to disappear as usual, then he wrote the name of 【Youzhou】 in that empty space with his fingertip, stroke by stroke.

As the final stroke landed, the two characters "【Youzhou】" flashed with light; the font instantly solidified, and the characters "【Youzhou】" gleamed gold.

"Indeed!" This time he didn't remind him that he first needed to own a city!

"Is it really that miraculous……"

In the next instant, the light board underwent a sudden change; the previous splendid palace receded into a blurry backdrop, and many new words appeared on it. Baili Jing hurried to examine them closely.

【Congratulations, my lord, on obtaining a city! Let us build it together into the most prosperous metropolis under heaven and earth, across the four seas and nine provinces!】 This line of large text flashed, the light board split into many sections, and Baili Jing began checking the most eye-catching one first.

【Newbie Gift Pack: gold ingot x100; City Lord's Heart x1; Beginner Mount: Red Horse x1】

【Newbie Mission: You already own your own city—Youzhou; please quickly obtain Youzhou's map, terrain, population, and other data.

Note: The lord's surroundings within 100 li constitute the effective range for automatic data collection.

Mission reward: Full 3D terrain map of all Youzhou x1; Youwang Mansion x1

Mission penalty: None

Time limit: None】

Baili Jing finished looking at the two most eye-catching sections, but he…… didn't understand.

First, he understood the character "li" (ritual), but aside from the graded red horse, he didn't understand the other two items.

"What does this gold ingot mean?"

He reached out and tapped it; who would have thought that his chubby finger, upon touching the two characters "gold ingot", would cause a bubble full of text to pop out!

【Note: gold ingot, the official currency of this game. Can be used to purchase any unlocked item from the game mall.

Acquisition methods: mission rewards, top-up (1 gold ingot = 10 taels of silver).】

"I get it! This board is actually a game to play, meaning a toy, right? And you can even buy things……" How rare, how rare!

He couldn't wait and tapped the 【City Lord's Heart】 beside it; as expected, another bubble popped out.

【Note: City Lord's Heart, the game's core treasure, belongs solely to the city lord and cannot be transferred or sold. After use, the city lord's body becomes strong and healthy, immune to all poisons, impervious to blades and spears. Additional skill: able to grasp all movements within the city (the additional skill takes effect after generating the full-city 3D map). Use now? Yes|No】

Although he still didn't fully grasp this explanation, and those two strange characters after "all-terrain" he didn't recognize, he understood most of it. Baili Jing thought this was definitely a good thing—what if he later offended his father emperor; even beheading wouldn't kill him?

Could there really be such a supreme treasure in the world!?

His hand moved faster than his mind; he subconsciously tapped 【Yes】, and almost as soon as his finger touched that character, the screen changed, and a line of scarlet large characters appeared;

【Warning: The binding of the City Lord's Heart has officially begun; from now on, the lord and Youzhou share fate—if the city falls, the person dies.】

Baili Jing:!!!!

In the next instant he lost consciousness and collapsed straight to the ground, unaware of anything.

Before collapsing, he was utterly desperate—Youzhou, the city falling… isn't that nothing special?! In his short few years of life, he's already experienced a city breach once…… This isn't deceiving a child, is it!