“Yes, your Highness!”

“I’m not really used to that, just call me Young Master or Sir.” Ye Lang frowned. It was like a joke to him that he’d become a prince in this place.

“Yes, Young Master Cousin.” The guard did not insist either. They worked for Princess Longji, sometimes they called her Miss too. Her younger cousin was naturally Young Master Cousin.

He was a second-generation prince, hence formalities weren’t strict. Since he’d told them to change, they did.

“I’m going to the palace for a while, you guys go ahead.” Ye Lang left after answering his question.

Very soon, Ye Lang stopped because he realised there were riders following him.

“What are you all doing? You need to stay behind, you need to protect Kaline!” said Ye Lang, turning around.

“Young Master, the princess wants us to protect you. There are other people there to protect Princess Kaline,” said the rider respectfully.

Ye Lang frowned. “I don’t need protection, it’s too troublesome with you all following me!” He obviously didn’t like the feeling of being followed.

“We won’t, we won’t disturb you,” said the rider solemnly.

“Alright then! You can follow me but it’s none of my business if you lose me!” Ye Lang grinned and then quickly entered the entrance hall.

The riders quickly followed him. There were too many people at the entrance, it could be dangerous. Initially, they thought he’d use the side gate but they did not know him well. Ye Lang always used the main entrance.

This time, he wanted to use the main entrance even more badly to shake off these people. A crowd would have that effect.

When Ye Lang appeared at the foyer, many people soon noticed him and started squealing. There were many people trying to get closer.

“Boss?! Why is he here? What’s that pot of flowers for?” The girls performing on stage were confused. He’d never appeared here at this hour.

“Sir Ye, can we talk about…”

“No, we can’t!”

“Sir Ye, I’m from the Liu family, we want to…”

“Just talk to my cousin, she’ll discuss with you.”

“Sir Ye…”

“…”

Ye Lang was surrounded by people trying to talk to him but he rejected them all. They also thought it was weird that he could still move so easily when he was surrounded by people.

It was explicable if there were few of them but this place was packed! How could he squeeze past the crowd so effortlessly?

“The boss is so cool! I love you, Boss!”

On the stage, a beauty playing an instrument yelled at him, though she was drowned out by many more declarations of love. When the aristocratic ladies saw him, they went mad.

“Sir Ye Lang, would you be interested in dating me!” said a romantic aristocratic lady…

“Not interested!’

“Ye Lang, let’s fall in love!” said a bold aristocratic lady…

“No!”

“Ye Lang, Ye Lang, I love you! Let’s get married!” said an aggressive aristocratic lady…

“…”

“Apologies, I have a fiancee!”

“…”

…

“Young Master…”

The group of riders wanted to squeeze through the crowd but could not get past them, unlike Ye Lang.

Very soon, they realised that he was about to disappear. They weren’t worried because there were reinforcements outside. They just had to watch for Ye Lang.

However, what happened next caused panic because as he walked and spoke to everyone, he suddenly disappeared under everyone’s noses.

“Where’s he? Sir Ye?”

“Where’s Ye Lang, my beloved Ye Lang?”

“Boss…”

“…”

Ye Lang had disappeared under so many pairs of eyes. Everyone started searching but did not see him. They were surprised and confused.

They did not know what he did. They gave up after failing to find him.

“This is bad! What will we do if the princess knows we lost Young Master?” said the rider frantically. He could imagine her reaction.

These people were part of her mercenary group, of course they knew how much she loved Ye Lang. It’d be fine if nothing happened to him but she’d go crazy if something did!

“Don’t worry, didn’t he say he’ll be going to the palace? We just have to catch up,” reminded another. If they knew the destination, the task was simple.

“Right, why didn’t I think of that? What are we waiting for then, let’s go!”

“I’ve sent people after him already, I’m just being a good friend here, lending an ear to your woes!”

“Screw you!”

…

Vermilion Bird Palace. After several turns, Ye Lang finally arrived at this magnificent structure. He almost regretted shaking those men off, for he had to ask for directions before arriving.

Thank goodness the palace compound was huge or it’d be very troublesome.

This was also why the riders had a huge problem. They took the shortest route to the palace, waiting at the nearest palace gates. Yet they still couldn’t find him.

How would they know that he’d taken the wrong path? He’d made so many turns before arriving. He was now on the opposite side of the palace so although he found the palace gates, he was very far from them.

“Excuse me, is this the royal palace?” Ye Lang found an entrance. It wasn’t grand, looks like it wasn’t an important one. However, it was still much grander than an ordinary door. It was the palace after all.

“Yes, it is. Now that you know the answer, please stay away,” said the palace guard. It was his job to say this, it wasn’t because he discriminated commoners.