His Rui

Li Hua finished and turned around to go inside the room.

At the same moment, An Ping stepped forward to stop the maid, however, the shadow guard stopped when he saw a small figure from behind Liu Lan, walking to Li Hua and grabbing her sleeve.

Li Hua who was ready to go inside the room was stopped by a small force.

"Big Sister Hua"

A childish voice stopped her and Li Hua swiftly turned around only to see a pair of black eyes that made her remember her Young Miss focused on herself. 

"Young Master."

The maid rubbed her face hurriedly and scolded herself inside her heart for not thinking about Xi Ling all this time.

'How scared Young Master must be after seeing mistress like this.' thought Li Hua and kneeled down in front of Xi Ling.

"Young Master, don't be scared. My Lady will be fine. The physician is inside …treating My Lady. Nothing will happen to My Lady."

Li Hua smile forcefully and said to Xi Ling.

More than consoling to Xi Ling she seemed to console herself with her own words. And everyone present inside the room could see this.

Li Hua's hands were trembling as she wiped Xi Ling's corner of eyes, which had moisture, with her fingers.

Xi Ling held the maid's hand and his action made Li Hua look into his eyes. The black eyes made Li Hua feel more emotional and she glanced towards the closed doors of the room again with anxious eyes. 

"Big Sister Hua...Father cares for Mother."

The words made Li Hua look back at Xi Ling.

Her smile that she had forcefully let out for Xi Ling disappeared at these words. However, the next moment she thought that Xi Ling was just a child and the one who had been under his father's shelter.

So how could he say or hear anything bad against his own father…

The thought made Li Hua only more sad for her own mistress. Her mistress went through so much pain to give birth to a child…only to get it snatched the child away by Lord Xi. And the child loves Lord Xi more than her mistress now.

Li Hua bit her lips tightly to stop her tears.

Xi Ling couldn't understand or know what Li Hua was thinking. But he knew one thing that the maid didn't believe his words and he didn't like this at all.

"Father cared for Mother always. He used to ask servants before every meal whether the meal had been sent to mother. Father might think that Xi Ling doesn't know this…but Xi Ling understands Father's secret words."

Xi Ling still remembered how his father used to ask the steward ' You sent the same food to every courtyard?'

Xi Ling was young but he understood these small things especially after he got to know that his mother lived in Plum Courtyard.

He didn't know how…but he just knew that his father wished to know whether his mother had eaten or not.

After knowing this fact, he also used to look at the steward eagerly waiting for his answer. Seeing the steward nodding his head, both father and son would continue their meal.

"The steward lied to father …always."

Xi Ling said to Li Hua. The young child didn't notice how cold and indifferent he looked at this moment when he told Li Hua about the steward's lies.

The shadow guards could not help but breathe sharply seeing a small glance of their own master in Xi Ling.

Unbeknownst to everything, Xi Ling continued with a cold face.       

"An San also lied to Father."

Xi Ling remembered his father telling him everything about 'Brother An San' before he had left a month ago.       

(This is the time when Xi Ying had left to find General Li.)

After that, An San was no longer a big brother to Xi Ling.

"He didn't inform Father whenever Mother came to visit Xiao Ling or Father."

This was the answer he had gotten when he had asked his Father why his mother didn't ever come to see him. 

"Big Sister Hua, Father just trusted wrong people…but he cared for Mother."

Said Xi Ling looking at the shocked Li Hua.

  .

.

.

The ongoing talks outside the room were not only limited to outside.

Standing close to the door, Xi Ying's eyes were on the bed at his wife who was being checked by the physician at this moment. However, his ear could hear each and every word said outside the room.

He heard Li Hua describing Li Rui's suffering in those past four years. And he also heard his son defending him. 

'Father just trusted wrong people…but he cared for Mother.'

Xi Ying's fists were clenched inside his sleeves. The corner of his eyes went redder as he closed his eyes and breathed through his mouth.

When he opened them again, they were again filled with images of Rui lying on the bed.

Xi Ying remembered how angry his son had been with him after he had told him everything. He had shown as if he didn't care at that time in front of Xi Ling and had left Xi Manor after asking him to take care of Li Rui.

But he cared inside his heart.

His son always had looked at him with admiration-filled eyes. But that day, he had seen disappointment in his eyes at himself.

Xi Ying couldn't defend himself against that disappointment because he himself was disappointed in his past self.

So he left from there.     

After coming back, Xi Ling was always normal in front of him so he never talked about this matter again with his son.

But he knew that his son must be angry at him, for he could not see his mother since his birth just because of his blind trust in his shadow guard.

However, hearing his son defending him today, Xi Ying felt his heart becoming very heavy.

Did he deserve this? Xi Ying asked himself inside his heart.

However, he couldn't ponder over this matter any longer as the old physician had finished checking Li Rui.

Seeing the old physician stepping away from the bed, Xi Ying immediately stepped forward and asked him

"What happened to her? How is she? Are you capable of treating her?"

The old physician who previously had a smile on his lips was startled by so many questions. However, the last question made him furious so much that his beard trembled because of his anger.

"What do you mean by if I am capable of treating her? Young Man, Do you doubt my ability?"

Xi Ying pressed his temples seeing the old physician wasting time on other things instead of answering his question.

He looked at the old physician with usual cold and indifferent eyes and said

"If you will not answer my question in a moment then this Lord will make sure that your whole family won't be able to see you ever."

The old physician was terrified by this threat and hurriedly answered Xi Ying's question.

…and the room went deathly silent.         

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Ada:)