Chapter 444: Call Me Brother Jingzhou
The moment she put on her socks, Feng Ling was about to put on her shoes when in the next second, her waist was hugged and her body was carried to sit on his lap.
“Ah!” Feng Ling was shocked and subconsciously wanted to push him.
At this moment, the king whispered into her ear in a hoarse voice, “Xiao Ling’er, call me Brother Jingzhou. You used to call me that when we were young. Why aren’t you calling me that now?”
Feng Ling’s hand suddenly froze.
She had indeed called him that often when she was young, but ever since she started coming into contact with books and read too many books, she became embarrassed to call him that again after knowing the courtesy and integrity a woman should have.
At most, she would call him by his name. Most of the time, she would call him ‘Your Majesty’ like the others.
Seeing that Feng Ling was stunned, the king continued to whisper in her ear, “Not only did you stop calling me Brother Jingzhou, but you also secretly liked other men. How do you think I should punish you?”
Hearing these jealous words, Feng Ling’s expression changed again. She looked at the handsome face in front of her and suddenly thought of the strange novel she had read. She made up her mind and pressed her lips against his.
The king was a little surprised and didn’t move for a moment.
Feng Ling was determined to try that method and had no other thoughts in her mind.
Seeing that the king wasn’t moving, she increased her strength.
The king supported her back with his palm and led her quietly.
…
Just as Feng Ling was about to ruthlessly pull out his belt, there was a knock on the door.
In the next second, she suddenly pushed the king away and jumped off his lap.
A sharp murderous aura instantly erupted from the king’s body, and his expression was as dark as ink.
He stood up and strode to the door, his tone as if he wanted to eat the person outside.
“You better report something very important.”
The person opposite the king was obviously frightened by his current expression. Feng Ling heard him answer in a trembling voice. “Your Majesty, there’s news from Green River County in the Heavenly River State. More than 30 young and strong men have disappeared over there for three consecutive days.”
When she heard this, Feng Ling quickly walked over and asked first, “Did anyone send someone to look for them?”
When the person outside the door saw Feng Ling, he was stunned for a moment and quickly bowed to her. “Priestess.”
Feng Ling nodded.
That person continued, “The county magistrate has already organized everyone to look for them where possible, but those people haven’t been found yet.”
Green River County was a large county to begin with. Moreover, it was very close to the capital and the young were the foundation of the country. So many people disappearing at once would definitely cause a huge panic.
The king said to that person, “Send more people to continue searching.”
Then, he said to the head butler standing there, “Invite the ministers in immediately.”
The king said the names of a few high ranking officials.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The two of them immediately left.
Feng Ling recalled that a large group of young and strong men had never disappeared from Green River County. Now that such a huge matter had suddenly happened, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was because she had changed the process.
At the thought of this, Feng Ling’s heart skipped a beat. She said to the king, “Jingzhou, I’m going to take a look.”
The king nodded and the two of them went to the imperial study.
The ministers came quickly. They had already known about this on the way.
The moment they entered the imperial study, they started discussing.
“So many young and strong men suddenly disappeared. Either someone from the enemy country mixed in, or someone from the Demon Realm did it.”
“It can’t be the doing of those from an enemy country. Our Phoenix Skies Dynasty’s soldiers are powerful and strong. Every young man will be organized by the county to train during their leisure time. How can they make so many young and strong people disappear at once?”
“Then it must be the people of the demonic path who are causing trouble. Previously, the people of the Demon Realm dared to sneak into the palace and pretend to be the High Priestess. It’s easy to make some ordinary people disappear.”
“I’m just afraid that the fiends will capture these people and directly occupy their bodies before harming others.”
“This… is serious.”
At this point, all the ministers looked at the king and Feng Ling.
The assistant minister of the Ministry of War came out and suggested, “Your Majesty, why don’t we send a few more capable people to look for those people? If their bodies are really occupied by the people of the demonic path, we can only deal with them all.”
The prime minister disagreed. “If more than 30 young men can be resolved just like that, this isn’t feasible… Not to mention it will cause panic in society, it will also become a disaster for these 30 plus families who lost their young men.”
Another minister thought so too.
Since they couldn’t come to an agreement, they looked at the king and Feng Ling.
Feng Ling said, “I’ll go take a look myself.”
“Erm…”
The ministers felt that there was no need, so the prime minister stood up to persuade her.
Feng Ling was the first to speak. “But I’ll go secretly this time. When the time comes, the king will send some capable people over to investigate.”
When they heard this, they looked at each other and felt that this method was feasible, so they didn’t say anything else.
Then, the king assigned tasks to them, and they left.
After they left, the king called for the head butler and asked him to prepare.
The more Feng Ling heard, the more she felt that something was wrong. She quickly asked, “You’re going too?”
“That’s right,” the king said. “We’ll set off immediately and try to come back tomorrow night. When the time comes, we won’t delay your organization of the Spring Festival Ceremony.”
“I’m going in private.”
“I won’t publicize it when I go over either.”
After saying that, the king raised his hand to touch her head and asked, “What do you want to bring? I’ll get someone to prepare it for you immediately.”
Feng Ling felt like she was being treated like a child and puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
The king pretended not to see and said, “Since you don’t know, I’ll get someone to make the preparations casually.”
When the two of them sat on a low-key horse all the way to Green River County, Feng Ling looked at the empty horse carriage and asked, “Where are the things you asked someone to prepare?”
The king took out a stack of banknotes and a small bag of silver from his wide sleeve. “Here, Green River County is a large county. There’s everything there. You can just buy whatever you want with silver.”
Feng Ling looked at him with bright eyes. She suddenly remembered that he was also so rich in the later generations and didn’t know what to say for a moment.
It only took half a day to go from the capital to Green River County. When they arrived at the county city, it happened to be lunchtime.
When the horse stopped outside a medium-sized courtyard, Feng Ling was surprised.
After getting off the horse carriage, she asked, “Where is this?”
“This is where we’re staying tonight.”
After the king finished speaking, a guard went over to knock on the door. Then, the door was opened from inside.
Standing inside was an honest-looking middle-aged woman.
When the middle-aged woman saw the person standing outside the door, she quickly asked, “Are the masters here?”
“Yes,” the guard replied and moved aside.
The king and Feng Ling walked over.
When the middle-aged woman saw the two of them, she subconsciously knelt down. “Granny Wang greets the two esteemed guests.”
The king said, “Get up. Madam and I are just here to play. You just have to do your duty for the next two days.”
“Yes.”
Granny Wang stood up and retreated to the side. The king and Feng Ling walked in.
There was a small courtyard inside, and two large ginkgo trees were planted in the courtyard, giving people a very peaceful feeling.
The two of them walked into the hall. The food was already prepared.
Granny Wang said to the two of them, “Two esteemed guests, I don’t know what flavor you like, so I made a few home-cooked dishes. Try them. If they’re not to your liking, I’ll make them for you again.”
The king first picked up a piece of food and put it in his mouth to try. He felt that the taste was acceptable, so he picked up a piece for Feng Ling.
Granny Wang lowered her head and stood there, peeking at the two of them. She thought to herself, ‘Not only do these two nobles look as gorgeous as gods, but this young master also dotes on his wife so much. It’s really enviable.’
Feng Ling ate the food and nodded. “Not bad.”
When Granny Wang heard this, she heaved a sigh of relief. At the same time, she immediately beamed and said, “Madam, I know how to cook some snacks. If you like, I’ll make some snacks for you in the afternoon.”
“Okay.”
Feng Ling pretended to ask casually, “Along the way, I think we heard that something happened in Green River County. What exactly is it? The night market in Green River County is famous at night. We’re planning to shop at the night market tonight.”
“Aiya, it’s better if you two don’t go out tonight. Moreover, I heard that the night market will be canceled from tonight onwards.”
“What exactly happened that even the night market is being canceled?”
Thinking that the two of them were outsiders had come here to play, if the young master in front of her suddenly disappeared and left such a beautiful woman behind, it would be a sin. She immediately felt compassion and said,
“In the past few days, more than ten young men have disappeared from our Green River County every night. Young Master, you mustn’t go out. What if…”
Granny Wang couldn’t help but shudder at the thought that so many people had gone missing.
Feng Ling asked again, “Are all of those who had gone missing young men?”
“Yes.”
“Is there any connection between the missing people or what they did when they disappeared?”
“No. They’re just young men, regardless of whether they were from ordinary families or wealthy families. But the thing they have in common is that all of them disappeared outside..”