Prince and His Fool

Rong Zian could hear voices coming from blinding light and tried to open his eyes but they were too heavy as though slammed shut. Though his eyes were struggling, his hearing was intensified so he could clearly hear what the people near him were discussing.

"He's been out of it for two days your Highness, wouldn't it make sense to just kill him?" said the man in a deep course voice which he was familiar with. It was Ying Tie, the stupid mutt head suggesting to kill him. He didn't hear the prince's response but felt a gentle warm hand touch his forehead.

Fearing the prince might agree with his dump bodyguard, Rong Zian finally managed to open his eyes and defend himself, "I have been asleep for a couple of hours and you two are already planning my funeral," he said struggling to sit up straight. The prince tried to lend him a hand but Rong Zian declined, he couldn't bring himself to trust these two especially after their disagreement earlier.

The two people watched him stagger as he walked over to a small table at the end of the room. "Why are you so stubborn," said the prince as he forcibly grabbed his hand and helped him settle down onto the chair.

Turning to face Ying Tie, he commanded, "Get some rice congee and his medicine." Ying Tie dashed out of the room sensing the urgency in the prince's voice. In a matter of minutes, a maiden had served hot delicious congee and a bowl of smelly brown liquid which made Rong Zian frown in disgust.

Wu Yange took the bowl and handed it over to a sceptical Rong Zian, "here drink some, it will help you get better," but he wasn't convinced. Seeing how mistrustful Rong Zian was, he took a sip from the bowl to show him it was safe enough to drink. Because of his persistent, a weak Rong Zian ended up giving in. The taste was so bitter on his tongue that he wanted to stop at just a sip but the prince wouldn't let him. Wu Yange tipped the bowl and the rest of the bitter medicine gushed into his mouth.

"You will feel better in no time. Here eat some of this, you haven't eaten in two days," he said handing him the congee. In all of this Rong Zian was extremely confused, he couldn't understand why the prince was suddenly nice to him. In his gut, he knew there must have been a catch but he wasn't too keen on finding out.

As he playfully ate the congee, the prince couldn't help but ask, "You don't like it? I can tell them to make you something else," with concern in his eyes. He was fully aware of Rong Zian's high appetite but watching him eat as though forced, he couldn't help but worry.

"No, it's delicious. It's just that I am confused, have I really been unconscious for two days because to me it feels like it's only been a couple of hours," he replied still leery of the prince's actions.

Wu Yange kept silent for a while as he thought back two days ago when he found him lying on the ground lifeless but sweating profusely. For a moment he actually thought Rong Zian was dead but when he felt his pulse, he knew the man was stuck in a coma. He yelled for Ying Tie to find the royal physician but while he was gone Rong Zian began to bleed from his mouth. In a panic, he tried to wipe it off but Rong Zian reached out for his arm and wouldn't let go, it was evident from his face that he was terrified of something but wasn't waking up.

Wu Yange struggled to set himself free but an unconscious Rong Zian was now leaning on him with his full body weight while both his arms were tightly wrapped around his upper body. He could have engaged his full spiritual power to free himself but he was worried he might accidentally harm him. He only managed to separate from him when Ying Tie came back with the physician. The strongest man pried them apart but even for him, it was a struggle getting Rong Zian off the prince. He remembered Ying Tie's comment, "He's very weak when he is awake but apparently he gets stronger when he unconscious."

"Well you have been out for two days but it doesn't make sense to me how you can just pass out. Do you remember anything?" asked the prince wondering if he had any recollection of the side hug but the quizzical expression on Rong Zian's face answered the question. The guy had no idea how he hugged Wu Yange like a little girl hugging a plush panda.

Rong Zian shot up to his feet as though he had had an epiphany, "I know where they are!" he excitedly exclaimed as he searched around the table for a map. Wu Yange passed him the map as though he understood him and watched as he scribbled an unfamiliar symbol on the map three times. "Here, here and here that's where you will find them," he said pointing on the marked spots.

Squinting his eyes as though trying to make out the symbol on the map, he asked, "I see that's where the pieces are from the map but what kind of symbol is that? I have never seen it before," referring to the big X on the map.

Rong Zian frowned and looked at the map, he hadn't written any special symbol it was just an x to mark the spot but he figured the prince had never seen it before. "You are such a dud, you know that right? Why are you so worried about a symbol when I just solved the mystery?"

Feeling insulted the prince placed Rong Zian's bag on the table, the very same bag he had been duped out of by Da Niu and said, "I guess a dud like me couldn't have got this back for you." Rong Zian leapt up in joy as he checked if all his stuff was there. Now he was certain the prince had lost his mind, how could he be the same guy who strangled him a couple of days ago?

Ever since he woke up he had been eyeing a jar of wine that had been sitting on the shelf all this time so he grabbed it and shouted, "This calls for a celebration!" with the map in his other hand. The prince tried to take the jar away from him but an arrow flew between them, missing Wu Yange's fingers by merely an inch.

Rong Zian instinctively ducked under the table as a few more arrows flew around the room striking furniture. In such a stressful event he couldn't help but think of taking a sip but was disturbed when he felt a kick on his back causing him to fly across the room. A fuming prince attacked the assassin who was currently going after a cowardly Rong Zian who was currently crawling on the floor. He didn't even bother to unsheathe his sword as he took on the inferior opponent with his bare hands. The assassin flung his sword at him with great skill but still wasn't able to land a single blow apparently the prince was too fast for him.

A terrified Rong Zian finally stopped crawling and sat up whilst checking if his wine was still intact. Relieved to have not spilt a single drop while he was flying across the room, he gulped down the jar as he watched the two have at it. He could clearly see that the prince was toying with the man and that the fight wasn't going to last long. With minimum effort, Wu Yange kicked the man on his chest and he flew out of the room landing right at Ying Tie's feet. With a grin on his face, Ying Tie apprehended the man and led him away as the prince turned to Rong Zian.

"I will take that," he said as he grabbed the map from Rong Zian's trembling hands, "unbelievable, you had time to drink while you were under attack? What's the matter with you?" Rong Zian didn't respond, he just took another sip and stood up from the cold floor to sit on the bed. "I can't deal with you right now," continued Wu Yange turning to walk out.

Seeing that he was leaving, a wide-eyed Rong Zian stood up and tagged Wu Yange's sleeve nervously laughing, "Your highness, please take me with you," he said almost pleading but the prince gave him a piercing gaze before looking down at his sleeve between Rong Zian's fingertips. When he turned his gaze back at him, Rong Zian realized what he meant so he let go and straightened up his sleeve for him.

"Since we are friends and that assassin's friends might come back to kidnap me, can't you sleep here with me?"

Wu Yange scowled as the corner of his mouth twitched, he could only utter one word, "Shameless," as he turned to walk away.

Rong Zian wasn't giving in, he jumped in front of him to block his path and replied, "What's your filthy mind thinking, you aren't my type anyway? I will give you the bed and I will sleep on the floor, how's that?"

The prince took out a dagger and placed it on the table, "Scream first that's what you are good at and if no one comes to your aid, use this to defend yourself. You are wasting my time, I have an assassin to interrogate," he said pushing him out of the way.

"You are heartless Wu Yange!" yelled Rong Zian as he watched him walk away into the darkness. He frantically secured the door and windows but he still felt unsafe so he dragged the heavy table all the way to the door to use it as a barricade. He strategically placed books on the window sills to act as an alarm and as soon as he was satisfied with his work, he sat on the bed clutching the dagger in his hands.

Suddenly Rong Zian had a moment of realization that all this security wouldn't be able to stop a trained assassin from hacking him to death but he could at least die happy.

He turned the room upside down searching for another jar of wine, as though the gods had answered his prayers, he found three of them concealed on a shelf. It only took him twenty minutes to empty all three of them but by the last drop, he was extremely sloshed to the point of passing out.