Si Ning raised a brow when Ah Dai didn't reply. "Tsk.." he clicked his tongue to show he doesn't have the luxury to be patiently waiting for a reply.

Ah Dai lowered his head as he bit his bottom lip. "Commander Ji Ran wants me and him to be lovers but my purpose is to serve Young Master and love Young Master so I do not have any space for a relationship like that and Ah Dai..." He paused as he placed his hand on his prosthetic arm. "Ah Dai is not good enough for Commander Ji Ran."

Si Ning could see that Ah Dai was self-conscious about his prosthetic arm, it would be odd not to but him seeing it as a defect was something Si Ning doesn't like, and also saying his only purpose was to serve him didn't sit well with him even though he knows it would be hard to change Ah Dai's train of thought.

Si Ning's eyes landed on the gloves Ah Dai was wearing on both hands, with it concealing his hands would make it difficult for people to know one of his arms was a prosthetic.

Gloves?

"Your gloves." Si Ning pointed out. "Why are you wearing them?" He asked, deciding not to tell Ah Dai his purpose wasn't to serve him because it would be nothing but a pain to deal with the unreasonable side of Ah Dai which might misinterpret it as him throwing him away or not needing his service anymore.

"I will start wearing them because the palace is full of pretty things and I might spoil the beauty which might lead to Ah Dai's dismissal." Ah Dai said after a long pause.

Dismissal?

"Dismissal?" Si Ning voiced his thought out. "What do you mean by dismissal?" He opened the bowl Ah Dai gave him to see it was filled with iced fruits.

"Yes by throwing anyway anything that affects the beauty of the palace?" Ah Dai explained.

A vein almost popped from Si Ning's head, annoyed, he covered the bowl and placed his hand on his laps.

"Throwing away? Explain clearly." All the roundabout way Ah Dai was talking was starting to annoy Si Ning wondering what it would take for Ah Dai to go straight to the point.

"What Ah Dai is saying is that Ah Dai cannot afford to die and not stay by your side because of a silly mistake of Ah Dai letting people see his wooden arm and making them see an ugly thing." Ah Dai explained.

This was what his mother and Ah Dai meant by the gloves they kept mentioning, it was meant to conceal Ah Dai's prosthetic hand because the hand might be considered ugly by the nobles or Imperial family. Si Ning wasn't the Emperor that could assure Ah Dai's safety and it was pissing him off that he wasn't a hundred percent sure he would be capable of protecting Ah Dai and this made him bit his bottom in annoyance as he clinched his fist till his knuckles turned white. Being agitated wouldn't resolve a thing so Si Ning releases his hand and closed his eyes taking a few deep breaths to regain his composure and calm himself.

"Ah Dai." Si Ning called as he opened his eyes.

"Yes Young Master."

"I need you to listen and listen without any interruption." Si Ning said, his brows furrowed as he became serious.

"Ah Dai will comply."

Si Ning sighed. "First you can have a relationship because I am not against it, remember I told you once to show me a girl you like and if it is a man it is all the same as you can see I am getting married to a man as well so I will allow you to love whoever you want to love as long as they are who you can love openly, do you understand." He said a word at a time as his means for Ah Dai to understand.

"Openly? Young Master, what do you mean by openly?" Ah Dai asked.

"A person you can show off and I mean a person that won't lead to my end or your end."

"My end, Young Master's end!" Ah Dai gasped. "Young Master, end means?"

Si Ning knew he was speaking in a roundabout way expecting Ah Dai to understand. "I mean do not go loving or declaring your love to a Princess or Prince or someone out of reach that will cause a problem for you or me in the future." He said bluntly, he would like to avoid those scenarios of a servant and a princess or prince being in love that happens in some romance novels.

"I understand Young Master." Ah Dai nodded firmly.

"Also do not take yourself short, do not see yourself as someone who doesn't deserve love or have no time for love because love is a beautiful thing." Si Ning declared as he flipped his hand fan open, starting to suddenly feel hot at his speech when he suddenly thought of Xiu Zhicheng. "You are beautiful in and out and your arm didn't cut your beauty short so you have to wait for me till I have a firm hold on the palace for you to be able not to wear gloves anymore." This time Si Ning's voice was so low since he couldn't risk a third party listening in.

"Yes Young Master." Ah Dai whispered.

Si Ning chuckles, feeling proud of himself when he remembered that Xiao Pei hadn't returned yet. "Halt!" He yelled suddenly that he felt the palanquin stopped immediately and seeing Ah Dai's shocked expression made him forced a smile to show there was no problem.

"General, is anything the matter?" Jiang Ye asked as he pulled the curtain to check if everything was well but seeing nothing amiss made his cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he let the curtain fall since it was rude for him to just open the curtain like that.

"Where is Xiao Pei?" Si Ning asked.

"General, Xiao Pei hasn't returned from the errand you're sent him." Jiang Ye replied.

"Get me Yun, I have to run home." Si Ning said and waited for the bearers to place the palanquin on the ground before jumping out, Ah Dai quickly jumped after him.

"General, is there a problem?"

There was definitely a problem, Si Ning has made up his mind not to step into the palace without seeing Xiao Pei first but he doesn't have any idea why he even considered going without a backup plan thinking he might not see Xiu Zhicheng when the day was still bright.

"..... Is General Si Ning...."

"....General Si Ning looks like an immortal..."

"He is so beautiful."

Si Ning realized he had stopped in the middle of the road and all attention was on him but he didn't even take a look at his surroundings because he was more interested in taking his horse and going home. "Bring me Yun...."

"General!"

Si Ning turned to see Xiao Pei racing to him with made him sigh, relieved as he focused on Xiao Pei. "Where is it?" He stretches out his hand the moment Xiao Pei dismounted and raced to him.

Xiao Pei fell on one knee. "Forgive me General but I wasn't able to see the Minister of Works because he was having lunch with his Majesty and...."

"So no letter." Si Ning interrupted as he snapped his fingers.

"Forgive me General for my incompetency but..."

"Xiao NingZi, I didn't take you for someone that will leave before getting settling first."

Uh?

Si Ning turned sharply to see Xiu TianZhao with some guards on horses and that was when he realized they were closer to the palace gate.