"The Orange Prince?"
Shen Yiren glared at me in a beautiful way. "Why do you have to be a damned trouble-magnet?! Of all things you could do, you brought back this troublesome issue!"
In the end, Tang Ye and I decided to hand the records to our Boss, and brought Zha Pi back to Liu Shan Men as a witness. We basically succeeded on our first mission as a small team. But I think we over-delivered. Liu Shan Men is basically housing a timed bomb right now.
But… Hey, how do you know I was the one who brought on this problem?
"Well, wasn't it you?"
Okay, it was me. But how did you know that…?
Shen Yiren hugged her arms. Her firm bee hips and soft valleys were lifted upwards. She caught me off guard with that attack and I saw stars. Shen Yiren noticed I was acting weird, so she extended her feminine finger and pointed at my forehead.
"What sort of stupid shit are you thinking about now?"
Nothing… By the way, does anybody have a tissue I could wipe my blood nose with?
Shen Yiren waved her hand and let me off the hook.
"Well, whatever. I don't like the Orange Prince anyway. I'm going to pass this stuff on to the captain so he can bring it up in the royal court. That'll teach that dog-faced-prince a lesson." Shen Yiren grabbed the record, pursed her lips, showing her dissatisfaction and continued: "Hmph, he gets all the love and doting, he's the empress's son and he's also the one who disgraces the empress."
"The Orange Prince is the empress's son?"
"Fuck~ he's the empress's son and he's still so greedy?"
Su Xiao and Zha Pi, two pointless existences didn't let the Orange Prince off. Did they seriously think that the Orange Prince sells fruit?
Tang Ye out of good will reminded them both: "You both should refer to him as his majesty. The Orange prince is the emperor's second son, and is therefore a special person. He's very intolerant and holds grudges. He's recruited a lot of warriors in recent years. Offend him and your life will be miserable."
Uhh… Didn't you just call him "Orange Prince"?
I piggy-backed off what Tang Ye said: "It's not limited to just the Orange Prince. The other princes are not to be trifled with either. Offend them and your life will be a disaster."
I couldn't explain what the princes are like any better, because it's all recorded in my favourite gossip magazine, the Black and White Reflection.
To speak about the topic, we have to go back a fair bit. Many years ago… One day roughly twenty or so years ago, an infant's cry from within the palace disturbed my peace when I was wandering the world.
That infant is the emperor's first son.
He's the Gracious Consort's son.
The emperor himself was overjoyed of course. He was in his early twenties at the time. He had a beautiful empress, pretty and smart concubines and consorts, and sexy maids around him all day for him to feast on. It's a pity he got married with the empress at fifteen but never had any children.
The son of an empress is by rights supposed to become the crowned prince! That's a joyous occasion for anybody, so the emperor was so overjoyed he ditched the court meeting and ran to the palace where the empress and his concubines and consorts resided.
But after rushing over, the scene he witnessed caused him to break down.
The traditions in the palace back then were that two string seven coloured dragon and phoenix lanterns would be hung in the palace when a prince is born. It was done to wish good luck to the newborn, descendants, celebrate the emperor having children, and that a heir was conceived.
That year, as soon as the Emperor entered the palace, shiiiit… His eyes were littered with lanterns.
Lanterns were hung outside his Gracious Consort's palace, the empress's palace, and Consort Ling's palace which gave the emperor a seizure-experience… He was wondering what was going on.
In those moments the emperor's mind was overwhelmed. He almost forgot his Gracious Consort, Consort Ling and the empress were pregnant.
But that day, the Gracious Consort gave birth, and then the empress gave birth too. She even had twins!!
Not long after, the emperor's most beloved Consort Ling also gave birth to a chubby boy.
As soon as the emperor arrived, the cries of four infants rang through the air. The wise emperor stood in the courtyard with the cold winter wind blowing against him. He didn't know which palace he should've entered.
But that wasn't the end.
From then on, a pain-in-the-neck attached itself to him for twenty years.
The four princes, now the Red, Orange, Yellow and Green princes, were born on the same day about half an hour apart.
Who should the throne be passed down to?
The empress's two sons, the Orange Prince and the Yellow Prince are legitimate members of the royal family, or rather, the two most qualified to inherit the throne. Most people would be adamant on having the eldest inherit the throne, but since they were born so closely together, the question became "who should inherit the throne?"
If they decided to go with the eldest, then the Red Prince would be crowned, but he's only older by half an hour so it's a bit…
Further, the Green Prince is the fourth prince without question. But he has an unfortunate fate. He's the son of Consort Ling whom the emperor loves most and he's also his favourite son, so shouldn't the emperor have him inherit the throne?
This issue gave the emperor a headache, but the heavens weren't letting him off easily.
A few years later another consort gave birth… To another boy!
He had son after son, so he now has seven sons, and therefore seven princes!
The emperor still doesn't know who to pass the throne to even up until today.
I entered the imperial palace a few years ago. When I saw the emperor that time, he looked miserable and his eyebrows were turning white when he was only forty years old. It was obvious he was worried sick over the issue.
He wasn't just bothered by the issue of the inheritor because his sons are a handful.
It's rumoured that six of the seven princes are fighting each other over the throne. The retainers and officials all decided on the prince they wished to support, and formed six parties. I don't know what they say in the palace, but in the Black and White Reflection, it says the six parties are called: The Six Princes' Parties.
The six princes' parties have been gathering resources from the pugilistic world, and many from the evil sects have joined them.
Why haven't I joined them?
Please, they're so flamboyant with their activities. It's obvious they're trying to stir something. Trying to join them in hopes of living an easy life is just idiotic.
I gave them a rough explanation of the six princes' parties. Su Xiao and Zha Pi, and even Tang Ye and Boss Shen were listening in attentively.
By the way, didn't you two know this? Go read some more gossip magazines.
"Reporting in!!"
A guard yelled "reporting in" and then came running inside looking panicked. He then acted calmly when he saw Shen Yiren before setting foot into the guest hall.
"People from the Orange Prince's residence have arrived and are looking for the captain."
The guard bowed down and handed over the card. Shen Yiren slightly frowned and took the orange card. She then sped-read the text on it before asking in a surprised tone: "The Orange Prince is coming himself?"
"Yes. He will be coming himself and asked to see the captain."
Glossary
Cheng = Orange
As promised, here is the divine Shen Yiren. May this artist be blessed! Archer, I still haven't gotten a response from the author yet, he hasn't been on yet. Other members of the group said Lee Tai Bai (author) has multiple artists. Hopefully he'll come on soon and answer, I haven't forgotten.