Li Xue's eyes turned to look at Chen Rui and seeing her shrug her shoulders, she had no other choice but to bend on her knees to get to her daughter's height. "Sweetie, is there something you are hiding from Mama?" She asked, holding her by her shoulders while staring into her eyes.
And she need not hear her reply to know how right she was to guess that.
Little Li Wei did not say anything immediately, instead, straining her neck up she looked at Shin You Jun, blinking her eyes with some difficulty. As far as Li Xue has known her daughter, difficulty in answering her question has never been in the nature of her little devil. Then today, what coffee did this young prince brew with this little one that had put her in the dilemma?
Reaching out to hold the chin of her daughter, Li Xue gently turned her face to make her look back at her. "Princess, what happened? Is there something you did and now, not sure if you were right to do it or not? Tell me, if there is something, I could help you and it wouldn't be a problem." Li Xue asked softly, while her eyes slowly but sharply turned to look at Shin You Jun, who stood there holding his overconfident smirk.
But her glare like that didn't seem to serve the purpose, for the young man was just too overwhelmed with the feeling of overconfidence.
While on the side, the little girl pressed her lips together.. "Mama, WeiWei knows that one should never disturb someone at work. But since it is already getting near to the evening time and soon Daddy Angel would also be getting off from his office, I called and asked him to come and pick us. So later we could return home together."
"But now WeiWei is not sure if she did the right thing or not, since in the morning you said that Daddy Angel has been extra busy in the office. And that was why he wasn't able to come to drop me at the school today."
The little girl said and her words dumbfounded Li Xue for a second. It took a few seconds to understand the gist of the story that was already very clear in the words yet felt a bit difficult for her to understand.
Asking Daddy Angel to come and pick them up wasn't a wrong context for her to get concerned about. But what gave her the sweats was calling the Devil to visit the palace.
It would have remained simple for her to take if she didn't have witnessed his cold gaze for the royals in the hospital and had not heard everyone tell the old stories between them. But since now she already knows about it, how could she dare ask him to come here.
"Li Wei, you called him here?" She asked to get confirmed and the little girl nodded. "And what did he say? Did he say that he is busy and will not be able to come?"
Little Li Wei shook her head. "Nope, Mama, he said he will be here soon."
That was even more disastrous! Why was he so doting on this little devil? Since he had an issue, why did he not reject the idea of coming here? If he had done that then she wouldn't have to go through this terror.
Li Xue shook her head internally. Then standing back up on her feet, she turned to look at the queen with some urgency. "Your High … umm I mean, Ma, I think I should get back first. I am sure Shufen must be having work to look after, but just to make up for this little one, he would have agreed to come here. Bringing him to the tough spot like this wouldn't be good and kind of insensitive from me as well. So please allow me."
She said as her hand already reached to grab onto the little one's hands, ready to leave the next moment. Seeing her in such an emergency, even Chen Rui's thoughts were in the mess. She has heard the little saying that Feng Shufen would be coming later. But before she could even react a word about it, Li Xue was ready to leave.
All these happenings were so sudden that without even giving a thought to it, she was ready to agree to Li Xue. But at the right time, her son halted her.
"Ma, how could you just allow Elder Sister to leave like that? It wouldn't look good. We have invited Brother-in-law to visit us for dinner and now if she leaves like that, won't it be a shame? We simply couldn't allow her to do that. Furthermore, this is the right time to invite my Brother-in-law to come and meet us. Though we might have missed receiving the betrothal gifts from him, still it must not be too late to establish a relationship with him. What do you say?"
Shin You Jun said purposefully emphasizing the name of Brother-in-law again and again, almost getting on the worst nerves of Li Xue. She knew his purpose of doing that but for the sake of general mannerism, she could dare to reveal it blatantly, especially when the family was treating her so well. So controlling her edginess for the boy, she forced a smile on her lips for him as turning back to look at the queen, she said.
"Ah, Ma, there is nothing to get too formal about. This is for Shufen's own work's sake, so when I will tell him about it, he wouldn't mind. Furthermore, today's visit was just about me and Li Wei, we didn't plan to call him in the first place. So it will be alright." She said as again turning to look at the young prince, she pulled her lips into a forceful curl.
Of course, now it was already clear what the motive was all about. This young brat was trying to trap her using her little Devil and Big Devil. But did he really expect she would be giving in so easily? No way. She knows her ways.
Shin You Jun looked at Li Xue as well and he could already see her at the edge. That was satisfying for him. In just one attempt, he felt all his losses getting redeemed. He was overconfident in his plan, he knew. And he also knew that overconfidence was not always good.
But who said 'always' never contains 'sometimes'? Sometimes overconfidence also gets good for strengthening one's morale. Especially when one knows that this time only he has an upper hand in the play.
Giving a smirk of the challenge to Li Xue, he at once became all innocent and directly walked behind his parents. Standing just in the middle of them, he said, first to the Queen, "Ma, you asked me to take her as my elder sister and I did as you said. But for taking her sister by me is not enough, she should also show some effort. What's so wrong with introducing her husband to us? Should we not know him as well?"
He said to the lady first and then leaned a little to his Father to say, "And above that father, since we have taken her to be one of us, we also have to be responsible for her. Did you not ask me to learn about responsibility? I read almost every book on responsibility and with all my knowledge I think it will only be better if today we meet my Brother-in-law. After all, we have yet to know how he treats her in daily life. What if he is not too good for her? Thinking of her alone in this world, what if he starts to bully her? Then, weren't we also be one to be blamed"
Shin You Jun said and with his every word, Li Xue could read his plans well. But unfortunately for once, she wasn't able to get the right reciprocation plan in her mind. For once she wasn't able to think of a way.
Maybe because this time, in front of her was not just a childish play of the young boy, but also the warm concern of the parents that she was able to feel for the first time in her life. Something that she has always longed for in her life.
Shaking her head, Li Xue was about to say something, but before she could, the couple at the front said in a firm tone, "It's okay, Xiao Xue. Wait here for some time."
"But …" Li Xue didn't give up and thought to try once more but with a very firm expression, Her royal Highness interrupted, not allowing her to give any reason to disagree.
"I am sure FenFen must have already left his office by now. So even if you leave now, it wouldn't be of much help. It would be better if you have dinner with us today." Chen Rui said and her words were enough to seal Li Xue's every other reason.