CROWN PRINCE'S CONCUBINE

The young man came out of the house quickly. Smiling at his two guests and widening the door for them to enter.

“Please forgive me for making gentlemen wait, please come in, my house is a bit messy so it has to be tidied up first. Let me take the horses, I’ll tie it there temporarily,” said the young man reaching out his hand and asking for the reins from the Crown Prince’s hand.

Luo Xiang looked at him with his usual cold gaze. Handed over his and Bai Ying’s horse reins to the young man.

Carefully, Luo Xiang helped Bai Ying off his horse.

“Come on Ying Ying, slowly”

Late in the evening. The sun was already dimming and it would soon be dark. Luo Xiang and Bai Ying were already sitting at a round table in the small room of the young man’s house where the hostess had cooked some unexpectedly appetizing vegetables and side dishes.

The Crown Prince was chopping the pieces of meat from the plate in front of him into Bai Ying’s bowl.

“Your Highness, the dishes look delicious” Bai Ying whispered.

.....

He straightened up when he saw the young man and his old mother approaching from the kitchen.

“Be careful Mother, let Yi er take it?” said the young man who was about to take a bowl with vegetables that were still steaming hot towards the round table.

“It’s not hot, Mother’s hands are used to even holding coals, is this enough?” said the woman looking at the table which was still half empty.

Bai Ying raised his hand to prevent the old woman from walking back into the kitchen.

“Eh, Young Master, Madam, I think this is more than enough. This is a lot” Bai Ying said.

Luo Xiang raised his eyebrows. There were only four bowls on the table, one bowl of minced meat, meat mixed with tofu, soup and vegetables which the Son and Mother had just brought from the kitchen. What’s a lot? It wasn’t even enough to feed him alone let alone the four of them. But Luo Xiang understood what Bai Ying meant. The two house owners have been busy since last time cooking non-stop to serve them, of course, this is quite a lot for the size of the two of them who can barely enjoy a full meal.

Luo Xiang looked at the two mothers who were standing some distance away from the two with their arms folded at the front, both of them couldn’t take their eyes off the food they were serving. He pursed his mouth.

“What are you guys waiting for? This food will get cold if you don’t eat it immediately,” said the Crown Prince. Immediately after Luo Xiang’s words, the Mother and son immediately came over and pulled out chairs for them to sit down.

“Be careful Mother, you could fall” said the young man helping his old mother to sit correctly. The old woman chuckled.

“Hehehe yes, this old granny sometimes forgets about that.”

Bai Ying glanced at the Crown Prince. He couldn’t wait to enjoy their food but the Crown Prince had said he shouldn’t take off his mask in front of strangers. But how can he eat like this?

Luo Xiang put down his chopsticks. Then open the head cover, to his face mask.

The young man who introduced himself as Song Ma Yi was about to put food in his mouth and stopped his hand movement, eager to see how disfigured the man’s face was due to his skin disease. However, his chopsticks immediately fell from his grip. As if the beautiful afternoon sunlight passed before his eyes. The Young man’s face in front of him, he had never seen such a handsome man before, let alone from this close.

Prangg!

Luo Xiang uncovered his face and saw the young man who couldn’t look away from him. The young man was embarrassed and lowered his head and continued to eat quickly.

Luo Xiang helped Bai Ying take off the hoodie and wooden mask he had been wearing earlier. Even though it didn’t interfere with his eating, he was still tired all day wearing a mask that seemed to stick to his face.

“Your Highness, do we always have to wear masks like this?”

“Yeah, looks like, Ying”

“But it’s so troublesome, my skin will be so dry because of the wood, although it smells good,” said Bai Ying.

Luo Xiang gently untied the knot behind Bai Ying’s head and took the face mask off of him. It was then that Song Ma Yi who was already chewing the food in his mouth almost choked and facing the other direction spat out the food that was already in his mouth. He was shocked by what he just saw.

“Oh”

Old lady, hostess Er Ma smiled broadly at the two beautiful sights in front of her, she almost dropped the food she was pinching earlier.

“Wow, both young masters, very handsome, where do you come from?”

Luo Xiang pulled his lips, that dirty fellow, how could he spit out the food he had chewed in front of him and Bai Ying, what if he disturbed Bai Ying’s appetite? Although, the child did not see it at all earlier.

Song Ma Yi clumsily raised his body, lucky he didn’t dirty the dining table, otherwise all the delicious food would have been wasted. But really, Bai Ying’s extremely handsome face lit up to make him shocked, who were these people? In Wah Ye only nobles have such beautiful faces, what, both of them are nobles?

“You guys...”

Dinner went smoothly. Even though it was a burden for Song Ma Yi who couldn’t move much let alone eat as much as he usually did because he was embarrassed by their two guests. His mother seemed to understand what her son wanted, who had just finished one bowl of rice, usually he would finish three large bowls of white rice even without any side dishes. The woman stood up from her seat, headed to the kitchen and not long back with two bowls of white rice which she placed in front of her son.

“Eat more, my child, you must be hungry after working all day”

Song Ma Yi’s eyes widened, and he saw his mother.

“Mother, Yi er already ate earlier, didn’t you see it?”

“Only one bowl is probably enough for you to eat, at least you eat three bowls”

Song Ma Yi motioned to his mother not to talk anymore, his mother had embarrassed him.

“Mother”

“Aah why are you shy, this is just white rice, don’t spend a lot of side dishes right?”

“Mother, huss, don’t speak so loudly”

Bai Ying couldn’t help but smile amused at the Mother and Son’s behaviour, unable to hold back he finally laughed. They both really like to make him laugh.

“Hehehehe”

The tiny house turned out to have two rooms.

One room should belong to Song Ma Yi, but since his mother was sick he would sleep with his mother in his room to look after her at night. And one more room, it looks like it hasn’t been occupied for a long time and is quite clean. There was only a flat wooden bed by the wall with a small table by the window. The size of the room was no bigger than Bai Ying’s bathroom, but it was clean and warm.

Song Ma Yi delivered a wooden bed cover, two head pillows and a clean thick blanket for his guest to sleep tonight. Even though their house was ugly and poor, his mother was a woman who took care of her house well, despite her never-ending illness.

Bai Ying had indeed heard a story from his grandfather Po, that before his father became a palace official, his family lived and grew up in a very poor village. Almost all of its citizens became manual labourers, servants, or slaves. It was never in their imagination that their father, who could not even read or write, would become a great general who helped King Yen Hui build the glorious Wah Ye palace. But, seeing his attitude, which was willing to sacrifice for others, Bai Ying could understand why his grandfather chose him to be his main general.

“Please Young Master, have a good sleep,” said Song Ma Yi then excused himself to leave.

“I have something to ask you, Master Song.”

Luo Xiang’s voice stopped the big man’s movement.

Luo Xiang approached the chair in front of the table and poured himself some tea. The taste of tea made from dried flowers that grow around the yard turns out to be quite sweet and fragrant.

Song Ma Yi drew closer. Scratching his head nervously at what the handsome young man in front of him was about to ask.

“Yes, young master, is there anything I can help you with?”

Luo Xiang poured his tea into the wooden cup and put it in his mouth, and after a while, raise his head to see the young man who looks nervous waiting for him to answer him.

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