EMPRESS LIU

~EIGHT~

The fourth prince of the imperial reign was standing in front of Liu Changsheng with all his glory with a sword held right at his heart. He had his sword in his hand. Liu Changsheng remembers the name of that sword. Fengjin. But the prince wasn't getting the blade out of the scabbard. Instead he had a mysterious smile in his face.

"It's me Gong Zi. I'm not here to hurt you."

But Liu Changsheng's stance didn't change at all. At a distance a figure in the shadow was observing the interaction between the two. If anything goes out of hand she'll be quick to save Liu Gong Zi.

Liu Changsheng hoped someone comes in this instance. Because never in his wildest dreams he wants to be alone with the person that's standing in front of him. But luck wasn't in his side. He wanted to look as courageous as possible and questions the Xiang Wang.

"Why is your highness here?"

"Liu Gong Zi. Do you not find it interesting?"

"What is so interesting?" Liu Changsheng was taken aback. He wasn't expecting this as a response from the other person. His hands slackens a bit and the prince reaches out to touch the young man's hands.

Liu Changsheng takes a step back. "What are you doing?"

The prince smiles at him. "Can you tell me why is it that every time I see you I want to get closer? Why is it that when I'm not close I feel like going to find you?" The Xiang Wang takes a step forward to reach out again.

Liu Changsheng was even more shocked than he already was. He was sure never did the fourth prince feel any kind of attraction towards him. Not in the last life, not in this life. He was shocked on the revelation. He wanted to believe that person. He wanted to trust this man again. But he knew better. He knew what the Xiang Wang was like. So he refrained from saying anything. Instead he put Xuehui back into its scabbard and turns around to go to where he was sitting before. And a clueless prince refuses to take the hint and follows him like a puppy.

Liu Changsheng rolls his eyes when he knows the prince can't see him and flips his sleeves to sit down. Why isn't anyone coming up yet, was his exact thought.

Little did he know his father saw them and was wondering if he should come and disrupt his son's little shenanigan with the Xiang Wang.

"San Liu Gong Zi! San Liu Gong Zi! Liu Changsheng! Shengsheng!"

At the last remark Liu Changsheng glares at the big man acting cute. He didn't give this man the right to call him that. And in this life he wasn't intending on giving the permission again.

After the said man was glared at he pouted like a little kid. Who would have thought that the fourth young prince of the reign, the second son of the empress, the Xiang Wang can act like this. And that too in front of a merchant's son.

"At the second hour in the night this boat will leave the port. I will like it if your highness gets off in the right time." He picks up a cup of tea filling it to the brim. "I would not want the emperor to send an army to find your highness and putting my father in danger."

"It's not the second hour yet. So does Shengsheng mean that I can stay some more?"

The third young master looks at the prince and sighs. He knew he can't push the pouty man away. So he just acted like he didn't care. But in the very core of his heart something was blooming again. Like the legendary chrysanthemum his heart was giving birth to something again. Which he didn't want to feel. But was beyond his control.

After the second hour in the night the fourth prince was nowhere to be found and Liu Changsheng heaved a sigh of relief. He was hoping the prince would stop bothering him because once was lesson enough. He sits on the window of his room facing the water with his flute in his hand. Mu Ling was sitting at the foot of his study table looking curiously at the young master.

The night was young and very very mesmerising. In the dark of the night a boat was rowing alone with destiny somewhere no one knows what can happen. The course of incidents was going to change one way or the other. The night wolf howls somewhere in the woods on the riverside and over it all the tune of yearning played on a flute echoed over the horizon. A yearning for love, a yearning for something better, maybe even the yearning for the unknown.

There was no lights of hope, but to someone no hope is hope too. That is how the irony of fate is. It brings you something you never wanted, brings you somewhere you weren't supposed to go but ultimately gives you something you were always meant to have. Like a glare of a sword, like a cacophony of cicadas, like the blaze of fire the unknown fate embraces you and somewhere in the line you become one with it. That is how life is supposed to be. Not a planned task, but an unplanned adventure.

Thus was the melody that spread throughout the night, from the flute of a lone survivor of unavoidable fate to the ears of the dwellers of a faraway wonderland. Thus was his destiny. Thus was is supreme.

It made them cry. His father never knew when he learnt to play the flute. Maybe he wasn't giving his son enough credit for who he was and who he was becoming. It was becoming more and more obvious each day how Liu Changsheng wasn't that carefree kid anymore. He was slowly becoming a man in front of everyone's eyes and maybe no one really noticed. Maybe no one really paid attention.

Maybe one day he will become someone whose yearning came true. Whose life wasn't a regret of the past and a constant planning for the future. Maybe he would have a life he wanted. Maybe, just maybe the future wasn't going to be what he was thinking. Maybe it all wasn't what it seems.

Maybe it all was just a dream?

Hello guys! Welcome back! I'm back with another chapter... I kinda had a bad day today... Had a fight with a person I care about a lot! But I'm okay now!

All the love
C 💕