"Yes, Your Majesty," Wang Hao accepted the truth regarding his feelings towards Bai Yaling. Ying Lili was delighted to hear it.
"I will not ask how it started, but I would like to tell General Wang to be patient around Princess Bai. She is in a phase that is not easy to overcome. General Wang needs to be gentle to her and I believe, Sister Bai will definitely return his feelings," Ying Lili advised him.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will keep your words in mind," Wang Hao stated. Court Lady Ki put the plate on the table. It had some slices of the oranges while in the other bowl there were grapes.
"Your Majesty, please eat them," Court Lady Ki requested. Ying Lili hummed and waited for Bai Yaling to come. Wang Hao took his leave and told Ying Lili to take care of herself.
"Thank you, General Wang," Ying Lili replied and he walked away. Wang Hao encountered Bai Yaling, who was with Court Lady Xu and her few servants. She bowed at him and walked past him.
Wang Hao ended up seeing the swollen eyes of Bai Yaling. "Did she cry the entire night? Can't she see that her child will get affected by it?" Wang Hao thought as he turned to watch her.
Contemplating for a while, he left for the Emperor's office to meet him.
Bai Yaling greeted Ying Lili, who was eating the orange slice. She gestured to her to sit down beside her on the chair. Bai Yaling took a seat. After Ying Lili was done, she told Eunuch Xing-Fu to share the royal umbrella with Bai Yaling.
"I heard from a few that you refused to meet people yesterday. It is understandable that you were sad after Prince Shi Zhihao refused this proposal. When a door closes, then there is always another door which will take you out of a closed room," Ying Lili said and forwarded the plate towards Bai Yaling. "You can share everything with me. Consider me as your elder sister," she added.
She picked one orange slice and thanked Ying Lili. Chewing and swallowing it, Bai Yaling said, "Sister Lili, Prince Shi told me that for my child I shall stay loyal to my deceased husband. Also, since the father of my child committed treason, so no one would accept me or him. That's true though. I failed to see that."
Her voice choked as tears formed in her eyes. Ying Lili took her both hands in hers and caressed them. "Sister Bai, what do you want is most important. Now, you are with a child, so don't you think the child will need a father?" Ying Lili queried her.
"But there is no man who will accept me or my child. Also, after what Prince Shi called my child, I don't think that I will consider marrying another man. I cannot hear anything bad about my child. I shall better stay like this because this is my fate! I shall accept it," Bai Yaling proclaimed.
"What if there is a man for you? What if someone comes forward to marry you? Will you still refuse, Sister Bai?" Ying Lili waited for her answer.
"Yes. Because I don't want people to malign the image of the family of the man because of me. Sister Lili, let me stay like this. I request you," Bai Yaling said and joined her hands. A tear dropped over her cheek. Ying Lili had nothing more to say now. She understood that Bai Yaling needed more time to heal.
She patted her hands and told her to calm down. Bai Yaling apologized to her for acting this way.
"Sister Bai did not need to apologize. I understand her," Ying Lili said and pulled her hands back. She picked the bowl filled with a few grapes. "Don't eat them too much. Just a few," she told Bai Yaling, who nodded and started to eat the grapes.
~~~~~
Huo Jin arrived outside the chamber of the First Prince.
"His Highness is still in the Court. You need to wait a little," Eunuch Long informed Huo Jin as he showed him the waiting room. Huo Jin sat down on the floor chair.
"Do you want to drink tea?" Eunuch Long asked him to which he refused.
"Does Eunuch Long want to say something to me? His gaze is a little cold," Huo Jin asked him humbly.
"Can I say?" Eunuch Long asked as he pulled down the curtains hanging at the top of the window.
"Yes," Huo Jin replied.
Eunuch Long turned him and said, "My Master was not in a good state last night. After a month, I saw him in that state. Did Huo Jin say something to him which he was not supposed to?"
Huo Jin was perplexed to hear him.
"We just had the chats regarding the past," Huo Jin replied vaguely.
"Huo Jin, you should not have talked with him about his First Wife and mother. My Master is being treated badly by the Ministers for a long time, and these two incidents made him more guilty in their eyes when he is not.
My Master worked like a puppet. He did everything which his mother and uncle told him. He did not want to get married, yet the marriage was forced on him by his mother. He had a complicated life. He could never express himself fully. He started to love his First Life, but her betrayal broke him. She told him she loved him, but she also said that she would be loyal to her father until her last breath.
You are lucky that he did not punish you for speaking rudely to her. He was crying in his sleep. The life of First Prince was tough, and no one knows about it," Eunuch Long blurted out everything which Jian Guozhi would have never.
Huo Jin felt guilty for blaming Jian Guozhi. He apologized to Eunuch Long.
Eunuch Long did not say anything and walked out of the room.
Huo Jin clutched the dress near his knees and waited for Jian Guozhi. After an hour, Jian Guozhi came to the room and asked him why he refused the tea.
Huo Jin stood up and bowed his head. "I did not want to, Your Highness," he replied.
Jian Guozhi hummed and told him to take the seat as he took a seat first. Huo Jin sat down and looked into his eyes.
"Huo Jin, I want you to do something for me. It is an important work.. From the Fourth Brother, I found out that you are in good spying that's why I want you to do something for me," Jian Guozhi asserted.
