Obsessively Raised by My Doll 113

Chapter 113

The moment Lu Er’s words came out, even the birds in the forest seemed to fall silent.

Lu Dieqing’s face flushed red in an instant, her almond eyes widening as she glared at him.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Zheng Xuening, on the other hand, sat up straight and looked at Lu Dieqing.

Her long, slender phoenix eyes, when slightly narrowed, looked even more charming as she studied her little rabbit’s expression.

But this charm and gentle expression were clearly reserved for a certain someone and were not displayed to outsiders.

When she glanced at Lu Er, Zheng Xuening immediately became cold, the gentle and deep color in her eyes vanishing completely, replaced by a sharp indifference.

Lu Er was startled and immediately laughed it off.

“I must have misunderstood. Don’t be anxious, cousin. I was talking nonsense. Everything I just said was nonsense. Slap me!”

As he spoke, he slapped his own mouth.

The experience of a lifetime in the illusion was actually slowly becoming blurry, but he seemed to have retained a bit of the ability to read people and observe their expressions.

When he heard his cousin say that he was “talking nonsense,” and the Crown Princess of the Chaoying Kingdom’s gaze was so indifferent, he immediately covered his mouth and shut up.

There was a certain thing in this world that existed, you could discover it, you could also see it, but it was best not to say it out loud.

Because that was the fun between a little couple.

The two of them, guessing back and forth, were a picture of innocent young love. That was romantic.

But if an outsider were to come in and interfere, that would be a killjoy.

Lu Er felt that he was very clear-headed and perceptive, especially after experiencing an illusion that was as long as a lifetime. He seemed to have grown up overnight.

Was it really a good thing to chase after fame and fortune, to seek the favor of his grandmother, the Empress, and to fight in schemes and intrigues?

Was that what a person lived for?

Lu Er was silent for a moment. As the sky began to show a fish-belly white, and before he got up to set off, he said, “Cousin, let me tell you about the situation in the Shan Kingdom.”

Lu Dieqing was a little surprised. Her bright almond eyes looked at the young man.

Although Lu Er was still calling her cousin this time, it was different from his previous deliberateness.

There was less of that deliberate attempt to get close and more of a pleasing-to-the-eye look.

“I came this time to gain the attention of my grandmother, the Empress, so that my situation in the Shan Kingdom would be better. Women are noble, which inevitably makes the status of men insignificant. My mother is not outstanding, but she is skilled in scheming. She was certain that your parents would not come back, and that the Third Aunt’s personality was easy to manipulate, which was why she let me take this opportunity to seek credit.”

“If I could take you back, you grew up in a foreign land and were not carefully educated in the palace, so you probably wouldn’t amount to much. But taking you back was not the main task. My task was to get the immortal keepsake that the Third Aunt had taken from the Shan Kingdom.”

“My mother thought that you were young and had not seen the world, and that as long as I coaxed you a little, got close to you and acknowledged you as a relative, and promised to take you back to the Shan Kingdom to live a good life, you would immediately be grateful.”

When Lu Er calmly said these things, the bonfire illuminated his face, making it flicker between light and dark, as if this person’s soul was also being pulled by light and darkness.

These truths that should have been hidden in schemes were now said as casually as if he were chatting.

Lu Dieqing was stunned, a little surprised. When she looked at Lu Er, a trace of helplessness appeared on her face.

Zheng Xuening quietly sat by her side, her slender fingers pinching her palm, as if to soothe a little kitten, quietly accompanying her.

Lu Dieqing immediately felt as if she had a backbone and was no longer afraid of this sudden change.

Towards Lu Er, this maternal relative who had been so familiar with her from the start and called her “cousin,” Lu Dieqing’s emotions had always been very complex.

Reason told her that this was the relative her mother had waited for for nearly twenty years, the only hope for their family to return to the Shan Kingdom.

That was a person who had come from her homeland, representing hope and remembrance.

But her emotions made her full of wariness towards Lu Er, and even a bit of a hidden hatred.

She hated all the maternal relatives who had made her mother wait so bitterly all these years.

After guessing that Lu Er had approached her and called her cousin so warmly, perhaps for the jade pendant his mother had given her, this hatred had turned into a kind of indifference.

But Lu Er’s sudden openness today had disrupted Lu Dieqing’s original defenses.

The kindness and sincerity that were not in the plan would break through the armor.

Fortunately, Ningning was at her side.

Feeling the warmth of Zheng Xuening’s hand holding hers, Lu Dieqing’s heart calmed down again.

“Cousin, the first time I called you cousin, there was no kindness in my heart, only a surprise at your looks, thinking that it was fortunate you were born in the Chaoying Kingdom, so I would have one less person to be jealous of.”

“I was surprised that the heir of the Chaoying Kingdom saw you in a different light, thinking that your value had also increased a bit. If I could get closer to you, not only could I get the immortal keepsake, but I could also use your relationship with the Crown Princess of the Chaoying Kingdom to get something out of my trip as an envoy.”

When Lu Er said this, he looked up at Lu Dieqing and the other. He had expected to see a contemptuous gaze, but instead, he met his cousin’s overly clear eyes.

Those eyes were clean and pure, without any ridicule or other hatred, only a pure gaze.

—He was being listened to seriously.

Even though the things he said were all schemes and dirty calculations that should have been hidden in his heart, his cousin, the one who was being schemed against, did not show any anger or resentment because of it.

If a person could control their expression to such an extent, their cunning could not be underestimated.

But after getting along these few days, he had already seen that this cousin of his did not have such a deep mind. On the contrary, she had a sincerity and cleanliness that was rare among the descendants of the royal family who were born in the palace.

This made him feel even more ashamed of himself under his cousin’s gaze.

This feeling had not been obvious before. Only after he had rolled in the dust of the illusion and had gone through an ordeal did he truly experience it.

Did his cousin not resent them, her royal relatives from the Shan Kingdom?

He asked this question out loud.

Lu Dieqing had already finished listening to his thoughts. After thinking for a moment, she leaned against Zheng Xuening’s shoulder, as if she had absorbed some strength, and then said slowly, “I did resent you. Before you said these things.”

The girl paused for a moment and then smiled.

“But after you finished saying those words just now, I suddenly felt relieved and no longer resentful. Because when I resent someone, it means I see myself as a weak person who is being manipulated, so I can only blame others in my emotions for deciding my own destiny.”

“But you are actually not in control of yourself. I am not speaking for you, but I just understand that from your perspective, you have your own way of survival. Although we have a close bloodline, if we had grown up in the Shan Kingdom, we would have been siblings who looked after each other. But before this, we were complete strangers and had never met.”

“Feelings need to be nurtured over time, including family affection. We haven’t even gotten along before, so of course, we can’t have family affection.”

“What’s more, my mother grew up in the Shan Kingdom. Your mother and my mother are half-sisters, but their feelings for each other are still so faint. This already proves that family affection is rare in the royal family. How can I place my expectations of family affection on you?”

“My past resentment towards you was actually unreasonable. You are not my mother’s siblings or parents, and you don’t need to be responsible for her fate as a hostage. You have frankly admitted all your schemes, and so, my only resentment towards you has also disappeared in the process of your confession.”

“We are all human, living in different circumstances, bearing some expectations and pressures, and have our own helplessness. Sometimes, we choose to be ‘bad’ people. Sometimes, we insist on being ourselves and keeping our conscience. The standard for judging whether a person is good or bad should not be placed on others.”

“These are my most true thoughts.”

After saying so much in one breath, Lu Dieqing was exhausted and a little thirsty.

She lowered her head, and a water flask was already handed to her from the side.

Zheng Xuening had uncorked the water flask and dotingly brought it to her lips.

A sweetness arose in the girl’s heart. Her two small hands grabbed the water flask.

“I can drink it myself.”

She held the water flask and, looking up, drank, glug, glug, glug.

Her sparkling almond eyes subconsciously looked at the stars and moon in the sky. Just her side profile alone was beautiful beyond words.

Zheng Xuening took a fur cloak from her bag and wrapped it around the girl’s back.

Lu Dieqing’s palm-sized face, set off by the fur of the cloak wrapped around her, looked even more lovely and pure, small, yet very exquisite, just like a jade doll.

Lu Er, after hearing Lu Dieqing’s words just now, had been in a daze and had not come back to his senses. He subconsciously looked at this cousin of his.

No one had ever said these things to him before.

When Zheng Xuening had finished wrapping the fur cloak for Lu Dieqing, Lu Er abruptly looked away, avoiding further gazes.

“Cousin… you are not suited for the Shan Kingdom.”

There are no such sincere people there.

My cousin’s heart is like glazed glass, transparent and glowing, reflecting the filth in people’s hearts, making them feel that they are not clean.

And people are often particularly harsh and hateful towards those who reflect their own filth.

They will not feel that they have flaws, but will only hate the existence of the glazed glass mirror.

Or smash the mirror.

“I also feel that I am not suited to go,” Lu Dieqing said, looking at the moon in the sky, her head resting on Zheng Xuening’s shoulder, covering her mouth and letting out a small yawn.

How could the Shan Kingdom have so many good friends of hers?

The Chaoying Kingdom had her parents, A’Sang, Ningning, and the Caiyun Academy. It had everything of her growth, and all the kindness she had ever encountered.

She was sleepy.

So tired.

A belated feeling of fatigue welled up.

Zheng Xuening, with a smooth motion, pulled the girl into her arms, letting her lean against her.

She also pulled up the fox fur cloak, covering the girl a little better.

Lu Er also immediately stood up, found more dry branches, and placed them by the fire to make it convenient for them to warm themselves.

The latter half of the night finally passed quietly.

At dawn, Lu Er, with his back to Zheng Xuening and the other, asked softly, “When you ascend the throne as emperor in the future, will you let my cousin’s family leave?”

Zheng Xuening lowered her eyes, stroked the girl’s sleeping cheek, and after a long moment, her lips moved.

“…I will.”

Lu Er looked back in disbelief. When his eyes met Zheng Xuening’s slightly cold and wary gaze, he turned his back again.

Sigh, it seems he has been in a court like the one in the Shan Kingdom for too long.

He has already forgotten, or has never truly understood, what true friendship is.

The heir of the Chaoying Kingdom clearly has deep feelings for his cousin.

A person like her has always had everything, and is in a high position, accustomed to plundering, to possessing, to having everything she wants come to her with a flick of a finger.

A person like her… is actually willing to let my cousin’s family go?

This is contrary to human nature.

Shouldn’t she just keep my cousin in the Chaoying Kingdom and put her in the rear palace?

“Your Highness, why are you willing to let my cousin and her family leave?”

Lu Er was so curious he wanted to jump into the river. He couldn’t help but ask.

A ruler has always been ruthless.

Like his grandmother, the Empress, who had so many princes and princesses, and naturally, countless consorts in the rear palace.

But anyone who was taken into the rear palace, from old to death to an accidental sudden death, was the Empress’s person. How could they leave the imperial palace a single step?

Yet this Crown Princess of the Chaoying Kingdom dared to promise him that when she ascended the throne as emperor in the future, she would let his cousin go.

On what grounds?

The girl who had been sleeping obediently in Zheng Xuening’s arms, her eyelashes trembled slightly. Her small hand, hidden in her sleeve, tightly gripped the wooden doll, her fingers so tight they turned a little white.

That’s right.

Why would Ningning be willing?