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Hua Hua You Long - Volume 1 - Chapter 9.1




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Hua Hua You Long Chapter 9 Part 1: Faded Cry


Shady trees slumbered in the still spring air, the lack of wind making the warmth almost uneasy.

A dark silence blanketed the Datong palace in the hours before dawn, the gentle moonlight stringing its way into a small room in the inner court and illuminating a bed and the sweat covered face of the person who laid on it.

Although asleep, Lu Cang's face was contorted into a unsightly expression while lying on a clearly comfortable bed.

"Jing...Don't..." Finally waking from his nightmare, he jerked upright and shoved aimlessly, his face panic stricken - only to find that he had called a certain name in his disorientation, a name he should never have called out.

Thankful that it was just a dream, Lu Cang took in gulps of cool air and tried to calm himself, then slowly gathered his clothes to his body before moving to stand by the window.

The moonlight was dim, and the scenery that was vibrant in the day was now a monotonous shadow, and thinking of all the chaos in the last half month, he could not help but sigh.

The empress' father, and simultaneously the emperor's uncle, Xuanyuan Yongyi, was in prison under accusation of treason for the past two weeks. Emperor Jing Zong used interrogation as a cover to stay with him day and night and rumours were going around the palace, but still no one dared to challenge the emperor. Lu Cang had witnessed their intimacies and he himself knew what those 'interrogation sessions' really were.

Hugging, kissing, and then there was also....

Obscene whispering, touching, climaxes brought by a mixture of pleasure and pain - although these memories were rather far away, the lingering tingle of Jing's touches always made Lu Cang's body temperature spike.

But no, he would never admit that the chaos and excitement from the past had caused all these.

Lu Cang thought of the time he still loved himself, the time before he got drunk on Jing. Shame consumed him from the bottom of his heart, and he wanted nothing more than to rip this entire horror-filled episode from reality, including his own ignorance and his one-sided emotions.

Even if he was the passive one a the beginning of their relationship and suffered pain and humiliation underneath Jing, that man was as beautiful as a fairy and soon , his face was imprinted in Lu Cang's heart and his occasionally gentle caresses made Lu Cang finally fall into his graceful yet firm embrace. Lu Cang started to make efforts to attract Jing like some kind of woman, and even under Jing's constant bullying, he eventually developed some feelings and completely lost track of the proud bandit king he once was, his once arrogant and domineering aura simmered to a dusty residue.

At this point, Lu Cang felt he should be grateful to Xuanyuan Yongyi - although Jing's fiery feelings for that man had pushed Lu Cang from a beautiful dream into the depths of despair, he at the same time also pulled Lu Cang out of a drowning pit of addiction - he has let Lu Cang look at everything from end to end with a clear mind, and lead him to realise all his emotions were self-righteous, a coping mechanism for the embarrassment he had gone through after his majesty the emperor had brought him in like some sort of jester to entertain himself with after the departure of his old lover and trampled all over his dignity, straining every ounce of self-respect from Lu Cang.

So Lu cang, at a loss of what to do, shamefully gathered what pride he could from being the emperor's male plaything.

Tightly clenching his fists, Lu Cang's face twisted into a look of embarrassment and hurt - in the past two weeks, Jing had totally forgotten about his existence. He had abandoned all state matters and indulged in Xuanyuan Yongyi, enjoying the thrill of the conquest, and if not for his little brother (I think his name is Zheng or something) ruling in his stead, the fearless and shameless ministers would have already come clambering.

The moon that hung above the horizon was crescent in shape, and it made anger flood Lu Cang's mind. The night of the full moon was approaching, and he seriously doubted that Jing would initiate anything to alleviate the symptoms of the Bixiao - if not for that damned drug, he would have long ago been on the road back to Hangzhou.

The only way to do it was to seek Jing out, persuade him to give him the antidote and let him go, then Lu Cang could truly be done with this whole mess.

Anyway, now that Jing had the real thing, a lousy substitute like Lu Cang no longer had any use.

Lu Cang desperately told himself to remain clam, remain calm, but his heart was still painfully twisted at the fact he was only something to be used, broken, and thrown away.

Take it as a lesson - never put your heart in anyone else's hands, and never overestimate your position in their heart - Lu Cang knew if he were to ever let himself be put into such a dangerous situation again, it would be the end for him.

Quietly solidifying his resolve, he decided that he would find Jing and get the antidote tomorrow.

He did not for the life of him want to ever see Jing again, but it was necessary to stop his pain, and if he didn't carry out his plans he would be hopelessly trapped in this situation forever.

He made up his mind and laid back down on the bed, gently closing his eyes although he knew sleep would never come. He knew no one would care, but he hoped that he could hold his composure in front of Jing the next day.

.......

Time painfully trickled by and slowly, the first rays of sun entered the small room and Lu Cang struggled to open his tired bloodshot eyes. The night was indeed sleepless -  and all because of that man that had long ago forgotten about his existence.

After washing up, Lu Cang specially picked robes of a bright colour in hopes of making himself look less depressed.

He absentmindedly stuffed some breakfast into his mouth before trailing slowly towards Xizhen's residence, which had now become the place where Jing indulged himself.

It was the place Lu Cang had avoided at all cost for the past two weeks - the gardens were beautiful as ever and the arch of the bridge contrasted elegantly with the spring sky and a few dozen guards surrounded the residence, protecting the emperor and the secret he hid inside.

Lu Cang stopped in front of the first line of guards and felt his body go cold - whether it was because he was scared or hurt he did not know.

Trying to make his voice sound calm, he spoke to a guard , " Lu Cang requests and audience with his majesty. Big brother, please relay the message..."

The guard cast him a cold glace and Lu Cang felt as if he had been stabbed a thousand times and then stomped violently on,

"Oh, I'll tell a chamberlain to pass the message, please wait here."

After Lu Cang had mulled over killing himself ten thousand times, the messenger finally returned.

"There is an emergency at the military frontier, his majesty has been gone since dawn." His sharp voice pierced throuh Lu Cang's calm facade, and his next words jerked Lu Cang back into a huge cloud of confusion, "but prince Yongyi requests your presence, he has some questions for you."

"...Hah?" A nameless sorrow flooded Lu Cang's systems, he really did not want to see the face of that person. However, guards moved to stand on either side of him and eyed him up and down threateningly and he had no choice but to comply and follow the eunuch across the lavish bridge, into the courtyard.

If he could not beg Jing, he may as well beg the prince that Jing spoiled - Yongyi probably wanted him to leave, and he'd rather Yongyi tell Jing about his departure than talking to Jing himself.

Without any more hesitation, he followed the eunuch to the building where Jing and Yongyi had done things right in front of him.

The halls were lined with indescribably splendid carvings and towering pillars - the place he had witnessed the burning passion between Jing and Xuanyuan Yongyi, and this fire also charred Lu Cang's heart.


Life is a dream - he followed the eunuch up a flight of stairs to the bedroom on the second floor, wave after wave of uneasiness breaking against his heart.

"Prince Yongyi, imperial guard Lu has arrived. " The eunuch bowed to the heavy brocade curtain of the room, his humility telling of the respect shown to this mysterious prince.

"Come in, " Yongyi's voice, though weighed upon heavily by weariness, sounded better than the last time Lu Cang heard him.

The chamberlain seemed a little hesitant. Xuanyuan Yongyi raised his voice, "let imperial guard Lu in, you go back first,"

"But," the chamberlain was reluctant to defy Jing's orders and refused to leave.

"I told you to go back, do you hear me!?" Xuanyuan Yongyi was royalty himself, his intimidation was of a special kind. The chamberlain panicked and quickly withdrew.

Lu Cang pulled the heavy curtain aside and took a step forward -  although he was psychologically prepared, the sight that greeted him made him feel as if a pot of cold water had been emptied over his head, chilling him all the way to his toes.

Xuanyuan Yongyi no longer looked anything like a hero, but didn't look anything like the typical male pet Lu Cang had expected either - his hair was scattered as he laid on a few satin lined pillows, and a flimsy coat was haphazardly draped over his body, doing little to hide the stark red marks all over him - Lu Cang canted his head to the side. He knew those marks all too well.

Xuanyuan Yongyi's face was gaunt and pale as he eyed Lu Cang.

Lu Cang squeezed out a smile and bowed, "Lu Cang greets your highness."

He motioned for the bandit to come closer and sit be the edge of the bed.

The air of the room was thick with evidence of what had transpired and it made Lu Cang feel claustrophobic. He tried hard to to look at Xuanyuan Yongyi, his face paling the longer he sat still, breathing in the filthy air.

"I think -- you know who I am, I also know who you are. " Xuanyuan Yongyi was clearly much older than he, and the gap between the two made Lu Cang feel even more awkward now that he had raised this topic of conversation.

"Simply put, I know why you're looking for Jing now..."

"How do you kn--", halfway through his sentence, Lu Cang suddenly thought of the things Jing did with him, and Jing was unlikely to hide anything from Yongyi - he clamped his mouth shut and felt like biting off his own tongue.

Xuanyuan Yongyi laughed deeply, "I don't have much to say. Very simple, I can give you the antidote to the Bixiao drug if you bring me something in exchange!"

"What do you need?" What was there left in the world that he needed and Lu Cang had?  Lu Cang coldly laughed at himself, but asked anyway.

"Very simple, help me find a poison that has no antidote....preferably one that doesn't cause too much pain..."

"You..." Lu Cang jumped up from the bed, the first thing he thought of was that Yongyi wanted to poison Jing.

"No, you've misunderstood," Xuanyuan Yongyi clearly saw through him, and busied himself with denying the accusation, "I dare not make such a move on Jing, the poison is for myself."

"Ah..." Lu Cang was surprised - Yongyi looked totally calm, completely unlike anyone who'd want to commit suicide.

"This is the best for the both of us, you can get cure the poison in your body, get rid of the person you hate and take revenge on that ungrateful Jing..."

"What ungrateful- " He wanted to save a little face, but remembered the bitterness in his heart and swallowed his defense.

"But why do you want to kill yourself?" He was puzzled and changed the direction of the conversation, questioning Xuanyuan Yongyi instead.

Before he had known Jing, he was a simple and happy person, but even after all that he had went through, the idea of suicide was still inconceivable and he could not understand Xuanyuan Yongyi's request.

"Why do you... you mean you don't even have that little bit of courage left?" Lu Cang felt strange. He didn't have any particularly good memories with the man, but he knew Xuanyuan Yongyi did a lot for the Datong dynasty and brought prosperity to the empire and even in  his current situation, Lu Cang could not begin to think of anything worthy of attempting suicide.

Xuanyuan Yongyi heard him and hesitated for a moment, then gestured to the thin quilt covering his body, "help me lift it."

Lu Cang, full of doubts, reached forward apprehensively and could not help but gasp - the parts of Xuanyuan Yongyi's body that were previously hidden were covered in dark bruises, disconcerting on many levels - but he had no time for wallowing in self pity and pushed himself off the bed, "You--"


Xuanyuan Yongi bitterly smiled, an indescribable expression on his face - his hands were tied behind him by strong ropes to the bed, his feet also secured in both directions. His thin underclothes scarcely added any decency to the extremely obscene picture.

Lu Cang was no stranger to such situations, but still found the sight wholly difficult to stomach.

"Do you really think Jing only knows how to simply love me?" Xuanyuan Yongyi's face crumbled, leaving no semblance of the Prince Yongyi who fought bravely on the battlefield and killed enemies.

Lu Cang quietly put the quilt back into place, his heart a roiling ocean. He could no longer remain upright on his own and slumped into a chair beside the bed.

"I may as well die... I cannot face my ancestors if I live like this, I can't face my brother the emperor, I can't face my wife and my daughter," tears trembled on the edge of Xuanyuan Yongyi's eyes, "Jing-er had been affectionate to me since young and stayed close to me until he grew up, but I never really knew the real reason behind it, to the point where my brother begged me to betroth Zhen-er to him and I offhandedly agreed...I never once suspected that... suspected..." , Xuanyuan Yongyi could not find the words to describe Jing's messed up emotions towards him, and trailed off.

Note: Here he calls Jing 静儿Jing-er and Xizhen 真儿zhen-er. -er is something like xiao-, a term of endearment to add to a person's name. It's mostly used to refer to a younger person or a person the user has fostering/paternal/maternal relationships with. Also, I don't think anyone dares to call Jing Xiaojing, he'll have them put to death ahaha

"On the day Xiaozhen returned, I drank a bit too much wine and Jing kept pestering me into bed with him, then...then...", he trailed off again.

"After that night, I considered for many days and wanted to break off all connections with him, but I still had to think of Zhen-er who had to stay by his side, and I had no intentions to submit either. The only way was to escape, but who knew he could be so persistent... ai, now that I'm in this situation, Zhen-er must be so embarrassed..."

Although Lu Cang was not a father himself, he roughly understood Xuanyuan Yongyi's sentiments to his daughter.

"Then, your wife..."

Xuanyuan Yongyi paled further, "The weather can be harsh, Xiaolan...her body was weak and it didn't take much time for sickness to take over...", he choked on his words, voice almost breaking.

Note: Xiaolan is his wife. Lan is part of her name/ her name. He uses Xiao- to refer to her.

"Lu Shaoxia, you're still in a good position!" His eyes lit up like a quiet flame in the middle of a dark night and stared determinedly at Lu Cang's face. Lu Cang felt a little cold under his intense gaze and could not bring himself to say anything.

Note: Yongyi calls Lu Cang 路少侠lushaoxia. 路=lu, his surname. 少侠=shaoxia, something like young hero or great person who is also young? young great person? something like that?

No matter how much he though about it, he had never considered that Jing and Xuanyuan Yongyi's relationship ran so deep. Even without saying it, Lu Cang could guess that the "one night" Xuanyuan Yongyi mentioned referred to the horror of being forced into bed by Jing. That much was obvious, and it was clearly the only thing that could make Xuanyuan Yongyi, who was the leader of ten thousand people, forgo his status as prince and flee across the border.

Note: "ten thousand" is used to refer to a great big number, not necessarily to the same order of magnitude.

Lu Cang thought it over - give him a poison pill in exchange for the antidote, there was little risk for him. He could get rid of the Xuanyuan Yongyi whom Jing was in love with, and at the same time free himself from Jing's grasp and forever forget about the hurt he has endured.

Everything seemed perfect.

Xuanyuan Yongyi waited for his reply, but Lu Cang's heart was in a mess and he was unable to utter a word.

"Lu Shaoxia...", agitated at Lu Cang's silence, Xuanyuan Yongyi could not help but speak first.

The silence continued.

Finally, Lu Cang gently nodded his head, "I'll go back to my room and get it for you."

As if he had never expected that Lu Cang would agree, Xuanyuan Yongyi smiled, "Thank you...thank you...You have no idea how much I appreciate it..."

Lu Cang himself unconsciously smiled back - there was actually someone so eager to end his own life, and was so grateful to anyone who would help him.

As he came out from the small building, Lu Cang felt as if he was in the middle of an inescapable nightmare - he never expected that Jing's feelings towards Xuanyuan Yongyi was nothing but his own wishful thinking.

In an odd reflection of his own situation, the person Jing loved did not love him.

Lu Cang wanted to laugh, but there was nothing to laugh about, and a few moments found him stumbling back to his quarters in a daze.

He quietly retrieved his medicine pouch from a box by his side and poured out a small red pill - it was a very potent poison, and few people carried these things around.

He sat quietly for awhile, then made up his mind. He held the little brocade pouch to his chest and packed some other things to take with him, then prepared to return to Xuanyuan Yongyi.

The guards already recognised him, and besides, no one dared to intercept Prince Yongyi's guest, so he managed to slip back into the bedroom with relative ease.

Xuanyuan Yongyi saw him coming and his lackluster face brightened up. Lu Cang slipped him the little red pill and a smile passed over his lips.

"The antidote to the Bixiao?" Lu Cang asked.

Note: 碧宵Bixiao = name of the drug. it means Jade Night.


Xuanyuan Yongyi gestured to a cupboard at the corner of the room , " It's in a jade box, you'll see it once you open it."

"That guy really tells you everything...", Lu Cang did not even know why he said that.

Xuanyuan Yongyi smiled understandingly.

Lu Cang slightly lowered his head.

"I'll feed you the poison now, it will take effect in about an hour, so I'll have time to escape," Lu Cang said simply, administering the poison into Xuanyuan Yongyi's mouth.

An hour was more than enough to get him far away from the capital - but he could no longer return to Lucang Shan and he had to quickly notify his brothers to move elsewhere.

Note: 露苍山 Lucangshan is the name of the mountain Lu Cang lives on. His name is written as 路苍, which is different from the mountain but has the exact same pronunciation. He's either named after the mountain or the mountain's named after him. I personally think it's more likely he's named after the mountain because he was found there/brought up there (it's implied he's an orphan).

After the deed was done, Lu Cang left the building and went to a secluded corner of the Forbidden City. He ensured that no one saw him, leapt to the top of a tree and over the walls of the palace, silently landing in an empty street on the other side of the wall - escaping the palace was pretty easy for him, but he still felt uneasy.

With agility, he used his air kung-fu to speed toward the city gate. An hour, he had the advantage of one hour before Xuanyuan Yongyi would find out...

What he gave Xuanyuan Yongyi was not poison - he was not against killing the man and he had initially really intended to do it - but the atmosphere of the room, so charged with insanity and desire, rendered him unable do it for real.

That man was the person Jing loved with all his heart.

He didn't want to ever get involved with Jing again, so he also spared his lover.

There was nothing connecting him to Jing any longer. Lu Cang felt more alive than he had in a very long time, and in an incredible display of nimbleness, he flew towards the gate with speed that gained him the title of 'Sky Eagle'.

The past few months had him in confusion and Lu Cang only blamed himself - he clearly had the body of a man, but not the poise of a man. He had softened allowed himself to be torn apart in front of Jing like some kind of infatuated maiden.

The sleepless nights he endured made it even funnier - now that he thought about it, he was a dignified man, but because of another man's indifference towards him, he was unable to sleep. For the longest time, he had been just one huge sick joke.

He had to thank Xuanyuan Yongyi for appearing and cutting short his flowery dreams. Although it was cruel, it helped him open his eyes and stopped him from slowly drowning in that soft, warm embrace.

The gates of the Datong empire appeared in front of his eyes. As long as he could get past those gates, he could fly out of Jing's grasp - he'd put the horizon between both of them and never see Jing ever again.

He slowed down and strolled toward the gate so as not to rouse suspicion - what's there to worry about, Lu Cang laughed at his own guilty conscience. The thing he gave Xuanyuan Yongyi was not poisonous at all, nothing could go wrong.

But nothing is ever certain --

Lu Cang was only half a mile from the gate prematurely rejoicing over his separation from Jing when the rumbling sound of hooves pounding the ground resonated through the quiet streets. The sound of a thousand approaching troops and horses was engulfing, and the faces of the soldiers in the watch tower abruptly changed, panic taking over.

Lu Cang turned his head and saw dozens of mounted troops hurtling from one end of the street towards him, and leading all of them was a figure cloaked in silk with eyes of terrifying fury, eyes that stared directly at him - Jing.

Without thinking, Lu Cang's body moved on its own to fly towards the gates.

Just run, just run -- although Lu Cang didn't exactly know what he was running from, he knew he definitely had something to do with the hoard of pursuing soldiers.

Jing knitted his brows together and took to the air as well, soaring forward like a meteor. While chasing Lu Cang, he yelled to the guards outside the city, "Shut the gates now!"

Even though none of the guards recognised the emperor himself, they recognised the clothing of the royal guards that rode behind him and scrambled to push the gate from both sides.

Lu Cang felt his heart start burning and desperately pushed forward, closing in on the narrowing gap between the gates. He knew he could slip past just in time, just in time -

Jing reached out for Lu Cang - his long fingernails harshly grasped his shoulders and gave it a violent yank, drawing blood.

The city gates boomed shut and Lu Cang, bleeding profusely, slumped onto the ground. He saw the sky spin wildly above him before finally collapsing at Jing's feet.

Before he even had the chance to open his eyes and access the situation, Jing, like a violent storm, poured all his anger out on Lu Cang's body...

Lu Cang writhed and thrashed from side to side in an attempt to escape Jing's savage beatings,but after Jing kicked the most vulnerable area of his lower body, he was powerless to resist and lay limp on the ground. His clamped his head down to protect his dislocated right arm and gritted his teeth, enduring Jing's cruelty.

After the savagery swept past, Jing looked at him with a sudden, chilling composure.  Lu Cang had not said anything, but the attack stopped nonetheless.

The torture was far from over.

He yanked Lu Cang's disheveled long hair, forcing him to look look up.

"Why? Why?"

"Tell me, why did you poison... why did you kill Yongyi?" His beautiful face was twisted with anger. Everyone left a ten pace radius between themselves and the two, afraid that the emperor's rage would so much as brush against them.

.................

End of Part 1



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