Married To The Cruel Crown Prince

Huo Jin wrapped the other pieces of bandage around her fingers and stood up. "Give rest to your hands," he advised her and gave the first-aid box to the servant.

Yin Na also stood up and said, "You shall reward me. I finally aimed at the center of the target."

"But I helped you," he stated.

"Can you not fulfill my wish?" She asked him.

"What do you want?" Huo Jin with curiosity asked her.

"Let's meet after lunch. Then, I will tell you," Yin Na said and walked away.

Huo Jin helped the servants on the ground in picking up the arrows. "We will do this work. Please don't do this," one of the servants said and took the arrow from him.

"I also used to do this work. Let me do it," Huo Jin said.

Yin Na, who reached the top of the stairs, turned to look at Huo Jin but found him on the ground.

"Why is he doing that?" She murmured and swiftly descended the stairs, holding the skirt from its edges. She reached the ground and decided to help him.

"Yin Na, why did you come back?" Huo Jin asked her, who was a few meters away from her with a few arrows lying in his arms.

"Because I should do it," Yin Na asserted. Huo Jin walked to her and told her to stand up. She did so, carrying the arrows in her hands.

"You should take a rose bath. You are stinking badly," Huo Jin told her and pressed his nose with his thumb and finger.

"Really?"

"Hmm." He put his hand down and quickly took the arrows from her hands. "Go and take a bath," he stated. Yin Na made a pouty face and left the ground.

Huo Jin, after helping the servants, came to the main residence. He saw an official coming from the front door while Wang Fuxing was welcoming him.

"Xu Niang, it's a pleasure to see you." Wang Fuxing hugged him and the two patted each other's back. They pulled away and Wang Fuxing took him to the guest-chamber.

Huo Jin asked a servant about it.

"He is the old friend of the Senior Master. He used to be in the Department of Justice at rank 1 position," the servant replied.

"Oh." Huo Jin was astonished to hear that.

"Master Xu's son was recently appointed in the Court as the Minister. I think our Master wants Miss Yin Na to get married to his son," he informed Huo Jin.

"Oh! Really?"

"Yes. I shall leave before the Senior Master scolds me," the servant said and went to the guest-chamber.

"Why did General Wang ask me to give Yin Na a chance?" He murmured and went to the backyard of the residence. He sat down by the lakeside and looked up at the sky.

"Huo Jin!" He heard Yin Na's voice and turned to look. She had changed the dress and wore a sky blue Hanfu dress with long sleeves.

"Did you even take a bath?" He questioned her.

"Yes. Can't you get the rose scent?" She asked him.

"How come your hair got dry this early?" He was confused when Yin Na sat beside him.

"It has been an hour," Yin Na replied. Huo Jin did not realize that an hour had passed by then.

"What do you want?" Huo Jin asked her.

"Tell me about the hardships you bore," Yin Na said and tilted her head to peer at him. "You promised me that you will fulfill my wish," she said with a tiny smile.

"I did not promise you," Huo Jin answered and looked back at the lake. He had a tiny pebble in his hand and threw it into the water which splashed out.

"Tell me," Yin Na said and shook his arm.

Huo Jin gazed into her eyes. "Why do you want to know?" He inquired from her. Yin Na stopped shaking his arm and pulled her hands back.

"Because I want to know," Yin Na replied and blinked.

"I was not supposed to do what I desired. There were rules that I had to follow at all costs. A slave does not have any right to himself. His rights are possessed by his master. It happened in my case too. A slave can never be sick and if he does, then he has to serve his Master even in that state. He can be beaten by his Master for no reason," Huo Jin said and chuckled.

"But slaves do get freedom too. Every once a year, a few slaves get free," Yin Na stated.

"I was born unlucky," Huo Jin said.

"Don't say that. No one is born unlucky," Yin Na stated.

"A king's child or a high official's child is born with luck while a slave's child is born with misfortune only," Huo Jin argued.

"You are wrong, Huo Jin. Even the King's child has his own hardships. Indeed, Royals and High-Class people don't suffer for basic needs, but they suffer for other things," Yin Na countered.

"You can look at our Emperor. From Brother Wang, I heard that the Emperor suffered the most among all the Princes. The Former Emperor was mostly in the wars while the Palace became more than a prison for his fifth son," Yin Na calmly told him.

Huo Jin was unaware of this. Though, he heard this even from Prince Nianzu that Sheng Li suffered the most among the Princes. He got curious to know more about Sheng Li, so asked Yin Na to tell more.

"Can you imagine that the dead Empress Wei pierced the knife's blade into the Emperor's chest? He had a fever for three days. Since the Former Emperor was in a war, no one looked after the Fifth Prince. Brother Wang sneaked into his chamber and fed him the medicine," Yin Na told Huo Jin about a horrifying incident that happened with Sheng Li.

"Empress Wei is the definition of evil," Huo Jin stated.

"Yes, she was! Brother Wang was almost punished once by her, but the current Emperor took the blame on him. He got a hundred floggings on his back," Yin Na said with a gloomy expression.

"Why did General Wang almost get punished?" Huo Jin queried her.

"Because he helped the Fifth Prince by giving him the food when he was thrown into the Cold Palace," Yin Na replied.

"That's why Prince Nianzu never liked the Palace, but he admired the Fifth Prince for never running away. He faced all those things and survived among them; emerged as the strongest princes among all," Huo Jin asserted and smiled.

"That's why no one is born with luck or misfortune. Circumstances force you into those situations– Good or bad," Yin Na corrected him. "You are not unlucky, Huo Jin. You were just forced to become a part of that environment to survive," she affirmed.

Huo Jin was impressed by her explanation. He used to take her as a naive young woman, but he was wrong. She had seen the world better than him. She also survived in a tough environment and emerged as a strong woman in his eyes.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked him.

"How did you fight with everyone around you? Your life was tougher than mine," Huo Jin said and waited for her response.