She slowly paced towards Xuan Yuanjue step by step. A teardrop silently trickled down the corner of her eye.
It was the first time Xuan Yuanjue had seen Shen Li shed tears. His heart couldn't help but flutter with unease.
"Little one, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me. Don't cry! Is it my fault? Please?" Xuan Yuanjue wanted to reach out to wipe away Shen Li's tears, but somehow he felt that whatever he did was wrong. Lacking experience in consoling girls, he was at a loss for what to do.
Shen Li didn't wail or sob softly like other girls, which would have been heart - wrenching.
She stood just two steps away from Xuan Yuanjue, looking at him. Tears streamed down her face, and her whole face was filled with grief.
"You made me so worried..."
Xuan Yuanjue also knew that he had been reckless this time. But he had done all this just to help Shen Li solve some problems, to clear the way ahead for her so that she could be safer and not have to worry so much.
Unexpectedly, there had been a mistake this time, and he had made Shen Li so worried about him.
"There won't be a next time," Xuan Yuanjue promised with his head down.
But Shen Li still remained motionless with the same expression. Her gaze was like a flame, burning marks on Xuan Yuanjue's body.
So Xuan Yuanjue continued to mutter to himself.
"Little one, I know you want to deal with the people in the Shen Mansion. Just a forged ledger can only affect Shen Junming.
"Although you haven't said it, I can tell how much you hate the Shen Mansion. Although I don't know why you have so much hatred for them, since you want to do this, I will clear the obstacles in front of you. Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."
There was a firm look in Xuan Yuanjue's deep eyes. One's heart could be seen from their eyes. Unconsciously, Shen Li felt that she was about to be lost in Xuan Yuanjue's gaze.
This was not a good thing. So Shen Li lowered her head and bit her lips to avoid looking into Xuan Yuanjue's eyes, not allowing herself to be lost in his tenderness.
But even with her head down, although Shen Li couldn't see Xuan Yuanjue's burning gaze, just hearing his voice would unconsciously make his figure appear in her mind, and...
That kiss.
"Moreover, my trip wasn't a complete failure. I originally wanted to help you find the people who were smuggling salt, but I didn't expect that Shen Feng was quite involved. But he was just a pawn for others."
Speaking of this, Xuan Yuanjue sighed slightly.
"However, this isn't the most important thing. I found that there are spies from the Western Yue State in our Eastern Ling State. It's the silver - masked man before! And I suspect that there are more than one of them. There should be others here, but their real identities are unknown."
After hearing what Xuan Yuanjue said, Shen Li opened her mouth slightly in surprise, sweeping away all her previous emotions. Covering her mouth, she said in disbelief, "What? This matter is actually related to the spies from the Western Yue State? We must report this to the emperor quickly."
There was an unknown emotion in Shen Li's eyes. She remembered what had happened in her previous life. Maybe it was because of these spies and the salt - smuggling incident that the Eastern Ling State had suffered repeated defeats.
This time, Shen Li would never allow the things of the previous life to happen again. She must turn the situation around and protect the people around her, preventing the tragedy from happening again.
"Even so, you shouldn't have put yourself in such a situation. You should also take care of your own body. What if I couldn't find an antidote?" Shen Li sighed. There was an unknown light in her eyes. Looking at Xuan Yuanjue like this, an unknown emotion welled up in her heart.
This time, she still chose to back down. She didn't face Xuan Yuanjue's feelings directly and continued to act as if she knew nothing. The pain of the previous life made it difficult for her to accept a man again. Although she had a faint liking for Xuan Yuanjue, this kind of liking wasn't enough for Shen Li to take that brave step.
In the previous life, Xiao Hanzhi had been very good to her, but in the end, he had treated her so badly. So Shen Li had always closed her heart and didn't let Xuan Yuanjue in.
But Xuan Yuanjue didn't care about his own injury at all. His eyes were fixed on Shen Li, and he was smiling foolishly. He felt that as long as he saw Shen Li standing safely in front of him, all his efforts were worth it.
"What are you grinning about?" Shen Li looked at Xuan Yuanjue's appearance and thought it was strange. He didn't answer what she said but just looked at her and smiled. "What? Did you hurt your head? Why do you seem so stupid?"
Xuan Yuanjue shook his head and said cheerfully, "No. I'll be happy as long as you talk to me."
Shen Li rolled her eyes at Xuan Yuanjue and said, "I'm leaving."
"Wait, little one. Where are you going? Isn't it nice to stay here?" Xuan Yuanjue said anxiously, afraid that Shen Li would disappear from his sight the next moment.
"I'm a girl after all. I have to pay attention to my reputation. I've already stayed in your manor for three days. What about my reputation? What if I can't get married?" Shen Li said.
After saying that, she was about to leave. But Xuan Yuanjue flipped out of the bed directly, grabbed Shen Li's wrist, and said very affectionately, "If you can't get married, I can marry you!"
But the place where Xuan Yuanjue grabbed was exactly where Shen Li had cut herself with a dagger two days ago. It still hadn't recovered well. Even with the best golden sore medicine, there was nothing she could do but wait for it to recover slowly. Because it had always been covered by the long sleeve, Xuan Yuanjue didn't notice anything.
"Ouch... It hurts," Shen Li instinctively gasped. Her brows were tightly knitted, and her little face was all scrunched up.
"Did I squeeze you too hard? I'm sorry, Li'er. I didn't mean to. Are you injured? Let me take a look," Xuan Yuanjue held Shen Li's wrist and wanted to roll up her sleeve to see what was going on.
But Shen Li directly shook off Xuan Yuanjue's hand and put her injured hand behind her back as if she wanted to hide it. She pursed her lips and instinctively licked her lower lip and said, "No. I'm fine. You don't need to look. Really!"