Sheng Li was awoken when his eyes fell on Ying Lili who was sleeping beside him but this time she was not facing the wall but him. For a few seconds, Sheng Li stared at her face. Sheng Li brought his hand closer to Ying Lili's face. He touched those long eyelashes with his index finger, and a tiny smile formed on his lips. Without disturbing Ying Lili's sleep, Sheng Li went towards the left side of the resting chamber. He opened the drawer of the table and brought out a brush.

Looking at the brush, he smirked again. He dipped the brush in the ink and came towards the bed. "Wild Cat, you are going to like this," Sheng Li muttered as he sat on the bed quietly. Cautiously and quietly, the Crown Prince moved the brush over the face of Ying Lili. Sometimes, Ying Lili was flinching because of the touch of the brush, but because she was tired, she could not awake from that touch.

Once Sheng Li was done, he put the brush back to its place. "I am good at artwork," Sheng Li proudly said as he looked at Ying Lili's face. He puckered his lips together to stop his laughter and quickly left the chamber.

Xing-Fu who was standing outside the door bowed his head as soon as he saw the Crown Prince.

"Your highness, did you sleep well?" Xing-Fu asked politely. Sheng Li was tying the knot of his upper- body garment hummed at Xing-Fu.

"What time is it?" Sheng Li questioned as he put his hands down.

"It is past afternoon, your highness." Xing-Fu turned to a maid there. "Prepare the bath for his highness," he ordered and turned back to the Crown Prince.

"Let the Crown Princess sleep. After the bath, I will meet my father, and after that, I will leave for the prison to look into the matter." Sheng Li told Eunuch Xing-Fu.

He bowed his head and said, "I will inform his majesty about your visit, your highness." Sheng Li nodded as he went towards the bathhouse, followed by a chain of maidservants behind him.

In the bathhouse, the Crown Prince sent the maidservants out and got into that enormous bathtub which was filled with roses, and the fragrance was added to the water. He took three dips in the water and flipped his long hair back. He came to the rim and rested himself comfortably there. Resting his arms on the tiled platform, Sheng Li tilted his head back.

"Your half-brother will be my target, Empress Wei. He will be removed from his position of which he is so proud of before I will leave for the Southern Province. Let's see how Lili will help me in this," Sheng Li internally thought when the door of the bathhouse was opened. Xing-Fu had come in with a bathrobe in his hands. He waited for the Crown Prince to come out and stood there silently.

Fifteen minutes later, Sheng Li stretched his right hand out. Xing-Fu quickly placed the bathrobe in the palm of the Crown Prince, who stood up and wore it. As Sheng Li came out of the bathtub, Xing-Fu wiped the Crown Prince's body using a towel. He then helped the Crown Prince in putting on the garments of the Hanfu Dress. Sheng Li came to his dressing room, and was being dressed up by the maidservants.

"Do not follow me. Go to my resting chamber," Sheng Li ordered Xing-Fu and left to meet his father.

Sheng Li reached the Chamber of Virtue and saw his father was drinking tea. Seeing Sheng Li, Han Wenji smiled and stood up from his seat. Han Wenji came to Sheng Li who bowed his head in front of him when he tightly hugged him. "You scared me," Han Wenji asserted. Sheng Li placed his hand on his father's back. "Forgive me," Sheng Li whispered.

Both father and son pulled away from each other. Taking their respective seats, Han Wenji asked the Crown Prince if he was feeling good. "The King of Juyan betrayed us but a commoner of Juyan saved you," Han Wenji proclaimed. Sheng Li agreed with his father.

"The Crown Prince is changing."

Sheng Li knitted his brows after hearing that statement from his father.

"On the Crown Princess' request, the Crown Prince spared the life of Hu Jingguo. It is pleasant to see that the Crown Prince is turning gentle," Han Wenji remarked.

"Because I found he is good at medicine. I thought that he may prove useful to me later, and he did," Sheng Li asserted.

"You do not trust people easily, especially the outsiders. Accept that you did it for the Crown Princess," Han Wenji told his son as he noticed the reactions of his son.

"Father, that can be one reason. I found that the Crown Princess will not betray me, so I let her friend live. But, the major reason behind sparing was only that," Sheng Li stressed.

"Father, thank you for not letting me marry Xue Yu-Yan," Sheng Li's sudden acknowledgment towards his majesty's decision bewildered the Emperor. "Why is the Crown Prince suddenly thanking me?" Han Wenji wanted to know the feelings which had developed inside Sheng Li's heart.

"I just want to thank you, father. I think that Ying Lili is suitable for me. The way she handled everything yesterday made me realize that she is most suitable for the Crown Princess position. She risked her life to save me, which is appreciable. She had the best chance yesterday to take her revenge on me. I have made many enemies and all of them want me to die. I thought Ying Lili was one of them, but she proved me wrong," Sheng Li answered his father in brief.

Han Wenji faintly smiled as he picked the teacup. "Did the Crown Prince say the same words to his Crown Princess?" Han Wenji queried.

Sheng Li shook his head. "I do not want her to take it the other way," Sheng Li earnestly spoke. "What I mean is that I do not want her to love me. Love is a weakness rather than a strength," Sheng Li affirmed.

~~~~

Hello Dear Readers!

Sorry for this late update. Actually, I got some discouraging comments which made me feel low the entire day. I agree that my writing skills aren't that refined, but I'm trying my best daily to improve it. Since, I am not earning so good amount from any of my stories so I cannot to hire a content editor for my work for now. I know many of you are paying for the chapters and still not getting that good content so, I would like to apologize for that as well.

THANK YOU

HAPPY READING