"So? What is your first impression of, the all so great third Prince, Dai Mubai." Hanrui asked Zhuqing.
Zhuqing withdrew from his chest and tilted her head as she looked at him with a confused expression.
"Brother Hanrui, Do I really need to recall my first impression of that walking garbage?
It feels irksome to even think of him." She said with a slight disdain in her tone while pouting.
"No need, I was just asking to see what you think of him, if you don't want to talk about him, there is no need to push yourself." Hanrui replied.
'Silly girl, you already designated him as garbage in your words and that's all I need to know.' He thought and kissed her forehead making her blush.
While the Zhuqing(MS) who shared her senses and felt his kiss, smiled while her ears turned red, and her cat tail started wagging left and right inside the Martial Soul space.
"Well it's getting late, so you should go to sleep, Qing'er." He said, then lifted her in his arms and strode over to the bed and tucked her in bed.
Zhuqing wanted to protest, but having been scooped up and tucked in bed so quickly, she relented.
Hanrui then took out a Zither, placed a seal so the sound wouldn't reach too far, then started playing slowly, making Zhuqing slowly drift into sleep.
…
Duke Zhu's office,
Zhu Wentian was going over the paperwork related to the clan when a door knock sounded, disturbing him from his concentration.
"Father. Can I come inside?" A voice followed the knocking.
Recognising his eldest daughter's voice he spoke in a stern tone. "Come Inside, Zhuyun."
Zhuyun pushed the doors open, and entered the room then quickly closed them behind.
"Take a seat." Zhu Wentian motioned her to the chair in front of him, after seeing her close the door behind her.
She walked to the table and sat before her father and started explaining what happened after she reported to Dai Weisi about Zhuqing's fake information.
Duke Zhu smiled listening to her explanation.
'As expected, that child, Weisi, took the bait. Well, even that scum, Dai HaoYang didn't suspect anything. I guess it's only natural that his kid wouldn't.' He thought, a smile assured on his stern face.
"Father, why did Weisi practically kick me out? Isn't the information I provided a good thing for him?
And even today, he behaved somewhat distant like he was thinking of something." She asked, in a confused tone.
"Maybe, he recalled the favoritism shown by the Emperor to his 3rd brother and wanted to cry alone." Duke Zhu replied without thinking too much, making Zhuyun surprised.
'The Emperor favors Dai Mubai? Why didn't I know about this?
Well it doesn't matter who the Emperor favors, the Throne will pass on to the one who wins the competition, not who the Emperor chooses.
So who he favoured doesn't matter in the long run.' She thought.
Duke Zhu, unaware of her thoughts, sighed in relief.
"Let things play out like this for now, when the time comes I have a question to ask you, I hope you are ready to answer it by then.
let's go rest for now." He said and stood up, waking Zhuyun from her thoughts.
'Father wants to ask me something? Why not ask now? Does he think I'm not mature enough? Or is there a condition for that question I haven't met yet?' She thought, feeling puzzled by his words.
Both of them stood up and left the room, just as they were about to separate and walk to their respective bedrooms, they heard a soothing melody coming from Zhuqing's room.
Both father and daughter looked at each other, intrigued and surprised. They walked to Zhuqing's room and opened it cautiously and watched a magnificent sight.
'Who's playing a Zither at this hour? And such a good melody is coming from Zhuqing's room?.' They thought simultaneously before walking over to Zhuqing's room.
They saw Hanrui still in his Elder Li disguise, sitting beside Zhuqing's bed, with a Zither, in his lap, his fingers dancing across the strings creating a soothing melody while Zhuqing was fast asleep with a smile on her face.
As the two continued listening they were suddenly pulled into an illusion, where they are at the same place but the entire place is filled with nature.
The bed, which was made of jade stone, was converted into Nature's Embrace.
The branches towering over the trunk where the girl sleeps peacefully, with a smile on her lips.
Small animals like rabbits, hamsters and cats slept beside her. While the birds chirped along the melody.
'What a Magnificent Sight to behold.' They thought.
Just as they are immersed in the melody, the music is drawn to close, bringing them back to reality.
Duke Zhu and Zhu Zhuyun, the father and daughter, felt their faces turn hot as they heard.
"Enjoyed the free show?" Hanrui teased as he stared at them with a smile.
…
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