Chapter 301: Please, quickly reward me!

Fouzouzhi......

Fouzouzhi!?

If the two inside had originally harbored some mischief, hearing those words the next instant also brought them to a sudden awakening.

The two attacked from left and right, going around Chen Weifang to grab the Fusouzhi behind her, who was clearly just finished washing up, with damp ends still on his hair——

"You little brat, you still dare to come back!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

"You were able to run so well before—turns out you little brat were taking the water route on purpose!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

"This time I'll truss you up three layers inside and out, just to see how you keep playing mysterious!"

"Exactly, exactly——"

The two flanked left and right, stepping toward a bewildered Chen Weifang......

The Fusouzhi behind them.

Fusouzhi today wasn't wearing his Daoist robe, or rather had already taken off his familiar robe and put on some old clothes of unknown origin.

He was already young, and wearing that oversized old outfit made him look even more childish, yet he still held his ever‑present whisk, making him look all the more like a half‑grown kid sneaking into adult clothes.

He had none of the air of an otherworldly sage, only a dazed, clueless look all over his head and face.

Even, the words he shouted were——

"Don't! Don't come over!"

"Don't grab the Little Daoist! The Little Daoist hasn't been deceitful!"

"Bad people, bad people! It's clearly you who forced the Little Daoist into the water!"

"The Little Daoist's been made by you——yawn——to catch a cold from your torment, and you still want to truss him up? Sob…o(╥﹏╥)o"

Youth is ultimately nimble.

Du Shanü was pregnant, her movements far less agile than before, while Chinu had to support her and also figure a way around the trapped Chen Weifang in the middle to seize the Fusouzhi hiding behind her, his actions momentarily stiff.

One side grabbed, the other dodged, and the stalemate persisted.

After several breaths, Du Shanü finally noticed something was off——

"Afang! Why are you reaching out to protect Fusouzhi?!"

"They should be your dearest, Afang!"

"Afang didn't help them catch Fusouzhi but instead opened her arms to shield the Fusouzhi behind her—does that even make sense?"

A bunch of them were still playing 'hawk catches chick' on the spot!

Faced with Du Shanü's 'accusation', Chen Weifang shuddered, suddenly snapped to awareness and pulled back his hand:

"...... It's ruined."

This is truly ruined.

He too is just hot‑tempered—how could he instinctively reach out to shield the person behind him?

Chen Weifang slowly turned his head, likewise looking at the Fusouzhi shivering and shrinking behind him.

Fusouzhi was dumbfounded:

"Eh eh eh——"

"You guys don't——"

Three shadows pressed ever closer; Fusouzhi wanted to cry but had no tears, retreating bit by bit, trying to slip through the half‑closed door crack:

"You're really bad! Really bad!"

"I've run myself ragged for you to An Nan, stirred up the An Nan Crown Prince to attack Zhoufu, and after the An Nan army's defeat helped you suppress the backlash…… and you still don't know my good intentions!"

Fusouzhi was genuinely anxious too.

This time he even dropped the moniker 'Little Daoist', shifting to a smoother 'I‑I‑I'.

Du Shanü halted her motion, exchanging glances with Chinu and Chen Weifang beside her, and everyone gradually came to a stop.

Meanwhile Fusouzhi was still pouring out his grievances:

"Waa waa waa fine——then you guys, just go ahead and seize me!"

"But if you ever want me to help you villains again——that's absolutely out of the question!"

"Wronged!"

"Today, I'm truly so wronged!"

These past months he's rushed and dawdled from Yongzhou to An Nan, and spent considerable effort scheming to trick the An Nan Crown Prince into leading a lone army into Yongzhou.

Waiting for the An Nan Crown Prince to walk the path that would surely bring his own ruin, he calculated that the Empress's power would shine bright, and then he had to placate the furious, elite‑lost An Nan Crown Prince so he wouldn't raise troops again......

Moreover, he had to hurriedly rush back to see just how the Empress really was.

As it turned out, not only the Empress, but nobody else gave a thought to his good deeds either!

The man known as Chinu, upon meeting him, brought dark clouds overhead, scared him into the river, made him gulp several mouthfuls of water, and in the end he still couldn't get away——couldn't get away........

"Bad!"

"Truly bad!"

"Whenever he tries to do something good, retribution comes!"

Fusouzhi was clearly also aggrieved; his usual smiling baby face had already scrunched up like a steamed bun, and even amid his constant protests he couldn't help but redden his eyes.

That sight, seen by others, was truly unbecoming.

Du Shanü really couldn't bear to watch, stepped forward a few paces, and closed the door crack behind Fusouzhi.

At the very instant the door crack sealed, Du Shanü caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of an attendant coming down the corridor in response to the sound.

Normally she wouldn't have thought twice about it, not even knowing the name of anyone outside the corridor, but today she realized that the especially attentive attendant from before was none other than Xuan Feixing.

Du Shanü pondered briefly, stopped the motion of closing the door, waved at the other person, indicating they need not mind the noise here.

That person was also very obedient, thus stopped standing in the corridor and did not approach.

Du Shanü didn't take this to heart, fully closed the door, then turned her head and lightly kicked the humming and chirping Gathering Child.

"You just said something happened in An Nan?"

If I heard correctly, the Gathering Child's meaning seems to be that the recent invasion by the An Nan army, as well as various reconnaissance before the invasion, are actually inseparable from the Gathering Child.

Inseparable, inseparable......

That's right.

Du Shanü had also wondered before why the An Nan army would march straight on Zhoufu instead of first taking an easier small town, establishing a foothold, and gradually shifting from defense to offense.

The matter of invading Zhoufu certainly had the reason of her framing Ouyang Wu to die in the hands of the old prefect, but if no one had instigated it, this decision would surely not be easy to make.

Indeed, in the next instant, the Gathering Child recounted in detail everything that had happened after it left, beginning with divination calculating that her future fortune needed An Nan's 'assistance', then going to An Nan to sow discord, and finally, after the An Nan Crown Prince suffered a crushing defeat, the current situation in An Nan.

The Gathering Child explained everything clearly, and only then said:

"... that An Nan Crown Prince, whose chest muscles are bigger than his brains, upon hearing of the elite troops' defeat, his blood surged; he originally intended to rally all available troops and fight to the death with Yongzhou, but that damned fool, unaware that I had secretly cured the King of An Nan whom he had poisoned!"

The An Nan Crown Prince was previously able to act as regent precisely because he had poisoned his father.

Now that the King of An Nan has awakened, he already suspected his son, and upon realizing his son had poisoned him, old and new grudges are piled together.

Before the An Nan Crown Prince could finish gathering his forces, the King of An Nan sent troops to block him; left with no choice, he could only abandon his family and flee with his trusted aides......

The father and son are now chasing each other in An Nan, and they hardly have any attention left for anything else.

The Gathering Child recounted in detail the events of recent days; at first its voice was mixed with grievance and sorrow, but as it went on, its doll-like face grew increasingly proud, and its voice gradually became lighter and more cheerful.

He felt he had done well and deserved a great reward; although there had been some setbacks earlier, upon hearing himself say this, he finally regained that confidence and also reassured himself completely.

Seeing the three people before him each showing varying degrees of shock, the Gathering Child flicked its whisk, shaking off the wide old robe on its body, restrainedly raised its chin, and struggled to suppress the self-satisfied curl at the corner of its mouth.

"The Little Way is clearly extremely useful!"

"This time, my lady, no matter what you say, you have to reward me—do you still remember what the Little Way said earlier? The Little Way wants to sleep on your lap!"

?? Finally about to write the major plot point of the Gathering Child's side story (*^▽^*) I'm a bit eager, rubbing my palms.