Lost Red Pearl; Inadvertent Eyes Red with Desire 4

Xie Lian was curious, "Why can't I drink this?"

The queen reached for the small jaded cup and took it from him, poured a bit of its

contents on her handkerchief, and pressed it gently a few times on her face, "Mount

Taicang recently sent in a batch of fresh fruits. I don't like cherries, but there was a

method of making it into paste for facials, so I squeezed some for fun. There's not much

use for it and I was about to have it thrown out, so I can't possibly have you drink it!"

Xie Lian smiled as he listened but suddenly recalled the events of the day before. There

were very few times in a year where Mu Qing's mother could taste cherries, and Mu

Qing himself would get bullied just for trying to pick some. It's somewhat of a sensitive

topic and Xie LIan was afraid Mu Qing would be uncomfortable listening to this, so he

smiled and changed the subject, "Then do you have anything that I could eat?"

The queen chuckled, "The way you make it sound, others will think I starve you, but

you've been a picky eater ever since you were young, I can't plump you up. You've

gotten so thin since you entered the mountain, today you'll eat whatever I tell you to, no

fuss."

The mother and son conversed for a while, and the queen asked about the incident

during the Heavenly Procession, sounding quite concerned, "By the Guoshi's report, it

sounds serious. What's going to happen? Will you be punished?"

Xie Lian didn't have the chance to answer and Qi Rong cut in, "Hmph! That wasn't

cousin Crown Prince's fault. The one who fell off the wall wasn't him, if anyone must be

punished, then it should be that little fiend!"

'What, little fiend?' Xie Lian thought in annoyance. He hadn't corrected Qi Rong but the

Queen laughed. Just then she noticed the two outside the manor, "Who's the child next

to Feng Xin? It's the first time I see another person by your side."

Xie Lian replied cheerfully, "That's Mu Qing. He was the one who played the ghost on

stage yesterday."

Hearing this, Qi Rong slightly raised his brows while the queen said, "Really? Have him

come in so I can see his face. Feng Xin can come in too."

Thus, Feng Xin and Mu Qing entered the chamber and knelt before the queen. She took

her time looking over Mu Qing and said to Xie Lian, "I thought he fought rather well

yesterday, a good, courteous child. Looking at this face you'd think he'd be a gentle

minister, but who knew he could be that tenacious using a sabre."

Xie Lian grinned, "Right? I think he's really good too."

Qi Rong on the other hand, commented cooly, "Oh? The ghost from yesterday was

him?"

Xie Lian heard his tone and felt dread, and sure enough, the next second Qi Rong

suddenly exploded, snatched that small jaded cup from the little tea table, and swung it

at Mu Qing's head, "Here! Your reward!"

Fortunately Xie Lian was faster, and smacked Qi Rong's hand forcing him to drop the

cup so the splash didn't make it to Mu Qing's face. Xie Lian pulled him back by the

collar, "Qi Rong, what are you doing!"

Even whilst being held, Qi Rong was still rampant, "Cousin, I'm helping you discipline an

impudent servant! Before you made it yesterday, he sure was enjoying himself, taking in

all the limelight! Who the fuck do you think you are? The star of the Heavenly

Procession? Gonna overthrow the heavens too?!!"

The queen was stunned, "Rong, wh... what are you doing?"

Mu Qing's face was spared of the splash but his clothes didn't, yet because the queen

hadn't given word, he remained kneeling on the floor, his face grim and pale. Xie Lian

passed Qi ROng to Feng Xin, "Don't let him hit anyone." Feng Xin only used one hand

to restrain Qi Rong, but Qi Rong was kicking and punching, spitting as he shouted, "And

who the fuck do you think you are to have the fucking nerve to touch me so casually!"

Xie Lian could feel his head aching, "Qi Rong, you're getting more and more out of

control!" Then he turned to the queen, "Mother, I forgot to mention something. Please

take away his golden carriage."

Qi Rong was shocked and yelled, "NO! NO! WHY? THAT'S AUNTIE'S BIRTHDAY GIFT

TO ME!"

"Even if it is it must be confiscated." Xie Lian said, "We almost ran into troubles on the

streets! Best not to touch it again before you learn how to drive properly."

The queen "ah"-ed and asked, "Troubles? What troubles?"

Xie Lian retold to her the crazy state of Qi Rong's driving, and Qi Rong was furious, his

eyes red around the rim, "COUSIN CROWN PRINCE IS WRONG! I DIDN'T RUN INTO

A SINGLE PERSON!"

Xie Lian snorted, "That's because someone stopped you!"

Qi Rong struggled out of Xie Lian's hands and ran out of the QiFeng Manor in a mad fit,

not turning back even when the queen called out to him. She said sadly, "I'll talk to him

tomorrow about confiscating his carriage. Sigh, that child had wanted a coach for the

longest time, so when his birthday came around, I saw that he was still desperately

wanting one, so I gifted it to him. Who knew it'd turn out like this? Had I known I

wouldn't have given it to him."

"Why must he have a carriage?" Xie Lian wondered.

"He said it's so he could go to Mount Taicang whenever he want to bring you home."

The queen replied.

Xie Lian fell silent, learning that at the end of the day it was a gesture of goodwill. After

a moment, he spoke, "It's better instead to find him a good teacher, and restrain that

temper. He can't keep going on like this."

The queen sighed, "And what teacher can restrain him? He only ever listens to you. We

could hardly have him enter the mountain to go cultivate with you? Besides, the Guoshi

would die before taking him in as a disciple."

Xie Lian found the idea both hilarious and horrifying and shook his head, "With a temper

like that, if he should enter the Holy Royal Pavilion, he would raise hell for sure."

Both the mother and the son were deeply troubled by this, and couldn't think of any

ideas, and so they let it go for the time being. That evening, after having seen his

parents and caught up, Xie Lian rose to leave the palace.

Everyone knew that the Crown Prince was deeply obsessed with cultivation, and ever

since he entered the Holy Royal Pavilion, he visited his parents less and less. The king

didn't say much on the matter, but the queen was always reluctant to see him go. After

leaving the palace, Xie Lian casually strolled around the royal capital, and accompanied

Mu Qing to make a visit to his home, as suggested the day before.

The wealthy tall red gates and the impoverished slums were usually a street away from

each other. Mu Qing's home was situated in a dark alley of the most bustling area of the

royal capital.

The three of them just turned into the alley when five or six children in rags surrounded

them, calling out, "Ge ge. Ge ge is back!"

Xie Lian was confused at first, wondering why they would call strangers 'ge ge', but then

he discovered that the 'ge ge' they were calling wasn't him, but Mu Qing. The children

called out to him sweetly but Mu Qing ignored them, "There's nothing this time. Don't

call me anything."

His face was wooden, but his voice wasn't cold. He turned to Xie LIan, "Don't mind

them, Your Highness, they're just kids from the block." However, that group of children

were obviously very comfortable around him, having grown up playing together, and

weren't afraid of him at all. They giggled and surrounded them, their dirty little hands

extended, begging for munchies from Mu Qing. Finally, Mu Qing reached for the

gem-like cherries in his bag and handed them out.

Feng Xin was astonished seeing this, as if Mu Qing doing anything of the sort was a

miracle. After all, Mu Qing bore a pale face that looked extremely cheap, the type that

despite seeing someone die from starvation on the streets would still keep a tight hold

on his own food. Xie Lian on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all.

At first he had also wanted to find something to give to the children, but he didn't usually

carry sweets on his person, and having Feng Xin give coins was too much like

dismissing beggars that Xie Lian didn't think it appropriate. Suddenly, there was a boom

of large galloping noise coming from the main streets, a long shrieking neighing of a

horse, and people screaming.

The three of them stopped, then Xie Lian rushed out of the alley. All around the main

street was chaos, stalls toppled and people on the ground. The pedestrians were all

running to get away; apples and pears rolled all over. He hadn't figured out what was

happening when he heard the crazed laughter of a young man, "OUT OF MY WAY, GET

OUT OF MY WAY! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT IF ANY OF YOU GET TRAMPLED!"

Feng Xin swore, "It's Qi Rong again!"

Sure enough, Qi Rong stood atop that glamourous golden coach, his expression

malicious, lashing his whip wildly, the white horse howling from the welting.

"STOP HIM!" Xie Lian shouted.

That golden carriage whooshed by them, and Feng Xin acknowledged, "Understood!"

and charged on ahead. Xie Lian was about to go check for any wounded from all the

toppled stalls and knocked over pedestrians left behind Qi Rong's mad trail when

suddenly he noticed something wrong. He whipped his head around, and saw just

behind that large golden coach, something was dragged along with a thick, long hemp

rope. At the end of the rope was a gunny sack, and in that sack there seemed to be

something struggling. It looked like there was a person in that sack.

That moment, Xie Lian could only feel his blood run cold. The next second, he rushed

forward.

From all the whipping, that white horse was dashing like it's running for its life, spinning

the wheels of that carriage furiously. Feng Xin went to hold the horse back but probably

wouldn't be able to stop it immediately. Xie Lian raced up to the carriage in only a few

steps, unsheathed his sword and struck down. That rope snapped in two, and the gunny

sack dropped to the ground, rolled, and came to a stop.

Xie Lian bent forward to inspect it. That gunny sack had been dragged for who knew

how long and was ripped from all the scraping. It was extremely dirty, covered in blood,

looking like a dead body bag. Another swing from his sword, and the rope tied around

the opening was cut. He opened the back and looked, and there was indeed someone,

and, it was a young child!

Xie Lian ripped open that entire sack. The young child within was curled into a ball,

hugging his head tightly, and his filthy clothes was covered either in giant footprints or

fresh blood. Even his hair was tangled with blood. He was a mess, and it was obvious

he was heavily beaten by someone, so much so that he didn't even look human

anymore. Judging by his from, he was only seven or eight, a very small creature,

shaking as if a layer of his skin was forcibly peeled off. Truly incredible that he was still

alive after such a violent beating!

Xie Lian reached out a hand to feel his neck, and found that his pulse wasn't too weak,

and sighed a breath of relief. He immediately picked up the small body, turned around

and yelled, enraged, "FENG XIN! ARREST QI RONG!!!"

He could not believe that something like this could happen in the Kingdom of Xianle.

Under the light of day, on the main street, a noble, stuffed a live human in a gunny sack

to be dragged behind a horse carriage! If he hadn't seen and stopped it, this small child

would've been dragged to death that day!

Some distance away came the sounds of neighing and the angry roars of Qi Rong, and

soon after, Feng Xin yelled back, "He's been stopped!"

Xie Lian rushed towards them just in time to hear Qi Rong howl in rage, "YOU

FUCKING LOWLY SERVANT DARE HURT ME! WHO GAVE YOU THE BALLS?!!"

Turns out, Feng Xin couldn't stop him, so he tried to snatch the reins from him instead.

Of course Qi Rong wouldn't let him, so the two pulled back and forth, and in a moment

of carelessness Feng Xin bumped and pushed him off the carriage. He fell to the

ground and rolled a few times, his knees scraped. Seeing that he was surrounded by

bystanders, he felt nothing but rage and embarrassment. However, Xie Lian cut in, "I

did!"

Qi Rong opened and closed his mouth a couple times before finally crying, "Cousin

Crown Prince!"

Xie Lian said angrily, "Look at what you've done! Qi Rong I really..."

Just then, he suddenly felt the child in his arms twitch, seemingly to have loosened the

hands hugging his head, and was peeking at him from the gap between his elbows.

Xie Lian immediately restrained his anger, and lowered his head to soothe him in a

gentle voice, "How do you feel? Do you feel pain anywhere especially?"

That child was amazingly still conscious, not fainted from pain, not frozen in shock, and

shook his head. Xie Lian saw that half of his bloody little face poked out and was about

to check for other head injuries, but that child firmly covered the other half of his face

with his hands, stubbornly refusing to show

him.