This Is Your True Beauty
Sheng Li gripped Ying Lili's chin and leaned closer to her. "The biggest problem is that you do not fear me and it will not be fun if I punish you." Sheng Li tried intimidating Ying Lili with his words.
Sheng Li's judgment was aggrieving Ying Lili, but she did not want to start a fight with him. In these few days, she had realized that Sheng Li said harsh words because of a reason. Indeed, the Crown Prince's decision was showing a typical judgment of a ruler, but she wanted the Crown Prince not to make more enemies than before.
"Sheng Li, do you not think that aunt is also a mother? If she will see her children turning into slaves, that would be wrong. Even her children will get hurt seeing their mother like that. Sheng Li, it is not about being biased but it is doing the right justice. We shall punish the Prime Minister who planned all this and joined hands with my uncle," Ying Lili remarked. She had kept her tone polite while talking to Sheng Li.
Sheng Li amusingly looked at Ying Lili. The woman in front of him was full of intellect, but the kindness she had inside her was the reason for the differences in their opinions. "Lili, I will explain why I cannot show kindness to them. If I will spare them today, they might harm me tomorrow. Your uncle has died in the prison of Han - does not matter whether he was killed by the Prime Minister or me because, either way, your aunt and her children are going to resent me. I have to be realistic in my judgment," Sheng Li explained to Ying Lili.
"Even I wanted to take revenge on you, but I did not. I could have let you die yesterday, but I did not. Why? Do you know?" Ying Lili questioned Sheng Li.
"Because you wanted to save yourself and your Juyan," Sheng Li answered right away.
Ying Lili felt dejected hearing that. "I tried hard not to pick a fight with you but it seems we will end up fighting," Ying Lili said in exasperation.
"Was that not the reason? You married me for that same reason - to save your people, else you would have never," Sheng Li chuckled as he released his grip from Ying Lili's chin. His
Sheng Li rubbed the skin between his brows and slammed his hand against the bed. "How can I expect anything from her?" Sheng Li annoyingly muttered. He stood up from the bed and threw the porcelain jar that was placed on the table there. Ying Lili, who had opened the door, heard the breaking sound of a porcelain jar but she did not want to go to check on the Crown Prince as it would have only resulted in more tension between them.
She came out and found Xing-Fu gave a suppressed smile seeing her. But, she did not bother to ask about that and walked away from there. Xing-Fu quickly went inside the resting chamber and saw the broken jar near the bed.
"Your highness is her highness angry at you because you p-p"
"Why are you stuttering?" Sheng Li shouted at Xing-Fu.
"... painted the Crown Princess's face?" Xing-Fu completed his words quickly. Sheng Li immediately ran out of his chamber. Sheng Li was so immersed in making Ying Lili understand his points that he almost forgot that he had painted earlier on her face. Luckily the Crown Princess had not left his manor. She was descending the stairs when Sheng Li gripped her arm.
Sheng Li had already irked Ying Lili and now this act of him was irritating her more. "Leave," Ying Lili said sternly.
"You will become a laughing stock if I let you go now and that will anger you more," Sheng Li stated.
"Huh?" Ying Lili was confused upon hearing the statement of Sheng Li when he carried her up in a bridal style. Ying Lili was shocked by this act of the Crown Prince. Ying Lili heard the giggles of the Court Lady Xu and maidservants who were following her. "What is it? Leave me at this instant if you do not want to get a beating," Ying Lili looked menacingly at Sheng Li.
"Oh! So, you can beat too? We will see that later. Wrap your hand around my neck," Sheng Li stated.
"No, I do not want to. Just leave me here," Ying Lili snapped at him.
Sheng Li turned and saw some twenty stairs. "If I will leave you, then you will fall down those stairs and might break either your hand or leg or probably both. Do you want me to do that?" Sheng Li gazed back at Ying Lili who still did not wrap her hands around Sheng Li's neck. So, he loosened her grip on her slightly, which terrified Ying Lili, and she quickly wrapped her hands around Sheng Li's neck.
Sheng Li ascended the stairs and took Ying Lili back to the Resting Chamber. As soon as they arrived there, Sheng Li threw Ying Lili on the bed, which baffled her. She shot glares at him. Sheng Li went to the table on the left side of the chamber and opened the door. Taking out the mirror, he closed the drawer and went to the bed.
"Your face is looking lovely. This is your true beauty," Sheng Li said while suppressing his laughter. Ying Lili took the mirror from Sheng Li and looked at herself.
She widened her eyes, seeing herself in the mirror. There were three black lines on both of her cheeks and a black dot on her nose tip. "You did this, right?" Ying Lili questioned Sheng Li who gave a smirk to Ying Lili.
"I had a dream in which I saw a wild cat attacking me but, when I woke up I saw you and realized that there is only one wildcat, that is you. But, something was off with your face so I just showed my artistic skills to enhance your beauty," Sheng Li explained to Ying Lili while appreciating himself and ended up laughing. Controlling his laughs, Sheng Li continued, "I was so lost in talking to you that I almost forgot that I painted on your face. This is my first time, and I did brilliant work."