Zhilao Mi was delighted to see her husband. "Jian Ge, you did not inform me earlier about your visit," Zhilao Mi said softly and went towards her. She smelled the wine from her husband.

"I didn't even know that I would visit you. What were you doing?" Jian asked as he saw some papers on the table.

"Jian Ge, I was doing painting. Do you want to see?" Zhilao Mi asked. Jian Guozhi smiled and nodded.

"Please take a seat, Jian Ge!" Zhilao Mi told her husband who sat down on the mattress around the floor table. Zhilao Mi gracefully lifted her high waist skirt and sat down. She showed some of the paintings she did in her spare time.

"Your paintings are good," Jian Guozhi praised his wife who thanked him.

"Jian Ge, I tried to paint your figure but I think I could not do well with your face," Zhilao Mi said as she picked another sheet of paper. Jian Guozhi took the sheet from his wife and looked at it.

A tiny smile formed on his lips. "You tried to draw me when I was not even in front of you. I appreciate it. Next time if you want to do so, then call me. I will definitely take out time for this," Jian Guozhi said as he placed the sheet on the table. Zhilao Mi nodded. She noticed that her husband was tense.

"Are you okay, Jian Ge?" Zhilao Mi queried Jian Guozhi who lifted his eyes from the sheets. "It seems something is bothering you, Jian Ge," Zhilao Mi said as she drew her brows together. She waited for her husband to respond. Getting no response from him, she asked, "My husband, is it because you are not the Crown Prince?"

Jian gazed into the eyes of Zhilao Mi. "Am I worthy enough of that title? Since the age of 3, I was taught to be a Crown Prince! I did everything to get that but in the end, it did not come to me. I did everything that my mother told me. Sheng Li grew up without a mother's love, in miseries and in the end he got the title. Not only did he get the best woman for him," Jian Guozhi veraciously told Zhilao Mi who felt sad knowing her husband indeed admired the Crown Princess.

"Zhilao, I do not know why am I telling you this but I need someone to share all this," Jian said and passed a faint smile to Zhilao Mi.

"Sister Xue told me that you wanted the Crown Princess as your wife," Zhilao Mi said and searched for an answer in Jian's eyes.

"Hmm. She saved my life once, so I expressed my desire to marry her. That all happened before our marriage when I went to the North-western Province for the Empire's work. I fell for her but I could not marry her because my mother wanted me to gain political power for my benefits," Jian Guozhi affirmed.

Zhilao Mi nodded. "Political marriages are common among Royals. Forgive me that my marriage with you could not benefit you."

"Why are you asking for forgiveness? Marriage with you at least sounds like a marriage unlike marriage with Xue. That's a political marriage in the true sense. I didn't even have control over my life," Jian said in a dejected tone.

Zhilao Mi took the hand of Jian in hers and caressed it. "Why do you not make your own decisions yourself? His Majesty has given you the entire Capital Province. Being a Governor in itself is a big thing. You shall not take so much stress," asserted Zhilao Mi.

Zhilao Mi wanted to know how her husband felt about the Crown Princess. She had seen the First Prince looking at the Crown Princess lovingly but not at her. "May I know why you like the Crown Princess? Forgive me, but as a wife, it is weird to hear about the other woman from the mouth of your husband," she proclaimed.

"The Crown Princess saved my life that time, that's the reason I built a liking towards her. She is perfect. You must be feeling jealous that I am talking about another woman." Jian Guozhi snickered and took a deep sigh.

Zhilao Mi was out of words when she heard Jian Guozhi saying, "Do you also think that I am incapable of doing anything? I feel sometimes that I got special advantages because of my mother," Jian Guozhi muttered.

"I do not think so. I have heard how you convinced some of the neighboring Kings two years ago and built diplomatic relations with them. Now, they are a part of Han which in itself is an impressive achievement. You did not choose the path of war which is appreciating," Zhilao Mi replied.

Jian Guozhi shook his head. "But my mother was not satisfied with that. She said I should have done something like Sheng Li, building the fear inside them for me so that they would respect me. That's why I wanted to see Sheng Li as dead. If he had died at least my mother and other brothers would have seen me and thought of me as a capable leader.

But now I do not want him to die! Yingér will get sad if anything will happen to her husband," Jian Guozhi stated and chuckled.

Zhilao Mi's eyes grew big. She found that her husband was so considerate about Ying Lili. She clutched her dress tightly, but she could not even blame the Crown Princess for that. She saved her husband's life. That's why he acted that way towards the Crown Princess.

"I do not know what has happened to me! I should fight for the throne but now I am getting disinterested in that. Mother will get sad upon hearing this," Jian asserted and pinched the brows between his eyes.

"Your highness, shall I massage your forehead? Is it aching?" Zhilao Mi humbly asked.

Jian put down his hand and looked at her.

"I need a good sleep. For the past few days, I have not gotten a good sleep." Jian replied.

Zhilao Mi nodded and stood up from her seat. "You should not have drunk the wine in this state. I am your other half so, you should share your worries with me as well" she helped Jian in getting up and took him towards the bed. "Sit here! I am coming in a while," Zhilao said and walked away.

Ten minutes later, she returned with a porcelain bowl in her hand. Jian asked her about that.

"It is an essential oil extracted from Chuan Xiong (a herbal plant in China). I will massage your forehead with this. It will relieve your headache and you will get a night of good sleep too," Zhilao Mi briefed Jian Guozhi. She sat at the centre of the bed and told her husband to lie down such that his forehead was on her lap.

"Close your eyes," Zhilao Mi said. Jian did so while his both hands rested on his chest. Zhilao took a little oil in her fingers and started massaging the forehead of Jian.

"I am gentle, right?" Zhilao asked.

"Hmm."

She smiled and continued massaging Jian's forehead for half an hour. "Jian Ge is asleep," Zhilao Mi said and gently lifted Jian's head. With the other hand, she brought a pillow under Jian's head and gently placed it on the pillow. Pulling the blankets up, she covered Jian with it and got down from the bed.

She went to the dressing table and removed the hair accessories and jewelry. "I can feel him. Being the firstborn child, he was bereaved of those rights on which he has the right from his birth, but today, it felt to me that Jian Ge is bound by his mother. He would have been happy if the mother had agreed to his marriage with the Crown Princess. I had never thought that he would be tense because of all this," thought Zhilao Mi.

She stood up from the chair and went towards the bed. Caressing Jian's head, Zhilao slept beside him.

~~~~

Not every bad person wants to be bad but because of the circumstances he chose to be like that. Jian Guozhi is that character which I feel was forced to choose the path that his mother crafted for him. So, what do you guys think? Will he change himself or will he continue this path?