Chapter 88: An Old Acquaintance

It had been quite some time since Feng Qiujing had last been out, and she had been eager to take the chance to stroll about and buy some snacks.

Temple fairs came in many forms, but they were usually held around the Lantern Festival or in spring. Today’s was the legendary City God Temple Fair, and events like this often brought together brilliant young scholars and graceful ladies who quietly pledged themselves to one another. The lively scene was practically indistinguishable from a matchmaking fair. At last, Feng Qiujing understood why temple fairs were held in spring: because spring was the season of mating!

At the moment, she was dressed as a man, a little fan in her hand just like Ling Zexin’s, and the heated gazes of the demure young misses and beauties around her put her in excellent spirits. Ling Shunuo, by contrast, followed behind Ling Zexin with a face full of misery. In his heart, a herd of wild horses was thundering past, and the reason was, of course, this body of his.

Although Ling Shunuo’s body was not bad at all, fair and tender, and plainly destined to become a handsome man one day, given the genes of Yan Wuying and Qin Rushui, there was one fatal problem: he was simply too small. Anyone who saw him would take him for a child. He was already sixteen or seventeen this year, which, by that reckoning, was more or less the age for puppy love. Yet because of this infuriating little body of his, all he could do was cling to someone else’s leg and act cute.

“Anuo, why do you look so unhappy?” Feng Qiujing noticed that something was off with him and asked with concern. “I’ll buy you some candy. Do you want some?”

“Stop acting smug,” Anuo said, rolling his eyes at her, inwardly growing even more irritated. Life, truly, was impossible to figure out. Right now, all he wanted was to grow up quickly.

Just then, someone suddenly tapped Feng Qiujing on the shoulder. She turned back in mild surprise and found two burly men standing there. But why did their faces seem so familiar?

“Feng Qiuxiu, have you any idea how long we’ve been looking for you?” one of the men said as he approached, cracking his knuckles.

“Yeah, we never expected to run into you here today.” The other also came forward, flexing his fingers.

“Ha, ha, ha...” Aside from laughing awkwardly, Feng Qiujing could only keep retreating step by step. It turned out that these two were none other than Dog Two and Dog Three, the very men who had been bashed bloody over a year ago by Ying Xuanyu. Their heads bore no scar at all, so they must have healed completely. That gave her a little comfort, though encountering them here still made her feel terribly unlucky, because she truly had no desire to see these people at all. “Big Brother Two Dog, Big Brother Three Dog, what are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it because we’re here to find you?”

“Don’t come looking for me. It really wasn’t my fault.” Before she could even finish speaking, Feng Qiujing had already shoved through the crowd and bolted, launching into a full street chase.

“Stop right there. You think you can still run?” Seeing her take off, Dog Two and Dog Three gave chase as well.

Ling Zexin stared at the scene in utter shock, rooted to the spot, dumbly watching Feng Qiujing’s retreating figure.

“Uncle, your fan dropped.” Anuo picked up the fan that had fallen from his hand, tugged at his sleeve, and handed it back to him.

“Thanks.” Ling Zexin patted his head and said to Anuo in great astonishment, “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I really never imagined my imperial sister-in-law could run so fast. I always thought someone like her simply couldn’t run at all.”

“Even a dog in a tight corner can leap over a wall, so when she’s pressed, she can run fast too,” Anuo offered a metaphor he thought was most apt.

“Mm, you’re right,” Ling Zexin nodded in approval, then asked in confusion, “But who are those two people? Why are they chasing her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Damn it!” Ling Zexin suddenly remembered something very important. What if those men were traffickers, or Feng Qiujing’s enemies? If he lost her again, Ling Zetian would probably kill him. One had to know that Feng Qiujing was now a favorite by Ling Zetian’s side; even Ling Zetian treated her with great gentleness and unusual compliance. If anything happened to her, the sky would truly fall.

Thinking this, he hurriedly broke into a run as well, chasing after Feng Qiujing and leaving Anuo far behind.

After this incident, Ling Zexin would surely remember to bring attendants whenever he went out, and never forget again.

Anuo watched his fleeing figure and felt utterly helpless. Did he not fear that a five-year-old child like himself might be snatched away by traffickers? At that point, he probably still wouldn’t be able to explain himself to Ling Zetian. Alas, Ling Zexin really was a pitiable child.

“Anuo, where is your mother?” Just then, a voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Ling Zetian.

After some thought, Ling Zetian still felt uneasy about letting Feng Qiujing go out alone, so he decided to set aside his work and come out to have some fun with Feng Qiujing and Anuo. They could almost be considered a family of three now. Though a little strange, that was indeed the relationship between them. Since they should occasionally go out and enjoy themselves, Feng Qiujing had actually left him alone in the palace, which was simply outrageous.

“My mother is being chased by assassins.”

“What?” Ling Zetian frowned. He had only left a little later than Feng Qiujing—how had she been chased so quickly? “And Ling Zexin?”

“My little uncle has gone after Mother.”

After telling Wei Long and Yu Fan to look after Anuo, Ling Zetian also went after Feng Qiujing. He felt it was safer to keep her in the palace. Though duller, at least her life would be protected.

Besides, with those short little legs of hers, there was no way Feng Qiujing could outrun Dog Two and Dog Three.

What were they? Bandits! Year after year they lurked in the mountains, in the grass, ambushing here and there, running to and fro; their stamina was naturally excellent. How could someone like Feng Qiujing compare? She was the sort of person who had never had much athletic talent to begin with, and after running for a while she was already panting like mad, exhausted enough to collapse on the ground and never get up again.

“We’ve got you. Still trying to run?” Dog Two and Dog Three each seized one of her arms.

“This really is all a misunderstanding. Please, don’t treat me like this?” Feng Qiujing grew anxious. These two men, though honest and simple, were still bandits in the end. And bandits, she knew, always repaid grievances with vengeance. With such a huge grudge, how could they possibly not retaliate?

“Enough nonsense. Today we settle accounts with you once and for all,” Dog Two said through clenched teeth. They had always treated Feng Qiuxiu with genuine sincerity, and yet this person had been so shameless as to do that to them. Did she think they were easy to bully? What they hated most in life was betrayal.

“Second Brother, should we take him back to the gang?”

“No, no, no!” Hearing that they planned to take her back to the Axehead Gang, Feng Qiujing immediately panicked and shook her head frantically. If she were taken back, she would probably never come out alive. Her good days had only just begun. Please, not this—no, no!

“Release her.” Just as Feng Qiujing was torn in anguish, Ling Zetian’s voice suddenly rang out above her head.

She looked up and saw that at some point Ling Zetian had actually caught up. As for Ling Zexin, he was still behind, dragging at his clothes as he ran himself nearly to death, looking as if he were about to collapse from lack of breath.

This was the stark difference between one who knew martial arts and one who did not. Feng Qiujing suddenly felt an urge to learn martial arts. She wanted to become an unrivaled master, one who would rob the rich to help the poor by night and uphold justice against the strong by day. How wonderful that would be.

When Dog Two and Dog Three saw someone chasing after them, they no longer cared about Feng Qiujing and charged straight at Ling Zetian, intending to deal with him first.

“Be gentle, little Tian-tian!” Feng Qiujing finally breathed again. Finding a clean stone, she sat down and began to cheer endlessly for Ling Zexin. “Little Xinxin, keep going! You’re almost at the finish line, come on!”

Ling Zexin rolled his eyes while cursing her repeatedly in his heart. If she had not gone and provoked so many people, how could he be running so miserably?

Nearby, the cries of Dog Two and Dog Three never ceased. Feng Qiujing truly could not bear to watch, so she asked Ling Zetian to stop, then began explaining everything to them.

After hearing the explanation, Dog Two and Dog Three both cried.

Of course, it was not because they were moved to tears, nor were they tears of remorse.

“Why are you both crying?” Feng Qiujing stared in astonishment. Was her eloquence really so good that she could make people cry?

“Brother Yang is... he’s in prison now,” Dog Two said sadly, glancing at Feng Qiujing. Because Feng Qiujing had just mentioned Yang Siyuan, they had remembered this matter again.

“In prison? Why?”

“Because of that Qin Han...”

Qin Han? Feng Qiujing felt as though she had heard that name somewhere before. She thought for a long time, but still could not recall it. In the end, it was Dog Two who reminded her: Qin Han was the man they had robbed that day, the one who had wanted to marry Ying Huoluo.

In fact, Qin Han was the son of the current Vice Minister Qin, and Qin Ruyan’s younger brother. Though Qin Han was of poor character, he was highly favored by Vice Minister Qin. The minister doted on him greatly. After Qin Han returned and claimed that he had been robbed by bandits, the Vice Minister flew into a rage and nearly sent men to wipe out the Axehead Gang. A proper bandit gang could hardly be without a leader, so Big Brother Zhang was left behind. To keep the gang from being destroyed, Yang Siyuan volunteered to take the blame and was later imprisoned, where he remained to this day without being released.

After hearing all this, Feng Qiujing grew furious. She had always believed Yang Siyuan, though a bandit, was actually a good man. She had not expected him to have been locked in prison for so long. “And you? He took the blame for you all—did none of you ever think of rescuing him?”

“We went, but the Ministry of Justice prison is heavily guarded. There’s no way we could break in.” They spoke among themselves of their plans to spring him from prison, showing no regard whatsoever for the feelings of Ling Zetian, the reigning emperor. If they had known that the man they had just fought was the emperor, they would probably already be weeping with excitement.

This novel was first released by Xiaoxiang Academy. Please do not reproduce it.