Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

She placed her hands on the table and clasped them. ‘Monk Yuze knows the truth about Prince Lóng Wei’s past. How did he manage to hide it for a long time? How could the King never find out about it?’ she thought and tapped her fingers on the table. Yuze was the person who could tell Lóng Wei the truth, but he never did.

Albeit Lóng Wei had told Li Hua to stay away from that matter, she was curious to find out about it. She wanted to find the evidence that showed Lóng Wei that the King was behind all those events, which Lóng Wei had refused to believe. She heard the footsteps and raised her head to look.

It was Feng Lao with one more lantern in his hand. “You disappeared from the chamber,” he said and placed the lantern on the other side of the table. “What happened?” He saw the worried look on her face.

“Did Prince Lóng Wei send any message for me?” Li Hua asked.

“No. I heard that the Crown Prince has sent a separate message for the Crown Princess,” Feng Lao affirmed.

“That was sweet of the Crown Prince,” Li Hua said. “Prince Lóng Wei should return soon because he has an important matter to look at,” she murmured.

“You mean the incident related to his past?” Feng Lao asked her.

Li Hua nodded her head. “It is important because-” she paused and continued in her mind, ‘the King will start the search for Qizhen. If he finds Prince Lóng Wei’s father, then he will kill him this time.’

.....

“Prince Lóng Wei will try to end the matter in Qijiang soon to return. His Highness cannot stay away from you for a long time,” Feng Lao assured and pulled out the chair for him. He sat on it and placed the sword on the table.

“I have something to share with you,” Feng Lao stated.

“What?” Li Hua was a little puzzled to hear him.

Feng Lao took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and put it on the table.

“What is it?” Li Hua again asked with a confused look.

“Princess Xiaolian gave me this,” Feng Lao said hesitantly, “love letter.”

Li Hua was astonished to hear him and asked him why he was giving it to her. “It is meant for you.”

“I did not want this. She is not a good woman. Because of her, you were almost punished. She is the one who filled the ears of the First Princess,” Feng Lao asserted. “I felt unpleasant when the servant handed me this letter,” he added.

“What does it say?” Li Hua asked him as she amusedly smiled.

“She expressed her feelings through poetry,” Feng Lao replied.

“Are you sure?” Li Hua asked and picked up the letter. She asked his permission first if she should open that or not. Feng Lao allowed her and told her that she did not even have to ask.

“Oh. Maybe the Third Princess fell for your charms,” Li Hua teased him. She opened the letter and read the poetry. “It is indeed a confession,” she was happy to read it and placed that letter on the table.

“When will you meet her and give your response?” Li Hua excitedly asked and leaned forward while placing her hands on the surface of the table. “In my opinion, you should meet tomorrow with the Third Princess. The sooner, the better,” she asserted with enthusiasm.

“You seem more excited about it than me. This letter does not matter to me,” Feng Lao plainly said. “I will not meet her and will ignore that I ever received this letter from her,” he clarified to her.

“Do not be so cold-hearted. You should respond to this love letter. I remember how you used to give responses to the numerous love letters you received from the young women in Xinshui,” Li Hua said as she recalled the past.

“That time was different,” Feng Lao stated. “I used to respond because-” he paused to see her face. For Li Hua, he used to reply to such letters. He wanted to tell everyone that time that he had someone, whom he loved. Now, he was not in a state to even love anyone. Also, Li Hua was still in his heart. It was tough for him to move his heart from her to someone else.

“Feng Lao, give yourself a chance to lead a happy life,” Li Hua again said the same words to him that she told him many times earlier too.

“Do you want this for me?” Feng Lao asked her.

Li Hua promptly nodded her head. “I am your well-wisher. I am not telling you to marry the Third Princess right away. I only want you to talk to her once. That way she will not be upset and you will find what is her true self. You should not bring my matter while judging her nature. That will be wrong,” Li Hua made him understand. Because Li Hua wanted this more than he wanted it for himself, he acknowledged her suggestion.

“I will give her my answer tomorrow,” Feng Lao assured Li Hua.

~~~~~~~

Lóng Wei lay down on the bed. He was tired of the entire day’s activity. He roamed around the entire tribal area and introduced himself as Meng Ru.

“Crown Prince, did you notice one strange person in the tribe?” Lóng Wei asked Xiaoming, who had seated on the mattress, after removing his shoes.

“A strange person? Who?” Xiaoming arched his eyebrow with curiosity.

“The man with tanned skin and there was a burn mark on the side of his face,” Lóng Wei replied. “His actions were strange and I found out that he had been following me for a long time,” he asserted.

“So, is he the one?” Xiaoming asked in a low voice.

“I think so,” Lóng Wei replied and tilted his head to look at him. “He may come to kill me in my sleep or he may wait to find out my real identity,” he asserted.

“We have to stay awake the entire night then,” Xiaoming answered.

“We have to pretend that we are sleeping,” Lóng Wei opined. “I am unable to understand why the tribesmen from the other side came here to kill Wu Zihao. Why did Wu Zihao decide to follow them all by himself? A big mystery is underlying there of which we all are unaware. We have to catch this strange person alive.”

Xiaoming praised Lóng Wei for his observational skills. “I have found out that the explosive powder was not from the foreign territory but here. Someone from Qijiang did all this,” he informed Lóng Wei, who hummed.

Bai Juchen walked inside the hut and closed the door from inside. He asked the Princes, especially Lóng Wei not to go out late at night. “A deep forest lies in the northern direction. There are instances that wild boar was spotted in the night and it has even attacked a few people,” he warned both Xiaoming and Lóng Wei.

“Close the door well,” Lóng Wei told Bai Juchen. “I do not want us to become the food of the wild boar,” he said jokingly and it brought smiles on their lips.

“I wonder what Brother Tianjie will be doing at this hour,” Xiaoming suddenly switched the topic to Tianjie.

“He must be in Song Jia’s thoughts. I bet he will not have enough guts to marry her,” Lóng Wei’s sudden remark made Xiaoming and Bai Juchen interested.

“Prince Tianjie wants to marry a dancer!” Bai Juchen was stunned to hear that. “It will be impossible. His Majesty will never allow it,” he affirmed.

“When Father can allow me to marry Jin Yu, then he can allow Brother Tianjie as well,” Xiaoming opposed the opinion of Bai Juchen, who had gone to his bed.

“If we have to weigh between power and love we will choose the latter while Prince Tianjie will choose the former,” Lóng Wei stated with a confident tone. “The Crown Prince must not forget that unlike him, there is no one who can support Prince Tianjie. He needs a strong family through a political marriage that can back him in the future.”

“Brother Tianjie may choose love.” Xiaoming still had faith in his opinion. “I will support him. We all brothers will support him,” he added.

“The Crown Prince does not say something which he will not be able to keep up,” Lóng Wei told him.

The smile from his lips faded as he recalled Yuze’s conversation with him. He had to find his father, which would bring a storm in their respective lives.