Chapter 158 - Worthy Of Your Love?
Sheng Li wore a black Hanfu Dress and left the Residence in the night. He had to make Ying Lili drunk because he knew that she would insist on taking her with him. Soon he reached outside the Department of Police Bureau. To his surprise, the Bureau Office was closed. "What is wrong with them? They are not active at night. Is it because of last night's incident?" Sheng Li thought and walked away from there.
Hiding, the Crown Prince went to the market. In Luoyang and the other cities of Han, the market usually closed by 9 o'clock but here the situation was different. The market was closed before that and not a single person could be seen there.
Sheng Li kept walking in between the narrow alleys when his attention grabbed the cries of a man and a child. Following the voice, Sheng Li stopped as he found the cries had gotten prominent. He hid behind a shop and peeked from there.
A few meters away from him, some men had surrounded a child and his father in the middle of the shops. The father was pleading to spare him and his child from the man in front of him. Sheng Li could not see the face of the man.
It was the Leader of the Lǎohǔ Group!
"Master, why are we even listening to him? Just order me to kill them," stated one of them. The Leader stopped him by lifting his hand in the air and looked at the father who was tightly hugging his son.
"I am Sun(pronounced as Soon) Lǎohǔ. My name is enough to create fear in the people. How dare you leave this Province? You all are my people. Now, you have to pay the price to defy my orders," stated Sun Lǎohǔ and came on his one knee. He grabbed the arm of the young boy who had buried his chest in his father's chest.
"Now, your little son will pay the price of your mistake," Lǎohǔ said as he pulled the young boy towards him who started crying while the father was held by the two other men who were with Sun Lǎohǔ.
Sheng Li found that there was someone who was truly crueler than him. He had gone to many wars but never hurt children like the way this man was doing. He clenched his fist tightly but at that moment he could not do anything.
Lǎohǔ wiped the tears from the cheeks of a young boy. "You are a man so do not cry. You need to be a strong, young boy," he said to the young boy who had stopped crying. Lǎohǔ then patted his head and stood up.
"Please, Master Sun, spare my child," the father pleaded to Lǎohǔ who grinned and looked at the young boy.
"Look kid, how weak is your father?! Do you want to be like him?" Lǎohǔ asked. The young boy had no answers.
"Here, take this sword and kill this man. You need to become strong and I will make you powerful," Lǎohǔ told the young kid as he handed the sword to him. The young boy was scared, and the sword fell from his hand.
Sheng Li took out the knife which he had earlier picked from the Knife Game House. "How can he think of himself as the Ruler?" Sheng Li thought and directed the knife towards Sun Lǎohǔ. "Let me give you a surprise," Sheng Li murmured and threw the knife towards Lǎohǔ who was going to kill the young boy's father.
The knife hit on the back of Lǎohǔ and pierced through his skin. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees. Seeing their Master on the knees, the men came towards him and surrounded him.
The father quickly picked his son and ran as fast as he could. Sheng Li smirked, but now he had to run away from there without coming to anyone's notice.
Oppositely, Sun Lǎohǔ cried out in pain as the entire knife had entered his skin. "Catch him whoever did this," commanded the assistant of Sun Lǎohǔ. A few of their men started searching for the person who did the crime of hurting their master.
Sheng Li had left the market quite smartly and was on the route towards the forest, which was restricted for the use of commoners. He was panting because he had to run extremely fast and not only that he had to hide from their sight as well. He rested his back against the tree, gasping for the air. It was late at night so he needed to cross the forest too.
Resting for five minutes, he resumed the journey to the Residence. By midnight Sheng Li arrived at the Governor's Residence. The guards bowed their heads as Sheng Li walked inside the Residence. He went straight to his chamber and found Ying Lili was sleeping soundly.
He rested on the chaise and put the sword beside him. "He is ill-treating my people, the people of Han. I could have killed him now, but I need to find out how he started it all. Is the Ju Family supporting him? I now know why no one could inform me about this. Sun Lǎohǔ and his men kill the people who try to leave this province," Sheng Li concluded.
"W-water." Sheng Li heard the faint voice of Ying Lili. He stood up from the chaise and went towards the bed. Filling the cup with water, he sat beside Ying Lili and raised her head slightly. He made her drink water and then wiped off her mouth.
Sheng Li then put the water cup on the bedside table and stood up. He changed into comfortable clothes and laid on the bed beside Ying Lili.
In the dim candlelight, he could see her face, which brought a smile to his lips. "You fluttered my heart today but am I worthy of your love?" Sheng Li muttered as he caressed Ying Lili's cheek.