Chapter 80
The myriad of emotions finally turned into a single, light sentence from Zheng Xuening.
“Your little doll should really hear your praise.”
Lu Dieqing immediately took out the little wooden doll she carried with her from her sleeve.
“I have it with me!”
She treasured it, stroking the little doll. As if afraid someone would snatch it away, she quickly stuffed it back into her sleeve.
“She’ll know.”
“And besides, I’m telling the truth.”
Lu Dieqing looked at the Crown Princess, the seriousness in her eyes like she was stating, “the sun rises in the east today.”
“If even I don’t believe she’s the best and the most wonderful, then the doll’s spirit cannot be born.”
Wow, I’ve said so much to the Crown Princess today.
Lu Dieqing’s heart was warm. Every time they talked about the art of puppetry, the Crown Princess would become her most faithful listener, never interrupting or denying her.
Even her parents, when they heard her talk about these things, would listen as if to a child’s story, not really believing it.
The reason others were willing to talk about these things with her was not out of a true belief, but because they cared for her, so they would force themselves to listen to her a little more and not deny her to her face.
Even A’Sang was like this.
Lu Dieqing knew this very well in her heart.
But the Crown Princess was different from everyone else.
The other seemed to genuinely believe in the existence of puppeteers.
The Crown Princess… is my confidante.
Lu Dieqing’s heart suddenly beat faster, feeling shy at the weight of the word “confidante.”
“Go on. The teacher is already giving a lecture.”
Zheng Xuening looked at the girl for a while and curved her lips.
“Oh,” Lu Dieqing nodded, very obedient.
Thinking of returning to the academy, and that she was going home to stay tonight and wouldn’t see the Crown Princess, she felt an inexplicable reluctance.
“Then when are we leaving? To that place…”
Lu Dieqing looked back every three steps. Before re-entering the lecture hall, she asked in a small voice.
Zheng Xuening saw her expectant and eager look and curved her lips.
“In two days.”
Zheng Xuening looked at her and reminded her, “This time you’re leaving the palace, you have to be prepared not to come back for a few days. Have a good reunion with your parents.”
Hearing this, Lu Dieqing hesitated.
Not coming back for a few days?
She had never been away from her parents for so long.
Even these few days when she had moved to Yunxi Hall, she had been looking forward to going back to see them the next day.
Will my mother be at ease with me leaving the palace for so long?
Lu Dieqing was not sure.
When a troubled look appeared on her small, palm-sized face, she looked easy to bully.
Zheng Xuening resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks again and slowly blinked at her.
“If it’s difficult, don’t force it. This Princess will go on her own.”
Aaaah! How could Lu Dieqing allow herself to go back on her word?
The girl, almost without thinking, retorted, “It’s not difficult at all. I’ll go back and tell my mother, and she’ll agree.”
That’s right, Lu Dieqing, you’re an adult now!
Adults don’t have to rely on others to make decisions for them in everything. You have to learn to be independent, to digest secrets on your own, and to be responsible!
Having mustered her courage, the hesitation on Lu Dieqing’s face was swept away, and she looked like a fledgling ready to flap its wings and jump off a cliff.
“Really?” The Crown Princess seemed not to believe her, her slanted phoenix eyes a little doubtful.
Lu Dieqing puffed out her small chest, her voice crisp and delicate.
“Of course, it’s real!”
She was like a little talking bird, answering with a pleasant, tender voice, so endearing.
Zheng Xuening narrowed her phoenix eyes, her gaze deep and hard to read.
“Good.”
Lu Dieqing thought the other still didn’t believe her and couldn’t help but feel a little unconvinced.
“Let’s make a pinky promise.”
The girl took the initiative to extend her slender little hand, her small fingers delicate and fair.
Zheng Xuening was silent for a moment, as if a little hesitant. Her hand was half-raised, and then it seemed as if she was about to put it back.
Lu Dieqing saw this, and with quick eyes and hands, she immediately brought her own small hand up and took the initiative to hook the Crown Princess’s little finger.
“Pinky promise, it’s a promise. You’re not allowed to look down on me.”
A trace of helplessness at this act seemed to appear on Zheng Xuening’s exquisite and cold face.
“Forget it. Then this Princess will believe you this once.”
She gently withdrew her hand, as if she had been pestered by a naive little girl and could only go along with her nonsense.
Seeing this scene, an even more urgent desire to prove herself welled up in Lu Dieqing’s heart.
She did not want to be looked down upon by the Crown Princess.
In the long corridor outside the lecture hall, three heads, secretly peeking from behind a pillar, began a shocked conversation.
Gu Shuyuan: “I told you, the Crown Princess is not as terrifying as you think. She will definitely not treat Miss Lu badly.”
Her Highness is even willing to make a pinky promise with Miss Lu!
So doting, it’s completely unimaginable. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have dared to think of it even in my dreams.
Zuo Xiaoya murmured, “But without seeing it with my own eyes, there’s always a bit of worry. Sigh, now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, it would have been better not to see it.”
Seeing Miss Lu in front of the Crown Princess, her smile so bright, her every expression so vivid, she was both envious and sad.
Of course, she was envious of the Crown Princess. She wished she were the one making the pinky promise!
She just liked this kind of simple and naive girl. Everyone is honest with each other. You use your true heart, and I use my true heart. How wonderful.
Miss Lu is a rare sight in the Caiyun Academy, a breath of fresh air.
What made her sad was that she could only watch secretly like this.
Her sister seemed to be afraid that her head would go crazy and she would do something stupid, so she was always holding her tightly.
In fact, she was not that impulsive and stupid.
“Sister, let’s go back. The wind is making my head cold.”
Zuo Manzhi glanced at her sister. Seeing that she was well-behaved, although there was regret in her eyes, there was no unwillingness or reluctance. She also sighed in her heart.
My sister has finally grown up for once.
The two sisters walked back to the academy, side by side, at ease. Zuo Manzhi usually didn’t talk much, but for some reason, she started a topic.
“Remember when you were a child, you liked a lantern. You didn’t get to buy it, and someone else bought it. You rolled on the ground, crying and shouting that you wanted that lantern. Later, every time there was a lantern festival, you didn’t want any others, only the one you had missed that year.”
Hearing her sister suddenly bring up an old story, and an embarrassing one from her childhood, Zuo Xiaoya’s face turned red, but she did not argue and took up the conversation with a sigh.
“Because later, I looked left and right and found that all the lanterns were not as beautiful as the one I had missed in my memory. Since I already have the best in my heart, why should I settle for second best and want others? A thousand taels of gold can’t buy my happiness. I can only cherish the memory.”
Hearing Zuo Xiaoya say this, Zuo Manzhi was lost in thought.
“Then what about people?”
She was worried that her sister, having missed Lu Dieqing, because she couldn’t pursue, couldn’t like, couldn’t be honest with her feelings, would also be confused and, just like with that lantern, be obstinate and ignore everyone else in the future.
Zuo Manzhi didn’t think this was good.
Her sister was too single-minded. Once she had set her mind on something, she would easily go all the way.
This was a good thing, but also not a good thing.
Zuo Xiaoya seemed to have seen her sister’s worry and looked at her with confusion.
“Sister, what are you worried about?”
“A person is not an object, but a person can sometimes be compared to a scene. This scene was not born in my courtyard and cannot be mine, but I can often see it. This is not a kind of human happiness.”
She was envious, but not greedy.
When she saw that the Crown Princess could be so patient and good-tempered, and make a pinky promise with Miss Lu, she let go of some of her unwillingness.
When we like someone, love someone, don’t we want to treat her well and see her smile even more happily?
Miss Lu has met someone who can cherish and protect her.
In this world, there is someone who works even harder than her to treat Miss Lu well.
It just so happens that that person’s status is higher than mine.
Isn’t this also wonderful?
