His Rui

"What are you thinking?"

General Li asked his wangfei while stroking her hair. He chuckled when he saw her startled face and said

"You were thinking so deeply. It must be this General whom my Wangfei are thinking about, right? "

Yi Jie put down the comb while shaking her head at her husband's antics and stood from the front of the dresser.

"That…I think Prime Minister Xi really likes our Rui now. Heng, what do you think?"

General Li nodded his head casually and embraced her.

"Hmm…you are always right."

Holding her husband's wandering hands; Yi Jie glared at him and said

"Heng, we're talking about our daughter."

General Li laughed seeing his wangfei's glare and then held her face in his hands.

"Okay, we will talk if that's what you want?"

"Hmm"

Yi Jie nodded her head in satisfaction and then said

"I was saying that since he likes her now, Rui should try to lessen the distance between herself and Minister Xi. I also said this to Rui but she didn't say anything. So I'm worried that she will lose this chance and…"

"Yi Jie…"

General Li interrupted his wangfei.

"It's not us who have lived in Xi Manor for four years. It's Rui. So she has the whole right to decide what she wants to do with her relationship with Minister Xi."

Seeing the frown on his wangfei's face, he sighed and smoothened it with his fingers.

But Yi Jie avoided his hands and said

"Heng, sometimes women have to compromise. Even if Rui does not want to, she needs to do it, at least for Xiao Ling. He is still a child. How would he feel seeing his mother and father so distant? And now when Minister Xi is ready to take a step ahead, Rui should not step backward."

General Li stared at his Wangfei for a few seconds until she couldn't bear it and say

"What? Say something."

Caressing her cheek and realizing a sigh, General Li only said a few words.

"Yi Jie, other women might compromise but Rui does not need to if she doesn't wish to. And about Xi Ling, she is his mother.? Li Rui loves him a lot. She would never take any decision that would affect him in a bad way. "

Why should she compromise when she can destroy the whole Xin if she wishes? She has a man who is ready to do anything for her, for her single smile.

Then why should she compromise?

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The inside of the carriage was deathly silent. Even Xi Ling didn't dare to utter a single word after glancing at his father's face.

He wanted to complain because he was having so much fun playing with horses when his father suddenly came there and said that they are going back. But seeing his father's cold face his courage to act spoiled in front of his mother flew out of the window. So he held his mother's hand and silently played with her fingers.

During the whole ride, Li Rui glanced at Xi Ying only once. He was looking outside of the carriage in deep thinking.

She had seen him going outside with Yi Junjie. It was only after that he came back and announced that they were leaving. He then held her arm and took her out of the Li Manor without saying anything.

'Perhaps Elder Brother said to him something.' Li Rui thought.

The whole ride passed in silence.

After the carriage reached the Xi Manor, Xi Ying helped Xi Ling and Li Rui to come out.

Looking at Li Rui as he held her hand, Xi Ying suddenly wished to ask her.

Will she really leave him if her father asked her to do that? Or will she go with Yi Junjie if he came to her one day to take her away?

He has been threatened two times in one day, that too, with the woman he loves with his everything. If it was someone else then Xi Ying would have buried them six feet under the ground until now.

However, he can't do that now when they were the people who Li Rui adored. For her, they were her family.

What was he? Xi Ying thought bitterly.

The hand that was in his hand slid away when he loosened the hold and he felt his heart tightening. Feeling the suffocation, Xi Ying again held the hand tightly.

Rui, but I can't let go.

Even if you want, I won't be able to let you go now.

Because you're my sanity.

He noticed Li Rui's eyes on himself and in the end, he left her hand.

The heaviness came back again. Afraid that he would do something that he shouldn't, he said

"I'll go to my study."

And then he left from there.

Behind him, Li Rui looked at his leaving figure for a few seconds and then walked to the Plum Courtyard with Xi Ling.

---------

"Mother"

Li Rui hummed as she forwarded the spoon to Xi Ling's lips and he drank the medicinal soup.

"Does Mother like Xi Ling?"

Li Rui hummed again with a smile.

"Does Mother like Father?"

The action of dipping the spoon again in the bowl paused and Li Rui looked at her son.

"Why are asking this?"

She caressed his head and whispered.

"Xi Ling just wants to know."

Stirring the spoon in the bowl of the soup, Li Rui lowered her head and hummed again.

"Then Xi Ling has a lovely family, right?"

Li Rui raised her eyebrows at this question. At this, Xi Ling said

"Hu Dou said that he has a lovely family. His father and mother love him and they also love each other. That's a lovely family. So Xi Ling also has a lovely family."

Hu Dou was the son of a maid with whom Xi Ling usually plays in the Xi Manor.

Li Rui stared at her son for a while and then nodded her head slowly.

Forwarding the soup-filled spoon to Xi Ling's lips, she thought about her mother's words.

'Rui, since he is trying now, you should also put some effort. If not for yourself, then for Xiao Ling.'