The Thief Prince

Seeing that Beigong Jun was about to get angry again, Wu Anqing quickly explained, "Brother, you don't know this, but you are indeed of royal blood. You were framed by treacherous officials and ended up here."

Bei Gongjun frowned and said, "Words are meaningless; how can I believe them? And yet you claim to belong to which branch of the royal family?"

Wu Anqing hesitated for a moment, glanced at Li Zheng, and the latter nodded slightly.

After obtaining Li Zheng's consent, Wu Anqing whispered, "It is indeed the lineage of Prince Chen."

"Oh, so that's it..." Bei Gongjun's eyes widened. "Wait! Didn't Prince Chen just ascend the throne? Then wouldn't he...?"

Wu Anqing quickly covered his mouth, glanced around rapidly, and whispered sternly, "Shut up! Is this something you can shout about?"

Bei Gongjun pulled his hand away and looked at Li Zheng in disbelief: "Are you His Highness the Crown Prince?"

Li Zheng nodded.

"Nonsense! How could a prince of noble birth be reduced to the ranks of commoners?"

Li Zheng sighed, stepped forward and patted Wu Anqing on the shoulder: "Let me explain."

He recounted how he was hunted down by the Zhao family, how he entered Black Wind Stronghold, and how he eventually ended up on Liangshan Mountain.

Bei Gongjun's expression changed several times as he listened, but he remained skeptical.

However, there was no flaw in Li Zheng's words, and with Wu Anqing corroborating the story, the more he looked at Li Zheng's features, the more similar they seemed.

Bei Gongjun was somewhat convinced, and then flew into a rage: "How dare the Zhao family be so rebellious! They deserve to die!"

"I will accompany Your Highness back to the capital and expose that traitor before the Emperor. We will bring justice to Your Highness!"

Li Zheng shook his head and said, "Let alone how difficult it is to meet Father Emperor in the capital, even if we do meet him and successfully enter the Eastern Palace, is it necessarily a good thing?"

Bei Gongjun was taken aback: "What does Your Highness mean by this?"

Li Zheng said, "The Zhao family is Father Emperor's only confidant, yet they were able to do such a thing. This shows Father Emperor's current situation; he probably doesn't have any real power left."

"If I enter the capital, without military power, without any allies, and without my father's protection, do you think the consequences will be?"

Bei Gongjun opened his mouth, then hesitated, saying, "But Your Highness is still the Crown Prince, which is better than now..."

"Just a prince, what's so interesting about him?" Li Zheng's face was full of disdain. "I think it's much more fun to be a bandit!"

Bei Gongjun asked in astonishment, "Your Highness... doesn't want to be the Crown Prince?"

Li Zheng countered, "Why should I think about it?"

Upon hearing this, Bei Gongjun was at a loss for words.

He and Wu Anqing stayed with Prince Liang until the very end, and witnessed firsthand how crazy those princes could become for the throne.

The court is rife with intrigue and backstabbing, and the people outside the court are constantly scheming and deceitful. This is already considered honest.

In the final moments, they resorted to poisoning, hiring assassins, and framing each other, turning brothers into mortal enemies.

But at this moment, the real prince in front of him told him that he did not want to be the prince.

Seeing his silence, Li Zheng pointed in the direction of the capital and said, "The current situation of the court is like a cesspool. If I want to go back, I will have to go through all kinds of hardships and even risk my life."

"What will we gain by paying such a price to go back? Just to snatch a mouthful of shit?"

Upon hearing Li Zheng's analogy, Bei Gongjun was completely dumbfounded.

He was taught to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country from elementary school, and after joining the army, he was instilled with the idea of ​​loyalty to the imperial power.

But at this moment, the royal prince to whom he should be loyal is comparing imperial power to a pile of shit.

Li Zheng grabbed Bei Gongjun's hand and laughed, "Alright, let's not talk about these boring things anymore. Brother Bei Gong, come with me to meet the other brothers."

"Although I am no longer the crown prince, I am now the undisputed master of the mountain stronghold."

"If you come with me, you won't have the merit of following the emperor, but you can drink wine from large bowls and eat meat in large chunks. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Bei Gongjun hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "Your Highness... I cannot go with you yet."

Li Zheng's smile froze, and his heart skipped a beat, almost shattering into eight pieces.

Wu Anqing knew that his old friend was too upright and never knew how to be flexible.

It's only natural to feel overwhelmed and unable to accept it immediately.

So he quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Brother, Brother Beigong's mother just passed away, and he is on his way home for the funeral."

Bei Gongjun nodded, lowered his eyes, and said, "I haven't been able to fulfill my filial duties at home all these years. If I don't go back now, wouldn't I become an unfilial person?"

Li Zheng was also helpless upon hearing this. Although he was reluctant to part with this fierce general, he also knew that filial piety was of paramount importance in this day and age.

It's true that his mother has passed away; if I were to insist on keeping him here, it would seem heartless.

So he forced a smile and said, "Then I must come along to Liangshan, have a drink with the brothers, and get acquainted with the place... Surely you won't even agree to that?"

Bei Gongjun did not refuse and nodded in agreement.

Li Zheng calmed down a bit. As long as he was willing to come with me, he wasn't afraid that he would run away!

Just as the three were about to mount their horses, Li Zheng suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh dear! I almost forgot about something important!"

Amidst the two men's puzzled gazes, he strode to Wang Jing's corpse, bent down to pick up the large axe, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

Although he had the lance, his axe skills were also his forte, and he couldn't let them go to waste.

Having not been able to acquire a suitable weapon before, this axe looks extraordinary, so I naturally intend to take it.

Li Zheng swung the axe a couple of times, but then felt something was off.

This axe was about nine feet long. It was originally a long-handled weapon, but the axe was so big and heavy that the weight was all on the head, making it very awkward to use.

He turned the axe handle over and looked at it, and sure enough, he found a fine stitching mark in the middle of the handle.

So he gripped both ends of the axe handle with both hands, exerted a sudden force, and the long handle broke in two, becoming a two-handed axe.

He discarded the long half of the handle, and when he swung it again with the short half, it felt much easier to handle.

Li Zheng squatted down again and searched Wang Jing from head to toe to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

Then, under the horrified gazes of Bei Gongjun and Wu Anqing, he raised his axe and chopped off Wang Jing's head, tying it to his waist.

It would be easy for this thief to die, but I can't let him live in peace!

He picked up Wang Jing's horse, turned back to the two of them and grinned, "Alright, we can go now."

Wu Anqing was already familiar with his prince's style, but this was the first time Bei Gongjun had heard it.

With his eyes wide open and mouth agape, he took a long time to come to his senses before silently mounting his horse.

When the three returned to the foot of Niutou Mountain, they could see corpses lying on the mountain path in the distance, and the flag of Black Wind Village had been planted on the Taoist temple.

Zhang Yin, Yan Yun, and the others were anxiously waiting at the crossroads. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Li Zheng return safely and came over to greet him.

Li Zheng nodded to them and waved to Li Bao, who was helping to move the body in the distance: "Come on."

A Li Bao car drove up, startling Wu Yun so much that he snorted twice and stomped his hooves a few steps.

Li Zheng handed over the two-handed axe: "Brother, here's a weapon for you."

Li Bao glanced at the axe and shook his head: "I don't use weapons."

Given Li Bao's size and impact force, weapons are indeed unnecessary.

Once I put on heavy armor in the future, I'll be like a human-sized Luck Star when I run; anyone who touches me will be sent flying.

Li Zheng laughed and said, "It's not for you to use. You carry it for your brother, and I'll ask you for it when I need it."

Li Bao nodded and took the axe: "Alright then."

The broad axe looked small in his hands, like a toy.

Li Zheng laughed heartily and led everyone up the mountain.