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The middle-aged man glanced at Lóng Wei, who was waiting for him to finish his work.

When the crowd became smaller, Lóng Wei walked toward him and asked him to give him one serving of the sweet dumpling.

The middle-aged man hummed and prepared one for Lóng Wei. The Prince ate the dumplings with zeal and found them delicious.

“Did you thoroughly ask the people about the location of the lakes?” The middle-aged man waited for Lóng Wei’s response.

“Why are you so interested to know that?” Lóng Wei instead of answering questioned him back. He threw the thin, sharp bamboo stick in the bamboo bin and asked him how much he had to pay.

“Two cents,” the middle-aged man answered. Lóng Wei paid him and asked him why he did not tell him the way to that place if he knew about it.

“Why do you think that I know about ninety-nine lakes?” He arched his eyebrow and closed the wooden cash box.

“My eyes saw what the others did not,” Lóng Wei asserted. “I can give you as much money as you want if you take me there,” he tried to bribe the middle-aged man.

.....

He chuckled and gestured to Lóng Wei to come closer. Lóng Wei took a step and heard him say, “Even if you spend the entire fortune of your family, I will not take you there.”

Lóng Wei gazed into his eyes with amusement.

“I love my life, young man,” he then stated.

“Do you know who I am? I think you already know,” Lóng Wei affirmed.

“I am not a God, who can tell who is who,” the middle-aged man jested and laughed slightly. “All I know is that you are from a noble family.”

Lóng Wei did not have enough time to play games with the man. “What do you want? I will give you,” Lóng Wei stated.

“Think carefully before you speak, young man!” The middle-aged man reminded Lóng Wei of a popular saying.

“I thought c.a.r.e.f.u.l.l.y,” Lóng Wei stressed the last word.

The middle-aged man chuckled. “You seem to have short temper. I can sense that you do not respect your elders or even the people around you,” He deduced while squinting his eyes at Lóng Wei.

“It is strange that you found my most unique quality,” Lóng Wei asserted.

“Indeed. The nobles have a gentle way to speak with the people even if they belong to a class lower than them,” the middle-aged man opined. “Tell me, if you will be able to do what I tell you to if I take you to the ninety-nine lake situated,” he finally offered the deal in front of Lóng Wei.

“There is nothing that I cannot do,” Lóng Wei proclaimed with a confident smile.

“Then, serve me for five days and I will take you to that place,” the middle-aged man stated.

Lóng Wei knitted his brows. This was something unexpected to him. How could he serve him? He never served anyone in his life.

“It seems you are already backing off, young man,” remarked the middle-aged man with a glint in his eyes.

“I have a wife. How am I supposed to leave her for five days just to serve you? Apart from that, I work too. You should amend your wish,” Lóng Wei suggested to him.

“I do not want to,” the middle-aged man stated and it irked Lóng Wei. He wanted to tell him that he was the Prince whom everyone feared, but then he stopped himself. He thought to negotiate with the man. Lóng Wei did not want to return empty-headed from this place. His mother had mentioned this place twice in the poem and it was the only place where Qizhen could without ever coming to anyone’s notice.

Lóng Wei stood aside as a few more people come to the stall to purchase the dumplings.

The evening was falling and Lóng Wei realized that he had to make a decision as soon as possible. He could not bring Li Hua with him. If he stayed away from the palace for five days, everyone would be suspicious of him. Lóng Wei again looked at the middle-aged man. ‘No, I have to reach Qizhen and for that, I have to fulfill the wish of this man,’ he decided.

However, the question was what he would tell at the palace.

‘I can think about that in the night,’ he thought when the voice of the man fell into his ears.

“I have sold the entire dumplings today. I am heading home, young man. Tell me your answer. Are you willing to serve me for five days?” The middle-aged man asked Lóng Wei again.

Lóng Wei had found out from the people that only one person knew about that place and it was this sweet dumpling seller.

“Yes, I will. However, I have a condition,” Lóng Wei affirmed.

“Say it!” The middle-aged man allowed him to put forward the condition.

“If you fail to take me there, I will kill you on the sixth day,” Lóng Wei stated.

“I accept it, young man,” the middle-aged man replied.

“I will come tomorrow to you and will serve you for five days,” Lóng Wei pronounced. The middle-aged man nodded his head and told him that he would wait for him to come.

Lóng Wei hummed and looked up at the sky. Clouds surrounded the sky. He hopped the horse and rode to the palace as fast as he could.

Despite the horse ran at great speed, Lóng Wei got drenched in the rain. He left the horse at the imperial gate of the palace, where the soldier had taken it to the stable. Lóng Wei ran to the manor when he found Li Hua at the top of the stairs of the palace ground.

She ran to him and put the umbrella above his head. “Where did His Highness has gone?” She worriedly asked and looked at him from head to toe.

“I had important work to finish,” Lóng Wei replied and wiped the water from his forehead. He saw Li Hua’s shoulders getting wet because of the rain, so he put the umbrella over her head. They both came to the manor, where Li Hua handed him a clean outfit to wear. She took off the bun holder from his head and told him to change.

Lóng Wei took the clothes from her and went to the dressing room. Li Hua had asked the maidservant to bring warm soup for Lóng Wei.

When Lóng Wei came to the main chamber with his upper robe opened, and his hair wet, Li Hua asked him to take a seat on the chair. She dried his hair and started to scold him. “Prince Lóng Wei does not love me at all. I waited for him for hours. I was so scared,” Li Hua stated.

“Forgive me for letting you wait,” Lóng Wei apologized. “I love you, Li Hua. I was stuck at a work,” he stated.

“Is the work more important than me?” Li Hua questioned him and pouted her lips. He put the towel away from her hand.

“Your Highness?”

The next second, he held her wrist and pulled her down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and told her not to worry so much for him.

“That is impossible for me to comply with,” Li Hua said.

Lóng Wei looked at the maidservant who had come inside the chamber. He asked her to put the tray on the table and leave. She obeyed Lóng Wei’s command and left the chamber.

“Your Highness, please this hot soup first,” Li Hua said and got off his lap. She picked up the bowl and sat next to Lóng Wei on the same broad chair. She blew air over the soup while holding the ladle and asked Lóng Wei to open his mouth.

He did that and drank the soup. Li Hua continued to do that while asking him not to work all day.

“You are the prince and a prince is not supposed to work all day long,” she muttered. “His Highness had not even come for lunch. I had cooked some of his favorite dishes for him, but he did not come.” She complained about a lot of things to him.

After Lóng Wei finished the soup, Li Hua placed the bowl over the tray and wiped his lips with her thumb. “His Highness is not cold, right? Does he want me to prepare hot water bath for him?” She queried.

Lóng Wei shook his head. “I want to tell you something,” he said. Li Hua keenly listened to her husband while he narrated her everything.

“For five days?” Li Hua was shocked when Lóng Wei asked her not to speak loudly. She apologized and asked him what excuse he would make to stay away from the palace.

“I have not thought yet,” Lóng Wei said and his brows furrowed.