Chapter 62 - The Hidden Prince
The bloodied middle-aged man was Cui's father, Great General Shu. He was a true prodigy and became General at the age of fifty and a Great General at 80 years of age. He was a shining star in the surrounding kingdoms and had millions of followers, mostly women.
His story wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Born to a rich merchant family and he grew up along with the then crown prince. They fought many battles together and became very close. The crown prince fell in love with his sister and got married. He later ascended the throne and had only one child, Wei.
Shu was an honest man. Even though most people wouldn't be able to connect with him since he grew up in comfort without facing any real challenges, but he never let it affect his behavior. He was kind and gentle with his subordinates and cherished friendship.
He met General Li in one of the many get-togethers the different kingdoms organized to show-off their geniuses. They fought against one another and General Li liked his personality so much that he went out of his way to make friends with him.
When General Li's wife was attacked and he went to fight against the King who had set the bounty on her, Shu went against the orders given by his king/brother-in-law and fought with General Li until he returned home.
Nobody knew about this because General Shu hid his identity and the matter was later buried by the Kingdoms themselves. They only released a "version" of the true events so as to warn any future scum to not attack the other parties family and loved ones. There must always be rules of engagement otherwise it would be a total lawless bloodbath.
Shu laughed and said, "why don't you let me go and we can be friends as well then?"
The teenager smiled in response as well, "I would do so in a heartbeat if you agree to come with me. The deal we have with the minister will be rendered null and void. We will even help you get the throne back. All you have to do is lend us a hand when we need it."
"Hahahaha, so you just want to control the throne from the shadows? If you know anything about me then you should know what I'm about to say yes?" Shu laughed and looked the teenager in the eyes.
"You're right. It would be going against your beliefs if you actually agreed to these terms. I'm sorry," the teenager slightly bowed his head as if actually asking for forgiveness.
"What's your name?" Shu asked after a few seconds of silence.
"My father didn't give me one. He always felt so bad for what had to be done that he let me choose my own name. He said, "It's the least I can do." What do you think would be a good name? I'm open to suggestions," the teenager asked slightly tilting his head sideways, in deep thought.
"Hmm, How about Jiang Ling? If I had a son, he would have been called Ling. It's not a bad name," Shu thoughtfully answered, taking his kidnappers dilemma to heart. "Poor kid, doesn't even have a given name," Shu actually felt sorry for him.
"Jiang Ling, Jiang Ling, I like it! It just rolls off the tongue so easily. What does it mean?" the boy sat up straight in his chair and asked with excitement.
"Well, it would mean something along the lines of "Great Spiritual World", more or less."
"I'll take it! And it sounds similar to my Jia so that's a plus."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Jiang Ling, how do you do?" Shu asked in a joking manner but the boy was so excited that he completely ignored his tone and stood up, puffed out his chest and said, "Hello, my name is Jiang Ling," with a huge grin.
"Holy shit, I feel like I just deceived a child. Why does this feel so bad?" Shu thought inwardly while shaking his head. He was just trying to get some information out of him and connect with him at an emotional level but this just got way too weird.
"Hahaha, thanks old man. Ask, ask anything you want! I'm in a great mood so I will answer one question," Jiang Ling lifted his index finger and said with a smile.
"O-Okay, well, tell me about yourself then. What's your story?" caught off-guard Shu could only think of one thing.
"Oh, just that? Alright. As you guessed already, the current crown prince of Jia is my brother, my twin brother. Several hundred thousand years ago there was a bloodbath in the kingdom when two princes fought for the throne. Many great warriors perished and the Jia kingdom fell from a Grade 1 power to Grade 2. Ever since then it was decided that there must only ever be one contestant for the throne. That way any other similar situations can be avoided. The kingdom doesn't get divided and stays strong." Jiang Ling started talking excitedly but slowly calmed down.
"If there was more than one boy then the oldest would be the crown prince and the others would be killed off. But my father loved both of us equally and couldn't go through with it. He chose my older brother as the crown prince and gave him the name Jia Heng and basically left me to my own devices."
"Obviously, I couldn't go around telling everyone that I was a prince so I acted as his bodyguard. But because we are identical, I had to wear a mask and have my face covered at all times. It honestly sounds worse than it is."
"Although I didn't get the same treatment as my brother, both my parents still loved me dearly. Mother always cries whenever she sees me and wishes she could make it better. Brother although acts tough in front of other people, I know him too well. He always takes care of me and sends me weapons and random gifts. And now thanks to you I have a name that I like so everything is perfect," he finished with a resplendent smile on his face.. He looked like a normal teenage boy at that second.