Chu Tianjiao and her two companions made their way up the mountain. Lu Dingfeng kept looking around, seemingly trying to recall something.
Chu Tianjiao had asked Wang Elderly Physician about the habits of fire turtles. He said there was little recorded about them in books, only one sentence: "Born in places of fire poison, they feed on cinnabar."
Although the rock layers of Red Sand Mountain were red, the mountain was cool and not stuffy. Chu Tianjiao secretly doubted if she had come to the wrong place.
A colorful pheasant flew by in the forest. Chu Tianjiao drew her bow and shot it down.
Lu Dingfeng praised her repeatedly, trying to flatter her: "Young Miss, could I perhaps borrow your bow to play with?"
Chu Tianjiao thought that even if they couldn't find fire turtles here, bringing back some game for a meal would be good. So she handed her bow to Lu Dingfeng.
Lu Dingfeng's posture when drawing the bow was very standard, but unfortunately, his new body was too weak to fully draw Chu Tianjiao's bow.
Discouraged, Lu Dingfeng returned the bow to Chu Tianjiao.
"In those years, I..."
His words were promptly interrupted by Chu Tianjiao.
"Sang Shen, look carefully again. Haven't you remembered anything yet?"
Lu Dingfeng gave up boasting about his past glories and concentrated on searching his memory. When he saw a cave, Lu Dingfeng said, "I've been here before."
The three entered the cave, and Lu Dingfeng seemed hesitant to speak.
Chu Tianjiao gestured for Feng Jia to keep watch outside.
Only then did Lu Dingfeng say, "This place might not be Flame Mountain, but it was once the retreat of that old fellow Yun Zheng."
Chu Tianjiao was shocked and asked, "Yun Zheng? Could it be the Imperial Preceptor Yun Zheng you appointed when founding the country?"
Lu Dingfeng nodded, looking at the remnants of porcelain shards and tiles in the cave with a sigh: "The man has already ridden the yellow crane and departed, leaving only empty mountains and white clouds..."
From Lu Dingfeng's wistful expression, one could see that he had deep feelings for Imperial Preceptor Yun Zheng.
This founding Imperial Preceptor Yun Zheng was a household name in Li Country.
When Lu Dingfeng founded the country, the court structure, laws, imperial examination system, religious beliefs, and other aspects of civil administration were all his work.
Lu Dingfeng's trust in him was unparalleled.
As Chu Tianjiao listened to Lu Dingfeng's narration, she wandered around the cave.
When her foot kicked a porcelain pillow, Chu Tianjiao crouched down.
Seeing the pillow lying among a pile of rotted wood, it seemed this place was once a bed.
Chu Tianjiao curiously rummaged through the pile of debris and, by the faint light of a torch, found a coin covered in copper rust.
It was possible that the original owner had dropped this coin into a crack in the bed.
Two hundred years had passed, the wood had rotted away, and the coin trapped within had finally been exposed.
Chu Tianjiao carefully cleaned the dust and rust off the coin, revealing its faded patterns.
"Great-grandfather, the coins you minted seem to be more exquisite than those made in Li Country now."
Lu Dingfeng's reminiscence was interrupted. He came over to take a glance and said dismissively, "This isn't a circulating coin, it's a charm coin."
Chu Tianjiao looked at the patterns on the charm coin, feeling she had seen them somewhere before.
Seeing Chu Tianjiao carefully put the charm coin in her bosom, Lu Dingfeng mocked, "Such a child. Yun Zheng also loved this charm coin dearly. After getting it from somewhere, he carried it with him daily and would take it out to caress when idle."
Chu Tianjiao asked curiously, "Is there only this one charm coin?"
Lu Dingfeng said, "Yes, I've only ever seen one. The one you just picked up should be Yun Zheng's."
Having confirmed this was not Flame Mountain, and the villagers at the foot of the mountain had confirmed they had never seen fire turtles, Chu Tianjiao didn't want to waste time here anymore.
Chu Tianjiao led Lu Dingfeng and Feng Jia down the mountain.
In the valley, the maids had already prepared a meal.
Chu Tianjiao tossed the pheasant she had just caught to one of them, "Roast this pheasant for everyone as an extra dish!"
The hen that Jiang You had stolen the night before had been stewed into chicken soup. Chu Tianjiao drank the soup with some dry rations for breakfast.
Lu Zhaoling came over, "Sister Chu, did you go hunting on the mountain just now?"
Chu Tianjiao made an "mm" sound, lowering her head to blow on the chicken soup in her bowl.
The oily chicken soup gave off a rich aroma, and Lu Zhaoling swallowed...
Chu Tianjiao took a small sip and smacked her lips.
"So delicious!"
Lu Zhaoling's eyes were almost falling into that bowl of soup.
He hadn't eaten dinner last night, had been hungry all night, and had walked into the mountains this morning.
Lu Zhaoling was starving, almost wanting to snatch the bowl of chicken soup from Chu Tianjiao's hands.
How hateful that Chu Tianjiao would smack her lips in front of him, it was truly...
Uncouth!
But judging by her reaction, that chicken soup must be really fragrant!
Chu Tianjiao took out a piece of dry ration, broke it into the chicken soup, and said apologetically:
"Please forgive me, Fourth Prince. We martial families are most particular about military discipline when training troops. This morning you delayed military operations, so you are punished with no food for a day. Jiao had no choice..."
Since Chu Tianjiao had put it this way, what could Lu Zhaoling say?
He could only suppress his hunger, force a smile, and comfort Chu Tianjiao instead: "Sister Chu, don't take it to heart. I will do my best to cooperate with you."
As they chatted, the aroma of roasted chicken wafted over.
Chu Tianjiao said she was already full and gestured for the maids to divide the roasted pheasant.
Lu Dingfeng came over with a roasted chicken leg.
Lu Zhaoling now had a bit of a headache just seeing this little girl.
He was about to get up when Lu Dingfeng shamelessly held the chicken leg in front of him.
The chicken leg, roasted to a glistening golden brown, slowly slid from left to right in front of Lu Zhaoling's eyes, then from right to left...
"Fourth Prince, do you want to eat the chicken leg?"
Lu Zhaoling's gaze followed the chicken leg, and he raised his hand...
Lu Dingfeng jumped back, quickly stuffing the chicken leg into his own mouth.
Lu Zhaoling was so angry he wanted to draw his sword.
Lu Dingfeng, while gnawing on the chicken leg, said regretfully: "I'm sorry, I forgot that the Fourth Prince was punished with no food today."
Lu Dingfeng had recently become well-versed in the advantages of his current young girl's face.
He blinked his big eyes without any psychological burden, revealing an innocent and naive expression that made people think he was just an unworldly little girl.
Lu Zhaoling felt she was doing it on purpose, but he couldn't see any traces of deliberateness in her expression.
Chu Tianjiao, sitting nearby, was having difficulty holding back her laughter. She made an excuse to wash her hands and got up to leave.
Seeing no one around, Lu Zhaoling threatened Lu Dingfeng: "Aren't you afraid this prince will really kill you?"
Lu Dingfeng pretended to be very scared, trembling as he handed the half-eaten chicken leg to Lu Zhaoling. Lu Zhaoling was now so hungry he was dizzy and inexplicably accepted it.
Lu Dingfeng suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Fourth Prince, spare me! I absolutely won't report that you snatched my chicken leg!"
This loud shout attracted the attention of Chu Tianjiao, who had just walked away, and everyone else.
They saw the little girl Sang Shen trembling all over, repeatedly backing away with tears on her face.
Lu Zhaoling was holding the chicken leg that originally belonged to Sang Shen, and a large part of it had already been gnawed off.
In this situation, it was clear that Lu Zhaoling had snatched Sang Shen's chicken leg and eaten it secretly!
Chu Tianjiao slowly walked back.
The twelve maids stared at Lu Zhaoling with their mouths open, not daring to speak.
Even Lu Zhaoling's own subordinates had disapproval in their eyes.
Chu Tianjiao held her forehead and advised: "Fourth Prince, if you were hungry, you could have just told me. After eating, you could have returned to the city. Why snatch a little girl's chicken leg?"
Lu Zhaoling quickly threw away the chicken leg in his hand and swore, "Sister Chu, I really didn't eat it. This little girl is framing me!"
Chu Tianjiao looked disbelieving: "Fourth Prince, Sang Shen is just an inexperienced child. How would she dare to frame the Fourth Prince?"
Lu Zhaoling thought: I'd like to know where this little girl got the guts too!
But now, no one would believe Lu Zhaoling. Even if Lu Zhaoling insisted on punishing that girl, Chu Tianjiao would certainly become estranged from him.
Lu Zhaoling was so angry he felt like vomiting blood, feeling he had never been so wronged before.
Chu Tianjiao turned back and patted Lu Dingfeng's shoulder, pretending to comfort him: "Sang Shen, don't be afraid. The Fourth Prince is a magnanimous person. He won't do anything to you over a chicken leg."
Lu Dingfeng lowered his head, his shoulders shaking. Only Chu Tianjiao knew that this fellow was probably about to laugh himself to death.
