Chapter 39
“That’s not it… I wasn’t thinking of anyone else, and it’s not that I wasn’t thinking of you.”
Sensing that her reply might have made Xinxin unhappy, Lu Dieqing quickly hugged the little doll tightly, placed it on her lap, and lowered her head to explain.
“A lot happened today. Xinxin, don’t be angry. Let me tell you about it slowly.”
Lu Dieqing was as good-natured as ever, indulgent and gentle with her little doll. When she spoke in a soft, thin voice, her almond eyes were gentle and bright, easily making one feel cherished.
“A doll’s spirit is not easily born. If you’re angry or sad, it will damage the spirit. Xinxin?”
She gently stroked the doll’s face, afraid that her precious little doll was unhappy.
The girl’s fingertips were gentle, her voice like the most beautiful singing, every word she spoke pleasant to the ear.
The sourness in Zheng Xuening’s heart was instantly soothed.
She let her doll’s body relax naturally, lying on her back on the little girl’s lap, quietly watching Lu Dieqing, as if she had returned to the moment she first came into this world.
“Tell me.”
As she spoke with the little girl like this, she felt a strange sense of wonder.
Clearly, she had been imprisoned in the sky prison today, unable to take a single step in that small cell. But her soul had flown out and could converse with Lu Dieqing like this.
Her body was Zheng Xuening, her identity the heir about to be deposed. After being thrown into the sky prison and losing her status as Crown Princess, she should have had nothing left.
But her soul, after leaving all these things behind, still had a new place to go.
She could still be the doll of a Little Princess of Shan, called Xinxin.
A strange ripple appeared in her heart. Zheng Xuening quietly watched the girl, letting herself feel her gentleness bit by bit.
Lu Dieqing hadn’t yet noticed her doll’s mood tonight.
She was still worried about the Crown Princess.
“Last time I went to the Library Pavilion, I told you, Xinxin, that I met the Crown Princess. She gave me a waist token and even took me out of the palace to eat… I think I owe the Crown Princess a favor.”
Hearing the praise and guilt for herself in the girl’s words, Zheng Xuening wanted to raise an eyebrow, but the wooden doll had no eyebrows that could move freely.
Zheng Xuening wanted to pillow her head on her arms, but the wooden doll’s arms were fixed. She could either move her whole body and sway, or not move at all.
She tried to lift her arms, but it was no use. She could only stay still.
—It seems I really should get a body made of Yushan bamboo.
This thought popped into Zheng Xuening’s mind.
Lu Dieqing, however, was still blaming herself. “I want to help her, but my mother said we can’t even save ourselves. Our ability is meager, and we might end up making things worse. If I do nothing, the Crown Princess will probably be disappointed.”
“She might not think so. It’s good enough that you can take care of yourself.”
The wooden doll’s voice was lazy, but its words were sharp.
Lu Dieqing pressed her lips together. “But… the Crown Princess also promised to get me Yushan bamboo. It’s a kind of bamboo that can help your spirit merge better and allow you to move freely. We’ve already made a promise. Although the Yushan bamboo hasn’t arrived yet, just for the fact that she was willing to help me, I have to remember her kindness.”
“I think the Crown Princess is a very good person. Since she has helped me so much, and now that I’ve heard she’s been thrown into the sky prison, I have to think of a way to help her. Otherwise, my heart won’t be at ease.”
As Lu Dieqing spoke, Zheng Xuening stared at her, her heart filled with complex feelings.
Countless people probably knew that she had been thrown into the sky prison by her father, the Emperor.
However, the vast majority of people in this world were opportunists who sought advantage and avoided harm. Even those with some power would be thinking of how to distance themselves from a taboo existence like her at this time, in order to protect themselves.
No doubt, her brothers and sisters are all celebrating at this moment, glad that this incident has pulled her into the abyss. Thus, there will be one less obstacle on the path to the throne.
Zheng Xuening could guess how many people would be gloating, or treating her as a topic of conversation after a meal, the moment she stepped into the sky prison.
But she had never expected that a weak girl like Lu Dieqing would be thinking of finding out information to help her.
“Aren’t you afraid of being implicated by her?” The wooden doll’s voice was very calm.
It didn’t stop her immediately as her mother had, nor did it lecture her. It just asked her faintly.
Lu Dieqing answered without thinking.
“Of course, I’m afraid. But if I really do nothing, I won’t even be able to sleep tonight.”
In this imperial palace, there weren’t many people who were good to her, so she kept every one of them in her heart.
“Xinxin, what do you think I should do?”
Lu Dieqing really didn’t know what to do. She could only confide in her closest little doll.
Zheng Xuening was silent for a moment.
“Why don’t you write her a letter?”
Lu Dieqing blinked. “Write a letter?”
The wooden doll moved to her shoulder, leaned against the girl’s neck, and found a good position to look down at everything in the small room.
“Think about it. She’s the Crown Princess. Even if she dies, it will be a more dignified death. She won’t lack food or clothing, and she won’t be so pathetic. The sky prison must be heavily guarded. Ordinary people can’t get in. You have no connections, so you have no way.”
The wooden doll’s voice was quite bewitching, but what it said seemed to make a lot of sense.
Lu Dieqing was lost in thought and couldn’t help but nod.
“But… what does that have to do with writing a letter?”
The wooden doll answered slowly, “Spiritual comfort.”
Lu Dieqing: “?” The little girl was very surprised, her eyes wide, not understanding the reasoning.
The wooden doll: “I’ll deliver the letter for you.”
“If she’s in the sky prison and knows that someone outside is thinking of her, she’ll feel some comfort in her heart. Isn’t that a good thing?”
The wooden doll slid down from Lu Dieqing’s shoulder, as if playing with something fun, and circled around her.
“You have a point.”
Lu Dieqing’s eyes gradually brightened. She picked up the little wooden doll that had slid down from her shoulder and held it in her palm to look at it.
“But Xinxin, can you do it?”
The wooden doll seemed to choke for a moment, almost gritting its teeth. “What can’t I do?”
Lu Dieqing paused and quickly soothed the little doll.
“I mean, how are you going to deliver the letter? The sky prison is heavily guarded, and you can’t move freely. How are you going to go?”
The doll: “You don’t need to worry about that. I will deliver the letter myself.”
Although the little doll didn’t have a human body, it spoke so domineeringly, as if there was nothing in this world that could stump it.
Lu Dieqing was amused.
“Xinxin, you seem so amazing.”
She gently poked the doll’s body with her finger.
Zheng Xuening lost her balance for a moment and swayed like a roly-poly toy, almost falling with a thud.
It was Lu Dieqing who was quick-witted and reached out to catch the doll again.
“But you can’t even stand steadily. What if someone sees you…”
Zheng Xuening interrupted the girl’s doubt. “That was an accident.”
She struck a pose and said coldly to Lu Dieqing.
“Again.”
Poke me again. I definitely won’t fall.
Lu Dieqing held back her laughter, thinking that Xinxin was so cute like this.
She cooperatively reached out her finger and touched it lightly.
The little wooden doll didn’t move an inch, holding its breath.
“So amazing!” Lu Dieqing was very supportive. She held up the little doll, pressed it against her cheek, and began to praise it.
“My Xinxin is both brave and capable. I’m really, really lucky to have you.”
The girl’s soft cheek pressed against the doll. Her sweet voice irrigated the doll’s heart.
The feelings she had in the sky prison instantly became insignificant.
Zheng Xuening felt herself being submerged.
Lu Dieqing’s affection and closeness were like a flame. It burned so beautifully that even a living person, not a moth, would willingly approach it, wanting to walk into the fire and be submerged.
In the dark night, since she was going to be swallowed by the fog and darkness anyway, she might as well jump into the beautiful fire.
Zheng Xuening turned the doll’s body, and its lips pressed against the girl’s cheek.
She left a mark.
She was hers.
She began to want her.
