"About Misty Lake…what did Jin Hao say? It is still his family no matter what," Lory was worried about Jin Hao's feelings especially since he learned about Lao Min Na.

"Jin Hao cut off his relationship with his father after he let his mother's killer live."

​​

"Jin Hao's mother was killed?" Lory was stunned.

"When he was thirteen, he discovered his mother died from poisoning. It only took him a few days to find the culprit but his father refused to arrest the person."

"Who was the culprit?" Lory's heart raced at the suspense.

"His mother sister…" Zhao Li Xin answered with a flat tone. Killing between wives was common in his world so he was not surprised by this.

'I knew the answer was gonna be messed up!'

Lory crossed her arms and placed them on the table, "Is that why he left his clan?"

Zhao Li Xin poured more wine into his cup, "No, he tried to kill his mother's sister with his own hands…"

Zhao Li Xin said casually as he sipped his wine elegantly. He licked the stray wine on his lips and continued, "He failed though and he was put under house arrest but then someone poisoned him. People thought he died but they only pretend to be clueless. The Jin Clan is famous as it has produced great alchemists and physicians. How could they not know what exactly happened."

"He was almost buried alive when I found him," Zhao Li Xin sneered as he remembered meeting a skinny white-haired kid who had the same dead eyes as him, maybe it was the reason he took Jin Hao with him.

Lory's jaw dropped as she wondered why everyone around seemed to have a pitiful childhood. Wasn't there anyone who could raise their child normally? It was no longer a surprise why they become violent killers once they grew up. It soon dawned on Lory that there was a parenting problem in this world. Parents were either spoiling their children rotten or abusing them to their graves.

"How old were you at that time? Shouldn't you have been in the Jiang Wei Kingdom at the time?"

"People thought I was in a monastery and it was normal for no one to look for me for years, no one would care unless I was dead…" He said indifferently. There was no anger or sadness.

Lory unconsciously clenched her arms as she imagined how he must have felt as a child. To be left alone, waiting to die. His world must have been lonely and desperate.

On the other hand, Zhao Li Xin didn't feel sorry about his past situation.

Was he ever sad? Of course…

Was he ever angry? Totally…

Was he ever desperate? Certainly…

But he quickly learned crying was meaningless. Anger was useless and desperation meant nothing. When you are alone, one could only count on themselves. Other's pity didn't mean much. If you wanted to survive, you could only depend on yourself. This is why he achieved so much at his age and after all, the pain led him to her…so why must he grieve about the past. He felt blessed instead.

Lory took a deep breath, tilted her head, and stared at Zhao Li Xin. A sly smile touched her lips, "So, can I go to Xiling? I'm curious to see what Xi Ying would do to infuriate Tang Mei Yi."

"It is not hard to guess. Xiling is Fu Hua's only competitor in business. Yang Xi Ying will try to buy Xiling for a while and that 'Tang' woman recently offered quite a sum of money to buy Xiling but the owner is a bit weird as he has refused to give in and sell no matter how much money she is offered," Zhao Li Xin said.

"Why is Tang Mei Yi insisting on buying the place? Is Fu Hua in trouble?"

Zhao sneered, "It is and Xiling is a profitable business. She needs a lot of money to keep her business afloat."

"What happened?" Lory didn't understand how Fu Hua was in trouble when they had so many customers the last time they visited.

Zhao Li Xin brewed the pink blossom tea for Lory. His movements were smooth and elegant but also swift.

"First, I retracted Hei Shen's support for her mercenary group and I made sure everyone knew this. Without Hei Shen's protection, many people who are dissatisfied or disliked her have come out and started to create trouble for her," He slowly poured the warm tea in the white jade teacup.

"Then Li Mo Zhen also made a remark about his dissatisfaction with Fu Hua and I let him spread the news about Jiu Yun and Hei Shen's good relationship. You can now imagine how Fu Hua's business is doing…" Zhao Li Xin pushed the cup gently towards Lory.

"You are pushing her out of business, huh?" Lory grinned widely as she blew over her hot tea.

"I'm trying to be magnanimous towards her. I hope she won't disappoint me," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Magnanimous? Who knew how many enemies Tang Mei Yi created over the years running a mercenary group? No one dared to go against her in the open because of Hei Shen's protection and support. But now, without it… her enemies will soon knock on her door one by one. One would hope Tang Mei Yi was strong enough to protect herself. Despite having Master Lu Yao's protection, her master was still far away and may not have enough time to save Tang Mei Yi.

"And what about your Master Tian? You know he is very fond of Tang Mei Yi," She asked as she slowly sipping his tea.

"What other people think about me means nothing to me. Other than you, everything else can be replaced in this world," He answered coolly without any hesitation. His words would make any woman feel happy but Lory's heart ached for him. What kinda lonely world did he live in before they met?

Lory pushed the table between them and jumped into his embrace. She buried her face into his broad chest and said with a displeased voice, "Don't talk like that!"

"Like what?" He stroked her hair gently.

"Like you are the only one in the world," Lory lifted her head to meet his eyes. They stared at each other deeply and said, "You know, you might not be lonely as you think you are. You keep looking at only what is in front of you, but if you only took the time…to look behind you…you'll might see that you were never alone in the first place."

"You think so?" It was hard for him to believe her but when he saw her smile, he couldn't stop questioning himself. Was it true…?

"I know so…" Lory's smile bloomed beautifully.

Zhao Li Xin smiled back at her and kissed her forehead softly, "Then I believe you…"

__________________________________________________

After a brief tug of war between Lory and Zhao Li Xin, She won as expected but with a few rules from him. Mong Ki and Mong Yi were to protect her openly and did not need to hide in the shadows to follow her. The two shadow guards knew their main job was not only to protect her safety but to also repel any unwanted flies near their young miss.

Lory was also banned from talking to any young men. It was even better if she pretended to be mute. Lory would have been angry if she's not used to such demands as Zhao Li Xin was not her first overprotective guardian. She was actually happy that Zhao Li Xin was more honest than Fredhard, more tactful than Fargo, and also less creepy than both Clift and Jay.

This is why Lory only giggled as Zhao Li Xin nagged her. Lory also didn't worry about men hitting on her as she wore an average face that blended perfectly in the crowd. She chose to walk beside Yang Xi Ying, who was one of the most beautiful women in the city, as no one would have the time to give her a second look.

The two girls decide to share a carriage so Yang Xi Ying arrived with her carriage at Zhao Li Xin's manor before lunchtime. Zhao Li Xin reluctantly let her go alone, well she was not exactly alone as Mong Ki and Mong Yi were with her in addition to a dozen shadow guards who followed secretly. Combined with Jiu Yun's secret shadow guards following them, both girls could sleep drunk on the street without anyone touching them.