Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 34: Budding Lotus — V

Li Xinyuan nodded, curious but cautious as he smiled slightly. "Thank you for this, Your Highness."

Liu Mingyun shook his head, an imperceptibly wry smile on his lips as he turned to the large double door. "No matter, Xinyuan. This Prince had made a promise. So, let This Prince take you inside, Xin’er." He whispered his name as though it was a clandestine word meant for only two of them. As though it was only for theA to know and no one else.

The thought sent something buzzing in Li Xinyuan’s stomach. He couldn’t quite give it a name but it was something.

With a shake of his head, the surgeon attempted to push away these miscellaneous thoughts and followed Liu Mingyun into the royal smithy, the desire to explore override his apprehension of the coming future.

As soon as they took a step inside, the doors behind them closed automatically, giving Li Xinyuan a minor start as he glanced back instinctively. The Crown Prince looked at him from the corner of his eyes, his crimson gaze flickering with poorly concealed amusement. Then again, he probably didn’t want to hide it either.

Li Xinyuan secretly rolled his eyes, letting out a soft huff as he folded his arms behind his back. As they walked deeper into the place the heat from the furnaces burning within increased, it was a gradual increase. Had the surgeon been less observant of a man, he would not have noticed.

It wasn’t discomforting heat. At least not yet.

The scorching heat in the air clung to his flesh, sizzling imperceptibly with his splendid robes as they walked. The heat interacted with the protective Qi he had layered himself with, dancing and elaborate tango as if to see who would win.

Fortunately, Li Xinyuan believed that his Qi would. Else he would be toasted alive. Which was honestly a pretty bad outcome for a man who was to be wedded to the Crown Prince.

A few steps ahead of him, Liu Mingyun looked entirely unaffected which made him question: Was this man used to the heat of this level?

To distract himself from the question, Li Xinyuan busied himself with looking around. Truthfully speaking, the surgeon knew not what he’d expected a royal Armoury and Smithy to look like considering the fantastical nature of this world.

But this place looked quite similar to what Li Xinyuan would imagine a smithy to be. At least a fantastical one.

This was the place where the majority of weapons were forged. This was also the place the famed Sword Of Sun, the legendary blade of DàHuǒ was created.

—The sword was called Can Ri*.

And twelve years ago, the legendary sword had chosen its master who was none other than the Crown Prince Liu Mingyun.

Talk about fate.

Can Ri wasn’t the end nor the beginning of the creations of this smithy. When the reign of QiangHe Emperor had started, the Heavenly Dragon had ordered the blacksmiths to make a weapon for him, in the making of which several different metals were used, all in harmony with each other and the testament of the man’s power.

The sword too was a legend in its own right. It had chosen its master and while wielding it, the Heavenly Dragon had conquered vast lands. The conquest was only given rest once the former got married to the Empress and peace was established.

The peace had been maintained ever since.

Come to think of it, despite what everyone else thought, Li Xinyuan — who knew just how much the Emperor loved the Imperial Noble Consort Liang — knew better. Hadn’t the Emperor given rest to the conquest only when he got married to Liang XingHui? Marrying the Empress had just been a cover for the Heavenly Dragon whose heart truly desired to be with the Imperial Noble Consort Liang.

Damn, talk about importance. Li Xinyuan wanted to be this important too! No wonder girls and guys like him had impossibly high standards!

Inadvertently, the surgeon found himself glancing at the Crown Prince who’d fallen to his side to keep him company in the heart, completely silent.

Li Xinyuan kind of wanted wars to be waged for him too, his honour and safety. Okay, maybe not a war. It would only increase his own workload.

Li Xinyuan wanted peace to be established in his name too. In any case, peace was undoubtedly better than war.

"Is something on Xin’er’s mind?" Liu Mingyun’s baritone voice snapped the surgeon out of his idle musings. Turning to look at him, the surgeon licked his lips, pink tongue darting out to wet the plush lips as he shook his head.

"Nothing, Your Highness," he denied, turning his head to look ahead of him instead, not wanting to meet the man’s eyes lest his thoughts should be exposed.

Liu Mingyun didn’t look too convinced by the answer but didn’t push to know more, letting it slide without prying unnecessarily.

"Here—" he spoke as the guards opened a door for them "—is the smithy where hundreds of blacksmiths work day in and day out to create weapons for us." His crimson gaze darted to Li Xinyuan’s face, wanting to see the younger male’s reaction.

As the door was pushed open, Li Xinyuan frowned, watching intently as the joints groaned before finally, the scene inside came into his sight.

If he was being honest, long before his eyes saw the toiling smiths within, the scorching heat of burning furnaces, the bright sparks of amber flames; his ears had picked up the sounds muffled by the — then — closed door.

But when it opened, the sounds spilled out, no longer muffled where the loud torrent of hammer beating against metals of various kinds perched upon more anvils the Li Xinyuan cared to count as he cast upon them a fleeting glance.

The noise alone was deafening, not to mention the heat in that place was tenfold more than it had been the entire way.

Li Xinyuan was unused to such immense heat, if not for his Qi, the surgeon was afraid he would’ve burnt from the heat alone.

Hundreds of hammers struck down every second, beating down on metals as the rugged blacksmiths towered above them, uncaring of the heat from the furnaces.

When Li Xinyuan laid his eyes upon those — built — men, in that moment alone, he was filled with a newfound respect for them.

But no, Li Xinyuan could not bring himself to bear neither the deafening noise of hammering nor the smouldering heat of the furnaces.

He wasn’t in the mood of becoming a human baked potato. And no amount of cultivation or Qi could mentally prepare him to brave through this ordeal.

No, nope. Nada. He was not going to take even a single step into that room. No.

The noise, the heavy sound of hammers. Not to mention the heat and the bright light from those heaven-reaching flames. All of it, literally everything in this place was guaranteed to cause Li Xinyuan a big fat migraine.

The surgeon was having none of it.

With a shake of his head, he came to a halt in front of the door leading to the room and pursed his lips into a thin line when Liu Mingyun turned to look at him, confusion drawn on his face.

"Xin’er?" He whispered, his voice was soft, soothingly deep and tentative. Li Xinyuan found it hard to believe that this man was eighteen. He didn’t even look like that.

Then again, Li Xinyuan didn’t look sixteen either, did he?

"Is something the matter?" Liu Mingyun asked, drawing his face near Li Xinyuan’s to close the distance and hear him better amidst the noise. "Why is Xinyuan stopping?"

Somewhat hesitant and sheepish, Li Xinyuan licked his lips again, hands clenching inside his sleeves as he replied.

"Your Highness, this lowly one cannot go." His voice sounded firmer than the surgeon felt. Even though the relationship between them was not yet intimate, Li Xinyuan didn’t think he would be able to refuse if Liu Mingyun insisted.

Liu Mingyun turned to face him, questions swirling in his mind. He was ignorant. Was something stopping Li Xinyuan from coming in?

He didn’t know. But he wanted to know.

"If This Prince may ask, why is that, Xin’er?" He asked, wanting to know Li Xinyuan, his reason and ultimately the youth himself.

Li Xinyuan turned his head to give the room a fleeting glance before returning his golden gaze to the Crown Prince’s face.

"This lowly one might fall ill again if he does."

Those words brought back the memories of that particular night when Li Xinyuan was down with a terrible headache the cause of which Liu Mingyun knew not.

"Ah," he let out a quiet sound as he nodded, understanding dawning upon him. "This Prince understands." He added, solemn.

"Then, Your Highness—" Before Li Xinyuan could say more, he was promptly cut off when Liu Mingyun’s hands reached forward to cover his ears, abruptly cutting off the sounds but not enough to render him off-balance.

Then, the Crown Prince walked behind him, his chest pressed against Li Xinyuan’s back as his voice rumbled into his ears before all the sound became silent.

"Xin’er can trust this Mingyun." His voice was warm.

Li Xinyuan’s heart skipped a beat. Damn it.