297 The Mercenaries
âYour Majesty, who are they? They do like palace soldiers but not carrying any partyâs flags or emblems, did they usually are?â asked BaiYing who was sitting on a very casual bed in a room no bigger than his bathroom at the Crown Princeâs palace, but, at least the room had a clean and thick blanket for them to sleep in tonight. He helped the Crown Prince remove his hairpin so they could sleep that night, Crown Princeâs thick black hair instantly fell down over his shoulder.
âYingYing also thinks they are soldiers? Hem, I think that too, their combat ability, although not as great as BeiYauâs mainstay warriors, but above the average of some palace soldiers, but, who are they? They gathered in quite large numbers, and wearing full armour as if they were heading to the battlefieldâ
BaiYing brushed the Crown Princeâs hair, that thick and dark colour shining hair.
âEm, are they might go somewhere? Ying heard from young master Xu, he thought those people might be mercenaries ordered by a group of powerful people to attack as ordered, but, could it be Your Majesty? Who has so much power to command this many people, other than the King or Emperor?â BaiYing thought, he furrowed his brows, and suddenly opened his eyes wide as if he remembered something.
âYeah, that weapon, that crooked dagger, Your Majesty somehow I feel familiar with it, and that dagger is similar to Master FaLuâs that often hangs on his waistâ BaiYing exclaimed as if he afraid that he would forget to convey the information that he kept thinking about since the first time he saw that weapon, he might forget about it again.
Crown Prince turned his head, he looked at BaiYing for a moment in deep thought.
âMaster FaLuâs weapon? You mean Commander FaLu?â asked the Crown Prince.
BaiYing nodded.
âYeah, who else Your Majesty, Master FaLu, Uncle FaLu, Commander or whatever, Iâm pretty sure that I saw the same shape and size dagger hanging at Uncle FaLuâs waist, he once said if Ying wants it he can give it to me as a weapon to defend myself, but, Ying thought that would be wasteless, for what, Yingâerâs hand can never master any kind of weapon.â
.....
Crown Prince thought, he frowned in thought.
âBut, what does that dagger have to do with Commander FaLu? Those people are very far from WahYe so, they couldnât possibly go there on purpose to buy the dagger right?â
âThe problem is Your Majesty, according to Uncle FaLu, that kind of dagger are not for sale in any market, residents who violate will receive customary punishment from village elders, because according to the WahYe tribe, the dagger is a symbol of strong descent, usually in one family there will be one or two exactly the same daggers were passed down for the next generation, or else the family head or an older person would intentionally order the dagger or forge it by themself as a gift to the younger child, that was according to Uncle FaLu, since Ying was a Viceroy so he didnât mind to make another one on behalf of the FaLu family for Ying if YIngâer wants.â
Crown Prince glanced at BaiYing, looked at him for a while, then raised his hand to ruffle the boyâs hair in amusement.
âUgh this kid, why did you suddenly become so smart like this? Are you still my adorable YingYing?â
The young man pursed his lips.
âThis highness is always teasing Yingâer, indeed, this Ying has always been smart.â
LuoXiang couldnât stop smiling at the face of the little boy in front of him, he really still couldnât believe it until now, if this spoiled and whiny little boy in front of him was a young king with very great abilities, the little boy who basically only knows how to play.
âHehehe yeah yeah, my YingYing has been smart from a long time ago.â
Crown Prince thought again.
âIf that the case, these people, whether they are from WahYe, or each person has a different background, we canât be sure of that, and itâs none of our business, tomorrow when the storm subsides we will continue our journey backâ
BaiYing nodded.
âYes, thatâs right Your Majesty, I canât wait to go home, look at now, we canât even have a bath because of insufficient water, just rinses, then Yingâs body will definitely be itchy and smellyâ BaiYing pulled his body closer to Crown Prince and hugging the big warm body, it feels so nice. Crown Prince smiled, he stroked the young manâs hair and kissed his forehead gently.
âChupâ
âThe journey this time is indeed quite long, but, this is also fun Ying, letâs just say we are trying to enjoy a vacation that is difficult for us to get, The rotten Emperor is very stingy in giving time off, we have only been gone how couple days he already ordered us to go home soonân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
BaiYing nodded, resting his head on the Crown Princeâs broad and muscular arms, faintly visible from his thin clothes as if it was a very comfortable pillow.
âEmm, well, letâs just say itâs our delayed vacation, sorry Ying has taken up Your Majestyâs time, hopefully, His Majesty the Emperor is not angry with Yingâ
LuoXiang smiled.
âHehe that old man, how could he be mad at you, Ying Ying is his favourite son-in-law.â
BaiYing laughed until his eyes disappeared.
âHehehehe itâs because Ying is so cute right?â
âOf course, moreover, that rotten Emperor canât bear to scold such a sweet YingYingâ
BaiYing smiled until his cheeks were red with embarrassment, recently, Crown Prince become so sweet to him, that person turned from a cold man who rarely smiled to a much warmer man, though, he always felt that the Crown Prince had always been very gentle with him since long time ago.
âOh yeah, Your Majesty, it is possible that Big Brother MingMing will stay for a while in the palace, can he occupy the Deer Pavilion which is not far from the lake?â
LuoXiang thought for a while.
âWhy does he have to stay there? Normally he would occupy the guest pavilion at the front, he wouldnât be staying for a long time right?â
âIt might, Brother MingMing said he wants to practice the profound internal energy from Elder Yi, so weâll be very busy later.â
Crown Prince took a deep breath.
âHeh just do what he wants, that brat, for some reason he seems to have eyes in the back of his head, everywhere we go I feel he is always there to watch our every moveâ
Hearing that BaiYing chuckled.
âHehehehe that is no way Your Majesty, itâs just on Your Majestyâs head, brother Ming Ming is very relaxed, he doesnât even want to know other people affairs, I already know my brother very well even though I only knew him briefly, Brother Ming Ming only cares about Yingâerâs safety, the rest he doesnât mind at all.â
Crown Prince pursed his lips, pinching BaiYingâs nose in exasperation.
âThis kid, of course, YingYing is his very precious little brotherâ
BaiYing smiled until all his eyes disappeared.
âHeheheh of course I am, Your Majesty, thatâs for sure right?â
...........
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly, the storm winds seemed to have subsided, whether it was just around the inn.
A gentle breeze blew the old and shabby curtains over the bed, what a contrast the room condition was with BaiYing who sleeping soundly on the bed, with bright and shining faces, even some birds that had flown so far to that place perched for a moment on the window, singing one or two beautiful tones to fill that beautiful morning.
BaiYing had just opened his eyes when he heard the sound of the door opening from outside, it seemed, as usual, his two maids had slowly entered the room, careful not to wake him up, however, he was already awake.
âPlease forgive us, Your Majesty, for waking Your Majesty up,â said Yan slightly lowering her knees. BaiYing smiled, he slowly pulled himself up.
âHey, thatâs no problem Sis, itâs already morning, right? Emâ he did not find Crown Prince anywhere in the room.
âEm, where is His Highness the Crown Prince? Is it noon already?â he asked.
Yan and Bi looked at each other, both seemed to hesitate to speak.
âEm thatâ
BaiYing lowered his feet, grabbed his shoes ready to put them on.
âYour Majesty has gone downstairs already? Does, he hold daily meetings with Guard Bei? Or a discussion with Elder Yi? Or,... oh no..â BaiYingâs eyes opened wide, he remembered last night when he was nodding and almost fell asleep when he heard Crown Prince who said he would meet the troop leader and talk to him, did he really do that?
âOuch, come on, Yan, whereâs Yingâs water to rinse? We have to get down immediately to see whatâs going onâ
Yan and Bi stuttered, both trying to prevent the young man from descending as the Crown Prince ordered them earlier.
âB-but Your Highnessâ
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