"Father."
Hua Lian’er followed the maid, traversed three narrow paths, and crossed through an alley before arriving at the back garden, lush with blooming flowers. There stood a person dressed in a purple python robe amidst the blossoms.
Suddenly overwheld with sadness, her eyes reddened with grievance, she hurried over with quick steps.
As she drew near, she felt like the naive, obedient little daughter of the past, ready to bury herself into her father’s embrace.
However, just three steps away, Hua Lian’er inexplicably paused, her heart filled with hesitation.
To her, the once amiable father who cherished her like a treasure now seed less affectionate.
These re three steps felt as insurmountable as a mountain, as vast as the sea, as distant as the barrier deep within her heart...
"I almost never got to see you again."
Hua Lian’er said, sobbing.
This ti, wandering the streets, struggling between life and death daily, enduring the harsh days of not knowing when her next al would be.
Throughout this journey, fraught with swords and shadows, she fought her way through countless dangers to finally reach her most trusted and loved parents.
But she found she didn’t know how to face them.
The secret targeting by her half-brother, the Beizhou Barbarians’ pursuit...
All sorts of perilous events.
Hua Lian could deceive Seventh Brother, saying her father might be preoccupied and unaware of many things.
She could also deceive others, claiming that nobody is perfect, and even the most astute person can be negligent at tis.
Failing to care well for his own child.
But she couldn’t deceive her own heart.
"I know all about the Xuan Ge matter... The vendetta against the Beizhou Barbarians, I will repay in due ti. Rest assured, Xiaoyue, I will never let you suffer any grievance in the future."
Ji Changlie’s smile, which had reached the back molars, froze instantly.
He reached out, sighed, and gently stroked his daughter’s head, only to feel that the once black and silky hair like the clouds in the sky had beco slightly dry and rough.
A shiver ran through his heart; he slightly closed his eyes, and upon reopening them, his expression had returned to calm.
"Xiaoyue, look at you, you look just like a mud monkey. Your mother sent a letter and gifts; go and check them out.
Soone, take the Commandery Princess to bathe, change clothes, and then et the guests. Even in this temporary Prince’s Mansion, we, the Celestial Family’s children, must observe proper conduct when going out."
Indeed, Hua Lian’er was quite dirty at the mont.
Having scrambled around with Chen Ping, although she found opportunities to bathe and change along the way, in the mountains, there was bloody battles and escaping, sleeping on the ground, unsurprisingly.
One could say she was a little better than a beggar, but just barely.
With her face, head, and body covered in dust, smudged in blacks and yellows...
"Did mother really send a letter? Is it about the sword technique? Right, she must have guessed my cultivation progress..."
The sudden sadness and alienation were swept away by this news, and Hua Lian’er, her eyebrows arched, broke into a smile, following the maid joyfully towards the back courtyard.
In her heart, she thought her father was right about one thing.
Seventh Brother had never seen her dressed up beautifully.
He always had that calm deanor; when he sees her all dressed up, it would surely drop his jaw.
Yet, she couldn’t take too long in the bath, or else Seventh Brother would get impatient waiting.
That man just lacked patience, always rushing, never allowing her a mont of leisure, she wondered how he developed such a habit.
...
Watching his precious daughter walk away, Ji Changlie’s smile slightly dissipated, his gaze deepened, as he sighed once more.
"Prince, do you regret not telling her the truth? Actually, Mingyue is a very smart child; even if she knew the truth, she wouldn’t bla you."
In the garden, as the breeze passed by, with a twist of the air, by Ji Changlie’s side appeared a woman dressed in a black gauze robe, her cloud-like coiffure adorned with golden finches.
With her presence, the garden grew a bit colder...
She was shrouded with water vapor and mist, giving a sense of seeing flowers through a haze.
"Qingshuang, it seems your [Void Nine Illusions] is nearing Ninth Level Perfection, the competition for the Saintess of the Extre Yin Sect’s three branches is now without doubt.
With your assistance, the chances of success have increased by three parts... It’s just hard on you to travel back and forth, I feel guilty about it."
Ji Changlie’s gloomy and lonely deanor vanished as he turned his head.
The look he gave the robed woman carried a hint of indulgence, his love deep and unyielding: "Without Qingshuang by my side these days, practicing the Heavenly Yang Pure Heart Ultimate Bliss Profound Skill together, it has been sowhat cold...
Our mutual cultivation complents each other just right, seizing the mont when I’ve just broken through in the Heavenly Yang Supre Skill, to assist you in breaking through the nine key points."
"Prince, do you want to hear about the matters in Xingqing Prefecture?"
The woman gently spat, and the thin layer of cold mist around her nearly dissipated, revealing a blush on her face, charming beyond asure, her eyes displayed both reproach and delight.
Ji Changlie swallowed hard...
Fortunately, his composure was quite good. He took a deep breath, suppressing the agitation in his heart, and smiled: "Earlier you ntioned following Xiaoyue and Tian Qi along the way, passing through Youx Mountain and Yuanxi, encountering people from the Cui Family and Thunder Hall.
All sorts of monstrous entities have appeared, very well... yet, you did nothing, just watching?"
"Did the Prince not say? Step out of the chessboard, watch the storms unfold, although Mingyue has suffered so grievances, it did allow to see so people’s true intentions.
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