Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 100 I'm going

"Why?" Jiang Xun sat up abruptly. "Didn't you just say that the poison would be cured by itself? Why would I go? I'm not just wasting my time running around in places like that."

"You don't know what that treasure map is?" Shen San's voice wasn't loud, but his tone made it impossible to ignore.

"What is it?"

Shen San looked at him and said, word by word, "The secret treasures of the Great Sheng Dynasty. Inside are the wealth accumulated over hundreds of years—gold and silver treasures, divine weapons, and countless lost martial arts manuals."

Jiang Xun was stunned.

The secret treasures of the Dasheng Dynasty?

He seemed to have heard someone mention this before—right, Li Tang.

In the valley outside Wuling City, she said that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion of the previous dynasty had a secret treasure containing wealth beyond measure.

He initially thought it was nonsense, but unexpectedly, this thing actually got involved with him.

"You...you also want this picture?" Jiang Xun asked.

"Yes." Shen San nodded, his gaze steady. "But it's not what I want, it's us."

"Us?" Jiang Xun was taken aback for a moment, then quickly waved his hand, "Wait, wait—I don't want any Great Sheng Treasure. I'm just a petty thief, good enough at stealing chickens and dogs, but don't ask me to do treasure hunting."

Shen San ignored him and continued speaking, lowering his voice slightly.

"At that time, Crown Prince Jing jumped off a cliff, but Shen Bufan and the Crown Princess went missing." He paused, "Moreover, the Crown Princess was pregnant at the time."

"What do you mean by all this to me?" Jiang Xun asked, but his heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely felt that something was about to surface.

Shen San looked at him, his gaze suddenly becoming very deep.

"You are nineteen this year. If the child the Crown Princess was carrying back then were still alive, he would be nineteen now."

Jiang Xun was completely stunned.

"You...you mean..."

"When Shen Bufan found you in Jiangzhou, you were only ten years old. He didn't go anywhere else, he just went to Jiangzhou. He didn't pick up anyone else, he just picked you up." Shen San's voice was calm, but every word was like a stone hitting Jiang Xun's heart. "Don't you think this is too much of a coincidence?"

"You mean...I, I am..." Jiang Xun stammered, his mind a complete mess, as if someone had poured a bowl of paste on it.

"Based on the timeline, you are very likely the child of Crown Prince Jing," Shen San said, enunciating each word clearly. "The eldest grandson of the Emperor of the Dasheng Dynasty."

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Jiang Xun sat on the bed, his mind a jumbled mess, unable to make sense of it.

Former royal family?

The eldest grandson of the emperor?

he?

A petty thief in Jiangzhou who steals chickens and dogs and lives a life of idleness and waiting for death?

"Are you kidding me?" he blurted out. "I'm just an orphan, picked up from a pile of corpses by an old man. What imperial grandson? I can't even read properly!"

Shen San shook his head: "Shen Bufan told you all these things. But just because he didn't say them doesn't mean they weren't true."

He paused for a moment, staring intently at Jiang Xun, his gaze carrying an indescribable meaning.

"You are most likely a member of the royal family of the Dasheng Dynasty."

Seeing Jiang Xun's expression change drastically, Shen San continued, "If I'm not mistaken—before Prince Jing jumped off the cliff, he entrusted his Crown Princess to Shen Bufan."

But when Shen Bufan was evading pursuers with the Crown Princess, they got separated halfway. He didn't find you again until ten years later.

Jiang Xun opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but found himself at a loss for words.

He recalled the old man's gaze before he died—that complex, apologetic look.

"Old man..." he muttered to himself, "Just how many things have you been hiding from me?"

Shen San didn't interrupt him, but just watched quietly.

After a long while, Jiang Xun finally raised his head.

"Even if it's true," his voice tightened, "so what? The Dasheng Dynasty has been gone for twenty years. The people have long forgotten about Dasheng and Dasheng. Now it's the Dayong Dynasty. Even if I'm the eldest grandson of the emperor, so what?"

"Restore the kingdom." Shen San's voice wasn't loud, but his resolute determination made it impossible not to take it seriously.

Jiang Xun almost jumped out of bed.

"Restore the kingdom?!" His eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? Me? A petty thief?"

"You're not a petty thief." Shen San stared at him, his gaze as unyielding as iron. "You are the eldest grandson of the Great Sheng Dynasty, you have a responsibility—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Jiang Xun quickly raised his hand to stop him. "First of all, I'm not sure if I am actually the son of that Crown Prince Jing."

Secondly, even if I were, the Great Sheng Dynasty has been gone for twenty years. What kingdom could I possibly restore? What would I use to restore it? My rusty, broken sword?

Shen San's face darkened, like the sky before a storm.

"How could you say such a thing as the eldest grandson of the Great Sheng Dynasty?" His voice was filled with anger. "Do you know how many people have sacrificed their lives to preserve the bloodline of the Great Sheng Dynasty? Shen Bufan was seriously injured and lived in hiding for more than ten years to protect you—"

"That was the old man's own choice," Jiang Xun interrupted him, his voice hardening. "He raised me for seven years, but he never mentioned anything about restoring the country. If he really hoped I would restore the country, why didn't he tell me?"

Shen San looked at him, seemingly stumped by the question, unsure how to respond.

Jiang Xun suddenly realized what it meant.

"The old man doesn't want me to carry this burden." His voice lowered, as if he were talking to himself. "He knows how heavy this thing is, so he'd rather make me a petty thief than send me to my death."

Shen San fell silent.

After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice much softer than before.

"What you said...makes sense." He leaned back in his chair, his gaze distant. "Shen Bufan...he's always been soft-hearted."

The two remained silent, neither of them speaking.

The sunlight outside the window slowly moved in, drawing golden lines on the ground, crawling inch by inch across the floor, up to the foot of the bed, and onto the back of Jiang Xun's hand.

After a long while, Shen San finally spoke again.

"But I still hope you go to Shuofeng City."

Jiang Xun looked up at him.

Why?

"Because of that treasure map." Shen San's expression was grave. "It was originally a personal possession of Crown Prince Jing, and should have perished with him at the bottom of the cliff. But now, it has appeared in Shuofeng City—don't you find that strange?"

Jiang Xun was taken aback for a moment: "You mean...?"

"What if Crown Prince Jing hadn't died back then?" Shen San's gaze sharpened. "What if he had given the treasure map to someone, and that person had then escaped to Shuofeng City with the map?"

Jiang Xun's mind raced: "So you mean—if I go to Shuofeng City, maybe I can find clues about what happened back then? Maybe I can figure out who I really am?"

Shen San nodded: "It's not just about figuring out your identity. If Crown Prince Jing really didn't die back then, then..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Jiang Xun already understood.

If Crown Prince Jing were still alive, the Dasheng Dynasty might still have had a chance to be restored.

Jiang Xun was depressed for a long time.

He recalled the old man's gaze before he died, and his words, "Live well."

Thinking of my master, the Master Thief, I wonder if he's still alive or dead, imprisoned in some corner of the capital.

He recalled Ling Xuan's indifferent face when she forced him to drink the poison.

I recalled what the Duke of Wei had said about the crossbows, and the emaciated refugees outside Haiyou City.

The world is never as simple as he thought.

"Okay." He raised his head, his eyes clearer than before. "I'll go to Shuofeng City."

Shen San's eyes lit up slightly.

"But not for the sake of restoring the kingdom," Jiang Xun added. "I'm just going to see how many things the old man has been hiding from me. If I can find clues from back then and figure out who I really am—that would put my mind at ease. If not, so be it."