The Dragon's Flower

XH 111

Thankfully, her twenty-seven years of experience to be an independent adult in life pulled her back from her sappy mode.

"I’m yours if we got married," Xiao Hua calmly stated despite her inner-self jumping around happily. "But Yang Ling is yours and you should have a stronger man fighting beside you."

She admitted she sounded just like those cold female lead from the novels she had read, but she could not stop her sensible mind to take advantage of what was available for her to use. The only consolation she had was she would not abuse them or treat them badly. Just like how a good employer would not treat his employees badly.

"You want to share your tea with all my allies?" You want me to share you with my men? remained unspoken but it was clearly conveyed in his eyes.

"No, I do not plan to do so." Xiao Hua licked her dry lips and her breath hitched when she saw the Third Prince's eyes followed her tongue like a man starving for water in a desert.

Noooooo! Had she corrupted the innocent prince?!

Xiao Hua faked a cough to get back his attention to the proper subject. "I'm actually worried about people's reaction to my tea." Seeing her boyfriend was paying attention to what she said, she continued on with more confidence. "I could not compare much as the number of people that had tried my tea was less than the number of my fingers. But it seems that not everyone's reaction was the same."

The Third Prince frowned. "You mean Yang Ling?"

"More specifically, it's you, Lord Yang Ling, Duke Heng, and the King of Munzhu. The four of you seem to have a strong... desire of my tea. But Long Lian, Heise, and Old Madame Mong Lu were not overly... desirous of the tea. So does An Jing and An Wan for that matter."

"They might not be tea lovers; that might be why they had not enjoyed the tea in an appropriate manner."

Pray tell; is there an appropriate manner to enjoy tea? Is your orgasmic face the right way?

Despite that, she nodded to show her agreement towards his words. "That might be a factor too, as not everyone likes to drink tea. But I thought that to prove it, I need to have more people to try my tea and take note of how they reacted. I had asked Xi Ying and Da Bei to try my tea, but other than saying it's the best tea they had ever drunk, they were not...craving for it. They do not pester to drink more like Yang Ling, Duke Heng, and King of Munzhu." And you.

"Duke Heng enjoys tea every morning and he had tasted a wide range of tea. I could not say about Tian Liang, but I always thought he prefers wine. From Da Bei's retelling, Tian Liang was confident in his tea brewing and that indicates that he enjoys tea as well."

The Third Prince sighed, worry clouding his eyes. "But Yang Ling is not a tea lover. He prefers honey water and always found tea to be bitter. Whenever he was served tea, he would always complain about it, despite being in an official banquet."

"...Could it be because of that he's easier to get addicted to my tea?"

"If that's the case, Duke Heng and Tian Liang would not fight over your tea." Or him being possessive of his little flower's tea.

It was not possessive, but Long Zhu truly loved every food or drink made by his little flower. He does not know if he was just being a love sap fool, but her fried rice and tea were delicious and gave him a sense of peace and joy that was hard to discover in life.

Xiao Hua laughed awkwardly and lightly scratched her chin. "I'm not trying to prove anything, but I tend to think and imagine things. The only thing that's the same among you is being the supporting male lead!"

"Pardon?"

Xiao Hua felt her confidence bubble deflated. If Heise was here, he would immediately understand what she just said. But that idiot Heise did not come to visit her today, so she will have to ask him tomorrow when he came by.

"I mean, you, Duke Heng and Yang Ling... err...adored the heroine in the novel. But the Munzhu's King isn't so that's not the case...I'm just thinking nonsense!"

Long Zhu actually disliked being reminded of his past self that had stupidly fallen for Liu Chu Chu but what Xiao Hua said in the past rang loudly in his mind and his face unconsciously relaxed with a smile.

'Xiao Hua is the one you love, right? So Liu Chu Chu is no longer important in your heart.'

That's right. Only his little flower can occupy the space in his heart and stake her claim on it. His heart has a large space to love his family and friends, but Xiao Hua would be the only one that would have ownership of it. He only desired to pamper her and showers her with as much love he could give her.

To Long Zhu, saying the words 'I love you' was easy, but the difficult thing was showing and expressing his love, hoping that Xiao Hua would believe his cheap words. His heart's well-being would be in her hands and the idea of it originally scared him, but the strong sense of joy overweights the fear.

"T-Third prince?" Xiao Hua stared at the Third Prince fearfully, scared that her words had angered him.

He smiled to show that he's not angry. "Tian Liang..." The Third Prince mumbled as he recalled something long ago. "There are rumours that he saw Liu Chu Chu during a battle and took a liking to her but Long Shan killed him in anger."

Huh? This is juicy news! How could Le Xiao Ting not known about this before?!

"In the novel, Heise wrote that the Munzhu's King was killed in the battle by the Second Prince during the war between Guilin and Munzhu! But there was no mention about him liking the heroine!"

Long Zhu was used to the term 'hero' and 'heroine' when Xiao Hua was talking about Liu Chu Chu and Long Shan so he immediately knew who she was talking about.

He shrugged elegantly, and some of his smooth hair slipped to the front like a waterfall. "I was not there. That rumour was spread after the battle ended by the survived soldiers."

Xiao Hua pressed her lips worriedly. "Okay, if that rumour is true, then we can say... the tea is addictive to those people that love the heroine!"

"Used to," Long Zhu immediately corrected. "Duke Heng would never fall for her and neither would Yang Ling. But I will keep an eye on Tian Liang."

If Xiao Hua had not mentioned it, Long Zhu would not have remembered about the rumour and thus not taken into account that the young king would have fallen for Liu Chu Chu's charms, risking his betrayal towards them.

"You don't have to answer me if I'm being nosy but...why are you so confident that Duke Heng and Lord Yang Ling would not fall for the heroine?"

Long Zhu laughed and picked up Xiao Hua. For Xiao Hua not making any surprised sound, it showed just how many times he had done it that she got used to it. He carefully placed her down on a chair and took a seat beside her.

"Duke Heng already has someone in his heart, but that person would never be with him."

"...Won't that drive him towards Liu Chu Chu?" The novel had not mentioned about Duke Heng having someone in his heart before Liu Chu Chu, but only that he was disappointed with the government and the Emperor that had caused his sister's death.

The heroine's strength and slyness seem to lighten up something that had died in him. She would survive and lead them, which was what he thought of Liu Chu Chu. Knowing that he was too late to capture her heart, he chooses to support her with the Second Prince, believing that they would clean out the corrupted officials in the office, change the government, and lead their country to prosperity when they ascend the throne.

A nobleman that was the ex-prime minister, Duke Heng Zhen Gan!

That might be why he was the second supporting male lead, to be the perfect man for the heroine to rebound to when the male lead being an ass and to make the male lead chase after the heroine again!

Long Zhu shakes his head, feeling pity for the previous prime minister. "As long as she did not harm the Eighth brother, he will have no reason to hate her."

J.U.I.C.Y N.E.W.S! (✧ω✧)

"Who is she?" Xiao Hua eagerly questioned. That lady must not be simple for able to get close to the Eighth Prince and capturing Duke Heng's heart!

"Mother Empress."

The perfect image of the gentle, scholarly Duke Heng in love with an elegant and graceful beauty shattered with a loud crack in her mind.