The Legend of the Underwater Palace and the Sea Dragon Prince

14. The plan goes smoothly, and Hua Cheng keeps the crown prince happy

"San Lang, do you really need to go?", the crown prince asked with that pouting tone again as soon as they broke that goodbye kiss, which took way longer than expected.

Hua Cheng was fully dressed and ready to go, and just looked at him tenderly: if he had to explain it again, he'd end up not going anymore – and the prince knew it, judging by the way he lazily and invitingly kept lying between the sheets, his golden eyes on him and a soft smile on his lips.

Sitting up straight, he replied, "Gege, I'll be back in two weeks. It's not like we'll be apart forever".

They've been married for only two weeks when Hua Cheng had decided to return to the Mortal Realm, back to raiding the southern seas: he had the underwater palace, his fleet could go in and out in the blink of an eye. After all, that was why he got married to the crown prince wasn't it? But with His Highness like this... he almost gave up the whole idea several times.

They hardly left the bedchambers on the last few days, getting intimate with each other many times, talking and drinking wine, playing go, reading together, braiding each other's hair... Hua Cheng really couldn't complain, but no, it wouldn't do to get used to that easy life. It just wasn't him.

It wouldn't be bad to be XianLe's crown prince consort, but Hua Cheng liked to be his own boss, and he had to make sure he kept himself under control – his plan was going smoothly, and as long as he kept the crown prince happy, there was nothing wrong with taking his pleasure out of it as well.

The prince replied, "For me it'll feel like forever", and, blinking his golden eyes very slowly at Hua Cheng, added with a sigh, "Well go if you have to go, see you when you're back".

This caught him off-guard: Hua Cheng realised he, too, was going to miss the crown prince. But he couldn't possibly give up everything and stay, kissing in bed for hours, and then... No, he was ready to go, and the whole Crimson Rain crew was already waiting!

Getting up half-heartedly, he said just before leaving, "Gege. I'll miss you".

He returned after two weeks, not wanting the crown prince to wait for too long, and he also missed him... more than he cared to admit. At night, he used to sit quietly at the bow of Crimson Rain, looking at the dark sea, thinking of him, and back at his cabin it'd be worse: he'd start thinking of when they got intimate, and felt a physical craving so strong it hurt.

It was always intense when they were together, and Hua Cheng couldn't stop thinking how beautiful and alluring the prince was: unrivalled under Heavens! When he undressed, showing his pearly skin, his slender and well-toned body... his golden eyes, his smile, the whole of him!

He Xuan himself mockingly warned him a few times he'd be the one being drowned in the prince's charms. But Hua Cheng couldn't lose face to his men, and with the excuse of not wanting to steal a chicken but instead losing the bait – doing too many raids and ending up giving away that underwater hideout – he wouldn't stay away from XianLe for too long.

On one occasion when Hua Cheng's fleet went to raid a wedding between two prominent clans in Jiangmen – they sailed along the coast and all the way up to the Pearl River Delta, for at least two weeks – it was the prince, in his sea dragon body, who flew up to him. He himself had this idea at looking at the sea dragon reliefs of the underwater palace's jaded high stairs.

At first, it terrified the whole crew of Crimson Rain and the rest of the fleet, that fierce gust of wind rising seemingly from the depths of the open sea on that apparently calm, warm evening. A storm coming was bad enough, but a huge shape circling the ships, descending from the skies, toppling mountains and overturning seas...

The men screamed, but Hua Cheng just smiled, "Useless trash! Can't you see it's His Highness?"

Realisation dawned, and everybody then saw that shimmering pearly sea dragon clearly, and in a blink of an eye it was no more: the crown prince of XianLe appeared, greeting Hua Cheng happily.

"San Lang!", he exclaimed throwing himself in his arms.

"Gege", Hua Cheng replied hugging him, then saying, "You came just in time for dinner".

A powerful dragon cannot repress a local snake: the crown prince, whose demonic body could destroy the whole fleet with a slap of its tail, just sat down on the deck with the pirates, eating their heavy gruel, playing mahjong, listening to pipa playing and bad singing – seemingly enjoying it all.

Hua Cheng made a mental note for the prince to be fully-robed whenever he was in the Mortal Realm: he noticed many men eyeing him up at that very revealing XianLe fashion. Not long after, he dragged the prince to his cabin, and, hardly entering it, pinned him against the door, kissing him furiously, not caring at all if they could be heard...

At times, Hua Cheng would think of the plan of seducing and marrying the prince, instigated by He Xuan, and bad memories of his past flushed in uncontrollably: kidnapped and pressed into piracy when he was barely a teenager, abused, humiliated. Working to the bones for pure survival, having to resort to cunning and treachery to raise to the top.

The weak are prey to the strong, and Hua Cheng himself rarely had the luxury of feeling conflicted. But these days, for some reason, he always thought of that conversation with the crown prince among the clouds, and kept questioning himself: was the person he became really him, or a him forced by his life circumstances?

He never felt it more than on another occasion, when he was sailing through the Xisha Islands – it was the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month, one year after he had reached XianLe, and he had agreed for the prince to fly over to him that night. Hua Cheng made the fleet to stop by a secluded little bay, and disembarked Crimson Rain, waiting for the prince at the beach.

By some mysterious means, his sea dragon body could always pinpoint Hua Cheng's location in all of the southern seas, and with that in mind, he had arranged a tent, carpeted and with cushions, his best wine and nibbles – a cosy little place for them to have some romantic time together.

The crown prince was naturally delighted with the idea, "San Lang! What-what is that?"

"Gege, welcome to my kingdom of love", he replied with a smile just before wrapping his arms around the prince's waist and kissing him long and deep.

That night, they walked on the beach hand in hand, looking at the night skies and talked, enjoying the warm breeze and each other's company, and back at the tent... Hua Cheng could swear he never had the prince sweeter and more seductive than there and then, his pearly body shimmering under the tent's lantern, his soft gasps by his ear with no one around in the whole island...

At dawn, with a faint light seeping through the tent flap, Hua Cheng woke up beside the prince's white as jade body, and wrapped his arms around him – on that moment, he really wished they were just poor fishermen, living in a shack on the beach. No kingdom, no fleet, nothing but each other. He sighed happily and, kissing the prince softly, fell back to sleep.

Back to normal life as a pirate and a sea dragon prince! I hope everybody's enjoying it... 🥰

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