Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

117. The Return of the Crown Prince

Translator: Flying Lines

“The immortal… is the faith of State Yanling?”

“Exactly.” Gonsun Yi nodded. He looked towards Su Jie, a glimmer of something unfathomable shining in his eyes.

Su Jie stood in front of the temple, thoughtful. He gave a bow towards the temple and said, “Let’s go.”

At this time, Su Jie almost seemed to understand why the soldiers’ morale was boosted so much after realizing he was the crown prince. So it turned out that the respect for the immortal had seeped into Yanling’s citizen’s everyday life. Thus, the Su royal family, who were descendants of the immortal, were so popular with the citizens.

Because belief was also a kind of power.

The citizens and soldiers who believed in the immortal all hoped that a descendant of the immortal would ascend to the throne. Only like this, Yanling’s citizens would be given the protection of the immortal forever.

In the few days that followed, the message that the Yanling crown prince returned travelled through State Yanling like it grew wings. The citizens even performed many kinds of legends, all telling news of the immortal’s descendant returning.

“After His Highness returned, the sky is full of rosy clouds. This is a good omen given to us by the immortal because his descendant returned!”

“His Highness has gone missing for so many years. His returning must be guided by the immortal. The immortal has never stopped guarding State Yanling. He only wanted to awaken his descendant – that was why he didn’t intervene in that change in court that year.”

“I heard the imperial city experienced an episode of torrential rain. This must be the immortal’s warning to Lan Buhui. Because the immortal’s descendant returned, State Yanling will be reunited once more!”

….

Citizens all rushed to the immortal’s temples to pray in droves. They prayed for Yanling to be re-united soon and that the immortal’s descendant would become emperor.

At this time, waves were already surging beneath Yanling’s peace. Lan Buhui, who was far away in the capital city, didn’t know that a big war was about to begin. He watched the stars at night and let out a low laugh.

“Cheng Huan, I only led the rebellion that year so I could avenge you. In these years, I never held onto the position of Yanling’s emperor stably. And now, I have countless women who look like you by my side, yet not one of them could walk into my heart like you did.”

Lan Buhui’s expression was a little melancholy and he said to himself, “The crown prince has returned? Ah… that three-year-old boy, who escaped that year, has actually been found? Looks like there’s going to be a war again…”

The lone star in the sky twinkled. Lan Buhui stood at the window for a long time, until a pretty woman approached him, saying warmly, “Your Majesty, it is late…”

*

State Yanling’s affairs naturally stirred the neighboring states. The Emperor of State Yanhui thought that perhaps the war in Yanling was a good opportunity. If Yanling suffered a big loss because of the war, then perhaps State Yanhui could use this chance to conquer State Yanling.

But the only obstacle was that State Yanhui was currently attacking State Liukong according to his orders. He couldn’t transfer too big a military force to attack Yanling, so Yanhui’s emperor was a little hesitating.

At the same time, Xiao Shengnian sat in the Pavilion of Ningfeng. He wore a navy blue robe, fiddling with a jade green ring.

These days, Xiao Shengnian was gloomy. Originally, he sent a portion of his men to find Su Jie and Zhou Zaiyue. In the end, they weren’t found. After a few days, there was even a woman who came to him, saying that Zhou Zaiyue asked her to take away Da Hua and the parrot.

Xiao Shengnian originally didn’t want to let the woman take away the two animals. After all, they could be seen as a tie between him and Zhou Zaiyue. But unexpectedly, the woman said with a small smile, “Your Highness, Elder Zhou said that he was taking the young master to State Yanling. If you want to see the young master, Elder Zhou will send a message in due time.”

Hearing this, Xiao Shengnian was conflicted for a moment. He decided to give the parrot and tiger to the woman. However, he also decided to set off for Yanling.

After he dealt with everything in these coming days, Xiao Shengnian was about to leave for State Yanling when he heard about the news of Yanling’s crown prince returning. He vaguely felt that this could be related to Su Jie, but he also felt that this simply couldn’t be possible.

His little slave was that crown prince who returned?

Xiao Shengnian was seriously considering the possibility of this when his ninth brother tapped his shoulder.

“Brother, have you heard?”

“Heard what?” Xiao Shengnian asked back.

“State Yanling’s crown prince has returned. The people are saying that there is a golden spiritual flower on the crown prince’s face. The sky is full of rosy clouds, and the soldiers at the frontier are overjoyed. They’re saying that the crown prince is a man of talent.”

Xiao Shengnian fell silent for a second, then asked, “Do you feel that the crown prince is… Wen Nianxuan?”

“How could he be!” Xiao ShengXian hmphed and said laughingly, “Brother, I see that you’re missing Wen Nianxuan to the extent you’ve gone mad. Yanling’s crown prince has a mark that only the royal family of Yanling have and is confirmed to be the descendant of the immortal. Wen Nianxuan didn’t have that on his face, how could he be the crown prince? Also, the identity of Yanling’s crown prince was impressive. He must have been protected very well by the people in the palace that year. He was probably scheming on how to retake the lost throne these few years. Wen Nianxuan is in our State Yanhui, and he’s also the Sharp Sword…”

“I have decided to ask Father for permission to let me go to Yanling as an envoy,” Xiao Shengnian said, interrupting him.

Xiao ShengXian froze for a long while as he digested the sentence. When he re-focused, he asked strangely, “Brother, what are you going to do in Yanling? Find Wen Nianxuan?”

“Exactly. Recently, Father’s ambitiousness has grown even larger. Even our older brothers don’t dare to do anything. The atmosphere in the imperial city is oppressed. I feel bored. Instead of staying in the imperial city, I might as well go to State Yanling to find him.”

“Do you mind bringing me with you?”

“Whatever you want.”