CROWN PRINCE'S CONCUBINE

119 Stay Bit Longer

“Your Majesty”

“What are you thinking of?” LuoXiang asked, seeing the young man stop his words and could only see him speechless.

“I’m thinking, what will Your Majesty do if I’m not around, em, that Princess aYa, isn’t that bad either”

Hearing BaiYing’s words, LuoXiang looked at him furiously.

“What do you mean? Talking like that?”

BaiYing chuckled, he was just trying to lighten the mood because all this time there was only a dull, dispirited tone, and he managed to make the Crown Prince look angry.

“Hehehe Your Majesty I was just joking, why is Your Majesty so sensitive about it?”

LuoXiang refrained from pinching BaiYing’s nose, considering he was still sick.

“This kid, next time don’t do anything stupid again, don’t throw your body in front of a poisonous snake attack or anything, you are mine, don’t act against my will, you hear that?”

.....

BaiYing pursed his mouth, he starts again.

“Your Majesty, how can I possibly stay still? That attack should have been aimed at Ying’er, so others shouldn’t be hurt because of me.”

LuoXiang frowned.

“Um, so YingYing did know from the start that there was a snake in the teapot?”

Bai Ying nodded.

“Not sure it’s a snake either, but, when that servant’s eyes saw me, he deliberately didn’t return my gaze, from that I knew for sure that person wasn’t a palace maid, moreover, not a person with good intentions, so, I act as quickly as possible, but who would have thought, hemh”

“Well, whatever it is, you can’t just put your life on the line, you’re mine..”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I’ve heard it already, no need to keep repeat it.”

BaiYing’s voice sounded a bit dull.

The Crown Prince was exasperated and finally pinched BaiYing’s cheek.

“Ich this brat”

“Your Majesty, it’s hurt, my cheeks stretched already” BaiYing protested.

“Leave it be, let YingYing be ugly and no one will like you”

“If this servant is ugly, Your Majesty won’t like me too”

“Who said it? I will still like you even if YingYing becomes so fat, ugly and wrinkled, even fussier from now”

Hearing that BaiYing’s cheeks turned red from blushing.

“Hehehe, is that true Your Majesty? Em, just don’t regret it later”

“I won’t!” cried the Crown Prince in a loud voice.

LuoXiang took a deep breath, still gripping BaiYing’s fingers that were resting on his chest.

“We’re going back to the capital tomorrow, when healer Wan said you can continue your journey, our food stocks are running low, and this city doesn’t have much to offer.” said The Crown Prince.

BaiYing held his hand.

“Why don’t we stay here longer? Your Majesty, this is a city that is said to have lots of problems on your daily or weekly reports, while here, why don’t we try to see its potential? Figure out the problems, I’ll help”

Hearing that LuoXiang raised his head, he frowned.

“Helping? What did YingYing mean by helping out? No, I won’t allow my concubine’s delicate hands to become rough for helping with hard work.”

BaiYing smiled at the Crown Prince’s words in a strange voice.

“Hehehe what hard work? Your Majesty mean like cropping or some kind of that?”

“Well, Yeah, you think what else we have to do here? This city is very dry, even though it rains a few times but the dry and sandy soil makes all the water that falls on the ground look like a waste, even though rain conservation has been made but still it will not be enough, there is a lot to do, and the residents, too, don’t seem to care and many choose to leave the city, so the remaining residents have to bear all the consequences, many of them don’t even have a choice and can only leave because the rice is so hard to grow.”

BaiYing frowned.

“Em rice? Apart from rice, there are no other crops?”

LuoXiang thought.

“Erm, maybe sweet potatoes, or, beans”

“How about corn?”

BaiYing’s words made the Crown Prince think until he frowned deeply.

“Uh what is it?” he really just heard it for the first time, BaiYing thought.

“Um, that plant, which can bear fruit quickly and can be eaten, tastes good, can grow even on barren and sandy soil, well, it takes a little effort, but, it can grow, as far as I know,” BaiYing swallowed his saliva, is corn already there? But he remembered what food he had tried on the Emperor’s birthday a few months ago, a gift from the land of Tania.

“Your Majesty, from here to Tania, is it far enough?” asked Bai Ying.

LuoXiang thought again.

“Em, shouldn’t be, Tania and Kili are bordering YueYang, I never went from here to Tania, but I think the distance is more or less the same as the distance to the capital city”

BaiYing smiled widely, the very clear smile in his eyes made the Crown Prince even more curious about what’s on the kid’s mind.

“YingYing what are you thinking?”

“The solution to your majesty’s problem, after the dam is finished, your majesty must not have thought about what farmers need to plant to suit the hot sun.”

The Crown Prince looked at the young man with narrowed eyes.

“You, what’s your thinking makes me suspicious”

“Why is that? Your Majesty always underestimates me”

“No, I’m not, it’s just you always have bad thoughts”

“No, who is that? Your Majesty is worse than servant”

Yan and Bi who came in bringing breakfast for the two pretended not to hear and see what happened in front of them, both of them couldn’t help but smile sheepishly.

“Your Majesty is starting again, servant is still unwell Your Majesty, please be a little gentler” BaiYing shouted trying to avoid LuoXiang’s hand which was tickling him.

“You mean gentler, like this?” LuoXiang lowered his head to kiss BaiYing’s neck which made him even more amused, he tried to push the big man’s body away from him.

“Hahahaha Your Majesty stop it!”

............

The next day, two of BeiYau’s men on their tough horses, accompanied by representatives from LiuYang city set out for the border of Tania country to buy plant seeds, such as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes to cotton, all of which could be grown in hot weather.

While according to what BaiYing had planned, the Crown Prince built a large building with slightly open sides with high ceilings, covered by bamboo and dry leaves, BaiYing said it was the room that the local farmers could use to breed the seeds to be planted, this was a pretty good idea, given LiuYang’s erratic hot weather, as well as the strong winds that could damage young plants so easily.

The new LiuYang mayor, ZhangYo, a middle-aged man with a smiling face overseeing the construction, of course, there is the Crown Prince there, would he want to be demoted? While from a distance the dredging process was still going on, YueWang seemed to be patrolling along the dam with Eunuch Sheng at his side, occasionally the man standing in the hot sun protected by a wide umbrella from his servant looked at the Crown Prince who was standing beside the mayor LiuYang, that old man it raised its hand asking Eunuch Sheng to come closer.

“Sheng’er”

The fat eunuch understood where YueWang’s eyes were now, he bowed his head respectfully.

“Yes, Godfather” then waved his hand asking some of his men to come closer.

............

In LiuYang’s downtown villa.

BaiYing sat with concubine Fu and Princess aYa who were busy enjoying their meager fruit in the villa’s living room.

“Heh, it feels so boring here, there’s nothing interesting we can do, Ying’er, do, you want to take a walk outside the villa?” Lan’er asked.

BaiYing pursed his lips, he was also curious about how the city that the Emperor was concerned about because of its poverty level, although it was not felt by the Crown Prince’s entourage who did bring their own food ingredients in sufficient quantities.

“Um, I’d like to, but, looks like there’s no market here, so we won’t be able to shop anything”

Lan’er thought.

“Well, let’s just have a look, shall we?”

Lan’er’s words made BaiYing think, but aYa’s voice interrupted the two.

“It’s very dangerous outside, it’s better to stay in the villa, after all, Ying’er is not well yet, don’t go anywhere yet”

AYa’s words made BaiYing pull his lips, somehow he thought the girl in front of him was like the female version of the Crown Prince, and she was even worse, the girl never smiled at all, although she’s pretty when she’s smile.

BaiYing shifted his seat, closer to AYa when he saw something in the princess’s hair, it made AYa stutter, she couldn’t move to see the young man so close to her, the smell of his body fragrant was so clear, his body warmth, she could feel his big round eyes on her, turning her suddenly to stone.

“W-What are you doing?”

BaiYing lowered aYa’s hand just as the girl was about to raise it up.

“Don’t move there’s a dry leaf in your hair”

.....

AYa swallowed her saliva, she held her breath when the young man used his hand to touch her hair, she couldn’t breathe, immediately AYa stood up from her seat.

“I-I’m going to the restroom, excuse me” the girl stuttered to her feet and got out of her chair, almost bumping into her maid who was behind her.

“Princess”

“Accompany me to the restroom” she quickly dodged, or else the young man would see her face which was now red like a boiled crab.

BaiYing glanced at Lan’er, who also shrugged her shoulders in disbelief.

“I don’t know, maybe something on her stomach,” Lan’er said.

BaiYing enjoyed the small fruit in front of him again, mostly local fruits that grow in the villa’s grounds such as persimmons and tomatoes, in fact, these kinds of fruit can grow there, even though they taste very sour.

“It’s so sour, it’s no wonder that the princess’s stomach hurts,” BaiYing said, Lan’er nodded.

“Yeah, it’s.”

Their relaxing time was so pleasant, a big smile often graced BaiYing’s face, until a loud voice could be heard from outside.

“Ah!”

Accompanied by the sound of clashing swords.

“Ting ting ting!”

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