Jian Guozhi arrived at the manor of his mother. As he went inside the chamber, he saw his mother standing with her back towards him. He greeted his mother first and then asked, "Why did mother call me?"
Weng Wei turned to look at Jian Guozhi. She was outraged after reading that message. "You killed the assassins that day?" Weng Wei questioned him.
Jian Guozhi did not expect his mother to find out about that. He had cleanly done his work then how could his mother find out; he wondered.
"Prince Jian, I am asking something. Did you kill the assassins who were supposed to kill them?" Weng Wei bellowed at Jian Guozhi who accepted.
Weng Wei came towards her son and slapped him hard. Jian Guozhi flinched and lowered his eyes. "Why did you do that?" Weng Wei shouted at him. Never in her wildest dream did she imagine that her own son would do something like this.
Getting no response from Jian Guozhi, Weng Wei grabbed both of his arms and jerked him. "Answer me, Jian!" she shouted at him again. "Answer me, why did you kill them?" Weng Wei repeated her words. "Is it because of An-Ying Lili?"
Weng Wei was skeptical that her son would have done that definitely to save Ying Lili. Despite that, she wanted to hear the reason from the mouth of her son.
Jian Guozhi let go of his mother's grip from his arms. "Yes. I told you not to harm her, but you were crazy to kill her. I had no option but to kill those assassins," Jian Guozhi pronounced.
"Jian, have you lost your mind? This was your best chance to get the throne, yet you did that!" Weng Wei lost her temper. It was hard to swallow that for a woman Jian Guozhi betrayed his own mother.
"Yes, I have lost my mind! I don't want any throne. How many people are you intending to kill just because of that throne? Do you not get tired of all this? Do you think that only the position of the Crown Prince matters?" Jian Guozhi lost his temper. "Didn't I tell you not to harm Ying Lili? For you, your son's wish does not matter in front of the power. Ying Lili saved me, yet you want to kill her! You killed Sheng Li's mother for your greed and now you are behind his wife. I have no words left for you," Jian Guozhi blurted out everything that he had in his mind at that moment.
"Jian, if we don't kill her, she will become a threat to us. My son was not like this earlier then what happened to him now. Come, have a seat." Weng Wei grasped the arm of Jian Guozhi who jerked it off, bewildering Weng Wei.
"Mother, it's your mistake that she turned into a threat to us… No, I am wrong. Not us, but for you! If she had not married Sheng Li then this would not have happened. But now it is done, so nothing can happen. I am happy with this Governor position. I do not want any kind of hatred among us brothers. So, please stop scheming if you want to live," Jian Guozhi told his mother.
It was implausible for Weng Wei to hear those words of Jian Guozhi.
'I am leaving,' Jian Guozhi stated and left the chamber, leaving Weng Wei in dismay.
"For the first time, my son turned against me just because of a woman!" Weng Wei was furious as she clenched her fists. "I should not delay further. I underestimated her. She turned my son against me," Weng Wei muttered under her teeth.
~~~~~
Ying Lili found that Sheng Li had turned calm after hearing about his father's health. He was standing in front of the mirror, wearing the sash around his waist. Ying Lili stood behind him and back hugged him, astonishing Sheng Li by that gesture.
She did not say anything and strongly wrapped her arms around him, resting her forehead on his back. Sheng Li felt warm and secure because of Ying Lili's gesture. Fighting alone was arduous for Sheng Li, but since the day Ying Lili married him, he had someone to lean on and without even speaking, could convey his emotions to her.
Ying Lili saw that Sheng Li, unlike other people, did not learn to share his pain with others. He would suffer alone and quietly rather than accepting that he was in pain. The two stayed like this for a few minutes when Sheng Li turned to her.
"Do not worry about me. I have you and I believe with you I can negotiate every difficulty," Sheng Li stated and drew Ying Lili closer to him for a hug.
"Shall I brush your hair?" Ying Lili asked him as they again pulled away. Sheng Li permitted her and sat on the chair in front of the dressing table. Ying Lili removed the hairpin from Sheng Li's bun and his hair spread till his shoulders.
Picking the brush, Ying Lili started brushing Sheng Li's hair. After brushing, she picked the head sash which she tied around Sheng Li's head, keeping his hair intact. "You look good like this," Ying Lili said, keeping a tiny smile on her lips.
"Hmm. I know. Women fall for me because of my looks. If you want then, I can keep this look," stated Sheng Li.
Ying Lili hit him on the shoulder. "No, I do not want other women to gaze at my husband in this look," Ying Lili asserted, wrapping her arms around him.
Sheng Li brought her to the front and made her sit on his lap, such that Ying Lili was facing him. "Jealous?" He asked.
"Hmm. Only I can see you like this." Sheng Li placed his hand on her nape, bringing her face closer to him. Their noses nudged against each other. Sheng Li moved his lips to Ying Lili's cheek and kissed it. Their cheeks touched each other as they hugged again. "We might be late if we continue to stay like this," Sheng Li whispered in Ying Lili's ear.