Editors: MaryJ and Zinan
The Pallavas travelled at sea for three weeks before finally reaching China. The journey was surprisingly very smooth making the Pallavas happy. They were hoping that their talks with the Emperor would proceed as smoothly as their journey but Viramalla didn’t feel the same. Before leaving he had studied about China specifically. After doing so, he came to realize certain characteristics of the Emperor which led him to believe that they were going to spend more than just a few days in China.
During Viramalla’s studies, he identified that Imperial China was currently under the Yangsui dynasty. Researching further to make sure their mission went smoothly, he queried a bit more into the current emperor’s personality only to find out that the current Emperor was known for his scheming mind.
Whatever the Emperor did, it always worked out in his favour. He made sure to think his decisions through before proceeding with them to avoid anything that would put him at a disadvantage. Although the trade relations between Southern India and China helped his economy grow rapidly, it was still uncertain whether or not this Emperor would be willing to sacrifice more than a few soldiers just for their sake.
The characters from Pallava script and theirs coincided a great deal. So they did not have to go through the added trouble of a language barrier. Since the Pallavas respected their culture and religion, it was easier to trade with them when compared to the other clans from Southern India.
Cooperating with the Pallavas would help the Emperor enormously as it would provide him with a foothold in Southern India. Therefore, the probability of getting help from the Emperor should be rather high.
But if he were to help them as soon as they asked him to, he wouldn’t be the Emperor!
Even before the Pallavas reached China, the Emperor would have already made his calculations.
As they arrived, the head palace eunuch and a general with an army of forty soldiers awaited them at the shore. They were sent to welcome and escort the Pallavas to their assigned palace.
A crowd had formed to watch them too. Naturally, they too were curious about the Pallavas.
One of the men who just arrived at work was perplexed about the crowd.
“Why is there a crowd so early in the morning?” he asked.
“You don’t know? There’s an enemy ship coming to declare war on us!”, the other man replied.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qtja?! Qtfgf vlv sbe tfjg atlr ogbw? Qts tjnf atfs revvfcis vfmlvfv ab lcagevf? P vbc’a kjca ab vlf sfa. P tjnfc’a ajrafv wbra bo ws ojnbeglaf obbvr”, tf mglfv bea lc qjclm.
“Bffq la vbkc cbk. P kjr pera qeiilcu sbeg ifu. Ccv rfglberis? Po sbe’gf abiv jc fcfws lr lcagevlcu sbeg olgra atbeutar ubfr ab obbv. Vaeqlv!”
“Ah…Isn’t there a saying that ‘We live to eat’. I was just following it.”
“…It’s ‘We eat to live’, anyway, forget it. Don’t you know that we trade with a particular kingdom in Southern India?”
“I think they are called Pallavas or something.”
“Yes. They are a part of the Pallava dynasty. They are here to seek help because of some problem they are facing within their kingdom.”
“Oh….So they are here to propose an alliance? But how can we ally with a completely different race? I mean — we have nothing in common, right? Can they even understand what we’re talking about? What’s the use in allying with foreign strangers?”
“You don’t seem to know that much. Both of our languages have great resemblance hence, communication isn’t a problem. In fact, Bodhidharma, the famous Buddhist monk in our area, was born in the city of Kanchi. So they even have several Buddhist temples there. They respect and a few even follow our culture. As for the alliance, who are we to comment on that? The Emperor has a mind of his own”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t mind such trivial matters when there are much bigger issues to assess. Like what food do I have at home to eat for tomorrow’s breakfast?”
“….. Alright.”
Soon, a giant ship quickly came into view. Tied to the gaff of the ship, was a deep red flag with the symbol of a majestic lion, roaring and ready to attack. The imagery on the flag demonstrated to the people that not only does the lion symbolise their kingdom but also their pride, courage, valour and hardiness. The flag waved left and right as if greeting the people awaiting them on the shore. Soon the ship pulled into the port and anchored itself.
After a while, a few soldiers descended and made way. Soon after Viramalla followed by Simha and General Dandi came down.
Unlike other South Indians, the Pallavas were not that dark. In fact, they were quite pale. Of course, when compared to the Chinese who were mostly pale as snow, they were just a little pale.
Even in a crowd, Viramalla stood out. His skin shone with a bronze undertone due to his heavy training. He was the tallest of the lot. Despite his eight packs and robust body, he gave off a scholarly aura. His eyebrows were thin and sharp with a slight arch. His protruding hazel eyes mesmerized anyone who looked directly into them. His hair fluttering in the air looked smoother than the down of a swan. The pearls he wore in his ears accentuated his outstanding appearance. His bearing coupled with his icy aura told people to keep their distance.
But who could resist such a beauty!
The surrounding people forgot to breathe as they stared straight at the alluring sight. Mixed into the crowd, was a man in black who covered his whole body except for his phoenix eyes was the most mesmerizing.
When Simha realized that the surrounding people were mesmerized by his eldest brother, he quickly stepped in front of him.
Only after the alluring sight was blocked did the people snap out of their daze. A group of girls and even a couple of married women blushed and lowered their heads.
Their husbands were too busy appreciating the prince that they even forgot to be jealous.
The palace eunuch quickly regained his composure and nudged the general in his rib waking him up from his stupor.
The general quickly stepped forward and bowed low, cupping his hands in respect.
“Welcome to Yangsui empire.”
General Dandi stepped up to the other general and said,
“We have troubled your people so much. Please allow me to introduce ourselves, this is our crown prince Viramalla and the second prince Simha and I am Dandi, the general of our troops.”
“Greetings to the crown prince and the second prince. It is our pleasure to welcome you. Please, you must be tired from the long journey. Allow me to escort you to the palace.”
Viramalla nodded at him. Simha frowned but didn’t say anything.
The Pallavas followed the eunuch to the palace.
After they left, the man in black quickly went into an alley. One of his companions couldn’t help but say, “I didn’t expect the Pallava crown prince to be such a beauty. I even forgot to breathe.”
Another one replied, “Yes, I expected him to be a dark-skinned, tall man with excessive jewellery hanging on him. But who knew he would be so captivating!! Even our country’s beauty will pale in comparison to him. What do you think, Your Highness?”
“You both have stolen the words straight out of this prince’s mouth. Let’s go, this prince needs to dress up a little before meeting the little cutie.”
“Yes, Your Highness”
Author’s notes:
Second prince: Even a eunuch didn’t look at this prince. Hmph!! These people must be blind to ignore such a handsome prince.
MaryJ: tsk tsk tsk
Zinan: (－‸ლ)
Hello guys!!! I know this didn’t really show too much on any characters but you have to wait for the next chapters. Sorry but I’ll try to give more screen time to our main couples.
So what do you think about this chapter?
How do you think our MC and ML first meet would be like?
Give your suggestions and comments below. And if you want to read advance chapters please buy me a Ko-fi.
Please support me by buying Ko-fi. I’ll release a bonus chapter for every donation.
I hope you all like it!!(ノ^_^)
Thank you for reading!!! 💞💞
And the release schedule for this novel is every Friday and whenever someone buys me a coffee ☕
Thanks for the chapter!
How much angst is there? I really need to know, cause I can’t really handle it if it’s too much, then I’d rather stock a few chapters to be able to enjoy it better ^^ But it sound really interesting so far
Don’t worry. The angst is very very mild. For now it’ll be our main couples flirting.😆
That’s a big relief! Thank you
This is interesting!! And the man in the black is the ml right?!?! Is he the crown prince?? Oooh…I’m so deep in this novel now. 😉
Haha. Spot on. Thank you for your support 😘
It’s so interesting to me. I also like how they show the second prince’s jealousy. It seems like everything he does pales in comparison to our Crown Prince. Even his looks aren’t a match!
I hope the meeting between them goes well!
Thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for your support 😘😘❤️
Hi, does this novel still need an editor or proof reader ? Because I would like to try my hand at it. It would be my first time translating online, however I have IRL experience editing and proof reading various texts, speeches and articles.
Hi, I’d like to apply to join your project!
Name: Leeni
Novel: The Southern Prince
Position: Editor or Proofreader (I would be fine with either or both)
How many hours a week can you help: 72 hours per week minimum, however if asked I am prepared to dedicate more hours if possible.
Thank you for your interest. Unfortunately I just recruited an editor and proofreader yesterday. I’ll contact you if I still need one in the future. Happy reading 🙂
Okay. Thank you for replying and the consideration! ❤
You can join the discord server. There, in the recruitment channel you can apply for other novels. As it’ll take time to read the comments, you should always try in the discord to get faster responses.
‘Couples’ you said? OHH, I’m looking forward to find out who are the others!
Viramalla’s beauty has bewitched a prince!!! I hope he won’t be too blunt in their first encounter.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for your support 😘