Married To The Cruel Crown Prince

Huo Jin furrowed his brows together upon hearing Lei Wanxi, who was teasing him.

"Prince Wanxi, I do not," Huo Jin replied. They heard footsteps and saw Xu Wenhai coming towards them, who greeted the Sixth Prince.

"Minister Xu, you here?" Lei Wanxi asked and saw a scroll in his hand. "What is it?" He curiously gazed at that scroll.

"It's a petition to punish Liang Wu, Your Highness," Xu Wenhai replied.

Huo Jin gaped at him. So, Xu Wenhai did not lie to him the previous night. Oppositely, Lei Wanxi was confused to hear about it.

"Who is Liang Wu?" Lei Wanxi queried him.

"He publicly harassed Miss Yin Na last night, Your Highness," Xu Wenhai answered. Lei Wanxi was worried to hear it and he asked him to explain.

"Huo Jin, what happened with Sister Yin Na?" Lei Wanxi asked him, who was glaring at Xu Wenhai.

He understood that something big happened last night. Was the Emperor's verdict not enough for people in Luoyang? How could someone go against the orders of the Emperor?

"There is no need to file the petition," Lei Wanxi stated. "His Majesty's decision was clear that whoever will repeat such a mistake and harass the women this way, he will be beheaded in the middle of the market," he reminded Xu Wenhai, who nodded.

"But since His Majesty is not in the capital, I need to file a petition first," asserted Xu Wenhai.

"Give it to me. I will give it to Sister…" he shook his head and corrected himself, "the Empress. In the absence of the Emperor, Her Majesty will make the decision."

Lei Wanxi took the scroll from Xu Wenhai and told him to leave. "You should be with Sister Yin Na at this moment. Don't leave her side," he thought to put oil in the fire and narrowly gazed at Huo Jin.

"Miss Yin Na and I are not marrying each other, Your Highness. I am not worthy enough to be with her," Xu Wenhai affirmed.

Lei Wanxi was shocked to hear the confession of Xu Wenhai. Just two days ago, he told Lei Wanxi that he liked Yin Na. What happened suddenly? He had thought to tease Huo Jin to bring out his true feelings, but he could no longer do that! It worried him because Ex-General Wang Fuxing would again look for another proposal for Yin Na.

"Miss Yin Na likes Huo Jin," Xu Wenhai said and it startled both Huo Jin and Lei Wanxi. "You should not let her go to another man," Xu Wenhai advised him.

Lei Wanxi's jaw dropped down as he heard him. It was not what he had ever imagined! Xu Wenhai was telling Huo Jin to hold Yin Na's hand! It truly astonished him.

"I shall take my leave, Your Highness," Xu Wenhai said humbly and left the place.

Lei Wanxi glanced at Huo Jin and asked him to explain.

"What happened between these two? Xu Wenhai was crazy for her," he said with a bewildered expression.

"Your Highness, Yin Na got angry as Xu Wenhai said a few bad things about me. In his eyes, I am someone who should have died," Huo Jin asserted.

"So, Sister Yin Na refused to marry Minister Xu because of this reason?" Lei Wanxi queried him.

"Yes. She found it disrespectful," Huo Jin said.

"Sister Yin Na took it in her respect. Why don't you accept her feelings? It is tough to find a woman who will raise her voice this way. Xinyue never stood for you. Remember, she went against you when her real identity was exposed," Lei Wanxi reminded him.

"That was not love. But with Sister Yin Na, you can feel that love. I still wonder why you do not want to accept her," Lei Wanxi looked at him confusedly.

Getting no response from Huo Jin, Lei Wanxi sighed.

"Your Highness, I need to go home," Huo Jin said and bowed, before leaving. He hopped on the horse and left for the Wang Residence.

Lei Wanxi put his hands behind his back and then went inside.

Huo Jin pulled the reins as he found three masked men in front of him. They had swords in their hands. Huo Jin found that no one was around since he had taken the shorter route which was isolated from the people.

Huo Jin turned the horse back when found two others behind him. "Who are you?" He asked with a skeptical gaze when they got down from their respective horses. Huo Jin also got down and took backward steps. He thought to run into the forest when one of them threw the dagger towards him.

Huo Jin swiftly moved left and then turned back. He ran into the forest while those five masked men chased him.

Huo Jin had no weapon with him, so he could not fight with them instead of running away. He looked back and saw that they were close to them when he got kicked from the front and fell to the ground.

His hands got bruised as they hit against the uneven surface.

The masked man at his front attacked him with the sword in his hand when Huo Jin kicked his right knee. He fell, and Huo Jin took it as a chance.

He swiftly stood up and dodged the masked man's next attack by hitting him with a stone from behind.

He took the sword from him and fought with the other four. His sword skills were better than those masked men, so he easily overpowered them. He slit their throats, keeping one alive.

He moved his mask away and asked him who sent them. But before he could speak, a speeding arrow killed him.

Huo Jin turned around to look when the arrow hit him right below his shoulder, just above his chest.

"These five useless servants!" The man muttered in anger, who shot an arrow towards Huo Jin.

Huo Jin fell on his knees and lifted his head to look. His vision had turned blurry and found a familiar face.

"Li-Liang Wu," he murmured and got unconscious, lying on the ground.

Liang Wu chuckled and put his right foot on his chest. "Die! You lowly bastard!" He spat at him. More blood oozed from the spot where the arrow had hit him.

"How dare you hit my face?" Liang Wu screamed and applied more pressure on Huo Jin's chest.

His friends pulled him back and told him to run. "Why should I run? I need to kill him," Liang Wu tried to leave from their grips.

"We saw the soldiers coming here," one of them said. Liang Wu was shocked to hear it.

"What? They never come here," Liang Wu said.

"It's their training period. Let's run before we get caught," the other one said. Liang Wu quickly threw the quiver and ran with his two friends.

~~~~~~~

Sheng Li and Jian Guozhi entered the famous cloth house, where yesterday Nianzu was denied entry. They had both gone as the workers with huge sacks on their backs.

Earlier, they had found out that a few workers were hired to put the rice sacks in the storehouse of the cloth house.

Lord Lian's men had converted the cloth house to a ration shop from where he had decided to sell rice to the people, at a much cheaper rate.

Sheng Li and Jian Guozhi put the sacks on the floor. They heard the workers whispering among them about the lower the rice rate.

"Lord Lian is a great person. He thinks so much about us poor people. The recent tax hike on rice made many of us forget rice for some time," one middle-aged man said.

Sheng Li got puzzled. "But why did the rice tax get a hike? The rice is available at a cheaper rate in Luoyang," he raised his voice.

"Are you new to this town?" Another one asked.

"Yes. We recently shifted to this town," Jian Guozhi answered on behalf of Sheng Li. "We are confused why the tax on rice is more here," he said calmly.

"A few months back, black marketing of rice was done by high officials. It became difficult to afford it, even for the middle class," a young man replied.

Jian Guozhi recognized the voice. It was the same person, who impressed him in the fish market.

"Zhe Yan," Jian Guozhi murmured as he recalled his name.

"However, I think it was Lord Lian, who had his hands behind it," Zhe Yan said and walked away.

"Zhe Yan! This kid!" another man shouted his name, but he did not stop.

"Don't mind his words. The officials usually do black marketing and suck the blood of people like us," the same man replied. "Lord Lian has announced free taxes if we will support him. You two shall support him too. Ask your families too."

Jian Guozhi nodded his head and took Sheng Li, whose mood was already ruined. He took him to the backyard of this new ration shop.

"Who is this Lian? He is fooling my people, and I want to burn him alive for this," Sheng Li muttered in anger.

"Do you think you can burn Lord Lian alive?" They both heard a voice and got intimidated for a second.