CHAPTER 40
First Kiss
LUO FAN
The next morning, I woke up early and felt a throbbing pain at the back of my head.
Last night, my uncle had brought my dinner to my room, along with a jar of wine. For hours, he had bragged about his personally-made rice wine that he had fermented in his special cellar for five years.
It did taste good, but it was too strong I had gotten drunk after my third cup. Then he started talking about my father, my other uncles and aunts, my cousins from them, and so on. I had craved a real family for so long so I had listened to him attentively while he kept pouring more wine into my cup. Eventually, I had fallen asleep while he was still talking. When I woke up, I was already in bed and someone had already tidied the mess that we had left on the floor.
After taking a pill for my headache, I looked around the villa to find my uncle, but the place was strangely empty as if no one was living there. Until I found a young man in the kitchen.
"Priest Luo, you're awake," he said. "Do you need cold water?"
"Yes, please." The pill I had taken in had not yet taken effect, and my body was still hot a cup of cold water would really help.
"Here, Priest Luo," the young man said when he returned, handing me a cup of water.
"Thank you."
After I drank the water, the young man took the cup from me and lowered his head. "My name is Xiong Juan. Leader Luo has taken me in at a very young age. He said that we once met here when we were both three years old, but we were too young to remember."
I nodded and smiled. I remembered this man's face and frame. He was one of the two young men standing at the corner while we sat by the table yesterday. It was easy to tell because he was tall, fair, and lean.
Could this be the missing crown prince Wei Xiaoli using an alias?
If he was, he was very humble considering his status. Having an emperor like him would probably be good for this empire.
I cupped my hands and returned his courtesy. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Since my uncle has adopted you, that makes us cousins then."
He gasped as if elated by what I said. "Although I'm not worthy, it's an honor that Priest Luo sees me as his cousin."
I smiled. "You're very modest. Despite this group's reputation, my uncle has done a wonderful job raising you."
"He did."
"Have you seen my uncle?"
"Leader Luo is still sleeping. He emptied the whole jar of wine last night I had to carry him back to his room. He might wake up with a hangover later."
This man was probably the one who had cleaned up the mess on the floor last night and had carried me into bed. The realization made me flush.
I just made a servant out of the former crown prince of Kan.
How shameful of me!
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
I quickly cleared my throat. He probably noticed how stunned I was when I realized that he was the one who cleaned up my mess.
"Here." I handed him a pill. "Give this to Uncle Boqin when he wakes up. It helps to alleviate headaches."
He nodded. "I will."
"I won't disturb you any further. I'm sure you have things to do."
We exchanged a few more pleasantries before I walked out of the door.
My cheeks still felt hot.
If the Silverblades succeeded and that young man became the emperor, I didn't think I'd have the face to stand in front of him.
I tried to get the thoughts off my head and decided to walk around the surroundings instead, hoping I could remember some fragments of my childhood.
But before I could make it out of the front yard, I met someone that I had not expected to see.
It was Liang Yuan, approaching me with a big smile.
I had never expected that he was a member of this group. All along, I thought that he was a loyal subject of the emperor and a top supporter of Crown Prince Jiayi.
"Fan, where are you going?" he asked.
I wasn't sure what to say because I wasn't sure why he was even here in the first place. I didn't think he had any intention of arresting or interrogating my uncle, otherwise, he should have come with a legion of forces.
"You're one of them," I concluded.
He forced out a smile and nodded. "I am."
"Since when?"
"For a while now."
"So you've been a spy in the palace all along?"
He nodded.
"Throughout those years, you're fortunate you haven't been caught yet."
"I managed to gain His Majesty's and His Highness' full confidence. They will never doubt my loyalty."
I sighed. "Then be careful."
"Fan, do you… want to take a walk around?" he asked.
"Of course. That's exactly what I'm about to do."
We both walked out of the gate and leisurely strolled around the open ground. I could see fields stretching for miles. Golden grains swayed in the air as if to remind everyone that their harvest time was drawing near.
From a distance, I saw some people working in the fields. From their clothes, I was certain they were my uncle's men. They indeed tried to live like laborers on a farm, and the hideout looked like a decent shelter for workers with mills and storage for their produce. The business was legit, but people from the outside had no idea what else was sheltered there.
"Do you remember the time when you were banished from Frost Mountain and a group of men had escorted you to Wun Empire?" Liang Yuan asked.
"How can I ever forget that? Even if I want to, it will never be erased from my memory."
He sighed. "I learned then that they had brought you there to be executed as an unknown criminal. The royal court did not want a world-renowned Divine Mage to be executed in their territory. The backlash would be catastrophic. Many people, even those from other empires, and most especially the world of cultivators, would have definitely condemned the execution of the world's greatest alchemist. So they wanted the dirty job done outside instead, where people have no idea of your identity."
Now, I understood that the banishment was just an excuse to have a reason to get me out of the empire.
At that time, when I was taken away in a carriage, I had just lost my cultivation and had been tortured to near death. I had been vaguely aware of my surroundings. All I remembered was the intense pain that tormented me every time I woke up.
"Why didn't they?" I asked. "Why did they let me go instead?"
"They did not let you go," he replied. "I had sent some people to kill your escorts and take you away, but I did not expect that one of your escorts was a level six cultivator and had killed most of the men I sent. Only Qi Sha survived unharmed and he said he managed to take you all the way to the City of Nan."
"Qi Sha?" I turned to him. "Is that the name of the man who put me inside a merchant's wagon?"
"Yes, he's the one," he returned. "He told me that was the last time he'd seen you. He's done that to lure the enemies away. After that, he no longer has any idea where you ended up. I had people searching for you for weeks, but no one had expected that you had made it all the way to Xianru."
"It was probably fate," I replied as I thought about Li Yao and Jinjing, those two people who had played a big role in my survival. "And where is Qi Sha now? I still have not thanked him for what he has done for me."
"Right now, he's in the capital for a spy mission. As much as I'd like to pull him over so he could see you, he's in the middle of a breakthrough so it's not a good time for him to leave."
I nodded. "Maybe there will be some other time when I could thank him properly. I believe I also owe you gratitude. I apologize that I had doubted you initially. I thought you wanted to take me away and deliver me to the palace."
He chuckled. "I would not do something like that to you. We're friends, remember? Brothers even."
I stared at him.
I never thought he still thought that way.