"Rise and shine Brother Jun! We have to go to the ceremony today!" Liu Xing shouted excitedly as he opened my door.
"It's still three in the morning…" Li Jun replied with a deep and drowsy morning voice; I hate that I literally sound like a cricket in the morning.
Moreover, I only got like 1 hour of sleep.
Li Jun ended up being worried about that Saturn guy all night, he was too alert for a midnight sneak attack or something. In the end, nothing happened, which was a relief.
He quickly tidied his room and walked to the washroom. The washroom of this Chinese inn was similar to a cheap hostel; it's public and cramped. Li Jun couldn't complain because this Storyline took place in the past, so they didn't have the necessary technologies.
After he finished washing up and dressing in neat clothes, he grabbed the handle of the door to walk out, ready for the ceremony.
The wood creaked as someone stepped into the room.
"!!!" Li Jun didn't scream, but his expression was terrified as he saw a familiar man suddenly emerge from the door. He almost punched that guy.
Ryuusei made a worried face and apologized, "Are you okay? I'm sorry, Jun. I didn't know you were so easily startled,"
There went my pride.
He lifted his head and spoke in a strong voice, "I'm not easily surprised. It's your fault you suddenly walk out like that."
"Oh, sorry." he apologized again, which kind of made Li Jun feel even worse.
Is this guy actually this much of a pushover?
Jun dismissed the awkward old conversation and asked, "You just woke up? It's that little boy's big day, so you better dress well."
"Well, I'm probably going to wear what I usually wear." Ryuusei said, "People here seems to like it a lot,"
Li Jun almost laughed at how oblivious he was. Who wouldn't like looking at a beautiful man with an attractive body? No matter what he wears, he would pull it off.
"Are you done? I'll go shower now, I can't be late for Liu Xing's big day, after all. He seems to like me a lot, what an endearing child".
"He is," Li Jun couldn't help but smile slightly. It was truly admirable for a young man to grow up so well in this brutal world.
Ryuusei widened his eyes slightly, "I didn't know you could talk about someone like that," there was a hint of a smile in his voice.
"What? Do I seem like an emotionless demon to you? We've barely met, Ryuusei."
"No, it's just…" He walked slowly in a circle around Li Jun who just stood there awkwardly, "you remind me so much of my sister." he leaned closer into his face.
"Uh…Thanks?"
"Humans are complicated, aren't they? Some people are so similar, yet so different; so cruel, yet so kind. Sometimes, it is truly, truly hard to see the line between things that are completely opposite." He regained his composure and lifted his head to look at the sky, narrowing his eyes in pain as the light shone directly into his face. What was he on about??
That's the ceiling, idiot. And why the hell are you looking directly into an oil lamp?
Li Jun completely disregarded what Ryuusei just talked about because he was too sleepy to function. "Just hurry up." He pushed Ryuusei into the washroom and slammed the door shut.
.
.
.
The three of them arrived at a vast open field in front of the palace. There were soldiers dressed in armors with red headbands; the uniform was definitely too thick for the flaming summer. Lui Xing proudly stepped up into a small crowd of people, a crowd way too small for the promotion of a prince. Some were really young, and some were as old as someone's great-grandfather.
"It's much smaller than I expected for a prince." Li Jun asked Lui Xing, who was going to leave to get dressed by the court ladies.
Liu Xing smiled, but he sounded really sad. "I'm an illegitimate child, so I'm not as important as my other siblings. They shouldn't spend too much celebration funds on me,"
"Oh, sorry." Jun truly felt bad, but he was also terrible at expressing his feelings.
"No need, brother Jun. I am thankful that I am at least the emperor's son, and I will embrace that fact." He waved, and then went to the back of the ceremony to dress up. Li Jun was left alone with Ryuusei with an awkward silence.
"This palace is really big, isn't it? It reminds me of my house." Ryuusei looked around the vast ceremonial center that resembled a city with old buildings. There was the inner court and the outer court, where the ceremony was held.
What is wrong with this guy? No way his house is bigger than a chinese royal palace.
"Sure." Li Jun replied shortly, and continued looking around. It seemed like the first thing they would do was serving ceremonial food, where each person has their own seat, table, and plate.
He walked closer and found that all the utensils on the table were made of true silver, he had read before that ancient chinese used it to detect arsenic that some assassin might've used.
"Hey! Commoners can't come any closer!" A soldier blocked Li Jun from walking closer to the tables, and pushed him away.
Li Jun rolled his eyes and stepped back as Ryuusei was also walking up.
In the presence of Ryuusei Narukami, the soldier bowed, "General Officer!" Ryuusei was standing upright, one hand on his hips, smiling.
"Hello there," Ryuusei shook his hand, and the soldier looked very absolutely ecstatic after that. He cleared his throat, and turned back to shout at the rest of the people here.
"The ceremony is starting! Praise the emperor!"
A lady started to play Gu-Zheng at the right side of the ceremony and some other ladies played ancient Han-Chinese bells that sounded similar to xylophones. They were all wearing red Hanfu and tied their hair up. The traditional music was absolutely delightful, but nevertheless, was short and sweet.
After the music ended, every inch of the palace cheered for Emperor Han Ling as he slowly walked in from afar. Right after that, it was Liu Xing's turn. Although he was the star of the ceremony today, the cheers were significantly quieter; it made Li Jun a little mad.
In a span of a few minutes, emperor Han Ling grabbed the gold medal and bestowed it upon Liu Xing's shoulder. Although people coming to the celebration were mostly half-hearted, the boy stood proudly, head lifted, smiling, and glanced at Li Jun a few times. After that, they went to sit at their destined seats and started eating the ceremonial food.
"What are they eating? That looks so good." Ryuusei stared at the food the royal family was given. It was a bowl filled with small spheres that resembled yellow beans.
"Those are sorghum, it's a grain with a lot of vitamins that's good for your body. I'm not a big fan of the taste, though." Li Jun explained as he recalled the time his mom forced him to eat those disgusting grains. He hated the flavor, yet gulped it down because he just wanted to make her happy.
"Really…" Ryuusei looked back to the emperor and the princes. He noticed something off about Liu Xing, and tapped Li Jun's shoulder.
"That boy, is he alright?"
Li Jun looked towards Liu Xing, and saw him breathing heavily while grabbing his chest. Although he looked painful, he still gulped down the food in front of him to impress the emperor.
That symptom looked way too familiar for Li Jun. He knew; it was all too familiar. He reckoned that it was definitely not just a simple discomfort.
"Ryuusei, bring me to him now." Just like that, Ryuusei grabbed Li Jun and dashed past all the soldiers that were too surprised to stop him.
One of the nobles stood up as Li Jun walked closer and shouted, "How dare you commoners come up here?!"
They completely disregarded him and immediately checked up on the prince's condition.
"Liu Xing, are you alright?"
"I- I don't feel good." His eyes started to close as his head spun dizzy. He couldn't even sit properly anymore. "Can't… breathe." He pulled on his hair as tears fell down his eyes. Li Jun knew it was some kind of poisoning right away.
The Emperor witnessed his illegitimate son falling on the floor and shouted at Ryuusei and Jun "What is happening?!"
Li Jun completely ignored the emperor's question and sank into his own thoughts that were panicking messily.
Cyanide is cured by hydroxocobalamin… I might be able to make that.
Li Jun reached for the glass of water, hoping to manipulate the compound. However, he quickly realized that the solution was impossible.
I can't perform an
Suddenly, he shouted, "Bring me powdered mustard and activated charcoal, now!" He said as he inserted two of his fingers deep into the boy's mouth and pressed on the ceiling to induce vomit. Although unconscious, thick liquid mixed with sorghum grains flowed out of his mouth.
In fear and confusion, nobody moved an inch. Ryuusei saw this and used his authority to order, "Didn't you hear him?!"
Some of the court ladies immediately stood up and ran to fetch him some mustard powder and activated charcoal. Li Jun quickly accepted it as he poured some water into both of the bowls. He first made Liu Xing drink the thick powdered mustard, which got stuck on his throat like peanut butter, and made him vomit violently.
Focused, Li Jun took the coal-water solution and made him drink it after he cleansed his stomach from throwing up everything. Jun remembered that Activated Charcoal has pores that could trap chemicals, hence stop the poison from spreading.
After a while, his state seemed to improve and he could open his eyes and sat up. Ryuusei held the boy's back to make sure he wouldn't fall as Jun fed him some water. Once everyone was cleaned up and everyone calmed down, Jun and Ryuusei went back and the ceremony went back to normal as Liu Xing apologized.
"I deeply apologize for causing a commotion, sir." He bowed down to the emperor, his dad, who nodded silently as a reply. He certainly didn't look amused.
Li Jun cursed under his breath as he heard what he said, "He was poisoned. He didn't do anything wrong." Ryuusei agreed.
"Because of the unexpected assassination attempt, I shall dismiss the ceremony for now." Emperor Ling of Han announced and civilians started to leave. The tables were all cleaned up and the nobles had servants escorting them back.
"I feel bad for Liu Xing, he was so excited for this day!" Ryuusei said to Li Jun.
"There can always be another ceremony later, Ryuusei." He tried to make the two of them feel a little better about the situation. "At least be glad that he survived."
"Yea…?"
Suddenly, a group of royal soldiers in armors surrounded them, specifically Li Jun, looking intimidating. He froze and looked at the big men with weapons,
"Uh- Hi?"
"The emperor has personally summoned you for a conversation."
What???