It was nighttime. Tonight was darker than any other night. The sky was dark. However, if seen carefully there was a star in the sky that seems brighter than any other stars from other night. Black clouds were there in the sky, but those black clouds couldn’t hide that star among themselves. As much as it looked beautiful, it made the night scarier and differently mysterious.

True that tonight was really different because it was the beginning to exposure of many secrets that remained hidden since a long ago. They had come to light but not at the right time.

Amidst the thundering, Lian courtyard was so silent that even a crunch of a leaf could be counted as a nuisance. It looked like a deserted place. Nevertheless, this was not true.

Inside the innermost room of Lian courtyard, its only source of light, a candle, was on the verge of losing its flame. There was a bed in the mid of the room. There was a man lying on that comfy bed. His face was very pale nonetheless it didn’t lessen his beauty. With a very smooth forehead, a sharp nose, a rigid jaw, he looked ethereal. His body was covered till his stomach with a brown blanket. The left side of his chest was bound with many layers of white cloth. A red patch of blood could be seen on those layers. He seemed to be sleeping very peacefully.

Suddenly, a large wind blew outside, swaying the trees. The flickering candle got extinguished and the room lost its only source of light. In the darkroom, no one knew how a man appeared at that instant. His hair was white from the top of his head to his waist. His strikingly handsome features were making him look very young. All of his clothes were of white color. There was a small smile on his face as he looked at the man lying on the bed.

With two or three small steps, he stood in front of the bed on which the wounded man was lying. He raised his hand and put his palm on the man’s forehead. He closed his eyes and with no longer a smile on his face he remained in that position. When he opened his eyes again, a glint of red light flashed in them for a second and he murmured

” As you wish. “

He removed his palm from the man’s forehead and left the room. After two minutes, there was a frown on the wounded man’s forehead.

This was the first expression on his face after one month and fifteen days.

The name of the wounded man was Xi Ying.

——————

Since long ago, Xi Ying could see only one thing, endless darkness. He didn’t know how long it has been since the time he went unconscious due to his injury, but he was sure that a lot of time has passed. The time they were waiting for was coming soon. The time he couldn’t waste in any situation, he was losing it in such a helpless way.

As much as he knew, his injury was not this serious. The arrow hit him in his chest, just near his heart. He would have died then and there if the archer hit him successfully in his heart. The archer was a very trained person. But he was fated to live that day. Since he didn’t get shot in his heart, he was sure he would be saved.

He had not thought that things would become like this. Everything was going fine. He was on his way to set everything according to their plan with his shadow guards. What he didn’t expect was the sudden attack. Around twenty to thirty fighters attacked them together and all of them knew martial arts. It was fine as he and his shadow guards were able to fight with them. But there were archers hidden behind the trees. Amidst all this, when he was not focused an arrow suddenly hit him. All that followed after this was an endless darkness.

After some days, he could feel that he was alive. He could feel whenever his shadow guard, An-Ping, or any physician came to check on him. But he couldn’t open his eyes even after many tries. He tried to move his body, but he couldn’t move. His body was not listening to his mind. He never felt this helpless in his life.

Xi Ying thought that after getting up from this bed, first of all, he would find the person behind this attack on them.

Like every day, An Ping came to check on him. The physician checked his pulse, cleaned his wound, and informed An Ping about no change in his condition.

But today different from everyday’s routine, after An Ping left he felt one more presence in the room. Since the person was alone, Xi Ying was not sure if he was sent by An Ping. As he remembered the last attack, Xi Ying thought that this person might be here to kill him. In that case, he needed to save himself. When he was trying to think about what should he do, the man put his hand on Xi Ying’s forehead and he couldn’t think anything else. Suddenly he saw some rays of light within his closed eyes and heard three words

” As you wish .”

After all this, that endless darkness came again. Like the light was his own hallucination.

But after a few seconds, Xi Ying suddenly found himself on his legs at a familiar place. This place was one of the courtyards in his manor. It was surrounded by plum trees. Plum Courtyard, The most isolated courtyard in his manor, just like a cold place. On seeing the courtyard, Xi Ying remembered the person residing here. As he looked around himself, he found that he was in the garden area.

Hearing some movements, Xi Ying turned around only to come across a face he had not seen in four years. However, it had not changed in this long time but has become more beautiful. Those clear and calm eyes, which once made him a fool were still the same.

And the owner of those eyes and a beautiful face was his wangfei, Li Rui.

The wangfei he despised from the depth of his heart.