Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

170 I want to see Li Hua

A few of the servants saw them and ran to them. They asked the Sixth Prince to let Feng Lao go. Lóng Wei gulped in anger and walked away. Shui Feng Lao sat up and started to cough. He rubbed his chest while a servant brought a glass of water. Feng Lao drank the water and wondered why Lóng Wei did that.

Lóng Wei came out of the Shui Residence and halted at the bottom of the stairs. He walked ahead in anger when Tang Zhaodang stopped him. He tilted his head and glared at him.

“Brother, yesterday we met in the market. I am sure you remember me,” Tang Zhaodang said in a polite tone and looked at the Shui Residence. “What was the brother doing here?” He asked.

“What do you want?” Lóng Wei interrogated him.

Tang Zhaodang looked back at him. “I want to see Li Hua,” he expressed his desire. “I want to meet her.”

When Tang Zhaodang grabbed Lóng Wei’s arm, he chuckled and walked past him. Lóng Wei glanced at his arm and then at him. “Take your hand off me,” he sternly said.

“First take me to Li Hua, Brother. I will tell Shui Feng Lao if you don’t take me with you,” Tang Zhaodang threatened. Lóng Wei knitted his brows and yanked his arm away from Tang Zhaodang’s grip.

“Follow me,” Lóng Wei stated and looked once again at the Shui residence before leaving. Tang Zhaodang was perplexed to find that they were on the forest route, which was prohibited to everyone. Suddenly, Lóng Wei stopped, and so did he.

“Who are you?” Lóng Wei inquired.

.....

“I am Tang Zhaodang.”

“Do you know who I am?” Lóng Wei waited for his response.

“You are the Sixth Prince,” Tang Zhaodang replied. “Before His Highness can ask me, I will tell him. People are gossiping about the Sixth Prince in the market,” he asserted. “I had to pretend that I did not know him so that he would let me accompany him. I am surprised to find that Li Hua is alive.”

“What’s your relationship with Shui Feng Lao? And why didn’t you tell him till now if you knew about Li Hua?” Lóng Wei inquired, and his brows furrowed.

“Are we going to talk about all this here?” Tang Zhaodang asked and looked around the forest.

“It is the best place,” Lóng Wei stated.

“Li Hua’s two elder brothers, Shui Feng Lao and I were close friends,” Tang Zhaodang said, and a faint smile formed on his lips.

“Li Hua didn’t talk about you. She doesn’t know you,” Lóng Wei proclaimed.

“Of course. She can’t know who I am because I’ve only seen her a few times. I only saw her a few times in the residence, but she wasn’t supposed to meet the men from other families except Feng Lao,” Tang Zhaodang stated.

“Answer my former question. Why didn’t you tell Shui Feng Lao about Li Hua?” Lóng Wei again repeated his previous query.

“Because if Li Hua agreed to marry His Highness, then the reason must be big. Xu Zifan had told me that Li Hua and Shui Feng Lao would marry soon. If Li Hua was alive, then why didn’t she return to Feng Lao?” Tang Zhaodang stated.

Lóng Wei realised that Feng Lao hadn’t told anyone about his betrayal. No one in the town knew about that night. They weren’t even aware that the two families met that night.

“I will answer your every question if you pass my exam.” Lóng Wei put forward a condition to Tang Zhaodang.

“Exam?” He exclaimed and arched his brow.

“Yes. I will let you meet my wife too,” Lóng Wei asserted.

“What do you I need to do, Your Highness?” Tang Zhaodang asked. Lóng Wei’s lips twisted into a smirk, and he stepped toward him. He whispered in Tang Zhaodang’s ear, who was shocked to hear Lóng Wei.

“That’s difficult, Your Highness,” Tang Zhaodang replied.

“Then, you can forget meeting her and knowing the answers,” Lóng Wei pronounced.

“I will do it.” Tang Zhaodang immediately changed his decision.

Lóng Wei smiled. “You can go back, Tang Zhaodang. Let’s meet tomorrow here after lunch. I would like to see if you are capable enough to work for me or not,” Lóng Wei said, and patted his shoulder.

Tang Zhaodang bowed and left Lóng Wei’s sight.

~~~~~~

Zhu Liling glared at Eunuch Lishi, who was on his knees. “Your Majesty, I didn’t know that the Crown Prince would befriend a woman from a low class. If I had known this, I would have stopped him,” Eunuch Lishi explained to the Queen.

“What is the name of this woman?” Zhu Liling asked again.

“Your Majesty, it is Liu Jin Yu,” Eunuch Lishi answered.

“The Crown Prince first refused to marry Miss Cha Ying. Later, he asked His Majesty not to let him have concubines. And now, he is befriending a woman who has no social status whatsoever, “Eunuch Lianying pronounced. “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is digging his own grave. In my opinion, Her Majesty needs to talk to the Crown Prince,” Eunuch Lianying suggested to the Queen, who stayed silent for a while.

She rubbed her fingers and asked Eunuch Lishi to stand up. “I am glad that Eunuch Lishi informed me about this. Bring Liu Jin Yu here. I would like to converse with her,” Zhu Liling ordered Eunuch Lishi, who bowed and left the Crown Prince’s manor.

“Xiaoming wasn’t like this earlier. First, he was after Li Hua, then this new young lady,” Zhu Liling murmured.

“Your Majesty, you can throw this young lady out of the palace! Only two weeks remain. We have to make sure that the Crown Prince doesn’t find any women by then. The daughter of the Prime Minister is the most suitable for the Crown Prince. He needs to accumulate power more than the other princes, and his marriage with Miss Cha Ying will do it.”

Eunuch Lianying started to fill the ears of Zhu Liling.

“His Majesty has agreed to the Crown Prince’s request. If I try to go against His Majesty, then he may get angry at me. Also, I have another woman in mind,” Zhu Liling stated. “I do not want the Crown Prince to get involved with any petty woman and ruin his future because of that. His involvement with Li Hua has already tarnished his image many times,” Zhu Liling stated. Eunuch Lianying was surprised to find that the Queen had another woman in her mind.

He could not let it happen. If he wanted to rule over a part of the kingdom, he had to make the Crown Prince marry Kang Xi’s daughter.

“Your Majesty, the Kang Family is strongest among all the noble families in the Kingdom. What if the Prime Minister makes an alliance with any of the remaining four princes to marry his daughter to any of them?” Eunuch Lianying forced the Queen to think the other way.

Noble Consort Xiuying and Virtuous Consort Ruoxi were two such ladies other than her who might take advantage of this situation. If another prince became powerful, then Xiaoming would fall in danger. He might become weaker and might be forced by the ministers to step down as the Crown Prince.

“I cannot let it happen,” Zhu Liling murmured. “Eunuch Lianying, arrange my private meeting with Prime Minister Kang Xi,” she ordered him, who grinned as he was finally able to convince the Queen.