His highness's Allure - Chap 33

Qi Changyi had lived in the palace his entire life. This was the first time he had seen a show where someone breathed fire; it was all very novel to him. His eyes shone with excitement.

“Wow, that was amazing!” He applauded and cheered along with the rest of the crowd. “Encore, encore!”

The tall man beside him suddenly lowered his head and whispered something into his ear, and Qi Changyi’s eyes lit up. He let himself be pulled out of the crowd.

Pei Zheng also squeezed out and followed them. The two figures, one big and one small, made their way toward a nearby street vendor.

The tall man handed Qi Changyi a stick of candied haws that was glistening with red sugar, and the little man received it carefully, as though it were a precious treasure.

“Try it.” The man’s voice was warm.

Qi Changyi nodded excitedly. He opened his mouth and stretched out his tongue to lick the shiny, sugary coating.

But before the tip of his tongue could touch the candied haws, a sudden gust of wind blew past the back of his hand, and the candied haws were sliced into tiny pieces and scattered into the air.

The tall man held Qi Changyi tightly against himself and blocked the flying pieces with his hand.

However, Qi Changyi was sweating coldly. The man took his hand and discovered that it had been cut up by the broken wooden skewer, and slivers of wood were stuck in the open wounds.

Blood flowed between his white fingers and dripped onto the ground.

The man saw that Qi Changyi was clearly in severe pain, his body was trembling violently, but he didn’t make a sound.

When he lifted his head again, there was a tall figure standing in front of the two of them. He had a strong graceful build and an unusually handsome face, but his eyes were colder than ice.

“Come here.”

Pei Zheng looked at Qi Changyi and commanded. His voice could have frozen someone to death with its iciness.

When he heard the familiar voice, Qi Changyi’s eyes immediately reddened. The pain in his hand was excruciating, it felt as though it had been broken.

Just as he was about to walk towards Pei Zheng, the pair of arms surrounding him tightened, and he was unable to take a step.

“And you are?” The man dipped his head in greeting.

Qi Changyi replied in a low voice, “Ah Mu Le, this is my Pei-gege, he’s the Prime Minister, he’s really amazing!”

The man called Ah Mu Le curled his lips into a smile. “Amazing? Not necessarily, he lost you so easily. If you come with me, I promise that I’ll never let you get kidnapped by bad guys.”

Although he was looking at Qi Changyi, every word was mocking Pei Zheng.

He was dressed like any other citizen of Qi, but he was much taller than the average person, as tall as Pei Zheng. However, he had a stocky build; a sharp, rough face; and deep eye sockets, which gave him a slightly wild but handsome appearance.

It just so happened that the barbarians were well-versed in creating incense, so it must have been him who took Qi Changyi from Young Master Wang.

To Pei Zheng, barbarians were nothing more than a group of savages and uncouth people. This uncouth person’s large hands were still resting on Qi Changyi’s slender shoulders; he could smash the little man flat if he so desired.

“Ah Mu Le, from the southwest barbarian tribe? Could it be that you are accompanying the other envoy to discuss the marriage alliance?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, do you know who that person you’re holding is? Do you have the balls to kidnap him?” Though Pei Zheng’s tone was light, it made one’s heart tremble with fear.

Ah Mu Le burst out laughing, “Lord Pei, don’t be angry. You can’t really blame me for this, I’m also acting under orders. If all you want is this person, then I’ll happily give him back to you. It’s just that, just now, Lord Pei was really too cruel. Look at his hand, it’s covered in cuts. Tsk, tsk, tsk, it must hurt a lot.”

Only then did Pei Zheng notice Qi Changyi’s ashen face and bloodless lips. When he saw that Qi Changyi was about to eat those candied haws given to him by a suspicious stranger, he was in a hurry and couldn’t control his strength.

Ah Mu Le gently patted Qi Changyi’s shoulder, “Kid, you should go back to your Brother Pei now. But be careful, and don’t let him hurt you like this again. I’ll see you around sometime.”

Qi Changyi glanced toward him before he walked to Pei Zheng’s side. He turned around again and waved to Ah Mu Le.

Seeing how unwilling he was to leave, Pei Zheng became even more enraged. They were merely two strangers; why was he so reluctant? It seemed that he had been too kind to the little man recently. He was really becoming too fearless, even running off with random barbarians.

After the little man had walked to Pei Zheng’s side, he quickly hid his injured hand behind his back.

Pei Zheng lifted his eyes and gave him a cold look, before he turned to leave, “Stay close.”

After he finished speaking, he strode away, and Qi Changyi hurried to catch up. They wove through the bustling crowds, and Qi Changyi stayed silent and kept his head lowered the entire time.

Ah Mu Le stood and watched as the two figures disappeared into the busy street. That little man was like a plush doll that was at the mercy of Pei Zheng’s incessant squishing and kneading.

But he had to admit that this little man that Pei Zheng had raised was indeed a rare beauty. He was both cute and seductive, but had a pure heart that was soft and sweet. He was like a little white rabbit; he made people want to protect him, but at the same time, they wanted to bully him until his eyes were red and he could no longer struggle…

At the rough-and-tumble southwest border, such beauties did not exist.

Ah Mu Le took a deep breath and cleared his mind. A figure stepped out of the dark alley beside him, dressed in a moon-white robe, a cold expression on his face.

“Fourth Highness, just now, why didn’t you reveal yourself to Pei Zheng? Could it be that the two of you have ulterior motives?”

Qi Changyi cast a sidelong glance at him, “Envoy Ah Mu Le, it was only by Royal Father’s order that I’m here to entertain you. The marriage alliance was Pei Zheng’s idea; it’s not good to gossip about your hero behind his back.”

Ah Mu Le shrugged indifferently. “I’m just curious, it’s fine if you don’t want to answer. It’s just that you asked me to rescue that little fool, and you also didn’t want to show yourself. The two of you do have the same lovely face…”

Qi Changyi interrupted him. “He’s my little brother. We have the same mother.”

Ah Mu Le was obviously a bit surprised. “But you two are hardly similar, apart from your looks, and it seems like you guys don’t have a very close relationship…”

Qi Changfeng’s face had turned murderous, so he quickly shut up.

“I’ve had enough of the city for one day. I will escort Envoy Ah Mu Le back to rest, and prepare to meet His Majesty tomorrow.”

Ah Mu Le found these Qi people to be extremely crafty and meticulous; they planned everything in the shadows and never revealed themselves in the process. It was a far cry from the simple-minded nature of the barbarians.

At this time, Pei Zheng, whose mind was the craftiest and the most meticulous, had a gloomy, stormy expression on his face. He turned into a deserted little alleyway. Then, he grabbed the little man behind him and shoved him against the wall.

Notes:

A reminder, we are in the country of Qi, think of them as mainland China. This dynasty is most likely based on Ming or Qing in its customs

Nooooooo, Changfeng needs to save Changyi from Pei Zheng nowww

Sorry, I’m doing a huge proofread session over the weekend, hopefully the clunkiness will be fixed~

Thanks for reading~