In the end, Xiao Li tagged along with Wen Ru and Zhao Ming inside the palace.
Xiao Li tried to talk to Wen Ru but he ignored her existence and kept glancing at Zhao Ming.
Xiao Li"s face darkened when she saw the gaze in Wen Ru"s eyes when he was glancing at Zhao Ming while walking.
Before Xiao Li used to be popular among all Ji Cheng"s friends and cousins and Zhao Ming was the nonexistent one.
Even though at that time, Wen Ru didn"t talk much to her but still he never ignored her like this. But today he was not even looking at her and only giving cold answers to her questions.
Xiao Li didn"t like how he was giving all the attention to Zhao Ming.
She wanted to be everyone"s favorite and loves when people give her attention but now her attention has been s.n.a.t.c.hed by Zhao Ming.
Xiao Li clenched her fists as he took a deep breath to maintain her composure.
When they climbed the stairs to reach the platform of the platform, Xiao Li elegantly picked up her gown a little and easily and slowly climbed over.
Wen Ru who was walking behind because he wanted to maintain a distance from Xiao Li and was also looking at Zhao Ming"s back who was walking clumsily and many times her steps got tangled with her gown.
Lu s.h.i.+ was not there because Zhao Ming has sent her to get something from her room, so there was not even Lu s.h.i.+ to help her walk in this situation.
Xiao Li elegantly walked over the stairs to reach the platform because she was used to it and she wanted to meet Ji Cheng early and wanted to give him her best impression.
She didn"t wait for Zhao Ming and Wen Ru because she knows that they don"t want her to attend their gathering.
So she decided to walk faster so that she will meet Ji Cheng first and tell him how Zhao Ming and Wen Ru was acting so friendly.
Xiao Li entered the palace without waiting for them while Zhao Ming stood on her place and was looking at the stairs like they were not stairs but a cliff.
When she came for the banquet last night, that time, Ji Cheng helped her to climb up but now she was alone.
Even Lu s.h.i.+ was not even there.
The gown was very long and kept tangle in her footsteps. She can climb up if she holds it up and climbs over but without heels, she can"t walk elegantly while holding onto her dress.
She will look more weird and clumsy by walking in this gown while holding it tightly.
Unlike Xiao Li, she was not trained to walk like this. She was just used to walk in heels all day but it becomes hard for her to walk while wearing the traditional dress and that too without heels.
She sighed when she looked up and noticed that though there were not many stairs but they were enough for her to make a fool of herself in front of everyone.
Wen Ru who was walking behind her stopped in his steps and was looking at her with amus.e.m.e.nt.
He was confused about why she was staring at the stairs like this. He felt amused seeing her this way.
A smile formed on his face as he walked up to her and asked, " Anything wrong?"
Zhao Ming got startled when a firm and charming low voice she heard near her ears, she turned and saw Wen Ru"s deep gaze which was looking at her interestingly and she noticed the mysterious smile on his face.
Zhao Ming calmed herself and said, " Ah. It"s nothing." she turned her head and looked at the front.
Wen Ru didn"t press on the topic further and slightly shrugged his shoulders.
" You can do it, Xie Ming. It"s just a few stairs. You have even trekked the mountains than it"s nothing in front of that. Fighting." she encouraged herself with those words.
" But at that time I didn"t have to look beautiful and elegant moreover I was wearing sneakers at that time. Right now I was wearing this d.a.m.n long gown and these weird footwear and on top of that I have to look pretty and elegant while walking."
"How can I do that? If I fell and make a fool of me in front of everyone?" she pouted slightly when she wonders what will happen if she fell from the stairs.
She was contemplating if she should go up or not at that moment a hand came in front of her.
She looked down and saw a hand which came in front of her. She looked up in confusion and met with the gaze of Wen Ru.
He didn"t say anything to her but signaled her with his gaze to support him while walking up, that"s why he has given her his hand to hold on.
Zhao Ming smiled slightly and placed her soft white hands on his rough hands.
She slightly picked up her gown and walked up with his help.
" Hmm, at least he has manners." she wondered in her heart.
For the banquet, she held onto Ji Cheng last time but his reaction was different from him. Here he gave her his hand.
She couldn"t figure out if it is because of the cultural difference or was it Ji Cheng"s low EQ?
When they reached the platform, she was about to let go of his hand when at that time she heard footsteps approaching them.
When she turned to look up she saw Ji Cheng and Xiao Li coming together towards them.
She noticed that Ji Cheng was wearing a cold and dark expression while Xiao Li was smirking behind him.
Her brows twitched as she felt a bad feeling coming from this situation.
She looked down and saw that Wen Ru was holding onto her hand and let go of his hand.
Her actions were not hurried but rather polite and slow. She didn"t make a fuss out of it because she didn"t do anything to be ashamed about.