Seeing the disbelieving expressions on their faces, Xia Yu sighed and gave up explaining.
He turned directly to Li Hua and said, “The three of you can go together too—it’s your own decision. But Mei Mei must leave.”
Li Hua and the butler looked toward Zhu Mengbing.
Zhu Mengbing shook his head, “I won’t leave. How can I go before restoring our homeland?”
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you something,” Xia Yu interjected. “The rest of your men won’t be coming back.”
Hearing that he was nearly left completely alone, Zhu Mengbing’s face turned pale. He looked at the butler and asked, “Do we still have a chance?”
The butler carefully analyzed and thought deeply, concluding that even if Li Hua didn’t follow the princess, they were down to just three people. Li Hua was a bodyguard and couldn’t do anything else, the prince was unreliable, and all the responsibilities would fall on him.
“No way,” the butler firmly said.
To prevent Zhu Mengbing from forcing others, the butler added fuel to the fire, “Actually, going to District One isn’t so bad. We shouldn’t stay in Haiming City for long. Maybe we can open up new opportunities there.”
“But isn’t that just running away?” Zhu Mengbing was still reluctant.
“Your Highness, it’s not running away. We’re going to District One to open a second front! Obviously, we can’t do it alone here!” Knowing Zhu Mengbing’s temper, the butler tried to coax him.
“Then let’s go,” Zhu Mengbing’s eyes lit up with determination.
The matter was resolved smoothly. Xia Yu rubbed his chin, having more or less figured out Zhu Mengbing’s personality.
How could such a childish prince possibly restore the royal family?
But it wasn’t his concern. As long as Zhu Mei was safe, that was all that mattered.
This way, it would also fulfill the bear’s wish.
Recalling the bear’s resoluteness when facing more than a dozen guns and two soldier squads, Xia Yu sighed.
That kind of determination had never appeared in himself. He envied the bear, and even more so, Zhu Mei.
“Let’s eat first,” Xia Yu stood up, preparing to leave.
“Wait,” Li Hua called out to Xia Yu.
“What else?” Xia Yu turned around, puzzled.
“I want to ask about that eagle,” Li Hua felt that the golden eagle was as intelligent as the bear. Perhaps the two animals were connected somehow.
“It’s the latest research from one of my subordinate laboratories,” Xia Yu lied.
“Isn’t it the messenger of Buddha?” The butler tightened his grip on the prayer beads in his hand and asked solemnly.
“Of course not,” Xia Yu replied.
The butler’s hand loosened, and the prayer beads scattered to the ground, dispersing in all directions. Along with them, the butler’s twenty-four-hour-long faith in Buddha also scattered.
“Science really is amazing,” the butler sighed.
“Any other questions?” Xia Yu asked again.
“Did you previously use a bear in an experiment?” This time, it was Zhu Mei who asked.
Xia Yu hesitated slightly, thinking about how to respond, “We might have lost a brown bear.”
“The kind that can talk?” Zhu Mei asked again.
“How could that be possible? Animals’ vocal organs are completely different from humans!” Xia Yu denied it. He couldn’t lie about this.
“So how exactly did you do it?” Zhu Mengbing joined in. “Can I buy an army of golden eagles?”
Xia Yu started to feel a headache. This lie didn’t seem to be going well.
“No comment,” Xia Yu said bluntly. He didn’t need to be polite with Zhu Mengbing and the others.
With that, Xia Yu returned upstairs, leaving the four of them downstairs to eat.
After Xia Yu left, Li Hua sat beside Zhu Mei. Zhu Mei was still thinking about the bear, her expression clearly downcast.
“I think he’s lying to us,” Li Hua whispered to Zhu Mei. “How could there really be technology that makes animals that powerful? Even if there was, would they tell us?”
The butler thought for a moment and agreed. He began picking up the scattered prayer beads from the ground, restringing them one by one.
“Mm,” Zhu Mei came to her senses too. She grabbed Li Hua’s hand.
“I don’t care how it came to be. I just want an army of golden eagles. If not an army, then at least one. With just one golden eagle, we could kill the leaders of the puppet government and the rebels and reclaim our homeland,” Zhu Mengbing was already thinking about how to ask Xia Yu for a golden eagle.
“It won’t work. Kill one, and another takes his place. There’s no end to it,” the butler tried to stop Zhu Mengbing.
When the maid brought lunch to the table, they stopped talking and began eating.
After finishing their meal, Xia Yu returned downstairs and took the four of them to the embassy to complete their paperwork.
The procedures were complicated, and by the time everything was done, it was already evening.
Watching Zhu Mengbing shake his hand after signing the final document, Xia Yu said, “I’ve already arranged with the embassy staff. The three of you will stay here tonight.”
“The three of us?” Zhu Mengbing noticed the discrepancy in numbers.
“Yes. Mei Mei and I are going back,” Xia Yu said.
He couldn’t possibly let Zhu Mengbing stay at the beach villa, and he wasn’t comfortable leaving Zhu Mei at the embassy either, fearing that the four might run away together.
“You pervert!” Zhu Mengbing angrily stood up and swung a punch at Xia Yu.
Used to being misunderstood, Xia Yu remained calm. He grabbed Zhu Mengbing’s hand, twisted it forcefully behind his back, and pressed him against the nearby wall.
“I’m not asking you—I’m informing you,” Xia Yu said. He then pushed Zhu Mengbing hard and walked out of the room.
Outside, the three others were waiting.
Taking Zhu Mei’s hand, Xia Yu repeated what he had just said. Li Hua and the butler had no objections and allowed Xia Yu to take Zhu Mei away.
Driving quickly, Xia Yu soon returned to the villa.
He rubbed his forehead. Next, he had to face the confusion of Kong Hanyue and the others—he hadn’t told them about this yet.
He let Zhu Mei stay downstairs while he went to the second floor and knocked on the girls’ door.
After gathering them all together, Xia Yu thought of an issue.
He only needed to explain things to An Siyao, maybe also to You Xue and Kong Hanyue. Why had he called Hu Lianglu and Liu Manman too?
Well, since they were already there, he might as well proceed.
“There’s something I need to say,” Xia Yu tried to figure out how to phrase it.
“Hurry up! You interrupted my game halfway through!” Kong Hanyue urged.
“Zhu Mei will be returning with us to District One,” Xia Yu looked at An Siyao.
An Siyao yawned, looking tired from playing games, showing no special reaction.
Kong Hanyue, Liu Manman, and Hu Lianglu also showed no particular reaction.
Only You Xue seemed to realize something. She covered her mouth, eyes wide with shock, staring at Xia Yu.
Xia Yu didn’t know what You Xue was thinking, but he was sure it was wrong.
“You mean Mei Zhu?” Kong Hanyue asked, puzzled. “Is she going to District One for refuge?”
They hadn’t grasped the core of the issue.
The key point wasn’t that Zhu Mei was going to District One, but that Xia Yu was taking her there.
“I’m taking her back. And her name isn’t Mei Zhu—it’s Zhu Mei. She’s the princess of District 232,” Xia Yu replied.
The four girls, except for An Siyao, all widened their eyes in shock.
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