Love Sword

20

They continued forward for another half-day time. The sun is slowly beginning to set as they finally reached the northern province of Da Dong which is famous for its lantern festival every year.

This province is quite a beautiful place with merchants from other empires and kingdoms coming to trade and do businesses with Da Dong.

They were welcomed warmly by the people there. It was surprising how loved the crown prince is in this part of the empire. They all cheered and hailed the prince so loudly with eyes shimmering with love and adoration.

The parade was led towards the most luxurious inn in the province, made for high ranking officials and royals to reside in. Xiang Ning walked towards his room and quickly tested out the bed.

As expected, it is so soft and comfortable.

Because this province is in the northern area of the empire, this province and a few others are the borders of the country to the Mongols.

The temperature and weather here is very cold. Snow keeps falling, however, the liveliness of the province warms up the low temperature of the province a lot.

Xiang Ning stood up and rushed to the window sill. The inn they are staying at is a one-of-a-kind VIP inn. The view they get from each room shows a perfect picture of the city from all angles.

As the prince is admiring the beautiful snowy city at night, He Chang walked in with three of the inn maids trailing behind him.

The three maids all stole secret glances at, not the prince, but his bodyguard instead. The bodyguard is tall and has a strong physique like this, he must be very warm to hug.

After He Chang left, the three maids helped Xiang Ning bathe and dress up for the lantern banquet.

'What is the banquet like?' Asked Xiang Ning while lifting his arms to let the girls dress him up.

All three of the maids smiled at each other and the one who seems to be oldest explained.

'Every year, the lantern banquet is the most celebrated banquet of our whole province. Although the northern provinces are cold and snowy, the biggest trades of the empire happens here. And only in our northern provinces can we see the phenomenon of the full moon for three nights. This province, Xue Liang, has the best view of the full moon every year.

The banquet gathers many royalties from across the empire and we have dancing, a giant feast, partying, fun games that lasts for three days and three nights.'

Xiang Ning listened in awe, he felt like he is looking forward to the festival very much. He wanted to float a lantern and make a wish.

After he's done, the three maids took their leaves and he made his way out of his room.

He Chang who has been guarding the door outside turned around to look at the little man behind him. Xiang Ning had always been very beautiful but tonight, he looked exceptionally beautiful.

He is wearing a light pink robe with silver accessories pinning up his hair and surrounding his neck. The light pink luxurious muslin fabric covered his shoulders which added a touch of allure to his milky skin which could be seen from under the see-through cloth of the muslin.

This kind of robe is actually a mixture of innocence and seductiveness. Any man would give their head to see their beloved in this outfit.

His apricot eyes shined like stars and his lips were colored with rouge. The smell exuded from his body is very light but extremely addicting, anyone who got a sniff of it would want to keep him in their arms and sniff his scent until they're all gone.

Xiang Ning turned his gaze away from He Chang. He felt a little uncomfortable under the stare of the man in front of him. He opened his lips but before he could say what he wanted to say, a harsh grip fell onto his frail wrist.

He lifted his head in alarm to see He Chang staring down at him with scrunched eyebrows.

'What is this?' Asked He Chang.

Xiang Ning felt confused, he is finding it hard to understand this man more and more. The confused gaze coming from the little prince seemed to send He Chang's frown to become even more harsh.

'Why are you wearing this?' Asked He Chang.

Xiang Ning felt anger bubbling up a little. What is he talking about? He shook the strong grip off his wrist and began massaging the pained wrist while talking.

'What did you expect? Do you want me to go to the banquet naked?'

The angered tone coming from the youth was a first for He Chang. He'd never seen this little prince act up on him before. For some reasons, he felt a little irritated. He forcefully pulled the prince forward by his collar and aggressively took a sniff at the crook of his neck before pushing him away with a disgusted face.

'You're revealing so much skin. Are you planning to steal someone's husband with this look? And that perfume you're wearing is so overpowering. How disgusting!' Said He Chang with a mocking tone.

His rough hand is pulling and picking apart the muslin fabric that is revealing Xiang Ning's shoulders, arms and neck. The rough grabbing brushed against his skin so harshly, coupled with the fact that the pampered prince's skin is so thin and soft, it caused quite a bit of pain.

Xiang Ning felt wronged. Tears formed in his eyes as he listened to He Chang's unpleasant voice tone and the pain on his shoulders hasn't subsided.

Why did this man bother being nice to him and save him from the assassins? Why not let him die if he's going to be so mean to him the next day anyway?

He Chang glanced at the prince's drooping eyes. Although those tears are not falling, he could see the moisture on the curved eyelashes of the young man and the trembling red lips.

He stopped his bullying and scoffed. He opened the door of the room and pulled the prince back in. Shutting the door, the loud sound of the door caused the tears that Xiang Ning has been trying to hold back to drop one by one.

'Go and clean that disgusting smell off. After that, change into something more appropriate for a royalty. Don't go around looking like a prostitute.' Spat He Chang.

Those words felt like blades pricking the pitiful heart of Xiang Ning. He obediently walked into the bathroom and filled the bathtub while sobbing unstoppably. He slowly sat down in the bathtub and began silently crying to himself.

To Be Continued...