CH 3

Shi: In Shen-shi, the ‘shi’ indicates that Jun Huailang’s mother came from Shen Family.

Everyone’s child: A child which many parents wish their own child to be. I don’t know its English equivalent, basically a golden child. He is so good, that many parents wants their child to be like him. Something like that.

Zhuque gate: A big gate that was built as an entrance to a palace.

Guogong-ye: Lord Duke.

Yan Wang: King of Yan.

____

The carriage of Yongning Gongfu was waiting at the door.

When Jun Linghuan finished eating the cakes, a servant girl from Jun Huailang's mother, Shen-shi, came and said that it was almost time to enter the palace. When Jun Huailang led Jun Linghuan to the front of the mansion, the servant at the door said with a smile that the Duke and his wife were already in the carriage.

The servant placed the footstool for them and raised the brocade curtain. Jun Huailang first carried Jun Linghuan into the carriage, and then entered the carriage himself.

"Huailang came out with Huan'er?" Seeing him coming in, Shen-shi in the carriage laughed.

Jun Huailang raised his head and saw his father and mother sitting in the carriage. His mother was smiling, and his father, Jun Chengyuan, was still indifferent and taciturn, overlapping with the image of his parents he remembered.

It's been three years since his father was convicted when he was 21 years old, both of his parents died, and he since then, he never saw them again.

His father had always been an honest official and never engaged in corruption or joined any party. In his previous life, his father was inexplicably detained for a huge amount of money for embezzlement and beheaded according to the law.

Jun Huailang knew that there must be a secret.

The clues he didn't find in the previous life... This life, he would definitely find it out.

When he came back to his senses, Jun Huailang smiled and nodded to Shen-shi: "This child just went to Linghuan's place and have a look. Linghuan's little bird died, and she was sad."

Then, he turned his gaze to the boy sitting beside him and nodded at him as a greeting.

That young man was Jun Enze, he was of the same age as Jun Huailang, the child of his uncle. His uncle was banished to Lingnan. Unwilling to let his legitimate son suffer, he fostered Jun Enze in Yongning Gongfu.

The relationship between Jun Huailang and Jun Enze in the previous life was also quite indifferent. Jun Enze was the companion of the second prince in the palace. Only the second prince followed the lead and never paid attention to the other children of Yongning Gongfu.

Jun Huailang couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

He tried to curry favor with the second prince. The fact was… He did this to integrate into the circle of the princes and to create a superficial relationship. But when the dynasty change, if you follow the wrong prince, you are on the wrong team. The prince you follow not only cannot protect you, but you will also be regarded as an accomplice.

Jun Enze couldn't see it clearly, and Jun Huailang was not interested talking to him.

As soon as Jun Linghuan got in the carriage, she dived into Jun Chengyuan's arms. Jun Chengyuan had always been serious and reserved, Jun Linghuan was the only one in the family who continue to pester him.

With a rare smile on Jun Chengyuan's face, he hugged Jun Linghuan in his arms and raised his hand awkwardly to tidy up her sideburn hairs.

The carriage moved towards the Imperial City.

Jun Huailang didn't notice that Jun Enze in the corner was silently looking at him.

The horse-drawn carriage of a duke mansion was spacious and beautiful, with several tables and chairs inlaid with gold and jade, and a plate full of beautifully decorated sorghum cakes. Jun Huailang sat in the middle of it, his eyebrows were bright, which different from ordinary people.

With the noble demeanor of everyone's child, he (Jun Huailang) was an object every parents compared their children with, making himself (Jun Enze) look like a fake placed on the side. He (Jun Enze) was ashamed when he sat beside him (Jun Hualiang).

Jun Enze turned his eyes away.

... What's so great? The second prince said that such people are just putting on airs.

——

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the Zhuque gate on the west side of the palace.

In front of the Zhuque gate, there were carriages and horses owned by various officials and honorable people who came to the palace for the banquet. A few people got out of the carriage, and someone drove the carriage down for them. A servant ran over diligently and led them to the Yongle hall where the banquet was held.

As soon as he entered the second palace gate, Jun Huailang heard someone calling him.

"Huailang! Huailang!"

Jun Huailang looked up and saw a group of eunuchs surrounding a young boy dressed in luxurious clothes. The young boy's brocade robe was woven with gold. A red gold collar placed around his neck and a line of gold was carved into a white jade longevity lock.

That was the sixth prince, Xue Yunhuan.

He was the only legitimate son of the empress. Jun Huailang and the sixth prince were very close in age. The Empress and the Shen-shi were also a close friends in the boudoir. Shen-shi often went into the palace, so Jun Huailang and Xue Yunhuan had been playing together since childhood.

The empress had a gentle temperament. The palace servants regarded Xue Yunhuan as a little bully, and no one dared to provoke him. However, Jun Huailang knew that this kid was very stupid. He was one track minded and especially loyal.

When the emperor ordered Linghuan to enter the palace, Xue Yunhuan swore to him that he would definitely protect his sister. But within a month, Jun Huailang heard the news that he was killed by Xue Yan in the palace.

... The grievances between Xue Yan and him couldn’t be calculated.

After a while, Xue Yunhuan had already run to them. He smiled and bowed his hands to Jun Chengyuan and Shen-shi first and said hello. When the two of them hurriedly greeted him, he quickly reached out his hand and messed up Jun Linghuan's bun.

"Sister Huan'er, do you miss me?"

Jun Linghuan's hair was tugged by the complicated headdress and she groaned in pain. She was so aggrieved that she pursed her mouth and stretched out her hand to hit him.

Xue Yunhuan grinned at Jun Huailang while avoiding her small attack.

"I've been waiting for you here for a long time! I’m afraid I’ll miss it. My eyes are about to fall off!"

Jun Huailang smiled helplessly and tidied up Jun Linghuan's hair bun. He said, "I'll see you at the banquet in a while, why come here to wait for me?"

"Hey, it's too late if I see you at the banquet!" Xue Yunhuan said. "I got a Dawan horse a few days ago. It's the No. 1 in the heaven! I'm just waiting to take you to see it!"

Jun Huailang originally wanted to refuse, but when he met his bright eyes, thinking that he had never seen him before his death in his previous life, his heart softened.

Xue Yunhuan was overjoyed when he saw that Jun Huailang didn't refuse. He tugged Jun Huailang's sleeve and greeted his parents: "Aunt Shen, Guogong-ye, you can rest assured and leave Huailang to me. We’ll be back soon!"

Jun Chengyuan and Shen-shi naturally couldn't refute what he want, so they only told them to be careful on the way.

Xue Yunhuan dragged Jun Huailang away.

In the palace, except for the emperor and the empress, no sedans were allowed. They had to walk all the way. The Royal stable was quite remote. The further the two of them walked, the quieter the surroundings.

The imperial city occupied an extremely vast area, filled with tens of thousands of palaces. Many of them were remote and uninhabited, they had been in a state of disrepair since a long time. However, Xue Yunhuan praised his horse all the way, which made the atmosphere quite lively.

Just then, a voice of argument came from the path in front of them.

"What do you have in your hand? Hand it over and let brothers check it!"

"I’m talking to you, don’t you hear me?"

Listening to the voice, there were several young eunuchs. The noise was also mixed with the voice of a little eunuch begging for mercy. Jun Huailang vaguely heard what he said, about the royal gift, and said that he couldn’t let them move it. He begged them to let him go.

Jun Huailang couldn't help but stop and look over there.

"What's the matter?" Xue Yunhuan, who only had his own luxurious horse in his heart, didn't notice the movement at all. Seeing Jun Huailang stop, he also followed.

Through the lush trees, he saw a few people surrounding a little eunuch, pulling and grabbing the thing in his hand. The little eunuch was so scared that he almost cried and hid it in his arms.

"The royal gift? Your master, can he get the royal gift? Don't you know it in your heart?"

Several people laughed and pulled the thing out.

The little couldn't keep his hold on it, and the thing suddenly fell to the ground with a clanging sound. A sound of a breaking piece of jade.

Immediately, several people couldn't laugh anymore and they all froze in place. The little eunuch stared at the jade arrow, shivering, and his lips were white.

After a while, the leader said loudly, "It has nothing to do with us! You broke the jade arrow bestowed by the emperor and you are the one who will lost your head!"

Then, other eunuchs seemed to come back to life and responded with an agreement.

Jun Huailang frowned.

These people clearly knew what the little eunuch was holding in his arms, and they were deliberately trying to find fault. Destroying the royal gift is a serious crime of beheading. If no one else sees it today, this little eunuch's head will not be preserved.

Jun Huailang had never seen such a thing. He raised his hand to push aside the branches blocking the path and walked straight forward.

Without the shelter of the trees, Jun Huailang was about to speak when he suddenly saw another person.

He stood beside the little eunuch, staring coldly at everything in front of him. He was clearly wearing fancy clothes, but even the eunuchs didn't take him seriously. When they pushed the little eunuch, they deliberately hit him with their elbows.

Jun Huailang met those eyes.

Amber, like a deep pool.

Xue Yan.

Jun Huailang's eyes narrowed, and his expression suddenly turned cold. But amid the vigilance and hatred, he actually had a strange emotion.

He didn't expect to suddenly meet Xue Yan here, and what he didn't expect was that Xue Yan at this time was completely different from the tyrannical villain he remembered.

His facial features already had the sharp and profound feature that Jun Huailang knew he (Xue Yan) would have in the future. The barbarian blood made his eyelashes especially thick and long, which makes his young appearance even more gorgeous.

He stood there alone with his eyes down and was being pushed around by several eunuchs without saying a word. When he raised his eyes to look at himself (Jun Huailang), his amber eyes were like a pair of ice-bound deep pools. They had no vitality that a young man his age should have, like a wolf cub who had lost his parents.

It made him look a little pitiful.

But just a moment later, Jun Huailang came back to his senses.

Since ancient times, injustice had its head and debt had its owner. Even though he was pitiful, his family and Jun Linghuan didn’t provoke him. The enemy was still the enemy. He was pitiful (right at this moment), but why should he humiliate the innocents (his family) like that?

Jun Huailang thought of his past life and clenched his teeth.

Next to him, Xue Yunhuan had long been accustomed to Jun Huailang's meddling. Seeing that Jun Huailang didn't say a word, he thought there was someone that he (Jun Huailang) couldn't afford to offend, so he (Xue Yunhuan) walked out with his hands behind his back to support him (Jun Huailang).

"Who is making a fuss over there? This prince has seen what happened just now. Don't think to lie about it..."

Unexpectedly, just as the eunuchs were so frightened that they knelt down and kowtowed, Jun Huailang suddenly interrupted him.

"Let's go," he said.

"...Ah?" Xue Yunhuan didn't react.

However, Jun Huailang glanced coldly towards a particular direction. His voice was unusually cold: "Don't mind other people business, let's go."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Only then did Xue Yunhuan notice the person he was looking at.

"Xue Yan?" Xue Yunhuan quickly followed him. "You also know about this evil star? You really shouldn't worry about it. I heard people say that he killed his mother and killed Yan Wang, and even Yan County was lost because of him. If you mind his business, maybe the Gods will punish you too... hey! Wait for me!"

Xue Yunhuan's voice gradually disappeared.

The eunuchs who knelt down and begged for mercy did not expect this development. They looked at Xue Yan and the sixth prince was leaving.

Sure enough, the master was right. This kind of noble person who was disliked by all the noble people in the palace, even if he is the son of the emperor, can be trampled by the servants at will.

Several eunuchs stood up, they looked at Xue Yan and smiled contemptuously. They left one after another.

Before leaving, one of the eunuchs did not forget to bump into Xue Yan heavily.

After a while, the place returned to silence, except for the sobbing sound of the little eunuch who was slumped on the ground.

"Say something! The thing bestowed by the emperor was broken in the hands of this servant. Even ten heads of this servant are not enough to compensate for this! What kind of sins did this servants do..."

"So noisy." Xue Yan suddenly said.

His voice was cold and hoarse, his tone was gentle, but it was inexplicably intimidating.

The little eunuch was shocked and stopped crying for a while. He looked up at Xue Yan.

He saw Xue Yan indifferently looking at the direction where the two nobles disappeared. After a while, he lowered his eyes, looking at the broken jade on the ground, his eyes were cold and contemptuous.

"When His Majesty asked, just said that I accidentally broke it, and it has nothing to do with you." He said.

After that, he stepped on the broken jade and walked straight ahead.

His back was straight, his steps were steady, and there was no embarrassment of being humiliated. Instead, people subconsciously wanted to surrender to his feet.

Passing through that intersection, Xue Yan raised his hand and mercilessly broke a branch that was as thick as an arm in the way and threw it at his feet.

The move was easy, but there was a deep killing intent.

Like he was wringing off a head.

That branches was the one that Jun Huailang pushed aside before.