His Rui

"Did Minister Xi undergo any attack a day ago?"

Xi Ying had to try very hard to maintain his expression. His fists placed in his lap were clenched tightly as if they restless to strangle the man in front of him.

He remembered how those shadow guard looked crazy to take his wife's life …so crazy that they didn't even care for their own life.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This Minister had visited Li Manor yesterday with his wife. However, on our way back to Xi Manor, we were attacked by the few shadow guards. They were expert in the martial arts."

Inside his mind, Xi Ying was very curious exactly from where did the cunning Emperor wanted to go from this topic.

Will he say the next moment that it was him who had sent those shadow guards to kill his wife?

But it was also impossible. The Emperor clearly knew that he never supported the bloodshed in this battle of snatching power from each other's hands. 

Even when he was on the Emperor's side, he never proposed to kill General Li or anyone from his family. He wanted this fight to be free from any bloodshed but he had never imagined that this battle was never based on the will of becoming powerful.

The reason behind this battle was completely something else.

A moment later, Xi Ying heard the Zhao Wang Lei saying expressionlessly.

"Those shadow guards …they were sent by the Princess Wenling to kill Lady Li."

Xi Ying's black eyes immediately went cold.

The half-truth and the half-lie.

Xi Ying soon came to know why the Emperor started this topic because the next moment Zhao Wang Lei asked him.

"Why did Minister Xi try so hard to save Lady Li yesterday?"

He sat silently on his place after hearing the Emperor's question.

Zhao Wang Lei was too restless.

Since the moment his almost dead shadow guards came back and informed him that Xi Ying was fighting to protect Li Rui from them. Not only that, he also killed all the men sent by Princess Wenling, the First Prince as well as him.

All of them were killed. He almost vomited the blood. He already was lacking people and when a few of his capable men were also killed by Xi Ying then how could he not feel angry and panicked.

Zhao Wang Lei was suddenly suspicious of Xi Ying.

If Xi Ying was only pretending to care for Li Rui to win General Li's trust, then why did he bother to fight to protect her and then even kill those shadow guards.

He knew the young Prime Minister very well.

The aloof Prime Minister would never bother to do any such thing for those whom he didn't care for. However, for Li Rui, he fought and killed so many shadow guards that were sent from the Imperial Palace. 

In the end, Xi Ying was a man and Li Rui was a woman and a very beautiful woman at that.

Zhao Wang Lei was suddenly afraid that the aloof Prime Minister who was previously only pretending to care for that woman had now really started to care for her. 

This was not a right thing.

It could create troubles for him.

He couldn't sleep for the whole night and in the end, walked to that place where he always went whenever he felt restless.

However, he had never thought that tomorrow his mother would really allow him to see her. But it didn't make him happy at all. Seeing the cold and indifferent behavior of his own mother, he only remembered how she used the last thing she had to save Li Clan from him.

Now he could no longer snatch the military power from Li Clan politically. He could only scheme like he was scheming before.

Now he was worried that even Xi Ying was betraying him.

Lost in his thoughts that were full of panic, Zhao Wang Lie never noticed how Xi Ying's deep black eyes flickered at his question. How he hurriedly composed himself and maintained his expressionless face again.

He only came out of his trance when he heard Xi Ying's cold and deadly voice.

"So it was Princess Wenling who sent those shadow guards?"

Seeing the ruthlessness surrounding the cold Prime Minister, Zhao Wang Lei couldn't help but frown as he suddenly became sure of what he had thought.

"Will Your Majesty forgive this minister if I kill Princess Wenling today?"

Zhao Wang Lei was very startled by Xi Ying's words. He looked at Xi Ying sharply thinking inside his heart he had not thought that the cold prime minister will also be distracted by the beauty of woman. 

'Xi Ying was no longer of any use of him.' 

Still, he had to pretend to be a good father and an Emperor and had to say

"Prime Minister Xi, thing before you say your words. Saying something like this about an Imperial Princess is treason."

Xi Ying almost rolled his eyes.

Killing Princess Wenling was only a good work in his eyes. At least the number of stupid people in this Empire will decrease to some extent.

However, he couldn't say the same to the Emperor. His eyes were equally cold and sharp as he stared at the Emperor and said

"Then what does the attempt of killing this minister's unborn child called, Your Majesty?"

This was the last straw he could use to save himself from the Emperor's suspicion. 

To defeat Zhao Wang Lei in his own game, Xi Ying needed his trust until the end of this game. However, he was still disappointed inside his heart that he had to reveal the new of Li Rui being pregnant with his child to the man who already wanted to kill his wife.

But he also had no other way to make his actions look reasonable in the Emperor's eyes. 

In the end, Xi Ying thought that he would not be able to hide Li Rui for too long. Soon her stomach would start to protrude and he couldn't just make her stay in Xi Manor the whole time during her pregnancy.

"Unborn child…"

Zhao Wang Lei whispered to himself in shock.

"Yes, Your Majesty. In the attempt of making General Li believe this Lord, this Lord could only share intimacy with his wife. However, this Lord has never thought that this intimacy would result a child in Lady Li's womb…this Lord's child."

Xi Ying's unconsciously softened when he thought about his unborn child and Li Rui.

This child had completely different place inside his heart. He made it when Li Rui and he…both of were willing and fully conscious.

Zhao Wang Lei also noticed the gentleness in Xi Ying's eyes and he understood that the child mattered very much to Xi Ying. Looking back at the Emperor, Xi Ying stated coldly

"Your Majesty, I might not care for Lady Li. However, the child inside her womb is mine too. I am his father so I shall protect my child until my last breathe.. I shall kill whoever will try to harm him."