Sheng Li looked at Ying Lili. "I will apply the medicine on your foot," Sheng Li said as he forwarded his hand.

"It's fine. You do not need to trouble yourself," Ying Lili replied. Sheng Li did not listen to her and grasped her foot. "If you need to go out tomorrow evening, then you need to recover fast," Sheng Li pronounced.

Ying Lili got delighted upon hearing him. "Are you telling the truth?" Ying Lili questioned.

"Do you think I am lying?" Sheng Li asked, chuckling. He picked the China dish in which herbal paste was put. Ying Lili lifted her skirt slightly. Sheng Li applied the paste over the foot. "Swelling has reduced," Sheng Li said as he kept applying the paste.

Ying Lili put aside the pillow behind her and picked up Sheng Li's mother's diary. "Sheng Li, forgive me for not giving you earlier." Sheng Li lifted his eyes and saw a diary in Ying Lili's hand.

"What's this?" Sheng Li queried.

"It's your mother's personal diary. I found it in the secret room of the Prime Minister's Manor," Ying Lili replied and forwarded the diary to Sheng Li.  Sheng Li extended his left hand out and grabbed it.

"Did you read it?" Sheng Li queried.

"Except for the last page, I did not read anything," Ying Lili replied. Sheng Li took a clean napkin and wiped the paste from his hand.

"Why did you not tell me earlier? It seems you planned to read this," Sheng Li proclaimed. His ice-cold voice and stony gaze were giving chills to Ying Lili.

"I wanted to read but then it is your mother's so, I thought to hand it to you," Ying Lili stated.

"You hid this from me so, I do not think I will trust you from now on," Sheng Li proclaimed. Ying Lili got disheartened hearing this.

"Why are you saying so? I told you the truth. What if I had not brought it from there?" Ying Lili snapped at Sheng Li. 

"You should have thought about this earlier when you hid the truth," Sheng Li replied. 

Ying Lili twitched her lips. "I was curious to know. You do not tell me about your mother, so I wanted to know. That's why I hid it from you, but then I also told you," Ying Lili complained. "There is something suspicious which you shall find out. What was the mother's diary doing there?" Ying Lili was skeptical about that. 

"You are not close enough to whom I can share about my past," Sheng Li stated and gazed into the eyes of Ying Lili. 

"What do I need to get close to you?" Ying Lili asked, raising her brow.

Sheng Li snickered. "What do you think you can do to get close to me?" Ying Lili was out of words now. She saw Sheng Li had put the diary inside his robes.

"I forgive you this time, but it does not mean I will every time. Since you brought this up, I am still considerate of you. I hope you will not hide the truth from me anymore. I do not like when people lie and I will not make any kind of exception for you while punishing you. Just because I have not punished you till now, does not mean that I will not punish you in the future," Sheng Li pronounced.

Ying Lili averted her gaze from Sheng Li. "So, you want to punish me for the betrayal of Juyan. I told you that you can punish me. You do not need to make an exception for me," Ying Lili murmured.

"An injured person is not punished," Sheng Li asserted. Ying Lili glanced at him. "Since when did you start thinking like this?" Her voice was low but Sheng Li heard her. He moved towards Ying Lili who knitted her brows together.

"You give very diplomatic statements to me. I sometimes get confused. What do you exactly think about me? You want to get close to me, but then you also want to run away from me. You want to be with me but then you also do not want to be." Sheng Li's index finger was under Ying Lili's chin and he pulled it up.

"What are you saying? When do I give contradictory statements? Isn't that your trait?" Ying Lili demanded answers.

"Do you know why the Empress was here?" Sheng Li queried.

"She wanted to know how I am doing, " Ying Lili replied.

Sheng Li laughed upon hearing Ying Lili's reply. "Lili, she is the half-sister of the Prime Minister who came to check on you. Do you think that the Prime minister does not know who sneaked into his residence? You are smart, but sometimes, you act naïve. The Empress wants to find out from you. You might be her next target so be careful." Sheng Li put down his hand and leaned back.

"She can harm me as well?" Ying Lili looked into the eyes of Sheng Li.

"The Empress is not someone whom you should take lightly. She is the one who poisoned me. Zhang Yong is her right-hand man, which she uses the most. That's why I want him to be removed from his position. The most treacherous and evil person I have ever seen is Empress Wei. You call me Cruel but there is way crueler than me, that is, Weng Wei." Sheng Li finally revealed the truth to Ying Lili.

Ying Lili found the hatred Sheng Li had for the Empress. And why wouldn't it be? She killed his mother. A person who had suffered since his childhood had all the reasons to become cruel because he was surrounded by those people who killed his mother and also wanted him to be dead. 

"That's why throw away your kindness if you want to stand beside me. I hate kind people. They give me a disgusting feeling," Sheng Li proclaimed. Ying Lili opened her mouth to speak when Sheng Li said, "Don't impart me the knowledge of kindness. Just stay away from the Empress and do not believe her words easily." 

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