Chapter 130: The Feeling of Family
Jin An was not a fool! He had simply experienced too much and realized the rules of the adult world early on. By pretending to be foolish and innocent, adults would let down their guard around children.
If two adults were discussing important matters, and a clever child sat attentively nearby, the adults would immediately chase him away or move to another location to continue their conversation.
However, if there was a foolishly smiling child playing by himself, the adults would think he didn’t understand anything and wouldn’t be wary of him.
Jin An felt that his older sister’s actions of disguising herself as a man, then as Li King, and even as an eunuch, were all because of him.
The root cause was that he had run around in the mountains and was captured by bandits, so he felt responsible for protecting his sister.
By pretending to be foolish and slow-witted, he could effectively help his sister maintain her disguise. Even if he accidentally said something, people would just dismiss it as the ramblings of a foolish child.
So far, Jin An felt he had acted his part perfectly; this stern-faced older brother treated him like a foolish child.
Jin Sui hugged Jin An as he jumped down from the carriage. The impact was so great that she almost lost her balance, but Gu Changxiao steadied her from behind.
The siblings’ foreheads touched. Jin An wrapped his arms around his sister’s neck and cried loudly, “Brother Li King, Grandpa and I missed you so much!”
Jin Sui used a handkerchief to wipe away his tears and snot. “We won’t be separated again.”
Gu Changxiao quickly said, “It’s windy here. Let’s talk more after we get back to the city.”
Jin Sui held Jin An’s hand with one hand and Grandpa’s with the other, introducing them to the border city along the way.
From the newly built gravel road, to the street lamps, and then to the fields with greenhouse frames not far away, and the nascent form of the city…
Gu Changxiao, who had been listening quietly behind them, soon sensed something was amiss. He noticed Jin An glancing at him from the corner of his eye from time to time, and every time Jin An seemed about to ask something, Daoist Ji would interrupt.
The grandfather and grandchildren had gone through life and death together and hadn’t seen each other for a long time. How could they not talk about their experiences and only discuss what they saw before them?
Gu Changxiao coughed lightly. “I just remembered I promised Lord Cheng to train the soldiers today. I’ll take a short nap in the military camp and start training at dawn.”
“See you at breakfast, Daoist Ji and Xiao An.”
Jin Sui said with a smile, “It will be hard work for Brother Gu today. You should go rest first!”
Watching Gu Changxiao walk away, with no one around, Grandpa Ling raised his hand and lightly slapped Jin Sui on the back of her head. Jin Sui, however, deliberately cried out in exaggerated pain:
“What are you doing, Grandpa? You’ll make me stupid!”
Grandpa Ling puffed out his beard and glared. “It would be better if you were truly stupid! If you were stupid, you wouldn’t have done something so audacious! Did you eat bear’s heart or tiger’s gall? You actually dared to impersonate Li King!”
Jin Sui quickly shushed him. “Keep your voice down, someone might hear. Li King’s assassins are unpredictable; who knows when they might appear.”
She shook Grandpa Ling’s arm and laughed. “See, nothing happened! Li King even praised me for doing a good job! If I hadn’t impersonated Li King and saved his army and the border city, everything would have been lost by the time he arrived!”
Grandpa Ling flicked her forehead. “You’ve escaped death so many times! You still dare to fight the Tartars! Jin An and I were so scared when we heard the news, our souls almost left us.”
Jin Sui patted her chest. “Even if I weren’t Li King, I would still dare to fight the Tartars! Grandpa, you didn’t see how pitiful those common people were, being driven into the mountains by the Tartars to become refugees.”
“And those gentry, damn it, they make me so angry! They acted like lords when oppressing the common people, but when they heard the Tartars were coming, they were as scared as quails… Ah! You hit me again!”
Grandpa Ling stomped his feet in anger, lowering his voice and gritting his teeth:
“Have you forgotten you’re still a young lady! Oh dear, hurry up and switch identities back with Young Master Gu! If you continue to be Li King for a while longer, no one will want to marry you in the future.”
Jin An laughed. “If no one wants her, then Sister can stay home forever! I’ll support her.”
As if trying to seize the moment to call out more, he shook Jin Sui’s hand, his eyes sparkling as he called out several times, “Sister~”
Jin Sui squatted down and pinched his little face. “So good! Let’s go back inside and eat meat. The meat I brought for you has gone cold.”
Grandpa Ling was still pressing her. “What did Young Master Gu say? How could he not take such a huge matter seriously? How could he let you continue to be Li King?”
Jin Sui smiled. “If he’s not in a hurry, why are you? Before, it was out of necessity, but now it’s different…”
She leaned forward mysteriously. Grandpa Ling and Jin An both leaned in, asking cautiously, “What’s different?”
“Now~ he hired me with gold!”
Grandpa Ling almost slapped her again. Jin Sui quickly appeased him:
“We’ve agreed that once the Imperial edict arrives, we’ll switch identities. We’ve also prepared a reason: I’m acting as his body double under Li King’s orders to lure out the assassins.”
Grandpa Ling finally relaxed and asked in a low voice, “Then, what about your matters as a woman?”
Now it was Jin Sui’s turn to be nervous. “Shh! This absolutely, absolutely cannot be said! You don’t want your granddaughter to really not be able to get married, do you?”
“If you say Ji Sui is an eunuch, people can still accept it. But if they know Ji Sui is a woman, I’m afraid the three of us will have to flee into the mountains like refugees.”
“Of all the things I’ve done, which one is something a woman could do!”
“The Prince also talks about becoming sworn sisters with me every day. If he knew I was a woman, it wouldn’t be about sworn sisterhood, but about silencing me to erase a stain on his life!”
Jin An asked in a very cautious tone, “Then what about Father’s case?”
Jin Sui and Grandpa Ling exchanged a look. None of them had forgotten Father Ling’s case, but they hadn’t expected Jin An to become so timid because of it.
It was as if mentioning Father Ling’s case was something he had done wrong!
Jin Sui sincerely said to her brother again, “Father’s case must be investigated. I promised Mother that I would vindicate Father.
And also, Xiao An, I’m very happy impersonating Li King. Everything we experienced was the bandits’ fault, not yours.”
“Don’t blame yourself! Look, at such a young age, you frown like a little old man. We already have an old man in our family; we don’t need a little old man!”
Grandpa Ling raised his hand to hit her again, but he heard Jin An’s quiet sobs. “Sister, you really don’t blame me? If I hadn’t run around then, we wouldn’t have been captured by bandits, and we wouldn’t have…”
Jin Sui placed her finger on his lips and said with a smile, “Sister will teach you a lesson today: never punish yourself for someone else’s mistake! That incident was clearly the bandits’ fault; why should you be blamed?”
“When we have the ability in the future, we must return to that bandit den and have all the bandits arrested and brought to justice!”
“Also, you are my own brother, the person closest to me in this world besides Grandpa. No matter what you do, Sister will never resent you.”
“Similarly, if Sister does something you don’t like, you can’t resent Sister either!”
Jin An shook his head repeatedly. “I will never resent Sister. I, I like Sister the most!”
He threw himself into Jin Sui’s arms again and cried, not from the joy of reunion this time, but from catharsis.
Grandpa Ling also wiped away tears beside them, muttering, “This child, I’ve told him so many times on the road that we don’t blame him, and it’s not his fault, yet he still holds onto it.”
“By the way, Sui Sui, since your identity cannot be revealed to the Prince, what about your father’s case?”
Jin Sui quickly said, “Actually, I’ve been subtly asking during this time. The Prince is very unwilling to talk about what happened in Chang’an. He feels immense guilt for those who died because they were implicated.”
“However, he is currently unable to protect himself and lacks the power. Not to mention returning to Chang’an to reopen the case, even leaving the border city might be dangerous.”
“Grandpa, you traveled with the Prince for two months. Do you think he is trustworthy?”
As they spoke, they arrived at the thatched hut. Jin Sui skillfully changed the coal balls to boil water, then lit a charcoal stove. She placed the lotus leaf chicken and lamb, which had been packed earlier, on a rack to roast after cutting them into small pieces.
She handed Jin An the tongs. “Keep an eye on flipping it. This is spice powder. When the oil starts to render, sprinkle some on the meat.”
The enticing aroma of roasted meat jolted Grandpa Ling out of his thoughts. He sniffed and said, “Young Master Gu is noble, treats people with sincerity, is responsible, and values loyalty and righteousness. I believe he can be trusted.”
Jin Sui smiled and nodded. “Not many people receive such praise from Grandpa! You’ve never even praised me!”
“Hmph, praise you? If I praised you any more, you’d fly to the heavens!”
“Hehe, I also think the Prince can be trusted. So, we can directly tell him about Father’s case. Even if it can’t be reopened now, it will let him know that we are his partners in this matter.”
“Except for the fact that I’m a woman, which cannot be revealed, we’ll tell him the truth about everything else, like how I was sickly since childhood and you took me to be raised at a Taoist temple.”
“Oh, right, right. I’ll attribute the things I’ve done in the border city to the Taoist sect. Grandpa, please don’t slip up.”
Grandpa Ling didn’t quite understand. “What things? You need to give me a heads-up!”
Jin Sui pointed to the street lamp outside. “That, I learned at the Taoist sect. You know the firearms I used to burn thousands of Tartars? Learned at the Taoist sect.”
“The new crops grown in the greenhouse outside, the seeds were found by the Taoist sect. And my medical skills, taught by the Taoist sect…”
“Wait, which Taoist sect has such capabilities? If the Taoist sect knew all this, they would have become famous long ago.” Grandpa Ling anxiously slapped his thigh; this lie would be hard to maintain!
Even so, he didn’t press Jin Sui on where she had learned these things.
This was why Jin Sui liked him. Grandpa seemed to know which questions would put her in a difficult position, so he never pressed, but instead helped her maintain her lies.
“Hehe, deceiving people is what Grandpa is best at! Anyway, no one usually asks. If it comes up, you keep it in mind and don’t let it slip to your grandson.”
Jin An, however, was attracted by something else. “This street lamp was made by Sister? And the firearm that attracts lightning was also made by Sister? That’s amazing! Can Sister teach me?”
Jin Sui rubbed his head. “Of course! You’re at an age where you should be studying. In the future, I’ll personally teach you science and mathematics, and cultivate you into a science talent!”
Grandpa Ling asked hesitantly, “Are you saying we’re settling down in the border city and not leaving?”
Jin Sui sighed. “This is also something I wanted to discuss with Grandpa… Oh, right, I haven’t given this to Grandpa yet.”
She first took out two gold ingots. “I earned these!”
Grandpa Ling’s first reaction upon receiving them was to bite them. “Is this pure gold! The Prince rewarded you?”
“Tch, he’s as poor as a ghost; where would he get gold to reward me! He only knows how to write empty checks and draw big pictures now. These are all earned by your granddaughter!”
Jin Sui briefly explained the business cooperation with the Yan Clan. Grandpa Ling grasped the key point. “You mean, the Prince agreed to give us half the dividends from that business?”
“Of course! It’s all our family’s heirloom secret! It’s fine if I don’t get married, but I must save some silver for Jin An to get a wife!” Jin Sui joked.
Grandpa Ling gave her a meaningful look. “How can this be? That’s all your capability!”
Jin Sui said indifferently, “What I have is Grandpa’s and Jin An’s! I earn money for you two. How much can I eat and spend by myself?
Grandpa, don’t dwell on these minor details. In short, you must remember that it’s all our family’s heirloom!”
“This jade, the Prince gave it to you as thanks for your help along the way. This jade is not simple; it’s a token that even the Prince’s secret guards recognize. Keep it safe, Grandpa.”
Grandpa Ling held the jade in his left hand and the gold ingot in his right. After a long while, he said, “If we leave the border city, what will happen to this business?”
Jin An anxiously asked, “If we leave the Prince, how will Father’s case be investigated?”
Jin Sui asked softly, “But didn’t Grandpa always want to return to our hometown?”
Grandpa Ling smiled sadly. “The plague in Luocheng has spread everywhere, and the road home is cut off.”
He didn’t say the most important thing: because of Father Ling’s case, they would be looked down upon if they returned home. He could tolerate that environment, but he didn’t want his two grandchildren to suffer.
“As long as the three of us are together, Grandpa doesn’t mind where we are. It depends on what Sui Sui thinks.”
Jin Sui’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed Grandpa’s attitude was leaning towards staying in the border city.
She then asked Jin An, “Didn’t you always want to go to Chang’an?”
Jin Sui shook her head. “I want to go to Chang’an to reopen Father’s case, but if Brother Gu can help, the case will be reopened faster. I’d rather stay by Brother Gu’s side.”
Jin Sui sighed. “Since that’s the case, let’s put this topic aside for now. We’ll discuss where to go after my identity and the Prince’s are switched back.”
“There is a very urgent matter to attend to right now, and it’s not convenient to tell the Prince about Father’s case.”
Grandpa Ling quickly asked, “Is it because the Imperial Commissioner is coming? I’ve seen many outsiders seeking out the Imperial Commissioner these past few days. Are they planning something against the border city?”
Jin Sui smiled. “They can’t stir up any trouble. For the next few days, Grandpa and Xiao An will stay at the Tuntian Camp. Be careful not to wander off, and don’t let anyone know your true identities. I’ll pick you up to live together after the situation calms down.”
Her plan with Gu Changxiao was too complicated to explain to Grandpa in a short time, and there was no need to. As long as they were safe, she would have no weaknesses.
Having endured hardships on the road, Grandpa Ling and Jin An had no objections to where they would stay.
The water had boiled. Jin Sui put in sliced red dates to cook, added some sugar, and poured a cup for each of them. “Warm yourselves up.”
She then cut lamb for the two of them and roasted the cold, hard pieces of flatbread until golden. It was unclear whether it was breakfast or a midnight snack, but the three of them ate with great satisfaction.
Having stayed up for most of the night, they were all very tired. Jin Sui took a basin to soak Grandpa’s and Jin An’s feet, gave them the bed to sleep in, and slept on Gu Changxiao’s small couch herself.
Hearing Grandpa’s snoring, she could see the two people in the tent. Jin Sui felt a sense of comfort and satisfaction she had never experienced before.
It was wonderful! She could be with Grandpa and Jin An again from now on! This feeling of being accompanied by family was truly wonderful!
Sorry, my dears, the update is late today. I will try my best to update during the day in the future.
