Chereads / The Shadow Prince. / Chapter 3 - I don't like red, Xiana

Chapter 3 - I don't like red, Xiana

On the King's order, several soldiers surrounded Su Licheng with their swords pointing at him. However, Su Licheng's eyes were fixated on Xiana, waiting for her to speak. But she carried a bewildered expression on her face.

Xiana's fiancée, Zhi Yawen, stepped up and asked Licheng to let go of Xiana.

"Xiana, this is so wrong. I helped you that day. However, today your people are wielding their swords at me. Do you want this place to turn into a bloody place?" Licheng questioned her and extended his right arm out. His sword, which was on the wooden floor, came flying to him, shocking everyone in the hall.

Su Licheng tightened his grip on the sword and put it on Yawen's neck. "Should I start with him?" He inquired and arched his eyebrow at Xiana.

"Please, be quiet everyone. Father, please ask the soldiers to go back. Prince Su Licheng is not an enemy. He is the one who helped us when our kingdom was on the verge of losing the war," Xiana stated. Yu Xiangkong asked the soldiers to step back. He urged Su Licheng to put down the sword from Zhi Yuwen's neck.

Su Licheng lowered his hand and looked at Xiana. "Shall we leave then? I have limited time," he stated.

"What does the Prince mean by that? It is my daughter's wedding today. Prince Su Licheng cannot take my daughter away," Yu Xiangkong asserted and took a step forward. The Queen was terrified and had her hand on her chest.

"I think your dear father did not hear me clearly. Explain to him, Xiana," Su Licheng said with a smile.

"Will the Prince let me go first?" Xiana requested him.

"No. I know how clever you are. Say from here," Licheng asserted.

Xiana clenched her fists together. "Father, I promised Prince Licheng I would fulfill the promise given to him. The five martial warriors helped us in the great war on Prince Licheng's order. In the end, our kingdom won the war," she explained to her father.

"Did the King understand why I want the princess?" Su Licheng asked him.

"I request Prince Licheng to leave my daughter. As the King of the Yu Kingdom, I will surely fulfill the prince's wish," Yu Xiangkong said with pleading eyes.

"I want Xiana to accompany me to the Su Empire," Licheng stated and finally gazed into the king's eyes. Yu Xiangkong's eyes widened, and he shook his head. He could not let her daughter with the person, who looked not only dangerous but was also rumored to stay in a place that only limited people knew about.

"Pardon me, Prince Licheng. I cannot fulfill this wish of yours," Yu Xiangkong replied.

Su Licheng returned his gaze to Xiana. "Do you like to go back on your words?" He asked her.

"Can we talk in private, Prince Licheng?" Xiana requested him. She wanted to convince him why she could not this wish of his. In front of so many people, it was difficult for her to say.

"I think we do not need privacy to talk, Xiana. They may think something is going on between us," Su Licheng said and kept a smile on his lips.

Zhi Yawen's brows scrunched and he took a step forward when he heard Licheng say, "I am not here to harm anyone, so stay back." He glared at Zhi Yawen, who clenched his fists tightly and exhaled a deep breath.

"Zhi Yawen, do not intervene," Xiana urged him.

"But Princess, I cannot let Prince Licheng say anything as he pleases. We are an independent kingdom," Zhi Yawen.

"Are you challenging me to bring your king to his knees?" Su Licheng asked with his intimidating gaze again at him.

Xiana grabbed Su Licheng's wrist and then dragged him out of the wedding hall. Before leaving, she said, "No one will follow us." The veil from her head fell to the floor while her mother, the Queen, shouted for her.

"Your Majesty, please do something. Who was that man? He may harm our daughter," the Queen said while looking at her husband.

Outside the wedding hall, Yu Xiana saw the five martial warriors had also come. The servants, the soldiers, everyone looked at Xiana with troubled faces, but she ignored everyone.

Su Licheng remained quiet and kept following Yu Xiana's steps. Finally, she stopped near a pavilion and turned to face him.

"Let me marry first and then I will accompany Prince Licheng to the Su Empire," Xiana stated while gazing into his eyes.

"You didn't understand my previous words, Xiana, right?" Su Licheng asked as he took a step forward and leaned down so that their faces would be at the same level.

"I want you to give your entire life to me. What does that mean?" He stressed his statement and waited for her response. When she didn't reply, he said, "I didn't take more time to think when I gave you my help."

"I know, Prince Su Licheng," Xiana stated. "But this wasn't the condition on which we both agreed," she muttered.

"I told you not to regret your decision the moment you accepted my help," Su Licheng said with a smile.

That was the same annoying smile that she got to see when he told her she didn't defeat Shan Daoren.

"Why does Prince Licheng want me? Did he fall in love with me?" Xiana could not think of anything at this point except Licheng was in love with her.

Su Licheng chuckled and said, "You do have a strange mind. I want a servant to serve me. And then, I thought of you, Princess!" He motioned his left hand at her.

"Is Prince Licheng serious? He came here just to find a servant!" Xiana snickered at him. He told him she would provide the best servant from the palace to him. "Since the prince needs a servant, I can easily fulfill my promise by providing the best one to him."

"Xiana, you do have hearing problems. I want you to serve me. You badly wanted to take me out of the Shadow Palace that day which I did. Now, you will follow me to the capital of the Su Empire. You may see me calm usually, but the moment I get angry, everything is destroyed. I may turn your kingdom into ashes. The Kingdom for which you asked for my help," Su Licheng stated and the smile on his lips widened.

Xiana frowned at him. He was indeed powerful. The way his sword came flying to him had astonished Xiana earlier. She had never seen such a magical thing in her life. Moreover, in his protection, there were five martial heroes whom everyone was scared of. She thought to find a different way to make him let go of her, but it seemed impossible to her.

Su Licheng, on the other hand, looked at Xiana's red lips which resembled the petals of a rose flower. He lifted his left hand and placed his thumb over her lips. "I don't like red, Xiana," he said, raking his eyes through her lips, and he pulled his hand back. "Hope you will not put on such a color ever again," he muttered.

"Prince Licheng is not supposed to tell me what should wear or put on," Xiana pronounced. "It was my wedding and red is the most auspicious color on such a day," she asserted with a stern tone.

"Get changed into a different attire. We will leave soon," Su Licheng affirmed. He did not pay heed to her words. The smile on his lips was no longer present. Instead, his face had a menacing expression.

"Let Zhi Yawen join me," Xiana said. If she could not marry him today, at least, he would be around her.

"You are not supposed to ask me such things. I am here for you only. I do not want anyone except you to accompany me to the Su Empire," Su Licheng said.

"But—"

"Don't test my patience. I may kill him," Su Licheng remarked.

Xiana pursed her lips together, and her eyes turned watery. She could not refuse to follow his order either. She truly regretted coming into Licheng's words that day. She should have begged the King to help them. But there was no use to think about all those things.

"Since I have promised that day, so I must fulfill it. I will go with Prince Licheng. I want him to not harm anyone here," Xiana stated.

"I will not," Su Licheng said.