CROWN PRINCE'S CONCUBINE

Li Mo lowered his knees in front of the Crown Prince, he knew him.

“Servant Li Mo pays his respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince”

Li Yu and Hei Hu who were standing behind the man widened their eyes, not expecting what was happening, but Li Mo’s kneeling hands pulled the two down.

“Insolent child, kneel down quickly!” Li Mo whispered.

Li Yu and Hei Hu immediately lowered their bodies, although both of them still had their doubts.

Luo Xiang who was standing in the centre of the Li family’s large room waved his hand, ordering everyone to stand up. He even approached Li Mo and helped the old man up.

“Uncle Li, please raise up, Xiang’er hasn’t seen Uncle Li for a long time, this really wasn’t planned beforehand.”

Li Mo smiled, the old man smiled widely with joy, his eyes filled with tears of joy at this opportunity.

.....

“Th-this, Servant, didn’t expect to see Your Majesty again, this, it really didn’t occur to me”

Luo Xiang intertwined two hands behind his waist, looked around, the Li family mansion, just as he thought before he knew the name so well.

Ten years ago, Li Mo who was then aged forty-two years decided to retire early to take care of his very ill father in his hometown, which is Xi Yang, since then, Luo Xiang never saw him again.

The old man could certainly help him find Bai Ying, as he recalled, the former historical recorder of Yue Yang country, Li Mo was a very smart scholar, he knew a lot about the legends around Yue Yang and its surroundings.

And it is said that the Li family is known to have a special deity object that was entrusted by heaven to them from the first generation, long before Li Mo. It said the goddess who came down to play around the Love river leave them something so valuable as a gift, because Li Yao, the goat herder keep an eye on the goddess’s clothes while they take a bath in the river, a small long river located at the back of Xi Yang mountain. According to the legend, if the lovers take a bath in the river, their love will last forever.

Unfortunately, it’s just folklore, whatever the holy object the Li family has, no one knows what it is, and the river of Love, the river has long dried up due to a long drought around the Xi Yang forest, not so far from the Li family residence near the forest, but the weather difference between the two was quite far.

And ten years ago since Li Mo stepped down, that man could still recognize the Crown Prince with absolute certainty, a moment after seeing him, Li Mo was absolutely sure that he was the Crown Prince, a sweet child, the Young Prince who used to spend the time in his room, read all the books all day in the corner of the library, avoiding the Second Prince and other princes who often bullied him, however, the man recognized him immediately.

....

Before long, the Crown Prince and the others sat in the living room discussing their next plan.

“Spider forest, hmm” the old man stroked his short beard, thinking a little hard.

The man who is already in his fifties still looks quite handsome, he was indeed too young when he decided to retire back then, he had only occupied his position as an official in the palace for no more than ten years. The man whose hair was still black and shiny with only one or two strands of grey hair, with a large shiny hairpin with the crest of a red bird in a bun, did look quite charming for his age.

“Hemh, a while ago, Servant did send some of my men there to check on the situation, because Xi Yang’s regional officials are too conspicuous, some of my subordinates under the pretext of looking for grass for horses to the forest have indeed managed to see how big their base is, even almost died ridiculously to be caught by the gatekeepers of the headquarters, luckily they brought some silver coins and gave them so that he could escape, otherwise, heh, he would be another piece of history.”

Chen Ming looked at Li Mo with big eyes.

“Then quickly show me the way, Xiao Ying is alone there, no matter how good he is he is still a child who is incapable of protecting himself from those savages”

Li Mo lowered his head, clenched his fists in front of Chen Ming.

“Your Highness Prince, the Black Crow’s base is very large, the number of members is unexpected, I will immediately gather all the Li family’s men and city officials to come help”

The Crown Prince turned his head, briefly looking at Li Mo who was waiting for his answer.

“There’s no need to be like that Uncle Li, no matter how many people there are, who definitely isn’t the opponent of whoever is holding Ying Ying at the moment, to be able to take Ying Ying away, definitely isn’t an ordinary person.”

Li Mo opened his eyes wide.

“Then, Your Majesty, it is very dangerous, moreover Your Majesty is not allowed to enter the forest, how about asking the palace for help? Or, Servant knows some great fighters around here, how about if I send a letter asking for their help.”

Chen Ming put his teacup in a slightly loud voice onto the saucer, preparing to stand up.

“It’s a useless old man, even the ten strongest people of this country can’t do anything, but Younger Brother has given us some energy, rotten Crown Prince, we can definitely beat that person and bring my brother home right?”

Luo Xiang restrained himself, Prince Chen started to wear down his patience, they shouldn’t be careless, otherwise, the plan to save Ying Ying would be in vain, they don’t even have any idea who the person who could take his Bai Ying was, who was that great person?

“Em, uncle, did uncle have ever heard the story about the vermilion red bird?” asked the Crown Prince, out of context of their conversation, Li Mo thought.

The old man frowned, thinking.

“Em, of course, I know about the legend, I used to learn about the four guardians of the Wah Ye plains and its surroundings, and the vermilion bird were among them, and, located not far from Xi Yang, but, until now, ten years after back to the city again, after many years of wandering, I have never found a story about the whereabouts of the bird, either it hasn’t appeared or has moved away”

“It there, the red vermilion bird, also the White dragon, and the mystical Hare, Xiang’er, don’t know have Uncle Li ever heard of a story about the revival of Wah Ye’s land with a legend attached to it, about how the great King Pai Yun managed to subdue the arrogant white dragon,” said the Crown Prince.

Li Mo nodded.

“Of course, I heard it, the story is very famous, I can’t help but want to find out the truth by visiting Xin Hua myself, and apparently, Prince Chen is already in front of me, then, what does the legend have to do with the mission to save the Young Prince?” Li Mo asked with his innocent eyes.

Luo Xiang looked at him, glaring at him intently.

“How if I tell you, the person captive there, is King Pai Yun himself, then, uncle can think of how great his opponent is to be able to cripple him?”

Li Mo widened his eyes, swallowing his saliva whole.

“Th-that, couldn’t be, right Your Majesty? If it’s true that King Pai Yun was imprisoned there, that means, that person, has extraordinary strength, surpassing the other two mystical beings, oh God”

Chen Ming crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“It’s also possible that little brother doesn’t have that kind of combat experience, and the strength he has can still be tricked easily.”

Li Mo was still shocked, widening his eyes in thought, it mean a big catastrophe can happen soon there, as what he’s waited for all these years.

“Erm, t-then what should we do?”

When everyone was seriously thinking, there was the sound of footsteps from the front of the room.

“Grand Master! Grand Master, something big happened!” exclaimed a young man, the Li family maid came in quickly approaching.

Li Mo glared at the young servant who was already acting presumptuous, entering without permission when the Crown Prince was there.

“Presumptuous! Can’t you see I have a big guest here?” Li Mo exclaimed furiously, the young servant stuttered, he lowered his body to his knees immediately avoiding his big master’s sharp eyes.

“Please forgive Servant, Master, but, something very big is happening in the Spider forest even in the nearest village”

Luo Xiang looked at the young servant.

“What happened in there?”

Luo Xiang’s chest thumped loudly, indeed something had happened that made him restless.

The young maid turned to him.

“There was a local earthquake and landslide, Young Master, and so many people in black, people from the Black Crow Clan were running out of the forest, some say that their base was destroyed by the earthquake.”

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