Chapter 707 - 709: The Secret Operation of Prince Duan’s Residence
Bai Ruozhu felt like she was being driven mad by Jiang Yichun’s flirtation, thankfully, her savior came in the form of Little Furball who suddenly climbed out of his bottle. She quickly used her foot to kick Jiang Yichun, freeing her lips from his, and declared, "Little Furball is awake, take a look quickly."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yichun immediately pulled himself together, sitting up straight and shifting his gaze onto Little Furball.
Little Furball moved as if it was stretching like a human, it’s mature demeanor made it apparent that he was evolving. Suddenly, he pounced towards Little Dengdeng, landing on his face. Then, the furball vanished out of sight.
Bai Ruozhu widened her eyes, this was too bizarre. If it had burrowed into his skin, there should have been an entry point, right? Little Dengdeng’s skin seemed untouched, it was as if Little Furball had disappeared into thin air.
Both Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun were similarly stunned, both choosing to remain silent as if they feared disturbing Little Furball. Meanwhile, Dengdeng seemed to be in a deep sleep, oblivious to the strange occurrence.
Just when they were keeping silent, Little Furball reappeared on Dengdeng’s face, and at the same time, a tiny black bug fell from Dengdeng’s face.
Bai Ruozhu was taken aback. Seeing that the bug that had fallen to the ground wasn’t moving anymore, she let out a sigh of relief.
Little Furball hopped into her hand, looking quite pleased with itself. It even shook its butt, as if it was expecting praise. Overjoyed, Bai Ruozhu turned to it and smiled, saying, "Thank you, Little Furball."
Happily wriggling in her palm, Little Furball retreated back into his jade bottle.
"Has Dengdeng’s poisonous insect been removed?" Jiang Yichun couldn’t hide the joy on his face.
"I think so. We should head back to Beiyu City quickly and have the man who knows about poisonous insects have a look at Dengdeng," Bai Ruozhu suggested with a smile.
Jiang Yichun agreed. Needless to say, they were eager to return, leaving Little Dengdeng to his carefree playing and eating.
On the way, Bai Ruozhu confided in Jiang Yichun about Little Furball. She speculated that because Little Furball had previously absorbed Wu Wanqing’s amnesia inducing bug, it had managed to evolve sufficiently to remove the bug from Dengdeng. In an ironic turn of events, Wu Wanqing’s plans backfired, and instead, she indirectly helped them.
Although they were in a rush to return, the atmosphere was much lighter, and they even took the time to appreciate the scenery along the way. Dengdeng was noticeably happier, and Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun spent time discussing the various modern toys suitable for babies. Jiang Yichun found this topic to be of great interest and mentioned making some toys for Dengdeng when they returned.
A thought suddenly crossed Bai Ruozhu’s mind. Why not introduce more children to these novel toys? She could potentially open a toy store.
She shared this idea with Jiang Yichun. He couldn’t help but laugh and said, "Your mind is always tinkering with business ideas, you would’ve been an excellent elder in the Commerce Association."
"I would be earning money for myself, not the Association. What does it have to do with them?" she retorted, pursing her lips.
"Fool, have you forgotten about taxes? If you have high turnovers, you’ll pay more tax. How else would the Association function?" Jiang Yichun explained, flicking her forehead with his finger. She didn’t manage to dodge it in time and protested, "Why are you like my second brother? Always tapping people’s foreheads?"
"Starting now, only I can do that. Not your second brother," he stated, somewhat possessively.
Bai Ruozhu snickered, "Then you’ll have to convince him yourself."
To her, fewer fingers flicking her forehead were always better. She would take less bullying any day.
They reached Yonghe Town, which was a day and a half away from Beiyu City, on the third noon of their travels. They decided to have lunch at a local restaurant. Midway through their meal, a man wearing a black gauze cap had taken a seat at a table not far from theirs. The gauze hiding his face made it impossible to discern his features or age, but his unique aura of being both sharp and mysterious was unmistakable.
His sudden appearance captured Jiang Yichun’s attention, though he only glanced briefly before resuming his meal, the serious expression on his face was hard to miss. Bai Ruozhu too, couldn’t resist giving the man a once over. She had a hunch that he was a martial arts expert with powerful inner strength.
She bit back the urge to ask Jiang Yichun about the man, fearing that he might overhear them.
Jiang Yichun shook his head slightly at Bai Ruozhu, communicating that they were not involved with the man and she had no need to be nervous.
The man ordered just a pot of clear tea and displayed no interest in the food. After some time, another man walked in. Unlike the first man, he was dressed casually but his attire was that of a martial artist, short and practical, with sturdy leather wristbands.
The second man sat across from the first man without a greeting and presented a token. Jiang Yichun’s hand noticeably tensed upon seeing the token. Bai Ruozhu noticed his reaction and wondered if there was something wrong with the token. Even at a cursory glance, she could see a mythical beast, a Qilin, engraved on it.
The gauze-covered man seemed to straighten upon seeing the token, and then said, "You’ve finally arrived." His voice carried a sense of familiarity, like he was talking to an old friend, but Bai Ruozhu noticed that he didn’t actually know the man. He only verified the man’s identity upon seeing the token.
The token bearer then whispered, "The operation begins... make sure everything goes as planned, or else..."
The man in the gauze cap grunted lightly, signaling that he understood. The two men then left separately, leaving the restaurant as though they had never been there. Bai Ruozhu noticed that the man in the gauze cap didn’t even touch his tea.
"Who were they?" Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but ask in a whisper.
Jiang Yichun gestured her to wait and replied, "We’ll talk about it when we get in the carriage."
After their meal, they started making their way toward Beiyu City in their carriage again.
"I don’t know who they are, but I recognized the token. It’s from the residence of Prince Tang Xu." Jiang Yichun revealed.
Bai Ruozhu blinked her eyes, "What operation were they talking about? They’re not planning a rebellion, are they?" It didn’t truly matter to her who the emperor was as long as they were just and kind. But her friends and family lived in the northwest, she didn’t want them to suffer from chaos and war.
Jiang Yichun shook his head, "I don’t know. Once we reach, I’ll report to the authorities. At the very least, I will inform Meng Liangshen."
She looked at him, probably he no longer wants to involve himself with the Bureau of Communications anymore. Maybe he would even leave the Bureau soon.
Due to concerns about the situation at Prince Tang Xu’s end, their journey back home became even more pressing. By the next noon, the dust-covered trio had already reached the Bai family residence.
Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong almost rushed to greet them. Seeing Dengdeng in Lin Ping’er’s arms, she asked with growing concern, "Is Dengdeng okay now?"
Bai Ruozhu smiled and said, "He should be fine. But we will have a specialist check him out later."
"Then call him quickly," Bai Yihong said anxiously.
Jiang Yichun laughed and replied, "Father, I sent a message as soon as we entered the city. The specialist should be arriving soon."