In the night, Li Wei sat next to the large window in her room and watched the moon. She loved staring at the night sky. On this night, the moon seemed to be particularly beautiful-- shining silently in silver.
Her finger wrote in the night sky his name, slowly and carefully, appreciating each stroke. "I'll see you soon." It were these words that replayed endlessly in her head. She couldn't fall asleep. To him, his meaning of "soon" was not of normal people. He could very well meant he would see her tonight.
At first, Li Wei's excitement was high, but her spirits decreased gradually by the hour. By midnight, she yawned and finally stood up. Her hands pulled the window closed. The sudden sound of two feet landing in the room scared her and she screamed. "Ah!"
Khan Bojing, who just sneaked into the room, hurriedly closed his hand over her open mouth. "Shhh."
Li Wei immediately stopped and her eyes popped open wide. Her breathing became heavy when she realized that his chest was pressed against her back. Although it was nice to see him again, this was too much. She complained quietly, "A small warning wouldn't hurt."
"Miss, are you alright?" San'er who was in the kitchen previously heard Li Wei's scream and came running with worries.
"En, I'm okay." Li Wei moved her head upwards so she could see Khan Bojing's face. His eyes were dark as usual, but his lips were curved up shamelessly. He seemed proud to have scared her.
His figure towered over her petite frame. She was almost wrapped inside his embrace, one of his arm was around her shoulder. Her eyes moved from his face down to his muscular arm and she gulped, "A huge mouse popped randomly in my room."
"Miss, do you need help to kill it?"
Li Wei couldn't help but coughed lightly. "Eh... No need to kill, it's gone now."
San'er felt relieved to hear Li Wei's response and she walked back to the kitchen.
"I'm a mouse?" Khan Bojing's eyebrow raised in question as he turned her around to face him. Her large eyes looked up towards the ceiling as she sighed heavily. If he may say so himself, she looked quite cute with her "annoyed" expression. The elegant woman from this afternoon was now gone. She was just herself now, the normal Li Wei he knew, not the powerful daughter of a wealthy family or the calamitous beauty who caught the attention of the royal princes. Her hair was let down loosely and she was wearing a thin dress... Ahem, his eyes courteously wandered off to the wall behind her.
Li Wei didn't notice his sudden awkward face. She walked towards her bed and sat down. "En, a huge mouse! A prince, a flute master, and now a mouse. You have so many roles to play. It must be tiring?"
Khan Bojing sat comfortably on the chair placed in the middle of the room. He poured the tea on the table into a cup and took a sip. His eyes still made sure to not look at her. Wasn't the dress too thin? "En, I'm guilty. But you seemed bored so I volunteered myself to entertain you. Didn't I say I'd see you soon?"
She rolled her eyes at his so called warning he claimed to have given. "Soon? Your meaning of soon is not average. I didn't know that soon could be tomorrow and soon could be tonight as well?"
"But you knew, didn't you?" He finished the tea in his cup and finally looked at her. Her cheeks were slightly red as her eyes blinked lazily while watching him. He pointed out what she refused to admit, "You waited for me. You knew I would come see you."
"I... just couldn't sleep so I happened to be awake." His straightforward response caused even the bold Li Wei to feel a bit shy. He didn't have to say it so clearly. At least she wasn't lying, technically, she really couldn't fall asleep because she wanted to see him. But he didn't need to know this latter part.
She watched as he stood up and strode over to the bed. Without saying a word, he sat beside her. Because they were so close, his leg lightly brushed against hers. Her heart pounded erratically at how close he was. She remembered him to be a gentleman...
Khan Bojing's arm reached behind her back towards the pillow on the bed. A familiar jade dangled from his hands. "I'm here to take this."
"Oh." Okay, she was thinking too much. But then she couldn't help questioning, "So you knew I stole this from you?"
"I wouldn't say you stole it, but rather, I let you borrowed it." Khan Bojing chuckled with amusement. Of course, he knew she took this from his pouch the last time they met in the capital of Hai'an. He just allowed it to happen.
So he knew... A feeling of guilt washed over her as she studied him. It wasn't surprising he knew, but it was surprising that he allowed her to do as she wished. Khan Bojing was a dedicated person in practicing martial arts. He was skilled in fighting so his senses were much sharper than hers. After all, he was on an equal standing with Hua Xifeng. He just had worst luck when it came to love...
His hand gently touched her hand. He spoke soothingly, "I didn't say you stole it. Don't feel bad, think of it as I gave it to you."
"En." She didn't need to feel bad if he said she shouldn't. He allowed her to take it in the first place and now he wasn't complaining, so she shouldn't feel guilty. She then proposed, "Didn't you said you'll tell me what happened after I left Hai'an?"
The topic clearly made Khan Bojing to feel uncomfortable. He shifted on the bed so that his gaze was on the doors instead. "Three days after you left... assassins came to our home."
Li Wei's previously warm gaze suddenly became cold. This was a part of the story she didn't know. By the time they have met in their last life at this time, he would already be a servant of Li Zhilan.
No wonder he wasn't comfortable. So far, she hadn't create bad feelings with anyone so those assassins couldn't be after her. They were ordered to hurt him then...? "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine."
Li Wei seemed as if she didn't hear his response. Her hands desperately search his body, even though she wouldn't be able to see any wounds with clothes on. Then she remembered that he actually was wounded. Her finger pointed to his chest. "You were shot there?"
His eyes turned to hers, his gaze a bit cold. "How did you know?"
She was innocent, she just remembered this from before... But he wouldn't know that. "I just took a guess."
"Oh." To her relief, he believed her right away and continued talking, "As you know, I'm the only prince of Hai'an... Naturally, I'm my father's only hope. Even if he dislikes me, he can't afford to cause me harm, but I can't say the same for my Imperial Mother."
Li Wei thought of the encounter she witnessed within Khan Bojing's courtyard when she previously sneaked into the palace. She blurted carelessly, "Chu Fangyin wants to kill you?"
Suddenly, his face was only an inch away from her face. His eyes seemed to be glued onto her eyes. He didn't care about keeping an appropriate distance. For a long time, his gaze didn't falter, trying to search the truth within her eyes. When he spoke again, his tone gave off a dangerous feeling, "How did you know?"
Li Wei couldn't stand his intense stare anymore. Obviously he knew she liked him, but he was still so thoughtlessly to close to her. Her hands pushed him physically away so she could breathe properly. "Remember when we met in the capital and I wanted to buy your cart of woods?"
This question unexpectedly initiated a troublesome and long back and forth investigation between the two.
"How does that relate?"
"I was trying to see you."
"But you were with me."
"I mean, I didn't know you were you."
"Huh?"
"I didn't know you were Khan Bojing. I thought you were a woodcutter."
"Huh?"
"I thought you were just Xu Yebai. I didn't know Xu Yebai and Khan Bojing were the same person."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"But how does the woods relate to your story?" Khan Bojing couldn't help asking. Li Wei was making no sense to him. Wood, him, wood, him. Woodcutter, prince, woodcutter, prince. How did this relate to him being killed again?
Li Wei slapped herself in frustration. She didn't think he was this dense. How should she explain? "I really liked Khan Bojing. Don't ask why. I traveled to Hai'an but never ran into him. After three years, I was tired of waiting so I took matters into my own hands and wanted to sneak into the palace. I happened to meet you in the capital and thought that I could use your cart of woods to cause a distraction for a chance to get inside. That's why I wanted to buy it, but I didn't end up using it. I got in anyway and hid myself in Khan Bojing's room then I witnessed a scene where someone else pretended to be him. Then all of a sudden, soldiers came in saying that the emperor wanted to see him. Someone else said something about a Chu Fangyin wanting to question Khan Bojing's whereabouts. Chu Fangyin is obviously the empress of Hai'an now. So that's how I know Chu Fangyin had ill intentions towards Khan Bojing." She spoke so much with no rest that by the end, she was breathless. Her eyes silently begged him as she slowly asked, "Get it now?"
"En..." He seemed to ponder it in his head as she struggled to breathe. Right as she took in deep breath, he questioned, "But why are you talking as if Khan Bojing is not me?"
She fell back onto her bed hopelessly. "I was just trying to help you understand. I know that you're Khan Bojing and you're Xu Yebai. I know you play many roles!" Then, she added weakly, "How about now? Makes sense?"
He moved closer as his face peered down at her. He nodded his head indicating he came to a conclusion. "Basically, you really really liked me, although I don't know why and can't ask, so you did some crazy things. You're just like a little white bean sprout covered in mud, you didn't look for trouble but it came flying at you. Wait, maybe your roots are a bit red because you're a bean sprout hopelessly in love."
Eh.... she wouldn't exactly phrase it that way, but it worked too. Hold on, why was she a bean sprout out of all things?