Chapter 12: Parting Always Comes with Reluctance

“Don’t worry, Big Brother.” Fang Ping did not say much. He nodded, agreeing to Fang Chen’s instructions.

“Big Brother, Yinyin doesn’t have money or anything else to give to you. There’s still a chicken drumstick hidden here from lunch yesterday. Yinyin only bit half of it. The rest is for you. If you’re hungry on the way, eat it.”

Fang Yinyin actually took out a dried chicken drumstick from her sleeve. She looked reluctant.

“Well… keep the drumstick for yourself, but you have to listen to Dad and your second brother in the future. Eat less. Otherwise, when Big Brother comes back, Yinyin will really become a little pig,” Fang Chen said helplessly.

After that, Fang Dapan mysteriously gave Fang Chen something wrapped in cloth. When Fang Chen saw that it was actually a pornography book, he immediately kicked Fang Dapan aside.

Parting always comes with reluctance. King Zhenbei’s eyes turned red.

“Alright, Elder Xu is still waiting there. Let’s not talk anymore. Let’s go. Since you’ve decided to practice martial arts, learn well.”

“Of course, if you really change your mind, send a message to the mansion. Father will personally bring you back and let you continue to live freely.”

Fang Tianhuai pointed at the figure who was already standing proudly on the horse outside the gate and pulled Fang Ping and Fang Yinyin away. Then, he gave Fang Chen some instructions and sent a handful of banknotes to Fang Chen.

“Old man, don’t speak. You’re ruining my resolve. Take care of yourself and my younger siblings. I’m leaving now.”

Fang Chen put away the banknotes and suppressed his reluctance. He turned around and took a few steps to the main road to take a horse led by Old Fang. He waved his hand and said to Xu Mianfeng and Old Fang, “Elder Xu, Old Fang, let’s go.”

“Sure.” Elder Xu mounted his horse and bid farewell to Fangtian.

Old Fang was not reluctant to leave. He did not even look at Fang Dapan at the gate. He let Fang Chen mount his horse and rode towards the city gate.

At this moment, many people in the Zhenbei city knew that the prince was going out. They all stood on both sides of the road to send him off.

Especially when they passed by the Drunken Red House, the girls inside were crying their hearts out, expressing their longing for the heir.

“Fang Chen, I didn’t expect you to be so popular in this city. This is a little different from what I knew about you in the past.” Xu Mianfeng could not help but say to Fang Chen when he saw the people sending him off.

“Hehe, maybe the people on our side are more enthusiastic,” Although Fang Chen felt that the atmosphere was different from what he had imagined, he still said humbly.

Xu Mianfeng nodded and his evaluation of Fang Chen improved.

Only Old Fang’s lips twitched as he turned to look at Fang Chen with pity.

Sure enough, when the three of them left the city, the expressions of those who had sent them off instantly disappeared. They sang and danced happily, as happy as the new year.

Only the ladies from Drunken Red House and the procuress were crying and begging the prince not to leave. They were all worried that their performance would plummet in the future.

Of course, Fang Chen and the others could no longer see the scene in the city. After leaving North Blue City, the three of them rode towards Southwind Mountain thousands of miles away.

The official road took three whole days. Along the way, they could see square fields and some humming farmers. It could be said that the mountains and rivers were beautiful, and the land was filled with outstanding people.

In the past three days, Fang Chen had impressed Old Fang.

Where there was a town station to stay, where there were delicacies, and where there was a beautiful scenery, he knew it very well. He had obviously done his homework before leaving.

Fang Chen was also very thoughtful and caring.

On the other hand, Elder Xu did not speak much. Of course, he was very polite.

“Prince, it’s the mountain road from today onwards. Are you sure you don’t want to take a look at that Yihong Brothel? I heard from the restaurant that that little Miss Hong is so beautiful…”

On the fourth day, as soon as they were on the road, Old Fang approached Fang Chen and was about to say something, but Fang Chen interrupted him, “You old thing, why are you still so scheming at your age? Why do you have to drag me along when you want to go? And how many times have I told you to call me Young Master?” Fang Chen said angrily.

“Hehe, Young Master, I won’t make a mistake next time.” Old Fang pretended to slap his mouth. Then, he said slyly, “Young Master, it’s not that I want to pull you away, but I don’t have any money. If you lend me some, I can make that little Miss Hong unable to leave the room for three days.”

“Pfft, at your age, aren’t you afraid that your heart will explode if you take a look?” If not for the fact that he was riding a horse, Fang Chen would have kicked Old Fang twice.

“Hehe, as the saying goes, even if you die under a peony flower, you can still be a ghost,” Old Fang said shamelessly.

Over the past two days, Fang Chen had also realized that apart from being a lackey, Old Fang also had a shameless ability. It made him even more speechless.

They bickered with Old Fang all the way up the mountain path.

It was also from here that there were no large towns on the road. They were all remote villages. The fields of the people here were mostly wastelands, and the water they drank had to be picked from far away. Most of the people who saw them looked sad…

“The difference in life between these mountain forests and the people living in the city is too great. It’s like heaven and earth. They don’t feel like people from the same world.”

Fang Chen had never seen such a difficult environment in his previous life. He could not help but sigh.

“Hehe, what you’re seeing now is already much better. You have to know that this is the bitter cold north. To be able to have such a standard of living, it can be said that King Zhenbei used to have good governance.

“As far as I know, even many places in the central area of the Great Yan Dynasty are not as good as Northern Heavens,” Xu Mianfeng, who had not spoken much, replied to Fang Chen.

It was obvious that Xu Mianfeng approved of King Zhenbei’s contributions.

Fang Chen nodded, but in his heart, he was thinking, No wonder those wild history books said that the Great Yan’s capital had always had a lot of opinions about the King of Zhenbei.

After all, King of Zhenbei was actually defending against foreign enemies in an environment like the Northern Heavens and even managed his territory to be comparable to the central area of the Great Yan. This difference in status naturally made people doubt the level of governance of the Great Yan Imperial Family.

At this time, if there were some voices that asked King Zhenbei to govern the country, coupled with King Zhenbei’s original reputation and the situation of him holding his own troops, it was no wonder that the Great Yan Capital had always been afraid of the Northern Heavens.

Fang Chen had heard that every year, the memorials to impeach the Northern Heavens would fly into the capital of Great Yan like snow mountains. Therefore, the Northern Heavens had to be on guard against the capital of Great Yan at all times.

It could be said that during these few days of traveling, Fang Chen really felt that the fireworks were different from those in the Northern Heavens. This made him admire Fang Tianhuai even more.