Chapter 702 - 702: No Help

After looking around for quite some time, he found Prince Hu. It seemed like Prince Hu was talking to Gan Manxiang.

"Everything's fine on that front. We haven't seen any activity today from the other side either," Gan Manxiang told Prince Hu.

"That's good, but it might be the silence before the storm. Keep an eye on them and inform me if there's any activity," Prince Hu told Gan Manxiang as he nodded his head.

Gan Manxiang started at Prince Hu for quite some time.

"Is there something you want to say? Say it. Don't be formal," Prince Hu said as he noticed Gan Manxiang's gaze. 

"Ah, Your Highness, is the Royal City not going to send any back-up? It had been so long. We are really on thin ice here," Gan Manxiang asked Prince Hu after thinking for some time.

"I told you many times, don't call me Your Highness. I'm your General here. Also, the title of the Prince is already useless for me. You can call me General if you really want to give me respect. As for your question, I don't know. I sent the request for resources and reinforcement two weeks ago, but there's no response," Prince Hu replied.

"Ah, General. There have been rumors going around in the army that the Capital has abandoned us. They have abandoned this town and left us to die. This rumor has been catching fire. If we don't get any reinforcements soon, people might start believing it and lose their Morale," Gan Manxiang sighed as he informed Prince Hu.

" I know about the rumor, but there's nothing that can be done about it. I'll be honest, though. It seems highly unlikely that we'll get any reinforcement. We can't depend on them. All we can do is try our best and win," Prince Hu said as he patted Gan Manxiang's shoulders. " Still, I'll send another letter to the Capital and demand for them to send reinforcement at the earliest."

" That would be good," Gan Manxiang nodded his head.

"Hmm? Li Man?" Gan Manxiang muttered as he saw Long Chen standing behind them.

Prince Hu also turned back to see who Gan Manxiang was calling.

" Ah, Master Gan, we meet again," Long Chen said as if it was a coincidence.

"Right. Oh, let me introduce yourself. This is our General Hu! He is our supreme commander here, the one who's keeping this place safe," Gan Manxiang introduced Prince Hu to Long Chen.

" General, this is Li Man. He just arrived in this city today for vacation," he introduced Long Chen to Prince Hu. 

"Nice to meet you, Young Master Li. I must say you choose the wrong town to spend your vacation in," Prince Hu said as he reached out his hand to shake Long Chen's hand.

Long Chen did the same as he shook Prince Hu's hand.

"I don't think so. I feel like it was worth it. I got to meet Prince Hu after all," Long Chen said with a smile on his face.

"Oh? You already know about me?" Prince Hu asked with a surprised look on his face.

"I heard praises about you all throughout the town. Also, I am staying in the same hotel as you. I heard the receptionist call you His Highness. There's only one Prince who would come so far from the capital and live in such a modest hotel without any fanfare, and that's the Eldest Prince Hu. It was obvious," Long Chen replied.

"Interesting. Well, it was great meeting you, Young Master Li. I need to be going now since I'm doing a little survey of the town. Have fun in the town. It's small, but the people here are really nice. As for the security of this place, leave that to us," Prince Hu smiled as he said to Long Chen before he turned back to leave.

"Ah, Prince Hu, Can I walk with you? Since you're already going to go around the town, I might as well give you company," Long Chen suggested.

"Hmm? You want to come with me? Sure. There's no problem in that," Prince Hu said, nodding his head.

Long Chen left with Prince Hu.

****

"Ah, Prince Hu, there was something that I wanted to ask," Long Chen let out with didn't hesitation.

" I don't think I have the title of Prince anymore. Also, you're not in the army, so you don't have to call me General. You can just call me by my name," Prince Hu told Long Chen. "Also, you can ask me anything. As long as it's not something troubling, I'll answer you."

"Ah, right then. Master Hu, I was really curious about something. Back home, when I heard about you and what happened to you, I always felt like you were framed and punished wrongly. Is that right?" Long Chen asked Liang Hu.

"If I had actually done it, do you think I would tell you that I did it? It doesn't matter if I was innocent or guilty; I would have said I'm innocent in both cases, so there's no reason for anyone to believe whatever I say about that. I'll just leave that to your feeling," Liang Hu replied in vague terms.

"If it's about my feelings, then I believe you're innocent. That leads me to my second question. You are innocent, yet you were accused wrongly and punished. If there was anyone else in your position, they might have been filled with hate. Hate for the ones that did wrong to them. But I don't find that to be the case. After talking to you and after hearing about you from others, I can only believe that you're filled with nothing but compassion. Why is that? Why don't you hate anyone?" Long Chen asked Prince Hu.

" Hah, I guessed that you were an intelligent person, but you're a bit too intelligent. You found out all that just from your feelings and a little bit of information. That's commendable. You're right. I was innocent. I was accused of scheming against my brother, whom I loved. I was accused of lusting after the crown, which I didn't even like at that time. The ones I thought were my family didn't believe me; instead, they Punished me. Still, I don't hate them. As for a reason..." Prince Hu told Long Chen while taking a pause at the end.

"... It's because they're my family. Even if they don't treat me like family, I can never abandon them and hate them." he continued.

'Sigh, I could've used him if he had even a shred of hate towards his family, but he would never go against them. It's useless to spend time on him,' Long Chen thought after hearing Prince Hu's words.