139 An eight faceted unres (1/2)
The moment the youngster heard the reference to the 'little princess', a ray of light gleamed in his eyes, reflecting a hint of desire and longing. It seemed that the youngster was attracted to the charms of the little princess, and had been pursuing her for a long time now….
Inside the middle carriage, sat a young girl, dressed in white colored clothes; only sixteen or seventeen years in age by the looks of it, her picturesque elegance couldn't be described in mere words, but her face reflected a hint of cleverness, and it would seem that she wasn't exactly a law-abiding citizen, and was probably on the naughtier side of the spectrum. At this time, due to the constant shaking of the carriage, she was holding the hand of the white bearded man who was sitting next to her: ”….. Third grandfather, why would you hide such things from me? You told me just enough to get me interested, so now you need to tell me more!”
The old man was sitting with his eyes closed, and didn't seem very different from a corpse at the moment. He opened his eyes and his face wrinkled, while his heart was inwardly cursing: [I'm finally beginning to realize why people are so afraid of her! No wonder the old man wanted the little princess to be escorted away…. He just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief by removing his burdens; and he must even be rejoicing from the pains that she will inflict on the others….if only I had known this earlier….]
”Little girl, while we are away from the Blizzard Silver City, I will tell you a story which is being talked most about these days….. I can also tell you the story of the horses which look like dragons, or about how I got so old…. Little girl, your grandfather is getting old now, and the story which you want to hear is over a decade old, so I don't really remember it very clearly anymore… do you think that my old bones are lying to you?”
The old man was almost on the verge of crying; had he known about the little princess's temperament, then he would have spared himself from signing up for this errand.
[I really hate this…. When I received this news, I thought this will relieve me of my boredom and would help me in finding some inspiration. But it appears that I won't even be able to find any relief here! It would've been better if I tossed my old bones into a wreckage….]
”Why would you start the story, and then suddenly stop it… you've left me hanging…..” the little princess pouted her mouth in distaste, while swaying her body like a pampered little baby: ”Third Grandfather, you've barely mentioned the Jun Family, and that Jun Wu Yi….. and then you also told me that big sister shared a touching love story with that man, but then you haven't told me any further details….”
The third elder groaned; this story was a taboo inside the Blizzard Silver City, and no one would talk about this affair very easily. He had only mentioned this story to her in order to stop her from troubling him, but little did the old man know that this tale would attract her interest, and would keep her imagination glued to it. She had been nagging him for more details ever since…..
[Allow my old bones some rest….. you've been asking me about this since last night… it's been over fifteen or sixteen hours now….]
”Younger Brother, you come and tell the little princess a story. If you exchange positions with your elder brother this once, then I'll always owe you one!” the third elder proposed an exchange in positions.
”Well, only if you remember that you'll owe me one later….. the word has it that there's an old lady in this empire who found a ghost with a long tongue which vomits blood. The ghost seeks beautiful princesses, and drips blood on them….” The sixth elder was clearly in no mood to be trifled with.
”Ah - no! No! No! I don't want to hear the sixth grandfather's story…. I want to hear the third grandfather's story!” the other old man hadn't even finished his sentence when the little princess cried out and hastily refused his narration.
”Third Brother, you see that I tried to take your place, but the little princes won't allow me to…. ha ha ha... third brother, please don't forget that you still owe me one for trying ha ha… I guess it's your job to make the third princess happy again; meanwhile I can get some more sleep…..” the sixth elder started laughing out loudly.
”Despicable! Shameless! You have no code of brotherhood!!” the third elder cursed out in resentment.
”Third Grandfather, do you hate Xue'er, ah?” The little princess's eyes instantly gleamed tearfully, and she made a crying face.
”What, how?” the third elder denied flatly: ”I feel bad that Xue'er even thought so!”
”Then you have to tell me the story about big sister and Jun Wu Yi, otherwise it will mean that you hate Xue'er.” The little princess's face immediately transformed the look of anger to that of joy, and her joyful face started beaming a happy smile again.
”…..” the third elder held his breathe, praying that he'd faint…..
[What sin's debt am I being forced to pay here…..]
As the wheels rolled, the princess continued to chatter in high spirits, and didn't shut up for even a single minute. Even though the third elder was an able bodied Spirit Xuan, his old wrinkles gradually continued to deepen from the torture, and as his spirts continuously left his body, his disposition started nearing that of a Tian Xiang City beggar….
~ In another direction ~
Another team of people had been marching towards the Tian Xiang Imperial City.
”Imperial Teacher, between you and me, this whole Xuan Core incident is very risky… it is likely to bring more harm than good.” The speaker was a thin-bodied middle-aged man dressed in black clothes, who was sitting on a horseback. The rigid lines on his face spoke of all the bitter tragedies of wars he had suffered in his life, which seemed to igniting a feeling of rage inside him.
”This border does look dangerous at first, but since the Yu Tang Empire has been living in peace for so many years now, so there shouldn't be much of a problem. Moreover, since the three princes of the Tian Xiang Empire are wrangling for power at this point, we should push the wave and add to the billows so we can fish in troubled waters, and profit from the circumstances. Besides, with me around, even if the opposition army was equally matched in strength, I don't think that anyone will be able to stop me from leaving the Tian Xiang City if I so chose to.” The speaker was an elderly man dressed in white robes; his hands were tucked inside his sleeves, while his hale and hearty face exuded a very leisurely aura.
”Why would you wish to escort me through the Tian Xiang Empire at your own risk….. the threat is much greater for you than it is for me since you've been at war with Jun Family for years, and have killed so many of their men in action? Because of the wars that have been waged in the past, the Jun Family's descendants are almost exhausted in number… so obviously this situation is far more dangerous for you than it is for me….”
”Why is this dangerous for me? If the Jun Family had the tendency of taking this opportunity to take a military action against me, then they simply wouldn't have been worthy of being called my enemy.”