Chapter 35
Great King returned to the prince's mansion and began busying himself with tomorrow's move; five days have passed, and the You Prince's Mansion outside the northern suburbs is now ready to move into.
There were eunuchs and palace maids packing things, and the Great King just followed along, causing a ruckus. He packed his personal belongings into a small satchel: his beloved Bai Ze, his military sword, a few of the You Prince's seals, and the ugly sachet his older sister gave him; slinging it over his shoulder, he was ready to set off.
Unfortunately, the big army won't move until tomorrow, and there's still the procession of the king leaving the city, so he can't go ahead.
He had to tell all the city's people that You Province was safe, that the You Prince could reside near the border, and that the people could freely go out to reclaim land, farm, graze horses, and herd sheep.
The Great King thought excitedly and couldn't sleep; tomorrow would be another milestone in taking up his fief.
Unable to sleep, he simply got up, planning to meet his new friend Bai Ge. After closing the door to the prince's mansion's sleeping hall, he finally had no one disturbing him.
Thinking it over, he went out again and had the little eunuch on guard outside bring the bear in; he intended to show off to Bai Ge, a fierce beast, the bear~
When the young bear once again ended up in his hands, it had completely changed its appearance.
Following the Great King's orders, the eunuchs washed the little fellow until its fur was fluffy, its whole body steeped in bath beans until fragrant, losing the disheveled look it had during the day. Now in the Great King's hands, it timidly stared with big eyes, not daring to make a sound, and certainly not daring to resist.
"Not bad, I'm your master; from now on you must keep this attitude, got it! As long as you behave, I, the king, guarantee you won't go hungry, understand?" Room and board—that's already the Great King's utmost sincerity.
The Great King grabbed the black cub by the scruff of its neck and, familiar with the way, went to Myriad Worlds Homestead.
Once again standing at the colorful street corner, the Great King figured out the direction and headed to Bai Yang's shop.
Bai Yang was indeed there today; young people of the 21st century just don't go to bed early.
"Yah! You've come, long time no see!" Bai Yang couldn't help but laugh upon seeing the Little Great King stride in, head held high and chest out. When a little child tries to act like an adult, they're often the most adorable.
"Bai Ge, I exchanged dried meat for a bear head and brought it especially for you to see; do you have them where you are? It's a fierce beast, the bear~"
All right, the Little Great King came to show off.
Bai Yang truly didn't know what a bear was; after a close look, he exclaimed, "Holy shit! This isn't a bear?!"
The Great King made a clueless questioning face: "Fierce? It's very fierce!"
Bai Yang realized that in the Great King's place, the bear is called "pi". He casually grabbed a notebook from the counter and wrote the character "bear" with a pen.
"This thing is called 'bear' in modern times; written like that, you can add a heart radical. But I can't tell bear cubs apart—I can't tell what kind of bear this is, uh… anyway, it's not a polar bear." His little joke, the Great King obviously didn't get.
"Bai Ge, do you also have bears there, meaning this bear?"
"Of course there are, and plenty! Wei Ni, Patton Ton Bear, Tom Bear, Unlucky Bear, and so on and so forth."
The Great King's eyes sparkled: "Wow, those names all sound great! My king's bear still has no name; how about we call it Wei Ni?"
Bai Yang: "... Not bad." Your ancient bear is still pretty trendy, huh.
The Great King placed the bear with its new name on the ground and poked it with his finger repeatedly: "From now on you're called Wei Ni, got it? Wei Ni Wei Ni Wei Ni! When I call your name from now on, you'd better respond, or I won't give you milk, just water, water every day~"
Bai Yang: ……
"Bai Ge, could you write those two characters for me to see again……"
After showing off the bear, the Great King wanted to leave, but thinking that Bai Ge was now his good friend, he proceeded to share with him the good news about his imminent move into the new prince's mansion tomorrow.
Bai Yang took out a book, saying it was a housewarming gift for him.
The modern hardcover book made the Great King unable to put it down, with a hardcover, national-style colored illustration design, and the title
"I ordered it last time I went back, it arrived yesterday, and I've been waiting for you for days, but you never came."
"I went to the villa to plant vegetables, huh~ This book is really nice to look at, but why are the characters horizontal?"
Forgot, ancient books were written in vertical format.
"Just get used to it, modern books are all like this. Take it back and read it slowly, go to sleep early, kids who stay up late might not grow tall."
The Great King glanced cautiously at the doorway, and in a whisper said to Bai Yang: "Can I take it out?"
Bai Yang patted his head, "Feisty! Come, swipe your card, I'll sell you this book for one ingot."
The Great King was quite curious, spending a ingot for the first time at the Wanji Garden. When he walked to the exit holding a bear in one hand and the book in the other, a splendid transparent door blocked his way!
Above it flashed red large characters:
---Warning! Please, my lord, purchase
That is to say, for the Great Jin, this book is worth 300 ingot; multiplying the total by ten gives three thousand silver. That's too expensive!
Not long after, Bai Yang welcomed back the Great King, who had a grin and was on the verge of tears.
"I can't get out, it's demanding three hundred ingot from me! How poor we are in You Prefecture!" The Great King was heartbroken.
Bai Yang looked at his little appearance, trying hard not to laugh, and coaxed: "All right, all right, I'll leave this book in the shop; when you have time you can come copy some and take it back for the artisans to study. Or you can see what you Great Jin have that could be exchanged for equal value? Didn't you successfully take out that little dagger and robe last time?"
Exactly!
"Then Bai Brother, what do you want to exchange for? We're very~ poor!" emphasizing the 'very~' character……
Bai Yang told him he could take some embroidery or porcelain, pottery, bronze ware, and the like. They agreed to meet again in three days, and Bai Li Jing then carried the bear back to the sleeping quarters.
Great King's Diary:
【October 5, You Prefecture Prince's Residence.
I am truly very disappointed in Mengmeng, humph!】
End of Chapter
