The Phoenix Reborn Book II

Chapter 10 Will Never Know

*On the night before*

“Sister Yuanli, today is the day I am on guard, you can rest,” Xiaoxue said who saw the figure of Yuanli come out of Huang Wushuang's room. The girl's hand was stretched out to reach for the container of dirty water that had clearly just been used by their employer to wash her face. “I will take care of this,” Xiaoxue said with a smile, seemingly trying to attract Yuanli by making the girl feel indebted to him.

Yuanli's eyes stared straight at Xiaoxue for a while before finally handing over the container in his hand. Then, he nodded his head. “Sure,” reply. “Thank you.” Yuanli added, “Then I will go first.”

“En,” Xiaoxue replied as she nodded her head.

Yuanli walked away from Huang Wushuang's courtyard, not looking rushed to return to rest like the other servants. In her heart, she was wondering, ‘Nona just came back today. Is something like that really going to happen? Do they dare?’

Just as Yuanli passed through the gate of Huang Wushuang's courtyard, Yunlin who was guarding there caught the arrival of the girl. The man said a few words to one of the guards next to him, making the guard then shout towards the other guards near the porch. The guard on the porch then nodded his head and approached the gate.

Yuanli noticed the interaction and walked through the gate slightly before finally stopping to stare towards Yunlin. One of the guards patted Yunlin's shoulder quite hard with a meaningful smile on his face. Their gaze radiated support as Yunlin left her post to approach Yuanli.

“Yuanli.”

“Yunlin,” Yuanli replied as he turned to the man. The girl's eyes glared back, towards the two bodyguards who had laughed meaningfully towards her. When the sight of the two bodyguards met with Yuanli, the two turned their faces quickly. “What did you say to them so they gave me such a look?” ask with eyes.

“Notice it.” Yunlin waved her hand, dismissing Yuanli's question. The man then pulled the girl's hand and led her away from the front of the gate. This made Yuanli startled and the two bodyguards in front of the gate chuckled.

After quite a distance, Yuanli let go of his hand. “What are you doing?! Don't you know that the personal relationship of bodyguards and servants can cause scandal? You even in public touched my hand ...”

“Under the protection of Minister Huang and First Miss Huang, what are you afraid of?” reply Yunlin in a half-joking tone. Then, his face turned calm and he said, “If you don't do that, you think I can easily leave my post? Only with a little forbidden spice would the guards let me go. That way even made them support me.”

Yuanli's expression looked annoyed and he hit Yunlin's arm hard. “Defined spices?! Don't implicate me with such a dirty scandal!” he shouted with a stifled voice. Satisfied with throwing a few fists at Yunlin, Yuanli sighed. “Then, why did you meet me?”

“Because I want to see you alone,” Yunlin replied making Yuanli speechless for a while.

With a smile beginning to crack on her lips and eyes fixed on Yunlin's face, Yuanli said, “What ... are you.re serious?” His tone sounded like he was holding back a wave of fury that began to boil in his blood.

Knowing that his consciousness would soon disappear in a matter of seconds if he continued to tease the girl before him, Yunlin immediately raised her hand. “Hink, joke. I'll talk about something serious now.”

Yuanli closed his eyes and pinched his temple, it was a wonder why one of Huang Yade's trusted bodyguards could behave like this. “Say quickly,” reply ketus.

Yunlin's expression turned serious. “Shuixiang had come to visit the crown princess's residence this afternoon. I saw him give Xiaoxue a letter which then led her into the Crown Princess' room,”. Darkening view. “Li Guifei start acting.”

Yunlin realized that Yuanli had gotten a picture of what was going on. “You know something?” ask the girl.

Yuanli's eyes shot up to meet Yunlin's gaze. “Miss T-shirt will return to the palace to meet with the Empress. If my guess is correct, then Li Guifei has planned something for tomorrow and it needs the involvement of the Crown Princess.” The girl looked back and thought of something. “Wushuang is not a smart woman.”

“Wah, you are so forthright,” interrupted Yunlin with a helpless smile, knowing how bad Yuanli's relationship with the Crown Princess was.

Yuanli ignored Yunlin's comments and continued, “I'm sure Li Guifei will invite him to meet in person to talk about their plans.”

Hearing this, Yunlin's brows furrowed. “What a coincidence you're not in charge of guarding her tonight.” Eyes squeaking. “Xiaoxue ... is the spy Li Guifei?” guess it.

Yuanli's head was bellowed. “Xiaoxue is indeed cunning and clever, but her nature of investigating the relationship of the inhabitants of the palace shows that she is detached from ties with the inhabitants of any palace. His obvious attitude shows the desire to know things is not in harmony with the workings of Li Guifei who works from darkness,” he explained. “He was only chosen to be a temporary intermediary because Li Guifei knew he was thirsty for a higher standing and could be controlled easily.”

Yunlin thought for a moment and said, “I have escaped the obligation of guarding the post. I'll keep an eye on the Crown Princess' moves.”

“Tapi—”

Yunlin interrupted Yuanli's remark, knowing that the girl would rather rely on herself to complete one task. “You have been attracting so many people lately, especially after your meeting with First Miss. I'm sure that Li Guifei has told people to keep an eye on you.” Then, Yunlin hugged Yuanli, surprising the girl. “That means, someone is watching us right now.”

Yunlin's statement made Yuanli's heart turn cold, a little worried. “Should you hug me?” he whispered with a smile, making anyone watching them think that the two were spending time together as lovers. “You're taking a chance in narrowness, aren't you?” ask her again with a stifled tone of annoyance.

Yunlin released her embrace and smiled widely. “Ah, caught.” The man ignored the deadly smile Yuanli threw at him and said, “As usual, if I go too long and not be in my post tomorrow morning—”

“You'll be back,” Yuanli cut off Yunlin's greeting. “Because I also always come back, then you will always come back.”

Hundreds of times Yuanli and Yunlin had said those words to each other, warning of the possibility that one of them might disappear for good while on a mission. However, until this moment, they always came back. For some reason, Yuanli's feeling this time was not good, and hearing that remark made him very uncomfortable. Thus, a word full of certainty that was actually filled with uncertainty could be spoken from his lips.

Yunlin's wide smile narrowed slightly. The man looked at Yuanli gently, no longer in theatrics. The man's hand touched Yuanli's head and rubbed it. “You will never know.”