From joining the free ride, Jun Hua gained a better picture of Kai Kingdom. Kai Kingdom was a big kingdom, and the emperor was quite powerful which made him being highly respected by his people. He has seven sons without any daughter. They all have good relations, which was until the death of sixth and seventh prince.
Their death made the battle for the throne more visible. With the powerful emperor on the lead, they didn't dare to be so excessive. Nevertheless, they have been starting to make more connection and tried to gain the upper hand against the other prince.
Although for the people from far away in the border shouldn't have known, the method they were using was bribery. To gain more people supporting them, they gave more benefit to poor people thus making the people came to their side. This was what the boys on this carriage experienced by theirselves.
"So, which prince is the most powerful in your opinion?"
"There are only four princes left," He Zhou boy said sadly. "I think the fifth prince since he's really powerful back then when he's debating."
Jun Hua lips twitched a bit. The truth was, there were only three princes left, the first, third, and fourth. From her opinion, the most unlikely to be chosen was the fourth prince since she had been making him crazy over and over again. As for the first prince, he was too arrogant in her eyes. As for the third prince, she never heard about him.
When she was about to tell the truth, the carriage stopped. The doors were suddenly opened, and a few kids were pushed inside forcefully. Jun Hua hurriedly caught them to avoid some of them fell to the hard wood while He Zhou practically became a meat pillow.
"They are really heavy," he complained.
"You could have use a different way to deal with this," Jun Hua smiled wryly.
He Zhou moved to the side and shrugged, "There is no need for that. I'm a boy, so I can deal with small things like being a pillow like this."
"…" it still didn't mean you have to volunteer yourself to become a pillow.
Jun Hua continued to talk with He Zhou until the carriage arrived in the capital. The carriage's doors opened and the men ushered them out near the red district. Jun Hua ignored the man and looked around. The expression of the people around the place signified that they were used with this kind of exchange.
Her smile grew cold. She wouldn't let this tradition continue, what would the fate of these children be if they were sold at such a young age? However, she couldn't just release them since they almost knew nothing about the world, and there was no way they could life by themselves.
"He Zhou, do you want to become a slave?"
He Zhou looked towards Jun Hua like she was an idiot, "Who would want to be a slave? I want to become a farmer like my mother."
Jun Hua smiled, "I will find you later on and free you."
He Zhou wanted to ask more, but the men already yelled to them to shut up. Some of the children start crying because they didn't understand what was happening. Jun Hua really wanted to help them right here, right now, but she couldn't.
"Prince You, Prince Yang, this lowly merchant greet Your Highness."
Jun Hua slightly raised her head to look at the two of them. She knew that Yang was the name of the fourth prince while You was the name of the third prince. There was the time in the past when she was shocked when hearing their name. Why the name sounded so…weird? She even doubted the taste of the emperor in giving the name.
You was small, she almost cannot believe that this thin man was really a prince at the age of 23. He was only 160' centimeters something with his thin body. She was sure that he could easily pass off as a girl with that kind of stature. Especially with Yang by his side, their differences were as clear as day.
"This time they are really small," Prince Yang said with a dissatisfied expression.
Somehow, Jun Hua felt regret for letting this prince alive. Being insulted by someone like him was not within her agenda. But her plan requires him to stay alive until a certain time, so she couldn't say anything.
"Are you interested in them, Prince Yang?"
If that prince dared to buy them, she would surely turn his residence upside-down.
"Sure, just pick a few of them," Prince Yang laughed. He turned towards Prince You. "Don't you want some of them too? Your residence is mostly empty."
Prince You just smiled wryly. He looked towards the children in front of him with a sigh, but there was nothing he could do. It was then did he notice one of them have different clothes than the rest. Although it was still commoner clothes, it was clear that the clothes didn't belong to this kingdom.
He looked towards that kid. The kid was around 12-13 years old in his opinion. He was already being interested in people from outside Kai Kingdom for some time. It seemed the kid also didn't come here for a walk or he may be just some unfortunate children. Whichever it was, he wanted to talk with the kid.
"That one," Prince You pointed to Jun Hua.
Jun Hua was speechless. Just what made him interested in her? She obviously didn't have anything that differed herself from the other. Her plan to slip away from the crowd seemed to fail miserably. She was pondering whether she should just run away or let them take her. But seeing the prince, she decided to not make things difficult right now.
The merchant prepared some paper, but Jun Hua made a fake name for her and there was nothing true about herself inside the contract. Besides, with her true identity, there was no way she would want to live like this.
"This is the first time I see you show any interest towards a slave," Prince Yang commented.
"I need someone to do work," Prince You answered simply. He then walked with Jun Hua following from behind. Originally, she wanted to sneak away, but finally choose to against it and continued to follow this man.
The residence of Prince You was not big. It even made Jun Hua suspected that this man was not really a prince with the way his residence looked like.
"So, what is your name little boy?"
"Min," Jun Hua always used this name if she was acting as a boy. The reason why she liked this name was probably because of its meaning. 'Min' in her name is meant agile or active. She liked it since it truly describes herself.
Prince You nodded. He took the paper from before and burned it in front of Jun Hua eyes.
"You can go now. I don't know the reason you come to Kai Kingdom, but you have to be careful."
Jun Hua eyebrow rose. "You know that I'm not from Kai Kingdom."
"Your clothes are not from here," Prince You said simply. Jun Hua looked towards her clothes for a moment and noticed that it's indeed slightly different. Because she didn't pay much attention to the commoner clothes, she thought that all the kingdoms had similar clothes. Well, they were indeed similar, but a keen person would be able to notice the difference right away.
Seeing that Jun Hua still didn't leave her place, he asked again. "Is there anything I can help?"
"If I said that I come to destroy the imperial family of Kai Kingdom, what your response will be?" Jun Hua looked towards the prince before her with that question thrown to his face.
From joining the free ride, Jun Hua gained a better picture of Kai Kingdom. Kai Kingdom was a big kingdom, and the emperor was quite powerful which made him being highly respected by his people. He has seven sons without any daughter. They all have good relations, which was until the death of sixth and seventh prince.
Their death made the battle for the throne more visible. With the powerful emperor on the lead, they didn't dare to be so excessive. Nevertheless, they have been starting to make more connection and tried to gain the upper hand against the other prince.
Although for the people from far away in the border shouldn't have known, the method they were using was bribery. To gain more people supporting them, they gave more benefit to poor people thus making the people came to their side. This was what the boys on this carriage experienced by theirselves.
"So, which prince is the most powerful in your opinion?"
"There are only four princes left," He Zhou boy said sadly. "I think the fifth prince since he's really powerful back then when he's debating."
Jun Hua lips twitched a bit. The truth was, there were only three princes left, the first, third, and fourth. From her opinion, the most unlikely to be chosen was the fourth prince since she had been making him crazy over and over again. As for the first prince, he was too arrogant in her eyes. As for the third prince, she never heard about him.
When she was about to tell the truth, the carriage stopped. The doors were suddenly opened, and a few kids were pushed inside forcefully. Jun Hua hurriedly caught them to avoid some of them fell to the hard wood while He Zhou practically became a meat pillow.
"They are really heavy," he complained.
"You could have use a different way to deal with this," Jun Hua smiled wryly.
He Zhou moved to the side and shrugged, "There is no need for that. I'm a boy, so I can deal with small things like being a pillow like this."
"…" it still didn't mean you have to volunteer yourself to become a pillow.
Jun Hua continued to talk with He Zhou until the carriage arrived in the capital. The carriage's doors opened and the men ushered them out near the red district. Jun Hua ignored the man and looked around. The expression of the people around the place signified that they were used with this kind of exchange.
Her smile grew cold. She wouldn't let this tradition continue, what would the fate of these children be if they were sold at such a young age? However, she couldn't just release them since they almost knew nothing about the world, and there was no way they could life by themselves.
"He Zhou, do you want to become a slave?"
He Zhou looked towards Jun Hua like she was an idiot, "Who would want to be a slave? I want to become a farmer like my mother."
Jun Hua smiled, "I will find you later on and free you."
He Zhou wanted to ask more, but the men already yelled to them to shut up. Some of the children start crying because they didn't understand what was happening. Jun Hua really wanted to help them right here, right now, but she couldn't.
"Prince You, Prince Yang, this lowly merchant greet Your Highness."
Jun Hua slightly raised her head to look at the two of them. She knew that Yang was the name of the fourth prince while You was the name of the third prince. There was the time in the past when she was shocked when hearing their name. Why the name sounded so…weird? She even doubted the taste of the emperor in giving the name.
You was small, she almost cannot believe that this thin man was really a prince at the age of 23. He was only 160' centimeters something with his thin body. She was sure that he could easily pass off as a girl with that kind of stature. Especially with Yang by his side, their differences were as clear as day.
"This time they are really small," Prince Yang said with a dissatisfied expression.
Somehow, Jun Hua felt regret for letting this prince alive. Being insulted by someone like him was not within her agenda. But her plan requires him to stay alive until a certain time, so she couldn't say anything.
"Are you interested in them, Prince Yang?"
If that prince dared to buy them, she would surely turn his residence upside-down.
"Sure, just pick a few of them," Prince Yang laughed. He turned towards Prince You. "Don't you want some of them too? Your residence is mostly empty."
Prince You just smiled wryly. He looked towards the children in front of him with a sigh, but there was nothing he could do. It was then did he notice one of them have different clothes than the rest. Although it was still commoner clothes, it was clear that the clothes didn't belong to this kingdom.
He looked towards that kid. The kid was around 12-13 years old in his opinion. He was already being interested in people from outside Kai Kingdom for some time. It seemed the kid also didn't come here for a walk or he may be just some unfortunate children. Whichever it was, he wanted to talk with the kid.
"That one," Prince You pointed to Jun Hua.
Jun Hua was speechless. Just what made him interested in her? She obviously didn't have anything that differed herself from the other. Her plan to slip away from the crowd seemed to fail miserably. She was pondering whether she should just run away or let them take her. But seeing the prince, she decided to not make things difficult right now.
The merchant prepared some paper, but Jun Hua made a fake name for her and there was nothing true about herself inside the contract. Besides, with her true identity, there was no way she would want to live like this.
"This is the first time I see you show any interest towards a slave," Prince Yang commented.
"I need someone to do work," Prince You answered simply. He then walked with Jun Hua following from behind. Originally, she wanted to sneak away, but finally choose to against it and continued to follow this man.
The residence of Prince You was not big. It even made Jun Hua suspected that this man was not really a prince with the way his residence looked like.
"So, what is your name little boy?"
"Min," Jun Hua always used this name if she was acting as a boy. The reason why she liked this name was probably because of its meaning. 'Min' in her name is meant agile or active. She liked it since it truly describes herself.
Prince You nodded. He took the paper from before and burned it in front of Jun Hua eyes.
"You can go now. I don't know the reason you come to Kai Kingdom, but you have to be careful."
Jun Hua eyebrow rose. "You know that I'm not from Kai Kingdom."
"Your clothes are not from here," Prince You said simply. Jun Hua looked towards her clothes for a moment and noticed that it's indeed slightly different. Because she didn't pay much attention to the commoner clothes, she thought that all the kingdoms had similar clothes. Well, they were indeed similar, but a keen person would be able to notice the difference right away.
Seeing that Jun Hua still didn't leave her place, he asked again. "Is there anything I can help?"
"If I said that I come to destroy the imperial family of Kai Kingdom, what your response will be?" Jun Hua looked towards the prince before her with that question thrown to his face.
