His Rui

Lian Courtyard

It was night. The room that was dark an hour ago was now brightly lit. The old physician held the slender wrist in his hand and felt the movement of the pulse.

A few moments later, he took his hand back and took a few steps back.

"My Lord is very healthy now. The wound on the chest has healed almost. After a few days of rest, My Lord should be able to leave the town if he wants."

An Ping let out a sigh of relief at the physician's words. He had been shocked when he had seen his master sitting at the bed when he entered the room.

When he composed himself, the first thing he did was to call for the physician. His master woke up and will be fine after a few days

Sitting on the bed, Xi Ying indifferently glanced outside the window without paying any attention to the physician's words.

It felt a little surreal when he went through the memories of the past few months. But he knew that everything of those memories was true.

The emptiness inside his heart was true.

His eyes went cold when he remembered the scene he had seen just before losing his consciousness.

"An Ping"

An Ping who had just returned from taking the physician to his house responded.

"Yes, My Lord?"

"Make arrangements. We shall leave for Imperial City in an hour.

An Ping was startled by his master's decision. He had already known that his master will not rest after he woke up as the physician said but leaving for the Imperial City was something he had not predicted.

"My Lord, what about the borders? Things are going a bit differ….."

Xi Ying turned his head and his cold and indifferent eyes fell on him.

An Ping instantly shut up.

"This servant will make arrangements immediately."

As soon as An Ping left the room, Xi Ying stood up from the bed and walked to the window. The upper half of his body was still uncovered with any cloth.

"Xilang"

The air carries away his whisper and in a few moments, an eagle came flying inside the room from the window and sat on his stretched hand.

Xi Ying stroked the bird's head few times and then he strapped a small scroll of paper with its feet.

With this, he whispered a few more words and said lastly and after that he let the eagle fly outside from the window.

Staring at the disappearing eagle in the dark sky, Xi Ying murmured

"Rui, wait for me. I'm coming."

  ---------------

Imperial City

In the dark night, a figure flew outside of the heavily guarded Li Manor without being noticed by anyone. The rushing figure slowed outside the Delan Courtyard and crossed the front hall.

His footsteps paused outside an unguarded room when he heard the voice of the people talking inside the room.

"General Yun, This Prince had to admire your way of turning the things by using just your mouth."

It was the Crown Prince, Zhao Zhuang Chen's voice.

General Yun seemed happy to be praised and laughed loudly.

"His Highness exaggerates. This General just devoted himself to make our plan successful and did whatever was required. "

After taking a sip of the wine, General Yun continued

"To take the military power from the Li Clan, the whole clan must not be able to rise again, not only General Li and his son."

The talk inside the room continued and the figure in black clothes outside the room stood there for a few more minutes.

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Li Manor

It was early morning. Inside her room, when Li Rui was sitting on the ground staring at the wall with a blank expression. Her eyes were red and swollen but her heart was a little calm now.

She will lose her family forever if she wasted her time shedding tears instead of finding the solution to the problem.

Only a single question occupied her mind.

What could be done now?

Her thoughts were disrupted when she heard a noise. No one was inside the Plum Courtyard except her. She took out her dagger from her sleeve and walked to the door slowly. Before she could reach the doorway, someone else appeared there.

Seeing her, the person fell in front of her on her knees. His eyes were red and his chin trembled as he tried to stop himself from crying.

Li Rui very calmly looked at the young boy in front of her.

"Jiejie "

He whispered.

To Li Rui, the word 'Jiejie' almost felt unfamiliar.

How many years have passed since she last heard him calling her like this?

--------------

Li Chen was the strongest in the Li Clan or that was what he thought. He could defeat all of his companions in martial arts. No one could ever win against him in swords fighting. Everything he learned since childhood, he gained expertise in that thing.

Since childhood, his sisters used to talk in front of him that he will not get anything even after doing so much after hard work. Only Li Rui and Li Diu were in the eyes of Elders of Li Clan.

He had ignored his sisters because he used to like his First Elder sister since his childhood. But slowly he also started to notice that the elders were really partial and favored Second Household.

Hearing his sisters talking about First Sister(Li Rui) every day, Li Chen started to dislike her.

He stopped going to his First Sister's courtyard but he never stopped his hard work.

No one can stop him if he became the strongest.

When General Li had to go to the battlefield this time with his soldiers, he knew that one person from the next generation had to accompany General Li.

He was excited.

Although he had fought on the battlefield before, it was a totally different thing this time. This time he was not to go there as a soldier but as a commander who will lead other soldiers.

This was an opportunity for him to prove himself as a good choice for the next head of the Li Clan. But all of his dreams shattered when General Li decided to take his son Li Diu with him.

He was stronger. Then should not General Li have taken him to the battlefield instead of Li Diu?

Although Li Diu was his elder brother, Li Chen was stronger than him. But he was ignored as if he never existed. He was ignored as if he was never an option in the first place.

He went to ask his First Uncle but was answered with a few words.

"You're not ready."

Seeing his face, First Uncle had said sternly.

"Li Chen, the battlefield is not all about more strength than anyone else. You have to fight using your everything."

What did he lack?

He didn't understand.

He was the strongest in Li Clan. These attributes were what the Li Clan's elders see while choosing their next head.

Did not his First Uncle, General Li also got that position because of all these qualities?

He was angry. He thought that First Uncle was intentionally trying to suppress him so that his own son can take the whole power of the Li Clan in his hands.

One evening when he was sitting inside the pavilion, he was asked if he wanted to get back what he deserved. He was drunk and angry so he agreed.

After that, he met General Yun and the Crown Prince who told him that they see more potential and he was more capable than General Li. As General Li was getting old, they don't want him to make some unintelligent decision that can cost the Empire's safety in the future. So they wanted to help him.

He was ignorant and egoistic so he didn't even think how their reasons seemed a little absurd. He foolishly did everything they asked after they told him about their plans.

He was shocked when he heard the Imperial order but he knew that it had something to do with the book he had stolen from Li Manor.

When he saw his sister slapping the First sister, he wanted to scream that it was not her fault. But he was scared so he glanced away thinking that he will apologize after he made everything alright with the Crown Prince's help.

He had thought that the Crown Prince would definitely help him.

It was only today when he sneaked inside the Imperial palace, he came to know that he was only a tool for them which they used for their own selfishness.

Only now he understood the hidden meaning behind his First Uncle words.

What did he lack?

He lacked the intelligence that his Elder Brother Li Diu had.

He was stupid because if he was not then he would never have destroyed his own clan with his own hands. The Clan he wanted to lead was on the verge of destruction because of him.