The Adventures of the Crying Princess

Kyoto, West Street Steamed Bun Shop

"Have you heard? The little princess of Prince Mu's Mansion has been kidnapped." The young man selling buns fiddled with the steamer and lowered his voice as he moved closer to "Huang Banxian".

This "Huang Banxian" was a well-known liar in the capital, specializing in defrauding the elderly, children, women and children. No one in the neighborhood wanted to pay attention to him, except this bun seller.

"Da Mao, your buns are too salty today."

"Huang Banxian" curled his lips and returned the bun with a bite taken out of it to the boy.

"Master Huang, please don't be like this. Please help me tell my fortune and see if it is possible for me to find this little princess. If it is possible, I won't have to worry about the rest of my life."

Huang Banxian seemed to have expected what Da Mao would say. He counted on his fingers in a pretentious manner, took out the tortoise shell and fiddled with it, then shook his head, "It's not easy!"

"I understand this, Mr. Huang. I'll take care of your buns this year. Plus this, do you think it's enough?" Damao took out another string of copper coins and stuffed them into the hands of "Huang Banxian".

Huang Banxian shook the copper coins and said in amazement, "If this thing succeeds, you will be a county horse, and you will be able to live a life of luxury. Are you sending me away with just a few coins?"

Damao lowered his head and fiddled with the few copper coins he had left, as if he was thinking about something.

Bai Yimeng looked over here curiously, and seeing that "Huang Daxian" was a liar, he couldn't help but speak, "Boss, you treat us to a meal of buns, and I will help you find the little princess, okay? As for whether you are a county horse, we can't control it. What do you think?"

When “Huang Banxian” saw someone messing up the place, his face instantly turned pale, “You little bastard, who the hell do you think you are? How dare you boast that you can find the little princess?

If you really have such ability, how come you are in such a mess? You can't even afford a full meal. I think you are a liar. "

Bai Yimeng did not make any excuses, but pulled his master to sit down, "Take out the steamed buns I just bought from next door, and start eating them."

"You poor bastard, you dare to pretend to be a hero, bah!" Seeing that Bai Yimeng did not defend himself, "Huang Banxian" became more and more rampant and walked forward, "You stinky beggar, get out of here, don't hinder others from doing business here."

Longgu Master pretended not to hear and continued to eat his bun. Bai Yimeng glanced at him and swallowed the bun in his mouth. "Let's play a game. If you win, I will admit defeat and apologize to you in public. I shouldn't have ruined your show."

If you lose, this stall will belong to me from today, and you can leave the capital from now on, how about that? "

"Hehe, you little brat, your hair isn't even fully grown yet, how dare you compete with me?" "Huang Banxian" cursed and used foul language.

"Huang Banxian" obviously didn't realize that Bai Yimeng was playing a trick on him. He even emphasized indignantly that Bai Yimeng was young.

“Don’t talk useless things. Just tell me whether you dare or not?” Seeing that more and more people were watching, Bai Yimeng stuffed all the steamed buns into his mouth, chewed them randomly, and swallowed them.

Dragon Valley Master gently tugged at the corner of Bai Yimeng's clothes and asked in a low voice, "My dear, I don't remember teaching you divination and fortune-telling."

"Master, do I need to be taught how to lie?"

Longgu Master swallowed his saliva, as if he was frightened by Bai Yimeng's words. He finished his bun silently and stood in the crowd, pretending to be familiar with this person.

Most of the onlookers were local people, who had been fooled by "Huang Banxian" before. Seeing a boy coming to compete with Huang Banxian, they became interested. They didn't care who won or lost, they just wanted to watch the fun.

As more and more people gathered, Bai Yimeng felt that the time was right. "Why don't you dare? Are you afraid? Are you afraid of losing to me and losing face?"

The onlookers followed the principle of watching the fun and not being afraid of big trouble, and joined in the commotion.

"Huang Banxian, don't be afraid of this young boy. I don't believe that I can't beat him."

"If you ask me, a monk from far away can chant sutras. This kid doesn't look like a local. Maybe he is a fairy boy from some famous mountain."

"Go away, what fairy child? I think our Huang Banxian is more powerful. I don't believe that Huang Banxian can't beat a child when compared with him."

The crowd was talking at once. Those who supported Huang Banxian and those who supported Bai Yimeng were almost evenly split, and soon a round of betting began.

The organizer turned out to be the Dragon Valley Master. He got a gong from somewhere and started banging it and shouting, "Place your bets now. The more you bet, the more you win. Don't miss this opportunity. Once you lose it, it will never come back."

Huang Banxian's face turned pale, "What do you think we should bet on, kid?"

"Let's bet on who can send the other to the Ministry of Justice jail first?" Bai Yimeng smiled secretly, looking confident.

"You fool me?"

Without waiting for "Huang Banxian" to react, Bai Yimeng shouted to the patrol team not far away, "Sir, catch the spy."

These days, soldiers don’t care about anything else but being spies. If they hear the word “spy”, they will definitely “take good care of” the person.

If for no other reason than to get bonus and commission, he should be brought back for interrogation. Maybe he can get a promotion and make a fortune?

Soon the patrol team came over, "What's going on?"

"Sir, this man set up a gambling game in the street. I suspect he is a spy from the enemy country. In order to gather information..." Bai Yimeng pretended to lie down and whispered a few words in the soldier's ear.

The soldier looked at Huang Banxian with a cold face, and was discouraged. "This is Huang Banxian, don't you know him? He is crazy and talks nonsense all day long, you will get used to it."

"Sir, that's why this man is suspicious. He looks crazy, what if he's pretending..."

Huang Banxian quickly defended himself, "Sir, please don't listen to his nonsense. I am a good citizen. I am doing business here honestly. I don't know where this man came from and came here to slander me... Sir, please help me!"

The soldier looked at Bai Yimeng and shook his head for a while, "How come I have never seen you before?"

"I am from Lijia Village, and my nickname is Ergouzi. My home is far away and I seldom go into the city. It is normal that the officer does not recognize me." Bai Yimeng was originally from the capital. He explained the situation in the capital in front of the soldiers, who nodded repeatedly.

Seeing that the soldier believed his lies, Bai Yi once again accused "Huang Banxian", "Sir, you don't know, this man's behavior is too suspicious. He is just like the spy in our village before. He pretends to be crazy and stupid to deceive women and children."

At first we didn’t believe he was a spy, but later…”

The spy from Lijia Village was arrested half a month ago, and this matter has long been no secret.

The soldier nodded slightly upon hearing this, and once again examined "Huang Banxian". He sneered for a while, "Even if you are not a spy, you are not a good person either. How many villagers have you cheated in the whole year?"

Bai Yimeng saw this and immediately added fuel to the fire, "Your Excellency is right. The crazier this person is, the more suspicious he is. Spies are always good at lying.

Think about it, how could this Huang Banxian, who only relies on cheating people all year round, eat so much fat? Unless... someone sponsors him, this stall is not his at all. Maybe someone gave him a courtesy to be a contact point here..."

The soldier seemed to be confused by Bai Yimeng's words, but after thinking about it, it seemed to make sense. This "Huang Banxian" didn't have many orders a day, so he should have been starving to death. But now he is bloated and living a comfortable life.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. The soldier waved his hand behind him and said, "Please go back."

"Sir, you can't do this. I am a good citizen..." "Huang Daxian" panicked and made excuses again and again.

Bai Yimeng watched "Huang Banxian" leave, raised his eyes to the sky, and silently said in his heart: Father, mother, eldest brother, second brother, third brother, did you see it? The man who spread rumors and caused our entire family to be executed has been arrested. Don't worry, I will overturn the verdict for our Bai family.