Chapter 20: Admire her beauty
Lóng Wei reached his manor and saw Li Hua, who was lighting a rectangular lantern that was put at the left end of the chamber. He was mesmerized to see her. The bright yellow radiance of the lantern fell over her face, making her features more visible. Those long eyelashes, long hair, red cheeks, and pouty lips made Lóng Wei admire her beauty. Internally.
Upon seeing her, his remaining anger had vanquished. Li Hua turned with a small white candle in her hand. “Your Highness,” she promptly lowered her eyes and again lifted them.
“Your Highness, the King has summoned you to the Hall of Justice,” Li Hua informed him. Lóng Wei walked to her and took the candle from her. Her eyes flickered, and she averted them when Lóng Wei’s fingers touched hers. He blew off the candle and threw it on the floor.
“You look pretty, Li Hua,” Lóng Wei complimented her.
Li Hua’s eyes grew bigger and their eyes met again. She found that the distance between them wasn’t appropriate and stepped back. Her left foot twisted and she fell to her left side when Lóng Wei caught her arm.
Her loose tendrils fell upon her face and in between the gaps of those strands, she looked at Lóng Wei, whose gaze was still fixed on her. He made her stand straight and then tucked the loose tendrils behind her ear.
“Your Highness, I will do,” she stepped back promptly while being careful and lowered her head.
.....
“Sixth Prince, you have returned.” They heard the voice of Gao Bing and looked towards the door.
“Why didn’t you send His Highness to the Hall of Justice?” Gao Bing scolded Li Hua as he entered the chamber.
“Who told you that you can scold her?” Lóng Wei questioned him. Gao Bing instantly apologized to the Sixth Prince.
“Your Highness, why did you harm the First Princess? Everyone is angry with you. The King and the Queen are upset with you,” Gao Bing said softly.
“So, that is the reason why the Royal Father summoned me?” Lóng Wei murmured and walked ahead. Li Hua and Gao Bing followed him to the Hall of Justice.
“The Sixth Prince must stay quiet in front of the King, else he might get kicked out of the palace,” Gao Bing advised Lóng Wei. He knew that no matter what advice he would give to the Sixth Prince, he would do what his mind told him to! Gao Bing wanted to remain good in the eyes of the Sixth Prince until his presence in the palace.
Upon getting no answer from Lóng Wei, Gao Bing wondered what had happened to him.
“Everyone is saying that the Sixth Prince should go back to the cold palace for his entire life. The mischief he did today is beyond forgiveness,” Gao Bing said, after a minute of pause.
Li Hua wondered what Lóng Wei did that Eunuch Gao Bing was speaking this way to the Sixth Prince.
Soon, they reached outside the Hall of Justice. It was the second time that Li Hua, came to this place in a single day. The more she wanted to be away from the King’s and the Crown Prince’s eyes, the more she would appear in front of them. Now the Queen also knew about the matter, so Li Hua was even more awkward going inside.
However, she was tied with her duty to follow wherever her master would go.
The large mahogany doors opened for them, and they walked in. Li Hua stood where the other attendants were standing while Lóng Wei and Gao Bing walked ahead.
Lóng Wei greeted the King and the Queen, before looking into the eyes of his father.
“Why did the Sixth Prince replace the moonmilk cream with a toxic one? Why did the Sixth Prince strangle the neck of the First Princess? The First Princess is still unconscious because of the reckless actions of the Sixth Prince.” Qiu Zedong ended up raising his voice at Lóng Wei.
“Is it true that the Sixth Prince destroyed the face of the First Princess because she punished Li Hua when he told her not to?” Zhu Liling asked him which the King had skipped.
Li Hua looked in the direction of Lóng Wei and blinked her eyes several times. She did not want it to be true.
“The First Princess’s face will turn into a normal one in a few days,” Lóng Wei answered nonchalantly. He didn’t deny that he wasn’t behind that mischief. Qiu Mu looked at Xiaoming, who had earlier shown his trust in Lóng Wei.
“The Crown Prince’s trust has been broken. His Royal Highness thought that the youngest prince would not do such mischief,” Qiu Mu didn’t stay quiet and blurted out.
“Why did the Sixth Prince strangle the First Princess?” Qiu Zedong inquired about the second question.
“Because she compared Li Hua to your late concubine. She called Li Hua a-” he paused as he didn’t want Li Hua to hear it. Everyone in the Hall of Justice was stunned to hear Lóng Wei.
Li Hua gulped and wondered what could have made Lóng Wei angry that he tried to strangle Princess Jingfei to death.
He clenched his fists tightly and took a deep breath.
“I accept whatever punishment His Majesty will grant me except going to the Cold Palace. However, I want His Majesty to tell his first daughter to stay away from me and not ever say such a thing. Next time, I won’t hesitate to kill her. She was lucky that the Fourth Prince intervened.” Lóng Wei, without any fear, told the truth to Qiu Zedong.
“Your Majesty, this time, I will give punishment to the Sixth Prince. It is now the matter of the inner palace. His Royal Mother will teach him to be respectful to his elders,” Queen Zhu Liling requested the King.
“My Queen, let’s end it here. Princess Jingfei and Prince Lóng Wei, both are close to my heart. I will give the appropriate punishment to the Sixth Prince this time,” Qiu Zedong didn’t want the matter to go into the inner palace.
“Your Royal Majesty, I only want to teach the Sixth Prince how he must behave with his elders. The Sixth Prince was even found holding the collars of the Fourth Prince,” Zhu Liling asserted. Qiu Zedong could not refuse the Queen and agreed to it.
“Whatever My Queen feels right, can do. She must tell the First Princess not to bring the Sixth Prince’s mother in the fights,” he stated. Zhu Liling nodded her head.
Qiu Zedong tilted his head to look at Lóng Wei. “I will announce the punishment in the morning,” the King decided, bewildering everyone in the Hall of Justice.
“Everyone is dismissed,” Qiu Zedong stated. The Crown Prince stood up first. He bowed before the King and Queen and left for his manor. Gradually, the other Princes also left.
Lóng Wei came near Li Hua, and the two left the Hall of Justice.