Troublemaker Prince C31 (Part 1)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 31.1
The youth's eyes gleamed with a ferocious light, like a wild wolf. To defeat a beast, one must be even more savage than the beast itself. Even though the youth before him was unarmed and had even broken one leg, his aura was enough to intimidate the fierce creature opposite him.
The tiger, starved for three days, was released from its cage but stopped halfway and began circling endlessly before the youth. The spectators made impatient sounds, and servants nearby were ordered to strike the tiger with long sticks.
Finally, the tiger suddenly pounced at the youth. At that very moment, the youth sitting on the ground rose up despite his broken leg, his agility and strength instantly reaching an incredible height.
In an instant, the scar-faced youth mounted the tiger's back, and the surrounding crowd gasped in astonishment.
Immediately after, Huo Xiling saw the youth use his hands to tightly strangle the tiger's neck.
The crowd of spectators nearby let out cries of shock. No one had expected that this youth, covered in wounds, unarmed, and with a broken leg, would still have the strength to strangle the tiger's neck.
The youth's strength was astonishingly great. Huo Xiling, watching from above, could even hear the sound of bones creaking—it was the youth's arms slowly tightening with force.
The tiger began to go mad from the pain, but the youth on its back still wasn't thrown off. His gaze was fierce as he continuously clamped his legs tighter around the tiger's abdomen.
Huo Xiling knew—it was now! The youth suddenly exerted force and forcibly strangled to death this three-day-starved tiger with his own strength.
The massive tiger corpse fell to the ground with a dull thud, and the youth on its back rolled to the side, gasping heavily.
Sweat blurred the youth's eyes, but Huo Xiling could feel that he was looking at him.
Those eyes were all too familiar to him. Huo Xiling's heart jumped in alarm. When he tried to look again, he saw those eyes, which bore such a striking resemblance to his own, meet his directly.
In that instant, the dream shattered, and Huo Xiling woke up. Outside, the sun had already risen.
Scattered sunlight fell on Huo Xiling's handsome face. He extended his right hand and murmured in a daze. "A dream? Or another me."
Huo Xiling got out of bed and walked to the mirror. Inside was a youth with a tall figure and handsome features, a pair of eyes like cold stars. And he had seen these same eyes on the face of the Ghost-Faced General and the youth from the beast arena earlier.
Huo Xiling walked to where his swords were placed, took down a long blade, and swung it forward. In an instant, his posture overlapped with the way the Ghost-Faced General had slain the Third Prince.
Huo Xiling's heart couldn't help but jump in alarm. He opened his eyes and looked at the blade in his hand in disbelief.
His bladework had been practiced countless times under the supervision of his sister and brother-in-law. The angle of his strikes had become habit. He was absolutely certain that the strike the Ghost-Faced General made toward the Third Prince was one he himself had delivered.
Then was that youth in the beast arena also him? Huo Xiling recalled the disfigured youth from the dream. That youth's build was similar to his current one, while the Ghost-Faced General was slightly taller and larger than him.
So the Ghost-Faced General was what the beast arena youth looked like after growing up, his face covered with a ghost mask because of his hideous features.
Huo Xiling's heart suddenly jumped in alarm. He suddenly thought of the Crown Prince from the dream. When the Ghost-Faced General led troops into the palace to kill the Third Prince, he had gone to the Eastern Palace, which was already overgrown with weeds. That meant the Crown Prince had been gone for at least a year.
After realizing this, Huo Xiling suddenly fell into immense panic.
He absolutely could not let the Crown Prince perish.
No matter what, he had to keep the Crown Prince alive—to live a hundred years, a life without worry.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Palace, You Yusui, without Huo Xiling's company, had risen early from bed and was being attended to by palace servants during his morning ablutions.
The palace servants brought out formal attire embroidered with red and gold thread and dressed You Yusui in it. As the palace servants fastened You Yusui's belt, You Yusui noticed that their hands weren't as nimble as Huo Xiling's, and the knot they tied wasn't as beautiful as Huo Xiling's.
And during the hair combing, You Yusui felt that Huo Xiling's technique was still better—the right amount of pressure, as if massaging his scalp.
It wasn't until breakfast that You Yusui realized he had been completely spoiled by Huo Xiling. Without him, his life seemed to have small flaws everywhere.
"This prince will die if he cannot see Xiling." After finishing breakfast, You Yusui leaned melancholically against the chair's backrest, looking even more haggard than yesterday.
"But Your Highness, you just fell ill yesterday. To go out today..." Eunuch Fubao said with some concern.
You Yusui turned his head to look at Fubao, speaking softly, weakly, and pitifully. "But this prince hasn't seen Xiling for a whole day already."
At that moment, Eunuch Fubao immediately had people prepare the Crown Prince's travel equipment.
Xie Ling, watching from the side, thought: Eunuch Fubao has absolutely no principles before His Highness—though he himself has no principles before His Highness either.
You Yusui sat eagerly by the window waiting for the palace servants to prepare the traveling entourage. He couldn't wait any longer.
Meanwhile, on the other side, news that the Crown Prince was making a grand procession out of the palace to see a minor attendant also reached You Fengyun's ears.
"Huo Xiling is Liu Ye's brother-in-law?" You Fengyun asked.
Hearing this, Eunuch An Hai replied, "In answer to Your Majesty, yes."
Liu Ye was Huo Xiling's brother-in-law, a general personally appointed by You Fengyun—a pure minister who neither kept retainers nor associated with court officials. As Liu Ye's brother-in-law, Huo Xiling could barely be classified as part of the pure minister faction.
You Fengyun then asked, "Has the Crown Prince sent anyone to win over the scholars from the Qionglin Banquet?"
Hearing this, Eunuch An Hai shook his head. "In answer to Your Majesty, he has not."
When You Fengyun heard this answer, he felt somewhat relieved but also somewhat dissatisfied. Relieved because the Crown Prince didn't actively recruit humble scholars; dissatisfied because the opportunity was right in front of him—why didn't he act?