Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying sat in the room, quietly watching Prince Chun perform opera.
Prince Chun played the female role, singing a piece from "Beauty Guillotine Record."
This opera’s measure and control were impeccable, and Prince Chun portrayed Qin Xianglian so vividly that Lu Chunying’s tears kept spinning in her eyes.
Xiao Yeci’s tears were also spinning, but she was frightened.
However frightened she was, they had to watch the opera to the end. Lu Chunying had offended Prince Chun, and his request was that she watch a performance.
The price wasn’t too high, but Xiao Yeci was truly terrified.
Seeing her shaking, Lu Chunying carefully reminded her, "Mother, if you can’t bear it, just speak up, and I’ll take you to the outhouse. His Highness is particular about cleanliness; we cannot afford any more trouble."
Li Banfeng sat in the Portable Residence, quietly watching his wife and Hong Ying.
TSK TSK.
His wife spoke first, "Hey, my dear, did Prince Chun tell you everything? That old slick is cunning. You mustn’t believe all he says."
Hong Ying let out a soft sigh, "In the imperial court, who isn’t cunning? Compared to them, Prince Chun could be considered benevolent."
The Phonograph scoffed, "To you, Prince Chun is more than benevolent. He’s an unparalleled good man."
Hong Ying remained silent for a long time, then said, "I am not familiar with Prince Chun, nor do we have any affection. The Emperor decreed that I must marry, which has nothing to do with the grudge between you and me."
Li Banfeng was about to ask about that, "Why did you turn against each other in the end?"
The Phonograph sneered, "You should ask that despicable person; I truly can’t understand it."
Hong Ying’s tone became agitated, "If you can’t understand, think harder. I followed you through life and death on the battlefield, in the face of countless soldiers, when have I ever faltered? I killed you because you deserved to die; I had to kill you. I did nothing wrong in this!"
The two fell silent again. Li Banfeng lay on the bed, gently touching the Phonograph, and asked, "Wife, you’ve been fighting the Demon Land People. Where exactly is Demon Land?"
HISS.
"Little Servant doesn’t remember. Ever since that vile person harmed me, I’ve forgotten many things. If I try hard to remember, it feels like my soul will scatter."
Hong Ying said angrily, "Wicked woman, don’t pin everything on me. I can’t remember anything about Demon Land either. By your logic, wasn’t I harmed by you too?"
Forgotten. All of them claimed to have forgotten.
Even Prince Chun couldn’t state where Demon Land was. He couldn’t even pinpoint where the Great Huan Dynasty was.
Whether it was his wife, Hong Ying, or Prince Chun, they were all people who had died once. Having experienced life and death and lost most of their memories, it was understandable.
Li Banfeng hugged the Phonograph and said, "Enough, let’s not think about it anymore. After battling for a whole night in the pouring rain, I’m terribly cold."
The Phonograph exhaled a stream of steam, wrapping tightly around Li Banfeng. "Little Servant is fortunate to have my dear husband’s affection. Unlike that wretched woman, she deserves to suffer for a lifetime."
...
After the performance of "Beauty Guillotine Record," Prince Chun was still contemplating the next opera.
Xiao Yeci spoke in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, didn’t you say that after listening to this opera, you’d let us leave? We are in a hurry to continue our journey."
Prince Chun’s face darkened as he said, "Gracing you with an opera performance, and you still feel wronged? Let me tell you, this heavy rain won’t stop. If you can’t walk fast enough, don’t even think about leaving Old Land."
After waiting an entire day, the heavy rain finally stopped, and Li Banfeng left Prince Chun’s Mansion with everyone.
Prince Chun stood in the main room of the main courtyard, placing the record on the tray, listening quietly to Zhao Xiaowan’s rendition of "Changsaka Slope."
After the piece ended, Prince Chun carefully put away the record, stood at the door, and quietly gazed into the distance.
...
「Having traveled for most of the day, Li Banfeng finally left Old Land.」
Following the map given by Prince Chun, Li Banfeng outlined the route for everyone.
"Xiao Niu, take these people back to Hai Chi Ridge. Xiao Fang, you take them to Medicine King Valley. You all know the way, right?"
The route Li Banfeng drew was clear and easy to understand. Niu Guangda could comprehend it, but he was reluctant to leave. "Benefactor," he said, "I don’t want to go back to Hai Chi Ridge."
"Why?"
"When my father sent me away, he gave me two slaps, saying I couldn’t endure hardship and I would surely accomplish nothing great in the future. If I return now, my father will slap me again and send me back here, no matter what I say. He won’t believe me."
Li Banfeng said, "Go back and speak to him properly. If he doesn’t understand, then slap him directly and tell him a man with a big beard told you to do it."
Niu Guangda kept shaking his head. "But that’s my father; I wouldn’t dare."
Li Banfeng thought for a moment. "Then come with me to Greenwater Bay. When the time comes, I’ll take you to slap him."
Niu Guangda was overjoyed. "From now on, I’ll follow Benefactor. My life is yours."
He followed Li Banfeng, and so did the others.
Guided by the map from Prince Chun, Li Banfeng led everyone towards Greenwater Bay.
The route drawn on the map aligned with the memories of Xiao Yeci and her daughter. In less than three days, the group made it out of Worry-Free Plain and arrived in Guangming Town.
Guangming Town was a town in the northern part of Greenwater Bay, quite distant from Greenwater City, but the town was still bustling. Passing merchants all rested here. Inns, restaurants, and shops were well-stocked, and there was even a movie theater.
Li Banfeng first settled everyone into their lodgings, then he bought two sets of men’s clothes for Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying.
It was easy to take care of the others, but these two were special since the Lu Family was actively searching for the mother and daughter.
Once they put on the men’s clothes, ordinary people couldn’t recognize them, yet the Lu Family had many people who were far from ordinary. This was never going to be a long-term solution. Li Banfeng asked, "Do you actually plan to return to the Lu Family?"
Lu Chunying shook her head. "No, the Lu Family won’t accept us."
Xiao Yeci shook her head. "It’s not us they won’t accept; it’s me they can’t accept. You should go back. Following someone like me, you’re bound to have no prospects."
Li Banfeng didn’t fully understand, so Lu Chunying recounted the whole story regarding the Lu Family.
After hearing the entire story, several questions arose in Li Banfeng’s mind.
First: Lu Xiaolan was released by Monkey Qiu, and Monkey Qiu had been sought out by Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying. Li Banfeng was aware of this.
But Lu Xiaolan didn’t know that Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying would come. She consistently denied writing any letters to the mother and daughter.
When this subject was brought up, Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying both became angry, convinced that Lu Xiaolan was faithless and a turncoat.
But Li Banfeng believed that Lu Xiaolan wasn’t lying.
She was trapped in the Lu Family Old House back then. Aside from the hook connected to Li Banfeng’s phone, she had no way to contact anyone else.
She couldn’t possibly have written a letter to Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying. And even if she could, she would definitely have written to her mother, asking her to come to her rescue.
Second, Xiao Yeci claimed she had witnessed the entire process of Lu Dongliang being attacked.
He Yuxiu made the first move, followed by Zhuo Yuling, and then Lu Dongjun.
Then Lu Dongliang pushed He Yuxiu, and both of them flew out.
The third matter was something Lu Chunying heard on her way to the Lu Family Mansion.
"Lu Xiaolan told Monkey Qiu that she wanted to kill someone named something Qing on the train, but ended up being pushed by that Qing and flew right into the He Family Old House.
"Monkey Qiu didn’t believe her, the Lu Family didn’t believe her, and at first, I thought she was spouting nonsense. But then I saw my father push He Yuxiu, and she also flew away. Maybe what Lu Xiaolan said was true..."
Li Banfeng’s cheeks twitched for a moment.
With a slight upward twist of his lips, he displayed a rigid smile.
In college, those who knew Li Banfeng understood that this kind of rigid smile was a precursor to an episode and that it was best to stay away from Li Banfeng at such times.
Controlling his tone, Li Banfeng asked, "The one you called something Qing, was that He Jiaqing?"
Lu Chunying thought for a moment and nodded. "It seems to be that name."
Li Banfeng asked again, "Was it He Jiaqing?"
Lu Chunying replied, "It should be him."
Li Banfeng asked once more, "Was it He Jiaqing?"
Lu Chunying became somewhat afraid, and Xiao Yeci intervened, "Benefactor, she might not remember clearly. Allow me to think it over."
"Was it He Jiaqing?" Li Banfeng kept repeating the same question.
Xiao Yeci became frightened too. "Benefactor, what’s wrong with you?"
"Was it He Jiaqing?" Li Banfeng turned and left the room, walking down the corridor.
"Was it He Jiaqing?" He kept repeating the question as he went into his own room.
"Was it He..." Li Banfeng covered his mouth; he was having an episode, repeating the same phrase over and over, unable to control himself.
He used one hand to take out a key and entered the Portable Residence.
Seeing Li Banfeng’s hand covering his mouth, his face turning a deep red as he held his breath, the Phonograph asked with concern, "My lord, what’s wrong with you?"
MMM MMM MMM. Li Banfeng’s nose continued to hum the same phrase.
He then covered his nose as well.
He kept his mouth and nose tightly covered. His face turned purplish-blue, and he was on the brink of suffocation.
"My dear!" The Phonograph rushed over to pull Li Banfeng’s hands away and embraced him tightly with a burst of steam.
"Was it He Jiaqing?" Li Banfeng cried out hoarsely.
Red Lotus, who was far away in Liu Fang, heard Li Banfeng’s cry and broke out in layers upon layers of dewdrops.
PS: Li Banfeng boarded a train with Zhou Changhong to uncover the puppet master behind Ling Miaoying and to dig deep into the roots. On the train, he encountered an array of mishaps and ended up at Cheap Person Ridge. At Cheap Person Ridge, he came across Xiao Yeci and her daughter. Through Xiao Yeci and her daughter, the root cause was unearthed. Who would have thought that the root cause would be uncovered just like that.