Chapter 212

After the treasure ship returned fully loaded to Youzhou, the King had sold thirty thousand worth of treasure, and the warehouse had also stockpiled plenty of goods. With experience from long-distance travel, the King thought it was good to keep extra supplies in the warehouse when there was nothing else to do.

As night fell, a single bean-sized light glowed at the Youzhou ferry in the vast darkness, especially conspicuous; the King pointed it out to Zhou Huang from afar.

Everyone else had grown tired of it, but the only people who were as excited as him about the accounts were those from the Zhou family.

"And there's more—I'll let you people from Changzhou see the world."

The King pulled out a bamboo whistle and blew three long notes sharply. Just as Zhou Huang thought he was showing off the whistle's tone, a splashing sound came from the sea beneath the gunwale, and then the oceanic giant, a sperm whale, raised its huge head above the water and let out a cheerful whale cry—Zhou Huang plopped down onto the ground.

"What what what is that?"

How could the King let him be so useless? He grabbed him and hauled him up, saying, "The main event, the main event's here—look ahead!"

Seeing the King desperately performing a macho cute act at the boat's edge, the sperm whale's huge stature churned the sea into turmoil; Zhou Huang, hauled up by the King, watched with his jaw nearly dislocating—and it wasn't over yet.

Just looking at that enormous fish, bigger than Changzhou's ships, tossing and turning on the sea surface, then the spot the King pointed to also churned with spray.

He peered in the light radiating from the boat, "Huh, there's another one?"

Looking closer, it really seemed to be there?

As thick as a water bucket, it looked green and glossy.

Then that thing suddenly thrust half its body out of the water and stood upright, its huge head pointing straight at them, and then it slowly exhaled a puff of white mist—

Zhou Huang fell with a plop and sat on the ground again...

This time he had already seen the main show; the King's purpose of showing off had been achieved, so they couldn't be bothered to pull him along. Tsk tsk, another shallow human bewitched by the clam beast.

Zhou Huang fell on his butt again; this time he himself quickly and strongly got up, his entourage of boy servants and attendants were even more dull than him.

"Dragon dragon dragon, it's a dragon, Your Highness!"

Before, whoever said this thing was a dragon, the King would jump up and earnestly explain that it was a clam; no matter what he said, nobody believed him. The commoners still offered sacrifices as they should, and when he went out he was still hunted by five-hundred-strong dead warriors—does anyone listen to him?

So, hearing Zhou Huang call the clam a dragon, the King calmly nodded: "Dragon dragon dragon, it's a dragon. Look how green it is—should we classify it as an Azure Dragon?"

He gave up treatment.

The King let it go.

Zhou Huang looked at him in disbelief: "This is a dragon, Your Highness! Does the color matter? How could You Prefecture have a dragon? I've never heard of such a thing."

The King thought, those who should know surely already do; at least two hundred of the five-hundred dead warriors are because of this clam. But there will certainly be people who actively help him cover up this news, and it definitely won't spread all over the world.

But the King opened his mouth and rose to the occasion: "Our You Prefecture produces outstanding talent—what's the big deal about having a dragon? Stay calm."

Zhou Huang watched the clam spit out white mist mouth after mouth, then looked at the smug King; the godchild's mind had already run through eight hundred thoughts, leaving only one……Could it be that the You King is the one destined by Heaven?

Even though the outside world is developing quickly, it hasn't reached the point where divine dragons are a common sight, right?

The King casually ordered him: "When we dock later, you'll come back to the palace with me, and then I'll take you to the Northern Frontier Academy." He then started playing with the sperm whale.

Zhou Huang obediently said: "I'll follow Your Highness's orders."

Having finished what needed to be displayed, the King simply jumped down to play with his long-unseen mount.

The sperm whale expertly closed its big mouth and caught the King with its head; when the King was about to slide off, it would bump him backward and catch him again with its head. Each time it caught him, it let out an excited cry, and Zhou Huang only felt echoes ringing in his ears, as if he were falling in a dream.

The entire sea surface was filled only with whale song and the King's clear laughter; the Chang Prefecture party had already been dumbfounded—could they still play like this?

As for the dragon, needless to say—what on earth is this fish spirit...

The King gave the two long-unseen companions each an elementary beast-feeding pill, and with the sperm whale's support, he rubbed the clam up close.

This creature was exactly as expected—smooth, icy, and slippery to the touch along its scales. It's only a bit nicer looking than the mountain python caught by Zhetian; the feel is probably about the same.

The King disliked it, but the people on the ship looked on longingly, envious.

After all, those who make a living at sea wouldn't dare lay hands on a dragon even if they had the gall.

The boat had docked, and the crew also had to stay on board to wait until daylight to unload the cargo. Rising Peace Sea Goods's wagon convoy would come over to pull some away, quickly transporting them along the chariot road to sell in nearby Bing Prefecture and Yi Prefecture. If the weather were hot, they would load each cart with two blocks of stored ice, but now You Prefecture has already cooled down, so it's not needed.

The rest would be handed over to Rising Peace's other partners—to be dried if needing drying, to be salted if needing salting.

After their mounts were disembarked, the King took the Owl Riders and rushed back to the palace by night; now that he's returned, he's especially concerned about his silly bear, and he doesn't intend to wait until daylight.

Zhou Huang was born into a great clan and also lived in a remote large prefecture; he thought his horseback riding was decent, and hearing that he would follow the King to live in the palace, he also rode a horse—but as soon as he left the ferry's straight road, he lost them, and even that perpetually lazy big furry creature quickly vanished into the night...

Fortunately, two Owl Riders stayed behind to guide him; Zhou Huang felt for the first time that he was nowhere near as capable as a child much smaller than him.

The King rushed to the You Prince's mansion as dawn approached; he entered through the East Hua Gate, silently returned to the Suiyu Hall, and immediately went in to drag the fat bear out.

This creature, with tremendous strength, lifted the several-hundred-catty fat bear up, then grabbed its shoulders and shook it vigorously; Winnie opened his eyes, saw that the King was shaking him, then looked aside—Old White Marsh lay lazily in his original spot, that bad bird was pacing on the table, and everything was just as before.

Winnie suddenly felt sad—how wonderful it was in the dream, waa~

The bear cried!

Zhao Ba heard the commotion and rushed over; his Highness was squatting beside the bear, handing over a handkerchief...

After the King had soothed the fat bear, the sky was already lightening; he waved Zhao Ba off, saying, "I'm sleepy; don't call me during the day if there's nothing going on."

Zhao Ba wondered whether going to court counted as an affair; he hadn't shown his face in the former court for a long time.

The King made empty promises: "If you can get up, just go."

That was, of course, impossible to get up; after an hour it began, and the King slept straight through to afternoon.

After running around outside for so long and returning to a long-unused bed, the King's sleep was especially fragrant.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt fuzzy; sure enough, when he turned his head, he saw Winnie squatting at the foot of his bed, staring with big eyes unblinking.

"……Do you have to stare at me like that? You can't get away!"

"Who knows?"

The bear can't speak, so White Marsh said for it: "You've been squatting there since you went to sleep; your sleep is really good—haven't you had any nightmares? I think this bear might have developed some underlying issue."

White Marsh's guess was spot on; from then on, Winnie never left the King's side.

While drinking tea it squatted nearby, while eating it squatted nearby, and even when going to change clothes, it squatted at the doorway to sniff.

The King, feeling guilty and affectionate, became especially gentle toward it, and half an afternoon later announced he would take it out to stroll the streets and buy snacks.

Along the way they earned quite a bit; the King was extraordinarily generous with Winnie, entering every shop that sold tasty food, and by the time the officials of the former court got off work, they still hadn't had their fill.

Xue Xiang, while passing through Zhuque Avenue on his way back to the residence, passed by a shop emitting fragrance and instinctively glanced inside, seeing a familiar child holding a skewer of squid larger than his head, gnawing on it.

?

Isn't that the great king who was lost in Youzhou?!