Xie Lian originally had several golden belts, but they had met the same end as the swords—all pawned off aside from this last one. Xie Lian had wanted to keep it as a souvenir, but today he decided to use it for something else.
Feng Xin happened to look up at him just then. “Your Highness, what are you doing with that belt? You’re not thinking of pawning it too, are you?”
Xie Lian walked over and handed the golden belt to him.
Feng Xin’s eyes bulged with bewilderment. “What are you doing, giving this to me? Your Highness, did you accidentally lock your brain inside when you shut that chest just now?!”
Xie Lian was briefly speechless until he remembered that a gift of a golden belt had a special meaning in the Upper Court, and his expression instantly darkened. “You’re overthinking it—I don’t mean it that way at all. Just take it like it’s ordinary gold!”
He shoved it on him, and Feng Xin glared back, shimmering golden belt draped around his shoulders.
“No. You still gotta tell me why you’re stuffing me with gold out of nowhere.”
“Just take it as long-overdue pay,” Xie Lian said.
Feng Xin was confused. “No, but…what’s with you all of a sudden? Why are you talking about pay at a time like this? You’d be better off pawning this to buy more medicine for His Majesty. Or it’s fine if you don’t pawn it—keep it for yourself. That belt is something only a heavenly official can own.”
At the mention of medicine, Xie Lian looked back toward the cottage, where the king and queen were resting.
“I can think of other ways to get the medicine,” he replied, “so just take it.”
Xie Lian was determined to give, and Feng Xin couldn’t understand why. Although he was confused, he also found it kind of funny for some reason. He shrugged, then picked up the ragged fan and continued to fan the flames to boil down the medicine solution.
“Fine then. I’ll keep it for you for now. Whenever you want it back, just let me know.”
Xie Lian shook his head. “I won’t ask for it back. You can do with it as you will.”
Their pockets were a little fuller after pawning Hongjing, and they finally managed to have a few good meals. Since the queen’s skills were so shocking, Xie Lian stated that he would take over the chore of cooking and politely asked his mother to look after his father and absolutely not enter the kitchen. Xie Lian didn’t have much experience, but it was as the saying went—even if he’d never eaten pig trotters, he’d seen pigs walk. His creations were mostly edible, so the party was saved from further dietary issues.
After he fought with the king that day, Xie Lian regretted what he’d said, but he couldn’t swallow his pride. Instead, he silently did his utmost to care for him. A patient who was coughing up blood couldn’t be allowed to suffer any cold, so he got more blankets and small heaters for him.
The Yong’an soldiers were cracking down hard in their attempts to catch the escaped Xianle royalty, and soon this city also heightened its security. They had finally settled in, but now they had to leave again.
Xie Lian had already lost count of how many cities he had passed while on the run with his parents in tow—and, to be honest, everything that he’d seen on the road was much more peaceful than he’d initially imagined. The only city that had met a tragic fate was the royal capital of Xianle; nowhere else seemed to have been affected that severely.
After all, the king, the crown prince, the royal capital, the nobility—all were extremely remote concepts to regular civilians. The change in ruler didn’t seem like it made much difference, especially since the new king wasn’t a tyrant and hadn’t passed any particularly strict decrees after he ascended the throne. There were no further laments, and the matter was simply a new topic for lively after-dinner conversations.
“I worked this plot of land when the king was named Xie; I still work the same plot of land now that the king is named Lang!” Xie Lian heard someone say, and they weren’t wrong. But strangely, everyone’s feelings were oddly unified when it came to the storied crown prince who went from invincible to losing every battle—it was as though they’d suddenly become hardcore Xianle patriots whenever his name was mentioned. This puzzled him and also made him resentful.
However, he really didn’t have much energy to worry about these things anymore. The money they had made from pawning Hongjing only lasted a few short months.
An illness that made one cough blood was already difficult to cure, and on top of that, the king was depressed. He needed a large amount of medication just to maintain passable health, and his condition would no doubt worsen considerably if the supply were cut off. Xie Lian had nothing left to pawn, and today, he thought and thought as they loitered on the streets before finally turning to Feng Xin.
“Why don’t we…give it a try?”
Feng Xin peered at him. “I guess we could give it a try?”
It wasn’t the first time the two had hesitantly suggested they “give it a try,” but they hadn’t ever actually done it before now. Besides, the king had once overheard them while they were discussing the topic and had flown into a rage and thrown a huge fit. He was adamant that Xie Lian was not to do anything so shameful for money, otherwise he would refuse to drink his medicine. In the end, they’d had to abandon the idea. But now that they were in dire straits, there was no need to spell it out; they understood each other. Xie Lian nodded and wrapped his white silk band tighter around his face.
“Your Highness, you don’t have to do it. I can do it alone,” Feng Xin said. “That way, it’ll be fine even if the king asks!”
Then he inhaled deeply, held his breath for a moment, and bellowed at the pedestrians, “Dear folks on the street, don’t miss out on this—”
The pedestrians jumped in surprise, and they all gathered around, chattering.
“What’s with the yelling?!”
“What’re you guys up to?”
“What’ve you got to show us?”
“I wanna see you shatter boulders on your chest!”
Feng Xin removed the bow from his back and began bald-faced bluffing. “My…my nickname is ‘Wonder Archer’! I can shoot a bullseye from a hundred paces away. I will show off my embarrassing skill for everyone to see. If you enjoy the show, p-please grant me some coins!”
“Wonder Archer,” “embarrassing skill”—those were phrases he had picked up from watching street performers. While they had kept saying they would never busk, they had long been observing how others did it without realizing.
“Stop wasting your breath! Just get on with it!” hollered the crowd.
“We’ve been waiting! Hurry up!”
Feng Xin nocked an arrow against his bow and pointed at an idle man in the crowd who was munching on fruit. “Will this uncle please step out! Place that apple on your head, and I will shoot it perfectly from three hundred paces away!”
The idler shrank his neck back and withdrew into the crowd. “I’m not doin’ it!”
“I won’t hit you, don’t worry!” Feng Xin exclaimed. “If I shoot you by accident, I’ll compensate you!”
“I’m no fool! If you shoot me by accident, it won’t matter how much you pay me!” the idler yelled back. “Since you’re out here to perform, don’t you got your own equipment or somethin’? Shouldn’t you be shooting at the one next to you?!”
The crowd all chimed in. “Yeah!”
“Let me,” Xie Lian also said.
Someone from the crowd tossed over a fruit, and Xie Lian caught it, ready to balance it on his head. However, Feng Xin never planned to let Xie Lian get involved, so why would he allow this? In a moment of panic, he snatched the fruit and ate it in the blink of an eye, then changed the direction of his arrow to target a banner hanging high from a tall building.
“I’ll shoot that!” he cried.
