CROWN PRINCE'S CONCUBINE

The man in black helped Bai Ying sit on the tree trunk not far from them, checking on the young man, even a chance to touch Bai Ying’s forehead to check whether there was another wound on his head.

“Did they hurt you elsewhere?” the man asked.

Bai Ying stuttered, but Yan approached and immediately pushed the man and stands between him and Bai Ying.

“Em, thank you, young master, for helping us, hehe, this, it’s really good luck for us to meet good people here” Yan smiled broadly.

The black-clothed man was about to step forward again, but Yan seemed to be deliberately blocking him.

“Oh yeah, that’s...”

Yan turned to Bai Ying, helped brush the young man’s hair and put the mask back on him, lest complicate matters when everyone was interested in seeing his face.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?” Yan asked.

.....

Bai Ying shook his head.

“Yes, but, looks like I accidentally bent my left leg when I fell backwards, it going to hurt a lot later,” whispered Bai Ying.

Yan lowered her body, and checked Bai Ying’s left leg, she only touched it lightly and the young man moaned from it.

“Ah, yeah, it’s there, Sis”

“Oowh, Your Majesty is injured, how is it? Em, then, should we just head back to the palace Your Majesty?”

Bai Ying looked at Yan with big eyes.

“No, we can’t! We’ve come this far, it’s impossible to go back there right?”

“But Your Majesty, if you are hurt like this, how can we keep on going?”

Bai Ying saw Yan’s worried face. He then smiled.

“Hey, sister Yan, it’s not a big deal, it’s just a sprained, it will heal after a while.”

The black-clothed man stood in front of Bai Ying.

He lowered his body, unexpectedly lifting Bai Ying’s left leg above his knee and helping him take off his shoes and leggings. Bai Ying groaned, Yan couldn’t even stop the man from approaching Bai Ying like she had been trying to do.

“Akh, be careful it hurts.”

Bai Ying’s ankles were red and partly blue, and soon they might be swollen.

“Heh, this is quite bad, erm, how about we take this little one back to the forest, and we go back to the inn, I left my horse there.”

Bai Ying bit the edge of his lip, looking at Yan who nodded gently, even though the maid didn’t really like the man in black who looked dashing and great, but at this time Bai Ying’s condition didn’t allow them to back to the street. The girl looked around, she had asked Bi to go back to the palace but why did it take her so long?

Bai Ying finally nodded at the young man who was waiting for his answer, he was just about to say something when suddenly the big tall man grabbed his hand and lifted his body.

“Y-Young master, what are you doing?” Bai Ying was surprised.

The man carried him very easily.

“What more, head straight to the forest, with your feet like this can you still walk?” The young man lifted Bai Ying up and continued on their way, heading towards the forest.

Bai Ying looked at Yan who was confused as to what should she do, if the Crown Prince found out about this, he could throw a tantrum.

“Eh th-that, young master, please put down His Majesty, um, I can help him walk, eh..”

But his words seemed not to be heard by the young man who was walking tall and fast.

“Come one, we have to hurry because the sky is getting dark, it will be more difficult for the little monkey to return to it home”

Yan tried to match the young man’s steps which were twice as fast as hers.

“Young master, w-wait!”

A forest is located on the outskirts of Sui Lian town. The forest became a link with the Cloud forest and its surroundings, extending around the city to high and remote mountainous areas. Almost no one has ever entered the forest area which is increasingly running out of animals due to the constant hunting of humans around it.

Bai Ying looked at the little monkey’s big eyes for a long time, he was standing at the edge of the forest with the black-clothed man and Yan behind him. The young man smiled at the little monkey who saw him as if he really admired him, didn’t stop staring at him with those big round golden-yellow eyes.

“Hey good boy, you know the way home right? Go up to a tree and never go down, if you see a creature with two legs walking, namely a human, hide, don’t make any sound until they leave, then if you meet a tiger climb up a tree, a tiger can’t climb up a tree, emm, that’s what I heard. And if you meet a snake, em, don’t try to come near it, run as fast as you can, ouwh, Xiao Jing, forgive me for not able to take you anywhere, lots of evil humans out there, everyone will definitely try to eat you, poor thing”

That monkey looked at Bai Ying with its big pair of eyes as if it understood everything the young man was saying. It sounded like he was talking back to him. Bai Ying smiled.

“Hehehe, alright alright, I’ll never forget you too, Xiao Jing, be a good kid, okay?”

The black-clothed man behind Bai Ying tried to get a better look, was the kid really talking to the little monkey? That’s very strange.

Before long the little monkey disappeared into the darkness, Yan approached Bai Ying and helped him walk with his sore leg.

“Your Majesty”

Bai Ying’s face looked very sad, looking at the darkening forest, the little monkey, will he be okay? Will he be able to return home safely? He was very unfortunate.

Bai Ying turned to Yan who was looking at him worriedly. He smiled until his body suddenly fell limp.

“Your Honour!”

The black-clothed man had quickly held Bai Ying’s limp and unconscious body.

“What happened?”

Yan almost cried.

“Eh Y-Your Majesty, oh what have I done”

The man easily lifted Bai Ying’s limp body and hurried away.

“Come on, we have to get back to the inn”

........

Drap Drap Drap.

The sound of running horses approached Bei Yau who was standing in front of the inn. The sky was already dark but they couldn’t find Bai Ying anywhere. The Crown Prince who had been standing looking at the sky in front of the garden did not budge a bit, he was thinking hard about what the child would do by running away from the palace.

When he woke up from his coma a few days ago the boy looked confused, he recognized him, but he saw that the look in the boy’s eyes was a bit different from before, he was like the Bai Ying he had first seen in the Crown Prince’s palace that day, innocent and gentle. Luo Xiang remembered he caressed the young man’s cheek, but Bai Ying backed away quickly while looking at him with a pair of big eyes.

“Y-Your Majesty, what do you want?”

Bai Ying looked around, trying to identify the place where he had woken up after being unconscious for five days. He saw Yan and Bi and hastily reached out his hand for both of them to come closer, he hugged both of them tightly.

“Sister Yan, Sister Bi, thank goodness you are all right”

Yan stroked Bai Ying’s back while looking at the Crown Prince who looked confused by Bai Ying’s attitude. The boy avoided his gaze, he seemed to have forgotten about him.

For two days, Luo Xiang tried to meet Bai Ying and talk, but the young man didn’t want to see him at all, no matter how much Luo Xiang tried, he thought, would give the boy some time, but, now, he ran away instead. Luo Xiang clenched his fists behind his waist, he shouldn’t have let the boy not know anything, he should have tried harder to approach him.

“Hey, Ying Ying”

.......

In a small inn on the outskirts of Sui Lian town, not so far from the main road, actually the distance from the inn where the Crown Prince and the others were staying was not that far, only a few blocks away.

The sound of faint gurgling water. A person in black clothes and long shiny black straight hair was sitting on the edge of the bed where Bai Ying was still lying unconscious, he was busy compressing the young man’s swollen legs with a hot towel in his hand, not even feeling the heat when he touched the towel that was properly dipped in the hot water whose smoke is still billowing.

Yan was standing not far from the bed, no matter what, she couldn’t possibly leave His Highness with strangers alone, even though he had helped them before they still had to be vigilant.

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