His Rui

"Yes"

Li Rui answered Yi Junjie's question after a long pause.

Sure enough, Yi Junjie's face tightened and he looked at her incredulously.

"Do you even know how dangerous it is, Rui?"

As he said this, he moved his eyes to look at Xi Ying also.

If he liked Li Rui so much, then how could he allow her to involve herself in his dangerous plans!

However, Xi Ying's face looked indifferent while Li Rui looked at Yi Junjie calmly. Of course, they knew.

Yii Junjie sighed exasperatedly.

It was not that he was a coward and feared the power of the Imperial Clan. The only thing that he feared the most in this world was losing the people who were closest to his heart and in those people came Rui too.

And perhaps she was the closest person to his heart.

Fighting with the enemies and putting Li Rui's life in danger …it was something that he could never do. He would rather take her away from all this to a place where no one would be able to hurt her in any way.

"Rui…"

Yi Junjie whispered in a concerned voice. He wanted to make her understand that she should not be a part of such plans. 

However, even before he could complete her words, Li Rui interrupted him as if she knew already what he was going to say and said firmly.

"Rui is not going to step back this time, Elder Brother."

Li Rui's clean black eyes were very calm. Seeing the hurt flashing in Yi Junjie's eyes, she said again but this time a little softly.

"Rui has said the same to Father. Elder Brother. Rather than living the whole life with the fear of being attacked at any moment and continuously protecting and defending the clan and herself, Rui would prefer to sacrifice her life even if that is what she had to do while fighting against the enemies." 

Yi Junjie's lips were pressed in a thin line while Xi Ying frowned deeply on hearing Li Rui's last words. His hold on her hand tightened but he didn't say anything.

The frown however stayed there for a very long time indicating very clearly he felt very bothered with the words 'sacrificing her life'.

Until now, Yi Junjie had understood that Rui had already made up her mind and he could do nothing to change her mind.

After a long silence, he looked at Xi Ying again and said

"This Lord also wishes to become a part of Lord Xi's plans. I will try to help in any what I can."

Yi Junjie said his last sentence without using the honorifics. He wished that his attempt of making this easier could be seen by Xi Ying and he would be able to see his efforts and hence include him too in these plans.

He wanted nothing but to protect Rui. 

But inside his heart, he knew very well that it would not that easy how cold and indifferent Xi Ying was. He would never care even if he was trying to make any such efforts.

And sure enough, the Young Prime Minister smiled forcefully at Yi Junjie for the sake of his wife and said

"Unfortunately, this Lord is not in the need of any kind of help now. Combined with that, this Lord will prefer that only a few people know about all this…and that could only be done if we involve fewer people."

The merciless rejection hidden behind the decent words made Yi Junjie's face goo emotionless again. His eyes looking at Xi Ying were no less cold than Xi Ying's.

A few moments later, he said

"Yi Clan is as involved in this mess as Li Clan. It is a right thing for me to know if something is going on to protect my Clan and I should be a part of it as well."

Xi Ying's face still looked indifferent.

However, inside his heart, he was cursing Yi Junjie for saying these unreasonable but reasonable words. He could feel Li Rui's eyes on himself and he knew that even she was convinced by these few words.     

He had to contemplate a lot in these few moments before he said to Yi Junjie

"Alright!"

Yi Junjie was relieved with this single word and Li Rui smiled calmly.

"Anything that I should know, for now, Lord Xi."

He asked Xi Ying politely. Seeing his polite behavior, Xi Ying could no longer behave that coldly as he didn't want to be seen badly in front of Li Rui so he answered Yi Junjie politely.

"No…nothing for now."

However, then he suddenly paused for a moment and said again

"Except that the Second Prince will be with us in all this."

It was only for a moment but Xi Ying saw Yi Junjie's face hardening at Zhao Zhang Wei's mention. He could understand him very well.

Yi Junjie took Yi Huiqing as his sister so it was normal for him to dislike Zhao Zhang Wei because of whatever Yi Huiqing had gone through during her stay in the Xinhe Palace.

However, Xi Ying didn't have any solution to this problem now. He needed Zhao Zhang Wei. Not only to make Yi Huiqing's life peaceful in the Imperial Palace but for someone to manage the throne and everything else in the Imperial Clan after they dethrone Zhao Wang Lei.

He needed someone from the Imperial Family for that time and he couldn't think of any other person who would be suitable.

Zhao Zhuang Chen was never considered by him. Knowing his selfish will to become powerful, Xi Ying would never let him get the throne after Zhao Wang Lei.

Zhao Zhang Wei may not be a good person to manage the inner courtyard of Xinhe Palace but he believed that he could manage the responsibilities of an Emperor at least.

Even Yi Junjie should be known to this if he was that intelligent.

Sure enough, he saw Yi Junjie nodding his head a few moments later.

"Alright!"

"Yi Clan will be ready to help Lord Xi anytime."