His Rui

Zhao Zhang Wei stepped out of his room dressed in blue robes. He looked elegant and a gentleman.

With the usual smile on his lips, he walked forward however only he knew that his heart was very excited inside his chest.

Today, he could go to Lantai Courtyard because he has an excuse.

As Yi Huiqing was his Princess Consort, it was inevitable that both of them have to go together to the banquet hall.

However, just when he had walked one more step, he heard Eunuch Zhang saying.

"Your Highness, this servant just received a message from Lantai Courtyard."

The young Eunuch paused for a second and then said

"Wangfei has said that she would meet Your Highness at the entrance of the banquet hall.."

The smile on Zhao Zhang Wei's face froze and his face contoured to a cold one.

'Was this her way of ignoring him?'

His hands were clenched as he turned around and walked towards the banquet hall in long strides.

Eunuch Zhang could only follow him silently. 

------

The carriage stopped outside the Imperial Palace. However, the next moment the Imperial guards who were guarding the entrance saw the 'Xi' written on the carriage front in glaring red color, they allowed the coachmen to go inside the Imperial Palace with the carriage itself.

As the carriage passed by the gates, Xi Ying raised the curtain and said to the guard.

"The one behind this carriage also belongs to Xi Manor."

Of Course, the guard could see this. However, he also understood what Lord Xi was telling him.

Let the second carriage pass without making any trouble.

The guard immediately nodded his head and said

"This one understood, Prime Minister Xi."

Nodding his head coldly, Xi Ying then lowered down the curtain. 

The other noble families who had lower ranks were still waiting for their turn outside the gates. Seeing the beautiful carriages, they raised their heads but were confused when they couldn't see any horse which Prime Minister Xi should be riding.

The beautiful maidens as well as their respective fathers were a bit disappointed inside their hearts.

Would Prime Minister Xi enter Imperial Palace while sitting inside the carriage?

They had done so much preparation but now all of their efforts had gone to waste. They were happy to see the carriages from 'Xi' Manor as they thought they would be able to have one glance at the cold and indifferent man who was so popular in Xin.

But it seemed that they were destined to be disappointed.

On the other hand, the ministers of lower ranks were disappointed because they thought they lost the opportunity of showing their daughters to the Young Prime Minister.

Although Prime Minister Xi had a wangfei, it was not hidden from anyone that he had taken three concubines inside his manor after marrying General Li's daughter as his Wangfei.

So many of them had specially waited for such opportunities where they could find a chance to introduce their daughters to Lord Xi.

So what if they have to marry their daughter off as a concubine?

The wangfei in Xi Manor was not favored so wouldn't their daughter have a chance to rule the Xi Manor if she won Minister Xi's heart.

And it would give them the opportunity to become close to the formidable Prime Minister which in turn could be a great chance to raise their position in the Emperor's eyes. After all, Lord Xi was the most favored minister by the Emperor in the Imperial Court. 

However, in their greed, they didn't think over those facts that they already knew but chose to ignore.

The three concubines that Lord Xi had taken inside the Xi Manor died just one year after they were taken in. 

And Xi Ying never visited those concubines' courtyard, not even when they died.

True that greed sometimes blinds a person so much that he doesn't even fear to shed his own blood to get what he felt is more precious to him.

-------

The Imperial Palace was decorated very beautifully. Inside the gardens, the Ginkgo trees were presenting very attractive scenery. The broad and fan-shaped leaves were falling on the ground very making it look as if it was made of gold.

Xi Ying had seen it inside the Imperial Palace many times. So he didn't find it much attractive. However, he still raised the curtains from Li Rui's side so that she could also admire the beautiful scenery.

Li Rui also watched it calmly when he raised the curtain.

The carriage finally came to halt in front of the large entrance behind which there was a large banquet hall. It was Xi Ying who came out of the carriage first. He then walked to the other side of the carriage and stretched out his hand inside the carriage.

When he felt a soft hand touching his own, he smiled warmly and stretched out his other hand to hold Li Rui's waist.

Inside the carriage, Li Rui was startled as she was dragged out of the carriage with a hand holding her waist and carefully set down on the ground.

When her feet touched the ground, she couldn't help but look around to see if anyone saw it. A sigh of relief escaped from her lips when she found out that there was no one around.

A chuckle escaped from Xi Ying's lips which made Li Rui look at him.

"You're behaving as if I have abducted you or you have eloped with me from your home."

Li Rui didn't say anything and just heard his words calmly. She looked down at her dress to see if there were any creases because of sitting inside the carriage.

But Xi Ying didn't like her calm face. He liked to watch those different expressions on Li Rui's face that she showed very rarely when she was surprised or startled.

He stepped closer to her and then raised his hand to right the sash of Li Rui's dress that was nowhere wrong.

(Sash is a belt that is tied on the waist above a traditional Chinese dress. You can also understand from the picture that is attached with this line in the above paragraph comment section.)

As soon as his hand touched her sash, Li Rui's stepped back and looked at him with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?"

However, Xi Ying had probably expected her reaction and took one more step forward still reaching out to touch her dress.

However, he stopped amidst his action when he heard a cold and grumpy voice from his behind.