The Lecherous Prince and His Playmate [BL]

“Last one,” Tian Cao whispered as he held the spoon to her lips and his left hand under her chin.

She stared into his eyes as she opened her mouth. Tian Cao watched her with trained eyes and after she swallowed the last of the soup, he handed the spoon to the servant, who quickly left.

Wiping her mouth with a cloth, he asked, “Can we speak now?”

“I don’t know brother, you’ve done me a great favour by feeding me, although I didn’t ask you to or need you to.”

Taking her hand in his, he led her to the bed and sat her down—taking the space beside her. He stared at their hands for a moment, then looked at her and saw that she was looking down at their hands. “Tell me what you are thinking.”

“What I’m thinking?”

“Mn, you’ve been quiet and I know that someone like you has a lot to say.”

“Someone like me?”

“Yes, someone like you. You went above and beyond to catch Consort Kwon. You went as far as hurting Yerim in the process. You’ll be asked this question many times, and it’s already been three days since the funeral. Yerim is well, but you’re on the verge of leaving us behind and I don’t think I’m capable of letting you go so soon.”

“Letting me go?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you accept my hand in marriage? Everyone is talking about it, but what they’re also talking about now is that the one who will be my empress is crazy enough to kill her sister.”

Youxia sighed, then chuckled. “You shouldn’t listen to gossip brother, leave that for the old ladies.”

“But is it all gossip?”

“I wish it was,” she said with a sigh. Removing her hand from his, she wiped her tears away. That almost escaped. “I didn’t mean to hurt Yerim, initially I never planned to but as I was studying Consort Kwon, I realised that what’s more precious to her than father, is her daughter—I wish there was another way but I couldn’t find it.”

“You’re so cruel Youxia, how do you expect any of us to accept this? How will Yerim feel knowing the one that she cherished did this?”

“Who told her mother to plot against my father and me?”

“You could have said something.”

“To who? Father? You? I did what I thought was best for me. Do you not agree with me?”

“Why would I? Yerim is my beloved sister, just as you are.”

“Excuse me, your highness but I do not want to be your beloved sister!”

“And I do not want a murderer for a wife!” he said as he frowned. “I know you used me to lower your sentencing but believe me I will make sure father punishes you—you will not be allowed to get away with harming Yerim, who knows who could be next, me? My sister?”

“I’m not that heartless.”

“YOU ARE!”

Youxia stared at him in disbelief, then scoffed, “So? You found out that I used you and then? Is your heart broken? Poor Tian Cao, your life must be really simple that you’d think I’d care that you disapprove of how I do things—who do you think you are?”

“How dare you speak to me like this!”

“No, how dare you walk in here and think you know everything?”

“I DO NOT know everything. That is why I am here, trying to figure out why you’d go so far instead of asking for help.”

“What I do and how I think is my own doing. I will take responsibility for what I’ve done and I don’t expect you to understand me. You say I’m cruel, but I know I am not! If I wanted Yerim dead, I would have killed her. I didn’t need to tell you she was alive. I could have left her to die and she would have, but I wouldn’t have been the one to kill her. The one who lights the fire would have been responsible for it.”

Tian Cao’s eyes widened. She’s right. Yerim was in a deep sleep, and she would have died if she kept the information to herself. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes. “I hope you’ve said your prayers to the ancestors. I doubt you’ll be forgiven for this crime. You’ve accepted my hand in marriage, but who’ll want you marrying me? The whole court will be against it. Not even grandfather is happy with what you did.”

She scoffed. “You’re welcome to leave. I’m tired, and your voice is starting to irritate me.”

Staring at her, he shook his head. “You’ve changed.”

She glared at him, then fixed her expression and smiled. “No, your highness, I haven’t changed, you just don’t know me.”

“Fine, I’ll leave, but I’ll be back in the morning to make sure you eat.”

Squeezing her hands together after he left, Youxia got up from the bed and walked to the window. Opening it, she closed her eyes as she felt the cool breeze fan against her skin.

Sighing as she opened her eyes, she looked up at the sky. The night sky was here. A smile peeled at her lips into a sneer. ‘All is well, my dear brother. Don’t marry me, it’ll be the best decision you make.’

Closing the windows, she looked back at the chamber that became her prison. ‘This cruel princess will welcome a prince equally cruel but I will become Empress, it is my destiny.’

*

Tian Cao was walking through the hallways of the palace back to his chamber, still stuck on the determination in Youxia’s eyes that seemed like she looked down on him. With his mind in the clouds, he didn’t see the person standing in front of him.

He bumped into the person almost falling over but the person caught him, “Forgive me, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

When he got a good look at the person’s face, his eyes widened and quickly bowed. “Forgive me, your highness.”

Youxian raised a brow. “Where are your thoughts, Your Highness?”

He scratched the back of his neck, ashamed. “Far away. The palace has been turned upside down.”

Youxian nodded his head as he looked behind the prince. “Are you coming from your sister?”

He nodded.

Youxian picked up that he was feeling off, truthfully he didn’t care about this prince right now. “Your highness, I need you to know that I will not be marrying my daughter to you.”

Tian Cao frowned as he looked at Youxian. “I don’t understand.”

“You should.”

“But—”

“But nothing. And I do not want to discuss this. I have already chosen a husband for her, he is well suited to be with YOUR SISTER and as for you, I suggest you give up on my daughter. The others may accept this, but I will never and nor will your sister. She used you and she will keep using you. My daughter has a bright future and neither will you nor the counsel hinder her accomplishments.”

“Her accomplishments? Excuse me, your highness but you are talking about my future—“

“She’s nothing but a sister to you, and it shall stay like that. Now, and until you die. Youxia’s life will never belong to this place now if you will excuse me.” He said as he passed Tian Cao, leaving him to stand in the dimly lit halls of the palace.

Youxian’s confident strides disappeared around the corner.

He dropped to his knees, defeated. One thing he learned over these years is that out of all the people that surrounded him, there was one that he should be afraid of, and his father wasn’t one of them. ‘How am I going to fight against him?’

He looked around aimlessly as Youxia’s words echoed, ‘Poor Tian Cao, your life must be really simple that you’d think I’d care that you disapprove of how I do things—who do you think you are?’

‘That’s right, who do I think I am? How could I forget that he is her father? All this time I’ve been worried about everyone’s approval and even with father helping me, HER FATHER is the one who needs to approve. How could I have forgotten?

“Ah-Cao?” Chushan suddenly called.

When he looked at his grandmother, the tears he had been holding back while in Youxian’s presence trailed down his cheeks.

She helped him up, asking, “Why are you on the floor? What happened?”

Seeing the tears in his eyes, she asked, “Did someone harm you?”

He shook his head. He could still see Youxian’s disapproving look in front of his eyes. “Grandmother, you know it, right? I love Youxia. I’ve loved her since laying my eyes on her. I’ve tried—really, I’ve tried to forget her, but I can’t. Sh—she finally accepted my hand in marriage, so why? Why can’t I marry her?”

“Child, what are you talking about?”

He shook his head as he spit his sob in his palms, muffling it. Chushan grew worried, she pat his back asking, “Are you sick? Should we go to the physician?”

He shook his head, looking at her. He said, “No, no, I can’t let this happen. Youxia will marry me, no one else, no one else.”

Chushan stepped back after she was pushed out of the way. Her heart was pounding as she watched her grandson walk off with drunken steps. The look in his eyes wasn’t right, it was almost deranged.

She looked in the direction he had come from and quickly rushed over to the nearest eunuch who had been shadowing him.

Grabbing him by the shoulders, she asked, “Who was with him? Why does he look like that?”

The eunuchs had a duty to report to the emperor, not just anyone, but judging from the prince’s reaction and how his grandmother was worried, he slipped it in. “The Crown Prince and his Highness, Youxian, exchanged a few words.”

“Tell me what they are.”

“His highness said the crown princess is a sister to the crown prince and it shall stay like that.”