Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 90: Little Meat Bun

After a satisfying meal of chilli dumpling noodles and seeing the old Wang couple, Anji witnessed the results of an experienced regular. Her father must have also snuck out of the sect to the village many times to know what to do in order to leave a pouch of silver nuggets that the old couple would find too late to refuse.

After sneakily leaving, Mingfeng brought his daughter around the town and chatted with a few regulars. He introduced Anji to these villagers, who piled freebies into her arms. With so many candies, Anji had no idea what to do with all the gifts. She could not finish this many sweets, although she wanted to keep all the dried persimmons her father bought for her.

"You can share them with your maids and the cooks or even the gardener," Mingfeng suggested. "I’m sure they’ll enjoy some souvenirs as long as you don’t tell them where you went today."

Giggling at how mischievous her father could be, Anji agreed. Unlike her father’s carefree personality, her mother had a stricter and more worrywart tendency. Anji, having experienced her mother’s overprotective nature first-hand, agreed that these types of little secrets were fine to keep from her mother.

For a little while, Mingfeng and Anji enjoyed touring the town. Her father ran a few errands with Anji in his arms. The town was as crowded as she remembered it to be. After about an hour of touring, it was time to return. Mingfeng had an important meeting with the elder that would start in an hour. Due to the short deadline, Anji was not allowed to climb the long-winded staircase back to the top of the mountain.

Using the same shortcut, Mingfeng arrived at the hollow of the tree and exited it with Anji in his arms. This time, he only took twenty minutes to travel through the secret tunnel. The rest of the way up the mountain, Mingfeng ditched the ordinary path and used his martial arts to travel by hopping in the sea of leaves.

In no time at all, the father and daughter duo reached a side entrance, which a regular outer disciple was guarding.

"Sect leader, you’re back! I was so worried when you did not return by the agreed time. The elders decided to shift the meeting up by half an hour, you’re already late. Lizi and Gu Ying could not stall for too long. They’ve already found out you were gone from the sect."

Hearing the bad news, Mingfeng groaned. Anji cleverly remained silent so she would not draw unnecessary attention to her. She was going to let her father take the fall this time.

"The Madam doesn’t know yet," reported the outer disciple, who gave Anji a wink and a knowing grin. "Lizi and Gu Ying claimed that you took Anji to the back of the mountain to observe the third young master’s training as part of the lesson. Sect Leader Bai is covering up for your absence."

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Mingfeng thanked the witty chap, and Anji learned that he was called Little Meat Bun. It was a nickname that many people gave him because the outer disciple was the son of a butcher who sold him because they were too poor to feed him. When Little Meat Bun came to the Celestial Dragon Sect, he only asked for a chance to work and be paid in meat buns for every meal. Of course, the cook made sure he ate more than just meat buns. That was not nutritionally balanced. Her father accepted Little Meat Bun the same way he accepted Lizi and Gu Ying. Eventually, Little Meat Bun offered to become a sentry guard for the sect when he learned that cultivation was not his calling. He had a sturdy martial arts foundation but not a talent for cultivation.

Leaving Anji in Little Meat Bun’s care, Mingfeng quickly excused himself to face the music. Little Meat Bun studied Anji, and the awkward silence between them was deafening.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, little miss. I’ve already sent word to your maid, Lizi. She’ll be here soon."

Nodding, Anji looked at Little Meat Bun and then offered a candied hawthorn stick to him.

"Here," she smiled. "The villagers were very friendly. Does my father often sneak out of the sect?"

Grinning as he accepted her offering, Little Meat Bun lowered his voice in a low tone and whispered, "He does this almost every week unless he is very busy. The guards at the main gate have to report directly to the Madam so it is difficult for him. The side gate is managed by outer disciples like me and we have a little more freedom in our reports because it is not as frequently used."

The way Anji’s eyes twinkled when she was plotting mischief resembled her older brother and father. Little Meat Bun chuckled. Even if it was his first time meeting the rumoured genius princess of the sect, he was very certain she was Zhao Mingfeng’s biological daughter.

"The Madam is fully aware of everything that happens in this sect even if we don’t report it to her," Little Meat Bun announced as he finished the last hawthorn candy. "Why do you think she left this barely used side gate alone instead of sealing it off?"

Surprised, Anji’s eyes widened before her expression darkened. There goes her plans to sneak away the same way her father did. As expected, her mother was a scary person when she wanted to be. Maybe her father would get in trouble tonight when he met with her mother.

Chuckling at the dismay on Anji’s face, Little Meat Bun spotted Lizi arriving and waved at her. Before the maid arrived, he quickly let Anji in on one last secret.

"As long as you return before dinner, the Madam will not be angry," he grinned and greeted Lizi formally.

Waving goodbye to Anji, Little Meat Bun wished her luck. Ever since he had been serving the Zhao family since he was a boy, Little Meat Bun thought every member of that powerful cultivator family was interesting. He hoped to see what else the youngest daughter of the family would do now that she knew more of her father and family’s secrets.