145 Her own internal battle
Li Hua opened her eyes and peered into Lóng Weiâs eyes. She gave a simple nod to him and gently pulled her hand from his. She stepped forward in gradual steps towards the residence. Xu Zifan glanced at Lóng Wei, who followed Li Hua. Mingquan gestured to Xu Zifan, and they went after them.
Li Hua looked at the door, which was locked from outside using the wooden lock. Li Hua opened it and pushed the door. The front yard from outside was enough to tell what was in the rest of the residence. The front yard was filled with dry leaves.
âWill you not step inside?â Lóng Wei asked.
Li Hua hummed and lifted her skirt a little. She walked in and kept walking until she reached the center. She looked at the pillars, which had burn marks. Because that day rain occurred, the house could not burn completely.
She looked towards the chamber where her family was present with Shui Family. She recalled how she hid behind the pillar that day while looking at Feng Lao. A sigh escaped her mouth. She was on the verge of crying.
She turned her head left and recalled how her father was surrounded by the enemies that night.
Mingquan and Huang Xi thought of investigating the other parts of the residence, so they left. Now, Lóng Wei and Xu Zifan stayed behind, keeping their eyes on Li Hua.
Li Hua lowered her head. The tears rolled down her cheeks, and she covered her face with her hands. She started to weep again, and that sound was painful enough to tear anyoneâs heart into pieces.
âMy father died here,â she mumbled while sobbing. Xu Zifan could not bear that sight and stepped forward when Lóng Wei stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder.
.....
âItâs her fight. Donât intervene in it,â Lóng Wei advised Xu Zifan.
âShe is my sister. I canât see her in pain, Your Highness,â Xu Zifan argued.
âAnd she is my wife. As her husband, I know what is best for her. She has to undergo this pain from which she ran away, hid away. She gets nightmares because of that night. Let her fight her own internal battle, Xu Zifan,â Lóng Wei retorted at him.
He never told Li Hua how she cried in her sleep. Sometimes, she would say in her sleep that she missed her home, while the other times, she wanted to visit it once. She would apologize in her sleep for running away. Lóng Wei had wanted to put an end to all these. For him, it was unbearable to watch Li Hua this way.
Xu Zifan clenched the fist of his left hand and stayed back. He let Li Hua cry and recall everything from that night.
After a while, Li Hua stopped and went to the place where she had seen her personal attendantâs body lying in the pool of blood. Both Lóng Wei and Xu Zifan went after her.
âHis Highness loves my sister, yet he is easily watching her in pain. The idea of coming here wasnât good. My sister is only troubled with all this,â Xu Zifan again complained to Lóng Wei.
âIf you canât see her this way, then wait for us in the front courtyard,â Lóng Wei told him. Xu Zifan turned silent.
Li Hua decided to go to her parentsâ room, her second brotherâs room. If there would be any valuables left, she would collect them and keep them in their memories.
âWhere are you heading to, Li Hua?â Xu Zifan could not help but ask.
âTo my second brotherâs room,â Li Hua replied and hastened towards Xu Zuwenâs room. As she stepped up the stairs when it broke from the middle. She lost her balance and fell forward. Lóng Wei and Xu Zifan ran to her.
Lóng Wei helped her in getting up, and asked her if she was fine. He checked her palms and wrists to make sure that she didnât wound herself.
âI am fine, Your Highness,â Li Hua said. Lóng Wei finally looked at her face and saw how red her eyes had turned. Even her cheeks and nose were red.
Lóng Wei wanted to kill everyone in the Shui Family at that instant. It all happened because of them that she underwent so many problems. He put her hands down and gazed at Xu Zifan, who asked her a question.
âWhy are you going to Xu Zuwenâs room?â
âI want to keep a few things which I can keep in the memory of my Second Brother and my parents,â Li Hua replied.
âThe middle part of the residence is burned. You wonât find anything. I tried to collect them two months ago. But everything was burned to that side,â Xu Zifan informed Li Hua, who was disheartened to learn about that.
âI cannot have anything related to them, which I can keep as their memories,â Li Hua said and wiped the tears from the pad of her fingers.
âSince you cannot go to the middle part of the residence, then we must go to the front yard,â Lóng Wei suggested to her. âWhatever is in your head, you can tell us,â he opined.
âCan we go to the backyard, Your Highness?â Li Hua asked him.
âIs there something in the backyard?â Lóng Wei knitted his brows.
âMaybe I will find something related to Feng Lao,â Li Hua replied. âWe ran away from the backyard,â she added.
Xu Zifan looked at Lóng Wei, who seemed infuriated.
âThereâs nothing left in this residence, Li Hua,â Xu Zifan said. âEverything was burned down. Only a part of the residence is standing tall. Here, everything was destroyed that night,â he asserted.
âOh.â Li Hua lowered her head. âThe person has to pay for this. He has to pay for his crimes. He destroyed our family, Elder First Brother. He took the lives of so many innocent people. Our mother, the other ladies in the house, everyone died. Because of him, my elder brother had almost lost his life,â Li Hua lamented and came towards Xu Zifan. She rested her head on his chest and closed his eyes.
âWe were so happy,â she mumbled. Xu Zifan rested his hand on her head and patted it.
âWe will definitely kill that person,â Xu Zifan stated and looked at Lóng Wei, whose forehead had deep frowns over it.