His Rui

An Ju waited for whole ten minutes outside the room before the door opened and she saw her master stepping outside the room.

An Ju just glanced at her master's face only for a second and hurriedly lowered her head the next moment.

It seems that her master had an argument with Lady Li. An Ju thought as she remembered the cold and upset face of her master when she had raised her head just now.

After Xi Ying, Li Rui stepped out of the room without the robe draped on her shoulders.

Inside her heart, An Ju was already starting to sympathize with Li Rui.

In An Ju's eyes, any normal Lady would be frightened by her master's cold and indifferent face so she could imagine just how Lady Li had felt when her master had glanced at her with those cold and indifferent eyes.

However, An Ju who glanced at Li Rui with sympathetic eyes and an expectation of seeing a pale face was confused when she only saw the usual calm expression on Li Rui's face.

But she didn't dare to ponder over this matter any longer as she knew that it was not her right to interfere in her master and Lady Li's matters.

So she silently lowered her head and followed Li Rui without any expression on her face.

Xi Ying still held Li Rui's hand but his mind was somewhere else.

'Rui understands, My Lord.'

That was what Li Rui had said after he had finished saying his words.

Her answer was right and something that should have been accepted by him but he didn't know why he just didn't like it.

He felt like she was forcibly showing her agreement in front of him.

Why did he feel like this? And why would Li Rui agree with him when she didn't want to.

He knew his Rui.

She would never agree with something which she doesn't accept with her whole heart and mind and he had never forced her to do the opposite so according to him, Li Rui doesn't have any reason to do what he was thinking.

As they walked inside the banquet hall, Xi Ying hugged Li Rui's waist and helped her to cross the little high pedestal on the way. When he was about to set her down, he sneakily kissed her cheek and chuckled when he saw her startled face.

This was something normal that he had felt between them after yesterday's afternoon.

While taking Li Rui to sit on their seats, Xi Ying confirmed inside his heart that he had just been overthinking about this matter.

Everything was good between him and Li Rui.

Instead of thinking over these useless things, he should focus on some other matters.

Like… how can he win his wife's heart?

Xi Ying was successful in giving comfort to his heart but he didn't notice the coldness flickering in Li Rui's eyes when she had lowered her head after he had set her down on the banquet hall's floor.

Nothing was alright.

The one whose heart he was wishing to win...he didn't know that that person had not even started to trust him yet or perhaps he had gained it but it was very weak that it broke down so easily.

Trust…something that was not easy to earn but very easy to break, something that was the basis of a relationship…and Xi Ying would learn all these things a very hard way.

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The third and last day of the banquet started finally.

The last day of the celebration was supposed to take little time as the noble families were to leave the Imperial Palace in the evening.

Today the messengers from the other small countries or cities, that were won by the Imperial clan and had been prospering under the shelter of Empire Xin since then, were to pay the tribute to the Emperor.

One by one the messengers came forward and presented a different kind of things that their people have discovered in front of the Emperor.

The banquet hall was filled with applause for all these rare things. Everyone praised and looked at all these new discoveries with amazement-filled eyes.

After all this finished, the banquet hall again became silent when everyone saw Minister Xin stepping forward and standing in the center of the banquet hall.

A moment later, they saw a sleepy Li Na entering the banquet hall followed by two Imperial guards.

"Your Majesty, this minister had asked Imperial Physician Xu the results. According to Imperial Physician Xu, Third Miss Li was neither given any drug and not she was hit somewhere on her body that could make her unconscious."

Minister Xin said as soon as Li Na was in front of the Emperor.

Sitting in the front, Li Rong's eyes reddened and she lowered her head in shame.

Her eldest daughter's future was very bleak now and her youngest daughter…she doesn't know even know just how she had been doing. After Prime Minister Xi had hit her, Li Caihong is refusing to let anyone see her face.

Li Rong had never thought that the celebration banquet for the mid-autumn festival would destroy both of her daughters' lives like this.

Li Na who heard Minister Xin's words looked at him with wide eyes. She has been unconscious since the moment she was taken inside Yao Yue hall.

She had just woken up a few minutes ago and after that, she was dragged here by the Imperial guards. Now after hearing Minister Xin's words, she suddenly understood what all had happened when she was not in her consciousness, however, it was very difficult for her to believe this result.

"No…this is not true. I was hit by someone. Someone is trying to frame me. Your Majesty…this maiden demands justice."

Li Na immediately kneeled down in front of the Emperor.

She knew that if she didn't do anything today then she would lose her reputation and everything else in front of everyone just like this.

Then getting Xi Ying was far away …she won't be able to marry even an ordinary nobleman from the Imperial City.

This was something…that she was not ready to accept.