119 Stay Bit Longer
âYour Majestyâ
âWhat are you thinking of?â LuoXiang asked, seeing the young man stop his words and could only see him speechless.
âIâm thinking, what will Your Majesty do if Iâm not around, em, that Princess aYa, isnât that bad eitherâ
Hearing BaiYingâs words, LuoXiang looked at him furiously.
âWhat do you mean? Talking like that?â
BaiYing chuckled, he was just trying to lighten the mood because all this time there was only a dull, dispirited tone, and he managed to make the Crown Prince look angry.
âHehehe Your Majesty I was just joking, why is Your Majesty so sensitive about it?â
LuoXiang refrained from pinching BaiYingâs nose, considering he was still sick.
âThis kid, next time donât do anything stupid again, donât throw your body in front of a poisonous snake attack or anything, you are mine, donât act against my will, you hear that?â
.....
BaiYing pursed his mouth, he starts again.
âYour Majesty, how can I possibly stay still? That attack should have been aimed at Yingâer, so others shouldnât be hurt because of me.â
LuoXiang frowned.
âUm, so YingYing did know from the start that there was a snake in the teapot?â
Bai Ying nodded.
âNot sure itâs a snake either, but, when that servantâs eyes saw me, he deliberately didnât return my gaze, from that I knew for sure that person wasnât a palace maid, moreover, not a person with good intentions, so, I act as quickly as possible, but who would have thought, hemhâ
âWell, whatever it is, you canât just put your life on the line, youâre mine..â
âYes, Your Majesty, Iâve heard it already, no need to keep repeat it.â
BaiYingâs voice sounded a bit dull.
The Crown Prince was exasperated and finally pinched BaiYingâs cheek.
âIch this bratâ
âYour Majesty, itâs hurt, my cheeks stretched alreadyâ BaiYing protested.
âLeave it be, let YingYing be ugly and no one will like youâ
âIf this servant is ugly, Your Majesty wonât like me tooâ
âWho said it? I will still like you even if YingYing becomes so fat, ugly and wrinkled, even fussier from nowâ
Hearing that BaiYingâs cheeks turned red from blushing.
âHehehe, is that true Your Majesty? Em, just donât regret it laterâ
âI wonât!â cried the Crown Prince in a loud voice.
LuoXiang took a deep breath, still gripping BaiYingâs fingers that were resting on his chest.
âWeâre going back to the capital tomorrow, when healer Wan said you can continue your journey, our food stocks are running low, and this city doesnât have much to offer.â said The Crown Prince.
BaiYing held his hand.
âWhy donât we stay here longer? Your Majesty, this is a city that is said to have lots of problems on your daily or weekly reports, while here, why donât we try to see its potential? Figure out the problems, Iâll helpâ
Hearing that LuoXiang raised his head, he frowned.
âHelping? What did YingYing mean by helping out? No, I wonât allow my concubineâs delicate hands to become rough for helping with hard work.â
BaiYing smiled at the Crown Princeâs words in a strange voice.
âHehehe what hard work? Your Majesty mean like cropping or some kind of that?â
âWell, Yeah, you think what else we have to do here? This city is very dry, even though it rains a few times but the dry and sandy soil makes all the water that falls on the ground look like a waste, even though rain conservation has been made but still it will not be enough, there is a lot to do, and the residents, too, donât seem to care and many choose to leave the city, so the remaining residents have to bear all the consequences, many of them donât even have a choice and can only leave because the rice is so hard to grow.â
BaiYing frowned.
âEm rice? Apart from rice, there are no other crops?â
LuoXiang thought.
âErm, maybe sweet potatoes, or, beansâ
âHow about corn?â
BaiYingâs words made the Crown Prince think until he frowned deeply.
âUh what is it?â he really just heard it for the first time, BaiYing thought.
âUm, that plant, which can bear fruit quickly and can be eaten, tastes good, can grow even on barren and sandy soil, well, it takes a little effort, but, it can grow, as far as I know,â BaiYing swallowed his saliva, is corn already there? But he remembered what food he had tried on the Emperorâs birthday a few months ago, a gift from the land of Tania.
âYour Majesty, from here to Tania, is it far enough?â asked Bai Ying.
LuoXiang thought again.
âEm, shouldnât be, Tania and Kili are bordering YueYang, I never went from here to Tania, but I think the distance is more or less the same as the distance to the capital cityâ
BaiYing smiled widely, the very clear smile in his eyes made the Crown Prince even more curious about whatâs on the kidâs mind.
âYingYing what are you thinking?â
âThe solution to your majestyâs problem, after the dam is finished, your majesty must not have thought about what farmers need to plant to suit the hot sun.â
The Crown Prince looked at the young man with narrowed eyes.
âYou, whatâs your thinking makes me suspiciousâ
âWhy is that? Your Majesty always underestimates meâ
âNo, Iâm not, itâs just you always have bad thoughtsâ
âNo, who is that? Your Majesty is worse than servantâ
Yan and Bi who came in bringing breakfast for the two pretended not to hear and see what happened in front of them, both of them couldnât help but smile sheepishly.
âYour Majesty is starting again, servant is still unwell Your Majesty, please be a little gentlerâ BaiYing shouted trying to avoid LuoXiangâs hand which was tickling him.
âYou mean gentler, like this?â LuoXiang lowered his head to kiss BaiYingâs neck which made him even more amused, he tried to push the big manâs body away from him.
âHahahaha Your Majesty stop it!ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
............
The next day, two of BeiYauâs men on their tough horses, accompanied by representatives from LiuYang city set out for the border of Tania country to buy plant seeds, such as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes to cotton, all of which could be grown in hot weather.
While according to what BaiYing had planned, the Crown Prince built a large building with slightly open sides with high ceilings, covered by bamboo and dry leaves, BaiYing said it was the room that the local farmers could use to breed the seeds to be planted, this was a pretty good idea, given LiuYangâs erratic hot weather, as well as the strong winds that could damage young plants so easily.
The new LiuYang mayor, ZhangYo, a middle-aged man with a smiling face overseeing the construction, of course, there is the Crown Prince there, would he want to be demoted? While from a distance the dredging process was still going on, YueWang seemed to be patrolling along the dam with Eunuch Sheng at his side, occasionally the man standing in the hot sun protected by a wide umbrella from his servant looked at the Crown Prince who was standing beside the mayor LiuYang, that old man it raised its hand asking Eunuch Sheng to come closer.
âShengâerâ
The fat eunuch understood where YueWangâs eyes were now, he bowed his head respectfully.
âYes, Godfatherâ then waved his hand asking some of his men to come closer.
............
In LiuYangâs downtown villa.
BaiYing sat with concubine Fu and Princess aYa who were busy enjoying their meager fruit in the villaâs living room.
âHeh, it feels so boring here, thereâs nothing interesting we can do, Yingâer, do, you want to take a walk outside the villa?â Lanâer asked.
BaiYing pursed his lips, he was also curious about how the city that the Emperor was concerned about because of its poverty level, although it was not felt by the Crown Princeâs entourage who did bring their own food ingredients in sufficient quantities.
âUm, Iâd like to, but, looks like thereâs no market here, so we wonât be able to shop anythingâ
Lanâer thought.
âWell, letâs just have a look, shall we?â
Lanâerâs words made BaiYing think, but aYaâs voice interrupted the two.
âItâs very dangerous outside, itâs better to stay in the villa, after all, Yingâer is not well yet, donât go anywhere yetâ
AYaâs words made BaiYing pull his lips, somehow he thought the girl in front of him was like the female version of the Crown Prince, and she was even worse, the girl never smiled at all, although sheâs pretty when sheâs smile.
BaiYing shifted his seat, closer to AYa when he saw something in the princessâs hair, it made AYa stutter, she couldnât move to see the young man so close to her, the smell of his body fragrant was so clear, his body warmth, she could feel his big round eyes on her, turning her suddenly to stone.
âW-What are you doing?â
BaiYing lowered aYaâs hand just as the girl was about to raise it up.
âDonât move thereâs a dry leaf in your hairâ
.....
AYa swallowed her saliva, she held her breath when the young man used his hand to touch her hair, she couldnât breathe, immediately AYa stood up from her seat.
âI-Iâm going to the restroom, excuse meâ the girl stuttered to her feet and got out of her chair, almost bumping into her maid who was behind her.
âPrincessâ
âAccompany me to the restroomâ she quickly dodged, or else the young man would see her face which was now red like a boiled crab.
BaiYing glanced at Lanâer, who also shrugged her shoulders in disbelief.
âI donât know, maybe something on her stomach,â Lanâer said.
BaiYing enjoyed the small fruit in front of him again, mostly local fruits that grow in the villaâs grounds such as persimmons and tomatoes, in fact, these kinds of fruit can grow there, even though they taste very sour.
âItâs so sour, itâs no wonder that the princessâs stomach hurts,â BaiYing said, Lanâer nodded.
âYeah, itâs.â
Their relaxing time was so pleasant, a big smile often graced BaiYingâs face, until a loud voice could be heard from outside.
âAh!â
Accompanied by the sound of clashing swords.
âTing ting ting!â
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