Fire Phoenix Chapter 9

"Canglan!" Yun Canglan heard a familiar voice calling out as she left Yushi Restaurant, and turned to run towards the boy.

Yun Canglan shouted cheerfully, "Liuyun!"

Huo Liuyun was about 13 or 14 and wore a light purple robe, with a jade hairpin holding his hair. He stood out on the busy street with his royal temperament and stern face, but as he watched Yun Canglan coming closer, Huo's face softened with a loving smile.

Huo Liuyun's affection for Yun Canglan was evident as he caught up to her.

"Be careful! It will kill me if you are hurt!" chided Huo Liuyun.

Yun Canglan hugged Huo Liuyun tightly.

Yun Canglan was pure, like any child of five when Huo Liuyun was near, it was also the only time Yun Canglan felt like a shy girl.

Huo Liuyun was the first person to hold Yun Canglan at birth. He was nine at the time.

Huo Liuyun was at the General's House with his mother that day, and he slipped into Lin Wan'er's delivery room. Lin Wan'er fainted after delivering the baby, and the midwife went out to call the doctor over. He heard the baby's first piercing cry and was curious. He picked her up and held the baby; therefore, he knew that Yun Canglan was a girl.

Later, when the Yun Family concealed Yun Canglan's gender, Huo Liuyun held it back telling anyone, including his father.

He recalled looking at the tiny crying baby in his arms, and not knowing what to do, Huo Liuyun murmured:

"Don't cry, I'm here little one. I will always protect you, okay.."

Yun Canglan was uneasy about this unfamiliar world, but felt relieved hearing his words. Yun Canglan also remembered his promise.

Huo Liuyun thought Yun Canglan had stopped crying because she was tired, in reality it was his words.

"Liuyun, I thought you were busy studying 'the Four and Five something'. Why are you here?" he asked.

Yun Canglan blinked his bright eyes innocently, even with Huo Liuyun, he acted his part as "younger brother."

Huo Liuyun tweaked Yun Canglan on the nose and responded: "It's called the Four Books and the Five Classics.* The teacher is ill today, so I took the day off. I went to visit you at the General's House, but you weren't there, so I was looking for you out here."

(*TN: The Four Books are the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Confucian Analects, and the Works of Mencius and the Five Classics are the Book of Songs, the Book of History, the Book of Changes, the Book of Rites and the Spring and Autumn Annals)

Yun Canglan played with his fingers, like a child avoiding trouble, and complained: "His Majesty grounded me for a month. I was so bored at home. So...so..."

"So you slipped away, right?" asked Huo Liuyun. He looked at the pretty child in front of him and sighed: "What if my father finds out that you slipped out and changed your grounding to a year?" He patted Yun Canglan's head, doting and conniving.

"His Majesty won't find out. You won't tell him, right?" Yun Canglan asked. She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Of course not." Huo Liuyun agreed.

Yun Canglan grabbed at Huo Liuyun's sleeve while excitedly asking: "Liuyun, since we're here, how about we check out some of the sights? I'm sure you haven't seen everything the city has to offer, what do you say?"

Huo Liuyun looked down at Yun Canglan's wide eyes and smile and couldn't refuse, so he agreed laughing: "Okay. Where are we off to?"

Yun Canglan pounded her chest announcing, "Follow me!"

Huo Liuyun and Yun Canglan wandered the streets, with Yun Canglan pointing things out as they went.

"Look, over there, I believe it is, ha! Yes the Unibrow*!" Yun Canglan exclaimed. On the street corner, sat a luxury palanquin, with a group of retainers standing with hands on hips, waiting beside the covered litter. A 13 or 14 year old boy of means, stood in the middle of the retainers, and was beating a child dressed in rags.

(*TN: Yun Canglan nicknamed him the "Unibrow.")

"I'll beat you to death, stinky beggar! How dare you block my palanquin! If my palanquin is damaged, can you afford to repair it? If I'm injured, can you afford the bills? Do you even know who I am? You should feel honored to be beaten by me!" he scolded as he continued to beat the child.

"Hey, Unibrow. Why didn't you call me over to play with you?" Yun Canglan called out.

He squeezed through the crowd and looked at the boy on the ground smiling in mock joy.

The boy lay curled up on the ground. His clothes were rags and didn't fit, thus many scars showed. His face was covered with mud, and he stared up at Unibrow with a stubborn look.

As soon he heard Yun Canglan's voice, the Unibrow immediately stopped beating the beggar. He turned around, stared at Yun Canglan and shouted in frustration: "My name is Wu Yunye, not Unibrow!"

"What a stupid name! I think Unibrow sounds much better." Yun Canglan said. His two eyebrows met in the middle above the bridge of his nose, so Unibrow was an ideal name for him.

"Yun Canglan!" yelled Wu Yunye growing angrier by the minute.

"Yes!" Yun Canglan answered.

He stood unmoving, but looked around as if he had a vicious thought.

"You..." Wu Yunye was speechless at his response.

Yun Canglan was quick to react adding, "Are you going to say I'm adorable? Actually, I think I'm adorable too!"

Wu Yunye turned red with anger and yelled, "Yun Canglan, you..."

"Are you going to despise me?" Yun Canglan pouted, "There are so many people who despise me already! Do you think it will matter that you do as well?"

Wu Yunye rolled his eyes sputtering, "I...I..."

Yun Canglan smiled innocently, stood on tiptoes, and patted Wu Yunye's shoulder: "Don't be nervous, it's okay. I'm not a good guy!" he uttered calmly.

Wu Yunye fell to the ground, and the nearby retainers immediately picked him up, checked him and brushed the dust off his clothes.

"Are you hot?" asked Yun Canglan, "Why, you're sweating!"

"Yun Canglan, are you making trouble?" asked Wu Yunye.

Wu Yunye's loud voice attracted the attention of people passing. When the second young master* of the Grand Preceptor House met the willful Royal Highness of the General's House, who was going to gain the upper hand since they both had the same influence?

(*TN: Wu Yunye was the second son of the Grand Preceptor.)

Yun Canglan looked at Wu Yunye as if he was looking at an idiot, and said: "Yes, I'm here to stir up trouble! I already said that!" Yun Canglan pointed to the boy on the ground and said: "You didn't call me over so we could beat him together. You're not a good bro!"

"Who is your bro? You're just a little baby!" said Wu Yunye. He pushed away the retainers and looked down at Yun Canglan relying on his advantage of height.

Yun Canglan immediately looked widened his eyes, and innocently asked: "Aren't we brothers? You once went to the whorehouse and asked me to guard the entrance. You once kissed the daughter of Minister Wen, and I didn't tell anyone. You once stole your father's money to gamble, and I didn't tell your father. You once stole your elder brother's porn magazine, and I didn't tell your elder brother. After all that I have done, aren't we brothers?"

"You...you...shut up!" Wu Yunye sputtered, the embarrassment making him nearly faint.

The onlookers were shaking their heads in dismay, neither royal was well behaved. It was so sad!.

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Chapter end