The Legend of the Underwater Palace and the Sea Dragon Prince

11. His Highness' advisors are summoned, but the decision is his own

Hua Cheng's words were something totally unexpected, like thunder from a clear sky, and the crown prince was speechless, his golden eyes wide in astonishment. Hua Cheng kept looking at him intently and in all seriousness, not showing any signs of getting close or touching him.

He smiled softly and went on, "Gege. You're not betrothed to anyone, nor XianLe needs a political alliance. You're free to do as you please. I'm not going to talk about who I am in the Mortal Realm, how rich and powerful, because I know these matters aren't at all important for you".

He paused, and said, "I'm madly in love with you", noticing the prince's fixed eyes on him, his soft gasp, how he fiddled nervously with that necklace Hua Cheng had just given him. "When I left, I had decided not to return to XianLe anymore. Maybe sell that dragon pearl and be set for life you know".

Hua Cheng was very conscious of the implications of what he just said: if you reject me again I might just do that, and never come back. But at this point he couldn't afford to go half-way.

"San Lang...", the prince sighed.

"But I couldn't stop thinking of you, so I came back, throwing myself into your net. I know it's a long shot but well I just have to try my luck. Because if I'm not mistaken, Gege, you like me too..."

"I do", he replied, "You're not mistaken. But as I mentioned before, my cultivation path – "

"Your cultivation path forbids promiscuity, you said", Hua Cheng replied, tilting his head and smiling.

"Yes", the crown prince replied, biting his lower lip, "For this reason I can't – "

"Marriage was invented by the gods, and allowed by the Heavens. It's a sacred thing, how can it be considered promiscuity, and therefore forbidden?"

Hearing this, the prince looked at him dazedly, and still smiling, Hua Cheng approached and held his hand, pulling him closer gently as if not wanting to scare him off. The prince let himself be handled, not taking his eyes off Hua Cheng's face, and he trembled slightly at feeling Hua Cheng's hands on his waist, his warmth, and his body pressing on.

Looking into his eyes and, getting close, lips almost touching lips, Hua Cheng whispered, "Gege, if you still can't decide, let your body decide instead".

•

"No no no absolutely not!", Jun Wu punched the table, making everyone around it jolt in shock, "What kind of advantaged this marriage would bring to XianLe? It's an outrageous idea, utterly ridiculous!"

As the crown prince, his wedding proposal was a matter of estate, therefore the kingdom's advisors had to be summoned to discuss it. They were sitting at that long table, with the prince himself and Hua Cheng at its far ends listening to all of it silently, as if they weren't even present. All they seemed to agree was this: Hua Cheng wasn't good enough.

"Also, this man is just a mortal, while our crown prince is a sea dragon with thousands of years of cultivation. They're as different as Heaven and earth", Jun Wu concluded.

The Guoshi, seeming to remember something, asked, "Your Highness! I trust you've been keeping your cultivation path in mind. Don't tell this wedding is because you went astray with this man – "

"No!", the crown prince blurted out, "We never... that", he concluded with a strained voice.

We never held hands? Or went swimming very close together, feeling each other's bodies? Or kissed, in a non-innocent way?, Hua Cheng kept thinking, feeling sorry for the prince, sitting with lowered eyes, blushing deeply throughout that conversation.

"What I want to know is, what are this man's intentions, where did he come from, is he who he says he is?", Mu Qing pointed out, giving Hua Cheng a hard, unwavering look.

This black marlin demon was sharp! Luckily the blue marlin, Feng Xin, was overly sentimental, going on and on about how they were too engrossed in their duties, leaving the prince by himself, just to be snared by the first mortal who found his way to XianLe.

"All this is bound to give His Highness heartaches, we can't protect him from that", he concluded.

Touching how they cared about their prince, Hua Cheng thought, but this was taking a long time.

"Anyway, as XianLe has no need for any alliance, nor it has any economic or political advantage out of this wedding, I believe we can all agree to veto it. Now, if you excuse me – "

"My lords please! XianLe's highest officials shouldn't be viewing the sky from the bottom of a well", Hua Cheng said, realising he'd have to build a case for himself. "Besides being extremely rich, I can call the wind and summon the rain with the political power I hold in all of the southern seas. The presents I brought are just scratching the surface, I can bring silver and gold too..."

"Excuse me, we're not negotiating His Highness' price here", the Guoshi replied.

"I humbly apologise Guoshi sir", Hua Cheng hurriedly added, "I'm just willing to show I'm not coming empty-handed – "

"How much business you're bringing to XianLe? How much gold?", Jun Wu asked, making Hua Cheng smile internally: ha! Man or demon, everyone has a price.

"I'm aware that marrying His Highness would be like overturning Heaven and earth. Why don't we agree on a pre-nuptial contract just like we do in the Mortal Realm?", Hua Cheng proposed.

"What would be the terms of this contract?", Jun Wu asked, suddenly interested.

"Say, I pay XianLe crown fifty thousand pieces of gold by the occasion of the wedding", Hua Cheng explained, "and within a year, which is the time that such contracts cover anyway, Gege can divorce me, no questions asked. Naturally you'd need a guarantee, like the underwater palace for example".

He said it matter-of-factly, in a way that excluded any possibility of him divorcing the crown prince – not that it had ever crossed those aquatic demons' minds anyway!

Then looking at the prince, Hua Cheng smiled fondly and said, "No matter how many pieces of gold, I'm marrying him out of love. I understand that, as His Highness' advisors, you have to discuss this proposal, but ultimately, the decision of marrying me or not is his".

As one, the four of them looked at the crown prince.

Thank you for reading! His Highness really has a hard decision before him, what do you think? Let me know in the comments! 😜😉😁

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