Langhua: The Codependence of a Prince and His General

Reunion

The court was dismissed. The Emperor left, and once he was out of sight, the other officials began to stream out of the hall.

No one had told Xuanyuan Lang and Lin Junli to rise.

Most of the officials avoided looking at them at all. Prime Minister Wang shook his head and sighed heavily, turning away without a word. By the time Xuanyuan Lang looked up, the Second Prince was already gone.

"Seventh Brother..." The First Prince Xuanyuan Chen approached Xuanyuan Lang, but before he could help the boy up, Prime Minister Wang cleared his voice behind him.

"Your Highness the First Prince, I have something to discuss with you. Could you kindly lend me your time?"

"I—" Xuanyuan Chen looked at his youngest brother worriedly, but Xuanyuan Lang just gave him a smile and a nod. There was no time for Xuanyuan Chen to say anything else before Prime Minister Wang practically dragged him out of the hall.

Now, Xuanyuan Lang and Lin Junli were alone. Even the eunuchs and handmaidens had all cleared out.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess, Your Highness." Lin Junli tried to stand up, but his legs must have been numb from kneeling for so long. The blood loss could not have helped, either; his complexion was whiter than a sheet. Xuanyuan Lang hurriedly scrambled to his feet and caught Lin Junli before he fell back onto the floor, this time potentially landing face-first.

"Don't say that, Lord Lin. I'm afraid it's all our fault." The guilt was weighing heavy on Xuanyuan Lang's mind. Their childish, selfish desire to exchange silly, inconsequential letters had gotten Lord Lin implicated in all this. He had only been trying to help them.

"No, Your Highness. Things aren't as simple as you think." Lin Junli straightened up, putting a gentle hand on Xuanyuan Lang's shoulder for both support and comfort as he settled back onto his feet. To Xuanyuan Lang's surprise, Lord Lin was only half a head taller than him.

Lin Junli read the surprise on his face and smiled. "You are growing into a splendid young man, Your Highness. I understand now why Hua Meng spoke highly of you."

"He did? But I barely met him."

"Precisely, yet you defended him just now." Lin Junli chuckled. "I would say that more than justifies his praise of you, Your Highness. I'm sure that he's gloating about his good judgment right now... even from the other side."

Lin Junli's smile turned distant, then it faded. "Let us head to the imperial prison at once. We should not keep Yuheng waiting any longer than necessary."

Hua Yuheng. Xuanyuan Lang's heart, having barely just calmed down after that perilous court session, began racing again. There was grief for his friend's loss, pain for his predicament, fear for his present state in prison... but underneath all that, as much as Xuanyuan Lang tried to ignore it, there was an undercurrent of excitement.

He was finally going to see Hua Yuheng again.

The corners of his lips fell. If only they were under better circumstances.

Lin Junli led the way to the prison, since Xuanyuan Lang realized to his shame that he did not know where it was. He had spent all his life in the palace, but much of it was still off-limits to an underage prince with no status. Nevertheless, he was in no mood to explore right now.

"Could you tell me more about the situation, Lord Li?" Xuanyuan Lang asked, trying to keep his mind occupied as they walked down the corridors. "What on earth happened?"

"I'm afraid much of it is as Eunuch Yang said in the court. The situation on the western border battlefield had been strange for some time, and people gradually began suspecting a traitor or spy within the army's ranks. Our own spies report that the enemy appears to have insider knowledge on the inner workings of Hua Meng's army, but to make things worse we recently found out that they're gaining newfound knowledge directly from the capital and even the palace as well."

"Information from within the palace?" Xuanyuan Lang turned pale.

"Yes. That's why we're the primary suspects. After all, we've been discretely maintaining a line of communication from within the palace to the borders." Lin Junli pressed his lips together. "Your Highness, when was the last time you saw Xiao Xian'zi?"

The eunuch who brought him the letters? Of course, Xiao Xian'zi must have been one of Lord Lin's men. "Um, at the beginning of the eleventh month, I think. I sent Hua Yuheng a letter at the time, but I did not expect a reply so I did not seek out Xiao Xian'zi after that." He had considered sending Ah Heng another letter at the beginning of this month, but after two months of no replies, he was worried that sending any more might bring Ah Heng more trouble than comfort.

Should he have been more concerned? Would that have made any difference?

"My servants received that letter, but not from Xiao Xian'zi," Lin Junli said tersely. "It was another young eunuch who claimed that Xiao Xian'zi bid him to pass me the letter. The servant who received it was young and inexperienced, so he did not think to suspect anything. We sent the letter accordingly... and two weeks later, Hua Meng walked into an ambush. It cost him his life."

Two weeks... That was approximately the time it took for a carrier pigeon to take the letters from the capital to the borders. Xuanyuan Lang's blood ran cold.

"There is a traitor from within the palace, and they used the letters to communicate with their spies in Hua Meng's army." Lin Junli's knuckles were white as he gripped the handles and pulled the prison doors open. "We were careless. Hua Meng's death is at least partly our fault."

A cold draft blew up at them from the imperial prison. Lin Junli's mouth was a grim slash as he walked down the cool stone steps and nodded at the guards as they walked past. Xuanyuan Lang followed behind him. The guards made no indication of recognizing him, and even if they did, they did not move to greet nor bow to him.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs. Most of the prison cells were empty, but there was a rustle of movement in the second cell on the right.

Xuanyuan Lang looked inside and met Hua Yuheng's eyes for the first time since they parted three years ago.