CROWN PRINCE'S CONCUBINE

Bai Ying turned his head when he felt a gentle breeze pass beside him, someone had returned and sat beside him, though, he was not dressed in black like what Bai Guang was wearing earlier. For a moment Bai Ying wrinkled his forehead so that his eyes widened to see who was sitting beside him at that time.

“Uh, grandpa? I mean, Your Royal Highness Prince Yen Hui?” he asked.

Yen Hui, was already sitting beside him. Very handsome, clad in beautiful clothes dominated by gold and red. Wearing a golden crown with the eagle symbol on a bun of light brown hair that fell straight down to the back of his waist. The wind gently brushed his hair from the front to the back.

Yen Hui at that time, maybe not the young Little Prince he saw a moment ago, his face looked much more mature.

“Sweet child, what are you doing here? Are you waiting for grandpa?” Yen Hui asked.

Bai Ying widened his eyes, how did he know that he was his grandfather?

“Eh, Gr-grandpa”

Yen Hui smiled. He lifted his hand caressing Bai Ying’s cold cheek, who was looking at him with his teary big eyes.

.....

“Heh, sweet child, you must be tired huh? Poor child, come here” Yen Hui said opening his shoulder and stretching out his hand to Bai Ying.

Bai Ying stuttered, seeing Yen Hui’s hand with a broad smiling face until finally the young man couldn’t hold himself back and shed his tears, he burst into tears.

“Huks, grandpa, grandpa, what should Ying er do?”

Yen Hui stroked Bai Ying’s back, stroking his soft hair while the child cried on his shoulder.

“Huks, grandpa”

“Poor thing”

The sun was shining brightly. The rain had just stopped before dawn and stopped completely when the sun emerged from the eastern horizon. The cold wind still blows from the Pai Hua valley, carrying the smell of the soil with grass and flowers that grow thick and fertile on the green plains of the valley that stretches wide behind the Xin Hua palace complex.

A few drops of water still had time to slide down from the wide leaves to fall to the surface of the pond where large colored koi fish were busy sticking out their heads from the water to enjoy the beautiful day.

Residents living around the palace have started their beautiful day by going to the fields or have even pushed their crops to the nearest market. Greeting each other at crossroads and smiling tirelessly even at strangers. Young children helped their parents push carts filled with crops to sell, cheerfully the children whose ages ranged from six to a dozen years did not hesitate to keep themselves busy and did not forget to play on the sidelines of their work time.

The sound of laughter was inevitable, even though it was full of bustle and people trying to live, the condition of the people in Pai Hua City was quite prosperous. City government security guards guarded every corner against any crime that might occur, although, ever since the palace rose, there was almost no major crime going on around there, not more than a few naughty little pickpockets who had been arrested and some were undergoing social punishment.

Not far from the outer courtyard of Xin Hua Palace.

The junior minister of internal affairs, Feng Han carried out his duties very well. He was seen in the city center distributing several leaflets that had to be filled out by the head of the family of each house so that the palace could record them. Since the palace implemented a population data system, many poor people have been assisted with jobs or even new businesses to support their family life. The junior minister also has plans to set up a medical center to serve the poor, with free medical treatment provided by the palace. For this reason, at least the ministry needs citizen data so that it is not misused.

“Please stand in line, ma’am, one by one everyone will have their share,” said Er Mo, Feng Han’s young minister’s confidant who was none other than his loyal servant since he was still at his house.

The sweet-faced young minister standing inside provides groceries to residents who have already submitted their data. Otherwise, there will be no residents who want to provide their personal data, and most of these people also cannot write and read, so they need help from the Ministry staff to write their data.

“Here you go sir, take it easy, our members will help you carry it if it’s too heavy,” said Feng Han.

Commander Liu Fu helped distribute food packages to residents who completed the data collection on the other side. Occasionally the young commander assigned to the Minister of Internal Affairs division glanced at Feng Han and smiled.

While inside the palace, on the wide and beautiful Pai Hua grounds, Su Lang was seen leading his men, while the palace guards were training in the open field.

The imperial guard division itself is another part of the palace army, they have different duties and interests from the palace military soldiers under the Junior Minister of Defense, Shi Shen. But ever since the two started working well together, the two often held joint exercises which made the field filled with the two’s men.

“Fast further!” cried Tu An, Su Lang’s aide who was in charge of training the bodyguards and their daily routines. Tu An was a very busy man.

Meanwhile, Su Lang and Shi Shen were seen sitting under a large umbrella near the utility building. The two enjoyed morning tea and breakfast while the soldiers and bodyguards were busy training.

“It’s so hot today, it’s just started,” Shi Shen said as he lifted his teacup, and sipped slowly.

Su Lang nodded.

“Yeah, it’s been such a hot day, but for some reason, I feel like these couple of days were so long, a day feels like a few days, is it because we relaxed too much, huh?” said Su Lang.

Shi Shen nodded. The young man who looked much more mature after receiving the mandate from the Viceroy looked far ahead where the green valley of Pai Hua stretched out.

“That’s right, I thought I was the only one who felt it, it turns out Mr. Su too, is it because we don’t often get outside assignments huh? Hmm, this is starting to become an unhealthy habit”

The two took a deep breath, the quiet life in the palace and its surroundings bored everyone.

“Yeah, looks like it”

“Well, at least until last night. Luckily the situation didn’t turn too bad huh” continued Shi Shen.

Su Lang sipped his hot tea, placing it back on his saucer.

“Yeah, thank God”

Meanwhile at Plum vila, in Bai Ying’s room.

Luo Xiang shifted his head, almost dropping his head as he took a deep breath and sat up quickly when he realized he was asleep. He straightened up in his seat and raised his front hair which fell untidily to see Bai Ying who was still lying silently in front of him.

He fell asleep from exhaustion with his hands still clutching Bai Ying’s fingers. He still hadn’t opened his eyes, and the room look so terrible, apart from his bed, everything was a mess after being blown away by the pulse energy of the protective field that exploded from Bai Ying’s body last night.

“Heh, brat”

It was so chaotic last night.

“Ying Ying!” Luo Xiang shouted, he and the others tried to hold back the energy exploding from Bai Ying’s body which was still unconscious and was pounding as everyone tried to get closer and even penetrated his protective field. Bai Hu was overwhelmed and was knocked against the wall earlier when he tried it the first time.

It was Luo Xiang and Chen Ming’s turn to step forward. Luo Xiang opened his arms wide, took out the golden energy that wrapped around his body, and charged toward Bai Ying. Although the golden energy also couldn’t break through Bai Ying’s body’s defensive field, at least he wasn’t blown away.

“Ying Ying! Stop it, open your eyes!” shouted Luo Xiang.

Chen Ming and Xiao Hong advanced at once. Shin Ya cast his protective energy but it seemed like it couldn’t penetrate Bai Ying’s barrier at all. It’s more like a battlefield in the room.

The more the protective field on Bai Ying’s body was attacked, the brighter it was, and the pulse even made Xiao Hong overwhelmed, let alone Chen Ming. Xiao Hong held onto Chen Ming’s shoulders as the two of them were pushed and almost thrown towards the wall if not for Xiao Hong holding their bodies with his strength. It was chaotic and messy, objects float in the air and fell so hard on the floor.