Ying Lili, after taking a cold water bath, came to the room. She was wearing a white upper jacket with a long underskirt. Her long hair was still wet, which was hanging below her waist. Sitting in front of the mirror, she looked at herself and touched her neck. "It was so hot," Ying Lili murmured when she heard the door open.
Sheng Li walked in and looked at Ying Lili who was also looking at him. "What's this in your hand?" Ying Lili asked.
"A herbal medicine for the blisters," Sheng Li replied and walked to her. He put the China dish on the dressing table and stood behind Ying Lili. "I will apply," Sheng Li said before Ying Lili could pick it up. He took another chair and sat on it beside her.
Sheng Li moved the robe slightly down that Ying Lili was wearing above the jacket. He took a little paste in his fingers and applied the paste gently over the blisters. "Your friend seemed reliable. I did not know you were prone to heat. It is a good thing that you did not get dehydrated." Sheng Li talked with Ying Lili while applying the paste.
Ying Lili clutched her skirt tightly as whenever Sheng Li's fingers were touching her skin, she felt a tingling sensation. "They aren't anywhere else, right?" Sheng Li questioned Ying Lili who nodded. Sheng Li took the cotton towel from the table and wiped his fingers from it.
"I will wipe it in a while. Jingguo said it needed to be kept for ten minutes," Sheng Li told Ying Lili. "Tomorrow the journey is going to be comfortable as we will use a horse cart." Ying Lili was delighted to know about that.
"Are you not taking a bath?" Ying Lili queried him.
"I will take a bath after dinner," Sheng Li replied. A smirk appeared on his lips. "Want to take a bath with me?" Sheng Li asked her back which resulted in the widening of Ying Lili's eyes.
"Huh?" she exclaimed. Ying Lili averted her gaze from him. Sheng Li noticed that Ying Lili did not argue with him. He took out the fan which he had put inside the sash and started fanning Ying Lili who felt good. He was fanning mainly near Ying Lili's neck to soothe her out.
"I will do it myself," Ying Lili said when Sheng Li refused and kept fanning. Ying Lili was looking at Sheng Li's face when she felt how strangely her heart was beating. "I am indeed falling for him," she thought. She was happy that Sheng Li turned gentle and caring for her. She did not realize when those ten minutes passed.
Sheng Li wiped the paste off those blisters and looked at Ying Lili. "They will go by the morning. I will apply it before sleep," Sheng Li told Ying Lili as he helped her to wear the robe. "Your hair is wet. I am sending a maidservant who will help you." Sheng Li stood up from the chair and walked out of the room.
Ying Lili looked at herself in the mirror. "Why am I falling for him first? Now, even my heart beats strangely when he touches me. What if he found out that I…" She shook her head and patted her cheeks.
"Your highness, this maidservant is in your service," a maidservant came there and greeted the Crown Princess. She dried Ying Lili's hair, which took almost twenty minutes.
"Your highness, you need to go down to the dining room for dinner. Please come with me," the maidservant humbly said. Ying Lili nodded, and the two walked out of the room.
As Ying Lili reached the dining room, she saw how Sheng Li was busy talking with Wang Hao and others. He was smiling with them, which made Ying Lili wonder, 'He never smiled like this with me.'
"Ying Lili," Hu Jingguo called out her name. Sheng Li shot a glare at Jingguo who apologized for his mistake. "Do one more time and I will cut your tongue," Sheng Li threatened Hu Jingguo.
"Her highness is my friend. I always called her like this. This habit will take time, your highness," Hu Jingguo told Sheng Li.
"Then also learn to call her the Crown Princess and make this your permanent habit," Sheng Li affirmed and looked at Ying Lili.
Wang Hao and Xiao Zhan had stood up as the Crown Princess came there. Seeing them Hu Jingguo too quickly got up from his seat. "Your highness, are you feeling well?" Wang Hao asked Ying Lili.
"Yes, I am good. Thank you for asking, General Wang," replied Ying Lili.
"Please have a seat," Wang Hao told Ying Lili who smiled and took a seat beside Sheng Li around the dining table. Mu Zuheng came there with a few maidservants and told them to serve the food.
"Her highness likes rice noodles a lot," Hu Jingguo said with a smile.
"Yes. Do you remember, Jingguo, that time when we two made the rice noodle dish for the first time? It was not good, but it was not bad," Ying Lili said and laughed with Hu Jingguo. Wang Hao and Xiao Zhan were also smiling upon hearing that, but Sheng Li was indifferent.
"Jingguo, you can call me by my name. Why are you using the title? I do not like it when you use the title. It feels like we are distantly apart," Ying Lili told Hu Jingguo.
"Okay, I will call you by your name," Hu Jingguo told Ying Lili.
"If you two keep talking, I will starve you both tonight and in the morning as well," Sheng Li said in a threatening tone, then peered at Jingguo. "Try talking with her by using her name." That was enough to scare Jingguo.
"What is your problem? Since when did friends start talking using titles," Ying Lili yanked at Sheng Li.
"Shut up! And eat your food. Wang Hao and Xiao Zhan are my friends but unlike your friend they are not shameless," Sheng Li glared at Jingguo and then looked back at Ying Lili.