"Are you complaining?" Sheng Li questioned Huo Jin when he immediately stood up and bowed before him. Ying Lili smiled upon seeing Sheng Li, who handed his sword to Xing-Fu.
"Drink the water," Sheng Li told Huo Jin, who did so and handed it to the maidservant. Sheng Li sat down beside Ying Lili and the two gazed at Huo Jin.
"Why did you not want to drink with that glass?" Sheng Li questioned him as he took a glass of water from Ying Lili.
"I am not meant to drink water from such an expensive glass," Huo Jin replied.
"Why does Huo Jin think this way?" Ying Lili asked him.
Huo Jin lowered his eyes and said, "I am a common man who is not supposed to use such things." Sheng Li chuckled and handed the water glass to Court Lady Xu, who walked away.
"Don't lower your worth ever," Sheng Li proclaimed. "And lift your head. You are looking like a terrifying lamb," he stated with annoyance.
Ying Lili smiled as Sheng Li scolded Huo Jin the same way he used to do to Hu Jingguo. Huo Jin sat straight and looked at them.
"General Wang told me that the Empress wants to see me," He said finally.
"Yes, Huo Jin. I wanted to meet you," Ying Lili accepted. She gazed at the servants, who left the chamber. So, now there were only Sheng Li, Ying Lili, and Huo Jin in the chamber.
"You have conversed with me earlier too, Huo Jin. But those were never personal talks," Ying Lili initiated the conversation. Sheng Li looked at the grapes in the golden bowl and stood up. He went to the table to pick it up.
Huo Jin glanced at him and found him coming towards him. "Eat," Sheng Li forwarded the bowl towards him.
"I am full, Your Majesty," Huo Jin answered but then quickly took a few as Sheng Li glared at him.
Huo Jin ate a few and then looked at the Empress. Sheng Li sat down beside him and it confused him.
"Inside this chamber, I am not an Emperor. I am Sheng Li and she," Sheng Li pointed his finger towards Ying Lili, "my wife, Ying Lili. We are at the same level as yours. So, without any hesitation, you will talk your mind out to us." Sheng Li explained to him.
"What is His Majesty saying?" Huo Jin was perplexed to hear it.
"I do not like to repeat myself," Sheng Li replied, and then gazed at Ying Lili. "Lili, ask him everything. Today, we need to know what is inside Huo Jin's head," He affirmed and put a grape inside his mouth.
"Huo Jin, I heard about your past life from Sheng Li. Sister Xinyue, who took the identity of Princess Zhilao Mi and entered the Palace. If I say, Sister Xinyue was indeed kind, then it will not be wrong," Ying Lili stated, astonishing Huo Jin.
"We had some friendly conversation, but I never found her suspicious. I know how Tan Gengxin used her own daughter for his own benefit. However, when she had to make the choice between you and her father, she chose her Father, Tan Gengxin," Ying Lili stated. "Do you know why Sister Xinyue did not choose you?" She asked him.
"Because I was a mere servant in her eyes. My status was the problem," Huo Jin answered. "Also, she hated me because I," he paused and took a deep shy, "betrayed her father."
"You do not love Xinyue!" Ying Lili made a comment, which bewildered Huo Jin.
"If you had loved Xinyue, then you would have chosen death," Ying Lili asserted. Sheng Li had not imagined that Ying Lili would be this straightforward with Huo Jin.
The colors blew away from his face as he never heard this kind of statement from anyone.
"I had asked for the death sentence, Your Majesty," Huo Jin replied.
"But you did not get it," Ying Lili stated.
"Did you remember the last conversation between you and Xinyue?" Ying Lili queried him.
Huo Jin recalled how much Xinyue cursed him. The hatred in her heart towards him, he once again remembered it. It pained his heart that she did not bid him goodbye with a kind message.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Huo Jin replied.
"You could not save her because her crimes were unforgivable, but you did not accept death and thought to tell us everything to take revenge from Tan Gengxin. Xinyue loved her father the most in this world and you loved her. In that sense, you should have protected her until the end and should not have betrayed her. Also, you had numerous chances to save her, but you did not bother. That night, if Xinyue had not gone to meet you, then you would have run away to save your own life," Ying Lili showed him the mirror, which he kept hidden from himself and never looked upon.
"Huo Jin, the reality is you respected Xinyue, but you never loved her. If you had, then you two would have been together. Remember, the true lovers never get separated from each other and they don't turn selfish. Don't ruin your life and the life of the person who truly loves you. Differentiate between love and respect," Ying Lili advised him.
Huo Jin remembered the day Xinyue's real identity was revealed. Indeed, he had decided to run away without saving Xinyue. So, all this time he was fooling himself.
Sheng Li thought to lighten the atmosphere, so he put his arm around Huo Jin's shoulder and patted it. "Well, listen to Lili's advice," he said.
~~~~~~
Huo Jin left the chamber after a long conversation and came to the same place where Wang Hao had left him.
"Let's go back," Wang Hao said. He did not ask him what conversation he had with the Empress as he was still angry with him.
"General Wang, what is love?" Huo Jin's question confused Wang Hao.
