Forcing himself to stop his rambling thoughts, Xiao Lin's ears turned slightly red.
He handed the cup to Yu Tang: "I'd like something light to eat, thank you."
"Okay..." Seeing that Xiao Lin didn't doubt his words, Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief: "I'll go and have them prepare right away."
After saying that, he quickly fled the room.
After he left, Xiao Lin observed the room, which was far too simple for Yu Tang's status.
The walls were made of mud, and the windows, tables, and bed railings were made of ordinary wood, without any carvings. The simplicity made it hard to believe that this was the room of a general who ruled over nine cities.
The cup that Yu Tang just handed him was probably the most expensive piece of furniture in the room; it was porcelain made in the imperial kiln and felt warm and smooth to the touch.
But the quality is only slightly above average, and it doesn't cost much.
Before he came, he had heard about North Nine City.
Located in the northernmost part of the Xiao Kingdom, this place gets extremely cold in autumn and winter, and it often snows.
Crops grow slowly, and if they encounter summer drought or winter snow, they may not harvest anything for the whole year.
But this is a strategically important military location.
Once the nine northern cities fall and are occupied by foreign tribes, the people of Xiao will face the iron cavalry of those tribes.
The consequences would be unimaginable.
However, since Emperor Xiao Sheng ascended the throne, he has increasingly embezzled military pay and rations in the nine northern cities, completely disregarding the lives and deaths of the soldiers there and the crises they will face in the future.
If the Yu family hadn't held out here, the Xiao Kingdom might have been destroyed by foreign tribes before Emperor Xiao Sheng was overthrown...
Recalling Yu Tang's words and considering the situation here, Xiao Lin became even more convinced of Yu Tang's character.
[Ding! Xiao Lin's favorability +30, current favorability 42?]
Yu Tang was still waiting for the kitchen to finish cooking when he heard the system's words and was stunned: System? Are you kidding me? How did the favorability rating increase so strangely?
Yu Tang: I could understand the 10 points he gave me earlier as a reward for taking care of me all night, but how come I suddenly got 30 points now even though I didn't do anything?
He was bewildered, but the system was even more bewildered: [Ah... I don't know either!]
Yu Tang: That's strange.
Yu Tang couldn't figure it out, so he could only prop his head up and sigh helplessly: "Really, the villain's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea, so hard to guess."
The military doctor said that Xiao Lin's leg injury was very serious and he might be left with a disability.
As he said this, the military doctor was extremely nervous, and he became even more careful when changing Xiao Lin's dressing.
But the boy sitting on the bed did not show the expected rage.
His expression was indifferent, as if he had heard something trivial. Only after the military doctor finished changing his dressing did he look up and politely say to the middle-aged man, "Thank you for treating my wound, military doctor."
"As for whether I am disabled or not, that is my own fate, and I can't blame anyone else."
He even smiled: "And being able to survive being hunted by so many foreign assassins is enough to make me happy."
The army doctor pulled Yu Tang outside, shaking his head and sighing, "General, this Sixth Prince is truly sensible. I don't know why His Majesty banished him to our Northern City; otherwise, he wouldn't have suffered this calamity..."
Most people in the northern part of the city are simple-minded and rarely cunning.
Therefore, they still believed that Xiao Lin's injury was really caused by outsiders.
Yu Tang saw through it but didn't say anything.
If this power struggle within the imperial court were to be exposed, Emperor Xiao Sheng might, in a moment of desperation, take real action and punish them.
When he returned to his room, he saw Xiao Lin staring blankly at his right leg.
He knew that no matter how calm the kid appeared, he couldn't possibly be completely unaffected after learning that he might be left with a disability.
"Your Highness has been bedridden for several days now," Yu Tang interrupted Xiao Lin's thoughts, asking, "Would you like to come out with me and take a stroll around Bei Yi City?"
Xiao Lin was taken aback for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "With my leg like this, how can I go out with you?"
Yu Tang winked at him: "Don't worry about that, I have my own way."
Ten minutes later, a strange combination appeared on the streets of North City.
A handsome young man sat in a wooden wheelchair with a blanket covering his legs.
Behind him stood General Yu Tang of Bei Yi City, dressed in simple clothes, pushing a wheelchair forward, attracting the attention of many people.
"This thing called a wheelchair is indeed convenient." Xiao Lin held onto the sides of the wheelchair, still somewhat surprised. "Did you design it yourself?"
"Haha, I guess so," Yu Tang replied, then looked up and saw people on the roadside greeting him.
"General Yu!" The hawker selling candied hawthorns walked over with a straw stick full of candied hawthorns, his smile sincere: "Thanks to you for pleading with the centurion's family last time, they have finally accepted Xiaoyuan and me being together. I am so grateful to you!"
Yu Tang said politely, "It's nothing, it's what I should do."
The original owner was extremely popular in North Nine City.
Or rather, in the eyes of the people of Beijiucheng, the Yu family members were both their guardian war gods and like family members.
When getting along with them, there is no distinction between high and low status or social standing, and it is quite comfortable.
The vendor saw Xiao Lin standing in front of Yu Tang and asked, "And who is this?"
Yu Tang didn't intend to hide anything and answered directly, "It is His Highness the Sixth Prince."
The vendor's expression changed drastically, and he was so frightened that he almost dropped the straw. Yu Tang quickly helped him up and held onto the wooden handle.
The vendor immediately knelt down: "Sixth Prince, I was unaware of your identity. I offended you just now. Please forgive me!"
“You don’t need to be so reserved.” Xiao Lin helped him up. “I’m just an ordinary person, not much higher than you. Just talk to me the same way you would to General Yu.”
The vendor then stood up cautiously, and his gaze towards Xiao Lin changed somewhat.
"Thank you very much, Your Highness, Sixth Prince."
"However, since we have disturbed His Highness the Sixth Prince, we must pay a price."
Yu Tang plucked a string of candied hawthorns from the straw stick, returned the rest to the vendor, and smiled at him: "Consider this string of candied hawthorns compensation. Now go about your business."
The vendor was stunned for a moment, then, as if granted a pardon, quickly nodded, thanked Yu Tang, and ran away.
Watching him walk away, Yu Tang said to Xiao Lin, "Your Highness, candied hawthorn is a specialty of our northern city. You live in the south, so you must have never eaten it before."
Holding the candied hawthorn skewer up to the boy, Yu Tang smiled and asked, "Would you like to try some?"
The bright yellow sugar coating the bright red hawthorns, eight in total, strung on a wooden skewer, looks delicious.
Xiao Lin pursed his lips, looked at the people around him, and then at the candied hawthorn in Yu Tang's hand.
In the end, I took it and took a bite.
Feeling the subtle sweetness, I felt a strange pang of sourness in my heart.
Yu Tang leaned closer and asked him, "Is it good? Is it sweet?"
The two of them were standing way too close in that position.
Xiao Lin's fingers curled slightly, and he leaned back before lowering his eyes, letting his hair cover his eyes, and replied.
"It's very sweet and delicious."
[Holy crap! Xiao Lin's favorability increased by 8, current favorability is 50?]
Yu Tang: ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿
Chapter 5
He died for the villain for the fourth time (05)
Yu Tang was filled with questions.
He glanced thoughtfully at the candied hawthorn in Xiao Lin's hand.
One was bitten off, leaving seven.
There were originally eight.
So, is it because of these eight points of goodwill that I got eight candied hawthorns?
If the remaining fifty points of favorability are replaced with fifty candied hawthorns, will it immediately reach the maximum value? Then he can have the system grant him painlessness and run to the battlefield to be hacked to death.
puff……
I was amused by my own far-fetched thoughts.
Yu Tang got up and pushed Xiao Lin forward, chatting with the system as he went: System, how come Xiao Lin's favorability is so easy to raise? How could someone like this become a tyrant in the future?
"I also think this is a bit weird." The system flipped through the data, quickly reading it several times, and exclaimed: [Holy crap! Host, Xiao Lin is insane!]
Yu Tang: ? What's wrong with you?
"He's mentally ill."
The system explained to him: "To put it simply, he's practically half-mad."
[Somewhat like Shen Yu, similar to someone with dissociative identity disorder, having two personalities...]
Yu Tang: Excuse me for interrupting, who is Shen Yu?
Before the system could explain, Yu Tang asked: "Is this the villain I once conquered?"
"Yes." With the problem presented, the system saw no need to lie.
Yu Tang pursed his lips, silently repeating Shen Yu's name twice in his heart, and felt a sharp pang of heartache. He didn't press Shen Yu further and replied to the system: "Oh, go on."
Xiao Lin has two personalities: one is reasonable and understanding, the other is extreme.
The system was relieved that Yu Tang didn't ask any more questions about Shen Yu.
After all, he could tell that of the three villains, Shen Yu's incident made Yu Tang feel the most guilty.
"I guess the person you're with now is a reasonable person who also cares about the country."
That's why my favorability towards you, the general guarding the border, has increased so quickly.
The system continued: "[Furthermore, the novel doesn't explain much about why Xiao Lin became a tyrant."]
But it specifically mentions two things: his illness and your death.
Yu Tang: My death?