The thick night enveloped the interlocking halls of the Imperial Palace, however in the imposing Ming Xiao Palace hall, it was quite uncharacteristically brightly lit.
Hong Xu sat with a languid expression on a sandalwood chair covered with ferret felt, wearing only a black with a hint of red unlined garment, the slightly open collar revealing a strong and fine honey-colored chest. Two long and powerful legs rested on the lap of a maid, being massaged by several pairs of snow-white soft and beautiful hands in a well-trained manner. Even though he was now in a relaxed state, the aura emanating from his entire body was still so overpowering that one dared not look directly at him.
“You are telling Us that the Third Prince of Bei Ling died in a sea of fire?” Hong Xu looked at the Imperial bodyguard kneeling at his side and asked with a heavy dark look in his eyes.
“Yes, that is right! This subordinate deserves to die, requesting Your Majesty for punishment!” The Imperial bodyguard bowed even more and trembled slightly as he explained, “We had sneaked into the inn before the bandits broke in to look for the Prince of Bei Ling, but we did not find him. At first we thought he had escaped safely, but when we searched around the area outside we found nothing! So, we rushed back to the inn, but by then it had already been set on fire by the bandits!”
Hearing this, Hong Xu’s expression relaxed slightly, and he said, “If that is the case, how do you know that the Prince of Bei Ling has died in a sea of fire?”
“At that time, the bandits waited around until the inn was burnt to the ground before leaving, and in the meantime no one had escaped! Which must mean――”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 50 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Humph, how can you be sure that the Prince of Bei Ling was inside that inn and that he died in a sea of fire when you did not find his dead body, or even him alive? With such rash and biased judgments, what qualifications do you have to hold your current position?”
“This subordinate deserves to die!”
“Get out of Our sight, and do not let Us see you again!” as he said that, he pulled his legs back and said coldly to the maids at the side, “You, get out of here too!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The people in the room immediately retreated in fear and trepidation.
After a moment of unfathomable silence, Hong Xu suddenly spoke, “Secret guards.”
A man clad in black, kneeling on one knee, suddenly appeared from the void――
***
The spacious carriage had more than enough room for four people, and ZiLi sat comfortably on a soft cushion, sipping exquisitely fragrant tea and eating exquisite pastries.
“Big brother CangJing, I never thought I would meet you here. When you suddenly left, I thought I would never see you again!”
“Hehe, big brother ZiLi, I should be the one saying that. I was planning to just stop along the way to rest for a while by the river bank, who would have thought I would meet you! Oh, by the way, big brother ZiLi has not introduced me to these two young brothers yet!” Mo CangJing said, as he smiled charmingly.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 50 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
ZiLi slapped his forehead in embarrassment and said, “Ah, I completely forgot!”
When he had said that, he introduced CunGong and CunShou who were sitting on both his sides, “This is CunGong and this is CunShou, they are――” He wanted to say ‘my sons’, but then he figured he did not need to lie to Mo CangJing, who already knew about his background, so he said instead, “little brothers I’ve just met! Haha!”
“I see!” Mo CangJing also chuckled, then asked, “I wonder if big brother ZiLi has already thought of a place to go?”
When ZiLi was hesitating if he should tell him that he wanted to go to Chi Xiang 1 , Mo CangJing continued, “To tell you the truth, I am not from Chu Jing but from Chi Xiang. I came here solely for family matters, but a few days ago I suddenly received a letter from home urging me to go back. If big brother ZiLi still has not decided where to go, why do you not come with me to Chi Xiang? Over there, you can avoid that vicious old man Huang 2 and I can take care of you if you go.”
When he said that, ZiLi could of course not refuse, “That would be great! Thank you for your trouble, big brother CangJing!”
“Boss Su, what about us?” CunGong and CunShou suddenly spoke anxiously, “If you go to Chi Xiang, what will happen to us?”
That’s right, how could I forget these two brothers who are bent on seeing the Emperor of Chu Jing! ZiLi pondered for a while, then said, “Why don’t you follow me to Chi Xiang!”
“But we want to bring an accusation against someone before the Emperor, how can we do that if we go to Chi Xiang?”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 50 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Then how about we part ways here, I’ll give you some silver and you take the letter I wrote earlier and go to the Capital to look for Prince Qing?”
“But we’ll be hunted down!”
“Uh, this does not seem to work either, so what are you going to do?”
The two brothers looked unblinkingly at the equally unblinking ZiLi with big round eyes.
“Why do you two young brothers not come with us to Chi Xiang? When we get there, I will send my men 3 to escort you back to the Capital, would that be an idea?” Mo CangJing, who was sitting beside them, said when he saw the three of them staring at each other, not knowing what to do.
“That would be an great idea! Very great!” The three of them immediately turned around and looked at Mo CangJing with shining eyes and said.
Uh, why does it feel like I have been played tricks on again?