The Dragon's Flower

XH 50

“You...why are you not…demanding me to return the Eighth Prince’s body and kill me?” The Eighth Prince asked Eunuch Heng warily. When he first saw the little eunuch crying, he had believed that the owner of the body he was currently possessing was truly loved by the eunuch.

Yet, why did the young eunuch looked grateful even when his eyes expressed his deep pain?

“Kill? This servant would not dare to so do!” Eunuch Heng cried in fear.

“But I’m not your Eighth prince!”

Eunuch Heng looked over to the Third Prince, seeking for permission. But the Third Prince did not even notice the young eunuch’s stare; too busy comforting the crying girl in his arms to care about anything else.

That sight was spicy to his eyes, so the Eighth Prince purposely said loudly, “Oh is that why you side with the Third Prince, Xiao Hua? Love certainly explains everything!”

It took a moment for Xiao Hua to understand what the Eighth Prince had said. Once she finally comprehends the words, the pain in her heart immediately took a back seat as she quickly pushed herself away from the Third Prince’s arms. Her face quickly turned red in embarrassment. “T-That’s not it! Don’t speak nonsense!”

The Third Prince gave the Eighth Prince a disapproving look. “There are things you should not speak out loud even if they are the truth, Eighth brother.”

“Yeah, yeah- wait, what are you saying, Your Highness!” Xiao Hua squealed in embarrassment. “Please do not make fun of this servant!”

Xiao Hua avoided looking into the Third Prince eyes for he suddenly scrutinized her anew now that he knew she was not the original Xiao Hua. He could see that this girl was not pretending to be shy and acting coquettishly to steal innocent males’ heart.

Eunuch Heng revealed an awkward smile when the Third Prince no longer paid attention to the two light bulbs, his examining eyes glued onto Xiao Hua’s form. Since the Third Prince had heard what he said but did not stop him, Eunuch Heng assumed the Third Prince permitted him to explain to the Eighth Prince.

“Eighth Prince, you know that the...real Eighth Prince had turned...silly. That is the reason why the Third Prince isn’t that upset enough to remove you.”

“Eunuch Heng,” the Third Prince suddenly called out, getting a surprised jerk from the eunuch, who suddenly looked guilty as if he had said something he should not have. “You are making this prince sound cruel.”

“This servant does not dare!” Eunuch Heng quickly went down to his knees, his forehead kissing the ground.

“Stand up. This prince is indeed cruel… for being relieved that Eighth brother no longer needs to suffer.”

“Hey, what exactly did you mean by that?” The Eighth Prince frowned in disapproval. “Being ‘silly’ isn’t suffering. He could have got well as he got older.”

“That may be true, but this prince does not know Eighth brother’s future. Now that you had taken over his body, this prince will just take it that Eighth brother had parted to the afterlife, finally reunited with his mother.”

Although it might sound wrong, Heise could not deny that the Eighth Prince might be happier to leave this life and reunite with his mother, the cause of his insanity. Meeting his mother and bask in her love would be a good choice to relieve the Eighth Prince’s trauma of watching his mother taking her last breath. That crushing helplessness when he could not do anything to save his dying mother must have also tormented him every day.

“That day, this servant found the Eighth Prince unconscious on the floor, with a head injury and blood spilled over the table.”

“We suspect that Eighth brother’s soul left because of that…and allowed you to enter the Eighth brother’s body.” The Third Prince looked at Xiao Hua. “What did you see when you first woke up?”

“I’m at a carriage with other people, on the way to Munzhu country. I feel very weak and hungry.”

“That must be how Xiao Hua died!” The Eighth Prince exclaimed. 

“But Xiao Hua did not die that way in your book!” Xiao Hua protested but she knew that was how the original Xiao Hua had died. 

The Third Prince rubbed his aching temple. “That may be my fault.” Three sets of eyes stared questioningly at the Third Prince. “I had focused my attack on Munzhu’s food supplies for the armies.”

Heise and Xiao Hua: ‘…’ What a tyrant!

Wait, the author is free from the death appointment, but she’s still on the list, with pending status!

“W-What about me?” Xiao Hua asked in fear. “P-Please don’t kill me?”

It was understandable that the author will be spared because of the body he was currently possessing, but Xiao Hua was just a maid with no special background, the perfect small cannon fodder!

Just have her killed and no need to worry about anyone popping out to seek revenge for her!

The Third Prince blinked. “Why would I kill you?”

“I-I’m not Xiao Hua.”

The Third Prince cups her chin and tilts it upward so they could make eye contact. “I don’t kill innocent people. Even if you are not Xiao Hua, you are the Xiao Hua that I know.”

He had never interacted with the original Xiao Hua, other than asking about Long Lian. He did not even know the real Xiao Hua’s behavior and personality. Long Zhu only felt gratitude for the girl’s noble actions of protecting him with her own life.

Xiao Hua: Mummy, your daughter thinks she’s in love. Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→

Le XiaoTing never experienced gentleness or such attention from a man before. Even if the Third Prince shared the same face as her boss, the way they treated her was different. Her boss may have cared about her but he never touched her or pampered her in the way the Third Prince did to her.

Which lady won’t have her heart stolen by a guy that treats her as if she’s his precious person?

The Eighth Prince who was ignorant of the pink atmosphere between the Third Prince and Xiao Hua, decided to announce something.

“You will become the Emperor of Guilin Country,” Heise suddenly make a statement to the Third Prince. His eyes flashed with determination and wanted no refusal from the Third Prince.

Now that Heise had calmed down and had the time to process everything, his reasoning and analytical thoughts swiftly corrected his mindset. Deep down in his heart, he does not really like the way his male lead did things, but because that was the type of male lead his girlfriend had read in the novels, he decided to follow their personality.

They might be cool and all, but honestly speaking, these types of men would not be a good choice to be the ruler.

Who would want an Emperor that decided everything as long as his Empress agreed to it? The Emperor that will kill or ruin whoever offended his Empress would not be accepted by his subjects. Sadly, people in this era had no choice but to submit to whoever held the most power.

Did those in power think that they were the greatest being under the Heaven and everyone else weaker than them were ants to be trampled anytime they wanted?

Regrettably, Heise totally escaped the point that he had done exactly the same thing those male leads did for their waifu. He had willingly broken his mind and moral to write a novel that his girlfriend loved to read.

He also did not see that the Third Prince seems to be heading down to that path for Xiao Hua as well…

The Third Prince chuckled. “I will not be the Emperor of Guilin Country. The crown prince will be the next Emperor.”

“What? Why not? You are seriously better than that Crown Prince! He’s a womanizer and someone with a short temper that clouded his mind most of the time! Did you not notice he keeps on fighting with the Second Prince because of he’s a resentful and narrow-minded person?”

“But I like the eldest brother that way. Just like Father Emperor, a beauty lover and courageous to fight for their right.”

The Eighth Prince and Xiao Hua sweatdropped. Isn’t that the same meaning with what the Eighth Prince had described the crown prince? The Third Prince just makes it sounds nicer, that’s all!

“Well shit, the Emperor and the crown prince are the same,” the Eighth Prince said out loud what was in their mind.

“So Eighth brother agreed that Eldest Brother is the right one to be the next Emperor.” The Third Prince beamed, his smile forcing the Eighth Prince to agree with him but did not hide the plain dissatisfaction from showing on his face.

“Eunuch Heng, Princess Long Lian just arrived at the front gate. Please delay her until we finish our discussion.” Long Zhu could sense every individual inside his residence thanks to his high cultivation.

Eunuch Heng nodded and quickly went out to do as he bid.

“This prince wants to know how the story that you...wrote ends.”

The Eighth Prince was cautious, unsure if he should tell the Third Prince about it. He could see there were extra characters not inside his novel that could change important events, just like the body he currently possessed.

“The story ends with the Second Prince becoming the Emperor and Liu Chu Chu as his Empress,” Xiao Hua helpfully answered.

“Hey!” The Eighth Prince snapped at Xiao Hua. “Why are you telling him?”

Xiao Hua looked down at her lap, her tiny fingers playing with her sleeves and avoided the Eighth Prince’s angry eyes. “I just want to help the Third Prince.”

“You lovesick fool!” The Eighth Prince pointed at her accusingly.

“You wrote this novel for your girlfriend,” Xiao Hua said in return. Even if this young lady is a lovesick fool, at least she got great taste, okay! Just look at the Third Prince!

The Eighth Prince practically growled and his eyes seemed to be spitting flames. “I had written that for her, yet she still chased after that Bai Gongzi!”

Xiao Hua squealed unconsciously. “Bai Gongzi! Oh my gosh! I read all the novels written by Bai Gongzi! They are so good…”

Xiao Hua trailed off when the Eighth Prince glared at her murderously. “Erm, sorry. But now I can see why your girlfriend likes Bai Gongzi, ahahaha.” Xiao Hua laughed awkwardly, scratching her cheeks in discomfort.

“Do you want to be his wife too?” The Eighth Prince suddenly asked, stomping his tiny feet towards her. “Do you want to kiss him, worship him, and have babies with him?”

Xiao Hua’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

“Argh!” The Eighth Prince clutched his head as if in pain. “Do you know how many times my girlfriend say that?! What’s so good about Bai Gongzi? That man is just a writer, what’s so good in writing those terrible novels?!”

Xiao Hua’s eyes unconsciously searched for the Third Prince to help, but who would have thought he was treating them as his entertainment while peeling a mandarin orange to eat!

Suddenly, Xiao Hua’s eyes lit up in enlightenment. “'Bai' is white. 'Hei' is black. Is that why you choose that name?”

“That’s not important!” The Eighth Prince roared but his ears were red in embarrassment.

“Okay...but do you know that Bai Gongzi is actually a girl?”

“I know! That’s why I’m so angry!”

Xiao Hua was confused. “But… why would you be jealous - cough - angry at another female? Your girlfriend doesn’t like girls that way, right?”

“My girlfriend is a guy!”

Xiao Hua: ‘…’ This young lady seems to have heard something outrageous. (⊙_⊙)

“Argh! This lord had worked so hard to bend my girlfriend but that flirty author so easily straighten him back!” The Eighth Prince flings around his arms to vent out his anger.

The Third Prince, who was sitting beside Xiao Hua, turned to her to ask a question. “Who is ‘girlfriend’? And why did he bend this ‘girlfriend’?”

Xiao Hua: ‘…’ How is this young lady supposed to answer ah?! ∑(O_O;)