Trembling Buttercup — III

985 AD, during the twenty-fifth year of the QiangHe Emperor's reign, with the first snow of twelfth month—

—The long drawn out war fought between the Liu Dynasty and the Western Jing came to an end. Heralded by the wildfire that started at the camps of the Western Jing's army, one final struggle took place between the two forces opposing one another.

However, led by His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, the army stationed at the Northwestern Frontier emerged victorious, successfully expanding the territory of the nation.

As the snow covered those high mountain ranges and buried the reeking stench of death, blood of men, enemies of allies alike, spilled on the pure white tear of heaven frozen by the cold collision of war as they layered upon the ground.

As the snow continued to fall, in the battlefield stood a tall lonesome figure of the Crown Prince, hands coloured in the blinding brilliance scarlet blood, warm and wet as he held onto the severed head of the enemy general.

With a wide smile on his face, wild delight shone in his crimson eyes, akin to the bloodshed surrounding him, as he lifted up the severed head for everyone to see and in a loud voice, declared to the opposing army.

"Your leader," his powerful voice resounded throughout the frozen ground, making everyone stand still. "Has lost."

A bout of heavy breathing followed as he added a moment of pause later. "Surrender peacefully and you shall be granted amnesty. Those who give up without resistance, shall be spared…" he paused, gaze sharper than a cold dagger. "... However, bear it in mind, any form of resistance shall be met with death. And death alone."

The bitingly cold wind howled in the heavy silence, as though mourning the loss of lives in the war just fought; and then, the veil fell giving way to a deafening round of cheers from the victors and unwilling roars of the fallen.

It was a bloody affair. It could only be described as such, really. A deathly peace had been brought forth, both by bestowing rewards and by using force; it had been established successfully before the time for His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince's victorious return to the Imperial Capital arrived.

Ballads were made in the name of the Crown Prince, folktales of the glorious victory sung in his honour and glory. The prestige of the young royal was at its highest peak. There was no soul who didn't know of his achievement of winning against the Western Jing in face of all the odds piled up against him.

There was no mouth who didn't speak of his glorious feats or his leadership. From Xining to Hangzhou, every nook and cranny of the nation had only one person on their tongues.

His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of DàHuǒ. Having proved himself more than capable with his victory, there seemed no one more suitable than him to be the Crown Prince.

Lesser known fact was the immense contribution and numerous sacrifices made by countless other people, one of them was the Specter of the Blood Moon, nephew and heir to the endless knowledge of the Divine Phoenix.

And a capable cultivator. He was one of the strongest from the new generation in his own rights. Previously, he was said to be the most useless of the new generation. But then, the Young Master turned around and proved everyone wrong, armed with nothing but his own raw genius, followed by his strength and power.

Now, in the entirety of Jianghu at this moment there was no name more frequently discussed than the Specter of the Blood Moon.

Li Xinyuan couldn't decide if it was a good thing or bad. He wanted to live a peaceful life as a doctor until the time for him to step into the vicious web of royalty came. But now that he was literally the talk of the town, the town being Jianghu, he doubted that he would be able to live in peace.

The carriage moved slowly as the surgeon leaned back, body slack against the comfortable seat, he let out a sigh, golden eyes hiding beneath the closed eyelids as his lashes trembled ever so slightly.

The surgeon rested his forearm on the window of the carriage as the warm sunlight peeked through the sheer curtains concealing his existence from the world outside.

It was a warm sun, with the lack of ultraviolet rays, the warmth was reminiscent of a beach day with sunscreen on. It was refreshing.

If not for the constant movements and bumps ruining the harmony, that is.

Hu Lijing who sat in front of him, calmly embroidering a handkerchief, looked up at him and gestured towards the embroidery. "Since the Master doesn't want to read a book, he can try this if he's feeling bored."

Li Xinyuan slowly cracked open one eye and glanced at the embroidery. "Oh, please," he whispered in a faux arrogant tone, jokingly. "I could beat you by a mile. No, I could beat a seamstress by a mile." He joked with a lazy upcurve of his lips.

Hu Lijing let out a soft 'pft' before quickly concealing it with a snort. "Yes, of course. All the Master needs to do is close his eyes and fall asleep."

"You don't believe me?" Li Xinyuan raised an eyebrow, mockingly. Hu Lijing returned the look with similar intensity.

"Yes, no, the Master is trying to compete with a seamstress. A person who sews and embroiders for a living."

After a long while of silence, Li Xinyuan and Hu Lijing chuckled simultaneously. Shaking his head, Hu Lijing snorted.

"Enough, my Master. You should drink some water." He said while handing Li Xinyuan a porcelain flask. Li Xinyuan took it, expression bewildered as he inspected it.

"I will," he drawled, glancing up at Hu Lijing, incredulously. "Never understand where you keep these things."

Hu Lijing gave him a smug smirk. "Magic."

"Yeah, no. Shut up, your head is getting too big to fit inside this carriage."

"Aw. How mean, Master."

Li Xinyuan just rolled his eyes to heaven and turned to look at the window. Silence fell over them as they focused on their own things to do.

In front of Li Xinyuan's eyes, a series of bullet comments flashed by.

— [Male God Liu is just outside the carriage, he can hear everything! YuanYuan and Lijing are funny.] +1

— [I love how we all collectively decided to forget that this novel is, in fact, from Liu Mingyun's perspective. Which means that he isn't the ML but the MC, and it doesn't change that this is a romance novel.] +0

— [Upstairs, then who is the other lead :(?] +0

↳

— [Have you not been paying attention, sister? It is obviously our YuanYuan!] + 5

↳ [I'm a man.]

— [Lmao wtf, guys act normal, we have an imposter among us! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ] +0

↳

— [I just accidentally clicked but this is interesting, so I'll stay.] +1

— [I have enough experience to know exactly where this is going :)] +0

— [Once you go in, there is no way out.] +0

— [See you on the other BLs on this site, comrade [/saluting.jpg/] +0

↳ [???] +0

Li Xinyuan suppressed an amused snort as he crossed his arms and leaned to his side, the fluttering curtains caressed his cheek as he closed his eyes in silence.

It was amusing to read these comments.

The bullet comments were then replaced by a familiar floating screen. It displayed a different number today.

[Current Points: 1084]

Staring at the panel, Li Xinyuan slightly canted his head and mulled over the numbers.

His CP count had effectively crossed hundred due to his various — too many in his opinion — interactions with the Crown Prince. As compared to the original spin-off, it already was a significant change since Li Xinyuan's character's minimal participation and presence in the novel had been changed to something more important in the early stages.

That is, before the appearance of the female lead with her Josei Female Lead halo.

Just the thought of having to compete with her for Liu Mingyun's affection gave him a headache and left a bitter taste in his mouth.

As if his measly character would be able to fight against the female lead and her halo, not to mention change the genre of this novel.

Fuck.

Knock. Knock.

The surgeon flinched at the sudden sound, head immediately snapping to look towards the window. There, he saw a familiar, well-defined but calloused hand breach the curtains and part them.

Instinctively, Li Xinyuan's mouth moved before his body could. "Yes, Your Highness?"

Liu Mingyun bent towards the carriage while riding his stead. With an amused colour in his voice, he hummed, pulling his hand back as Li Xinyuan used his own to keep the curtains parted for him to see the surgeon's face.

"Xinyuan's destination has arrived."