People were dining around, the counter was against the shop door, and outside the door a group of children were throwing sandbags, having a great time. The laughter reached the ears of the eldest prince, who subconsciously glanced at the flying sandbags.
This glance caused a bit of trouble, as a child noticed him.
A burst of laughter suddenly grew closer, and the tallest boys inside pointed at him and laughed: "Look at him, dressed in boys' clothes, but looks like a girl!"
She looks like a girl.
You are a boy, and you will be sent to marry a foreign ruler in the future.
Similar thoughts flashed through his mind, and a hint of ferocity flashed in the Crown Prince's eyes.
The sandbag hit his leg. Normally, the Crown Prince would have endured it, and might even have given the person who insulted him a sweet smile. But now that he was about to die, he didn't want to endure it at all!
Suddenly bending down, the eldest prince picked up a sandbag from the ground and threw it at the person.
He used all his strength, and the boy was hit in the nose by the sandbag, crying out in pain on the spot.
The eldest prince felt no satisfaction at the prospect of revenge. His dark pupils suddenly contracted, and only two words echoed in his mind: "Oh no!"
He used his left hand, which had a birthmark.
In that instant, everyone around him became suspicious. He looked up at the opposite side and saw the waiter just coming in through the shop door. He glanced down at him.
It's been discovered.
"What's wrong?"
Qin Chu's voice startled the eldest prince.
He looked up at Qin Chu but said nothing.
Qin Chu hadn't noticed what he had just done, assuming it was just children playing around.
He led his men into the room, closed the window, and said to the eldest prince, "I'm going out for a bit. You stay in the room."
The child didn't respond, but Qin Chu didn't care. He simply turned around, went out, and locked the door.
He exchanged fewer than ten words with the child during this period, but he felt quite comfortable with it.
Having abandoned his attempt to act cute as the eldest prince and achieved the status of being taciturn, he unexpectedly grasped the first essential principle of peaceful coexistence with Qin Chu.
Qin Chu was cold to people, but only Noah knew that their superiors had a high opinion of the child in private, mainly because he was quiet and didn't cause trouble.
Having spent over two years at the border, Qin Chu only remembered that before he left, the entire city was plastered with wanted posters, and he wasn't very familiar with the current situation. However, he could guess that after two years of not seeing a runaway groom, even if Lord Lin was deeply in love, he would have given up by now.
As expected, Qin Chu looked around but didn't find any wanted notices related to himself, nor did he find any news about the Crown Prince.
After all, he was a member of the royal family; even if he got lost, it couldn't be publicized.
After walking around for a while and preparing to head back, Qin Chu noticed that something was wrong with Noah.
This guy is a chatterbox; he feels uncomfortable if he doesn't shout a few words every day. But recently, for several days in a row, Noah has been speaking less and less, often not uttering a sound for most of the day.
Given Noah's personality, the only explanation for him doing this, in Qin Chu's mind, is that he's gone awry.
Thinking about all this, Qin Chu asked Noah in his mind, "What problems have you been having lately?"
Noah: "Hehehehehe..."
Qin Chu: "..." It seems things have really gone wrong.
Before two seconds had passed, Noah couldn't hold back any longer and said to Qin Chu, "Sir, I've done something big recently."
"What's wrong?" Qin Chu just wanted him to go back to the factory for repairs.
"You know that the emperor of this country is seriously ill and has been in a coma..."
"so?"
Noah continued chuckling, "So I found myself a body!"
Qin Chu was taken aback, not expecting Noah to actually do something big this time.
Noah was clearly very excited. Before Qin Chu could ask any more questions, he started talking non-stop: "This is the first time I've ever had a physical body! Even though it's in the virtual world, it's still incredibly exciting! And, sir, I'm practically your superior now, hahaha!"
Qin Chu waited quietly for him to finish his excitement.
When artificial intelligence emerged, the Empire enacted laws prohibiting it from possessing biological bodies. This law brought the then-booming research into biological human bodies to a halt.
Noah can probably only try it in the virtual world now.
Qin Chu didn't stop him. After Noah finished laughing with his hands on his hips, he asked, "You've taken over the Emperor's body? Can you lift the royal family's pursuit of the eldest prince?"
"Hmm...maybe not."
Qin Chu raised an eyebrow, and then heard Noah's excitement dissipate, and he said listlessly, "Because the emperor's persona has strong limitations, I need to abide by the persona."
Hearing this, Qin Chu couldn't help but feel a little smug.
His character design has limited him to several worlds, but now Noah is finally going to give it a try.
"What kind of persona?" Qin Chu asked.
Noah: "A character who is seriously ill, bedridden, and unconscious."
Qin Chu: "..."
This is what they call finding yourself a body?
Qin Chu: "Let's send it back to the factory for repairs."
After finishing his conversation with Noah, Qin Chu had already returned to the front of the inn.
He took in the situation in front of the shop and his brows furrowed immediately. Three or five soldiers were standing in front of the inn, and the waiter and the innkeeper were talking to them.
With a wary look in his heart, Qin Chu moved closer and listened to their conversation. When he heard the word "brother," his expression became even more serious.
He looked around and found that the shop door had been sealed off, preventing the people inside from getting out, and he had no way to get in either.
Having made a decisive decision, Qin Chu didn't wait any longer and made a noise.
The waiter's attention was drawn, and upon seeing Qin Chu, he immediately pulled the soldiers aside and said, "That's him! The child he brought might be a boy!"
Qin Chu went along with it and stepped forward, looking at the soldiers and saying, "What 'brother'? I don't know. I didn't bring any children."
The waiter grew anxious: "It's you! You're still holding that child's hand!"
Qin Chu said calmly, "You're talking about the children of the nearby residents. They were playing with sandbags, and one of the children got hit by one. I helped him up, and they left quickly."
The doors and windows were not very soundproof, and arguments downstairs could easily be heard upstairs.
The eldest prince pressed his ear against the window, his eyes dark and intense. Soldiers were coming; the city was crowded and noisy, and his identity could easily be exposed.
He barely managed to escape from the capital; if it weren't for this person bringing him back...
The eldest prince gritted his teeth in anger, and the next second, he suddenly heard Qin Chu downstairs say, "Fine, if you don't believe me, come and see for yourself in my room."
Qin Chu led several soldiers, the waiter, and the shopkeeper up to the second floor.
Noah's urgent voice echoed in Qin Chu's mind: "Sir, how could you bring people up here! What if the First Prince is discovered!"
The waiter confidently took out the key and looked at the surrounding soldiers with certainty, saying, "I've worked here a lot, so my eyesight is excellent. I'll never make a mistake. You can all see for yourselves, that young man is definitely in this room."
"Oh," Qin Chu replied coldly. He gestured to stop the waiter from opening the door and asked, "How will you compensate me if no one is inside?"
The waiter, getting impatient, retorted, "I said I wouldn't make a mistake, and I won't! Are you blocking my way because you're afraid to let me open the door?!"
Qin Chu let go of his hand, and the waiter quickly unlocked the door and went inside.
The door was wide open, and a group of soldiers immediately rushed inside.
However, the result was quite unexpected. The room was quiet, the windows were tightly closed, and everything was locked. There was only a bed, a wooden table, two chairs, and a simple wooden wardrobe in the room.
The wooden plank bed was low underneath, not like a place where someone could hide, and there was a heavy footstool in front of it. So without even thinking, the waiter immediately pointed to the cabinet and said, "It must be hidden in the cabinet!"
A soldier immediately stepped forward and opened the cabinet, only to find it completely empty; there wasn't even a piece of clothing, let alone a person inside.
Author's Note:
A little tip:
In this world, the eldest prince is the main character, and everyone else is just background.
However, because the eldest prince's consciousness was damaged, he only has the consciousness of a child, so the main storyline of this world revolves around raising a child.
The eldest prince is young and has no romantic relationship with Qin Chu; their relationship is limited to the affection and trust of children, and there is no physical intimacy beyond hugging.
This world will reveal part of the protagonist's background.
Chapter 59, Fourth Story (5)
They searched every possible hiding place, but couldn't find a single hair, let alone a young man. Now, all the soldiers' eyes were on the confident waiter.
"How could this happen!" The waiter was also in a panic.
The authorities were secretly searching for the young man, and anyone who provided information could receive a large reward. When he saw the birthmark on the young man's palm today, he immediately ran to report it to the authorities without thinking twice.
The person is clearly right here! Could it be that the child wasn't brought by this guest, but was a kid from the neighborhood playing?
The reward money that was almost in his grasp had flown away, and he might even offend these soldiers if he wasn't careful. The waiter was sweating profusely with anxiety. He grabbed the nearest soldier and said, "Sir, I really saw it. That red birthmark was hidden in that young man's palm!"
At this moment, Qin Chu suddenly interjected, "Have you finished investigating? I want to rest."
His words immediately drew the attention of several soldiers. The soldier being held by Xiao Er noticed Qin Chu's left hand, which was always clenched into a fist.
He rushed forward and grabbed Qin Chu's left hand: "Open your hand!"
Qin Chu reluctantly opened his hand, revealing a bright red birthmark on his palm.
Upon seeing the birthmark in Qin Chu's hand, the waiter was immediately stunned.
Wait a minute, he clearly saw a child! But the joy of finding the young man and the impending reward immediately dispelled this doubt. He slapped his forehead and rushed over: "That's it, that's it! He was holding that child, I must have mistaken his hand for the child's. No, no! This young man is him! Officials, this young man is him!"
"take away!"
Having finally found the man after going through "countless hardships," the officers and soldiers immediately led the captured boy away in a large group.
The door was locked, and the empty room returned to silence.
After a while, a slight rustling sound came from under the bed. The heavy footstool was slowly moved aside, and a small, thin figure quietly emerged from the gap under the bed, which was no bigger than a hand's breadth.
The eldest prince's back and face were covered in dust, and the tip of his nose and forehead were chafed by splinters from under the bed.
The gap was too narrow for anyone to squeeze into; he managed to crawl in while lying flat, thanks to his slender build. The dark, cramped space and the wooden planks pressing against him nearly suffocated him. He carefully controlled his breathing, but at one point he couldn't help but want to gasp for air.