XH 40

 

“Where did the Third Prince gone to?” Xiao Hua was curious and since she could not train in her state now, she decided to indulge in gossiping.

 

Tian Chi had left to deal with stuff, leaving Tian Zi to smear the medicine on her. She was careful to rub the medicine over Xiao Hua’s red and swollen right wrist, at the same time trying to massage the swell to make it smaller.

 

They do have some pill to heal injuries, but they were usually used to heal stab wounds, poison or deep cuts. To eat a pill just for a small sprain was overkill.

 

“Master went to a hunting game with the Second Prince and Crown prince.” Tian Zi’s gossiping side was kindled and turned her bright gaze to Da Bei, who was standing silently at a corner, half hidden by the shadow.

 

“Where’s Da An? He should have been back with Sir Lau Liu.”

 

Da Bei stared at Tian Zi without saying anything, and after a minute, he turned his neck to the direction of the courtyard’s entrance. He could sense his twin was approaching him. Lesser than a minute, a blur of black rushed over and stopped beside Da Bei. When he noticed his twin and the two inner maids staring at him, his ears turned red.

 

“Da An! You come just at the right time!” Tian Zi grinned. “Are you free for a moment?”

 

“Yes...Elder Sister Tian Zi.”

 

“Elder Sister Hua has some questions, so Da An, do your best to answer them.”

 

Tian Zi, are you not pushing all the blame on Xiao Hua if they were scolded for being nosy?!

 

Da An stared at Xiao Hua with earnest eyes. “I will try my best to answer all your question, Elder Sister Hua.”

 

Xiao Hua feels as if she had been forced to participate in a crime. Le XiaoTing had gossiped before, but never once did she feel bad about it!

 

“Elder Sister Hua wants to know what happened during the hunting game that delayed Master’s return,” Tian Zi ‘helpfully’ repeated the question on behalf of Xiao Hua.

 

Da Bei, another party that knows Tian Zi’s plan had automatically become an accomplice when he chooses to remain silent. He actually wanted to know what happened as well.

 

“Second Prince’s consort followed him to the hunting trip,” Da An revealed. “She had gone missing for half a day before she was found.”

 

From the way Da An speaks, Xiao Hua could see that he was the more talkative twin.

 

“Why would a future candidate consort join the hunting trip that only consists of Princes?” Tian Zi’s eyes flashed with disapproval over the heroine’s behavior. Even if the Second Prince insists on Miss Liu to be his consort, the Second Prince might change his mind as long as the date had not been set.  

 

“It was the Second Prince that insisted on her following along. She’s a good hunter based on her skills.”

 

Now that she thinks about it, Le XiaoTing remembered that in the novel, there was an event where the heroine and hero went on a hunting trip. The Crown prince and the Emperor were there too, except for the delicate Third Prince.

 

“Duke Heng?” Tian Zi frowned. “Why would he be there?”

 

Xiao Hua blinked her eyes for a few times to clear her mind and pay attention. She had missed out on some conversation but when Tian Zi said ‘Duke Heng’, Le XiaoTing immediately knows who that person was!

 

Duke Heng was the second male lead that the heroine will meet for the first time during the hunting trip when she had accidentally separated from the group. The second male lead had seen her fearsome skills when she killed a pack of fierce wolves in the hideout she had accidentally stumbled upon.

 

As for how Duke Heng would be around that dangerous place, the author did not explain.

┐(￣ヘ￣)┌

 

He only showed himself when she finished killing them, giving her an appreciative clap. He admired her ruthless gaze, and her kills were quick and clean, straight to their fatal point. His trained eyes noted that those skills were similar to those with plenty of experience in killing.

 

Duke Heng got curious and since then, he often approached her, trying to know how a concubine daughter of a merchant could have learned those dangerous skills when information told him she was always inside her house with no teacher to teach her in the subject of hunting. The more often they interacted, the more he had fallen in love with her. In the end, he was not as outstanding or courageous as the male lead, and he failed to capture the heroine’s heart.

 

But even so, he decided to support and backs the Second Prince to secure the throne just for Liu Chu Chu to be happy with a better life.

 

“He said he happens to pass by the hunting ground and saved the injured Miss Liu.”

 

Happens to pass by? That was the exact excuse he gave in the novel and the heroine does not believe him!

 

Tian Zi clearly does not believe that excuse either but she expression revealed concern for Duke Heng. That concern was more about his safety instead of apprehension about whatever hidden motive was behind Duke Heng’s actions.

 

Could it be...Tian Zi admired Duke Heng? Or it was love at first sight?

 

As the second male lead, it was given that he possessed good looks, but he was more of scholar type instead of the heroic type, which solely belongs to the hero. It was his golden halo after all.

 

Xiao Hua feels a brief pity for the Third Prince, for even with such heaven-defying beautiful face, he could not even get one of the supporting male lead positions. He could only be a tragic cannon fodder that lasted the second longest among his colleagues.

 

His beauty was tragic for there were no females that want a husband more beautiful than them. There were some that want to have one night stand with him, but the author did not reveal if he had accepted those offers or not.  

 

Even his crush towards the heroine was tragic as it was always his one-sided feelings that made him weak and submissive to the hero and heroine’s suppression. Finally, his life ended tragically because the hero wanted to eliminate all obstacles between the hero and the throne.

 

The Third Prince was severely injured, taking all the blows just to keep Long Lian safe, even if it was only for a second longer. The hero had imprisoned the Third Prince and Long Lian in a dungeon, and they were treated badly by the guards that were loyal to the Second Prince. It was the heroine that decided to lend a hand to deal the final blow to the severely injured Third Prince to end his pain.

 

The author wrote in a way to justify that the golden couple’s actions were rather merciful by ending the Third Prince’s life with poison, but then the author did not expect the readers would scold the author for being cruel and heartless! The author had mentioned about writing an extra chapter to justify the Third Prince and Long Lian’s death clearly after the strong backlash, but Le XiaoTing had died before knowing if the author would write it or not.

 

“Da An, why would the trip extended?” Tian Zi feels that something was odd. “Why did the trip not cut short in the name of safety? Normally, would the Second Prince not immediately return back to his manor to tend to his consort’s injuries instead of continuing in staying at that dangerous place?”

 

Xiao Hua: Sister Tian Zi, you are good! To scold the Second Prince for being an idiot and justify your assumption in just one sentence! (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b

 

Thanks to the author’s cliché writing, the hero ended up with traits such as possessive and defensive only for the heroine. Even if she had just suffered a small paper cut, he would immediately act as if something terrible had happened and summoned the Imperial Doctor to check his precious consort! Not even his blood mother had been treated by him this well!

 

There were a group of black powder readers that nitpick about the hero’s trait. They even throw in some logical questions, such as ‘did that fella just forgot his waifu got miracle water to heal herself? She is the walking clinic!’

 

Obviously, when treated that well by a handsome man, the heroine’s heart slowly gotten captured and at last, agree to marry him because of the hero’s obvious and genuine love for her. Then they started to play a mobile love theater and throw dog food everywhere, torturing the single dogs around them!

 

“It was actually master that requested for the extension of the trip. He said, ‘This prince wants to enjoy his hunt even if someone had ruined it’.”

 

Xiao Hua gaped. “D-Did he really says that?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“He said it in front of the heroine?!”

 

“Heroine?”

 

“I-I mean the Second Prince’s future consort!” Xiao Hua quickly corrected herself nervously. She had just made a stupid mistake!

 

“Master said that right in front of everyone.” Da An recalled.

 

Surprisingly it was Da Bei that asked, “How did the Second Prince react?”

 

Da An’s eyes twinkled in mischief. “Angry. But he could not say anything because Duke Heng supported the master’s decision. The Duke also requested to join the hunt as well.”

 

Tian Zi snickered. “I bet the Second Prince got even angrier when Duke Heng supported master.”

 

Da An nodded. “Yes. The Second Prince’s qi starts flowing out and the Crown Prince snubbed him for not able to control his qi well.”

 

Duke Heng must have agreed to lengthen the trip so that he could get closer to Liu Chu Chu!

 

“Right, I nearly forgot. Da An, did you ask Elder Sister An Jing about the permission? I feel uncomfortable to keep on declining Princess Long Lian’s request to visit.”

 

Decline Princess Long Lian’s visit? What’s going on? It was no wonder Xiao Hua did not see Long Lian these days! Long Lian had never failed to drop by every day to visit Xiao Hua so it was strange when she finally stopped.

 

“Mother said to keep on declining so that Elder Sister Hua would not be distracted from her task.”

 

Xiao Hua: Oh, so it was to prevent her from distracted- wait, mother?

 

“Elder Sister An Jing is the mother of these two,” Tian Zi answered. Xiao Hua realized she had accidentally spoken out loud.

 

Xiao Hua was very shocked. “Sister An Jing is already a mother at such a young age!”

 

“Elder Sister An Jing is already twenty-five years old. She’s not that young.”

 

An Jing did have a face that belongs to the range of the early twenties, now that Xiao Hua carefully analyzed it. The ladies during this time period would marry and have children early, so it was not strange that a twenty-five years old lady would have eight-year-old twins already.

 

“Who did Elder Sister An Jing married to?” Xiao Hua could not contain her curiosity on who had managed to won beautiful An Jing’s heart.

 

“Sir Da Liu.”

 

Xiao Hua: ‘…’

 

Something inside Xiao Hua’s mind exploded. Are they talking about Da Liu, that ultra-menacing man? That scary man managed to score such a beautiful wife?

 

This was just like a tale of beauty and the beast!