Grandpa Fang chuckled, quickly waving his hand at the young beggar.
"It’s no problem. Erhu, don’t scare the little girl."
Xiaosuisui blinked her eyes, looking over at the young beggar. "So your na is Erhu!"
Erhu, the little beggar, scratched his head rather embarrassedly, then broke into a simple and honest laugh—his deanor in no way matched his na.
"Heh heh! Is this na too rustic? I... I have other nas. Xiaobai, you can call Brother Xiaobai!"
"Xiao... Xiaobai?"
Xiaosuisui thought of her fluffy, at bun-eating little rabbit that she would hold in her arms.
"That’s right! I’m called Xiaobai. Isn’t this na nice? Look at my face, doesn’t it suit the na?"
Xiaosuisui shook her head forcefully. She just couldn’t connect the face in front of her with her pet, Xiaobai.
"What kind of expression is that? Do you think my na sounds bad?"
"No! It’s because I have a pet, a completely white rabbit!" Xiaosuisui touched her head, speaking softly, "Its na is also Xiaobai!"
The mont Xiaosuisui finished speaking, Erhu’s expression darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"You... you’re quite... quite good at naming your pets!"
Xiaosuisui giggled, grabbed the roasted sweet potato Grandpa Fang had given her, and started munching on it cheerfully.
Suddenly, her ears twitched instinctively; she clearly heard a stomach rumbling.
"Do you... want so?" Xiaosuisui held up her sweet potato, offering it to a child standing nearby whose stomach was growling with hunger.
The child stepped back, hastily waving his hands. "No... No, thank you! You... you eat it!"
Xiaosuisui blinked. "You’re clearly hungry. Why don’t you eat?"
"This... this is the best... best food in our compound. It’s for esteed guests!"
"Oh!" Xiaosuisui accepted it without ceremony. She found their way of treating guests—feeding them roasted sweet potatoes—rather unique!
She resolved to tell her maternal grandmother and Grandma when she got ho. From now on, the Ji Mansion and even the Imperial Palace should serve roasted sweet potatoes to important guests!
After finishing her sweet potato, Xiaosuisui took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth and continued asking the question she hadn’t gotten an answer to earlier.
"By the way, Xiaobai, where did Grandpa Fang’s other leg go?"
Erhu quickly covered his face with his hands and retreated a few steps before saying, "Just call Erhu! Please, don’t call Xiaobai!"
Xiaosuisui blinked. "Why not?"
"Never mind why. Anyway, from now on, I’m Erhu, and I’ll never change my na again!"
"Oh!" Xiaosuisui, sowhat puzzled, didn’t press further. She just said "Oh" casually, then fixed her gaze intently on Grandpa Fang’s leg.
"My leg! Ah, it was cut off by the enemy leader, Wooden Box, during a war. I’ve been like this for over ten years; I’m used to it."
"Is the enemy leader that powerful?" Xiaosuisui tilted her head. An image of an imposing, eight-foot-tall man unexpectedly flashed in her mind.
"Powerful? How so? No matter how powerful he is, he’s no match for Grand General Ji of our Great Han Dynasty! He was defeated by our Grand General Ji, wasn’t he?" Grandpa Fang wore a smug expression as he said this.
Xiaosuisui muttered with a pout, "Grand General Ji? How co I’ve never heard of him?"
She rembered eting Grand General Xu when she was in Nanyang Town. Later, after coming to the Capital City, she had t General Dugu just a few days ago! When she was playing dice in the Hall of Supre Harmony, she had asked everyone’s na but hadn’t heard of any Grand General Ji!
Looking at Xiaosuisui’s bewildered little face, Grandpa Fang couldn’t help but smile kindly. "Grand General Ji? How would a little baby like you know him? He was our Great Han’s God of War, but he died more than ten years ago!"
"Ah! Dead... dead? How did he die?"
"I don’t know either. I just suddenly heard he had died, and the Ji Mansion surprisingly held a funeral. When I received the news, I made a special trip to pay my last respects to Grand General Ji. And the common people who went to bid him farewell! Ah, they lined up all the way from the Pillar of the Protector of the Country to Vermilion Bird Street!" As Grandpa Fang spoke, he unconsciously looked upward at the cloudy sky, his eyes filled with reminiscence.
"Pillar of the Protector of the Country? Ji Mansion?" Xiaosuisui felt these two places sounded so familiar.
"The Pillar of the Protector of the Country is a symbol. It symbolizes that as long as the Ji Family exists, our Great Han’s army will be invincible and ever-victorious. Grand General Ji is our Great Han’s guardian deity!"
"I think I’ve heard that sowhere before!" Xiaosuisui tilted her head and whispered.
Grandpa Fang chuckled softly. "I suppose it must have been said by soone who received favors from Grand General Ji’s family! Don’t mind that Grand General Ji is gone now; he has seven sons, and every one of them is formidable. I heard his eldest son was taken as a disciple by a reclusive master since childhood to learn immortal arts. The second son was obsessed with dical skills. From a young age, he got along very well with the army doctors and later also beca a disciple of a reclusive master. The third son was more mischievous and didn’t quite make a na for himself; I haven’t heard much about him. However, the fourth son is extrely skilled. With his two tiger-head blades, he can rout enemies. I heard he’s currently among the top few on the External Skills Ranking, right?"
As Grandpa Fang said this, he couldn’t help but turn to look at Erhu. "Erhu! Have any new rankings co out recently?"
"Yes! But the Ji Family’s fourth son’s ranking hasn’t changed; he’s still in the top three. However, a newcor has appeared on the External Skills Ranking, and this newcor is sowhat controversial!"
"Oh! A newcor? Who is it? And controversial? What’s the controversy?"
People from the compound, adults and children alike, gradually gathered around Grandpa Fang and Xiaosuisui.
Erhu pulled out a small booklet from sowhere, spread it open, and began to read. "Here it is. Princess Ji Suisui. She is a descendant of Old General Ji. She’s the daughter of Old General Ji’s only daughter, Ji Xi’Er, which makes her Old General Ji’s maternal granddaughter!"
Xiaosuisui blinked. How... how did the conversation suddenly turn to ?
"Oh! Old General Ji’s maternal granddaughter is on the ranking? What’s her rank? What’s her renowned skill? How did she make it onto the ranking?" Grandpa Fang was incredibly excited, and the people around them chid in with questions.
"Quick, tell us, tell us, what’s Princess Ji Suisui’s rank?"
The appearance of the princess’s na on the ranking excited everyone. This wasn’t because they particularly liked this princess, who was royally titled, but because she carried the bloodline of that man—a hero, the guardian deity of the Great Han Dynasty!
Erhu spread the booklet in his hands, displaying it for everyone to see. "Look, this is the princess’s na, but next to the princess’s na, there’s another na!"
"Who?" the crowd asked in unison.
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