Langhua: The Codependence of a Prince and His General

Fiasco

"But you asked me anyway." Hua Yuheng was highly amused and he did not bother hiding it.

Xuanyuan Lang gritted his teeth. "I just... couldn't say no."

"You're spoiling your brother, and he's supposed to the older one among you two."

"He doesn't act like it," Xuanyuan Lang mumbled. "Besides, don't you think his honesty is kinda refreshing?"

"I can see what you mean. That's something both of us lost along the way," Hua Yuheng mused, voicing the thoughts Xuanyuan Lang did not want to say. "Still, in the palace sincerity is a double-edged sword. You know that."

"You didn't have to remind me." Xuanyuan Lang tugged at the corners of his lips. His Sixth Brother's childishness was definitely rubbing off on him... but he was with Ah Heng now, so it was fine.

They were on their way to Scarlet Pavilion again, since Lin Xiangyang was nowhere else to be found. To be honest, Xuanyuan Lang wanted to ask him for his opinion about the secret succession war unfolding behind the scenes now too. As much as Hua Yuheng hated to admit it, his senior brother was no fool.

This time, he just hoped that Lin Xiangyang would not be drunk out of his mind.

As they approached the building once more, Xuanyuan Lang inevitably thought of Xuanyuan Chen, whom they had encountered the last time they were here. He had not met his First Brother since that day, and he could not even be sure if Xuanyuan Chen was aware that he had seen him then. They had spent the last few days dealing with the possible fallout from his unexpected actions, yet as far as Xuanyuan Lang knew, none of them had tried approaching him directly. Why was that?

The Empress had even suggested that Xuanyuan Lang ask the First Prince himself. Should he? Where should he even start?

What if Xuanyuan Chen was here again today? Would that be an opportunity or an unlucky coincidence?

He was so caught up in the possibility that Xuanyuan Lang felt almost no surprise when he heard the whispers around him. Of course the scenario he was dreading the most would be exactly the one greeting them at the brothel.

"What's the commotion? Why is everyone gathered outside?" someone asked.

"Didn't you hear? They say a customer was caught getting handsy with the courtesans."

"At this time of the day? Well... It's not exactly proper, but it isn't that rare an occurrence either."

"Ah, that's where you're mistaken. The kicker this time is... they say the rioter is an imperial prince!"

Leave it to the busybodies gathering here to 'whisper' in a voice loud enough to spread across the entire crowd. Xuanyuan Lang felt another wave of helplessness wash over him. Things were just going from bad to worse.

Hua Yuheng frowned, lowering his voice so only Xuanyuan Lang could hear him. "Did they catch the First Prince red-handed? This can't be good. What do you want to do, Qilang?"

"Why are you asking me?" If he could, what he wanted was to turn around and pretend he never saw or heard any of this.

"Because he's your brother, isn't he?" It was impressive how much indignation Hua Yuheng could force into a whisper.

And as usual, he was right. Xuanyuan Lang sighed.

"Let's go in and see what's going on. If he really is in there, we can try to clear things up and get him back to the palace. Quietly."

Maybe this was his chance, after all. He could use it to try and understand the reasoning behind Xuanyuan Chen's recent behavior.

Before they could push past the crowd, however, there was another uproar. Scarlet Pavilion's doors were thrown open, and a slightly familiar figure stomped out.