The Amusing Adventures of a Directionally Challenged Dad and Daughter

After warning the Assassin Alliance, Old Gu Six left with Chang'an, unafraid of being deceived by them.

If he could come once, he could come again.

They still had other places to rush to and needed to return before the autumn harvest.

Once out of Jiuqu Mountain, they headed straight for Liangcheng.

They noticed the city wasn’t as heavily guarded as before—Liangcheng had even opened its gates to take in refugees.

Chang'an inquired around and found the Liangcheng County Magistrate was highly praised. Thinking it safe, they decided to rest there for the night before continuing their journey.

The city was orderly, with teahouse storytellers narrating tales of the ongoing chaos in the realm.

The audience clapped in delight, engrossed in the tale—until the storyteller abruptly concluded, "To know what happens next, tune in next time."

Leaving everyone hanging, he snapped his folding fan shut and walked off.

Chang'an and Old Gu Six found a bustling inn, assuming its popularity meant better service.

But on the very night they checked in, enemy forces laid siege to Liangcheng.

The County Magistrate had prepared well, and though the attackers came fiercely, they couldn’t breach the city.

Chang'an and Old Gu Six were trapped inside.

"Father, we shouldn’t have entered the city yesterday," Chang'an muttered.

"Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take long," Old Gu Six replied calmly, sipping his tea.

But their delay stretched to seven or eight days. Eventually, the enemy forces, running low on supplies, had no choice but to retreat.

The father-daughter pair waited an extra day before leaving Liangcheng. During their stay, they learned more about the County Magistrate.

He had only taken office three months prior, originally a lowly city guard who overthrew the corrupt former magistrate for exploiting the people in these chaotic times.

In this era, official appointments meant little—capability ruled.

Upon taking charge, he purged Liangcheng of corrupt officials, executing them on the spot. The city guard was completely reorganized, turning Liangcheng into an impenetrable fortress.

Of course, their strength only held against disorganized rabble. Against a proper army, they stood no chance.

So the Magistrate trained Liangcheng’s men daily—if they couldn’t protect the whole city, at least they could defend their families.

Chang'an and Old Gu Six then left for the Jing King’s territory—a particularly troublesome figure who had sent men after them three times.

"He’s the most thick-headed of them all," Chang'an grumbled.

While others reconsidered after losing men, the Jing King stubbornly believed they knew the whereabouts of the so-called Fifth Prince.

They knew nothing—not even who this "unlucky Fifth Prince" was.

"Enough is enough," Chang'an fumed. "If he keeps this up, even patience has its limits."

She couldn’t believe the rebel kings were so incompetent that someone like him still lived.

They stuck to the main road for easier navigation, avoiding detours.

Chang'an sighed. "If we’d known we’d have to backtrack, we should’ve dealt with the Jing King from the start."

But regrets were pointless.

If not for Wan Ke’s unreliability, they wouldn’t be retracing their steps—they’d still be peacefully farming at home.

Traveling day and night, they asked for directions at every turn, hesitating at forks in the road to avoid costly mistakes.

"Father, we should’ve brought Silver Wolf with us," Chang'an said.

"I was thinking the same," Old Gu Six mused. "Maybe we should let the mule choose?"

Father and daughter exchanged a smile, convinced their plan would work.

Old Gu Six patted the mule’s back and said, "You pick a path—getting to Yaozhou City depends entirely on you."

It was unclear whether the mule understood, as it simply wandered down whichever path its head happened to face.

The two took this as its "choice," remaining utterly unfazed.

As it turned out, sometimes a mule was more reliable than this father-daughter pair. Even if it was pure luck, the mule’s luck was better than theirs.

A month later, they arrived outside Yaozhou City, where soldiers guarded the perimeter, inspecting everyone entering or leaving.

Outsiders needed travel permits and household registrations to enter.

Fortunately, Rong Hong had anticipated discrepancies between their travel permits and registrations, so he had altered both for them.

Yaozhou City was stricter than other places—not only were permits and registrations mandatory, but no weapons were allowed inside, not even sharp farming tools.

Old Gu Six handed over three swords, two daggers, five throwing darts, and five packets of knockout powder he had hidden on his person, all of which Chang'an stored away.

Chang'an ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‍couldn’t help but wonder—didn’t her father find all that weight cumbersome? She’d only known about the soft sword at his waist and the short sword in his sleeve. Where had he hidden the rest?

At the city gate, they cooperated with the inspection. The soldiers scrutinized them repeatedly before finally letting them pass.

Inside Yaozhou City, the streets were mostly filled with women, all wearing troubled expressions. It was unclear what they were so worried about.

They found a quiet inn to stay in. Unlike before, they didn’t act immediately. Instead, they spent three days gathering information and scouting the area before making their move late at night—heading to Prince Jing's mansion.

The northern side of Prince Jing's mansion was guarded by five fierce wolfhounds.

But this was also the least defended spot. Chang'an lured the dogs over with drugged meat, feeding them until they collapsed.

Within fifteen minutes, all five were out cold. These wolfhounds didn’t seem particularly bright—and as the saying goes, pets resemble their masters. That probably held true here.

Father and daughter slipped into Prince Jing's mansion without a sound. Thankfully, they’d done their homework—otherwise, how would they have found the treasury in such a massive estate?

They emptied the treasury first, then went for Prince Jing himself. They struck his pressure points to knock him out and silence him, then crippled his limbs and disfigured his face—the entire process executed seamlessly.

After stripping the main courtyard of anything valuable and erasing all traces of their presence, they ransacked Prince Jing’s study and set it ablaze.

Once the fire was lit, they moved to the kitchen, taking anything useful before torching that too.

Chaos erupted in Prince Jing's mansion as people scrambled to put out the fires—only to then discover their master’s condition and the emptied treasury.

The steward, sensing disaster, quietly packed his things and fled.

Chang'an and Old Gu Six looted valuables from every courtyard before slipping away in the confusion.

The women in the rear courtyard, startled awake in the middle of the night, found their rooms stripped bare. At first, they thought it was a dream—lying back down, closing their eyes, and pinching themselves to confirm the theft was real.

They summoned their maids to fetch the steward, but he had long since vanished.

By the next day, everyone in Prince Jing's mansion knew their master was ruined, and the estate was left with nothing but dirt. Prince Jing’s reign had come to an end.

Most of the guards in the mansion had left, but the maids and servants remained. They had been bought by their master from human traffickers and had no homes to return to, unsure of where to go.

Nevertheless, they first retrieved their deeds of servitude and destroyed them all.

They began by disposing of the crippled Jing King, throwing his body out of the mansion. Then, they drove out all the arrogant women who had once flaunted their status under the Jing King's favor.

The maids and servants reorganized Prince Jing's mansion, transforming it into a sanctuary for the homeless.

The newly appointed magistrate of Yaozhou City tacitly approved of this arrangement. He ordered the removal of the plaque bearing "Prince Jing's Mansion" and replaced it with a new one that read "Shelter Hall."

No one cared about the Jing King's death—except for a few of his loyal followers who sought to avenge him, though no one paid them any heed.

This only proved how deeply unpopular the Jing King had truly been.