Chapter 163 - Challenge You
Walking through the corridors, Ying Lili reached the garden. One could see hundreds of flowers there. But Ying Lili could not even enjoy their sight as Sheng Li refused to go with her. She halted in place and said, "Who could not like flowers?!" She stomped her foot at the ground and walked through the pavilion.
She kept walking until she reached the center of the garden, which had a huge lake. She stood beside the water and looked at her reflection. Touching her cheeks, she murmured, "Why does he think I am not beautiful? Everyone compliments me except him."
The lake had plum blossom trees around it at a regular distance. Ying Lili stood under one tree and looked at the lake filled with lotuses. "It's so beautiful," she murmured and sat down under the tree. The petals of plum blossom flowers were falling with each breeze.
"Has he gone out without me? I told him to involve me as well," Ying Lili complained.
"Your highness!" Hu Jingguo called Ying Lili who immediately turned to look and found Jingguo there. Delighted to see him, Ying Lili told him to sit beside her. Hu Jingguo did so and sat down.
"What is her highness doing alone here?" Hu Jingguo queried.
"I just wanted to come here," replied Ying Lili and continued, " You do not need to use the title. The Crown Prince is not here so we can have a normal conversation like friends."
"I am afraid but I do not think I can do that any longer," Hu Jingguo affirmed. Ying Lili was looking at him with inquisitiveness.
"You are now the Crown Princess so I shall respect your title and also follow the command of the Crown Prince," Hu Jingguo answered. Ying Lili nodded and turned her gaze towards the lake.
Hu Jingguo observed that the Crown Princess was disturbed because of something so he asked her about the reason. But Ying Lili did not tell him. Hu Jingguo sat there for an hour, waiting for Ying Lili to speak but she did not! It saddened him.
'Did the Crown Prince again fight with her? I know she has feelings for him but I think the Crown Prince is not reciprocating her feelings.' His deep thoughts were interrupted when he heard the voice of the Crown Princess.
"You shall leave. I want to be alone," Ying Lili said in a low voice. Hu Jingguo nodded and left the garden. He came to his chamber and saw the Crown Prince was having a conversation with both the Generals. He greeted the Crown Prince who was glaring at him. "Where are you coming from?" Sheng Li asked with a skeptical expression.
"Your highness, I was in the garden," Hu Jingguo answered. "The Crown Princess was not feeling well so I thought to check on her," Hu Jingguo added. His eyes were lowered and a smile appeared on his lips.
"What? She is not feeling well?" Sheng Li muttered. "Why didn't you take her inside?" Sheng Li questioned him.
"I don't think I can when her highness has a husband." Sheng Li frowned as he heard that. Hu Jingguo lifted his eyes and looked straight into the eyes of the Crown Prince. "If I talk with her highness then his highness gets jealous and if I had brought her inside then his highness would have killed me like the other day" Jingguo touched his neck and recalled that incident.
Wang Hao and Xiao Zhan smiled seeing the acts of Hu Jingguo. Sheng Li clenched his fist tightly. "I do not get jealous," Sheng Li lied when he heard the chuckle escape from Hu Jingguo's mouth.
"Why is his highness lying? The other day you were asking what kind of husband Ying… forgive me! The other day his highness was asking what kind of husband the Crown Princess desires for and I had told you to find the answer yourself but it seemed that his highness had not found the answer till now," Hu Jingguo proclaimed. Wang Hao and Xiao Zhan looked at the Crown Prince who could lose his temper any time.
"Jingguo, you shall leave. Come later. We have something important to discuss." Wang Hao did not want a war to start there but then he saw the Crown Prince had raised his hand slightly thus gesturing him to stop.
"Wang Hao, Xiao Zhan, give us some privacy," Sheng Li ordered. Both the Generals stood up from their respective seats and left from there. The doors were closed behind them and now only Sheng Li and Hu Jingguo were left behind in the chamber.
"Since we are having this conversation so, have a seat," Sheng Li stated. Hu Jingguo nodded and took the seat.
"It seems you are angry at me," Sheng Li asserted.
"I cannot get angry with the Crown Prince but I have full rights to be angry at the husband of Ying Lili. Pardon me, but I just want to keep this conversation at an equal level that's why I will use her name," Hu Jingguo menacingly stated.
"You do not need to intervene in the life of a married couple," asserted Sheng Li.
"I am afraid but I am not intervening. I do not dare to and it is not the right thing to intervene in the married life of someone but I am intervening as a friend and as a brother," Hu Jingguo proclaimed.
"Then tell me what kind of husband she wants?" Sheng Li asked. Though the Crown Prince knew the feelings of Ying Lili, this question was bothering him for a long time. Ying Lili had told him that he could become the husband of her desires but she did not exactly tell him.
"Is his highness serious? Does he really want to know?" Hu Jingguo asked for confirmation.
Sheng Li nodded and drew his brows together as he saw a smile on Hu Jingguo's lips.
"I will tell you only if you will defeat me," Hu Jingguo proclaimed.
Sheng Li raised his brow and exclaimed, "Defeat you?" He snickered and said, "Then you have already lost."
Hu Jingguo laughed slightly. "Your highness, I challenge you to the Hand Knife Game."