Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

“His Highness always gives me presents yet I never give him any present yet,” she said and lowered her hand.

“You are itself a gracious present to me,” Lóng Wei answered. Li Hua shook her head and told him that she would soon give him something memorable.

“I will wait for it,” Lóng Wei replied. “I have to go to the imperial court since today an important judgement will come. I will be back soon,” Lóng Wei said, and stood up. Li Hua also rose to her feet and walked up to him.

“Don’t get angry in court,” Li Hua said as she stroked her hands on his robes near the collar. “His Highness will soon be a Governor, so he must act like one,” she added.

Lóng Wei wrapped his arms around her lower waist and pulled her up. “There is no fun in not making those ministers burn in agony. Fine. I won’t get angry at anyone unless they start saying rubbish,” he promised her. Li Hua hummed and rested her hands on his cheeks.

She quickly kissed him and then looked into his eyes. He moved his right hand up on her back and drew her close to capture her lips. “You didn’t let me kiss you earlier,” Lóng Wei complained. “Such a peck won’t suffice my hunger for your lips.”

Li Hua blushed to hear him, and her ears also turned red. “We were outside at that time,” she managed to whisper.

“What about now?” He arched his brow. He didn’t wait for her reply and nibbled on her lips. She moved her lips to match his rhythm. Both pulled away quickly and smiled at each other.

.....

“I shall leave before I end up taking you to bed,” Lóng Wei said, and planted a soft kiss in the middle of her forehead. “I will see you soon,” he said, and left for the imperial court.

Li Hua looked at the jade bracelet and wondered what kind of present she should give to Lóng Wei.

“Your Highness, a message has come for you.” Li Hua lowered her hand and was confused to hear her. The maidservant forwarded a tiny roll of paper, which was inside a beautiful scroll holder. Li Hua took it from her and asked her who sent the message for her.

“It is unknown. The messenger said that it was from Her Highness’ well-wisher,” the maidservant answered. Li Hua dismissed her and went to the patio. She sat on the floor mattress, where the white curtains swayed in the breeze.

Li Hua opened the scroll and took out the rolled paper from inside it. She opened it and started to read.

“Don’t stop reading this message if you recognize my writing.” Li Hua found it was from Feng Lao. Why did he send her the message!? She had broken all relationships with him. Then why did he call himself her well-wisher.

She wanted to throw it away, but a part of her didn’t let her throw it away. She exhaled a deep sigh and continued reading.

“Li Hua, I have immensely hurt you. I shouldn’t have stopped the search for you. I should not have kept my mouth shut when I found out the truth from my father. The past cannot be corrected, and for my past actions, I am truly apologetic. I know that I do not deserve your forgiveness, but I want to apologize and will keep doing it until my last breath.” Li Hua’s eyes filled with tears and her eyelashes got wet. She gripped the edges of the paper tightly and continued.

“Xu Zifan and you underwent excruciating pain. I am going through the same. Everything has ended here and I truly want to disappear, but I want to catch the enemy for you. I have found out something important. Please tell this to Prince Lóng Wei that the enemy is a man. He is from the palace. I was able to recover some letters in my residence and found them through the letters. I rest my words here. Take care, Li Hua.”

Li Hua put the paper down and knitted her brows. “Why did Feng Lao send this message without thinking that he might get caught?” She mumbled. She thought of going to Mingquan as Lóng Wei would return late.

She got up and went to meet Mingquan.

Mingquan read the message and handed it back to Li Hua.

“Sister-in-law, to avoid suspicion, Feng Lao sent the message this way. The decorative scrolls are usually used to send messages to royalty. He used the same trick so that it safely reaches you,” Mingquan asserted.

“So, the enemy is a man,” Li Hua said.

“It is strange because Brother Lóng Wei had his suspicions about the Queen and the Consorts,” Mingquan stated.

“Let Brother Lóng Wei return from the court, then we will have further discussion on it,” he advised her. Li Hua nodded at him and asked him if he hadn’t gone to the court today.

“The court will take twenty more minutes to start,” Mingquan replied.

“Oh. Prince Lóng Wei went early then,” Li Hua said.

“Because today is an important day for him. The King will make a judgement on Kang Huijuan, who lied last time, and because of that, Brother Lóng Wei was punished. Apart from that, Brother Lóng Wei has to get the ministerial trust and support before his Governor position will be finalized,” he explained to Li Hua.

Li Hua thanked him for giving her time for the conversation and took her leave. However, before leaving, Mingquan told Li Hua not to worry about the enemy. “If he had to harm you, then he would have by now. It is not easy to get harmed in the palace,” he stated.

“I understand,” Li Hua said and left. She was not only troubled about the enemy, but she was concerned for Feng Lao too. His words bothered her, and she decided to ask Lóng Wei if he could help him. But before that she decided to meet Yuze.