The King of Black Fog

About the Czar Princess, Li Changzhou and his companions had naturally discussed her before.

There was no solution, just two choices: one, run; two, snatch the kid's lollipop, confront them head-on, but their chances of winning in a direct fight were too low.

The two of them continued walking without changing their expressions.

"They say 'Village Doctor' was written here," Yang Qinglan noted in a tourist-like manner; at that moment, she might have really been just a tourist.

"'Village Doctor'?"

Li Changzhou had never read any Kafka!

"Why do I remember it being something like a thriller?" he wondered. That movie had scared Li Qianxia so much that she would call him to accompany her to the bathroom.

After staring at him for two seconds, Yang Qinglan smiled. "Perfect, this is a bookstore. I'll give you a copy of 'Village Doctor'."

"My first gift from you? I'll treasure it as a family heirloom," Li Changzhou said right away.

"Hold it in your hands and read it," Yang Qinglan said flatly.

"I'll treasure this one; maybe you can show me the copy you've read?"

"Hold on," came Bi's voice from behind, puzzled and with a sense of superiority, "You two, stop."

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan exchanged glances before turning around.

The golden-haired, blue-eyed Czar Princess, arms folded, was sucking on a lollipop like it was a toothpick, looking up at them.

"You're calling us?" Li Changzhou pointed to himself and asked.

Bi sized them up and asked, "Two black-haired, black-eyed Asians... do you speak Czech?"

Both smiled simultaneously. Yang Qinglan stepped forward two steps, her long legs wrapped in blue jeans bending as she crouched down, smiling and saying:

"Sister and brother are from Xia Country, university students, studying minor languages. Do you know what minor languages are? They are languages other than the common languages of the United Nations."

Pausing a bit, she looked around and then asked, "Little friend, are you alone? Where are your parents?"

"University students not studying, running around in Czech?" Bi's look grew a bit fierce.

Yang Qinglan's smile deepened: "October 1st is a holiday in Xia Country."

She seemed to really like this blonde, blue-eyed little girl, love shining in her eyes.

Li Changzhou stepped forward, saying to Yang Qinglan, "The kid is alone, should we take her to the staff in the scenic area?"

Thinking for two seconds, Yang Qinglan didn't answer Li Changzhou but instead asked Bi, "Hello, my name is Lan. What's your name?"

"Bi," the Czar Princess lifted her head.

"That's a pretty name."

"You think I'm a child?"

"Bi, where are your parents? Are you alone?"

"Correct."

"Then how about sister and brother play with you, and sister buys you something to eat?" Yang Qinglan said gently.

Bi furrowed her small brows, the lollipop rolling around in her mouth as she thought hard.

She had bought a youth ticket (free for children under 4) and used "telekinesis" to take money from a nearby Czech.

But as a princess, how could she handle money and pay herself?

Previously, no matter how minimal her retinue, she always had at least one maid close by, four maids, one butler, one chef, a pastry chef, and six attendants.

In such dire circumstances now, having two wallets following her was barely acceptable.

"Hey," she turned her head to look at Li Changzhou, "you beg me too."

"Beg... beg for what?" Li Changzhou was momentarily stunned.

"Beg me to let you follow and pay for me."

"I beg you? I —"

Yang Qinglan shot him a fleeting glance, and Li Changzhou's mouth snapped shut.

After a second, he opened his mouth again.

"I beg you," he also crouched down, showing a repentant smile, "little Princess, please play with us, let me buy you something, okay?"

Bi looked at Li Changzhou quite unexpectedly and couldn't help but praise him, "Pretty insightful, you cur."

"..." Li Changzhou bit the inside of his right cheek.

He looked at Yang Qinglan, hoping the goddess against foul language would stand up for him.

"Bi, you shouldn't use bad language," Yang Qinglan said softly.

Bi looked at her the same way: "You have a problem, bitch?"

"..."

This was simply a tank armed with excrement as ammunition; anyone who dared to speak up would get fired upon.

Seeing that things were amiss, Li Changzhou quickly intervened, "Don't be angry, don't be angry, she's still a child."

Yang Qinglan took a deep breath.

Bi huffed, "Catch up," and she headed deeper into Golden Street.

"Your Highness, Princess, please wait, we haven't yet visited house number 22!" Li Changzhou hurriedly said.

"Do not make me repeat myself."'

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan followed the Czar Princess as they wandered down Golden Street, the doors all rather small, the Princess being the only one among them who didn't need to duck to enter.

Soon, they heard the Princess's opinion of Golden Street.

"This street is shabby, not even as good as Odense."

"Odense?" Li Changzhou looked at Yang Qinglan, puzzled.

Before Yang Qinglan could explain, Bi turned around and said disdainfully, "Idiot, how can you be my manservant? Odense is Andersen's hometown."

Good looks are never superfluous, and they're very important at any time; having just walked down the short hundred-meter street, Li Changzhou had already successfully applied to be the Czar Princess's manservant.

As they exited the castle, Li Changzhou was attracted by a smell.

At a shop along the road, various sausages, meats, and mushrooms were being grilled.

"That smells good, looks nice, shall we have some?" he asked the other two.

"Bi, would you like some?" Yang Qinglan asked tenderly, now completely in sister mode.

"I don't want any," Bi remained with her face upturned.

"You?" Li Changzhou asked Yang Qinglan.

Yang Qinglan thought for a moment and said, "Mushrooms."

"I'll buy another sausage, and we can swap bites," Li Changzhou walked to the front of the store to queue.

The line wasn't very formal, with only three or four people buying, all standing casually.

Yang Qinglan and Bi stood a bit further away, speaking in low voices.

"Bi, your parents? Still in Czech?"

"None of your business, I hate ugly women," she snapped.

Yang Qinglan was quite familiar with this Czar Princess's way of speaking by now—it meant she hated women who looked better than her.

"Where do you want to go later?" she asked with a smile.

"We'll see. You have bad breath, keep your distance," Bi retorted.

Translation—Your mouth smells even sweeter than my lollipop, how dare you.

The saintly Miss Yang, who was more revered than church statues and more looked up to than the Astronomical Clock, now understood what it meant to deal with a bratty child, despite her normally indifferent nature—she even considered pulling down Bi's trousers and smacking her behind.

Soon enough, Li Changzhou came back carrying two boxes.

"Here, try this, it's still steaming hot," he said.

The average temperature in early October in Prague was around 10 degrees, making hot food just perfect.

Yang Qinglan held the box with mushrooms, picked up a piece with a long skewer, and brought it to Bi's lips.

"Eat some food, you can't always eat sweets."

"Disgusting!" Bi pinched her nose, turning away as her skirt fluttered.

It was unclear whether she meant the mushrooms stank, or Yang Qinglan smelled nice.

"Leave it if you don't want it," Li Changzhou said.

He used the serving knife and fork to cut a slice of the big, red, slightly wrinkled sausage.

"Qing Lan," he said, offering her the sausage on the fork.

Yang Qinglan put the skewer back in the box, freed her hands to hold her hair fluttering in the wind, opened her lips like blooming peach blossoms, and neatly bit the sausage off the fork.

She nodded slightly, savoring the taste, "It's delicious."

Li Changzhou watched her eat for a bit, then cut another piece and popped it into his mouth.

"Hmm!" he also nodded, "Mmm! Tasty!" then he took another slice.

The sausage was flavorful, greasy, and chewy.

The Czar Princess swallowed hard.

"The mushrooms are tasty too," Yang Qinglan ate a piece of mushroom, "You should try some."

She handed him the box of mushrooms.

"Feed me," Li Changzhou eagerly continued to cut the sausage while leaning his face closer.

"..."

Yang Qinglan picked up a mushroom with the skewer and placed it in his mouth, her eyes bearing a slight reproach.

"Delicious, delicious," Li Changzhou gazed at Yang Qinglan, saying with a meaningful smile.

"No more eating!" Bi suddenly shouted, "The princess hasn't eaten yet, and you dare to eat, put it away, you pigs!"

The two exchanged a glance, Li Changzhou deciding not to respond.

"Alright, no more eating." Yang Qinglan was very serious, the kind of seriousness that accommodates a child's demands.

Li Changzhou reluctantly ate another piece of sausage before Bi kicked at him.

"Not eating, not eating anymore!" he quickly dodged, using the tone he reserved for coaxing Li Qianxia.

Bi was very dissatisfied with the two of them and decided to find a place to teach them a lesson, to let them know not to offend a princess.

They left the sausage stand and had not walked far when they came upon a dessert shop.

"I know this place!" Li Changzhou had done his tourist homework, "Czech national treasure desserts, Tarta de Crema!"

Before the Czar Princess could object, he had already rushed into the store and quickly came out with a portion of Tarta de Crema dusted with powdered sugar.

"Qing Lan, this is absolutely delicious!" he came over as if offering a treasure, "The exterior doesn't look like much, but it's all strawberries inside, and the bread is still warm!"

Yang Qinglan took the Tarta de Crema and scooped the top strawberry with a spoon, revealing various ingredients on the cut surface of the spoon.

"How is it?" Li Changzhou asked.

"Hmm," Yang Qinglan nodded, "My mouth is filled with the sweet taste of happiness."

"Why does that sound a bit risqué?"

Yang Qinglan shot him a glare, her hand subconsciously scooping another spoonful.

Suddenly, she stopped her motion, then bent down and extended the spoon towards Bi, who was salivating.

"Try it," she said with a smile.

The Czar Princess inspected it: the yellow-brown bread, the snow-white cream, the fresh red strawberries, and the scent filling her nostrils.

She hesitated briefly, then opened her mouth to enclose the spoon.

Just then, the lollipop in her mouth flew out like a wine bottle cork.

Time seemed to slow down; she saw the glistening saliva on the lollipop, saw Yang Qinglan's normally gentle black eyes, which had somehow turned blue.

She reached out to catch the flying lollipop and stuffed it back into her mouth.

The lollipop hit Li Changzhou's hand, melting sugar and saliva sticking to it.

"Mmm! Mmmmm!!!"

The muffled Bi, mad with struggle, kicked wildly, her rosy cheeks puffed up in red.

Passersby started to look over.

Li Changzhou wrapped his other arm around Bi's small body to prevent her from slipping out of his embrace.

The onlookers looked dubious, as the scene appeared to them like a child abduction.

Moreover, since Li Changzhou was a male, a dark-haired, dark-skinned male holding a clearly unrelated, very adorable blonde loli, passersby couldn't help but think of abduction.

Just as a few tourists were about to step forward, Li Changzhou held Bi tightly, gently patting her slender back and whispering comfortingly in her ear:

"Move again, and I'll break your neck."