Abandoned Princesses
The Past (1)

Within the Forest of Darkness, which was located on the western side of the three kingdoms, a forest that was separated alone, there was absolutely no wind blowing.

There are only a few rays of sunlight that enter through the branches of trees whose leaves are not yet thick. With the darkness that covered the forest like night, that's where the name of the forest came from.

There were two humans standing at the mouth of the cave, one of them the younger one staring doubtfully into the darkness of the cave.

"Is it okay like this, Your Majesty?" A voice from the middle-aged man echoed into the cave.

"It's okay. I'm just going to cultivate behind closed doors, what do you need to worry about? I'm not a kid." The old man beside the middle-aged man snorted while showing off his white beard.

"It's precisely because of that..." The middle-aged man was still very doubtful. Precisely because he was no longer young, he was very worried. However, at that age, the grandfather had not found the right successor.

"You're! Jiang Yunli's! Shut up and just go back there!!!" The old grandfather sounded annoyed while the middle-aged man could only lower his head.

A few minutes later, the middle-aged man easily conjured the cave into a temporary residence. The entire cave he had checked to ensure safety, even made as comfortable as possible for Grandpa.

"Wait.. Did you hear that cry? Is there anyone else around here?" Said Grandpa suddenly.

"Well! No way! Which sane person other than you would want to enter the Dark Forest to cultivate?" Unknowingly, Jiang Yunli had already gotten a frightening look from the Grandfather. Jiang Yunli could only close his mouth and shudder as that sinister aura enveloped his body.

"Even I can't detect any qi.. We need to check it out.." Said the Grandfather in a worried tone.

*****

And his hunch is right.

Minutes after they walked north of the cave, they found a dead body of a woman covered in blood who had a fatal attack right at her heart.

And the woman hugged a baby, with a token that the baby was holding. And it turns out, it was the cry of the baby that they heard.

The old grandfather could only shake his head at such a sight. Although he killed people very often, he never touched a woman and a baby, unless the woman was really evil. Who could be that short?

A few tens of minutes later, Jiang Yunli had already finished building a tomb for the corpse of the woman earlier. Grandpa took the baby into the cave.

The baby's body was very cold. Even though the baby had calmed down after crying out loud for a long time, Grandfather still could not imagine what it would be like to be in the middle of the forest, crying for hours. Fortunately he did not attract the attention of the monsters in the Dark Forest.

The boy had a great fortune.

Jiang Yunli had now arrived inside the cave and saw Grandpa who was holding the baby.

"Your Majesty.. What about the baby?" Ask with confusion.

Jiang Yunli scratched his head slowly. He even thought about giving the baby to a family in a nearby village. But Grandpa's next answer left him in shock.

"Aren't you always fussing about a successor? It's right in my sling." Said the Grandfather casually while patting the baby's ass so as not to wake up from his sleep.

"W-what?!!! Have you gone crazy?! This must be the influence of darkness in this forest! How are you going to take care of your baby alone in a place like this?" Jiang Yunli shouted in disbelief.

A few minutes ago he still believed that his master was very sane. Now he doubts. Very doubtful.

And so began their discussion.

"Of course I won't take care of it myself. You're gonna help me until this kid's at least three years old."

"How can you get fresh milk for this baby, Your Majesty??"

"You're just gonna pay one of the mothers who's breastfeeding in a nearby village and bring her here."

"Your Majesty! This is so illogical, please think again! What about the daily needs of this baby? This is by no means a suitable place to raise a baby!"

"Didn't you understand? You've always asked me to think of a successor. I can't think about it because no one is right. Now I have got a proper successor. Which I'll train myself since childhood, in this place."

"I need a blank piece of paper whose mind has not been written at all."

Jiang Yunli finally gave up. And he knows his job will be very heavy in the future. Jiang Yunli could only sigh and start looking for a woman who was in a nursing state.

"The fool finally complied and left. Let's see.." Said the Grandpa to the baby who was still asleep.

Grandpa took the jade token that he was in the baby's arms.

'Shen's'

"Let's assume that this is your surname." Said Grandpa with a smile. "Shen Haofeng's.." Continue with soft.

*****

Time passed by very quickly from the moment they found little Shen Haofeng who was in the arms of his mother's corpse.

Every day there would be Madame Fu nursing Shen Haofeng. Madame Fu was actually very afraid to enter the Dark Forest, but she had to still finance her son's life. Plus the pay per day is very large for the village people.

Lady Fu was a widow whose husband died while she was pregnant. In addition to being kind, he was also considerate and very affectionate towards little Shen Haofeng.

And Madame Fu was the first to go against Grandfather when she wanted to teach Shen Haofeng to cultivate after hearing him speak fluently.

Madame Fu was always scared when she was near Grandpa. But he could not see that such a small child had already started cultivating since childhood, even a protective spirit alone had yet to appear. He felt that Grandpa did not have a heart even though he looked so dear to the baby.

But what could be done, once Grandpa let out his aura, Madame Fu could only kneel down due to her limp legs.

Madame Fu breastfed the little Shen Haofeng until the child was about two years old.

What was surprising was, Jiang Yunli finally decided to propose to Madam Fu. It turned out that after living side by side for two years, Jiang Yunli could not contain his feelings. Plus the fact that his wife had died a long time ago. Finally Madame Fu married Jiang Yunli and brought her daughter with her to the Jiang residence.

And the Grandfather continued to train Shen Haofeng, day and night.

Little Shen Haofeng once asked if they would someday come out of that cave.

Grandpa answered yes. If he tried hard to cultivate.

Unbeknownst to Grandfather, he had already lit a dangerous spirit fire on the boy.

Shen Haofeng certainly did not remember anything about Madam Fu, as she was still too small.

Shen Haofeng was cultivating day and night. Even without being asked by Grandpa, whom he called 'Teacher'. The old man was proud on one side, but on the other he was worried.

Because the child has no emotions.

The only people he interacted with were Jiang Yunli and Grandpa. Even Grandfather would not normally hear Shen Haofeng's voice all day unless he asked the boy.

At the age of seven...

Grandpa found the most appropriate solution.

Jiang Yunli invited his son to live with them in the Dark Forest to accompany Shen Haofeng as a friend.

At first, he disagreed. What kind of father would let his son live in the Dark Forest? But he finally agreed after the grandfather negotiated to let his son go home for three days a week.

"Include me, my name is Jiang Junwei!" A boy who looked several years older than her reached out enthusiastically to her.

That was the most confusing moment in little Shen Haofeng's life for the first time.

He had never known her before.