Chapter 34

On the fourth day at Wang Manor, Da Wang personally watched as five kinds of new melons were planted, and he also had Tong Hui build several thatched huts beside the vegetable garden, assigning people to guard them specifically.

As a Da Wang who had read the planting guide, he knew that in the short two days before his departure, nothing would sprout. He inevitably summoned Tong Hui to earnestly instruct, demanding that any sprouting, fruiting, or new progress be reported to him. He also instructed the soldiers sent to the manor: the vegetable garden must be well guarded at all times, and the plants inside must not suffer any form of damage. Then he adeptly painted a pie for them, urging them to train martial arts well and guard the garden; if they win the year-end personal guard battalion competition, they can return.

"Ah! I'm indispensable wherever I go!" he said, utterly worried.

Grand Tutor Xu: ……

White Marsh strained to control its eyeblink, blinking hard. As an auspicious beast White Marsh, it couldn't roll its eyes—such behavior would ruin its bearing.

Zhao Bao and Zhao Chuan stood attentively; if you so much as echoed a word, Da Wang would climb up the ladder and couldn't be pulled down.

Five days passed in a flash; Da Wang had no particular attachment to Wang Manor, for upon returning he could move into a new palace!

Still the omnipotent official's move from 【Prosperity Dream】, oh~

On the return journey, Da Wang was as happy as a little bird; not content with just horseback riding, he also wanted to race Zhao Chuan on horseback.

Zhao Chuan cast a pleading look toward Grand Tutor Xu, who lowered the curtain; he then looked toward Zhao Bao, who gave him a helpless gesture.

Zhao Chuan gritted his teeth and went up!

It's not that he doesn't enjoy playing with Da Wang; who wouldn't want to be a favored close aide? It's just that in these days at the manor, what he's encountered most is Da Wang's tricks.

If you lose to him, he'll say you didn't give your all or that you look down on him; Zhao Chuan, watch out—you might be the next batch sent to the manor, oh.

You're relying on horsemanship to try to win, but Little Date is cheating too; the military horses they brought can't catch up, as Little Date bolts with Da Wang in a mad dash, leaving onlookers terrified.

After discussing, everyone patted Zhao Chuan's shoulder, letting him gauge this balance himself—neither letting Da Wang see perfunctoriness nor pushing him too hard.

You say not let Da Wang play? How could that be? The Da Wang of Secluded Prefecture is the greatest!

Grand Tutor Xu only has a little say in studies, Zhao Bao is merely a servant, and the somewhat useful Minister Xue hasn't come; in short, Da Wang does whatever he pleases now!

On the main road into Secluded Prefecture City, Da Wang sped ahead while Zhao Chuan strained behind, putting on a show of desperately chasing.

As they ran, Da Wang slowed, pointing with his whip at the distant fields and calling back: "Zhao Chuan, do you see a fire over there?"

In the already harvested fields, a few children gathering wheat stalks loitered there, and a wisp of white smoke rose from the ground.

Da Wang knew this smoke all too well, for he himself had just set fire to a woodshed.

Zhao Chuan galloped over, saying, "Your Highness, could it be children burning wheat stalks in the field to eat?" He had done this as a child; once the stalks are taken home they aren't his and must be turned over as tax, so kids often sneak out to burn and eat them in the field.

Upon hearing this, Da Wang was very interested, and solemnly declared, "Playing with fire is wrong; I'll go manage them myself!"

Zhao Chuan: ……You finally know?

He galloped over, and when he got near Baili Jing jumped off his horse, bouncing and about to join the crowd roasting wheat spikes. Who knew—upon getting close and looking, this wasn't roasted wheat spikes at all; these brats wanted to roast a dog! A still-living black puppy.

They were debating whether to roast it directly or skin it first then roast.

They were only four or five years old, noisy and chaotic, and the king looked at them with a puzzled expression.

"Stop arguing! Why do you want to roast a puppy? It's still alive!"

A well-dressed stranger child appeared, seeming older than them, and the farm kids instinctively became very wary;

"You're not from our village!"

"Of course we're roasting it to eat, you're so stupid!"

"This is meat? You haven't even eaten meat before?"

Seeing the adult Zhao Chuan running after them, they became even more wary: "Are you trying to steal it? This is ours, we caught it ourselves!"

The king finally understood what it felt like to talk past each other, "Well… I mean, it's still alive—isn't it a bit wrong to roast and eat it?"

"What's wrong with that? It's meat!"

They're all poor and causing trouble; the king sighed again.

Unable to make the reasoning clear, the king looked at the puppy's pitch-black big eyes and couldn't bear to.

"Let me trade you some dried meat for it—dried meat is just as tasty, and it's so small there's not much meat on it anyway!"

"Well… it depends on how much you bring!" The leader glanced at Zhao Chuan, giving the adult some face.

The king's teeth were on edge—are you trying to bargain with me? You got your way.

"Zhao Chuan, go get all my stored goods back and trade them!"

The king cradled the puppy obtained in exchange for dried meat, with Bai Ze still lying in his small satchel, and he clambered onto Grand Tutor Xu's carriage with his whole family.

"Grand Tutor, look—I have a dog!"

Grand Tutor Xu examined it carefully, then again, and asked, "Your Highness, where did you get this?"

The king grinned: "I traded dried meat for it with the roadside kids! I'll raise it and train it to guard the gate~"

Grand Tutor Xu gave him a sympathetic look, then decided to set him straight: "Guarding the gate will likely be difficult—this isn't a dog, it's a bear."

(Bear, that is the ancient term for bear.)

"Ah——!"

Upon hearing this, the king shuddered and flung the newborn bear away.

Bai Ze, hearing the movement, crawled out with interest—how rare! How rare to have something that scares bear‑kids. What to do, I want to laugh—bear‑kids fear bears!

Although Baili Jing grew up in the palace and never left it even while in Chang'an, the palace did have a menagerie raising southwestern tribute bears; a roar could shake the hills, a smash could break the cage, and the king clutched his head and fled like a rat.

The dead palace memories attacked the king, and he shrank back further.

"Nobody told me bear cubs look like this!"

Grand Tutor Xu lifted the curtain and gazed at the distant peaks: "Those kids probably picked them up at the mountain's base; Your Highness bringing it back is fine, but later a great bear will sniff it out and come after them—those kids will be in trouble." It seems the mountain's harvest is poor too, as even the deep‑mountain bears have come down.

The king seethed, "Is my life not a life? Where's the good in it?!" His dream shattered; the cute guard dog he'd hoped for was just… gone……

Grand Tutor Xu stroked his beard and said, "Ahem! I mean Your Highness is already far away, with soldiers guarding you, so there's nothing to fear."

Even a bear whose stomp makes the earth tremble is now just a newborn mini‑version. Seeing those wet, innocent black eyes, Baili Jing still took a liking to it—well, worst case, worst case, I'll raise it a bit bigger then set it free.

He grabbed the bear cub by one leg, lifted the curtain, and handed it to Zhao Bao: "Wash it up and bring it back to me."

The Great King kept wringing his hands over the remaining journey. "Alas! Being able to raise it for a day counts as a day; I originally thought we could form a raccoon‑dog and dog team with our little Bai Ze, one black and one white…"

Bai Ze silently slipped back into the small satchel. "You're the raccoon dog! Your whole family… no, this guy might actually want to be a raccoon dog… Your whole family aren't human!"