It took four nights for He Ling to track the emperor's third brother, He Lan. This man is only a year younger than the emperor but is very willful and adventurous. Just as the emperor said on his instructions, he really needed to tie He Lan to bring him back in the He Empire. The reason is simple. The man is unwilling to be drag down by the responsibilities involving the palace and the royalty. He had stubbornly left the empire and wandered to various places. Sometimes he will secretly come back only to drop some things that he considers as valuable to be added in his collections.
The emperor has long known about this and he just let his brother wandered around in hopes that he will gain experience he needed to grow maturely. He even noticed when he visited the bamboo forest that there was a new weapon added in his collection. The emperor was adamant that his brother has not yet traveled far away from the kingdom. This made him urged his shadow to capture him by all means. He tried waiting for his brother to come back in his own accord unfortunately, his brother never showed even a tiny bit of sign on returning anytime soon.
He Lan was placed on the emperor's room. All his body is still tied and there is a piece of clothing in his mouth. The shadow also blindfolded him. It was still afternoon and his body is laying there with all his consciousness awake. He felt that someone entered the room so he made a muffled sound.
When the emperor saw the man, he laughed loudly. He Lan shivered when he heard his voice. He had uttered some prayer hoping that the one who kidnapped him is not one of his brother's men. It turns out that his prayer was delivered late and has not reached in heaven before the tragedy happened!
"My younger brother, I had finally caught you. Remember the promise we made last time, if I manage to bring you back in the kingdom you shall help me with my burdens!" the emperor mocked him with full of friendliness in his tone. They are very close siblings when they are younger.
The emperor then removed his blindfolds and the tiny piece of cloth in his mouth. He did not bother removing the ties in his body as his brother might have learned some technique outside and would escape immediately.
He Lan adjusted his eyesight. After a while, he saw his brother and a woman wearing a plain white dress calmly standing in the corner of the room. Without hesitation, he called the lady.
"Sister-in-law, Help me! Help me sister-in-law! Help please!" He Lan wailed loudly. He exaggerated his facial expression to gain sympathy of the lady.
Unfortunately for him, the lady just looked at him placidly. She appears to be undisturbed by his shouting. He wanted to call her again and try his luck but the emperor had cut his drama off.
"Playtime is over younger brother. Whether you like it or not, you need to follow me from now on. There is a lady from the Qing Empire staying here. I knew you have heard of this. I also know you have stayed quite a while in the neighboring empire so this will be easy for you.
I will issue an edict of your marriage to the Qing princess. The date will be the next two weeks. After the marriage, you will be the ruler of the Qing Empire. You must bear the responsibility as the emperor of the Qing. I have arranged everything. All you need to do is try not to wander anymore." his brother told him. He Lan was overwhelmed of the information he just heard. At first he heard the word marriage and he almost vomits. Then he heard about bearing the responsibility of being the Qing Emperor, it made him cry but he could not produce tears! The emperor just said that he will make him the emperor of the Qing Empire!
"Who is the woman that will be my wife?" He Lan finally clears his mind and asked the most important thing in his life. The thought of being the future emperor of the Qing Empire has not yet processed in his brain.
"Her name is Qing Lou. She is the second princess of the Qing Empire." the emperor answered him.
After hearing the response of his brother, He Lan almost dropped his jaw. His facial expression becomes complicated. He blinks several times. He frowned for a while. Then he seems to ponder over something before he gave his shocking response.
"I know this lady. She is beautiful! I have met her before. In fact she is very agreeable. She never argues to my ideals brother. Marrying such kind of woman is actually good. She will support my ideas and will not question it. Hehehe" He Lan said. His response was totally beyond the emperor's expectations.
The emperor looked at him to check if he was just acting but he saw a glint of gentleness in He Lan's face.
"Well, I am happy to hear that. I will prepare my edict now. Shin, remove the tie in his body." the emperor ordered.
Immediately, He Lan was freed. He did not even saw what happened. The lady did not also move from her standing position. He was bewildered for a while and then he suddenly realizes that the lady is a sword cultivator. Only they have the ability to hide their weapons as it is made from their inner force to manifest it.
"You're a sword cultivator!" He Lan blurted out and looked at the face of the lady closely. The realization that the woman in front of him is not ordinary peeks his curiosity. After a thorough examination, his body slightly shook. Recognition reflects in He Lan's face.
"No you're not just a sword cultivator. I know you! You are White Death! Yes, I have remembered your face correctly and your old master's face." He Lan announced. As he is a wanderer from one region to another, he had known the existence of the person. In fact, he had encountered her once.
"It was my father, your highness third prince." Ye Shin finally speaks from the moment he saw her. The lady was emphasizing that the old master he said was actually her father.
"Oh my... Don't call me your highness. It is my honor to meet you again. Just call me little Lan. My age is younger even if my appearance is not so young." He Lan said politely.
"How did you meet her?" the emperor asks his brother. His brother surely brings plenty of surprises for him, the emperor thought.
"It was an embarrassing story old Mo. Anyway, what are you doing here in the He Empire?" He Lan asked the lady after responding to his brother. But before the lady could say anything, the emperor already answered his question for her.
"She is from the Empire of He, and it is but also a long story younger brother. I don't want to bother you anymore. You may go." the emperor said with annoyance. He eagerly dismissed He Lan but the man just keeps rooted in his feet waiting for the lady to respond. He totally ignored his brother.
"I am the emperor's bodyguard little Lan." the lady said. He Lan looks at his brother maliciously and gave him a thumbs up. As to what kind of approval he just gave to the emperor from his hand gesture, only the two siblings knew.
"Old Mo, good job! You deserved to be the emperor! Look at how capable you are." He Lan told the emperor before he left. His tone was not meant to congratulate the emperor but to tease him for having the lady as his bodyguard. Then after a while, his mind seems to process another thing that the emperor had just said earlier.
"Wait a minute! Did you just said that I will rule the Qing Empire?! I don't agree with this arrangement! I want to be free as a bird!" He Lan complained to his brother.
"There is no choices for you brother. You have plenty of time before your wedding. Use this time to learn how to govern an empire. I will tell He Ling to teach you." the emperor declared.
"Two weeks?!! Bro, you must be joking?!!" He Lan lamented. The emperor has given him two weeks to learn how to shoulder the burden of an entire kingdom! This is something that is beyond his brain can take!
"Do your best. He Ling will assist you little brother." the emperor dismissed his brother's complaint leaving him no room to argue. He Lan walks out silently in the room. He did not questioned the arrangement of his brother for he knows how capable he is. What he worries about is if he can really rule a kingdom. For a man who only thinks about himself, he surely has no idea how to put other people's interest. How much more for the interest of the whole kingdom? He secretly mumbled some prayer while going to his own courtyard.