In the Imperial Palace
Three pairs of eyes stared at each other in disbelief and the room was filled with a strange atmosphere. They pinched themselves to make sure that they were not simply seeing an illusion.
" I never thought I would see my Wei'er again in this lifetime. So you finally remembered that you have three pitiful brothers waiting for you at home." a young man of about 25 years old sighed dramatically. He had extremely beautiful facial features with long silky jet black hair. Appearance as breathtaking as if he came straight from a beautiful painting. One could say that he was the heartthrob of the Qilin Empire. This man was the First Prince of the Empire, Xuan Li Yan.
"Hehe. Bro, it's good to see you back" another man of about 23 years enveloped Xuan Li Wei in a huge bear hug. He then scrutinised Xuan Li Wei from top to bottom and nodded his head with pride "You've grown up. You look more handsome and dashing than us brothers. If I were not that excited about the lost son coming back, I would truly envy you!" Xuan Li Wei was speechless after seeing his second brother's excitement.
Was he truly the calm and reserved Crown Prince? This was his silly and fun-loving second brother, who he followed like a tail in his childhood. Xuan Li Wei hugged his second brother with a huge grin on his face.
"Ahem!" Xuan Li Wei and Xuan Li Min broke out of their happy hug and turned to look at the darkened face of the third prince, Xuan Li Shan. He was the scholarly prince and was widely known for his knowledge across all the different empires. The young man of 21 years had an attractive charm of a scholar around him.
Xuan Li Min raised his brows after seeing the wronged look on his third brother's face and spoke up with a tinge of provocation" Don't look at us like that. You should read more books on how to interact with others rather than those boring scrolls. "
Xuan Li Shan's face darkened dangerously. Just as Xuan Li Wei was about to greet his third brother, his second brother spoke again " Your third brother missed you the most. He would always say 'Little fourth must have grown up, right?' or 'I wonder how he looks now' or " Xuan Li Min was suddenly interrupted by Xuan Li Shan as the latter punched the former in the stomach making him stop spouting all his secrets.
Xuan Li Wei had a silly smile on his face watching his brother's antics. He knew that his third brother was poor with words, a trait which they both shared in common.
Xuan Li Wei only chuckled and tried to smooth the waves, "Third brother, shall we play Go. It's been a long time since we played, just the two of us together."
Xuan Li Shan nodded with a smile " Alright, let's play." No extra words were needed between them as a million emotions could be conveyed in those two exchanges between close brothers.
" Let's gather in our fun room. " Xuan Li Yan was now excited. It's been a long time since the four of them gathered. But before they left he looked around and frowned at Xuan Li Wei "Where is Moyin?"
Xuan Li Wei face-palmed after noticing his elder brother's blaming looks. He immediately defended himself " Moyin will be here in a while. He went to meet mother."
Xuan Li Min started to laugh heartily " No wonder Mother Hu Rui likes Moyin more than you and that little devil. " Xuan Li Wei naturally understood that the little devil his second brother was speaking of could only be his little sister, Xuan Li Na.
Xuan Li Shan summoned a palace servant and instructed him clearly " Go and tell the princess that this prince invited her to play." After making sure that the servant left, Xuan Li Shan turned around only to meet with the killing looks from his brothers. They truly wanted to skin him alive.
" What is wrong? " Xuan Li Shan was naturally confused as to why his three brothers were glaring at him.
"Eunuch Jang." Xuan Li Min summoned his personal eunuch " Go and tell the princess that she can come only after the sunset. Tell her that her brothers have some important works to do."
Xuan Li Shan scratched his head and voiced his doubts after the eunuch left " Brother, what work do we have? "
" My silly third brother.." Xuan Li Yan sighed helplessly " We brothers need to have a heart-to-heart talk and obviously girls should not be there."
Xuan Li Shan scratched his head and spoke up sheepishly, "Why?"
Xuan Li Yan had a sudden urge to strangle this brother of his. How can they talk about girls in their sister's presence? He really wanted to spank this brother of his and impart him some knowledge about the affairs between men and women.
Xuan Li Min interfered before his elder brother could flip out, " *cough* Let's go. We have a lot to talk about today. I heard a lot of sweet rumours recently!"
Watching the playful scene of his brothers quarrelling with each other left Xuan Li Wei helpless and amused at the same time. But he was also excited as it was very rare to see this side of his brothers.