His Rui

In the yellow robes, Emperor Zhao Wang Lei entered the banquet hall while holding Empress Qin Wenya who looked much younger than her age in a very beautiful designed yellow dress.

The prince and princess stood up from their seats and bowed their heads. The ministers kneeled down on the floor to pay respects.

Li Rui who had just got up and about to kneel was stopped by Xi Ying. Still, in a bent position, she looked at him with confusion.

He merely shook his head and made her stand up straight then bowed his head indicating her to do the same.

All the while his hand held her hand as he whispered firmly

"You don't need to kneel down. If you don't want to bow then you don't need to do that also."

The Emperor had himself exempted him from paying respects.. Bowing his head was his own choice as he knew that as a subject to the Emperor he should do that.

If he doesn't want to do it, then he could stop also.

And since Li Rui was his wangfei, she could also be assumed to be exempted from paying respects.

Li Rui's eyes flickered and she looked at him with a tilted head.

A moment later, she really stood up straight amidst the kneeling people and those who were bowing their heads.

As Li Rui stood amidst these people she remembered what her father had told her.

'Rui, sometimes we have to bow our heads in front of others.'

Although she had compromised, she never liked that feeling. It made her uneasy. Whenever she would bow in front of them, she would feel that she had lost the half war her clan is fighting against the Imperial Clan.

Fortunately, her visits to the Imperial Palace had not been much.

A small smile spread on Xi Ying's lips and he also stood straight.

General Li had also told him Li Rui didn't like to bow her head or kneel down in front of Imperial family members.

He had never been proud of the fact that the Emperor had rewarded him with such a rare privilege but today he suddenly felt a little proud.

A strange satisfaction was there inside his heart.

Lost in his joy, he didn't notice the pair of eyes looking in their direction.

Seeing the person beside him standing straight, the pair of eyes flickered with rage for a moment which disappeared soon.

"Paying respects to the Emperor."

The large hall echoed with the greetings.

Zhao Wang Lei walked to the throne and sat down. His majestic yellow robes were spread elegantly on the throne.

His eyes ran down through the whole hall.

After the Empress was seated down beside him, he finally raised his hand and said in his deep voice.

"Rise."

Everyone stood up and sat down on their seats.

"Welcoming the First Princess Wenling, second Princess Xualin…"

The two Princess entered together after the Emperor and Empress. This time everyone only stood up to show respect and then sat down when the princess reached their seats and sat down.

As Princess Wenling passed through the front seats, she paused only for a moment when he eyes caught the familiar figure among the people.

Her smile went stiff seeing Li Rui seating beside Xi Ying.

Li Rui was still sitting very calmly as if she never noticed Princess. Her heart had already given up for any progress in their relationship after the death of Li Zhan.

But still, she used to feel sympathy for Zhao Wenling seeing her being manipulated by others.

She had thought that everything was because of her. Neither she had agreed to become Princess' childhood companion, nor had the Empress had given nanny to Princess Wenling to manipulate the Princess against her.

Rui wondered whether the Empress had known that the nanny had pushed her daughter in the water, whether she was also involved in all that.

Thinking that she had felt more sympathy for Princess for not having a mother's true love also

However, after she had found out that Zhao Wenling was poisoning her three-year-old son; she didn't feel any sympathy or guilt for Princess Wenling.

Maybe one can have a weak heart. One can be manipulated to hate others but to an extent where he could kill others, it must be his heart that is black.

Xi Ying also didn't show any expression feeling the scorching gaze of the princess. Instead, he smiled very gently and intentionally picked a glass of water and passed it to Li Rui's lips.

"You must be thirsty."

Qin Wenya who had been noticing her daughter was already worried that she would go crazy if she saw Lord Xi and his wangfei together and seeing her stopping only increased her fear more.

Just when she was about to get up and drag Zhao Wenling away with some excuse, she saw her daughter tight smile and walking forward.

People surely noticed this small action of the Princess and their eyes were filled with interest but when they saw the Princess walking away calmly they moved their eyes away boringly.

However, they still didn't leave any stone unturned.

The concubines of the noble families were sitting together. They finally found something to pass their time so how could they let go of it.

A woman looked at Li Rui with a mocking smile and whispered to the woman sitting next to her.

"I wonder just how she managed to take Princess Wenling out of Prime Minister Xi's heart."

"Ah...what is so special about this? It took her four years to do this. It only shows how much Princess and Lord Xi have each other in their hearts. Despite passing the marriage age, Princess Wenling has not married anyone, and Lord Xi, in the end, is a man.

He had seen the women he had taken dying in front of him from his wangfei's hands. But he can do nothing as he has a son with his main wife. So I think he had to accept his fate as it is and General Li's daughter is too beautiful to be refused by a man."

And the topic continued.

The rumors about Xi Manor have been there for four years in the Imperial City. After so many years, people had started to believe them and they were no longer the rumors but the truth for them.

The truth of Lord Xi, Li Rui's relationship.

In their hearts, they portrayed Princess as a weak woman who could only see her love being tied to other woman and Xi Ying as a helpless man who was trapped in all this and couldn't get the woman he loved.

And Li Rui…she was the vicious, cruel, and egoistic woman who could not bear the refusal of a man, who became the reason for the separation of these two lovers.