Chapter 30: Able to Speak

The next day, as soon as Baili Jing opened his eyes, he felt his body and found only his inner garments left; he looked around the sleeping chamber—the yellow inner robe he had worn inside was indeed gone.

When he felt under his pillow, the little knife flashing red light was still there!

"It's definitely not a dream! Though it's a bit strange…"

The Great King rose excitedly, grabbed Bai Ze, who was lying honestly at the foot of the bed, and gave him a good rub. "You say that sometimes I have fewer clothes, sometimes more toys, and that half a bag of seeds—my personal attendant Zhao Bao will surely notice. As for the manor's affairs, he thinks Zhao Zhu Ge was brought by my uncle, but it's all loopholes. From now on, can we not always rely on my uncle? Rather than wait for him to notice something odd and investigate, causing a commotion, why not… I'll tell him a bit, okay? We definitely need someone to cover for me; Zhao Bao is trustworthy—he was sent by my uncle when I was young, and my maternal grandfather owed the Zhao family a life‑saving debt; the Zhao clan now all live in Changzhou."

"Sure."

The Great King suddenly threw Bai Ze, who was clutched to his chest, out!

"What thing? Who?!"

Bai Ze gained freedom, then went back to lie at the foot of the bed; the Great King almost thought he was hallucinating. But a low, gender‑indistinct voice saying "Sure" really reached his ears!

He had been in the habit of muttering his little secrets to Bai Ze, talking to himself, never expecting a reply.

The Great King didn't even know what the Classic of Mountains and Seas was; if he had read it, he'd know Bai Ze differs from other auspicious beasts—'able to speak, understanding all things'—their function isn't merely auspicious.

"Little Bai Ze, you you you actually can speak human language!"

Bai Ze turned over, basically unwilling to deal with him; no matter how the Great King asked, he wouldn't utter another word.

"Say another word!"

"Then say a single character?"

"Call out my name?"

"Say it!" the Great King seized Bai Ze and shook him hard!

Bai Ze rolled his eyes from being shaken—come early, come early! If I'd known, I'd have waited for this brat to grow up before appearing in the world. Even if he's a 'virtuous king,' a virtuous one certainly isn't this little brat.

Fortunately, the Great King's waking time arrived, and Zhao Bao's footsteps came on schedule; only then did the Great King release Bai Ze, pull the small blanket over himself, and continue pretending to sleep.

"Your Highness? Your Highness, it's time to get up…"

Baili Jing pretended to have just awakened, blinked his eyes sleepily, and said, "Zhao Bao, I, I remember a Star Lord gave me a bag of seeds—did you see it?" The time had come to test his skill at making up stories.

Zhao Bao soothed, "Your Highness, you must have been dreaming."

Baili Jing shook his head wildly, "Really! Hurry up and look—if you can't find it, I'll cry for you to see!" He took the clothes he was holding, "I'll put them on myself—you go look quickly!"

Zhao Bao was utterly helpless, but the Highness still needed coaxing; he hurriedly pretended to search the sleeping chamber, huh?

"There really is a bag here!"

Zhao Bao jumped in fright—an unknown object appearing in the Highness's sleeping chamber is a major matter!

He was quite sure there hadn't been such a bag yesterday. Yesterday was when he brought the Highness to bed; the Highness dislikes attendants staying in his chamber, so the usual eunuchs and palace maids stand outside—who could have slipped something past them into the Highness's chamber?

After Zhao Bao cautiously opened the bag with utmost vigilance, he found it really was a bag of seeds. But he doesn't farm, so he can't tell exactly what they are.

"This… Your Highness really has seeds…"

He picked up a small hemp bag labeled 【Cold Melon】; he indeed had never heard of this melon.

Baili Jing came over, face full of joy, and whispered, "Shh, Zhao Bao, don't make a fuss—this is what the Star Lord gave me; they say it's a rare variety not found in our Great Jin."

"Star, Star Lord?"

The Great King declared solemnly, "A golden‑shining old man said he pitied the barren Youzhou, had some seeds to give me, and asked what I could offer in exchange. At that time I stood in a splendid hall wearing only my inner robe, possessing nothing; nervous, I offered to trade my robe. Then the old man smiled, stroked his beard—I don't know if he agreed or not—and then I woke up! It seems he did agree."

Zhao Bao turned and went to the indoor clothes rack to look for the robe the Highness had worn yesterday—sure enough, the yellow inner robe was gone!

When he left the sleeping chamber, that robe was definitely there!

He dropped to his knees, wondering if this could really be possible. Before the Great King, attendants are few, yet as a feudal lord his surroundings are tight inside and loose outside; to get half a bag of something in, those guards and eunuchs outside couldn't possibly all have missed it. Last time with Zhao Zhu Ge… well, there's still an exception. But that time the Great King himself brought it in, and his companion's laziness meant they didn't notice. Last night's night watch was He Guang; he had heard the report before entering—everything was normal.

Zhao Bao pondered a moment, then grew excited, "Your Highness enjoys heavenly favor…" Before he finished, the Great King struggled to hold back tears, "Zhao Bao, if my brothers knew, the Star Lord favors only me…"

Zhao Bao's excitement faded at once. "Yeah! Prince Yu and the Second Highness will think we're eyeing that position and start building momentum."

If we just think about changing fiefdoms, it's fine… but Youzhou is this poor land—when will we be able to cultivate a force capable of self‑preservation? That's still unknown.

He quickly got up and whispered to the Great King, "Your Highness, you should tell only me about this; spreading it would be highly disadvantageous to you. Even the Emperor has no such affinity, so you'd better keep it secret—do you understand?" Afraid the youngster wouldn't grasp the importance, he repeated the warning over and over.

The Great King looked suitably chastened, secretly delighted inside—success!