143 The Old Man
The next match, throwing spears while riding,
AYa was sitting on her horse holding a long spear twice as long as her horse, and preparing to run towards the end of the field, meanwhile, she had to throw her spear at the bell thrown by the guard at the end of the field, there was only one spear with one bell that was only the size of a teacup that LuoXiang was now holding, so that opportunity only came once, for that time, the match between the Crown Prince and aYa was a draw as both of them managed to hit the bell just as it flew in front of their heads.
FuLan were sitting enjoying the peanut, nudge Baiyingâs hand who looked lethargic,
âLook, she was lucky because she managed to throw a spear, sheâs not bad, but look at His Majesty, he didnât even need to use a bit of his effort, oh His Highness Crown Prince is such an epicâ
The next game, because the third match decided the winner, so this time it was BaiYing who had to propose what they would compete in, and, because BaiYing loved food, FuLan gave an idea, what if the two of them cut the vegetables, in a very fast time, the winner decided from the one whoâs the fastest and the neatest, and this time, FuLan will be the judge, the vegetable that will be cut that day is...
âThe radish!â FuLan exclaimed holding up a radish that was quite large, twice as her head, she lifted it with a big smile.
âWho can cut the radish neatly and correctly, will come out victorious.â
LuoXiang held his breath, rolling his eyes upwards.
âIs there anything else? How about riding, or cutting leaves with a sword, running on water, this is very easy, whatâs the competition for?â
.....
While aYa looked at the radish in her hand, up and down, turned it, looked at it carefully, she often ate it, but, how to cut it? The girl thought hard.
âThatâs Your Majesty, because itâs so easy, of course, Your Majesty wonât find it difficult right, I assure you, my judgment will be done blindly, so that means I wonât see who cut which one, so this will be very fairâ
The Crown Prince On the other hand, how was he, an honorable Crown Prince, supposed to do this job? Whatâs this? This was all done by the maid, how could he cut that, radish? But, he couldnât lose to that girl, no matter what he wouldnât let that stubborn girl win, LuoXiang thought, thinking so hard that his brows furrowed, he remembered how many times BaiYing liked the dried radish that his servant made, as well as stir-fried radish, as well as pickled radish, so which one would he cut? Hmm.
By late afternoon, the match was finally over, and of course, it was predictable who would be the winner, who else if not the Crown Prince.
LuoXiang stood waiting for BaiYing who was bidding farewell for not being able to see each other for a while with AYa, inside the Peony Garden, while LuoXiang, FuLan, and others waited outside.
BaiYing smiled at aYa whose face was not excited at that time.
âErm, we will still be able to meet at Peach Pavilion right, morning classâ
AYa pulled her lips,
âLooks like I wonât be able to Ying, just like I promised His Highness the Crown Prince, it looks like Iâll be skipping class tooâ
Hearing this BaiYing took a deep breath.
âHeh, I want to say it, itâs impossible to beat His Highness the Crown Prince, he was born with all the abilities he has, he can always defeat any enemy, so thereâs very little you can beat him, he canât even sew, still better at using a needle than other people, he canât cook, but if he tries to do it, the taste is also good, not bad at all, so whatever he does, he can always do it rightâ
AYa was silent as BaiYing continued to talk until she covered her mouth in a smile.
âHeheâ
BaiYing turned his head, stopping his speech seeing AYa who finally laughed, the young man scratched his head.
âHehe, what, something funny?â
AYa nodded,
âYeah, Yingâer, your eyes shine when you talk all about His Highness the Crown Prince, look at your cheeks, theyâre red like thisâ
BaiYing held his cheek.
âHey, really? This, maybe because the air is a bit cold.â
AYa held BaiYingâs hand which was holding his cheek.
âWhatâs with this cold weather, look, your cheeks are like tomatoes.â
Her hand tightly gripped BaiYingâs hand as if she didnât want to let go, however, someone then came and pulled BaiYingâs hand away from her.
âAre you done talking? You said just a momentâ
LuoXiang pulled BaiYing towards her, looking at aYa with big eyes.
âCome on, letâs go home, itâs getting colder, youâll catch a cold Yingâ said LuoXiang as he pulled BaiYingâs robes up and pulled him away from aYa, who could only stand still as she watched the young man go and be pulled out.
BaiYing still managed to smile while waving his hand at AYa, he smiled widely until his eyes disappeared.
âBye aYa, see you later!â BaiYing exclaimed, aYa couldnât help but smile, she waved her hand at the young man who was getting further and further away.
âSee you later.â
Finally, LuoXiang and BaiYing and their entourage walked back to Plum Pavilion, the sky was already dark and the air was getting colder, LuoXiangâs hand tightly held BaiYingâs hand and walked very close to him.
âLook at your hand, does itâs still hurt?â
LuoXiang gently holds BaiYingâs hands, which almost blistered earlier.
âItâs better Majesty, the ointment from Princess Aya was so goodâ
Crown pinched nose Baiying exasperation.
âYou, next time you should more be careful, I do not want your smooth skin is always getting injured here and thereâ
Baiying nodded.
âYess Your Majestyâ
LuoXiang passionately wants to pinch the kid again, if only he did not hold back, he looped BaiYingâs hand to his arm.
âThis child, your skin is getting cold like this, um, shall we have fish soup tonight? With radish pieces?â
BaiYing nodded, he was starving.
âErm! It looks delicious, oh yeah Lanâer sister will come with us to eat,â
LuoXiang nodded.
âOf course, look at your cheeks, theyâre red from the cold, your nose too, itâs so cuteâ LuoXiangâs hand occasionally wanted to pinch BaiYingâs nose again but the young man brushed it off.
âAh Your Majesty, it hurtsâ
While at the back, where FuLan walked with her maid as well as the two BaiYing maids who were approaching him.
âEh, sorry Your Majesty, but, I saw earlier that the radish pieces belonged to Your Majesty and also princess aYa is both not good, but why did Your Majesty say that His Highness the Crown Prince won?â Bi whispered, FuLan glanced at BaiYingâs personal maid, she threw her handkerchief into the maidâs face.
âStupid girl, of course, His Majesty has to won, even though the cut is not right but he does it according to what Yingâer has done so far, that means even if the cut is not correct, but it is still the radish that Yingâer likes, while princess aYa, the cut is so messed, whether is big or small, really irregular.â
Hearing Concubine Fuâs answer, BaiYingâs two personal maids pursed their lips.
âOhh I seeâ even though they still scratching their heads confused.
FuLan smiled, of course, she will choose the Crown Prince, is she stupid and wants to lose her head? Since the beginning Princess AYa, who is dreaming of competing with the Crown Prince, who does she think she is? So funny, FuLan thought while grinning.
âHehâ
........................
Thump thump thump!
Heavy footsteps in the number of more than one person pushed through the front fences and filled the courtyard of the simple hut in the middle of the forest, an old house, with many kinds of wood that were almost damaged and partially eaten by termites, stairs that had broken due to rotting wood until terrace with holes in the floor in several places.
Before long heavy footsteps flocked in with the sound of armor that looked quite heavy, the armor belonging to the palace guard of Crown Prince YueYang stopped at the door, that morningâs commander, LiuFu knocked on the door which was about to fall due to rickety.
âExcuse meâ
A momment, there was no sound of any movement from inside the hut, the tall, big young man who was one of BeiYauâs confidants knocked again.
âExcuse me, is anyone home?â he exclaimed.
Until after waiting for a while, the sound of footsteps and knocks on the floor approached, until the door opened from the inside.
âYeah, who suddenly came to visit this ramshackle house.â
Commander Liu swallowed his saliva, the person who opened the door, a half hunchbacked man, with a wrinkled face, with a pair of eyes that were completely white, he was probably blind, but his ears moved as if to examine how many people were now standing on his rickety terrace, the old man with all the gray hair chuckled.
âHehehehe, there are a lot of guests, is there anything that this old man can help with these young people? My house is rickety and there are no treasures, so thereâs nothing to take or ask for.â The old manâs voice sounded light, after speaking he chuckled dryly, making Commander Liu even more gulping, glancing at his subordinates close to him, what, this is a man old are they looking for? The person who was said to be a powerful shaman, who was specially ordered by the Crown Prince to be found immediately and brought to the palace, that old man? Old man, who smells like dirt? Might they be wrong?
The sound of the old manâs laughter while stroking his beard, as if he had already guessed the arrival of his special guest that morning.
âHehehehe this is greatâ
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