Langhua: The Codependence of a Prince and His General

Flower

The silence stretched on in Competence Palace's main hall. Xuanyuan Rui's mother, Consort Xian, cleared her throat.

"Well met, Seventh Prince. Please, be at ease. Rui'er, shouldn't you greet your brother too?"

"Ah, yes." Xuanyuan Rui finally blinked, a smile spreading across his face. "Seventh Brother, right? Nice of you to come visit!"

"Yes, Sixth Brother. Thank you for—"

"Who's that behind you?"

Xuanyuan Lang stopped halfway through his sentence. Since they stepped into the hall, Hua Yuheng had naturally fallen a step behind him, keeping his head lowered and his mouth silent. Here, he was just another servant. Consort Xian had made no indication of noticing him, because he was supposed to be invisible.

It seemed that Xuanyuan Rui was not on quite the same page, though.

Hua Yuheng bowed deeper still before raising his head to look at the Sixth Prince. "My name is Hua Yuheng, Your Highness the Sixth Prince. It is my pleasure to meet you."

"Master Hua here is my reader-companion, Sixth Brother," Xuanyuan Lang interjected hurriedly. "He's just here to keep me company."

"This isn't the lecture hall or study, though?" Xuanyuan Rui tilted his head. "Why would he follow you here?"

Xuanyuan Lang's voice died in his throat. How was he supposed to answer that? His Sixth Brother kept throwing him off-balance.

"It's a little embarrassing, but..." Hua Yuheng jumped to his rescue, his tone light. "His Highness the Seventh Prince gets lonely, you see. And he was nervous about coming to see you, so I'm here to give him moral support."

"Ah Heng!" Xuanyuan Lang protested before he could stop himself. At the same time, Xuanyuan Rui had burst out laughing.

"Really? But why would you be nervous, Seventh Brother?"

Yet another awkward question... Still, Xuanyuan Rui's reaction was better than he expected. Xuanyuan Lang caught the secret thumbs-up Hua Yuheng flashed him and nodded discretely. Turning back to Xuanyuan Rui, he let a shy smile curve the corners of his lips.

"We don't get to talk much, Sixth Brother, so I... I guess I'm not sure I'd know what to say."

The Sixth Prince might require a different approach.

"Is that so? I still don't see why that's something to be nervous about, though." Xuanyuan Rui scratched his head and jumped out of his seat. "If you want to talk, we can talk. If you don't know what to say, I'll start first."

He ran down the hall and grabbed Xuanyuan Lang's hand. "Mother, can we go to the inner garden?"

All three boys looked at Consort Xian, who remained in her chair. Xuanyuan Lang noticed that her thin lips were pressed together, and her demure hands tightened on her lap. There was something frantic and mousy about her, her eyes darting back and forth for a moment before she settled on a forced smile. "Of course, Rui'er. But don't take too long, alright? You know the cold is not good for your cough."

"Okay!" Xuanyuan Rui's cheerful tone was infectious. As he dragged Xuanyuan Lang into the garden, Hua Yuheng running behind them, the two of them exchanged a glance and saw the smile in each other's eyes.

"This one's my favorite," Xuanyuan Rui declared, pointing at a spotted orchid, the crown jewel of a pavilion in the central garden. "It was a gift from the southern dignitaries and it's really difficult to keep alive. There were dozens of plants, but this is the only one that flowered this year. We had to water it carefully at the same time once every two days and use just the right soil mixture."

"Did you take care of it yourself, Sixth Brother?" Xuanyuan Lang asked, genuinely curious.

"I helped. It was mostly my mother, though."

"Still, it's good of you to help," Hua Yuheng added encouragingly.

"Mm-hmm. It's not like I have much else to do in here. Studying's boring and the imperial physician says getting some sun is good for me." Xuanyuan Rui sat down and sprawled himself onto the stone table. When Xuanyuan Lang placed a hand on the stone, he realized that it was radiated warmth from deep inside. "Are you here to take me out, Seventh Brother?"

Both Xuanyuan Lang and Hua Yuheng stiffened for a split second. Xuanyuan Rui was already going on, showing no indication of having noticed their reaction at all.

"I heard Mother talking about it with my aunt. Aunt Ying said something about how we can't hide forever."

Consort Xian was the second daughter of a lower-ranking official in the capital, if Xuanyuan Lang remembered correctly. However, the family's only son had died young, and all that remained were their three daughters. After the loss of his only heir, her father had fallen into a slump and lost his drive. As a result, neither Consort Xian nor her family made much of a splash in the capital, even though they had an imperial prince on their side.

Xuanyuan Lang thought of his mother. Until just a few years ago, he and Consort Liang were equally invisible in the imperial palace. That all changed with General Hua Meng's death, of course. If he had not taken the stage at the time, would he be any different from Xuanyuan Rui now? Would the two of them still be hiding in their Benevolence Palace, hoping against hope that the rest of the palace would forget all about them?

The Sixth Prince, Xuanyuan Rui. He was almost eighteen, but he had the body and mind of someone much younger. His body was lanky but skinny, his skin pale from all the time he spent indoors. Fairer than a greenhouse daughter, Hua Yuheng would scoff.

Yet, the eyes that peered out of Xuanyuan Rui's sallow face were bright.

"Do you want to go out, Sixth Brother?" Xuanyuan Lang asked. The words left his mouth without thinking.

"Can I?" There was a longing in Xuanyuan Rui's expression that Xuanyuan Lang knew too well. The youngest prince instinctively wanted to nod, but Hua Yuheng suddenly pressed the back of his head down.

"H-Hey!"

"That's all nice and good, Your Highnesses, but I must profess I have my concerns. Your Highness the Sixth Prince, how's your health? I hear that your esteemed mother keeps you inside because she's worried about you."

The light in Xuanyuan Rui's eyes dimmed, and he pouted. "Mother is overprotective. I'm all grown up now, and I'm not as weak as she thinks I am." Almost on cue, however, he had to stifle a slightly guilty cough. "I... Uh, my throat was itchy. That's all."

Xuanyuan Lang pulled Hua Yuheng's hand off his head and gave his companion a glare, which Hua Yuheng simply shrugged off. After he adjusted his crooked crown, Xuanyuan Lang said kindly, "I believe you, Sixth Brother. Why don't you talk to your mother about letting you attend court sessions soon? I'll bring it up to His Majesty and the Empress."

"You will?" Xuanyuan Rui perked up again, every turn in his emotions clear to read on his face. "Okay! I'll convince Mother. Just remember to keep your side of the promise!"

He even held out his pinky. Hua Yuheng could not help but roll his eyes at that, but Xuanyuan Lang elbowed him in the side with his left arm as he hooked his right pinky around Xuanyuan Rui's.

"I will. And I'll come to visit you again soon, Sixth Brother, so keep yourself healthy until then, alright?"

Author's Note: yeah so that's our resident spicy cinnamon bun~ also I'm workshopping the subtitle lol, is it weird? ><