Once they reached the capital everyone took in the bustling and busy atmosphere and glanced at each other hesitantly and with some reluctance and trepidation.
For Duan Mengyao and Yan Huizhong, they knew once they stepped foot here they would have to inevitably separate from the group soon. Their identities were too noticeable and now there was an unknown person coming to take their lives. It would be selfish and foolish to continue staying around.
Tang Muxin also felt very complicated. After all, she knew the main plot of the story centered around the capital and both Duan Mengyao and Yan Huizhong would leave them to follow what plot has not been changed.
Originally she had no intention of touching the plot, she didn't have the ambition to change it to her favor nor did she wish to follow the plot and die like cannonfodder. What she wanted was to live a good life, peaceful and carefree, maybe even open a medicine shop to pass the time and earn some money.
However this journey has changed her mind. Tang Muxin has experienced the ups and downs of adventure and the warmth of good friends and trustworthy comrades. Her original life was cold and mechanical, run by orders and full of schemes, but this life was different, it felt hot blooded and lively. Her previous dream of living a slow paced life in quiet isolation seemed a bit dull in comparison.
At the very least, it wasn't worth it at the cost of losing her friends. And Yan Huizhong as well she guesses.
Yan Huizhong: …
Even Ye Cheng who was the most unaware sensed the strange mood and felt his own enthusiasm dampen alongside theirs.
However even his dampened enthusiasm was still very enthusiastic. It had always been one of his life goals to do business in the capital, even if it was just once. Unfortunately he was only a very small young merchant with an unsteady supply of village goods and raw materials. In the large capital city filled with grandeur and hidden dangers, he would be eaten alive.
Ye Cheng weighed his odds and figured it would be better to become a big fish in a small pond first before taking his chances at the capital. Of course it was a decision using up a lot of his logical ability and restraint. So when he got the opportunity to travel there, all that shit was thrown out the window and he couldn't agree fast enough ah. It was like when someone offers you a moist and freshly baked deluxe chocolate cake- you can say no once but you can't do it twice.
Now that he was, he was positively giddy.
What was better was that Tang Muxin and Jin Bao, these walking lucky charms, had amassed a large number of rare and beautifully priceless items. Ye Cheng now didn't have to worry about splurging a little here and there now and can run around and play proudly and happily.
Thinking about all the stories he has heard about the great capital city, Ye Cheng couldn't stop his heart from beating even faster in excitement. However he still had to be responsible and focus on finding basic lodgings first.
Seeing that Ye Cheng was practically vibrating with happiness at the sight of the capital, everyone quickly pushed down their complicated moods to the back of their mind. Yan Huizhong and Duan Mengyao had lived in the capital and was not too interested. Meanwhile, Tang Muxin and Jia Hyson, who found it quite novel, were still modern people who have seen much more impressive things. Only Ye Cheng and his animals were truly country bumpkins who had never seen the world. It would make them sinners to ruin this child's mood with their own.
Yan Huizhong gazed deeply at Ye Cheng and felt his heart being tickled at the 'I am obviously very excited to run around but I must be a responsible adult' expression the other had on. He felt that Jin Bao was admittedly very cute but it was Ye Cheng that was clearly cuter.
If Jia Hyson knew the eighth prince's thoughts he would thump his tail on the floor with great dissatisfaction. Such sacrilegious thoughts! He didn't almost die from starvation to be second place in cuteness okay?! Don't let love bias the true cuteness in front of your eyes!
Luckily he didn't know these things and was happily curled around Da Gong's neck. Because Jia Hyson had grown quite a bit he couldn't simply wrap around the bird's neck like a golden choker necklace anymore which was a crying shame. Instead he had to be quite careful in distributing his weight and loosely encircle the neck multiple times if he still wanted to do his usual trick.
Fortunately Da Gong had also grown abnormally quite large for a rooster thanks to a steady diet of spiritual energy served personally by the protagonist. Not to mention size, even his strength had gone up greatly.
One morning Tang Muxin who had got up early to jog met with a large wild boar. Before she could even think about catching it to bring to the group she saw Da Gong chasing after it. Leaping up he kicks the frightened boar with his talons, toppling it over like a domino. Stepping on top of the large pig, Tang Muxin was startled to realize the rooster was already half the height of the boar.
He wasn't turkey sized* yet but at the rate he was going it would probably be another month or two before he reached that level.
*Average turkey height is apparently 122cm holy fuck.
Tang Muxin: '...Fuck, is this a rooster or is this a velociraptor?'
If before Da Gong was the tyrant of a small village, now he could probably be the tyrant of a mid-tier city ah. At the very least, even Duan Mengyao who was well trained and versed in qigong actually struggled quite a bit when fighting one on one with the bird.
Of course it wasn't like Duan Mengyao and the others weren't unaffected by the spiritual energy nourishment either. The general had actually improved in strength and durability throughout the journey, coming back to the capital he was now at least twice as fit and healthy since he had left.
Ye Cheng was no different in that regard. While he wasn't well trained he still had muscles from hard labor. With the protagonist supplement he could probably now bench press a small horse and drive the carriage for three days with only a little fatigue and soreness.
Even Yan Huizhong had improvements albeit less obvious. While he was still crippled, his health was otherwise extremely good. Once the legs were fixed it was easy to believe that his recovery time in the future will not be slow.
All of their bodies had gradual improved to an almost inhuman degree. Of course while they themselves feel much lighter and energetic, since they mainly only have each other for comparison during the trip, they had not discovered exactly how high their fighting power was now.
If Wen Xia brought the same guards to come fight them again, even with the knock out gas, the group in their present condition could easily wipe them out. In pure physical strength alone they may not lose out to the most well trained and overbearing of the emperor's personal shadow guards. It was really unprecedented how good the long term effects of being medicated with spiritual energy was.
Anyway, seeing Ye Cheng with bright eyes, Yan Huizhong itched to give the young man the world. Almost eagerly he opened his mouth to invite Ye Cheng to see the sights of the capital with him. However he quickly shut his mouth as he realized how his neck was aching from constantly craning upwards from his position.
That was right. He was just a cripple now. It will be too shameful to stroll through the streets of the capital now.
People were like this. They will be able to be much more open and shameless with strangers and new places but coming back to your home town where people know you well, they will immediately become more restrained and embarrassed. This was especially so for Yan Huizhong who was not only a prince but also a well known and rather disliked prince due to his previous arrogant attitude.
Yan Huizhong liked to outargue and look down on the sheltered literati who could only clutch their books as they become overwhelmed by the eighth prince's overwhelming intelligence and even more overwhelming poisonous remarks. He disdained many of the dirty and boorish soldiers. And he would make snide remarks about the dandies.
In short, anyone he could afford to offend, he offended. There will be no amount of mocking in store for him now that he had come home in such a disgraceful state. Yan Huizhong was sensitive, proud, and very, painfully self aware of the situation. He will not face an easy time in the near future.
Ye Cheng had confided in him before he may open up a small store with Tang Muxin selling unique items and medical consultations, if people see him associate with himself, wouldn't Ye Cheng be targeted? Forget being able to safely open his store, maybe even his life may be in danger.
Jia Hyson watches Yan Huizhong change expressions from affection, shyness, realization, regret, bitterness and more bitterness he couldn't help but silently applaud. Very good. Even if Jia Hyson lives through three more lifetimes he probably still couldn't cultivate half as much ability to control such a wide array of beautiful micro expressions on his own face.
After praising he then roasts the prince in his heart. Peh, how can you not hide your emotions as a prince that had been raised in the palace? Aren't you just purposely showing your sad feelings so you can sell misery to a certain someone? Aiyah how sneaky.
Bebe also agreed. 'Tsk, tsk, this man, he's a lot like a previous host of mine. They were such a drama queen about everything.'
Jia Hyson clicks his tongue, 'Tsk, tsk, tsk, so bad, it's a good thing laozi is so low key.'
Bebe redheaded to be outdone, 'Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, indeed. It's a nice change of pace for Bebe to have a host so low key in acting ability and general talent.'
The low key in acting and generally talentless Jia Hyson: '…'
Okay. It seems Bebe had won this round then.
Jia Hyson continues watching the Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong pair. Maybe because Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao were too wrapped up in their own monologues, they really didn't see Yan Huizhong's one man act of misery, only Ye Cheng who was not as immersed noticed. Honestly, Jia Hyson had a feeling that this was the world's consciousness doing their thing so nobody but Ye Cheng who may or may not know have some romantic feelings for the prince, and himself and Bebe who were under it's protection currently, could notice these micro expressions.
After all, in many stories there will always be scenes that say something like, 'even though everyone didn't see it, XX saw the flicker of sadness and pain in the YY's eyes and the way his mouth pursed ever so slightly. It was clear that only XX could see YY was truly not as unaffected at the blah blah blah…' However if you think about it, how is it possible for only one person to see this change? Are you blind ah? Even if you can't read the emotions of the other person's eyes there should be at least one person other than the love interest that can read the room.
Therefore in order to explain this phenomena there must be some sort of outside force or something to cause it work so well in reality.
It's pretty interesting to observe but Jia Hyson couldn't help but think, 'Damn. It must suck to be a world's consciousness.'
Seriously, what a stupid task that must be to do.
World's consciousness, diligently doing it's job: '..Why do I feel like I've been shot out of nowhere?'
Ye Cheng was unaware of their little lucky mascot's roasting toward the world and the heavens, but was indeed aware of Cao Huizhong's change of mood.
Quickly he understood the other man's mood. After all, even in the small villages, being crippled like this is practically a death sentence. Can't work and can only drag others down. It's considered a very shameful thing and people will naturally look down on it even if the reason behind the injury was just due to a cruel twist of fate and bad luck. There's no reason for the already quite snobbish rich people from the capital to have any different mindset to this discrimination.
Ye Cheng had always been very careful to maintain Cao Huizhong's mood as best he can but he had forgotten that the older man lived here and would know many people. It would be strange to feel good coming back with broken legs on a wheelchair.
Still, even though it was a normal reaction, Ye Cheng felt annoyed and uncomfortable in his heart thinking about it.
Luckily, Ye Cheng was quick witted and had a good memory of their rather large inventory of items in their carriage. Glancing to Da Gong, he winks and silently gestures to him, pointing at the carriage and then doing some movements around his face and head. Da Gong blinked and bobbed his head twice before trotting off to the carriage.
Startled by the rooster's movement Jia Hyson 'mreep'-ed in surprise. "Brother Gong, what's going on?"
"Ye Cheng asked me to grab some things for him," Da Gong clucked, "You'll have to help me a bit baby."
"Okay." How could he turn down a request from his beloved family's Da Gong ah?
As they rummaged around, it was clear that Da Gong already had a vague idea where the items Ye Cheng requested were. Jia Hyson recalls the inexplicable miming that Ye Cheng just did and felt that the human and rooster relationship between the two were really good ah.
Meanwhile Ye Cheng gently flicks Cao Huizhong's ear, "Hey," he murmurs quietly, "After we find an inn why don't you take me around the streets for a bit? I'm sure you know a lot of good places, and we aren't worried about money anymore. So let's just take the next few days to relax together okay?"
Ye Cheng pauses for a second before feeling his face warm. Even though it was just a casual request to go play around why did he feel a little self-conscious ah? He scolded himself internally. What are you suddenly feeling so shy for? It wasn't like it was a date or anything tsk.
Yan Huizhong was sorely tempted by the invitation, which was only more tempting seeing how the young merchant was faintly blushing, giving a rather coquettish feel. However he forcefully pours metaphorical cold water on himself and strangles that temptation. "There's no need for that," He firmly rejects, "You're dream is to do business here. If people find out you associate with me, especially me in this condition, you would suffer a lot."
"Tsk, it's not like you're some sort of prince ah," Ye Cheng jokes. "Don't worry, as long as you aren't any royalty that should currently be in the midst of fighting for the dragon throne we can face whatever comes our way in these turbulent times."
Eighth Prince Yan Huizhong: …
The optimism was filled with sunny brightness. The words were kind. And the tone was warm and caring.
Everything was good but Yan Huizhong was going to throw up blood.
Before he can reject Ye Cheng again, Da Gong and Jia Hyson trotted up to them. Da Gong held an intricately carved pale jade mask in his beak while Jia Hyson had a lovely white silk fabric draped over him, his three mice children behind him holding the rest of the white cloth behind him. At first glance it really looked like a western bride and groom walking very casually down the aisle.
Ye Cheng smiles brightly and kneels down to pat everyone's head affectionally before taking the items and pushing them into the prince's arms. "Look, if you're so worried about being seen, just hide your face with the mask and cover yourself up with a cloak and it should be fine ah."
Yan Huizhong looked at the mask and cloak and was deeply touched. "Thank you but to use these.." The jade mask was an ancient artefact with top quality white jade, and the cloak was spun from silk from the extinct Blue Snowy Mountain Spider. To say they were priceless was an understatement, he was distressed just touching it with his bare hands. Yan Huizhong naturally understood the thought behind it but it was better to use a cheap cloth and mask instead.
Seeing that the other was going to say some useless things, Ye Cheng waved it off, "Aiyah it's so hot now, if we gave you some old smelly cloak won't you stink to death? I know how much you like being clean ah. Besides, it's better to look like an important young master than a poor soft persimmon, easy to bully."
"You… you really want to walk around together with me this much?"
"Of course ah," Ye Cheng's mouth which had been warmed up, was now up and running, "How could I not want to spend some more time with you? Tsk what a stupid question, after all I-" He chokes.
Black eyes stared passionately up at Ye Cheng, glittering with heated emotion, "After all, you-?" Yan Huizhong prods, half teasingly.
"After all, after all…" Ye Cheng flushes, "I treat you as a good brother ah. Tsk. Besides, you've eaten out so much of my wallet, wouldn't you be a white eyed wolf if you didn't even pay me back a little?"
"I promised to give you reward money for sending me back home though," Yan Huizhong points out, eyes curving into crescents at the flustered appearance of the young man.
Ye Cheng pokes him with a scowl, "Since when did you become so cheeky? How is that the same thing? This is repayment for… this is the emotional repayment ah! Anyway it's not like you'll suffer a loss playing around for a few more days. I hear the noble families are just strict and more strict, you should take the time to enjoy yourself a little now."
How can he say no a third time? Yan Huizhong swallows, putting the mask and cloak in his lap and reaches out to hold Ye Cheng's hands. "Okay," He agrees seriously, "I also want to make fond memories with you before I leave. Ye Cheng, I'll be gone for a long time after this but don't worry, I will definitely come back and make even more memories together with you."
Tang Muxin and Jia Hyson who were watching: '…' Is this a flag or is this a flag? Yan Huizhong the first sentence was okay but the second one is directly sending yourself to die you know?
Duan Mengyao was also watching the pair with some surprise. It's not like cutsleeves* weren't an unknown concept to him but what was startling was how serious Yan Huizhong seemed to be. He was going to be fighting for the throne soon ah, it will really be difficult for him if this is found out.
*ancient term for homosexual
However, that worry can still be saved for the future. Instead the general focussed on something else.
Duan Mengyao glanced at Tang Muxin expectantly. He had remembered that she came from the same village as Ye Cheng, therefore she also must be secretly quite excited to explore the capital as well. He quickly tries to recall any good places in the capital but embarrassingly enough he really couldn't.
Silently, the good general panicked.
In retrospect he was sort of a boring person. His hobbies was fighting, training, horse riding, archery, and more fighting… As expected of a background supporting male lead with barely any scenes, the author clearly put little to no effort into him and only gave the man some very one dimensional traits.
In short, he really didn't know any fun places a young lady may like.
Remembering how he used to look down on the useless dandies and rich second generations that loafed around eating and drinking to their heart's content, Duan Mengyao really felt annoyed.
Looking at Yan Huizhong and Ye Cheng, still holding hands and staring into each other's eyes, then at Da Gong and Jin Bao snuggling together, Duan Mengyao then finally stared at Tang Muxin who was at a notable distance away from him, looking thoughtfully at the others. No interest in himself at all.
It seems… Chasing a husband was much easier than chasing a wife these days ah.