Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 13 Commitment
Li Xian thought that revealing his identity would frighten Liu Jianjun, or at the very least surprise him.

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Jianjun remained nonchalant, nodding and saying, "I know!"

"you know?"

Li Xian looked at Liu Jianjun suspiciously. He had never seen an ordinary person remain so calm after hearing news of the Crown Prince. He suddenly wondered if Liu Jianjun didn't know what the Crown Prince was.

Then he emphasized again: "Crown Prince, the current Crown Prince! I was once the son of the Emperor..."

Liu Jianjun interrupted, "You're also... You can't just disown your grandfather because you've been demoted, can you?"

Li Xian felt angry.

But he was even more puzzled by Liu Jianjun's calm demeanor: "You...aren't you afraid of me? No, how did you know?"

Liu Jianjun rolled his eyes and said, "Let's take it one question at a time. First, tell me how I know this."

“You come from Chang’an, but even though you were demoted to this godforsaken place and became a commoner, the county magistrate of Huacheng still speaks to you with deference. Doesn’t that prove that you are of noble status?”

"And have you ever seen anyone who was demoted and still brought their wife, relatives, or even concubines with them? At least that official from Chang'an last time was all alone!"
"And those few thugs, whom even the county government dares not take in, are just lackeys of your servants. How powerful must your servants be? If you can have people with such powerful backgrounds as your servants, then your identity is obvious, isn't it?"

Li Xian suddenly realized, and then asked, "Then why aren't you afraid of me?"

"Why should I be afraid of you? Do you have eight eyes or six arms? Besides, haven't you been demoted now? We're in the same boat, why should I be afraid of you?"

Liu Jianjun walked over to Li Xian, gave him a push on the back, and said, "Alright! Stop dawdling! If we don't set off soon, the governor's office will be closed!"

Looking at Liu Jianjun, who treated him the same as always, Li Xian felt a warm current rise in his heart once again. He nodded and followed Liu Jianjun out the door.

This time, Liu Jianjun was still pulling his cart, which had a basket on it, about the size of a small water tank, which was covered with burlap so that Li Xian couldn't see what was inside.

Li Xian wasn't curious; he simply pulled the cart in silence.

This time, he followed Liu Jianjun's example and tied the rope around his waist, which made things much easier.

Not just physically.

After revealing his identity to Liu Jianjun, he felt much more relaxed.

Although Li Xian didn't speak, Liu Jianjun couldn't contain himself. He came closer, nudged Li Xian with his shoulder, and said, "Hey, aren't you curious about what's in that box?"

Li Xian sighed helplessly.

He wasn't curious at all.

What's inside?

"I won't tell you even if you ask. You'll find out soon enough!"

Li Xian suddenly realized that he had asked that one question unnecessarily.

But Li Xian didn't say anything. Liu Jianjun came over again and said in a consultative tone, "Hey, Xianzi, let's talk about something!"

"what's up?"

"Weren't you the Crown Prince before? If you explain things clearly to your grandfather, you'll be a prince when you go back, right?" Liu Jianjun asked.

Li Xian thought about it and realized that although he had been the Crown Prince before, it would be inappropriate for the Crown Prince to change his policies every day just because he had been exonerated.

So even if he succeeds on this trip back, he will probably only regain his status as an ordinary prince.

So he nodded: "What's wrong?"

Liu Jianjun said, "Don't ordinary people like us have to pay our respects to princes and dukes? So, can I not kneel when I see you in the future?"

Li Xian chuckled: "If it weren't for a formal occasion like a court assembly, there would be no need to perform the kneeling ceremony. After I return, I'll just be a leisurely prince, with no opportunity to participate in court affairs. So why would you kneel before me?"

“Besides, you’ve already gone to Chang’an, a place teeming with nobles and dukes. Even if I say you don’t need to kneel before me, what if you encounter someone else?” Liu Jianjun interrupted, “I don’t care about other people, just talk about you. From now on, no matter what your status is, I don’t need to kneel before you!”

Li Xian chuckled and said, "Okay."

He didn't think it was a big deal.

But Liu Jianjun said with an air of seriousness, "I've remembered it! On the third day of the eleventh month of the second year of Yongchun, Li Xian promised that no matter what his status would be in the future, even if he became the emperor, Liu Jianjun would not have to kneel before him!"

Li Xian chuckled again and said, "Alright, I've got it!"

How could I possibly still be the emperor?

Li Xian's current thought is that he would be lucky if he could clear his name in front of his father.

Moreover, as Liu Jianjun said before, even if he is exonerated, it is unlikely that his father will replace Li Xian. At most, he will just give himself a leisurely prince title.

Not to mention, this trip might not even go through.

Although Li Mingshi's surname is Li, will he help me?
He should know that his crime was treason, and if he weren't the emperor's son, he would have been executed long ago.

At this point, who would dare to have anything to do with them?

They all wish they could stay far away from me.

Therefore, Li Xian didn't actually have high hopes for this trip to find the prefect of Bazhou.

He just couldn't bear to refuse Liu Jianjun, after all, Liu Jianjun had been busy with this matter for so long.

But Li Xian had already decided that after this failed attempt, he would persuade Liu Jianjun to behave himself, properly inherit his grandfather's dozen or so acres of land, half a mountain, and two houses, and then marry Huya and have a big, healthy son.

This kind of life is pretty good.

Tying the rope around his waist made things much easier. Li Xian didn't even realize how long they had walked before they arrived at Huacheng. But the setting sun on the mountaintop told Li Xian that it was just his imagination.

Once inside the city, Li Xian suddenly felt a little awkward.

It wasn't that the rope tied around their waists made them look like livestock, but rather that the cart behind them, for some unknown reason, began to creak and groan, constantly reminding pedestrians that two "animals" were tied up in this place.

This is a bit awkward.

"Can't bring yourself to do it?" Liu Jianjun suddenly asked.

Li Xian was taken aback, then instantly realized what he had said, and gave an awkward smile: "Is your cart broken?"

"It's not broken. It's probably just that the wheels got soaked from the rain a couple of days ago. Once it dries out, it'll be fine," Liu Jianjun said nonchalantly.

Li Xian admired Liu Jianjun's personality of not caring about other people's opinions and asked, "How do you manage to be so calm and composed?"

Liu Jianjun replied to him like this: "Just don't take yourself too seriously. You don't actually have that many spectators in your life, you see!"

As he spoke, Liu Jianjun pointed to the pedestrians on the street, “There’s a guy over there with goiter. Isn’t he more noticeable than us? He’s haggling with the vendors, but is anyone watching him? And look over there, there’s a handsome young man. Look at his arms, they’re empty. Would you have noticed him if I hadn’t pointed it out to you?”

"Compared to them, we're pretty normal. It's just the wheels making noise here!"

Li Xian felt much more cheerful after listening to Liu Jianjun's words.

"Alright, we've arrived at the governor's mansion. This time, let's go in together." Liu Jianjun stopped.

The two were already in front of the governor's mansion.

……

(End of this chapter)