Lei Wanxi had a dumpling stick in one hand and a fan in another hand, from which he was fanning his face. He stopped in front of the funhouse. "It has been a while since I have gone in," he mumbled and closed the fan. He finished the dumpling in his hand and threw the stick. Later, he put the fan inside the sash and walked Inside the Fun House.
Men and women could be seen there, mostly from the upper class. He heard the noises and followed them. Many people were surrounding a table and cheering for someone. Lei Wanxi tiptoed, trying to see what was going on! Unable to see anything, he pushed the people and came to the front of the table. To his surprise, he found two men were playing the famous board game 'Liubo'. He looked above; found women and men had stood near the wooden railing, to watch the game.
"Meng Zhou, you shall not waste more money on this game. It is clear that I am going to win this game," Yao Yang said with a mischievous smirk on his lips.
"Senior Yao, the game has not ended yet. Senior should not jump to conclusions this early," Meng Zhou commented.
Lei Wanxi looked at the Board and found Yao Yang had used a trick to defeat Meng Zhou which he failed to catch. He chuckled and noticed that Yao Yang used a trick that would force everyone to see that Meng Zhou was winning, but ultimately Yao Yang had to win.
Meng Zhou picked the porcelain cup in which wine was poured and drank that. He threw the dice and made another move.
"What is the Prince doing here?" Lei Wanxi heard a whisper near his ear. He tilted his head and saw Duan Xie, a 5th Rank officer in the Police Bureau.
A smile appeared on the Sixth Prince's face as he saw his childhood friend there. He put his arm around him and lightly punched on his chest. "How are you, Officer Duan?" Lei Wanxi asked. Because of the noises, his voice was not clear, so he took Duan Xie to a less noisy place.
They took a seat around a table. Duan Xie ordered tea for them and a light meal. "You are not in your dress, Officer Duan," Lei Wanxi stated.
"Why is the Prince calling me Officer? Just call me by my name," stated Duan Xie and called a young boy, who was taking the orders. Duan Xie gave the order of Rose tea and noodles soup. The boy went away to prepare for the order.
"You hardly come to the Palace!" Lei Wanxi complained.
"Workload, Prince Wanxi. I cannot help that. I was thinking of visiting you tomorrow as I am on leave for a few days," proclaimed Duan Xie. Lei Wanxi placed his paper fan on the table. "Your lifelong dream of becoming a police officer has come true. I am lucky that I was born in the Royal Family and did not need to struggle like everyone around me. Such a blessed life I have! Brother Sheng scolds me for not doing anything," Lei Wanxi asserted.
"However, no one carries the mind like you. It's hard to find such a brain," stated Duan Xie with a smile. The server came and served them their ordered items.
"Childhood friend, only you can understand me. I am glad that I met you here," Lei Wanxi smiled and picked the teacup. Duan Xie did the same, and the two sipped the tea.
"I am getting married in a few days," Duan Xie stated and put the cup on the table. Lei Wanxi was a little surprised to hear that but it was the marriageable age for most of the men of his age, including him.
"Love marriage or arranged marriage?" Lei Wanxi asked curiously.
"Love," Duan Xie replied. Lei Wanxi grinned and started teasing Duan Xie, who told him to stop. "I fell in love with her while I was in the training academy. I saw her in the market," Duan Xie stated, and blushed. Lei Wanxi was happy for his friend. The Sixth Prince recalled his stance where his father had given him a time of one year to find a woman for himself else he would marry him off with someone of his desire!
"I have also seen many women in the market, but no one attracted me," Lei Wanxi stated and sighed. "Sometimes I think there is no one made for me with whom I can magically fall in love and romance like Brother Sheng does with Sister Lili," Lei Wanxi affirmed. Duan Xie was surprised to learn about that.
"Prince has many women head over heels for him. Even my soon-to-be wife was so delighted when I told her that the Sixth Prince is my childhood friend. She even told me that if her family's status was big enough, she would have told her father to send a marriage proposal to you. I envied you for a second but then it's the truth. Women found you charming. There must be that one woman, who will take your heart," Duan Xie encouraged Lei Wanxi, who nodded.
"The Crown Prince has changed. I heard from many. So, it is true that it's because of the Crown Princess?!" Duan Xie waited for Lei Wanxi to answer.
"Yes. They are the sweetest couple I have ever seen. The moment Sister Lili entered the Palace, I knew she would change my Fifth Brother," Lei Wanxi delightedly briefed Duan Xie. He picked the chopsticks and started eating the noodles.
"The Crown Prince hardly used to converse with me. Later, when he became General at the young age of 16, I was so shocked to see the sudden transformation in him. People used to fear him, still do but the respect for the Crown Prince is more in everyone's heart. A woman indeed changes a man." Duan Xie picked the chopsticks when he heard Lei Wanxi.
"Even a man changes a woman. That depends on person to person how he treats his other half," Lei Wanxi pronounced. Duan Xie agreed with him. As the two were eating, suddenly a man sat beside Lei Wanxi with a bamboo hat over his head.
"Who are you?" Duan Xie got alerted while Lei Wanxi was confused. He moved aside to stand up when the man put his hand around the Sixth Prince's shoulder and snatched the chopsticks from him. Before Lei Wanxi could understand, the man dipped the chopsticks in the noodle bowl and started eating.
"That's mine! How can you-" he stopped when the man looked into his eyes.
"Brother, you promised me outside that you will give me a treat. How could you forget?" The man said. Lei Wanxi knitted his brows because he did not remember any such promise with this man.
"But this is my first time seeing you. Could you please remove your arm from my shoulder?" Lei Wanxi caught his arm and tried to remove it but the man pulled him closer. Duan Xie took out the dagger but Lei Wanxi gestured to him not to do anything.
"Help me. Some goons are behind me," the man whispered in the ear of Lei Wanxi, whose eyes turned big. He tried looking back, but the man pulled him, preventing him from looking.
Both of his hands rested on the table to support himself. "Just help me. Pretend as if we are friends," the man stated.
"But, how can I trust you? You know who you are-"
The man cut his words in the middle. "See to your left. There is a man with a sword in white robes," the man whispered in Lei Wanxi's ear. He tilted his head and found the man in white robes. "There are many like him, who want to kill me." Lei Wanxi widened his eyes. He never got stuck in such situations and he thought if the goons attacked, he would be the first one to get injured.
"Just stay like this," the man asked for cooperation and lowered the bamboo hat over his head further down.
Lei Wanxi stayed in that position when he heard. "There!" Before he could realize what was exactly going on, the table was broken into pieces, shocking them. Lei Wanxi fell back with the man on the floor. "Ahh," he screamed, grabbing the attention of everyone in the funhouse