3

That night, Yang Guang couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did. He tried to count sheep, think about happy things, and even not think at all, but just the thought of Luoyang would make his stomach churn.

When he thought he could finally fall asleep, it was already morning. Before he knew it, Ming WanFeng was shaking him awake, screaming at him to wake up.

"Er L-Lang ge! Wake up!"

Yang Guang rolled his eyes under his eyelids and groggily sat up.

"W-we need to go t-to Luoyang!" the boy yelled, desperate.

"Don't be so loud," Yang Guang said, standing up and checking to make sure grandma and grandpa were still asleep.

"Also, you're the crown prince. Why don't you just summon some workers or something?" Yang Guang asked, not looking at him.

"I-I left my n-notices at the palace," he said.

Yang Guang didn't even want the throne any more. As long as he could push off this crown prince, he was happy with anything.

"Why don't you just write a letter then?" Yang Guang asked, but instantly realized the stupidity in his question. There was no mail delivery, and for the time that the letter would take to deliver, they would probably already be at Luoyang.

Just as the crown prince was about to talk, Yang Guang cut him off.

"Never mind, ok. We're leaving after we eat. Especially you," Yang Guang said. For the first time in the past two days, the crown prince smiled and nodded.

Honestly, the crown prince looked quite charming when he smiled, his lips slightly trembling and his eyes squinted into a crescent. Yang Guang couldn't help but be reminded of his nine year old self.

Wordlessly, Yang Guang grabbed a pouch of money and walked off, opening the door and waiting for Ming WanFeng to close it. Yang Guang walked down the street and saw the little shop from a few days earlier. He waved to the shopkeeper turned around, gesturing for Ming WanFeng to follow him.

"Hi, jie, we're here to get some flour cakes," he said, passing a few coins into her hand.

"Two, one for you and one for the crown prince," she said, retrieving two flour cakes from the Frying pot.

"Thanks," Yang Guang said while passing a flour cake to Ming WanFeng.

"Your farming tools aren't with you, where are you going?" the shopkeeper asked.

"Taking him to Luoyang," Yang Guang replied.

"Tell me about it when you get back! I've always wanted to see the magnificent city of Luoyang," she said.

"I will," was all Yang Guang said before he walked away, the crown prince following behind him.

However, before Yang Guang set off on the path away from the town, he walked toward the small stables where a single horse was kept. This was the only horse in the village and only used for special occasions. Yang Guang tossed a piece of his flour cake into the horse's mouth before unleashing it and holding on to the reins.

"Haha, well I guess the road to Luoyang has to depend on you," Yang Guang chuckled while stroking its hair. The horse neighed in annoyance.

"Er L-Lang g-ge, where are w-we taking this horse?" Ming WanFeng asked.

"What, you want to walk to Luoyang? No offense, but your highness the crown prince might not last a day," Yang Guang replied.

"Oh," the crown prince said, looking at the ground. Yang Guang mounted the horse and looked back at Ming WanFeng.

"Get on."

"Huh?"

"Get on," Yang Guang said, reaching out a hand toward Ming WanFeng. He took it, climbing on to the horse. After a moment of silence, Yang Guang spoke again.

"Hold on to my shoulders," he told the crown prince as the horse began into a slow trot.

"W-what?" Ming WanFeng responded.

"What, are you embarrassed? You can even touch my forehead, so why not my shoulders?" Yang Guang mused.

"Um-m is that ok?" the crown prince asked.

"Do you want to fall off?" Yang Guang said.

"No," the crown prince replied.

He put two hands onto Yang Guang's shoulders, one on each side. They were surprisingly warm, like a hot water bag.

"Hold on tight,"Yang Guang said, tightening his grip on the reins. He flicked the reins and the horse sped into a gallop, faster and faster until the road went by like a blur. The winds flowed by them like water, blowing increasingly fast.

Ming WanFeng kept trying to push away Yang Guang's hair, but it kept coming back due to the winds. At the end, he gave up and just lowered his head and ignored it. Awkwardly, the crown prince tried to strike up some conversation.

"Er Lang g-ge, how do you know the w-way to Luoyang?" he asked.

"I lived in Luoyang until the rebellion when I got injured and ran away," Yang Guang said. He wasn't lying, he had lived in Luoyang until the rebellion and he did run away after the death of— him.

"How old are you?" Ming WanFeng asked.

Yang Guang was quiet for a second before deciding there was not much to hide from this boy.

"Twenty-nine. And you?" he said.

"I-I'm 25," Ming WanFeng replied.

"Hm."

Yang Guang's eyebrows raised at this notion, surprised at the age of the crown prince. All this time he had been calling him a "boy", thinking he was merely in his teens. Turns out that he was only four years younger than him.

After almost two hours, the sun was high in the sky, beating down on the duo as they traversed the empty fields and forests. Abruptly, Yang Guang pulled on the reins, causing the horse to reel back, almost throwing them off. Yang Guang grabbed Ming WanFeng's arm and hopped off in one swift motion.

"What are y-you doing?" the crown prince yelled.

"Geez, can't you quiet down? There's a stream nearby and we should rest a bit before moving on," Yang Guang replied, grabbing the horse's reins and walking toward a nearby forest.

"How w-would you know?" Ming WanFeng asked, following behind him.

Yang Guang rolled his eyes and merely pointed toward a small stream of water nearby.

"How'd y-you see that?"

Yang Guang shrugged, continuing to walk toward it and tied the horse's reins onto a nearby tree. He sat down on the banks taking a handful of the water, putting it to his mouth. However, before he could drink it, Ming WanFeng shouted.

"Wait!"

"What?" Yang Guang asked.

Ming WanFeng summoned a small ball of spiritual energy on his fingertips and brushed it over the water, creating a shiny silver layer above the water, which then sank into Yang Guang's hands and disappeared.

"What's that for?"

"P-purifying the water," the crown prince said.

"Tsk, tsk," Yang Guang clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes before drinking down the water. It tasted a lot cooler after Ming WanFeng added spiritual energy. It actually felt quite good for a body which hadn't had any spiritual energy for so long.

Ming WanFeng did the same process for the entire river, allowing the silver layer to sink before he picked up a handful and drank it. The two sat in the shade for a while before Yang Guang started to drift to sleep after not getting any sleep last night. Ming WanFeng sat at the edge of the stream, looking from Yang Guang to the stream and back. However, after just a few minutes, Ming WanFeng looked at the bandages on Yang Guang's head and got curious.

What were under those mysterious bandages? They never had any blood on them, signaling that there was no active wound underneath. However, Yang Guang did say he had a blind eye. It wouldn't hurt to look.

Ming WanFeng scooted over to the sleeping Yang Guang and started to unwrap his bandages slowly. However, right before he unwrapped the final layer, Yang Guang jolted awake and violently pushed him away.

"What are you doing!" he yelled. Ming WanFeng looked at him with a big frown, his eyebrows scrunched up. Yang Guang rewrapped his bandages around his head and softened his voice.

"I'm sorry, your majesty. It was just instinct to push you away. Hope you don't mind too much," he said, finishing wrapping up his bandages.

"W-what's under them any-anyway?" Ming WanFeng asked, standing up and brushing himself off. Yang Guang sighed and replied:

"My blind right eye is a very ugly shade of white. It would be unsightly for you."

Yang Guang untied the horse and grabbed the crown prince's arm, roughly pulling both of them onto the horse. Yang Guang adjusted his grip cast Ming WanFeng a sideways glance. The crown prince put his hands on Yang Guang's shoulders before Yang Guang jerked the reins and the horse dashed forwards.

The rest of the day went similarly, with the only exception being Ming WanFeng getting increasingly clingy, his grip tightening on Yang Guang's shoulders, even so much as to almost back-hugging him.

Yang Guang rolled his eyes almost constantly and only moved the horse along faster, which caused the crown prince to grip onto him even tighter. When the last few rays of sun were barely peeking through, the two could finally see a small shadow of the city walls.

They were the exact same one Yang Guang's dad built so many years ago, albeit slightly dirtier and more worn down. Ming WanFens originally white and gold robes were now a dirty brown from the dust and in serious need of washing. They rode down the final patch of road before arriving at the city gates where a large row of guard stood on attention. Yang Guang casually hopped off the horse and pushed Ming WanFeng toward the reins, which the crown prince grasped tightly.

"Who are you two plebeians and what prints you to the capitol, villagers like you have no business here! Your horse isn't even properly groomed!" one of the guards at the front yelled at them, holding up a lantern to see their face.

"Oh, so rude? You can't even recognize your own crown prince any more?" Yang Guang asked, still sauntering as if nothing ever happened.

As they got closer, the guard squinted and dropped to his knees.

"I'm so sorry Your Highness the Crown Prince! Please excuse my rudeness!" he said, as all the other guards dropped to their knees and bowed.

"Just open the gates already," Yang Guang said.

"Who are you?" the head guard asked.

"Crown prince Ming's friend, is that right?" he looked toward the crown prince.

Ming WanFeng nodded quite vigorously as if he actively agreed with this point.

"Open the gates!" the head guard yelled and, slowly, a group of people pulled open the gates enough to let the crown prince through.

"The crown prince is here!" all the guards yelled in unison just as the gates opened. Yang Guang hopped on his horse and pulled the reins, speeding up into a slow gallop. Sounds of "The crown prince is here!" spread through the whole street as the crowd parted way for the incoming Yang Guang and Ming WanFeng.

Although Ming WanFeng couldn't hear it, the crowd was whispering about him.

"What happened to him?"

"Who is that guy?"

"What an indecent appearance for a crown prince!"

There were all kinds of whispers, from simply questioning to straight up insulting. All of them were quietly uttered in fear of getting their heads chopped off by the imperial family.

Along the main road they went when Yang Guang finally saw the massive building that was the palace.

Haha, saying my lavish lifestyle was a curse to the citizens. And now look at you living in the palace I built!

Yang Guang was amused at how right after they mocked him for being frivolous, they lived in the same frivolous mansion as him, except now it was even more decked out with jewels and gold. Although Yang Guang felt somewhat excited at the sight of this giant red building protruding hundreds of feet in the air, it also evoked a deep-seated fear of the past, whether distant or not.

At the sight of the crown prince, the soldiers scrambled to open the doors all while looking suspiciously at Yang Guang. Yang Guang stopped the horse and hopped off. Based on old customs, it wasn't polite to have a horse enter into the emperor's living quarters unless you had just won a major battle. He grabbed the crown prince's arm and pulled him off the horse before chaining the horse onto a tree, once again.

"Do you need me to accompany you any further?" Yang Guang asked.

Ming WanFeng nodded and started walking up the massive flight of stairs. Yang Guang followed suit behind him. When they finally reached the top, there was another guard which opened the door for them.

"The crown prince is here!"