freenovelworld Chapter 21 Educating Children
Chapter 21 Educating Children
Chu Ling walked to Xie Yan's side and looked down at Lu Zizhao.
Only then did he realize that the boy's gaze towards Xie Yan was filled with shame, anger, and resentment, while his gaze towards him was filled with malice and rage.
He paused, fanning himself, and asked with amusement, "You know me?"
Lu Zizhao snorted coldly: "Of course I know you. You are the Emperor's only brother, the God of War of the Great Jing, and a great hero."
Chu Ling put his hand on Xie Yan's shoulder and said with a smile, "If I heard correctly, his tone doesn't sound like he's praising me."
Xie Yan confirmed his statement, "You heard me right, he hates you."
Chu Ling looked somewhat surprised. "I really didn't expect that."
Xie Yan glanced at him, "Didn't expect anything?"
"Those who are hostile to me are usually adult men."
Xie Yan humbly asked, "Why is that?"
Chu Ling looked at him with a half-smile, tapping his shoulder with her finger, "Because they are neither as good-looking as me, nor as wealthy as me."
Xie Yan: ...I'm asking you unnecessary questions.
"how about you?"
Chu Ling looked down at Lu Zizhao, his eyes filled with a knowing, ironic gaze. He had seen that look many times when Lu Zizhao repelled foreign enemies and reclaimed his homeland.
Does blaming your incompetence on others make you feel better?
The boy's eyes were wide open, but he couldn't speak. A trail of blood trickled down the corner of his tightly clenched lips.
Chu Ling looked at him indifferently: "Stand up. You must really want to kill me, right?"
Enraged, Lu Zizhao scrambled to his feet and swung his fists at Chu Ling with no rhyme or reason.
Ironically, during this process, Chu Ling continued to mock him.
"Didn't you eat?"
Are you dancing right now?
"It's so ugly."
"..."
Chu Ling had practiced powerful and vigorous martial arts techniques since childhood.
So at this moment, he mostly dodged the boy's attacks with ease, but whenever he made a move, even a light tap with his paper fan was enough to send Lu Zizhao crashing to the ground and rolling several times.
After Lu Zizhao fell to the ground again, Chu Ling finally stopped, feeling utterly bored.
"I stopped crying when I was your age."
Lu Zizhao propped himself up on the ground and retorted with a thick nasal voice, "I didn't!"
The two could not see his face, only large teardrops falling one after another.
Xie Yan even came over and teased, "Oh, you really cried? Let me see."
Lu Zizhao wiped his face, childishly turned his back to Xie Yan so she wouldn't see, and said in despair, "I colluded with the bandits and betrayed you. I've harmed people. Arrest me too!"
"Oh? Besides us, who else have you harmed?"
Hearing Xie Yan's question, Lu Zizhao seemed to want to scare them out of spite, but after a moment he calmed down and said weakly, "No, that's all. It's just you guys."
It's hard to say whether he was unlucky or lucky. The first time he did something bad, he encountered Xie Yan and died before he could even get started.
Chu Ling casually unfurled his fan and waved it a few times before concluding, "Although you conspired with the bandits, in the end, no one was injured or killed. As a small punishment to serve as a warning, I'll make you a servant for a year."
Lu Zizhao was clearly not expected to be punished like this. He hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, stood up, and looked at the two of them in disbelief.
"That's it?"
"Are you not satisfied?"
"No! No..."
Lu Zizhao fidgeted with the hem of his clothes, feeling a little awkward, unsure of what to say.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she looked at Xie Yan and awkwardly asked him, "...I overheard your conversation just now. Are you...are you really that amazing?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Yan humbly replied, "So-so, just the best in the world, I guess."
The boy was silent for a moment, or perhaps he was speechless.
Recalling Chu Ling's earlier words, she inexplicably felt that the two people in front of her were a perfect match, each more shameless than the other.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked, "How can I become as good as you?"
"You have big dreams, young man."
Xie Yan smiled and said, "First, you have to do the horse stance for ten incense sticks every day, punch ten thousand times, then carry a ten-kilogram stone for fifty miles, massage me, do my laundry, and take good care of my beloved horse..."
Lu Zizhao first counted on his fingers with a serious expression, thinking that it was impossible to complete, and why did things seem to be getting worse and worse?
He looked up and heard Xie Yan finish his sentence—
"That way you'll sleep better and dream more quickly."
Lu Zizhao: ...I'm so stupid, really. Knowing exactly what kind of person he is, why did I expect him to say a single serious word?
Lu Zizhao angrily wiped his sweat, then stared silently at the black ink stains on his hand.
"What's this?!"
He wiped his face several more times in disbelief, and then his gaze locked onto Xie Yan without a second thought.
It's really hard on him. From the moment he woke up and made a series of moves in front of everyone, to his fight with Chu Ling just now, and up until now, not a single person has told this young man that Xie Yan has painted his face into an ugly pig's head.
Lu Zizhao covered his face and ran away wailing, leaving only the two heartless adults standing there.
Xie Yan looked at Chu Ling, who had remained calm ever since Zheng Zhiping confessed everything, and couldn't help but ask him, "This Holy Sun Sect specifically sought out former officials of the previous dynasty to recruit soldiers and horses. I wonder what they're plotting. But Your Highness doesn't seem to be in a hurry?"
Chu Ling glanced at him sideways, smiling broadly: "Can't you tell? I'm quite anxious."
Xie Yan: ...Is she so angry she's gone mad?
Seeing Xie Yan's suspicious gaze, Chu Ling stopped playing games with him and put his finger to his lips, whistling.
Soon, a sharp cry answered him, followed by the heavy sound of wings spreading, and a pure white gyrfalcon flew in from the sky.
The rather large bird slowly landed on Chu Ling's shoulder, folded its wings, and tilted its head to examine Xie Yan, with half a gray feather stained with blood still stuck to its beak.
"The day before yesterday, it intercepted a letter sent from the mountain stronghold to the Holy Sun Church."
Chu Ling took out a crumpled letter from his bosom, with a bird's claw printed on it, and handed it to Xie Yan.
Xie Yan skimmed through the letter. The letter, sent back to the Holy Sun Cult by the second-in-command, stated that something had happened in the village and that the cult members should halt their approach and not go near the area.
But while the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Even the second-in-command probably never imagined that the information he sent out would be intercepted so easily.
The letter had not yet been delivered, and the followers of the Holy Sun Church were unaware of what had happened in the mountain village that day.
Chu Ling stroked the gyrfalcon's fur and helped it remove its feathers.
His smile held a murderous intent, and the half-feather turned to ash with a flick of his wrist. "Tomorrow, I'll see just what kind of monsters and demons this so-called Holy Sun Cult is."
Xie Yan watched the fine ash dissipate in the wind and felt that Chu Ling's act was particularly impressive; he would have to try it himself sometime.