Chapter 24: Gold Medal Granted by the Emperor
When Ye You woke up, he found the room was so dark and only a somber oil lamp was gleaming. He noticed he was lying on the ground with a quilt covering on his body. He couldn’t help twitching his mouth because of his aching head. That woman really hit him hard.
But he ought to be grateful to her for he had now remembered everything. In a coma, a set of scenes flashed through his mind, which included Hua Xiaolong. But his face was not that handsome and he was not so mature neither.
Crown Prince! Right, Hua Xiaolong was indeed the Crown Prince. But he was not the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Dayue but that of Lanyue and he himself was named Ji Hengye, the top secret guard of the Crown Prince. At that time, the Crown Prince was only thirteen; and he was just fifteen, just receiving the special training of secret guards for the protection of the emperor-to-be. And he, as the top guard, was sent to protect the Crown Prince.
The time he took over the duty of a secret guard, he experienced the rebellion inner Kingdom of Lanyue and Crown Prince, Lan Luhetian, the third prince, namely Hua Xiaolong was framed by the First Prince Lan Baxiong. The ten secret guards escorted the Crown Prince to escape but when reaching Xiheng Mountain, they had to split up in order to block the martial artists who were dispatched to kill them.
But he and another secret guard Zhang Qingshan escorted the Crown Prince to escape towards the Kingdom of Dayue. What beyond his expectation was that Zhang Qinghan was a traitor who attacked him suddenly and pushed him down to the cliff. Fortunately, however, he was saved by a tree branch and after coming to his consciousness, he began to look for the Crown Prince high and low but in vain. Later, he returned to the Kingdom of Lanyue furtively for further information of Crown Prince who he later knew had escaped successfully. And then he came back to the Kingdom of Dayue again to look for him.
However, something unexpected always happened. He who could not swim at all was pushed into the lotus pond by a thief and was almost drowned. It was Nangong Yixuan, the Fourth Prince who saved him and since then, he had lost his memory and had been around him for five years. Therefore, he knew nothing how Lan Luhetian became such a fool.
In the dim light, Ye You was piecing together all the thrilling scenes. At that time, the Crown Prince was too young to learn martial arts and how could he escape from Zhang Qingshan was a real puzzle.
"Ye You, are you awake?" Hua Yueling entered and saw him sitting down on the floor in a daze. "I’m really sorry. I had to do that. Well, did you recollect anything?"
Ye You turned to stare at Hua Yueling with his dark eyes. At last, he looked up at her blankly and then shook his head.
"Well, it didn’t work. Ye You, I can’t help you with that." Hua Yueling was disappointed. His grave face made her believe that he must remember something. Well, it turned out to be a delight for nothing.
"It doesn’t matter. It’s been five years. I don’t care anymore." Ye You stood up and walked over to the bed. He thought, "I can’t tell the truth; any way, the kingdom of Dayue and Lanyue are the sworn enemy. And the Crown Prince’s identity really matters."
"Is Xiaolong awake? He must be the same as you and can’t remember anything." Walking to his bed, Hua Yueling looked at Xiaolong’s adorable face and said despondingly.
"What are you going to do with him, my lady?" Ye You stared at Hua Xiaolong and thought, "I didn’t expect that five years later, the Crown Prince has grown so much, and he has become more handsome and perfect. He must have suffered a lot." Ye You didn’t know the Kingdom of Lanyue’s domestic affairs, but he knew that the present King of the Kingdom of Lanyue was the First Prince, Lan Baxiong, the evilest man. And now, it was easy to guess that the Kingdom of Lanyue was under his brute control. His aggressive and cruel temper induced him to wage wars against the Kingdom of Lanyue so many times. But maybe what was beyond his expectation was that the Third Prince was still alive.
"I will regard him as my little brother, and you need to take more care about him. He is a poor guy, whose intelligence is still stuck at ten years old. But he is a Kung Fu master. No matter how others hit him, he doesn’t feel painful at all. It’s really weird. But I’m sure he must be extraordinarily different." Hua Yueling said affirmatively.
"Kung Fu?" Ye You was stunned. In his memory, his royal highness could only do some superficial Kung Fu. It seemed that the crown prince had experienced many things since they separated.
"Yes, I wish he could remember all those things when he wakes up." Hua Yueling sighed and held no hope.
Ye You glanced at her gently, wondering what kind of mood she would feel if she knew he had remembered all the things?
"I’ll take care of him, my lady. You may go to rest." Ye You wanted to make sure at the earliest time whether Hua Xiaolong could really remember everything.
"Well, it’s dark. I’ll have dinner delivered to you." Hua Yueling was by any means good to her servants.
"Thank you, my lady." Ye You felt grateful. He even forgot eating.
"Ha ha, Ye You, don’t be so polite. We are friends! I’m going." Hua Yueling patted him on his shoulder and walked out. Seeing the petite figure going out, Ye You frowned a little and he thought to himself that secret guard was not allowed to have friend!
Once Hua Yueling walked into the yard, she bumped into Hua Yujin and the Fourth Prince, Nangong Yixuan, who were in great haste.
"Sister!" Shouted Hua Yujin enthusiastically.
"Ling’er." The elegant Nangong Yixuan also smiled.
"It’s so late. What brings you here? I’m tired now. I don’t have time chattering with you." Hua Yueling also made a big yawn on purpose and turned around to walk to her room.
"Sister!" Dumbfounded and amused much, Hua Yujin rushed forward to tug Hua Yueling’s arm.
Hua Yueling stepped back, standing hard on Hua Yujin’s toes. She jabbed her elbow back and hit Hua Yujin’s stomach, then immediately punched him with her fist which was right at Hua Yujin’s handsome face. His nose was soon full of blood.
"Sister!" Hua Yujin bent down in pain. He touched his nose with his hand, and cried out in fear.
"You brat, do you know who is your sister? You are not polite to your sister at all. These hits are lessons for you tonight!" Hua Yueling turned around and looked at his cowardice. She was gaining strength immediately, aggressive and cold, and her eyes were piercing as ice.
"Ling’er!" Nangong Yixuan was also shocked and quickly turned for help.
"And you, look down on women. Let me make it clear first, if you look down on me again, you’d better disappear from my sight immediately. I don’t care! Get the hell out of here, both of you!" Hua Yueling didn’t give face to the two men at all.
"Ling’er, don’t be mad. See, what do I bring to you?" Nangong Yixuan answered in a bitter smile and held a gold medal to Hua Yueling.
Hua Yueling snorted and sneered, then took a look at it which was made of gold and with a character "Yu" on the front and two characters "Qinchai" on the opposite. It was engraved well.
"Ling’er, I have pled with the Emperor for the gold medal for you. After that, you can officially take participation in the investigation into any case in the name of the Ministry of Penalty. You have the right to act first before reporting." Nangong Yixuan gave further explanation, for this woman was too strong to defeat.
"Oh, really? So I am supposed to do whatever I like, right?" An evil smile showed up on Hua Yueling’s face but she was very delighted in heart.
Nangong Yixuan and Hua Yujin whose nose had stopped bleeding cast eyes with each other.
"That’s right. Ling’er can do whatever she wants to do." Nangong Yixuan forced a bitter smile and he had no idea whether it was right or wrong.