Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

127 Caressing her back

“Because His Highness loves me, that’s why he is with me. He has told me this many times. Once the love fades away, everything ruins,” Li Hua reminded him.

“Where there’s love, there’s trust,” Lóng Wei affirmed. “Love fades when the other person betrays you and stops showing interest in you,” he stated.

“If you want me to start discussing my life, at this hour, then we won’t be able to finish. Don’t worry. I won’t let my Father kick you out of my life. The more you’ll try to incite me to tell you about my mother, the more I’ll refrain.” Those last words came as a warning for Li Hua. She didn’t speak anymore and slapped his hand.

Lóng Wei didn’t pull his hand back. “You get angry with those whom you love,” he whispered in her ear.

“His Highness is fast in making his own assumptions,” Li Hua asserted and continuously slapped at the back of his hand. Tired, she stopped and narrowly gazed at him. “Let me go,” she said in a stern tone.

“Sleep if you are done hitting my hand.” Lóng Wei said and moved close to her, thus closing the remaining distance between them. His eyes gradually closed, and he drifted off to sleep.

Li Hua could not fall asleep for long. Probably because this was a new place for her or because she was too restless to know everything. She turned to face Lóng Wei, who was soundly sleeping.

“My brother didn’t say anything about Feng Lao. He also put his trust in you,” she mumbled. Xu Zifan was close to Feng Lao. They both were best friends. Xu Zifan was the one who told his father, Li Hua should marry Feng Lao. However, in the present time, his words were different. Was it because Feng Lao died that night!? So, he didn’t want his sister to think of him.

She needed answers to many questions. Tomorrow morning, she would find everything from her brother. Tears appeared on the edges of her eyes. The candlelight started to turn dimmer, and soon the darkness surrounded the bedchamber. She again broke into tears and kept crying silently until Lóng Wei’s warm hand started caressing her back.

.....

She wondered if he was awake, but he was not. It seemed he did it unknowingly in his sleep. Li Hua buried her face in his chest and tried to fall asleep. She realized that no matter how much she wanted to keep her distance from Lóng Wei, in the end, she wanted to fall in his embrace. After all, he provided her the warmth, the support and the care, which she needed the most.

~~~~~~

Lóng Wei woke up from a deep slumber. His eyelids were half-open, and found something heavy on his chest. Looking down, he found Li Hua’s head on his chest, and a chuckle escaped his mouth.

He carefully put his hand under her head and gently brought her down, making her sleep on his arm. Brushing off the hair from her face, he found the marks of the tears on her cheeks.

Staying in the bed, for a while, he quietly slipped out of the blanket and stood straight. Outstretching his hands, he came out of the bedchamber and found Eunuch Qian He waiting for him to come out.

“Good morning, Your Highness. I hope you got a good sleep,” Qian He said.

“Hmm. Let the Princess Consort sleep. She is tired from the journey,” Lóng Wei said and walked ahead. Qian He stayed back and waited for Li Hua to wake up.

Lóng Wei freshened up and left to see Mingquan. He thought of sending him back to the capital if only he would agree. The maidservant appointed in Mingquan’s service let Lóng Wei go in.

Mingquan, who was enjoying his morning tea, was surprised to see Lóng Wei. He smiled and asked Lóng Wei to take a seat. Lóng Wei settled on the floor chair. Mingquan served the tea to him.

“Why didn’t the Fourth Prince tell our Father about it when he was present? Our father is desperate to know why I killed her.” He straightforwardly jumped on the question to which he wanted to know the answer.

Mingquan smiled and rested his hands on his knees. “I already have told you that I don’t want to intervene in your private matter with your late mother,” he clarified.

“Yet he blackmailed me to accompany me?” Lóng Wei arched his brow with a suspicion. “What does the Fourth Prince want from me?” He asked.

“Nothing. If I wanted something, I would have asked you a long time ago,” Mingquan replied.

“I don’t trust the Fourth Prince’s words,” Lóng Wei stated.

“Brother Lóng Wei, I never betrayed you,” Mingquan opined. “They don’t want you to return to the palace. Brother Qiu Mu might have failed to harm you this time, but he will do it again. That’s why I am here,” Mingquan stated. The expressions on his face seemed genuine. However, Lóng Wei still could not believe that Mingquan had suddenly become his well-wisher.

“The Fourth Prince never tried to save me before. I have gotten punished hundreds of times, but he remained quiet. Why is he showing this concern out of the blue?” Lóng Wei squinted his eyes.

“Because you needed to get punished for the wrong you did. Troubling isn’t the correct way to make people learn. Only you will be seen as the wrong person. I know that last time why you beat up Kang Huijuan- because he made a servant pregnant and tried to kill her. However, it backfired on you. He could not get punished,” Mingquan stated. Lóng Wei was surprised to find that the Fourth Prince knew many things.

Lóng Wei didn’t regret that he was sent to the cold palace five months ago. Because if it had not happened, he would not ever meet Li Hua.

“Prove everyone that you are the worthiest prince. You are not a sinned prince, and you are indeed the son of the dragon. I will give you my support,” Mingquan affirmed.