CH 273

Xiahou Chun took half an hour to dress up.

Bai Lixin was eating, so he let him be. He finished his breakfast, and Xiahou Chun came late.

Bai Lixin looked at the thin layer of sweat on Xiahou Chun’s forehead and snorted: “General Xiahou’s dressing is elaborate. No wonder he can make a simple piece of rough linen have a majestic feeling. If I were to dress for half an hour, I might be able to have this kind of verve too. ”

Xiahou Chun only said, “How can clothes change what is in your bones?”

Bai Lixin chuckled, “General Xiahou is right. A beast is a beast. Even if it puts on fancy clothes, it will at best be a beast in clothes.”

Xiahou Chun swept a glance at Bai Lixin and said, “Your Second Highness seems to have something to say.”

“General Xiahou worries too much. I am merely catering to your earlier words. ”

Xiahou Chun raised his eyebrows and said no more.

Bai Lixin did not go out for leisure this time, but for another purpose.

Back then, Xiahou Chun had opened the gates of the kingdom and let in a group of soldiers from the Kalou Kingdom. Undetected in the snow, they defeated the Snow Kingdom without a fight.

By the time Emperor Shengyuan realised it, the troops were already in the pond and there was no turning back.

The Snow Kingdom was not a dominant kingdom on this vast continent; it was even smaller than a small vassal kingdom of the Great Yao Kingdom. However, because it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, the surrounding countries could do nothing. In addition, the Snow Kingdom was struggling to survive.

The Snow Kingdom was self-sufficient and did not go out on its own unless it had to.

But with little interaction with the outside world, Xiahou Chun managed to collude with the Kalou Kingdom. for no other reason other than that the Snow Kingdom had infiltrated a spy from the Kalou Kingdom. Bai Lixin only got to know who this spy was at the end: the ice crystal merchant who helped Xiahou Chun capture Bai Liwu. He was called Huang Yuanwei.

Huang Yuanwei had been running the ice crystal business for many years, bringing ice crystals back and forth from time to time to various countries in exchange for necessary food, silk, and other items as well as money. He then brought the food and silk back to the Snow Kingdom and sold them in exchange for ice crystals.

With this profitable business, the family had become rich over the years and had created a trade route.

Even the Imperial family was envious of them. For many years, Huang Yuanwei had been dealing in ice crystals and had brought in a lot of antiques and paintings from outside, and had dealings with the powerful and the royal family.

Bai Liwu was very fond of the crystal ice crystals and the antique paintings and calligraphy, so his relationship with Huang Yuanwei became even deeper. He often referred to him as his friend.

When the soldiers entered the city that day, Bai Lixin managed to escape from the palace. When he returned to the palace through the back door, he saw his father and mother lying on the ground covered in blood.

Through his daze, he saw Xiahou Chun holding a long sword, the tip of which was aimed at Bai Liwu.

And that Huang Yuanwei was wearing the Kalou armour! He was standing beside Bai Liwu with his longsword, and the two of them were aiming at an unarmed prince who could not even hold down a chicken!

He then saw Xiahou Chun rushing towards him. The anger surged in his heart and he planned to die on his longsword when the system absorbed him into the void where he began his journey through the different worlds.

Millions of years passed, and he was back again.

When he thought of the tragic deaths of his father and mother, the hatred in his heart gushed out like an overflowing sea.

Bai Lixin took two deep breaths to suppress this hatred and looked at Huang Yuanwei, who was already close at hand. He coughed lightly to hide the emotions in the depths of his eyes.

“Greetings to Your Highness and General Xiahou. I am sorry to welcome you here. Please come in quickly.” The person who came out to greet them was the head of the Huang House, and standing beside him was a somewhat unexpected person. Bai Liwu was also there.

Bai Lixin nodded his head in greeting, and then looked at Bai Liwu, ” Imperial Brother is also here?”

Bai Liwu walked like an elegant deer. He stood under the jade tree with a smile on his face, saying, “Some new antique paintings and calligraphy arrived here, so I came to take a look. But Xin’er, why were you interested in coming here today? ”

Bai Lixin chuckled, “I was just looking for a talisman. I heard that the older something is, the more spiritual it is, so I came here to take a look. I apologize for coming uninvited today.”

Huang Yuanwei waved a hand. “Second highness’s presence is a great honor to my house. How dare I take offence? ”

Bai Lixin nodded, “That’s good.”

Several people walked towards the room, with Bai Lixin and Bai Liwu walking in the middle. Bai Liwu swept a glance at Xiahou Chun and looked at Bai Lixin with more scrutiny.

“Why is brother looking at me like that?” Bai Lixin asked, tilting his head to look at Bai Liwu. “Is there something on my face?”

Bai Liwu withdrew his gaze and said awkwardly, “It’s nothing. I just feel that after not seeing you for a few days, Xin’er is different from before.”

“Haha,” Bai Lixin glanced at the dome of the sky and sighed, “Having walked to the gate of the dead, it is natural that I am different from before I died. If I didn’t wake up again, I wouldn’t have known how I died. ”

Bai Liwu’s body stalled slightly, and he said angrily, “What nonsense is Xin’er talking about? Why do you talk about death all day long? It makes me distressed.”

Bai Lixin made a face with his tongue out, “Haha, don’t blame me. I’m not in a good temper these days, I’m always talking out of turn. ”

Bai Lixin stayed at Mr. Huang’s house until it was getting late. Bai Liwu was getting up to leave, so he picked out a jade pendant and left with Bai Liwu.

He had taken Xiahou Chun with him to secretly observe the actions of the two, but he did not find anything strange.

When Bai Liwu and Bai Lixin sat in the same carriage, Xiahou Chun consciously chose to sit with the coachman.

“Imperial brother, did you have any surprises during your trip to the Great Yao Kingdom?”

“Xin’er has grown up,” Bai Liwu said with a pleased smile in his eyes, “Xin’er used to complain about the complexity of the court and never asked about the affairs of the court, but now he is asking me of his own accord. The trip to Great Yao was really rewarding. It is a vast country with abundant resources, but we rarely saw the crystal stones from the Snow Kingdom. Their monarch liked the ice crystals we took them.”

“I remember that the Great Yao is not among the countries that Huang Yuanwei trades ice crystals with. Is it possible that Huang Yuanwei travels more frequently between the Kalou and the Yue Kingdom? ”

Bai Liwu took a deep look at Bai Lixin and nodded, “Yes, it is indeed as you said. Why is Xin’er suddenly asking about this? ”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just curious. By the way, brother, did you and father bring back any gifts for me when you went to the Great Yao Kingdom? ”

“Look at my memory. I’ve been so busy these days that I forgot about that rare treasure. I found a fine red coral in Da Yao. I will send someone to bring it to you when I return to the palace. ”

Bai Lixin’s eyes lit up, and he stretched out a hand to embrace Bai Liwu, “I knew it… I know it’s my imperial brother who misses me the most.”

After years of work, Huang Yuanwei had mastered the economic life of the Snow Kingdom. If he died, the economy of the Snow Country would be greatly affected. It is easy for Huang Yuanwei to die, but it is not easy to establish new trade routes.

If the monarch of Great Yao was interested in their ice crystals, it would be best to open a channel between Da Yao and the Snow Kingdom in the future.

Not long after returning to the palace, Bai Lixin received a red coral from Bai Liwu’s palace.

The polished stone was dark red in colour and crystal clear in texture. Bai Lixin placed his hand on the red coral stone, and he felt warm and comfortable.

Did Bai Liwu really forget about it, or did he think of giving it to him after asking?

He seems to be kind and pure, but he sees through everything and has established a close friendship with Huang Yuanwei.

When you think about it, there is something suspicious about what happened back then.

If Xiahou Chun had risen in rebellion, the gates would have been opened and the Snow Kingdom would have fallen. How many princes are there in the small Snow Kingdom?

Wasn’t it a superfluous act to leave Bai Liwu alive?

And even if they were to hold Bai Liwu hostage, wouldn’t it have been more convincing to hold the recently crowned Crown Prince hostage instead?

The pieces in the game are confusing, but if reason was to be added, Bai Lixin would have to wonder about everything.

He had many doubts about Xiahou Chun’s rebellion. If the roles were reversed… wouldn’t it make a lot more sense?

What if Bai Liwu colluded with the Kalou kingdom and opened the gates for Huang Yuanwei, the general of the Kalao Kingdom, to enter the palace and kill the Royal family.

Xiahou Chun was not conspiring with Huang Yuanwei but was stopping the latter and Bai Liwu in their tracks… Xiahou Chun ran to him, not to hold him hostage or to behead him, but to protect him…

Xiahou Chun opened the gate to overthrow the emperor, but what good would it do him to overthrow the emperor?

The Snow Kingdom would become a vassal state of the Kalou Kingdom and become a subordinate of the Kalou Kingdom. With Xiahou Chun’s arrogant nature, wouldn’t he rather overthrow the dynasty, than become a subordinate of another kingdom?

It was really not Xiahou Chun’s style. If he wanted to rebel, he would choose to become the supreme and arrogant ruler.

But then, what motive did Bai Liwu have?

Of course, he had motives. By not becoming the crown prince, Bai Liwu would have lost the chance to become the future emperor.

But if he wanted to become emperor, wouldn’t it be simpler to kill him?

Bai Lixin narrowed his eyes and his heart went cold.

No, it wasn’t that he hadn’t tried before.

What if the mastermind behind that horse incident was not Xiahou Chun but Bai Liwu?

He wanted to kill him, but he failed, and Xiahou Chun happened to save him. The horse was frightened that day and it not only tipped him to the ground, but it almost stepped on his head.

If it weren’t for Xiahou Chun’s timely appearance, he would have died!

If so, the eunuch suddenly dying that day in the dungeon would make Bai Liwu also a suspect aside from Xiahou Chun.

Isn’t it too much of a coincidence that Bai Liwu was everywhere?

And the eunuch’s hand gesture before he died……

He thought the gesture meant that he and Bai Liwu should be careful, but now that he thought about it, the eunuch probably meant that he should be wary of Bai Liwu!