Chapter 1221: Friend or Enemy (1)

The three children said matter-of-factly, “Brother Little An has it written in his eyes. He said that if we don’t come back and surrender, we’re dead meat!”

Qi Xiuyuan turned to look at Little An’s eyes. Seeing him smile at him ingratiatingly, he snorted and turned his head away. He knew that this was a tacit understanding between the children, just like the tacit understanding between him, Haoran and Zijin.

In order to prevent the children from wreaking havoc in his imperial garden again, not only did Qi Xiuyuan directly ban them from the imperial garden, but he also asked their father to personally come and fetch them.

Of course, Qi Wensu and Mingzhu had already been sent back by him in advance. Now, there were only three left in his Imperial Study.

When Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran came to pick them up, Qi Xiuyuan looked at the three brats and his two younger brothers and sighed. “When will they become as sensible as Little Treasure and Little Bear?”

Fan Zijin asked nonchalantly, “Little Treasure and Little Bear are sensible?”

Qi Haoran coughed lightly and said softly, “More sensible than them, at least. But don’t worry, Big Brother. They’ll be sensible when they grow up in two years.”

Qi Xiuyuan snorted and waved him away.

Thinking of Little Treasure and Little Bear, Qi Xiuyuan clapped his hands and called the leader of the secret guards over. He asked, “There’s still no news from the posthouse?”

“Yes, but the last time the messenger pigeon came back, it brought back the message that the Crown Prince and Prince had already passed through Taiyuan. It’s understandable that information transmits at a slower speed since they are on the road.”

However, Qi Xiuyuan was a little worried. “I’m just afraid that those two brats will run to Great Yuan. Considering we’ve just ended a war with Great Yuan and destroyed Great Jin, it’s very dangerous there.”

The secret guard leader lowered his head and didn’t dare to speak.

Qi Xiuyuan waved his hand to dismiss him. “Report to me as soon as the posthouse sends back the news.”

He sat on the chair and pondered, feeling worried.

There would always be times when messenger pigeons made mistakes, so Little Treasure and the others had a double layer of communication with the capital. It was not confidential. For example, the articles they wrote, some daily greetings, and some strange stories were sent back through messenger pigeons. When it came to confidential matters or reporting their safety, they would send news through posthouses.

While it had been a while since Qi Xiuyuan received any news from the two of them from the posthouse, it was still within a reasonable timeframe.

In the past, he wouldn’t have been so worried, but perhaps because of the agitation from the brats, Qi Xiuyuan was always worried that Little Treasure and Little Bear would take risks.

It didn’t matter if Tiger Head and the others got into trouble. After all, this was the capital. With the adults backing them up, no matter how big a trouble they got into, they could settle it. However, those two were outside and were beyond their reach.

Unlike the worrying Qi Xiuyuan, Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran were very open-minded about this.

Fan Zijin said, “A gentleman doesn’t stand under a dangerous wall. Since His Highness the Crown Prince has been taught by His Majesty and Grand Tutor Fang since he was young, it’s impossible for him not to understand this.”

Qi Haoran also said, “Although Little Bear is bratty, he’s not thoughtless. He won’t risk his and Little Treasure’s lives. Don’t worry, they definitely won’t go to Great Yuan’s territory.”

Indeed, Little Treasure and Little Bear didn’t enter Great Yuan. They only went to the border town and stood on the mountaintop to look at the land of Great Yuan and West Xia. Then, Little Treasure gestured with great ambition and shouted, “Little Bear, you have to help me conquer this territory in the future!”

Little Bear also nodded excitedly. “I definitely will!”

The two brothers stood excitedly on the mountaintop for a long time. Just as they were thinking about the future blueprint of Great Qi, they saw someone herding a flock of sheep over from afar. Little Treasure asked curiously, “Is the town also open to the people of Great Yuan?”

The guard in charge of inquiring about information went forward and said, “Your Highness, Great Qi doesn’t strictly prohibit civilians from trading with Great Yuan, and our Great Qi previously opened a market with Great Jin. Although Great Jin was destroyed, it has become a custom for Han people to trade with Hu people unless the market is abolished and border trading is explicitly prohibited.”

Little Treasure touched his chin and said, “The people are just exchanging what they need. Why should we ban it? Moreover, Great Yuan isn’t having a good time now. If we close the market, what if they plunder our people instead?”

“The grassland is cold and bitter. Brother Little Treasure, since you want to conquer this territory, have you thought of how to let the people here live a good life? You can’t let the people of Central Plains support them, right? If that’s the case, we might as well not expand our territory.”

Little Treasure pondered. That made sense. If they could not let the people on the grassland escape from the bitter cold, even if they occupied this land, it would only just be another person taking over. It would not be beneficial to the people.

Little Treasure looked at the market at the foot of the mountain and waved his hand. “There’s no hurry now. We’ll slowly think of a way.”

Little Bear responded and went down the mountain with Little Treasure.

This was the border between the two countries. Because this town was a border fortress, there were troops stationed there. Outside the city gate was the market, so there were many merchants coming and going.

Little Treasure and Little Bear brought a group of guards to stay in the best inn in the town. Although it was a little eye-catching, because there were merchants from the south to the north here, everyone only took a few more glances and didn’t pay much attention.

There were plenty of things in town, but it also lacked many things. Great Qi’s tea leaves, salt, and satin were the most expensive here. The price of the same tea leaves was nearly ten times higher than in Jiangnan, and the fur, cows, sheep, and horses here were much cheaper than in Jiangnan.

The two youths had been short of money since they were young. This time, they had even borrowed pocket money from their four younger brothers. They had to be responsible for the expenses of the entire team because Qi Xiuyuan had said that this was also part of their training.

Therefore, the two children carried some goods as they walked.

For example, when Little Treasure and Little Bear found out that they were coming to the border town this time, they had already bought a lot of tea leaves and satin when they were in the Central Plains. After arriving at the border town, they took action.

They planned to stay here for a few days before heading east. They would cross Shandong and head to Jiangnan. After leaving the North, medicinal herbs and some local specialties at the border would be expensive. Therefore, after resting for a day, the two of them planned to go to the market to take a look.

Considering the fur and herbs there were cheaper, they might even be able to find some bargains.

Upon hearing that the two young masters were going out of the city, the guards hurriedly stopped them and advised in a low voice, “Although there’s a garrison here, it’s very dangerous outside the city. A person of your status shouldn’t take the risk…”

However, Little Treasure said, “I’m not entering Great Yuan. More than 20 miles outside the city gate is still Great Qi’s territory. Don’t worry, no one will doubt our identity since we’re dressed up like this.”

Of course, no one doubted it. If not for the fact that they had just heard the Crown Prince and Prince’s ambitious words, the guards would have thought that they were here to do business.

The two young masters’ minds were completely focused on doing business. Yesterday, they almost quarreled with a buyer over the price of tea leaves. They acted as if they were the descendants of generations of merchants who had traveled elsewhere to gain some experience.

Since Little Treasure and Little Bear had made up their minds, the guards could not stop them at all. They could only follow the two of them out of the city with hopeless expressions.

When the assistant shopkeeper of the inn knew that they were going to the market, he hurriedly tried to solicit them. “Young Masters, do you need a guide? My cousin is very familiar with the market and this area. There’s no one in this area that he doesn’t know. If you are looking to purchase some things, it’d be useful to have a guide with you. Moreover, he knows a few languages that are spoken on the grassland. I guarantee that with him around, communication wouldn’t be a problem.”

Little Treasure and Little Bear had been asked to learn Great Jin and West Xia’s language since they were young, but when they thought of the regional differences, they paused slightly.

Seeing that there was a chance, the assistant shopkeeper tried his best to solicit more. “Don’t worry, my cousin is very tight-lipped and won’t say anything he shouldn’t say. In addition to being an excellent bargainer, he’s familiar with all goods sold on the grassland, ranging from a piece of rabbit skin to ginseng and deer antler.”

Little Treasure interrupted him and asked, “How much does he charge for a day?”

The assistant shopkeeper said with a smile, “If you’re pleased with his service, just give him a few dozen copper coins and reward him with a bowl of tea.”

“Alright, call him over.” Little Treasure felt that it was a really cheap price.

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