Chapter 22: Easier to Climb Up Than to Come Down

"You finally made it! I thought you weren't coming and I'd have to go alone. Hey... who is he?"

Zhu Hao quickly walked over to meet them, his face filled with complaints as he glanced at the youth. His peripheral vision swept over the small child trailing behind, who looked clever but had a bit of a runny nose.

The youth replied as if it were only natural, "Bringing a helper along when going out—there's no problem with having a follower, is there?"

Zhu Hao put on a reluctant expression and frowned. "We agreed to split the catch by headcount. How does this work? The two of you can only count as one share."

Before the youth could haggle with Zhu Hao, the child behind her grabbed her sleeve and pulled her a short distance away. After checking the surroundings warily, the child whispered, "Third Sister, let's just go back. Father won't let us out; he said it's very dangerous outside."

The little one was honest, or perhaps simply inexperienced with outsiders. This single sentence alone made Zhu Hao feel as if he had discovered a treasure.

Could this child be... the future Emperor of the Great Ming, Zhu Houcong?

"We agreed: once we're out, you listen to me. Also, you mustn't call me Third Sister; call me Third Brother. And don't go blabbing when we get back. If you do that, I'll give you half of the rabbits we catch."

After instructing his younger brother, the youth turned back to Zhu Hao. "There are two of us, and we're putting in more effort, so how can we only get half? That's not fair."

"Yeah, not fair!"

The child, who had just been arguing with his sister about returning to the Prince's residence, had already begun to side with her.

Zhu Hao said, "But I'm the one putting in the most effort. I found the location, and I only invited you along because I thought you'd treat the rabbits well. Why are you being so unreasonable?"

The child immediately turned to his sister. "What he says actually makes sense. We wouldn't even know how to catch rabbits on our own."

"Hey, whose side are you on?" The youth glared at his younger brother.

The child scratched his head, clearly unskilled at bargaining. It wasn't that the boy lacked communication skills—plenty of people in the Prince's residence could talk to him—but he had absolutely no experience in interacting with strangers on equal footing, especially when it involved conflicting interests.

Zhu Hao interjected, "If we don't leave now, it'll be too late. Once it cools down, the rabbits will come out to forage... How about this? If we catch the rabbits, I'll give you one or two extra. How's that?"

"Deal!"

The youth seemed to realize she was in the wrong. If she insisted on an extra share for the extra person and the other party refused to take them along, it would be a wasted trip.

"We're heading out of the city and need to be back before dark. Is everything fine at home for the two of you?" Zhu Hao asked, testing them.

The youth held her head high. "No problem."

The child hesitated. "If we're leaving the city..."

"You brat, you're just here to help me. If you want to go back, leave now. I won't stop you, but you'll never have another chance to leave the city again... Are you coming or not?" As the elder sister, the youth was very assertive and knew exactly how to handle her brother; a single threat made him shut his mouth.

...

The three children set off on the road out of the city.

Zhu Hao knew that what he was doing was extremely risky. If the child was truly Zhu Houcong and something happened to him on the way, the history of China would be rewritten. If it became known that he had lured the inhabitants of the Prince's residence out of the city, he would surely face dire consequences.

But fortune favors the bold.

Thinking of being taken back to the Zhu family and living a life of perpetual darkness, these two children... they were worth utilizing.

The three of them successfully passed through the city gates with the crowd. On the way, Zhu Hao tried to ask for their names.

"Why are you asking so much? Do you have some ulterior motive?" The youth was very alert.

Zhu Hao retorted, "People need names. I'm Zhu Hao. Since you won't reveal your names, I'll just call you 'Big A' and 'Big B'."

The youth frowned. "Big A and Big B? Such an ugly name... are you calling us dogs?"

"Third... Brother, one of the dogs kept by the guards in the outer courtyard seems to be named Big A. It's very fierce." The child couldn't help but undermine his sister.

The youth scolded, "Shut up!"

The child immediately became a well-behaved follower.

The youth turned to glare at Zhu Hao. "How much further?"

"We'll be there after walking a mile or two outside the city. You aren't that out of shape, are you, to complain after just this much walking... what's-your-name?" Zhu Hao looked over with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

The youth was furious. "Who did you hear complaining? Besides, we have names. You can call me Zhu San and him Zhu Si."

Zhu Hao felt even more certain of their identities.

"Oh, so you're my kin... Zhu San and Zhu Si, they don't sound much better than Big A and Big B," Zhu Hao muttered loudly on purpose.

Zhu San scoffed, "Who is your kin? Your 'Zhu' is the 'Zhu' of a mountain boar or wild pig; it can't compare to ours."

This was the pride and arrogance of the nobility. Looking down on commoners—there was a hint of class discrimination there.

"Also, stop adding that 'Big' prefix. Just use our names. Are we going or not? We agreed to catch rabbits, don't let it get dark before we even arrive!"

...

The trio finally reached their destination after half an hour.

On the way, Zhu Hao had tried to ask about the identity of "Mr. Lu," but it was clear that Zhu San didn't know much either. She said that Master Sui had told her that this man's poetry and painting were peerless in the world, and that was all.

Before them lay a stretch of woods near South Lake, about half a mile from the main road. Few people came here, and once they were deep in the woods, it was deathly silent, save for the "coo-coo" of birds. After walking for about fifteen minutes, a small hill appeared, no more than a hundred meters high.

Zhu Hao quickened his pace, reaching the hillside in no time. He stood on a large, protruding rock and looked back at Anlu City. Under the sunlight, the ancient city looked indescribably majestic.

Zhu San urged him from behind, "We're almost there, why are you dragging your feet?"

"Third Brother, it's so dangerous here. Will there be wolves?" Zhu Si looked at the dense bushes surrounding the mountain path and asked nervously.

Zhu Hao jumped down from the rock. "We're not far from the main road; there can't be any wolves..."

Just as Zhu Si let out a breath of relief, Zhu Hao added, "Though there are plenty of snakes in the summer."

Zhu San's face changed immediately, while Zhu Si looked clueless and asked curiously, "Like the snake in the 'Farmer and the Viper'? Where can we see one?"

The implication being that the little guy had never seen a snake and wanted to have a look.

Zhu San scolded, "Are you stupid? Snakes are dangerous things! One bite could cost you your life. You might have the life to see one, but not the life to return home!"

Scolded by his sister, Zhu Si stood there sullenly, not saying a word. It seemed he was truly angry.

Children had tempers, too; at their age, who liked being lectured all the time?

Zhu Hao waved from the front. "Let's go, let's go. The rabbit warren is just ahead, and the rabbit trails are nearby. Everyone, be careful..."

Zhu San asked, "What are rabbit trails?"

"They're the paths the rabbits usually take... When they come out to forage, they are very careful and usually follow fixed routes. If these routes are disturbed or if they smell other animals, they become alert and won't take that path again, or they might even move their nest."

Zhu Hao used the knowledge he had to fool the two children, and it worked perfectly.

"Oh." Zhu San nodded, showing she understood.

Zhu Si looked on with envy, finding it incredible that Zhu Hao knew so many things.

...

There were no native rabbits on the hill, and there were no rabbit trails; all the traces were faked by Zhu Hao.

He had been running outside the city frequently to check on the salt pans. After earning his doctorate in literature in his previous life, he had studied history for a time. Before becoming a doctoral advisor at the university, he had worked at the Beijing Institute of Cultural Relics and possessed a natural sensitivity to geography. He was excellent at researching and summarizing, and he had long since mastered the terrain and topography outside Anlu Prefecture—the layout of the mountains and rivers, the acidity and alkalinity of the soil, and so on.

There was a rabbit nest at the top of the hill, which Zhu Hao had bought from a hunter with his own money, and the "rabbit trails" were tracks he had laid down himself.

Even an expert would find it hard to pick out any flaws, let alone two children who knew nothing.

"Be careful. There's a pond on the left side of the path ahead. Don't go near it; the terrain is a bit steep there. You must follow my footsteps..." Zhu Hao suddenly stopped to warn them.

Zhu San leaned out to look to the front left. "Ah, the water is so blue; it must be very deep... None of us know how to swim, do we? Fourth Brother, don't go near it."

"Oh," Zhu Si replied.

Zhu Hao pointed to a steep, winding slope about six or seven meters high next to the pond. "We'll go up from there."

Zhu San looked up and felt discouraged. "That looks so dangerous... will we slip and fall into the pond?"

Zhu Hao replied impatiently, "It's a bit steep, but the path is wide, and there's grass to hold onto. What are you afraid of? I'll lead the way, and you just follow what I do."

Zhu Hao took the lead. The two siblings looked at each other and then followed on tiptoe.

The trio carefully climbed the slope. Halfway up, Zhu Hao reached out to pull Zhu San, but she didn't appreciate the gesture. Zhu Si, however, was much more sensible and proactively reached out to let Zhu Hao pull him up.

Once they reached the high ground, Zhu Hao pointed below. "I told you it wasn't dangerous. I've heard of a sport called rock climbing, where people actually enjoy climbing steep slopes."

"Nonsense, who would torture themselves like that... It's so high. Let's go, let's go! Where are the rabbits?"

Zhu San looked down. It wasn't actually that high, but because she was young and short, the path looked exceptionally treacherous.

Zhu Hao led them to the "rabbit nest."

"Be careful, they're right nearby." Zhu Hao pointed to the grass. "I'll go up and check first. The bunnies are in the grass. If the mother rabbit finds us, she'll take the bunnies away."

Zhu Si lowered his head. "Is it really okay for us to steal the bunnies? The bunny daddy and bunny mommy will be sad..."

Zhu San was confused. "Why don't we just catch the big rabbits too?"

Zhu Hao said in a helpless tone, "Do you think the big rabbits are that easy to catch? When we describe someone running fast, we say they're like a rabbit... Have you ever heard of 'moving like a fleeing rabbit'? How are we supposed to catch them?"

"Traps," Zhu San suggested, her mind quick.

Zhu Hao said, "If you set traps at the entrance of a rabbit's nest, they'll just move the whole family away once they notice. Why are you so stubborn?"

"Who are you calling stubborn?"

Before they had even caught a single rabbit, the two started arguing.

Zhu Si, standing to the side, was anxious. "Can you... can you stop arguing? Don't startle the rabbit daddy and mommy, and just take the bunnies!"

Zhu Hao and Zhu San immediately fell silent.

They crept carefully toward the "nest." Zhu Hao pulled back the grass, and sure enough, there were seven bunnies huddled together in the nest made of withered grass, shivering—they didn't even seem to be weaned yet.

Zhu Si was about to reach out and grab one when Zhu San reminded him, "Hey, Zhu Hao, since it's so easy to catch them, why didn't you do it yourself? Why did you bring us along?"

Zhu Hao said, "I told you, if I take them all back, I can't raise them. You have to take them back and raise them. Once they grow up and have their own babies, just give me two."

Zhu Si, ignoring Zhu San's protests, picked up a bunny and cradled it in his arms. He stroked the rabbit's snow-white back, looking delighted. "Wow, so cute."

Zhu Hao said, "There are seven rabbits in total. I'll take three, you take four. That's fair, right? Let's split them up now and get down the mountain quickly. If we're late, the city gates might be closed."

"Deal!"

The three of them split the loot on the spot.

Each of the seven rabbits now had an owner. Zhu Hao took out a piece of cloth, tied the four corners together to make a bundle, put his rabbits inside, and gave the rest to the siblings.

Zhu Hao pointed to the path they had come from. "Go back down the same way. Do you want to go first or should I? ...Forget it, you go first, and I'll follow. If there's any danger, I can give you a hand."