Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

“Of course, Fourth Brother. What is it?” Xiaoming got inquisitive.

“I am unable to discuss it here. If the Crown Prince comes to my manor that will be great,” Mingquan requested. Xiaoming could not refuse him and went to the Fourth Prince’s manor.

“How is Brother Mingquan’s foot? I heard that he sprained his ankle,” Xiaoming expressed his concern.

“It wasn’t a major problem, Your Royal Highness. Forgive me for not attending the small meeting last night that the Crown Prince had with the rest of the brothers,” Mingquan apologized humbly.

“May I know why what was the topic of discussion in that meeting?” Mingquan queried.

Since they were outside, Xiaoming refrained from telling what he discussed with the rest of the brothers, except Lóng Wei.

They soon reached outside Mingquan’s manor. The guards and the servants in the manor bowed upon seeing the Crown Prince. They entered the chamber and settled around the floor table. Eunuch Lishi stayed outside.

“What does Brother Mingquan want to discuss?” Xiaoming asked.

.....

“I want us brothers to make efforts to make Brother Lóng Wei feel what a family is!” Mingquan stated. “He is 20 years old. We all have a slight gap in our ages. Nothing changed in these twenty years for him. He is still the same and I feel because of our behaviors toward Brother Lóng Wei, he is adamant not to change himself.”

“Brother Mingquan said three days ago that a leopard cannot change its spots,” Xiaoming reminded him. “Does he think that Brother Lóng Wei will change just because we want this?” He shook his head and continued, “I have tried every method to make Brother Lóng Wei feel that I care for him; this family cares for him.”

“The Crown Prince’s replies seem strange to me. He always said to us brothers that Brother Lóng Wei wants the warmth of his elders.” Mingquan was puzzled to see that Xiaoming refused to help Lóng Wei in any way.

“Brother Mingquan, I am upset that Brother Lóng Wei almost killed my younger sister. At least, he should respect women.” Xiaoming looked angry. “Oh, I forgot that he had never respected a woman, else he would not have killed his mother. All these years, I was wrong about Brother Lóng Wei. No matter how much I will do for him, he will always taunt me, trouble my close ones,” Xiaoming affirmed.

“My humble apologies, Crown Prince, but that day the First Sister did wrong by comparing Li Hua with his mother. Sister Jingfei should not have to call Li Hua a whore. That word in itself triggered Brother Lóng Wei since he loves Li Hua. Every human has dignity including the servants,” Mingquan said, keeping his tone polite.

Xiaoming was angry too that his sister used such a word for Li Hua.

“I shall take my leave. I have to visit the government office today,” Xiaoming stood up and was ready to leave when Mingquan stopped him.

“The Crown Prince did not give me any answer whether he will help me and ask the other brothers to support me,” Mingquan stated.

“Brother Mingquan, no one wants Brother Lóng Wei to be in the Imperial Palace. Though, I am happy to help you. I also want him to feel that we all are a family,” Xiaoming said with a smile. “Let’s discuss it later.” He walked towards the door.

Mingquan fiddled his fingers, wondering how to stop the Crown Prince from leaving for his chamber. However, he did not rush as it could make Xiaoming suspicious of him.

Mingquan followed him and saw him off. ‘It will take five to ten minutes for the Crown Prince to reach his manor. Hopefully, Brother Lóng Wei will complete his work before that,’ he thought.

Xiaoming could not believe that Mingquan would request such a thing from him. ‘I was lucky last night that he didn’t attend our meeting. Else, he would have told our Father about it. I need to tell the other Princes to keep it to themselves,’ he thought and asked Eunuch Lishi to send a message to the other three princes to meet him urgently.

~~~~~

Lóng Wei opened the window of the Crown Prince’s chamber after putting effort for more than five minutes. He finally succeeded in opening it and climbed up, before jumping in to land in the chamber.

With quiet steps, he went towards the desk where Xiaoming usually did his work. He opened the drawers of the desk and checked the documents inside. He was hoping to find evidence, that he could use against Xiaoming to make him confess the truth.

He looked into the documents which were mostly related to the kingdom. He put them inside the drawer and checked the second one. A few brushes and ink sticks were kept in that drawer. He closed it and checked the third one, which was slightly smaller in space.

Again he found nothing and rose to his feet. He checked the shelves where a few books were put. He checked them but found nothing.

Lóng Wei had searched almost the entire chamber but found nothing. He heard the footsteps and decided to run before someone would catch him. He opened the window and jumped out. Closing it from outside, he disappeared from the yard before any servant could notice him.

Lóng Wei halted near the corridor which was connected to the King’s manor and stood against the pillar.

‘He might have gotten rid of the evidence if any. Why would he keep any evidence around? If he can kill these thirty servants, then he must have done many things in the past. It is just everything is unknown to us,’ he thought.

The Second Princess, Ai Fen, was coming from the front and saw Lóng Wei. She greeted him and Lóng Wei lifted his head. “How is the Sixth Brother?” She asked humbly.

“Fine,” Lóng Wei answered and looked out towards the open yard where servants were sweeping the floor.

“I made some sweets. Would Brother Lóng Wei like to taste them? I earlier gave them to our Royal Father and Royal Father.” Ai Fen asked him, who shook his head.

“Brother Lóng Wei likes these sweets,” Ai Fen started to convince him. Lóng Wei tilted his head to glance at her and then at the maidservant, who had a tray in her hand in which he saw a few platters covered with silk cloth.

“I am not interested,” Lóng Wei said, which disheartened Ai Fen. He decided to leave before Ai Fen would say anything more.

“Brother Lóng Wei, we are a family,” Ai Fen stated. He scrunched his brows and wondered why she was saying such words. “I prepared sweets for everyone in our family. I would have been happy if Brother Lóng Wei had tasted them,” she stated.

Lóng Wei chuckled. “My presence doesn’t matter in the palace. You can serve the others,” he said and walked ahead. He went to the stable to get a horse and check the place which the assassin had told him about.

As he hopped on the horse, Huang Xi also came on a horse from the front and smiled at him.

“Prince Lóng Wei,” he raised his hand, which had the sword in it. “I am lucky to reach at the right time. Let’s go to the forest and find the appropriate evidence,” Huang Xi encouraged him.

“Does Commander Huang Xi not have any other work? Why does he trouble me all the time?” Lóng Wei asked him and pulled the reins on the horse. He moved ahead of Huang Xi, who followed him.

“Why doesn’t Prince Lóng Wei accept my friendship?” Huang Xi asked as he approached him on the horse.

“Friendship? I don’t need a friend,” Lóng Wei stated. Soon they got out of the main gates of the palace.

“Everyone needs a friend, Prince Lóng Wei,” Huang Xi opined.

“You shall be with the First Princess,” Lóng Wei remarked.

“Why?” Huang Xi’s brows furrowed.

“She always looks for you. She has a crush on you,” Lóng Wei replied.

“But I don’t like her,” Huang Xi said.

“Whoa! That’s great. For you, she does thousands of makeup treatments. We can be friends then,” Lóng Wei said and kicked the horse, which picked up speed.

Huang Xi was astonished to hear it and chased him on his horse. “Prince Lóng Wei, if I had liked the First Princess, then he would not have accepted my friendship. That’s strange. It is a unique way to keep the grudges,” Huang Xi opined as he again reached near him on the horse.

“Of course. I like to keep the grudges this way only,” Lóng Wei answered. Today, he had not kept his hair open. Instead, it was tied into a hair bun.

Huang Xi smiled and they both soon reached the location, where the assassin met the chief culprit.

They hopped down from their respective horses. Huang Xi tied them to a tree and walked ahead with Lóng Wei. They searched the area for quite a long time, but they were unable to find anything related to the incident. Lóng Wei thought he might find anything that Xiaoming would have mistakenly left, but he was wrong.

Huang Xi put his hands on his waist. “Your Highness, do you have any suspicion on anyone?” He asked.

“I know who the culprit is, but I don’t have evidence,” Lóng Wei answered.

“Who?” Huang Xi got curious.

“I cannot tell,” Lóng Wei refused to tell him and turned to go back where they had come in. “I need to buy a gift for Li Hua,” he murmured and asked Huang Xi if he knew any good jeweler’s shop in the market.

“His Highness can ask the royal jeweler instead of going to the market,” Huang Xi suggested to him.

“I do not like that Royal Jeweler. He accused me once of stealing his gold,” Lóng Wei said with annoyance.

“The King didn’t punish him for accusing the Prince!” Huang Xi was bewildered to learn about it.

“Sadly, a gold bar was found in my room,” Lóng Wei answered when he felt something beneath his shoe. He halted, and so did Huang Xi.

“What happened, Your Highness?” Huang Xi asked as he saw Lóng Wei bending on his knees.

Lóng Wei picked the tassel, which had a white jade on it. When his foot pressed it, the jade had broken slightly. He picked up the broken piece too and carefully looked at it.

“The jade seems expensive,” Huang Xi said.

Lóng Wei nodded. “Because it belongs to a Prince,” he affirmed, and his lips twisted into a smirk.