Chapter 17: Hou Jingshu

Hou Jingshu pouted as she sat in the small carriage trundling along the dirt road in the middle of nowhere. She rested with her chin on her hand, stared out the window, and refused to look at the other person sitting inside of the carriage with her. Outside the window was a view featuring a cornucopia of trees and mountains but not much else.

Certainly, it was nothing like the imperial capital.

“Come on, my dear daughter. Are you still upset with me?” asked the man sitting on the opposite side of the carriage. He was an elderly man with graying hair and wrinkles around his eyes. While his age did show, his physique retained the perfectly sculpted muscles he had acquired in his youth, though they were hidden by his elegant robes.

Hou Jingshu had heard many stories of her father’s prowess as a cultivator, though he was only at the first subrealm of the Human Limit Realm. That was very good for a person in a small nation like the Shang Kingdom. However, Hou Jingshu had heard stories that the Human Limit Realm was the bare minimum requirement for people to be considered worthy of attention in other kingdoms and powerful sects.

“Oh, no. I’m not upset at all. Why would I be angry? It is not like you pulled me away from everything I know and love, and are forcing me to live in the middle of nowhere. I am most certainly not upset, so please do not worry yourself over me, Father,” Hou Jingshu said in a cold voice.

“You are most definitely upset,” her father said with a dry smile.

“Hmph.”

Hou Jingshu had no desire to speak with Father, but he was also the only person in the carriage with her.

They were on a journey to some remote city way out in the sticks. The months spent inside of this carriage were some of the longest of her young life. How far out had they traveled? She didn’t know. Hou Jingshu didn’t even know there were cities this far away from the royal capital.

While their carriage would normally have numerous guards surrounding it, there were none this time. Hou Jingshu didn’t know what her father was thinking, but there must have been an important reason for why they were traveling without so much as a single guard. Even Father’s right hand man was not present to protect them. That was unusual in and of itself since that old man would never allow Father to travel alone under normal circumstances.

Hou Jingshu couldn’t help but think something worrisome was happening.

She just didn’t know what.

She glanced at her father out of the corner of her left eye and frowned when she saw the creases on his forehead. He seemed stressed about something, though Hou Jingshu had noticed this about him for a while now. Even before they left the capital and journeyed to this remote location, Father appeared to have been fretting over something. She didn’t know what it was, but it must have been very serious.

“Your Imperial Majesty, we are approaching Zahn City. We should be there within fifteen minutes,” came the voice of their driver.

Father seemed to sigh in relief. A genuine smile appeared on his face. Hou Jingshu noticed this before she looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Zahn City. However, it appeared they were still too far for her to see it. All she saw were two very big mountains forming what looked like fangs in the distance.

“It seems we have finally arrived. And we didn’t run into any trouble. That is good,” Father said.

“Were you expecting trouble, Father?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“Oh, are you speaking to me again?”

“O-of course not! I was just curious since it sounds like you were expecting us to be attacked or something!” Hou Jingshu said in a harsh voice. She could feel her cheeks burning so she looked away.

Father chuckled. “I wouldn’t say I was expecting trouble, but I would not have been surprised if trouble found us. There are many disparate elements within the Shang Kingdom. Not everyone listens to me despite my authority, especially the sects that are affiliated with one of the Three Celestial Sects or the Xia Dynasty. There have also been rumors that mercenaries from Qing have been crossing the border and causing trouble.”

Hou Jingshu nodded. She might have been young, but she wasn’t so young that she couldn’t understand what Father was talking about. Ever since she turned five, she had been taught by some of the best tutors, and was quite proud of how knowledgeable she was about worldly matters.

There were many sects, not just within the Shang Kingdom but spread across the entire Xiao Continent, and while some of those sects were beholden to the emperor of their respective kingdoms, some were branches of the Three Celestial Sects that ruled from on high. These branch sects had no loyalty to the kingdom and were instead loyal to the sect they belonged to. What’s more, emperors had to pay yearly taxes to these sects in exchange for their “protection,” a word she used very loosely.

We’re basically being bullied by the Celestial Sword Sect…

The Shang Kingdom did not have many ties to a Celestial Sect because they were small, but that did not mean they had none. Father paid a heavy tax toward the Celestial Sword Sect for their protection. Those sects who swore loyalty to someone other than their kingdom could pose a problem if they chose to rebel.

As they neared Zahn City, Father seemed to become more and more lax. He had been exceedingly cautious to cover their tracks during their travels, to the point where he wouldn’t get more than maybe two or three hours of sleep a night. He even had bags under his eyes. She thought Father was being paranoid. It was like he expected them to be attacked, though she had held her tongue because even now, she understood her position. It was not her place to question his decisions.

That did not mean she wouldn’t complain, however.

Finally, they at long last appeared before a small city, though she hesitated to call it such after seeing how tiny it was. There was no gate or guard protecting the entrance. Considering they lived in the sticks, where magical beasts were prone to attack, it was a wonder they were able to remain safe. However, perhaps because this place was so different from what she was used to, Hou Jingshu found herself staring in fascination out the window.

“It’s a lot different than the royal capital, isn’t it?” Father said with a kind smile.

“I never got to see much of the capital itself since someone I refuse to name kept me confined to the palace… but yes, this place does not look anything like the capital,” Hou Jingshu admitted.

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The first thing she noticed was that most of the buildings were a lot smaller here than they were in the capital. She didn’t know if that meant there was a premium on land, or if the people here just couldn’t afford to make larger houses, but it was a lot different from what she was used to either way. When she turned her head left, she saw a number of stalls selling trinkets like jewelry and clothing. There were several shops with glass windows displaying some of their wares. One of those shops was a clothing store selling the “latest fashion from the capital,” though Hou Jingshu noticed from the mannequins stationed near the window that it was last year’s fashion. She supposed that went to show her how far away from the capital she was. News traveled so slowly here that even the shops were unable to keep up with the capital’s fashion trends.

This place is the boondocks.

While it was certainly a crude place, Hou Jingshu would admit there was a certain charm about the little town. The people were smiling, the kids were playing, and the scent of various foods wafted through the air. She wished she had a dozen more eyes so she could take in the sights.

“What’s that, Father?”

“What is what?”

“The food that kid is eating?”

Hou Jingshu pointed toward a young boy who was holding something she had never seen before. He would periodically munch on it. From the happy smile on his face, Hou Jingshu imagined it must have tasted quite delicious.

“It looks like Ci Faan,” her father said. “They are rice balls filled with all kinds of local ingredients. It looks like the one he’s eating has sugar and sesame.” He glanced at his daughter. “Would you like to try one? We will be having dinner with the Wu Clan… but it wouldn’t ruin your appetite if I let you have one.”

Hou Jingshu could practically see her father’s mind churning in thought. She had been in a foul mood ever since they left the capital without a word to anyone. That had been over two months ago now. It had taken two whole months to travel this far, and in that time, she had not relented with her quiet brooding. Father must have been at his wits end and wanted to put his daughter in a good mood.

And it was in seeing that expression on his face that Hou Jingshu finally found out how she would get her revenge.

I can use this…

“Can you get one for me, Father?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said in relief. “I’ll ask the driver to—”

“No. What I mean is… I want you to get it for me.”

“Jingshu…”

Father looked like he was ten seconds from warning her about overstepping her boundaries, but Hou Jingshu used a tactic she knew her father was weak against. She clasped her hands in front of her, made her eyes as big as possible, and looked at him with an upturned face.

This was her secret weapon.

She called it the Puppy Dog Eyes Technique.

It was the most fearsome technique within her arsenal.

“Please, Father. I would really appreciate it if you were the one who got that for me,” she begged.

A struggle took place on her father’s face. As the youngest of his children and his only daughter, he had always doted on her. She was the apple of his eye. That was why he had such a hard time dealing with her while she was brooding, and that was probably what led to him letting his guard down. Well, that, and Hou Jingshu imagined the lack of sleep had also caused his lapse in judgment.

Do not blame me for this, Father. Instead, blame it on your own lack of caution.

His expression relaxed as he capitulated to his daughter’s demands.

“… Very well. I will be right back.”

Father had the driver stop the carriage, stepped outside, and walked over to the street vendor selling the Ci Faan. He wasn’t wearing his normal stately robes. However, his state of dress was still far fancier than anything anyone there was wearing, which meant everyone’s eyes were drawn to him the moment he walked out. Even the street vendor was tripping over himself when Father ordered food from him.

But Hou Jingshu didn’t care about that.

Without any hesitation, she slipped out of the door on the other side of the carriage, making sure to open and close it as quietly as possible so their driver wouldn’t hear the sound and be alerted to her actions. The noise from everyone outside further helped mask her departure. She looked at the driver as he sat in his seat. He was not looking her way at all. Good. With a determined smile, Hou Jingshu slipped down an alleyway.

Since Father was so adamant on taking her all the way to this little hick town, she would just have to see what made it so special with her own eyes.

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