Chapter 21: My Name is Crown Prince

The minute Hua Yueling went outside the Osmanthus Tower, she saw Mo Wushuang step outside from the opposite. His silver brocade made him brilliantly gorgeous and an air of nobility transparently was embodied in his slender and straight figure.
Hua Yueling nodded at him and then got on the sedan. He narrowed his starry eyes and eyed along her leaving. What an intriguing woman, whose bark was worse than her bite. But she still assisted her brother after all. Fascinating!
Hua Yueling didn't go straight back home, but asked Ping'er to show her around. Since she had bought the "Wind & Moon Tea House", she had to spare no efforts to run it well in case of being a laughing stock of that damn man.
"Miss, we have bought so much. Let's go home, shall we?" Looking at all sorts of eccentric goods that were stuffed in the sedan, she was puzzled about what the Miss was thinking; but she quite understood that if they continued to purchase, her feet were going to split.
"Are you tired? Then we may go the riverside to have a rest. You may let them carry away the sedan and we will be back later." Hua Yueling burst into laughter when noticing the dog-tired Ping'er.
"Well, all right," said Ping'er, who signaled the grooms to go first. Ping'er followed Hua Yueling to the Emerald Lake behind Chang'an Street, where stood many local snack bars and tea houses, the favorite place of the capital citizens.
"Miss, let's go to the Emerald Lake Tower. The duck tongue there is so yummy," said Ping'er.
"You little girl. You are so familiar with this." Hua Yueling shook her head with a smile.
"That's because you always went after the Third Prince before, so I know it well," Ping'er blurted out.
Hua Yueling froze instantly and forced a smile for she was so speechless for the former Hua Yueling who was indeed cheeky enough to follow Nangong Lingye around every day.
"Oh, my lady, I'm so sorry." Ping'er hastened to apologize. Half a month enabled her to have a certain knowledge of her lady. She was so temperamental. Sometimes she was so kind to the servants, but sometimes so severe.
"Forget it. Don't mention this bastard in front of me anymore. It's disgusting! Let's go to eat the duck tongue!" Hua Yueling grinned and exposed a set of perfect white teeth to frighten Ping'er and then walked leisurely to Emerald Lake Tower by the lake.
"Ping'er, this tower's owner is not the bastard, right?" Halfway down, Hua Yueling turned back and asked.
Ping'er tittered behind her hand, "My lady, its owner is Miss Xiang, the confidante of the Lord Xu, who is the minister of Ministry of Penalty."
"Lord Xu? The Ministry of Penalty? Miss Xiang?" Hua Yueling was confused.
"Yeah, Miss Xiang is a real beauty. How lucky Lord Xu is!"
"How old is he? Why didn't he marry her?" Hua Yueling asked.
"He is only 19, a distant relative of Minister Liao, the top official of the Administration. He has been in the capital for three years to take refuge from Minister Liao. And now Lord Xu is head of the penitentiary of the Ministry of Penalty. He works very hard. Both the Fourth Crown Prince and our young Lord speak highly of him. Miss Xiang was the girl who committed suicide in this Emerald Lake one year ago and finally saved by the Lord Xu. Since then, they are very affectionate to each other. But Miss Xiang used to be the concubine of the rich, Minister Liao does not allow Lord Xu to marry her." Ping'er told Hua Yueling all she knew.
"What mournful lovers?" Hua Yueling shook her head helplessly.
"It is the same with the story of Third Prince and Ouyang Ruyan. The Queen Mother and the Emperor do not allow the Third Prince to marry the Miss Ouyang, who was a courtesan." Ping'er mentioned the Third Prince again carelessly.
"How ridiculous!" Hua Yueling was stunned speechless by the ancient rules. She thought to herself that she would marry the man she loved, even he was a beggar!
"I think the most ungrateful people was Ouyang Ruyan. Marrying the Third Prince as a side Crown Princess is really an honor for her but she was not contented! Hmm!" Ping'er snorted.
"Ping'er, don't day like that. I think she is a woman of character. If I were her, it would be impossible for me to marry him as side Crown Princess, too. Besides, my husband should, and could only love me in his life not any other concubine!" This was Hua Yueling's yearning for love. She had a firm belief that there was no room for a third person between two people who truly loved each other.
"My lady, how could that be? All the men have their harems of concubines, so it's impossible for a man to love a woman only, unless he's a beggar." Ping'er was thrown into amazement by her words.
"Then I'd marry the beggar, Ha Ha." Standing in front of the Emerald Lake Tower, Hua Yueling burst out laughing. She would rather die alone than share her husband with other women.
Hardly had her voice faded away, there was a lot of fierce shouting in the alley next to Emerald Lake Tower, which tempted her to take a few steps forward with curiosity. She elbowed her way and saw a few men in waiter's dress beating a beggar who was getting knocked to the ground.
"My lady..." Ping'er wanted to laugh but dared not.
"How dared you damn beggar to steal! Go to hell!" Those waiters kicked the beggar fiercely and showed no mercy.
Hua Yueling saw the man in rags curled up on the ground with uncombed hair and dirty clothes. A muffled hum kept coming out of his mouth, as if he were stuffed with something.
"Stop!" Hua Yueling couldn't stand the scene of multi-bullying.
Those waiters turned their heads and were all shocked to see Hua Yueling.
"Mi... Miss Hua!" One of them recognized that she was the well-known daughter of the Prime Minister.
"What's going on? He will die if you keep beating him like that." Hua Yueling roared away sharply.
A waiter quickly bowed his head and said, "Miss Hua, it is this beggar who steals things. Therefore, we hit him. He has been here stealing food for a long time."
"Then why don't you send him to Yamen?" Hua Yueling looked at the man who desperately swallowed the stolen food in his mouth. His face was too dirty to identify.
"We had sent him for a few times, and then he was free. After he gets out, he comes here again to steal. Miss, we are really at our wit's end." The young man was distressed.
"Why did he come here to steal? Did he steal from Emerald Lake Tower?" Hua Yueling frowned.
"Yes, he is such an idiot who only knows Emerald Lake Tower. He steals food at day time and at night sleeps at the corner behind. No matter how hard we hit him, he refuses to go." The young man cast a hateful look at the disgusting man on the ground.
Hua Yueling frowned and sensed something wrong here. So, she walked to the man slowly and squatted down to see him.
Knowing he was being inspected, the man raised his head and looked at pretty Hua Yueling with widely opened eyes. He paused for a moment and wore a big smile with his bright shining teeth.
"Who are you? What's your name?" Hua Yueling found his clear eyes were oddly big and attractively beautiful.
The man was frightened to shrink backward, blinking his big eyes and looking at Hua Yueling.
"If you tell me, I will buy you something to eat." Hua Yueling showed a kind smile to him.
The clear eyes suddenly became bright. He looked at Hua Yueling with a silly smile, then nodded and burst out, "My, my name is Crown Prince. Buy me food, fairy sister!"
The countenance of Hua Yueling changed immediately. Who would be named as"Crown Prince"?