45 Can I taste them?

historical

After the royal family had their tea together, everyone left for their respective manors. Though, Lóng Wei had stopped Xiaoming from leaving the hall.

“Why did the Crown Prince do it?” The disastrous look on his face showed that he would kill Xiaoming right at that moment.

“I did nothing,” Xiaoming refused plainly. “If the Sixth Prince doesn’t have anything to ask, then he shall excuse himself,” he said, with a stern tone.

“I have many things to ask. But I know that the Crown Prince will never answer me. I told him not to awaken my beast. Now, I have gained the authority as the other princes. Soon, I will gain more power than the Crown Prince. Hopefully, he will stop troubling me by then.” Lóng Wei’s words seemed threatening.

“The Sixth Prince can gain as much power as he wants,” Xiaoming said and patted his shoulder before leaving the hall.

Lóng Wei left the hall to check on Li Hua. He wanted to explain to her. He didn’t kill anyone, and he also wanted to thank her for standing for him. He knew that Li Hua might have believed that he had killed the servants and broken her trust because of his past acts.

However, he found Eunuch Gao Bing in the corridor, waiting for him. “Here,” Gao Bing forwarded the royal seal to Lóng Wei, “His Highness shall keep it safe.”

Lóng Wei put the royal seal inside the pocket of his dress and walked ahead.

.....

“Today His Highness looked marvelous,” Gao Bing said as he followed him. “His Majesty was not in a good mood when he found out that thirty servants were found dead,” he stated.

“Why are you good to me?” Lóng Wei halted at his place and tilted his head to look at him. “My question should be, why are you praising me?” He asked with skepticism.

“I am His Highness’s well-wisher,” Gao Bing said. Lóng Wei burst out laughing and told him not to tell a lie about it.

“No. You are scared of me. You think I may reveal your secrets someday to my father. Then, my father will kick you out,” Lóng Wei corrected him. He noticed the horrified and bewildered expressions on Gao Bing’s face. It made him smile, and he walked ahead.

It took him fifteen minutes to find the chamber, where Li Hua would reside for two days. He stepped forward to walk inside when the maidservant stopped him. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but you cannot see Miss Li Hua for two days.” She quickly got on her knees to plead with him, “I will be punished if His Highness defies the order of the Queen.”

“No one will inform the Queen,” Lóng Wei said and told her to open the doors. More than the Queen, the maidservant was scared of Lóng Wei. She rose to her feet and opened the doors for him. Lóng Wei walked in with a broad smile on his lips.

He saw Li Hua was on the chaise, fiddling with her fingers. Lóng Wei found that the Court Lady that the Queen sent with Li Hua was not in the chamber. He stepped back and went towards the door to lock it from inside. Once he was done, he went back to see Li Hua.

“Why are you nervous?”

Upon hearing Lóng Wei’s voice, Li Hua jumped from her place. She swiftly stood up and bowed.

Lóng Wei stopped in front of her. His hands were still behind his back.

“Why is His Highness here? Her Majesty has given the clear instructions that he cannot,” she paused when Lóng Wei drew her close with his right arm wrapped around her waist, “see me,” she completed her words in a low voice. Her hand rested on his arm while the other one, remained in its place.

“Do you not want answers from me regarding the unprecedented murders?” He arched his brow.

“Will His Highness answer me?” She was sanguine that he would tell her the exact reason. “How did His Highness find all that?” she was astonished to see what happened in the Greeting Hall.

“Li Hua, why did you stand for me?” Lóng Wei asked her.

“I-I,” her eyelids flickered as she tried to think what to answer.

“Is it too tough to be truthful with your future husband?” Lóng Wei inquired from her. “Tell me what did you feel at that moment. Everyone was against me. You should have also believed that I killed them, but you shocked me. I won’t deny that I never killed anyone. It was an easy escape for you since you have a lover. Why did you take my stand?” He bored his gaze at her.

Indeed, it was the best chance to escape that marriage, but she didn’t. Because everyone wasn’t aware of his caring side. Also, she wanted to repay what he did for her. He saved her thrice, and last night’s incident had somewhere made her feel secure around him.

“Because I didn’t see him leaving the chamber. Also, I trusted his words when he said he would spare everyone,” Li Hua gave a simple explanation.

“Li Hua, thank you.” Lóng Wei smiled. Those eyes seemed to hurt as if they remembered something painful.

“In the Palace, no one wants me to stay back because of my mischievous, and sometimes, cunning acts. I have been to the cold palace many times. That is why I left in the middle of the night to check if everything was safe because I knew my enemy would use my words against me. Luckily, I caught the murderer.” Lóng Wei didn’t go into many details and briefed her.

“That’s why His Highness was feeling sleepy in the morning,” Li Hua stated.

“Hmm. I ran miles of distance to catch him. He had left the palace earlier. He ended up making a mistake and used the route of uphill where Yuze resides,” Lóng Wei asserted.

Li Hua found that Monk Yuze was the only well-wisher of Lóng Wei in the palace.

“His Highness shall address Monk Yuze respectfully,” she reprimanded him. Lóng Wei chuckled and shook his head.

Lóng Wei’s eyes lingered on her lips. “Can I taste them?”

“Huh?”

“Your lips. I want to feel the taste of your lips,” Lóng Wei stated.

Li Hua shook her head.

“But we have already kissed,” he reminded her, “once.”

“That was an accident, Your Highness,” Li Hua promptly replied. She asked him to let her go, but his grip tightened around her.

“Fine. I understood,” Lóng Wei said and quickly left a peck on her cheek.

“Your Highness!” She hit him in the arm and bit her lips. “That’s not allowed. We cannot do such things. Let’s make some rules before moving forward with this marriage,” Li Hua pronounced.