The Dragon's Flower

XH 36

The Third Prince, Long Zhu gently placed Xiao Hua down on his bed before taking a seat at the edge of his bed, peering down at her. He could see the pill’s effect working fast inside her body, clearing her pathway and pushing the toxic out of her pores.

He saw the dark toxic coming out from her body, staining his bed, but strangely, he did not find it disgusting as he normally would if he faced this kind of situation with a different person. He does not mind his bed getting dirty for he could always have his whole bed changed with a new one or have the sheets cleaned.

If An Wan, who had once 'dirtied' his bed with her naked body, known that the Third Prince did not mind his bed to be dirtied by Xiao Hua, would have cried in disbelief. A year ago, the Third Prince had immediately ordered his bed to be thrown out and burned after ordering An Wan to be punished.

Xiao Hua’s tiny face scrunched up in pain and her tiny mouth open and closed without making a sound, silently enduring her pain. Her eyelashes trembled and pushed out a few drops of tears which rolled down her cheek that was filled with a thin layer of dark brown dirt.

Long Zhu’s eyes clouded as his mind traveled back to his memory from his distant past, yet also the future he was determined to change. He admitted with a pang of guilt that he does not remember Xiao Hua much, only that she was his sister’s personal maid.

The only thing he could remember about Xiao Hua vividly was during the time she had stood in front of him and took the deathly attack for him. He recalled there was so much blood gushing out from her and the strong smell of copper imprinting deep into his senses. He could vaguely hear the anguish screams of Long Lian when she saw Xiao Hua died.

She died immediately from the blow, her body fall onto the ground like a doll whose string was cut and buried under her own blood dark red blood. Her eyes were wide open, staring into nothing and her face showed no fear, no pain, but only relief.

As if she was happy to die for him.

Long Zhu knew that it was the crown prince that sent the assassins that day, but they failed to take his life and instead taken the lives of his servants and Xiao Hua. Since then, he hated the crown prince for making Long Lian depressed, and hated him for taking those innocent people’s life.

But the person he hated the most was himself, for being weak and brought harm to the people around him. Even if he finally wanted to change, it was already too late.

His brothers had already prepared themselves for many years and were ready to move for the final kill. Long Zhu had no chance to escape from death. It was only right before his death that the true culprit revealed himself to be the mastermind. It was him that manipulated the crown prince to view Long Zhu as a threat. That was why the crown prince suddenly sent assassins to kill Long Zhu, the harmless prince.

He died unwillingly, filled with anger and deep betrayal. He died knowing that Long Lian would die right after him, as that man aimed to kill everyone that shared the same blood with the Emperor. Everyone in his family died, all because of that bastard’s evil schemes in the name of revenge.

When he woke up in his eight-year-old body, he felt lost, anger and finally, desire for revenge. He will kill that ungrateful bastard and protect his family this time!

Long Zhu gave out a hand sign command and his secret guards left his side, giving him privacy. If there was an attack, Long Zhu himself was enough to handle it.

“Xiao Hua,” Long Zhu called out softly as if he feared to wake her up despite she would not be conscious any time soon. “I couldn’t avenge your death. But I will kill the one that caused your death.”

Long Zhu does not have the heart to kill his eldest brother, especially when he had managed to mold and train his eldest brother to be a better person than before.

Now, his eldest brother was one of his valuable chess pieces.

But as for Long Shan…even if he can train him, Long Zhu had no desire to do so. He was not a saint, and the hatred in his heart will never disappear until he witnesses Long Shan’s death personally. 

The night passed with Long Zhu reminiscing his dark past while Xiao Hua fights with the pain in her unconscious state. It was only when the soft light of the morning slipped into the room from the window did Xiao Hua return to consciousness.

The first thing she noticed was something slimy covering all over her skin and that stopped her from moving around. She turned her head around and observed that she was lying on a soft bed with the bed sheet smooth to touch. She turned her head to look for clues to identify where this place was and nearly got a heart attack.

This view is so magnificent! (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)

An unclothed man was inside a wooden tub, with his back facing her with his hair parted over a sholder, allowing her to ogle his muscular broad back. He had a fair skin that made a girl like Xiao Hua envious, yet tempting her to touch. His ink black silky hair was wet and sticking onto his skin, a sight that was even more amazing than the one Xiao Hua had seen on Long Lian during the hot spring trip. The water droplets sliding over his skin made her throat burn in thirst.

She wants to lick- oh, he’s turning around- Argh! Nosebleed! Nosebleed incoming! (*￣ii￣)

Xiao Hua quickly rolled her body until she faced the wall and holds onto her nose. Why is the Third Prince bathing at a place where she can see?!

“You are awake.” Xiao Hua could hear him getting out of the wooden tub to get dressed!

Xiao Hua closed her eyes but the sexy sight was imprinted deep into her mind! Since when did she have such an excellent memory? She could feel her face burning with heat and there were funny tingles crawling all over her body.

Le XiaoTing has a boyfriend before, but he had not made her body reacted that way. His body could be considered as good quality, but she hardly drooled over his body. That was one of the reasons why she decided to break up with him. He was sweet and caring, but not enough to make her crazy for him.

Sorry, Mr. Ex-boyfriend but it looks like the Third Prince’s body is manlier than yours.

Her mom just shakes her head when Le XiaoTing does not seem to feel heartbroken over the breakup. She did feel sad that she could not return his feelings properly, but it did not take long for her to move on.

Xiao Hua jumped when a warm hand touched her face. She quickly rolled over and saw that the Third Prince was dressed but he did not dry his hair. The wet spot on his clothes slowly got larger as his hair keeps on dripping water.

“An Jing,” the Third Prince called, allowing An Jing to enter the room.

“Your Highness.”

“Carry her to the tub and clean the bed. After that, exchange the water with a new one after the first soak.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” An Jing reached over and lifted Xiao Hua up from the bed.

“I-I can walk!”

“Elder Sister Hua, for now, it would be better for me to carry you.”

“Why-” An Jing was quick to put Xiao Hua into the bathtub. Xiao Hua jumped at the sudden difference of temperature. The water was lukewarm, suitable for bathing but before she entered, she was slightly chilled.

But why was she inside the water while fully dressed? Eh? What are those black things? Xiao Hua noticed the water quickly turned dark and realized that she had polluted the water!

“W-Why am I so dirty?” Xiao Hua raised her arms and stared at them in horror. Her blue uniform was dark in color now, looking as if Xiao Hua had rolled around the mud for the whole day!  

“That’s the effect of the Nutrient pill that you ate yesterday. It purges out the toxin inside your body and makes it easier for you to train your body,” An Jing answered as she covered the bathing area with a foldable screen divider with a large blue dragon flying around the clouds on the screen.

Xiao Hua saw An Wan drying the Third Prince’s hair before her view was cut off by the screen. Tian Zi and Tian Chi entered the bathing area and placed an empty wooden tub beside the identical wooden tub that Xiao Hua was currently polluting.

Tian Zi let out a soft giggle when she saw Xiao Hua. “Elder Sister Hua, remember to dip your head into the tub once in a while.”

“Huh?”

Tian Zi and Tian Chi had already gone away to get water to fill the empty wooden tub before Xiao Hua could ask what she meant.

Xiao Hua suddenly feels scared and slowly touched her face. Her fingers did not receive the usual feedback of her skin texture that was slightly dry and rough. Instead, her fingers touched something thick and slimy.

Goosebumps immediately broke out and with a terrifying shriek; she quickly scrubbed her face with water. She did not know how long she had scrubbed her face but why does the slimy black thing so difficult to rub off?!

By the time she was finally satisfied that her face was free from the slimy feeling, Tian Zi and Tian Chi had already filled the other wooden tub with water. Tian Zi dropped a bunch of flowers onto the clean water so that it would cover the stink from her impurities.

“Elder Sister Hua, remove your clothes in the tub. Then we will move you into the clean water,” Tian Chi said.

Xiao Hua feels a little awkward to strip before the two girls, but if she were to ask them to leave and get into the other tub by her own, it was very likely she will dirty the floor.

Ah! Just quickly get it over with. {{ (>_<) }}

After Xiao Hua removing the dirty, wet clothes with difficulty, Tian Chi easily lifted her up and dropped her into the clean bathtub.

...Why does Tian Chi make it look as if she doesn't weight much? (↼_↼)

Although Tian Chi was shorter than Tian Zi, she was still a bit taller than Xiao Hua. But to lift someone with similar height without difficulties was astonishing!

Xiao Hua was amazed when Tian Chi and Tian Zi lifted the polluted bathtub out without any indication that they struggled with the weight. She needs to quickly adapt to the things here and stop acting like a fool whenever she saw something that does not make much sense in her original world.

Suddenly, she remembered the Third Prince that had just finished bathing. There was only one wooden tub before-

Kyaaaaaa! She just bathed using the same water that the Third Prince previously used!

(*/▽＼*)