sbdcsierra Chapter 113 Childhood Sweethearts
Chapter 113 Childhood Sweethearts
The outskirts of Fengling City to the north are a lush oasis with green grass. The grass is so green that the breeze rustles the grass. Groups of tall and strong horses are galloping or playing on the grass, while a few sheep are concentrating on foraging in the corner.
Xian Wang Lixu stood on a high ground and looked at the vast oasis in front of him, but he was a little worried. An imperial decree made this virtuous king, who was always known as a noble and virtuous man, become a horse-raising prince. This matter also became a laughing stock in Lang State, but he didn't know whether he was the one being laughed at.
"Your Highness, the wind is strong. You'd better go inside." The breeze suddenly became stronger. Hua Lan, the butler who had been waiting silently beside him, put a cloak on Prince Xian and said with concern.
"The horse has been raised for more than a month and is not so pampered anymore." Prince Xian Lixu smiled disapprovingly at the housekeeper. Having been exposed to the wind and sun in the stable all day, the originally dignified and pampered prince now had stubble on his face, which looked a little rough. His eyes, which used to be bright and lively, had become dull and lifeless, and even revealed a distressing sense of vicissitudes.
"The road ahead is long and arduous, but I will continue to search for it. My Lord, raising horses is only temporary, and you must not lose your ambition or your original intention because of it!"
A long sigh mixed with comfort and worry, the master and servant turned around at the same time when they heard the sound. Qian Yue, the county magistrate of Fengling City, dressed in a dark cloth robe, walked up quickly and saluted to Xian Wang Lixu.
"Lord Qian, you are joking. Li Xu has always been idle. How could he have any ambitions?" King Xian Li Xu also nodded slightly at Qian Yue and smiled, but there was a bit of bitterness and helplessness in this smile.
Prince Xian had fallen from a royal family that was in great glory and flattered by everyone to a horse-raising prince that no one cared about. Naturally, he had suffered a lot of contempt and neglect. His once innocent heart was deeply hurt and trampled upon by the cold imperial edict of his brother. In this world of indifference, only the county magistrate Qian Yue treated him with respect and took good care of him, which touched him deeply. He also gradually changed from being wary of the county magistrate Qian to trusting him.
"Your Highness has been living in depression and disheartened here. Did you know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince pleaded for you and was put in solitary confinement again? And Prime Minister Lu also angered the emperor because of you and was almost dismissed from office?" Qian Yue frowned slightly, lowered his head and sighed deeply, then raised his eyes to look at the vast oasis under his feet and continued to ask.
"What can I do even if I know? Li Xu can't do anything. They really shouldn't offend me for my sake." Li Xu frowned, despair and pain appeared in his eyes, and there was a flash of hatred, which was the resentment towards his royal brother for his incompetence, arrogance, and love for villains and jealousy of wise ministers.
"Alas, the phoenixes are crouching and fleeing, the owls are soaring, the villains are honored and powerful, the slanderers are in power, the virtuous and the holy are being dragged down, and the upright are being upside down. Your Majesty favors the evil concubine and listens to slander, which has led to villains in power in the court and made virtuous and talented ministers feel disheartened!" Qian Yue did not continue to persuade him, because he caught the hatred that flashed in King Xian's eyes, which was exactly what he wanted, so he tentatively expressed King Xian's thoughts through the words of the sages.
Qian Yue originally thought that he would need to put a lot of effort into winning over this virtuous and determined king with lofty ambitions. However, he did not expect that the incompetent emperor far away in Xuan'an City would unexpectedly help him and personally push this brother who was loyal to him towards himself, saving Qian Yue a lot of effort.
The phoenixes are crouching and the owls are soaring. Qian Yue's sigh touched Li Xu deeply. He thought of the picturesque Lang Kingdom being destroyed by his licentious and immoral brother, and he couldn't help crying when he thought of his father's earnest instructions to him before his death.
"Your Highness..." Seeing Prince Xian crying, Hua Lan became worried, but was interrupted by Li Xu as soon as he opened his mouth:
"It's nothing, the wind and sand are a bit strong." After saying that, he quickly raised his sleeves to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Although it is a spring breeze, it is bound to carry some evil with it. Your Majesty should not stay in this wind outlet for too long." Qian Yue advised with a worried look on his face, but he was ecstatic in his heart. People's hearts are easiest to move when cracks appear.
"Thank you for your concern, Madam Qian." Li Xu turned his head to Qian Yue, nodded slightly and said with a smile.
Princess Luoying ran to the meeting hall and cried twice after hearing that her brother Lixu was sent to raise horses by her eldest brother. Although Ning Xi was annoyed, she was her own sister who she had spoiled and raised, so she did not punish her severely. She only scolded her a few words and sent Luoying back to the princess's palace. But Luoying, who was full of anger, would not give up. Seeing that her eldest brother ignored her, she ran to the harem Snow Garden and insulted the Snow Concubine. Ning Xi was furious when she found out, so she scolded Luoying severely and banned her from walking.
The Princess Hall was the palace where the Empress Dowager lived when she was alive, and the Kunning Palace was also where Luoying lived since she was a child. When the Empress Dowager passed away, Luoying was still young. The late emperor loved his little daughter so much that he converted the Kunning Palace into the Princess Hall.
On this day, the spring was bright and beautiful, and the flowers were in full bloom. Luoying was lying on the railing of the pavilion, feeding the fish in the pond out of boredom. She was still under house arrest and could not go anywhere, so naturally she had no interest in going to the kitchen to make new cakes.
"Oh, what a beautiful picture of a beauty playing with fish!"
At the foot of the rockery opposite the pavilion, a noble lady as beautiful as a lotus smiled charmingly at Luoying who was in a daze.
Behind her followed a peerless young man dressed in white as white as snow and as pure as a god. He silently looked at the beautiful girl in the pavilion, his eyes flashing with a passionate and doting light.
"Jiuyi!" Hearing the voice from afar, Luoying knew that the person coming was Concubine Jia from the harem. Looking up and seeing the snow-white dress again, she shouted happily, turned around and ran out of the pavilion towards the young man in white.
"Hey, slow down, little ancestor, don't fall!" Seeing Luoying running towards him, the young man hurried to meet her. Concubine Jia, who was lagging behind, hurriedly and worriedly reminded Luoying.
Looking at the young boy and girl in front of her who were just beginning to fall in love, she felt very envious. She felt it was a pity that she had spent most of her youth competing with other women in the harem.
"When did you come back?" Luoying excitedly threw herself into the boy's arms, smiling as beautifully as a flower.
"I just returned to Beijing, and heard from my aunt that you were under house arrest by the emperor?" The young man in white was as elegant as a poem. He looked at the girl in his arms with a doting smile, but then asked with concern.
"Don't mention these unhappy things when you just came back!" Luoying still hugged the boy's slender waist, shook her head and said coquettishly.
"Okay." The young man lifted the hair off Luoying's face and nodded in response.
"Hehe, you two are grown up now and you should understand that men and women should not be too close to each other. You have to be careful in front of others and don't be as carefree as you were in your childhood." Concubine Jia, who had caught up with them, couldn't help but glance around at the childhood sweethearts hugging each other tightly. Fortunately, the princess was still under house arrest and there were not many people in the garden, but she still cleared her throat and whispered a reminder to the two of them.
Luoying and the young man realized upon hearing the voice that what they were doing was not right, and they quickly separated with red faces, keeping a slightly awkward distance.