Married To The Cruel Crown Prince

After Chuntao slept, Nianzu came out of the room. The villagers had come to his house but had stood near the facade as the soldiers had guarded the house well. General Xiao came towards Nianzu and bowed. "How is her highness?" Xiao Zhan asked.

"She is not good. I made her sleep," Nianzu said in a low voice. He had lowered his head to hide his tears. They were standing with their back towards the people, so no one could see or hear what they were conversing about. 

"I will inform the Emperor and the Crown Prince regarding this matter," Xiao Zhan assured Nianzu. The people outside the house were trying to hear what Nianzu and General Xiao were saying to each other. 

"No," Nianzu stated. "Please do not tell my Father about this. Inform about this to Brother Sheng only," Nianzu requested. "I am no longer a Prince, and Father will not try to meddle anymore," asserted Nianzu. 

"Return to the Palace, your highness. You do not belong here. What if something worse would have happened? A commoner cannot fight the evil of society. You need power at some point," Xiao Zhan asserted. 

Nianzu agreed with him, but if he would enter Luoyang, his father would give the order to kill Chuntao. He never understood the meaning of having influence and power until today. "My wife is a peasant. No one will accept her, and I cannot leave her. I underestimated a few things. After today's incident, I have realized that to protect your loved ones you need power in one form or the other. I am grateful to you for my entire life, General Xiao," Nianzu stated and bowed in front of him. 

Xiao Zhan did not want Nianzu to bow. But in front of the people, he was helpless. Nianzu lifted his head and asked him how they found out his location. 

"We searched for you. Huo Jin has exceptional skills in spying and finding people. Prince Nianzu, the Crown Prince found out something. Your mother had joined hands with Gu Zhenya. They had schemed to kill your wife and put the blame on the Crown Prince," Xiao Zhan stated and then narrated everything to him. 

Nianzu could not believe his ears. His mother planned to kill his wife! He regretted not removing her from the position of Empress before leaving the Palace. 

"The Crown Prince had killed Gu Zhenya before he could be a threat to us. His highness also sent a letter to your mother in the handwriting of Gu Zhenya so that she would stop. Now, our spies have kept their eyes on her movements," affirmed Xiao Zhan. 

"How could mother turn this way!?" Nianzu chuckled and sighed at the same time. Xiao Zhan did not feel suitable to tell other details to Nianzu.

"Landlord Peng is the new Village Headman. I told him about you, so you and your wife are safe from now on," asserted Xiao Zhan. "Also, soon the Crown Prince will visit you," Xiao Zhan added. Nianzu once again thanked him for saving them today. 

"It is my duty towards a Prince. Though the Emperor does not want this for the Crown Prince, we are ready to even go against the Emperor's orders," stated Xiao Zhan, keeping a tiny smile on his lips. Nianzu nodded his head and looked at Huo Jin. 

"Thank you, Huo Jin. I will never forget the favor you did to me," Nianzu lowered his eyes. 

"The Prince is embarrassing me. He is the one who gave me a second life. So, it is just a small part of his graciousness that I was able to return. I only worked to find you. General Xiao has done the rest of the work," asserted Huo Jin. 

Nianzu lifted his eyes and passed a smile to him. 

"We shall leave," Xiao Zhan asserted when Huo Jin volunteered to stay with Nianzu. 

"Pardon," both Nianzu and Xiao Zhan said at the same time. 

"This way I will be able to protect and serve his highness. I can even inform the Crown Prince about the Fourth Prince and we need not worry about anything," Huo Jin suggested to them. 

"People might get suspicious of the identity of the Prince," Xiao Zhan stated. 

"I will say that we two have studied together. Everyone has seen today how the Prince fought so, they would be a little doubtful of his identity. However, if I say that we two prepared for the Civil Services Exam together then the suspicions will die out," Huo Jin told them the entire plan. Xiao Zhan liked the suggestion of Huo Jin and told him to stay with the Fourth Prince and his wife. 

Nianzu did not refuse help this time because he wanted someone to be with them. Nianzu bowed again in front of General Xiao, who turned and left the house. The people gave him the way and had also lowered their heads. 

The soldiers had also walked after their General. Quan Bo, Luo Hai, and Ye Fang quickly came towards Nianzu. "How is Sister Chun? Is she alright? Shall I call the physician?" Quan Bo asked Nianzu. 

"She is resting… not in a good state. It will take time to recover from this," Nianzu told him. "The Physician is not needed. Thank you for asking," Nianzu replied. 

"We were scared to death when we found out that such a thing happened to your wife. Then you lifted the sword, which scared us more. Forgive us for not raising our voices. You were lucky today that General Xiao was on the inspection of this village. Though, it benefitted us all. We are finally free from an evil Village Headman," stated Ye Fang.

The other villagers had also come to the yard asking Nianzu about his wife. Huo Jin stepped forward and told them that Chuntao was resting. "Please come tomorrow. Give some time to the family," Huo Jin requested. The people understood and started to leave. 

Huo Jin came towards Nianzu and saw the gazes of Nianzu's friends at him. 

"Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Huo Jin, the childhood friend of Nianzu. We both studied together. I work in the Han Military and fortunately met my friend after so many years," Huo Jin stated. 

"I am Quan Bo. This is Luo Hai and--"

"I am Ye Fang. We all work together in the bookshop. It is our pleasure to meet you," he completed the words and bowed a little. 

"Let's get along with each other. I hope you all will take care of me," Huo Jin asserted. 

Luo Hai confusedly looked at him. "Do you not want to go back? Your words are a little confusing," he raised the doubt. 

"I will live here with my best friend," Huo Jin replied to him. They were surprised to hear this. 

"What about your job and family?" Quan Bo asked. 

"I had no family. Nianzu saved me once, so I had promised to repay his kindness if we ever met before we turned adults and separated our ways," Huo Jin pronounced. Nianzu was impressed by the way he made those three believe his words. 

"Such a loyal friend you are!" Ye Fang stated. 

"I am going inside. You shall continue," Nianzu stated.. He ascended the stairs and walked inside the room where Chuntao was resting.