ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔬𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔴𝔞𝔶.
𝔑𝔲𝔫 𝔤𝔢𝔲𝔫𝔶𝔞𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔬𝔪𝔶𝔢𝔬𝔫 𝔡𝔴𝔞𝔢.
ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔬𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔴𝔞𝔶.
𝔅𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔲𝔫 𝔤𝔢𝔲𝔡𝔞𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔶𝔞.
Hua Cheng was training extra time in the night.
He was already nine years old. But for someone that young, he was surprisingly amazing. His moves were agile and fluid, quick and light.
His back was wet with sweat, beads of them sliding down his beautiful face, his cheeks flushed. His breathing was controlled more or less, but still a bit rapid. After completing the sword forms he stopped, and breathed in and out heavily, calming down his adrenaline.
"Here." Suddenly came a calm and sweet voice. Hua Cheng looked at the source of it, his face still sweaty, the cool breeze ruffling his long ponytail. The owner of the voice was Xie Lian, who was looking at him with a gentle smile, and in his hand was a handkerchief which was extended towards Hua Cheng.
Hua Cheng smiled and bowed, Xie Lian straightened him up, and himself wiped away the sweat still sliding down profusely by his temples and cheeks. It was summer after all. Though the weather in Mount Taicang was not that hot, it was still more humid than usual.
"You are working really hard." Xie Lian said in a gentle voice.
"Mn. I want to become stronger. So that I can protect those I want to." Came Hua Cheng's answer.
Xie Lian was surprised to hear such an answer from someone this small in age. He smiled, "Hua...Hong? Wait, I think I mixed up your birth name and courtesy name." He laughed nervously.
Hua Cheng gave a soft laugh, "Do you want to call me Hong?"
Xie Lian, for whatever reason, felt an urge to tease him, as he spoke with a grin, "Xing-jie calls you 'A-Hong' right? I would rather call you something only I can call."
He was only joking, but Hua Cheng seemed to have taken it seriously. He was just a child after all. He didn't think that much if it was a joke or not, so he answered truthfully, "Then...how about 'San Lang'?"
Xie Lian was taken aback as he stared at Hua Cheng, who only smiled and continued, "Then, will you call me that?"
Xie Lian was dumbfounded for a moment, before he smiled and nodded, "Mnh! That sounds great. San Lang. But why the name?"
Hua Cheng spoke, "I am the youngest among my siblings. The third child. So I thought it would be a fitting nickname. However..." he smiled mischievously. Xie Lian found himself melting into the cuteness of this little pie.
"However?" Xie Lian probed with a grin.
Hua Cheng pouted, "Only I am allowed to call you 'Gege'. No one else."
Xie Lian pinched his cheeks and softly chuckled, "You are so cute San Lang."
Hua Cheng pouted harder, "Promise? You will only let me call you 'Gege'?"
Xie Lian replied with mirth, "Alright. Promise. Only you can call me 'Gege', no one else."
Hua Cheng threw himself at Xie Lian's warm embrace, unaware that he was not allowed to do so, after all, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of XianLe.
But the Crown Prince in question didn't mind at all. He readily embraced the small child in his hands, so warm and cozy. He felt his heart at so much ease while holding him in his own arms.
"Thank you Gege." Came a muffled, happy voice from under his face. Xie Lian put his chin on Hua Cheng's head, "Hahaha. Your welcome."
_______________________
Xie Lian decided it was time for him to make a visit soon to the Royal Palace. Though it had not been much long since he had seen his parents, he still wanted to see them. After all, there was no harm in going to see your own parents.
He was particularly close to his mother. His father...well they had a complicated relationship. He was not that fond of the king. Nonetheless, that didn't mean Xie Lian hated him.
Just as Xie Lian was about to head out with Feng Xin and Mu Qing, he saw a flare of multicoloured robes, and instantly recognised who it was, calling enthusiastically, "Xing-jie!"
Tian Xing was just coming out from the Royal Pavilion to settle for her next plans, when she saw Xie Lian waving at her with a bright smile.
It was such a smile of pure joy. Tian Xing smiled back widely and came to the group of three, "A-Lian, A-Qing, A-Xin."
The group of three stilled. Tian Xing herself realised what she had just said. But she didn't break her composure. She bowed and spoke, "My apologies. I was overfamiliarising-"
"No please. Do call me that." The response came from the person she least expected.
Feng Xin.
His voice was thick with emotions, a rare occurrence. But he sounded like he was pleading. Tian Xing didn't look up from her bow yet, when Xie Lian straightened her up, "Xing-jie, I would love it if you call me that." His eyes were a little moist for whatever reason.
Tian Xing smiled and looked at Mu Qing, who didn't say anything for a while, for then spoke, "Ugh, fine. You call me that as well."
The other three laughed and they started going down the mountain.
Just when they reached the palace, they saw a person, who looked strikingly similar to Xie Lian in many ways, a good looking man for sure. He wore royal robes of the finest silk material, jewelleries and accessories filling him upto the brim. All in all, extravagant clothing, anyone could tell he was from the main royal family just by looking at the way he dressed.
Tian Xing already understood who he was, and confirmed it even more when she saw the colour of the robes.
Green.
No doubt, this was the Prince Xiao Jing of XianLe, the younger maternal cousin of Xie Lian, and later who became one of the Four Calamities in the novel, the Night Touring Green Lantern.
Qi Rong.
Right now, he should be about 13 years old. He was overjoyed to see his Cousin Crown Prince, yelling out, "Cousin Crown Prince! Cousin Crown Prince!"
The blatant admiration was so clear.
Tian Xing felt his heart hurt for him. Qi Rong became the way he did for various circumstances, granted, he was arrogant and boastful, he murdered countless people and even ate humans. But as a child, he was abused by his father, becoming the way he did, not wanting to bow down to anyone, and it only got worse when Xie Lian refused to unleash the human face disease on Yong'An.
In a way, he was similar to Shen Jiu from Scum Villain's Self Saving System.
This admiration he had for Xie Lian was washed away when he understood that Xie Lian was not willing to punish those Yong'An people, the same race his father belonged to. The same race his abuser belonged to. Then it turned into hate.
Tian Xing wanted to make sure he never got to that path. Making him come back to the right track would be difficult because of his over bearing personality, but she would try her best.
Speaking of saving, Tian Xing also had to save Mu Qing's mother. She was just a poor old woman. She didn't do anything wrong.
In any case, she would try to make things better, but there was also the case with Yong'An. She somehow had to stop them from going berserk.
For that, she had two options:
1. To make the Yong'An people migrate.
2. To make them prepared for the drought.
Tian Xing was contemplating if she should just make them migrate to somewhere else. That would be the easier option. But where would they go if they migrated?
What was the closest place other than XianLe where they could migrate?
Suddenly something clicked in her mind.
WuYong! The city of WuYong. There were still remnants of barren lands where they could stay and settle down. Precisely, the barren land she woke up in. WuYong was not as populated as XianLe, and was prosperous as well. They could migrate over there.
"-jie."
"-ig-jie."
"Xing-jie!"
"Uh?" Tian Xing snapped out of her thoughts. She was standing in front of the royal palace. Qi Rong was fuming and yelling, "You insolent woman! How dare you not bow to me? And not only that, you are not paying attention to Cousin Crown Prince?! Just because you are a woman, doesn't mean I can't discipline you!!!"
Tian Xing bowed, "This lowly one apologies to Prince Xiao Jing."
Qi Rong was still fuming, "You think I will forgive you???!"
Xie Lian stopped him with a hand, "Qi Rong, enough. It's rare that she is so in thought. It must be something serious. Xing-jie, is what you are thinking about related to today's visit?"
Tian Xing rose from her bow and nodded, "I am sorry for not saying this earlier. But today I am here to request something to the royalties."
Qi Rong cocked an eyebrow, "And you disregard us like that, even though you came to ask a favour? Shame on you!"
Tian Xing was as calm as ever as she spoke, "It's because I am thinking of how to ask that I was deep in thought. Politics requires brainwork." With that she smirked, being quite cheeky.
Qi Rong turned red from anger, "You! I will tell my royal aunt! She will see to you!!!"
Tian Xing raised an eyebrow, saying nothing. Xie Lian facepalmed. Feng Xin was barely suppressing his laughter and Mu Qing was expressionless.
Qi Rong continued, "Let's see how you escape, you bitch! Offending royalty, do you think you can get away with it?"
Tian Xing smiled, her eyebrow still raised, "And what if I can?"
Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He understood that Tian Xing had finally decided to harass Qi Rong after he didn't back down even after having given opportunities.
"You- HOW DARE YOU!!!" Qi Rong yelled.
Xie Lian was about to intervene when Tian Xing raised a hand and stopped him. Xie Lian, as a result, didn't say anything further. Qi Rong after seeing that, should have been a bit on guard, but unfortunately he was too angry to notice it.
Tian Xing slowly walked and came in front of him and smiled, "Well, you haven't answered. What if I do get away with this?"
Qi Rong angrily called, "GUARDSMEN! SEIZE HER!!!"
Xie Lian was now getting very worried, not for Tian Xing, but for the guards. He was afraid they would get their limbs broken. Feng Xin was grinning wide, Mu Qing's eyes held a twinkle not seen that often.
Tian Xing cocked an eyebrow, looking at Xie Lian. Xie Lian just sighed and spoke, "Qi Rong, stop this mess. Guards! Stand! Do not move on more step!"
The guards, of course, listened to the Crown Prince before his cousin, so they stopped. Xie Lian commanded, "Go back to tour duties."
And they did, readily. Qi Rong was surprised to see how Xie Lian stopped them even after the seemingly clear disrespect this woman had shown.
Tian Xing clicked her tongue, "Why did you tell them to stop?"
Qi Rong was about to ask the same thing when she did. He didn't know how to feel about this.
Xie Lian deadpanned, "No thank you. I don't want them to be on bedrest for the next month. We need our guards."
Tian Xing snorted. She looked at Qi Rong and spoke in a tone that was practically ice, "Prince Xiao Jing. You are talking to the deputy Guoshi of XianLe. Might I remind you that you have been showing blatant disrespect to me? I came today to tell something that might change the future of XianLe forever. You might not care for it's people, but I do, and so does your Cousin Crown Prince. So please, make way for me to not be awfully rude to you. Just because you are royalty, doesn't mean I am not. That being said, I do not mean to be disrespectful to you in any way, but I expect the respect to be returned. That's all there is to it."
Qi Rong had already gone pale at the mention of her being the deputy Guoshi of XianLe. Guoshis were held in high regard everywhere. To disrespect them was a very great deal. Qi Rong, although was a royalty, couldn't do that without a valid reason.
Xie Lian couldn't say anything much anymore, and only tried to dissipate the awkwardness, "Alright. Let us not argue anymore."
Feng Xin and Mu Qing were just enjoying the drama silently, and if they had some tea they would've sipped with ease.
Qi Rong was silent, though fuming. But he didn't want punishment for disrespecting the deputy Guoshi, so he spoke while going in a bow, "I apolog-"
Qi Rong stopped speaking when he felt two warm hands straighten him up before going in a full bow. What he looked up to see was Tian Xing smiling warmly at him, none of the cold from before present.
"Don't apologise. I didn't mind. But others might. So don't be like this, hmm?"
Qi Rong was dumbfounded. He just kept staring at those warm neon eyes, which appeared so startling to him before, then were cold as ice, but now were warm and soft. It was as if like he forgot to speak.
Feng Xin snorted quietly and spoke in a low voice, only for Xie Lian and Mu Qing to hear, "Xing-jie is admirable. She even bewitched Prince Xiao Jing."
Mu Qing smirked, "One day you will see she is a real witch or something."
[Uh...Mu Qing about that-]
Qi Rong was still staring at her, Tian Xing was taken aback, so she asked, "What's wrong?" Her voice was soft.
Qi Rong snapped out of it. And then blushed furiously due to embarrassment. Tian Xing saw his face growing red and laughed quietly, and then pinched his cheeks still containing some baby fat lightly, "You are so cute."
Qi Rong was even more embarrassed. Her hands were smooth, but her fingertips were calloused.
Xie Lian was muffling his laughter with his sleeves. Qi Rong saw it and yelped, "Cousin Crown Prince!"
Feng Xin felt like he was going to have an internal injury containing his laughter. It was so entertaining to see the proud Qi Rong be like this.
Mu Qing turned around as to make them notice his wide grin.
Qi Rong was just standing there no knowing what to do. He was embarrassed, flustered, happy, and angered at the same time.
In that split second Tian Xing had looked at her, she reminded him of his mother.
Tian Xing spoke, "Then, I will be going if Prince Xiao Jing has nothing else to say." She bowed to them and spoke, "Excuse me." With that she left.
Xie Lian finally laughed out loud. Qi Rong was still just standing there, then he asked in a small voice, "Cousin Crown Prince, who was that? You said she was the deputy Guoshi of XianLe?"
Xie Lian nodded, "Yep. Do you like her?"
Qi Rong was red with embarrassment again, "Who-Who said that? I was just asking Cousin Crown Prince about that...lady."
He was just a bit taken abacm that's all. He didn't expect someone to act like that after he yelled at the person. After all, no one liked it.
He was not liked by people, he knew it.
Fear was all he had been using to control people, because otherwise who would listen to him?
Xie Lian smiled at him, "Well then, I will be going to meet with my parents. Xing-jie is also there. Do you wanna come with me?"
Qi Rong didn't say anything.
Xie Lian was about to get combusted because of how hard he was suppressing his laughter. Flustered Qi Rong was so cute!
Xie Lian grabbed him by the wrist, and grinned, "If you wanna come then say so."
Qi Rong yelped as Xie Lian took him by the wrist proceeded to drag him with him, Feng Xin and Mu Qing, very into this drama, followed them.
Tian Xing was talking with Xie Shu, when the four of them came in. Xie Lian greeted, "Father, Mother."
Qi Rong bowed, "Aunt, Uncle." He looked at Tian Xing then, who smiled at him. And he turned flustered again.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing kneeled on one knee, "Your Majesties."
Xie Shu and Shang Mei nodded. Xie Shu turned to Tian Xing and spoke, "You were saying something about Yong'An? What happened there?"
Tian Xing cleared her throat lightly, and lowered her head a bit. Her eyes were a bit unsteady, roaming around a bit.
Xie Lian, Mu Qing, Feng Xin and Shang Mei's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when they understood something.
Tian Xing was nervous! Holy shit, something like this was possible?!
Xie Lian gulped. Somehow even he felt nervous. If Tian Xing was feeling fidgety about a matter, just how serious was it?
Xie Shu commanded to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, "Rise." Both of them stood up on their feet.
Tian Xing took a deep breath and then began, "Your Majesty, as I was travelling from a distant place, I had to come through Yong'An to here. And..."
Xie Shu raised an eyebrow, "Go on. Stopping in the middle of a sentence is not your style, Lady Tian."
Even he noticed how out of character she was acting and grew very attentive.
Tian Xing took another deep breath, and continued, "The Lang-er Bay...it's water has been going down recently...it's not that noticeable right now, but eventually it will be very troublesome. Yong'An is an area that has difficulty growing plants and crops, a place where a drought is likely to occur in a few years. With the Lang-er Bay's water going down, they would not be able to fend for them. Already, the area is poor. If drought hits their..."
Xie Shu spoke, "They would have no choice but to migrate. Is that what you are implying?"
Tian Xing continued, "Yes. But, that is not the main problem Your Majesty."
Xie Lian was listening very intently, and surprisingly, so was Qi Rong. Feng Xin and Mu Qing were quiet, also all ears.
"Your Majesty, may I ask a question?"
"You may."
"What is the closest place from Yong'An where it's people can migrate in?"
Xie Shu answered in a neutral tone, "XianLe's royal capital of course."
Tian Xing responded, "Then do you think they will be welcomed here? By the nobles and the aristocrats? Will they let poor, migrated people live among them?"
Xie Shu responded, "Naturally not. But Lady Tian, what exactly are you trying to point out?"
She was a Guoshi after all. He had respect for her, and naturally was willing to listen, especially as he had heard that the disciples were fond of her.
Tian Xing didn't seem to be in a rush as she spoke, "Your Majesty will understand when we get to the bottom of this."
He nodded.
"Yong'An is a poor place. The only ones who get food are the few rich people there. So if they migrate to XianLe royal capital, naturally it would take away all their strength and resources. If they are not welcome in the city, do you think they will migrate away, with nothing in their hands?"
Xie Shu shook his head slowly.
Xie Lian was starting to understand what she was implying at, and spoke up, "I think I get what you mean."
Xie Shu glanced at him, as if telling him to continue. Tian Xing smiled as she looked at Xie Lian.
Xie Lian spoke, "If they don't migrate, they will be sent outside by force, because keeping them in will only cause more trouble. Obviously they cannot migrate, after losing so much resources and only having themselves, it's hard enough to migrate to XianLe from that place for poor people. So they will stay outside the city walls. But gradually people will grow starved and of course there will be people affected with diseases, thus many will die, which will ignite a terrible anger in them-"
"And a war will start between the Yong'An people and the people of XianLe." The one who spoke this line, was none other than Qi Rong. He looked serious, his eyes sharp.
Shang Mei was even more surprised now. What was happening in the world? She didn't understand politics, but she did understand that Qi Rong was not someone to be interested in these things.
"Exactly." Tian Xing agreed with a bold smile.
Xie Shu seemed to understand where the things had been pointing to, but then he spoke, "But they are just poor people as you said. How can they fight against XianLe?"
Tian Xing was as calm as ever as she replied, "They cannot, but what if enemy countries help them? XianLe is a prosperous country. Do you think they would let that opportunity slip away from their hands? They would send reinforcements from their military just to help them take XianLe down."
Xie Shu seemed deep in thought. After a while he said, "What do you propose should be done? Since you have figured out this problem, I want to know if you have any solutions to it."
Tian Xing spoke, "Your Majesty, "There are two options. One is, if your prepare them for the drought, like creating a stream of water flow towards Yong'An so that crops can grow and drought doesn't occur. Two is, you can have them migrate somewhere else while they still have rations for long travels, or have them migrate somewhere in XianLe, just not let them stay in Yong'An. Maybe have them settle in a different place."
Xie Shu massaged his temples, "That would be troublesome. Creating a stream would take too long and would take too much resources. But we cannot have them here either. As you said, the nobles would create trouble with them. Besides, XianLe royal capital is already populated."
Xie Lian smiled, "It doesn't have to be the royal capital. Have them migrate anywhere else. In other villages. It's not like they have to all go in the same place. As long as they are still in XianLe, it's all the same. In fact, villages would be better places for them to migrate."
That was a plausible solution. Xie Shu seemed to consider it and spoke, "Very well. Then I will arrange things for that. Thank you for introducing me to this matter."
Tian Xing bowed, "The honour is mine Your Majesty."
She was beyond relieved that things went this smoothly. She was very worried about how this would be taken by him.
In the previous world, there were sects ruling over each area. There wasn't one person who had all the power. Rather the power was divided by the area they ruled. And the rulers were mostly children to her. Tian Xing had the chance to be bold there when needed. But here, was a king, who ruled over a whole kingdom. To address this matter, it was worrisome to know how it would be treated. But it went considerably well.
Xie Lian saw her tense shoulders relax. And he somewhat relaxed as well.
On the way to their rooms, Tian Xing passed a medicine to Mu Qing and spoke, "Give this to your mother. She will get well soon with it. Three times a day after meals. Don’t skip doses."
Mu Qing was speechless.
After a while he said, "Wait, but-"
Tian Xing didn’t give him the opportunity to refuse and said, "Just take it. I will not take no for an answer." with that she left, leaving a stupefied Mu Qing.