The call of “Big Brother” was so natural and smooth that Bai Qing had to hold his smile, blushed, and turn around with his shoulders trembling, and Halidan showed a weird expression.
Even Ding Ning felt very unnatural and waved his hand hurriedly. “Just now I was joking. Prince Hengli, please don’t take it seriously.”
“No, as a gentleman, I have the basic contract spirit. Don’t you think that admitting defeat for a bet is a good moral character?”
Unexpectedly, Prince Hengli did not do as Ding Ning said and blinking his big blue eyes, argumentatively maintained his gentleman-ship, with a sincere attitude which was nearly bigoted.
They had to admit the fact that Yingjili people always regarded themselves as gentlemen, and there was no exception for Prince Hengli, who looked a little cute at this moment.
But this was embarrassing. Prince Hengli, the oldest among the four of them, was already 32 this year, ten years older than Ding Ning, but he called Ding Ning “Big Brother” time after time, making the three of them feel a little weird.
With a relatively quick reaction, Halidan instantly held Prince Hengli and said in the not fluent Shenzhou language, “Brother Ding and we Yi Jian Qing Xin (falling in love at first sight), so maybe we can Xing Lin Jie Yi (swearing to be brothers in the apricot orchard).”
“Puff!”
Ding Ning and Bai Qing laughed crazily, and even the four bodyguards simmered with laughter.
Halidan was confused by their laughter. “What’s up? Is what I said wrong?”
“Halidan, you have to further your Shenzhou language learning and should say Yi Jian Ru Gu (feeling like old friends at the first meeting) because Yi Jian Qing Xin is used to describe the love between a man and a woman, and there is no proverb called Xing Lin Jie Yi, which should be called Tao Yuan Jie Yi (swearing to be brothers in the peach orchard).”
Bai Qing laughed quite loudly but explained patiently.
Being straightforward, Halidan also knew he had made a mistake, scratched his head, gave a dry smile, and asked patiently, “What is the peach orchard?”
Hengli could not speak good Shenzhou language, either and looked at Bai Qing with a strong desire for knowledge, waiting for him to explain.
Feeling helpless, Bai Qing had to patiently explain Tao Yuan Jie Yi in Shenzhou’s history to them, who listened with great interest.
“Then let’s find a peach orchard and swear to be brothers, shall we?”
After hearing it, Halidan was still not clear but said instantly when Bai Qing finished his explanation.
“Tao Yuan Jie Yi is only an allusion, which means the most sincere feelings between brothers but does not mean that people must swear to be brothers in a peach orchard. As for cutting a chicken’s head, drinking blood liquor, kowtowing to Lord Guan, smearing the blood as a sign of the oath, and others, I will tell you gradually if we have the chance in the future. Truth be told, swearing to be brothers is just a form. A hedge between keeps friendship green, and brotherhood is successful because of a sincere heart. We don’t have to confine ourselves to such forms. What do you think, Ding Ning?”
Bai Qing was not against swearing to be brothers, but he did not know how Ding Ning thought about it, so he did not dare to easily accept it and turned to him with an inquiring look.
“Okay, as long as you guys agree.”
Ding Ning did not say yes or no. Just now Prince Hengli behaved arrogantly, but after getting familiar with him, he found that this guy was very straightforward and cherished feelings very much; otherwise, he would not have traveled with Halidan so far to Shenzhou to see the doctor in such a sensitive time.
Halidan was much better. From the friendliness at their first meeting to the following behavior that showed his magnanimous attitude, he knew this was a man worth making friends with.
Looking at his indifferent behavior, everyone did not feel that he was trying to build a relationship with someone of a higher position but took it for granted.
In their opinion, Ding Ning was an able person and his position was not lower than theirs, and they even respected him faintly. Seeing that he had accepted it, they became quite happy.
So, witnessed by their four bodyguards Ha No. 1, Ha No. 2, Ha No. 3, and Ha No. 4, the four of them were ranked according to their age, with Hengli being Big Brother, Bai Qing being Second Brother, Halidan Third Brother, and Ding Ning Fourth Brother. They lit three cigarettes and swore to be brothers.
“Haha, I have become Big Brother from a younger brother. Quick, Fourth Brother, call me Big Brother and let me feel the joy of it.”
As soon as Prince Hengli finished the form, he proudly went back to his true nature at once and noisily asked for getting his honor back. That bitchy attitude made Ding Ning sullen, feeling that he had been cheated.
“Well, don’t mess around. Now let continue my topic. Just now I didn’t want to say anything because this involves my family’s skeleton in the cupboard, but now we are brothers, and I don’t need to hide it from you.”
Halidan’s smile became smaller, and he said in a deep tone.
Ha No. 1 and their other three bodyguards retired voluntarily. As for the royal scandals, they had better know less. Although Halidan trusted them very much, they knew what they should know and what they should not.
According to what Halidan said, Princess Xikela was the daughter of his mother’s sister (his aunt), nine years younger than he was but the same age as his younger brother Yiding.
Alabo was a polygamous country. His father had more than ten wives. Although only the three brothers Halidan, Kalaman, and Yiding were eligible to succeed the throne in Dibai, the fact was that there were other 17 brothers apart from the three. If his sisters were included, his father had 30 more children in total. Besides these legitimate children, his father also had many illegitimate children, but those brothers could not be his heirs due to their too young age or other reasons.
Ding Ning wanted it so much. “Polygamy, what a good social system! Should I emigrate to Alianqiu?”
Halidan changed his topic and became a little shy. In fact, his aunt Kaximi was the queen of Suertan, King of Shajia Kingdom. This meant that she was the queen of Alianqiu’s third largest emirate.
The truth was that Alianqiu was a federal state consisting of seven Alabo emirates. The Federal Supreme Council, which was composed of chiefs of the seven emirates, local hereditary nobles, and wealthy merchants, was the highest authority and decided the major domestic and external policy issues.
As the second largest emirate of Alianqiu, Dibai was also one of the members of Alianqiu Federal State, but if its top leader wanted to have a voice in the Federal Supreme Council and become the president, he would have to persuade the emirate’s allies to counter the top emirate Abuzhabi.
Shajia, the third largest emirate, was obviously their most suitable target, so Halidan and Xikela were engaged and formed this political marriage.
But the problem was that his father Laxide was dissolute, and his aunt Kaximi was his father’s lover before getting married. Even after she married Suertan, the two of them often had trysts, so even Laxide and Kaximi themselves did not know whose daughter Xikela was.
Therefore, Halidan was extremely resistant when he knew that he was going to be engaged to Xikela. After all, although the Alabo countries did not care about the marriage between close relatives, they felt it very hard to accept the marriage between a brother and his blood sister.
But as an ambitious man, Laxide wholeheartedly wanted to become the president of Alianqiu and asked him to focus on the big picture, and then he reluctantly accepted the marriage. After all, even if he was married to his half-sister, he could also get other wives.
To comfort himself, Halidan collected Xikela’s hair silently and asked someone to conduct a DNA identification in secret, but the result shocked him. Xikela was his father’s daughter, but he was not Laxide’s biological son. This blow was grievous news to him.
To find out the truth, he secretly conducted another investigation and finally found that Suertan and his mother had a sexual relationship, and he was Suertan’s son.
Ding Ning and others stared speechless at each other. “The relationship between men and women in this royal family is too promiscuous. It is so complicated that it is like an erotic court soap drama.”
However, Prince Hengli had witnessed such things many times. Born in a royal family, he had met more filthy affairs than this. Apart from adultery, he had also met numerous incest cases.
The so-called royal aristocrats looked nice and enviable, but the lives of most people in private were rotten, for dirty souls were hidden beneath the gentlemanly appearance.
After all, power, money, identity, and social status were things that others needed to fight for a lifetime to get, but they had them when they were born and had lost goals in life, so they could only live luxuriously like parasites and did all kinds of ridiculous things to get a different stimulus.
Speaking of this, Prince Hengli showed some bitterness on his face. “Take me for example. I was born a prince. I have had to learn court etiquette since I was young and received the so-called elite education. Even if I go shopping, I will be accompanied by dozens of people. This looks impressive, but in fact, this is not different from a prisoner’s life. Sometimes I prefer to be born in an ordinary family and work hard fighting for my future with goals like ordinary people. Please allow me to say something offensive: What’s the point of being the Ying emperor? Esteemed by others like a god, this person is only a spiritual leader without any real power.”
Ding Ning became silent. Although what Prince Hengli said was the life an ordinary person craved to get, what he said was true.
Today, the Ying emperor was only a symbol of the royal family. Previously, the emperor still had the right to make the constitution, but now the emperor had no real power at all and was more of a spiritual symbol.
The truth was that it was difficult for Prince Hengli to succeed the throne of the Ying emperor, but even if he succeeded, what was the point? His life would not be as meaningful as the life of an ordinary person who worked hard to pursue his dream.
Halidan’s life was a little better. Anyway, he still had a goal to fight for—becoming the king of Dibai first and then fighting for the president of Alianqiu. This life could be counted as wonderful.
He had no idea about Bai Qing’s family background, but even if Bai Qing were born in a rich and powerful family, he would have many goals to fight for in Shenzhou where there were basically no nobles and he should fight against nearly everything to get great joy.
In theory, Prince Hengli had the most respectable position among the four of them, but he suffered most. He was not short of money or reputation, and what he was only short of was power, which he had no right to get.
The identity of being a royal family member was a dilemma for him. It was not so meaningful, but it was pitiful to give it up. This was not as meaningful as an ordinary person’s step-by-step struggle to realize a dream.
Speaking of this distressing topic, Prince Hengli opened a bottle of red wine, drained it, and looking decadent and depressed, lamented, “Sometimes I don’t know what I live for. I am so tired.”
From his decadent and confused look, Ding Ning seemed to see the dismal of a decaying dynasty. The Yingjili Empire, which once dominated the world, was on a fast decline.
From the perspective of nationalism, Ding Ning should applaud for the current situation of the Yingjili Empire because it committed crimes against Shenzhou in history.
Anything will decline when it reaches its zenith. The decline of a powerful dynasty is the inevitable history, and no one can establish a dynasty which is peaceful forever. This is the inevitable trend of historical development, and there is no need to feel sad about it.
But Ding Ning’s personal feelings were clear: He couldn’t bear to see the Big Brother who had just sworn with him to lose himself in the decadence without life goals.
In Hengli’s case, he had already begun to show symptoms of depression. If he was not guided in time, he would have big problems sooner or later. As a doctor, Ding Ning had the responsibility and obligation to guide him to build a healthy outlook on life.
Otherwise, Hengli would suffer from severe depression sooner or later. Even if he did not become a lunatic, he would become a mental patient.
