CROWN PRINCE'S CONCUBINE

Bai Ying pulled the Crown Prince’s hand. They were still on the path in the front before entering the house.

“Your Excellency”

Luo Xiang frowned, seeing the young man still occasionally looking behind them, towards the Li family mansion.

“What is it? Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?” Luo Xiang asked worriedly.

Bai Ying shook his head.

“No Your Majesty, just, um, Servant, feel the immense power within the mansion”

Hearing that Luo Xiang widened his eyes. Pulling Bai Ying’s hand they continued their way towards the house.

They stop in the living room.

.....

“What do you mean by great power? Where? In that house? Of whom?”

Bai Ying shook his head.

“Don’t know, Servant, just feel it very close. When all the guests gathered, when that young master pushed the maid earlier, erm, maybe among one of the people there, just, I don’t know who is that.”

The young man furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

Chen Ming approached and sat on a chair, Bei Yau poured tea for him.

“Perhaps it’s because there are too many people, brother, making you suddenly wary, the guests are from the martial world, the owner of a major college, merchants to local officials, as far as I know, they are just quite ordinary people. The one that makes the fuss earlier is the Young Master from the poison academy, so far only he is the most dangerous among else, maybe you feel he poses a threat and triggered your sensor fires” Chen Ming said, while slowly taking a sip of his tea.

Bai Ying nodded, that could be true, although he still felt that his defensive censorship had never been wrong and it only worked on beings with immense power like Er Wang and Xiao Wu. The last time he fought Huo Li, even though it was very strong, the strength he felt from Huo Li was not as great as he felt now, the two have very different vibes. Is there another else than the vermilion bird around here?

Luo Xiang grabbed Bai Ying’s fingers. Smiling as he lifted his chin, the boy looked up at him.

“Hey brat, what are you thinking? Let’s put it this way, tomorrow big brother will ask uncle Li Mo about this matter, after all, we can’t go on here without doing what we initially came here for, looking for the vermilion bird. If what you feel is true, there is a possibility, the red bird might still be around here somewhere.”

Bei Yau lowered his head.

“Your Majesty, the last time Servant and Ge Lu went to the forest, the Black Crow’s base was completely deserted and abandoned by its inhabitants, even the body of its leader Huo Li who had sprawled out was no longer in its place. Most likely his men had buried him, or, uh...”

“Or maybe he ran away” continued Chen Ming who was still enjoying his tea, slowly putting his teacup back on the saucer, looking at the Crown Prince and Bai Ying alternately.

“What do you mean brother, that person, is still alive?” Bai Ying asked with a pair of big eyes.

Luo Xiang looked at Chen Ming. The young man took Bai Ying to sit on his chair.

“That, it can’t be Prince Chen, you saw for yourself how that person’s body was charred almost through the bones, what is the possibility that he will still be alive after this?”

Luo Xiang said as he poured tea for Bai Ying. The young man looked panicked, Luo Xiang tried to calm him down even though he himself thought about the possibility.

Bai Ying held Luo Xiang’s hand as he was about to turn his body away.

“Your Majesty, there is, that possibility right? If right that, Huo Li is was a mystical being or the incarnation of the Red Bird, it means that he can’t just die, he can revive again.”

Luo Xiang saw Bai Ying’s eyes looking at him. Raising the other hand lowered Bai Ying’s hand and clasped his hand. He raised his other hand caressing the young man’s cheek, smiling at him.

“Hey, if that going to happen, just let him come, we will be very prepared by then, you don’t need to so worry too much about it, okay?”

Bai Ying held the Crown Prince’s big hand holding his cheek, he nodded, convinced by the Crown Prince’s gaze that shone with his words.

“Yeah, that’s right Your Majesty, we can definitely handle it”

Chen Ming turned to Bei Yau. Took a deep very slowly so that Bai Ying wouldn’t hear his worries, he lifted his teacup back and took a slow sip. He was worried, of course, but, he could hold onto the Crown Prince’s words. Hope so, he thought.

.........

The next day.

Sun is so bright even it just starts the day up.

Li Mo lowered his head in front of the Crown Prince. The day after the banquet, Li Mo visited the back bungalow to apologize for the previous day’s events. Which Luo Xiang had not really thought about. He only cares about what Bai Ying had said earlier.

“Please forgive Servant, Your Majesty, for not inviting Your Majesty and others to the banquets, Servant thought, it just a very unimportant event that needs to be attended by excellency Your Highness”

Luo Xiang waves his hand, he really doesn’t think about it, at all.

“It’s not a problem Uncle Li, Ying Ying just get bored, forgive us for not giving you any heads up before coming”

They sat in the living room talking quite casually but seriously. Luo Xiang sat gracefully in his place enjoying the most delicious tea from Xi Yang city.

Li Mo stroked his short beard, the old man thought until his brow furrowed.

“Hem, vermilion bird, it is could come back alive, if Huo Li is really the vermilion bird, of course, he can’t just die so easily. However, after receiving such a terrible and huge attack from the celestial mirror, not to mention from His Majesty the Viceroy, I think it will take some time to recover. It is said that the firebird is a hot creature, of course, it will run towards the middle of the volcano to find the heat it needs, but, heh, ever since this old Servant young, that volcano is no longer active, it will be very difficult to find the heat source he needs.”

That morning, Hei Hu joined in, that man surely had a better understanding of the situation in this area before Li Mo returned to this city ten years ago.

“Please forgive me, Your Majesty, the volcano has been dormant for about twenty years, there are rumours that the actual inhabitants of the volcano, namely the red vermilion bird, have ascended into the sky and left this city. However, if Huo Li is indeed the incarnation of a firebird, that might be a sign that he has started possessing his body since then, which causes the volcano to no longer be active,” said Hei Hu.

Li Mo nodded.

“That could be true, old man Hei, and twenty years of cultivating to get the perfect vessel, although it doesn’t necessarily work it can happen”

Luo Xiang put his teacup on the saucer.

“Yesterday, at the banquet, does Uncle Li find a suspicious person? If it is true that Huo Li is alive again, no matter how difficult it is, he will definitely come to take revenge on Ying Ying. And yesterday, Ying Ying felt strong energy similar to he’s, but not the same.”

Li Mo stroked his beard again, thinking.

“Hem, there is no one suspicious, apart from the incident where Young Master Xu accidentally pushed my maid, everything was normal. After all, all the guests were old acquaintances, and Ne Ma also made sure that she recognize all the maids who worked with her, there were no strangers at the banquet, even, the coachman are the old faces that often comes.”

Luo Xiang thought. He remembered pretty well what the young maids which pushed down by that Young Master looked like, and that Young Master Xu can be suspected too, being one of the sons of the top-ranking leader in the martial world, the Xu family couldn’t be underestimated, but, how likely was the young man as someone who triggered Bai Ying felt an incomparably great power.

“Em uncle Li, who is that young maid? What caused such a young girl to have such terrible burns on half of her face, how lucky she is to still be able to endure such a big wound?” Luo Xiang asked. He thinks he needs to ask the question that keeps on his mind whenever he saw the maid.

Li Mo turned his head, he glanced at Hei Hu who turned his gaze in another direction, the reaction of the two made Luo Xiang even more curious about the maidservant girl.

“Em, that, its quite a long story, Your Majesty.”

“What do you mean by quite a long story, just a young maid, or, she doesn’t look like what she looks like?