Su Cen wrote down the six characters for “Huang Ting,” “Liang Fang,” and “Cao Village” on paper, then drew arrows connecting the three names. After thinking for a moment, he also connected Huang Ting and Cao Village.
Li Shi came over with ginseng tea, glanced at the paper, and squeezed the back of Su Cen’s neck. “Still thinking?”
“No progress,” Su Cen turned his head with a smile and took the ginseng tea. He had grown too thin and was extremely weak. During those three days, he had been in a near-unconscious state half the time. Li Shi had been intent on nourishing him these past few days and, despite limited conditions, had brought out his own reserves.
Su Cen held the cup and drank the ginseng tea. Li Shi reached under his clothes and felt his body, frowning, “Why are you still so thin?”
“You can’t fatten up with just one meal,” Su Cen raised his eyebrows with a smile. “What’s wrong? Not feeling comfortable anymore?”
“It’s still fine,” Li Shi’s cold jade thumb ring roamed along Su Cen’s spine. “I just worry you’ll pass out again.”
Su Cen blushed, thinking to himself that this old fox indeed revealed his true nature after just two sentences. Even as he thought this, he finished the ginseng tea completely.
Li Shi looked meaningfully at the empty cup and pulled the seated person up. “Stop thinking about it. Let me take you out to meet some people.”
“Meet who?”
Li Shi smiled lightly, “Prince Ning’s consort has arrived. Shouldn’t they see him for themselves?”
Su Cen was startled by the phrase “Prince Ning’s consort,” and remained in a daze until Li Shi had dragged him out of the bedchamber.
He pondered why he was being called “Prince Ning’s consort.” Shouldn’t it at least be “Prince Ning’s husband”? The husband of Prince Ning, one who had performed the three kneels and nine kowtows to heaven, earth, and parents—thinking about it, it seemed quite proper.
When the refugees in the temporary palace saw Li Shi, they respectfully called him “Prince.” Li Shi displayed an approachable demeanor and nodded in acknowledgment. Seeing that the Prince was in a rare good mood, some people intentionally came forward to greet him. After exchanging pleasantries, their inquiring gazes fell upon Su Cen.
“This is…” Li Shi deliberately looked at Su Cen.
Su Cen suddenly felt his heart tremble and quickly looked at Li Shi, silently praying that this person wouldn’t announce something shocking like “Prince Ning’s consort” in front of all these people. With a group of elderly local gentry, he didn’t want to cause any distress.
Li Shi turned his head back and smiled, “This is Imperial Envoy Su, sent by the court.”
“Oh, an Imperial Envoy!” The elderly local gentry were greatly surprised. “And so young too. Lord Su is truly accomplished for his age!”
Su Cen quickly replied, “I don’t deserve such praise.”
A child timidly asked, “So who’s more important, the Prince or the Imperial Envoy?”
An elderly gentleman glared at the child, “Naturally it’s…”
“Naturally, the Imperial Envoy is more important,” Li Shi said. “An Imperial Envoy represents the Emperor in his inspection tours. Between the Emperor and a prince, which do you think ranks higher?”
The child looked at Su Cen with admiration: “Big brother is so impressive!”
Su Cen smiled helplessly, “Prince, you’re overstating my importance.”
After bidding farewell to the gentry, Li Shi led Su Cen on a tour around the temporary palace. Apart from Li Shi occupying one bedchamber, and Xuzhou officials and Li Shi’s personal guards sharing another, all other halls and courtyards were used to accommodate disaster victims. Even the various pavilions and viewing platforms were filled with people. Military tents borrowed from nearby camps surrounded the palace grounds, extending for several miles. Fortunately, it was summer, so there was no need to solve heating problems. Despite the large number of people, everything was orderly.
Porridge stations were set up at regular intervals, along with designated water collection points that also distributed herbs to repel mosquitoes and insects. Anyone showing fever symptoms was isolated in a separate area. The elderly and children were given priority to stay in the palace, while the remaining able-bodied adults were arranged in the military tents.
Su Cen smiled, “I didn’t realize Prince had such expertise in disaster relief.”
“It wasn’t me,” Li Shi shook his head. “Zhong’an did it.”
“Lord Liang?” Su Cen was slightly surprised, then frowned: “Remaining calm in the face of danger and turning the tide—he did save tens of thousands of people in Xuzhou city. Could I have misjudged him?”
“Doing well in disaster relief is one thing, embezzling river repair funds is another,” Li Shi stood with his hands behind his back. “Just continue your investigation. Whatever you discover, I’ll support you.”
Su Cen smiled, “Didn’t you say I outrank you? Why would I need your support?”
“Outrank?” Li Shi looked downward, “It doesn’t seem particularly large to me.”
Lord Su followed Li Shi’s gaze and was speechless: “…”
As they continued walking, they encountered people from Cao Village. No one had expected that their rescue would bring back an Imperial Envoy. Having shared hardship together, they were especially warm toward Su Cen.
Su Cen asked about the settlement conditions of the Cao villagers and inquired whether Er Ya’s fever had subsided. A villager replied that she had recovered long ago and was now out catching cicadas with Huzi.
At the mention of cicadas, Su Cen’s mouth twitched. He never wanted to see those strange insects again for the rest of his life.
When he asked about Uncle Cao’s whereabouts, the villagers exchanged glances. Someone sighed, “He probably found some place to smoke. He likes solitude and doesn’t enjoy staying in groups with us.”
On the way back, they indeed encountered Huzi and Er Ya catching cicadas, and coincidentally, Qu Ling’er was with them. Huzi and Er Ya were responsible for finding the cicadas, while Qu Ling’er climbed trees to catch them—they worked together quite well.
By the time Su Cen arrived, Qu Ling’er had already caught half a bag of cicadas. Seeing Su Cen approach, he jumped down from the tree and embraced Su Cen’s waist. “Brother Su, I thought you were dead…”
Su Cen smiled and patted him on the back, “Don’t wish such bad luck on me.”
“I watched you fall with my own eyes,” Qu Ling’er sniffled. “From such a height—I wasn’t even confident I could climb back up, and you don’t even know martial arts…”
Su Cen couldn’t help but smile bitterly, “If I’d known, I would have kicked you down instead.”
Qu Ling’er laughed through his tears, forming a bubble of snot. Just as he was about to secretly wipe it on Su Cen, he was stopped by a single glance from Li Shi.
He could only stand up, patting the half bag of cicadas chirping loudly at his waist, and smile at Su Cen, “Look, Brother Su, I caught your favorite cicadas!”
Su Cen: “…Who told you cicadas were my favorite?”
Just then, Huzi ran over with Er Ya, cheerfully claiming credit to Su Cen: “Big brother, I told him! Don’t you love insect soup the most?”
Su Cen wanted to cry but had no tears, “I don’t love eating cicadas, and I don’t love drinking insect soup. Please stop catching them.”
“But…” Qu Ling’er looked at his half bag of cicadas, feeling somewhat regretful.
“Keep catching them,” Li Shi stepped forward. “Ten coins each, come find me in the evening for your reward.”
Huzi and Er Ya perked up and hurriedly pulled Qu Ling’er away to continue their work.
Su Cen frowned: “Don’t listen to their nonsense. I only ate those because I had nothing else. I was desperate to recover quickly.”
“I know,” Li Shi narrowed his eyes, looking ahead. “If you don’t like eating them, naturally someone else will.”
That evening, a plate of cicadas appeared on Qu Ling’er’s dinner table. He looked bewildered, “Isn’t this a mistake? This isn’t for me.”
“No mistake,” a small kitchen official smiled. “Prince specifically instructed me to bring these to Young Master Qu and watch him eat them.”
“…” Qu Ling’er felt slightly nauseated looking at the plate of blackened cicadas. He wondered how his Brother Su could enjoy eating such things. He frowned, tried one, and immediately spat it out. “I won’t eat this. It tastes terrible!”
The kitchen official replied: “Prince instructed that for each one Young Master Qu spits out, we’ll add another one. The kitchen has a whole sack of them.”
Qu Ling’er recalled how he had run across half the mountain with the two youngsters, jumping up and down like a monkey all afternoon, until the entire Qifeng Mountain had grown noticeably quieter. Little did he know he was digging a pit for himself. Had he known these insects would end up on his plate, he wouldn’t have worked so hard.
Qu Ling’er looked pitifully at Qi Lin: “Brother Qi…”
Qi Lin was most vulnerable to Qu Ling’er’s sorrowful peach blossom eyes looking at him. He sighed and just as he picked up the chopsticks, the kitchen official continued: “Prince said if Lord Qi also enjoys them, I should bring Lord Qi another plate.”
Qi Lin immediately put down the chopsticks and looked at Qu Ling’er sympathetically: “I can’t help you.”
“What happened to standing together through life and death?!” Qu Ling’er glared angrily, then turned to glare at the plate of cicadas. After a standoff lasting nearly a quarter hour, Qu Ling’er surrendered: “I’m not hungry. I don’t want dinner tonight!”
The kitchen official smiled: “That’s fine too. Prince said that the sack needs to be finished eventually, and until it’s done, no other food will be prepared for Young Master Qu.”
Qu Ling’er: “…”
What had he done to offend Li Shi? Was it really necessary to torment him like this?!
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
![Flying Dust [Fei Chen]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/9k.png "Flying Dust [Fei Chen]")
