Chapter 5: Crown Prince Part 3

“The march is grueling; you might not endure it. Here in Yinchuan, at least you’re safe.”

Sa Luan fell silent.

Xiao Kun thought, then added, “I also learned your cousin Shu Lie lives, in Dashi’s army.”

“Shu Lie marches with him; so can I!”

Xiao Kun did not reply. He knew Sa Luan could not bear much hardship, and Sa Luan knew it too. After a hasty meal, he wiped his hands.

“While I was away, did you go out?” Xiao Kun asked.

“No.” Sa Luan lied without thinking. “Didn’t you tell me not to go anywhere?”

Xiao Kun did not get angry, just nodded. “Later, I’ll take you around the city.”

“Great!” Sa Luan said. “I want to browse the market, hear tunes at the tavern.”

Servants cleared the table; it was Xiao Kun’s turn for breakfast.

Sa Luan looked bored and weary, eyeing Xiao Kun now and then. Xiao Kun was ravenous; last night a few dim sum, before that a flatbread from Xiang Xian. Outwardly calm and steady, inwardly impatient—especially on errands—he often neglected himself, wandering hungry one meal, stuffed the next.

“No rush,” Sa Luan said humanely for once. “You’ve been locked up so many days anyway. Someone, have the kitchen send more food.”

Xiao Kun ate enough for three, staying slim despite it. Sated at last, Sa Luan called for tea. After tea, Xiao Kun saddled horses outside and left the Hong Mansion with Sa Luan to stroll the city and pass time.

The sun climbed high; Yinchuan bustled anew. In the past year, masses of Liao People flooded Western Xia to flee war. They sold heirlooms at markets for coin; on one side, even Liao People sold themselves into slavery—to bury kin or feed mouths—offering at the slave market.

Sa Luan ignored his enslaved clansmen, picking trifling ornaments and gems at the market. Xiao Kun let him spend; the kingdom fallen, spend if he wished.

What am I even doing? Xiao Kun suddenly felt profound unreality. Shuhu’s Prophecy had shattered his confidence. The fall of Liao was heaven’s mandate; what path lay ahead? Last night he consoled himself: Dynasties fall, men die—must all beings cease living?

What purpose in coming to this world?

“Xiao Kun!” Sa Luan called out several times before Xiao Kun snapped back to his senses.

“Don’t buy slaves,” Xiao Kun reminded him in a low voice. “Even if they’re all our countrymen, you can save one, but not all of them.”

Sa Luan had taken a liking to a Liao woman. At that moment, her clothes were in tatters as she sold herself to bury her mother. Though her face was covered in dust, it could not hide her delicate beauty.

Xiao Kun felt extremely uncomfortable staying in the slave market. He could not bear to face his fellow clansmen being sold like commodities. A sense of humiliation completely overwhelmed him, making him want to leave as quickly as possible. Sa Luan, however, acted as if it were no big deal. After all, back in Shangjing, whether they were of the same race or not, they were all slaves to him. To him, aside from the Yelu Family, the Xiao Family, and the Han Family as “masters,” everyone else made no difference.

Xiao Kun could only hope that the buyers of these slaves would treat them kindly.

After leaving the slave market, Sa Luan found a place to eat lunch. He pulled out something he had bought earlier at the market and tossed it to Xiao Kun across from him.

Xiao Kun caught it with his hand. It was a small dragon carved from stone.

“A gift for you,” Sa Luan said casually. He removed his cloak and summoned performers to play music and sing as he drank and made merry.

“The Great Liao is in peril,” Xiao Kun said. “Yinchuan City is a den of snakes and dragons. Sa Luan, you must be extra cautious and not trust others lightly.”

Sa Luan’s gaze drifted uncertainly.

Xiao Kun stared into Sa Luan’s eyes but did not wish to read his mind. He knew that in this world, people’s hearts were the hardest to understand. There were some thoughts he would rather not know—seeing through Sa Luan’s heart would only hurt him.

The Xiao Family had been the loyal guardians of the Yelu Family. Even over a hundred years after the death of the world-renowned Empress Dowager Xiao Chuo, the Xiao clan still enjoyed boundless favor and held the highest positions. The Han Family and Xiao Family had once shared power in the Great Liao equally, until Emperor Daozong Yelu Hongji took the throne. Like many great clans in history, the Xiao Family gradually declined.

Xiao Kun still upheld his debt to the Yelu clan. During the reign of the Previous Emperor Yelu Hongji, he had shown him great care. When Xiao Kun was born, he had no father to claim, and with his skin a deep indigo and eyes gray-blue, his maternal grandfather saw him as a demon incarnate.

As an infant, he had nearly been forcibly taken from his mother and drowned in a pond. Fortunately, the Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji ordered that his life be spared.

Not only did Yelu Hongji save Xiao Kun’s life, but he also granted him his mother’s clan surname and ordered his grandfather to treat him well. Only then did he escape disaster and survive.

Xiao Kun had no memory of Yelu Hongji, for the emperor who saved his life had passed away while he was still in swaddling clothes. His mother constantly taught him that for the rest of his life, he must serve the Yelu Family loyally, because his life had been given by Yelu Hongji.

He had faithfully carried out this life’s mission. When Shangjing fell, he rescued the bloodline of the Yelu clan.

The ministers did not understand why Yelu Yanxi favored his second son Sa Luan and wanted to make him the Crown Prince. Perhaps the Liao Kingdom needed a Crown Prince with a tough temperament? Sa Luan was not suited to be emperor—his temper was too poor. Even if he restored the kingdom, he would be a muddled ruler. Xiao Kun knew this all too well. He had hoped that the fall of the nation would awaken Sa Luan, prompt him to change, and he observed those changes.

But from the current situation, after enduring countless hardships and wandering, Sa Luan had only become somewhat more restrained.

What should I do? For days, Xiao Kun had been pondering this question. If his only duty was to care for Sa Luan, he could act freely, taking him from country to country in search of a chance to restore the kingdom. However, the heavy burden on his shoulders also included the Heavenly Demon Rebirth. He could not linger in Yinchuan for long; he had to find a way to ally with the Southern Exorcism Division and seek a method to seal the Heavenly Demon.

Otherwise, it would not just be the Liao Kingdom—the common people of the entire world would face great calamity.