1
"Grandma, grandpa, I'm off," yelled Yang Guang from the the door way of the shabby old shack. He adjusted the bandages covering his forehead and right eye before kicking open the flimsy door.
"Oh, ok darling. Don't forget to drop off lunch!" the raspy voice of a woman called out from another room.
"Ok," Yang Guang replied while walking out of the house, one hand holding a shovel and the other holding a basket. He walked down the dirt roads already filled with people in the early morning, earning a wave or two along the way. He smiled in response, quite enjoying the friendliness of a small town.
It was a surprise when Yang Guang, or as he was known, Er Lang, showed up at the village, in tattered clothes and on the brink of death, with only a necklace that he clutched the whole time. Before he could even call for help, he collapsed on the ground, blood trickling out of his forehead right in the town square. The townspeople were quick to help clean up his face and help carry him to a safe place, especially an old couple, granny Yuan and grandpa Lang.
At first they thought he was mute because he refused to talk, but soon he opened up a bit, talking occasionally. Before long, his good looks, hardworking attitude, and decent manners had won everyone over, even the ones suspicious of him.
Yang Guang almost felt guilty for not telling them.
Along the way, he walked past a small breakfast shop and the owner waved at him.
"Er Lang, care to get a meat bun?" she asked, smiling and tapping the steamer beside her.
"No thanks, jie jie, I'm not hungry, but thanks for the offer," Yang Guang replied, about to continue on his way when the shop owner started again.
"Ah, not even for free? I'll give you an extra two to give to granny Yuan and grandpa Lang," she said.
"Oh, then thanks jie jie," Yang Guang replied, shifting the shovel to his other hand so he could receive a bun.
The shopkeeper took a steamer and placed it into Yang Guang's hand.
"Careful, it's hot," she warned.
Yang Guang nodded before placing it in his basket for lunch alongside his breakfast from grandma and grandpa.
"Thank you jie, I'll make sure to eat it!" he called out before walking away. Gently humming in the spring breeze, Yang Guang enjoyed the scent of the flowers and the song of the morning birds. Quite a stark contrast to his old lavish life.
Yang Guang walked downhill for a while, the road getting bumpier and bumpier the further he got into the rural areas. When he got to the fields, most of the other farmers were there already. Yang Guang took the towel on his shoulder and wiped his sweat before going down toward the field to join them.
"Hey, little guy, hurry up! It's the first day of the year!" the leader of the farmers yelled.
"Coming!" Yang Guang yelled back, quickening into a jog toward the field. He set his basket on the ground and got to work, overturning the dry ground to loosen it up, just like the other people who were already getting to work.
Slowly but steadily, the dirt was loosened up all across the field and looked almost fertile enough to plant. Before the farmers started plucking weeds in the afternoon, there was a lunch break.
Yang Guang sat down to eat his breakfast and lunch, both untouched since the morning, and suddenly remembered to go back to his house and drop off lunch. Swiftly, he grabbed his basket and made his way back up the road and toward his house. Along the way, he gabbed his rice cake and ate while walking.
He waved at the shopkeeper who gave him the buns from earlier before finally arriving at his house.
"Grandma, grandpa, I'm back!" Yang Guang called out.
"Oh, Er Lang's back. Here, here, put the lunch on the ground," said an old man who was sitting on a dirt chair in the corner.
Yang Guang put the steamer from earlier on the ground and took a meat bun before turning around and getting ready to leave.
"I'm off, see you later," he called, but before he could get out of the front door, granny Yuan called out after him.
"Er Lang, I just heard from our neighbor that the crown prince of the Xi dynasty will be coming either today or tomorrow. Make sure you don't make any messes."
Yang Guang's eyes narrowed as his brain toyed with the idea of this news before ultimately responding with an "Okay."
Yang Guang didn't quite believe it, considering their neighbor Mr. Wang was wrong about quite a few things, big or small, but he had to admit, even the notion of a crown prince coming to his town was exciting to think about. Although he was excited, Yang Guang was also equally confused.
"Xi dynasty, not Sui? I thought fifth brother was emperor, which would mean it was still the dynasty of the Sui," Yang Guang muttered, looking down at the ground.
It took a very short time before Yang Guang got back to the fields and was ready for work.
'Hey, you're back. Quick, go prune some weeds," another farmer said to him.
"Ok," Yang Guang replied, not looking at him, his brain still stuck in the thought of this "crown prince of Xi." Although from far away, Yang Guang seemed to move fast and swift, if you get up close, you could see that his eyes were narrowed and had a far away look. If you had ever met Sui Yangdi in the past, you would know that this was a clear sign of him thinking.
But Er Lang was a completely different person than Sui Yangdi. After three years of living in the village, Yang Guang had barely ever had to narrow his eyes, save for once or twice while solving a problem. It almost hurt his eyes as of now.
"If my fifth brother isn't emperor, then that means someone else is. Who else led the rebellion against me?" Yang Guang quietly thought out loud.
"Hey, Er Lang what's up with you today? Feeling stiff after the winter?" Yang Guang's fellow farmer teased.
While thinking, Yang Guang had stopped picking weeds, instead his hands automatically moved under his chin, an even clearer sign of him being deep in thought.
As if just awoken from a dream, Yang Guang jolted up, his eyes widening as his heart rate sped up. However, quickly he calmed down, going back again to picking weeds. Bit by bit, the field was finally rid of its weeds, and now it was time to plant.
The farmers all gathered around to take some wheat to plant from a large basket of already ready to plant wheat. Yang Guang placed a few handfuls of the grain into his basket before methodically walking across the field, sprinkling a few grains every ten steps or so.
"Wait, it's gotta' be him. That rat," Yang Guang realized, finally picking up the clue as to who the emperor was.
Of course it was him. Who else could it have been except the general that led the final charge of Luoyang? Bah, after not having to use his brain after so long, Yang Guang had gotten dumb. From the scheming prince of Jin to a peasant, what a disgraceful fall.
However, Yang Guang had no time to lament about his past failures, as he was one of the last workers still in the field planting wheat. Quickening his pace, before long, Yang Guang had planted all his wheat.
He took his basket and scythe as he bid goodbye to the rest of the worker, and especially the leader, who was still planting a large basket of wheat, about a couple of times more than Yang Guang had planted.
"Bye, Mr. Yu!" he called out, waving.
"Ok, bye!" the man called back, barely looking up at Yang Guang. By now it was getting late, the last few rays of the sun barely peaking out from behind the clouds, and the crows of evening birds sounded, shrill as ever.
Yang Guang was making his way back home when he was stopped in his tracks b a large crowd standing at the edge of the road. Almost certain that it was the crown prince carriage-or at least hoping it was-Yang Guang tried pushing past a few people to get a view.
"Excuse me!"
"Ah, sorry!"
"Allow me to pass through," Yang Guang said, gently squeezing his way through the crowds of people.
When he got to the edge of the crowd, what he found wasn't the crown prince carriage, but rather a wreckage of it. It seemed as if the horses had gone completely wild, crashing into everything before ultimately running into the ground, bringing the golden carriage down with it.
The two horseman at the front were dead, their heads right on the ground, blood leaking out. In the middle of the overturned carriage was a small, sobbing figure, layers of fine cloth covering his body.
"Crown prince Ming," Yang Guang whispered.
The crowd was in shock, some almost traumatized by the sudden wreckage of the carriage, and whisperings were rising.
"Who is he?"
"Is that the crown prince?"
"What happened here?"
"The horses went crazy!"
For a second, Yang Guang ran a few possibilities through his head, before ultimately walking out into the middle of the road.
He knelt down before the crown prince, and upon seeing his old robes, Yang Guang immediately felt a searing anger, almost identical to the anger he felt as Sui Yangdi. But he repressed it not only because he was Er Lang, a supposedly kind person, but also because helping the crown prince would be greatly beneficial to him.
"Are you His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" Yang Guang asked, eyes fixed at the sobbing figure. He had a small, round face and delicate white skin, as if he was carved from jade. his eyebrows were thick, and his eyes, brimmed with tears were big and wide, like a doe's. He looked young, only about 23 if not younger.
Looks nothing like that rat general, Yang Guang couldn't help but think.
"Y-yes," he stuttered between sobs.
Yang Guang gently extended his hand and lifted the boy up, brushing his clothes off. And no surprise, it was the same white robes Yang Guang wore during his years as the prince of Jin, so much so that he knew where all the cloud embroideries were. The boy's hair was messy and his gold hairpin had gotten crooked during the crash.
Yang Guang examined his face and arms, finding a particularly deep gash in one of his arms, presumably from one of the sharp metal parts of the carriage.
"Can someone get a bandage for His Highness the Crown Prince?" he yelled.
The crowd quieted, before a lady, the village healer, took out a bandage from her bag. Yang Guang gladly accepted it, and bandaged the crown prince's cut.
"Does it hurt?" he asked, as if asking a child.
The crown prince nodded, his eyes still teary, although not as much as before.
"Well, looks like we can't use the horses and horsemen anymore," Yang Guang observed.
The crown prince looked so wronged that Yang Guang wanted to sigh. This crown prince reminded him of his brother, a useless prick who didn't deserve his title.
"My father the emperor's going to get worried, and I shouldn't do that," the crown prince muttered nearly incoherently.
"Well, I guess we can get some new horses," Yang Guang tried to comfort him, although he wasn't good at it.
"Those horses were expensive and well trained, so I don't know what happened," the boy sobbed.
Yang Guang offered the boy a hand.
"Can you walk?"
He nodded.
"Okay, that's good. Is anyone going to accompany me and the crown prince?" Yang Guang asked, looking at the crowd.
Nobody said anything.
"Well, tell grandma and grandpa I need to do something and I'll be back in a few days," he said before looking back at the boy.
"May I ask your name, Your Highness the Crown Prince of Xi?" Yang Guang asked.
"Ming-Ming WanFeng," he replied.
"Ming WanFeng," Yang Guang muttered. Who knew that someone as icy cold as the general could come up with such a poetic name?
"Okay, well then I'll be accompanying prince Ming WanFeng to Luoyang. I'll be back," Yang guang shouted toward the crowd.
"Ok, let's go," he said to Ming WanFeng, allowing him to lean on his shoulders as they walked.
"We'll get you back to Luoyang."
And also get me back to the throne.
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