Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

Her back hit against his chest, and she stiffened. “Don’t you trust me?” He asked her.

“I do, Your Highness,” Li Hua answered.

“Then, trust my feelings too,” he urged. “I never convinced anyone, the way I do to you. You won’t find a man like me, Li Hua. That night I couldn’t come. Forgive me. You don’t know how troubled I was when I didn’t find you in the residence.”

“Did His Highness bury my family’s bodies? I ran away like a coward,” Li Hua said, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

“No. I could not do that. I didn’t come out of the cold palace for three days,” Lóng Wei replied. “However, I was able to save your elder brother,” he informed her.

Li Hua’s eyes widened and she promptly turned to Lóng Wei. “Really? Who? Why didn’t His Highness tell me earlier?” Li Hua was shocked to hear him.

“Yes. It is Xu Zifan,” Lóng Wei replied. “I couldn’t tell you in the palace because Court Lady Hong follows us everywhere. She is from the Queen’s manor and if she ended up hearing it, then things would have gone worse,” he explained to her.

“My First Brother is alive,” Li Hua was delighted to know about it. She rested her head on the middle of his chest and continued to weep. “Thank you, Your Highness. I will even sacrifice my life for His Highness, who saved my Senior First Brother,” she stated.

.....

“You don’t need to sacrifice your life for me. I don’t allow that. Just love me, and I will do wonders in your life,” Lóng Wei asserted. Li Hua lifted her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks before peering into his eyes.

“What about my promise to Feng Lao? I have known him since childhood. My heart is connected to him,” Li Hua said. She wanted to be truthful with Lóng Wei. She didn’t want him to get hurt if she would not accept his feelings.

Lóng Wei pressed his lips to Li Hua, who gaped at him in shock. “A tiny punishment for taking his name in front of me,” he said and slowly leaned back. “If your heart was connected to him, you would not have run away that night. I won’t deny that you had turned selfish that night. If he was your everything, then you should have stayed by his side. But you didn’t,” Lóng Wei asserted.

Li Hua got hurt to hear him, but it was the truth.

“Does His Highness know about the Shui Family? That night-” she paused when Lóng Wei put his palm on her mouth.

“Don’t move. Stay this way. Someone is here,” Lóng Wei whispered. Gradually, he lowered his hand down. He brought his face close to her, whose eyes grew big. He heard the slight noises that came from the bushes earlier. Did someone follow them?

The man behind the bushes was unable to hear the conversation between Li Hua and Lóng Wei. He peeked out of the tree and found them kissing. Slowly he moved backward and soon disappeared into the bamboo forest.

“Your Highness, what happened?” Li Hua asked, keeping her voice low. Lóng Wei tilted his head and thought to check around. Taking out the folding fan, which was inside his sash, he opened it and started to fan himself. Li Hua was perplexed to see his acts and stunned to hear his words.

“Li Hua, would you like to climb on this tree?” he asked as he reached near one of the trees which was surrounded by bushes. He checked its surroundings but found nothing.

He looked toward Li Hua and found the distance between them was large. No way would anyone be able to hear their conversation because of the sound of the waterfall unless one would talk loudly.

Li Hua twiddled her fingers and wondered what Lóng Wei was doing. It seemed he was looking for something. “Did His Highness lose something? Shall I help him search for it?” She offered her help.

Lóng Wei closed the fan in his hand and put it back inside his sash. He came to her and grasped her wrist. “Let’s go over there,” Lóng Wei said, gesturing to the huge rock, which was close to the waterfall.

“No. What if we fell into the water?” She refused.

“I won’t push you off that rock,” Lóng Wei affirmed, and he dragged her towards the huge rock with him. The sound of the waterfall became prominent, and the two soon climbed to the giant rock to sit on it. Li Hua sat down first, and found they were approximately five meters above the water surface. Lóng Wei sat beside her when she asked him what he was looking at.

“Someone was here,” Lóng Wei replied.

Li Hua was dumbfounded to hear him.

“Don’t worry. He didn’t hear our conversation. Luckily, the waterfall saved us,” Lóng Wei answered.

“Is His Highness sure about it? Why was someone following us?” Li Hua asked him.

“Because I am the notorious Prince, who troubles others,” Lóng Wei said. Li Hua ended up smiling which amused him, so he asked the reason behind her smile.

“Maybe someone wants to find out if the Sixth Prince is really in love with a servant.” Li Hua’s deduction was not lame either. “I mean, His Highness proposed for the marriage after his second day of return. So, it may be a suspicious thing in many eyes,” she clarified her point.

“That can be a possibility,” Lóng Wei agreed with her words. Xiaoming could be the one, who sent his man after them, to find out if Lóng Wei was in love with Li Hua or if he acted to snatch Li Hua from becoming his concubine.

Lóng Wei rested his upper body’s weight on his palms which laid flatly on the rock surface while he closed his eyes.

Li Hua glanced at him and admired his handsome features. But more than those features, she felt attracted to his character.

Usually, men and women feel shy when they first get attracted to each other.

But Lóng Wei was different. He never shied away from confessing his feelings to Li Hua. Somewhere, in her heart, Lóng Wei had started to occupy his place.

“Li Hua, you don’t need to stare at me,” Lóng Wei said and turned his head to meet her gaze. Li Hua promptly came out of her thoughts and looked in front of her.

“I wasn’t staring,” she murmured.

“Then, were you admiring me?” he asked.

Li Hua nodded and realized what she did. “No,” she immediately refused and peered at him, who smirked at her. “I mean, I didn’t admire His Highness that way,” she molded her words and passed a tiny smile to him.

“In what way?” Lóng Wei leaned forward to her while she leaned back.

“Th-that w-way,” she stuttered.

“Explain,” Lóng Wei stated.

Li Hua bit her bottom lip before licking it with her tongue.

“Did you just seduce me?” He asked and opened his mouth in surprise, which bewildered her.