"Compensate?" Ying Lili mumbled when she found Sheng Li beside her on the bed. Her right hand was taken by Sheng Li as he examined it. "You hurt yourself to save me," Sheng Li whispered.
"How many times are you going to say this?" Ying Lili complained and pulled her hand back but Sheng Li did not let it go. "Don't," she heard. "What are you staring at? It is making me nervous," Ying Lili said after a few minutes.
Sheng Li lifted his eyes to meet the pair of pearly eyes. "I promised myself that I would not let you get injured on this journey. But look, because of my negligence you ended up getting hurt," Sheng Li stated.
"It happens when you need to fight enemies. What about you? You are also injured, but you hid your wounds as if they never existed. Do you want me to treat it or shall I call Jingguo here?" Ying Lili asked Sheng Li.
'She even noticed my injuries!' Sheng Li thought.
"Those are minor cuts, but yours is not. Also, you have to compensate for the slap which you gave me earlier," Sheng Li proclaimed.
"That was accidental. I did not intentionally do that. You always kiss me at the wrong time and the wrong place," Ying Lili defended herself.
"Shouldn't you say that your friend jumps in every time I get affectionate to you? Do you know how badly I want to beat him up but just because of you, I control myself every time Jingguo acts that way," Sheng Li affirmed and gazed into Ying Lili's eyes.
Ying Lili's heart fluttered. "Why do you control yourself?" Ying Lili twitched her lips as a smile started appearing on them.
"Because of you!" Sheng Li immediately replied. His fingers were playing with Ying Lili's hair strands which tried blocking his view of her face.
Ying Lili was confounded by Sheng Li's statement. "Because of me!?" With an inquisitiveness, Ying Lili searched for an answer in Sheng Li's eyes.
"Hmm."
Ying Lili gave a tiny smile and lowered her eyes. 'Does it mean he loves me? Can't he just say that he loves me, that's why he doesn't want me to get hurt in any way?' Ying Lili contemplated when she felt the rough lips of Sheng Li on her forehead. He parted his lips away from her skin and again met those beautiful pairs of pearly eyes.
Ying Lili was equally focusing into Sheng Li's eyes when she heard him. "Promise me you will not do this again." Sheng Li had let go of those hair strands. He brought his left hand closer to Ying Lili's chin and showed her his little finger.
"What are you saying? I cannot promise this," Ying Lili affirmed.
"Can't you fulfill this one wish of mine? I fulfill your wishes so easily but you refused to fulfill mine," Sheng Li opined.
"Ask for some other wish then. This one I cannot fulfill. Why can't you understand? You are not alone now. You have a wife who will get worried every time such kind of danger falls on you," Ying Lili argued and huffed.
Sheng Li put his hand down. "Fine. I will ask for that wish later. If you refuse to fulfill that then I will not see you for two weeks," Sheng Li stated.
"Two weeks? What kind of wish are you going to ask me to fulfill?" Ying Lili muttered.
"Something which you will like too," Sheng Li pronounced. Ying Lili nodded and asked him when they would take their meals.
Sheng Li realized that it slipped his mind, so he dashed out of the room. After five minutes, he entered the room with a food tray in his hands. Ying Lili stood up and walked near him. "Why did you bring it here? Let me help you," Ying Lili said and lifted her hands when Sheng Li told her to take a seat around the table.
Ying Lili could not help that and followed him to the table. Sitting in their respective seats, Sheng Li brought his chair closer to Ying Lili's. "I don't think you will be able to use your right hand," Sheng Li said and picked the chopsticks from the tray. He picked a little rice from it and brought it closer to Ying Lili's mouth. "Open your mouth," he said.
"I will use the other hand," Ying Lili softly voiced when Sheng Li put the rice into her mouth. Ying Lili chewed them while Sheng Li picked a slice of cooked meat. He brought it closer to Ying Lili's mouth.
"You shall eat too," Ying Lili told Sheng Li.
"I will after you," Sheng Li replied. He fed the food to Ying Lili till her stomach was full. Taking out the handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped Ying Lili's mouth from it. He then poured water into a glass and fed it to Ying Lili.
"You shall take a rest," Sheng Li stated.
"I am not sleepy. You shall take your meal as well," Ying Lili pronounced. Sheng Li nodded and started eating.
"What did General Wang inform you? Did he catch the shooter?" Ying Lili asked.
"Hmm. He was working for the Empress," Sheng Li replied.
"We need to be cautious. What did you think then?" Ying Lili queried.
"Xiao has suggested going from the densely forested area, which is not in use. I have sent them to check with the locals if someone can lead us to the right way," Sheng Li pronounced.
"Taking the help of a trustworthy local is important," Ying Lili asserted. Sheng Li agreed with her. Ying Lili found that Sheng Li was tense. "We will safely reach the Palace so do not worry. I was thinking of exposing the Empress's true intentions once we will be in the Palace. We need to stop her before she will do something extreme," Ying Lili, with a menacing expression stated.
"I advise you not to do anything. Weng Wei has the backing of lots of people whom we don't know," Sheng Li advised Ying Lili and continued eating.