Beginning the Crown Prince, he saw the Second Prince Qian whom he had already seen. The necklace was still in his hand. 

He was in different clothes than he was wearing before. Previously, he seemed like a rich and elegant man, but now he seemed like a dominant ruler.

There was also one more person who attracted Long Chen's attention just as much. It was a woman who was standing in the end.

The woman seemed to be in her early twenties. Long Chen was not sure if the girl was a maid or someone who worked for the Royal, but from her clothes and her aura, she did seem like a princess.

Her eyes seemed to be blue and her hair black, unlike the Emperor. 

The eunuchs opened the door before them. The Emperor and the ones behind him stepped inside and disappeared from their sight.

"Cheh, I guess they finally decided to go. Let's go. It looks like I can't show you the Palace today. The celebration is about to begin," Meng Huling said as he started walking towards the same doorway as well.

Long Chen followed after him.

"Who was the girl with them?" Long Chen asked the boy, wondering about the girl.

"Was she your sister?" 

"Yeah. She is my Elder Sister. Technically, she is the youngest if you exclude me. The boy in front of her was the birthday boy, my second brother Qian. 

The man in the lead was obviously my father, as you might have expected. He was Emperor Meng Lian, the ruler of this land. And the boy behind him was the Eldest Prince and my half brother, Meng Luqi. 

"Half brother? You didn't mention anything like that when talking about your second brother," Long Chen asked. "Does he and you have the same mother?"

"Yeah. My second brother and I are full brothers. Why?" Meng Huling answered 

"Nothing. It's just that the way you talked about him, I had a feeling that you didn't like him," Long Chen replied casually. 

Meng Huling gazed at Long Chen for a few seconds with an expressionless face before he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, you're not wrong. Also, where does it say that he has to be my half-brother for me to dislike him?" He said.

"Now, don't ask me why I don't like him. There's no need for you to know."

Long Chen nodded his head and didn't ask further. He didn't need to know the reason anyway. But this did make him disappointed.

He had thought that getting close to Meng Huling was bringing him closer to Meng Qian. He wanted to have Meng Huling take the necklace from his brother, but it seemed highly unlikely now. Even if he somehow got Meng Huling to ask for the necklace from Meng Qian, there was a good chance he wasn't going to get since Meng Qian probably hated him as well.

Enmity is rarely one-sided.

He couldn't leave Meng Huling's side in the party either since he got him inside. And if he stayed near Meng Huling, he couldn't get close to Meng Lian. He had basically found himself stuck at the wrong end of the room.

"Stop looking so down. It's your first time in a celebration of this caliber. I don't really care, but it would be good if you make a good first impression," Meng Huling said as he noticed Long Chen looking so down.

"Yeah," Long Chen muttered. It didn't matter where he was and which side he stood at. The only thing he could do was adjust and try his best.

The two guys reached the entrance of the Hall. The guards greeted the boy before they opened the for them. 

Meng Huling stepped inside first, followed behind by Long Chen.

As Long Chen entered, he was able to hear the chatter of the people inside. While the Hallway was silent, the Hall was noisy as nobles were coming up to the Emperor who was sitting on the throne and greeting him. 

Many nobles were also talking amongst themselves as well. 

There were many round tables placed all around the hall. The tables were covered in a clean tablecloth. Groups of nobles were sitting around the tables. 

The Eldest Prince was sitting near one such table with the Second Prince. His table was closest to the throne. The Princess was also seated at the same table.

After the nobles came back from greeting the Emperor, they greeted the princes. They also wished the second Prince for his birthday.

"Hey, Third Brother?" The Crown Prince noticed Meng Huling in the distance.

"I thought you'll be late like other times. How come you're on time now? Doesn't matter. Come sit with us," he called out happily.

"It must be a dream. That guy can never be on time, especially on my birthday. It's either that or today is the day when the world ends. It must be a signal," Meng Qian said, rolling his eyes.

"Second Brother, please don't act like this before the other nobles. We must never show the inner workings of our family before others. Please control yourself. It's unbefitting of a prince to behave this way," the Crown Prince said in a low voice.

He didn't like the way Meng Qian was mocking the Their Prince. Even though he had done similar things, he had obviously done so jokingly. The Second Prince was seriously trying to mock him. 

Meng Huling gazed at the table of the other princes before he nodded his head.

"Come. I'll introduce you to my brothers," he said to Long Chen as he walked towards the family.

"Who is this boy with you?" The crown Prince asked. "A new friend you made?"

"You can think of it that way. I met him along the way. He is the Prince of Fengshu..."

Meng Huling introduced Long Chen while talking about how they met each other. 

He also introduced his family to Long Chen as he sat on a chair near the table.

"Why are you standing? Take a seat as well," he said to Long Chen.

Long Chen could see another empty chair near him. He reached out his hand to pull the chair back so he could sit.

"What are you doing?" Meng Qian asked as he squinted his eyes while glaring at Long Chen.

"Is there a problem, second brother?" Meng Huling inquired in return.

"This is the table for the royalty. Now that your friend is introduced, he needs to go sit in the back. How can he sit with us?" Meng Qian replied.

"Don't you see? So many nobles are sitting in the back. When even they don't deserve to sit with us, how can I allow a measly Prince of a lowly Kingdom?" He continued. 

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