Obsessively Raised by My Doll 171

Chapter 171

If not for her holding onto her little rabbit, judging by the way Lu Dieqing was straining to look into the distance, she probably would have fallen off the flying sword.

“Is it that beautiful?” Zheng Xuening whispered by the girl’s ear.

Lu Dieqing was just about to answer when she let out a cry of “Aiya,” realizing her earlobe had been bitten.

Sob, sob. It didn’t hurt, but it was so sudden, a sneak attack, completely catching her off guard.

And so, the girl almost curled into a ball. Her watery almond eyes blinked, like a little white rabbit that had been bullied. She nuzzled even deeper into Zheng Xuening’s embrace.

“Ningning, are you unhappy?”

Lu Dieqing was extremely sharp. Sensing her Ningning’s jealousy, her two small hands, in turn, wrapped around Zheng Xuening’s waist, pressing against her like a little child.

How could Zheng Xuening be willing to admit it?

Her long, slender phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. One hand held Lu Dieqing, and the other stroked the top of her head.

“No, why would I be unhappy?”

As she said this, she forcefully suppressed the unpleasant feeling in her heart.

To be so possessive would undoubtedly put pressure on her little rabbit.

She did not want to see that.

Lu Dieqing nuzzled her head against her hand and curled her lips.

“You can’t hide it from me.”

The girl’s voice was delicate and charming, like a soft and cute little kitten acting cute in her arms. The little bit of displeasure left in Zheng Xuening’s heart also vanished completely.

She held the person in her arms tightly, her lips unconsciously curving up again.

“Let’s go. We’ll go find your parents,” Zheng Xuening said, urging the flying sword to fly down towards the court.

*

The Empress of the Shan Kingdom had just finished her morning court. After resting for a moment, she heard a palace maid report that her third daughter wanted to see her.

She waved her hand wearily.

“I won’t see her.”

She managed a myriad of state affairs. There were as many things to deal with as there were hairs on an ox. Where would she find the time to bicker with her third daughter over such trivial matters?

She could imagine with the tips of her hair that when her third daughter saw her, she would either cry and complain, or protest.

There was no sense of the big picture in her.

The Empress rubbed her temples. When she looked in the bronze mirror, she saw the white hair at her temples and couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.

She had only lived for more than forty years. How had she grown so old?

There had been immortals in this world, but how was it that they had now disappeared without a trace?

To think of their Shan Kingdom, which had once also produced a cultivator who could reach the path of immortality.

Hmm?

When her thoughts came to this point, the Empress’s eyes narrowed, and she called out to the palace maid who was just about to leave the door.

“Forget it. You can bring her in.”

She remembered that when her third daughter had left the Shan Kingdom back then, she had bitterly begged her, wanting to take the ancestral jade pendant and spiritual incense with her, just as a memento.

This matter was not very clear anymore, but a few days ago, many abandoned valleys had appeared everywhere. It was said that they were the ancestral lands of those immortal cultivation sects in the past, and some residual formations had been left behind.

Many of her children had gotten ideas, wanting to go and look for the path of immortality. They had even sent many of their subordinates to those abandoned places to investigate the situation.

However, hundreds and thousands of years had passed. Even those abandoned formations were still surprisingly powerful. So many people had been sent out, but they had all returned with nothing, and not a single person had been able to have a fateful encounter with an immortal.

After trying a few times, the royals of the Shan Kingdom had all given up hope, and some had instead begun to covet the jade pendant that had been passed down from their old ancestor.

The throne of the Shan Kingdom had always been passed down to women and not men. The old ancestor who had successfully achieved the Dao and cultivated to immortality back then had also been a woman.

That person had been a famous puppeteer back then, and one person could be worth a thousand armies and ten thousand horses.

However, to say these things now also seemed too ethereal and meaningless.

The reason why the Empress of the Shan Kingdom had changed her mind and wanted to summon Lu He was also because she remembered that the other had once taken away the jade pendant left by their ancestor.

Now that this person was back, the jade pendant must have also come back with her?

Like the old emperor of the Chaoying Kingdom, the Empress of the Shan Kingdom, having held power and lived in this immense wealth for a long time, had also begun to long for immortality.

When Lu He heard the palace maid say that her mother, the Empress, was willing to see her, her heart immediately relaxed, and she was also a little happy.

Originally, she had made up her mind that if she could not see her mother, the Empress, today, even if she were to attend her second imperial sister’s birthday banquet, she would have to find a chance to speak with her.

More than a decade had passed, and the court of the Shan Kingdom had been built to be even more luxurious and bright.

As she walked along, even the scenery of the imperial garden was different from what Lu He remembered.

The past was like the dandelions in the wind. Once blown away, they could never return to their original state and could only exist in memory.

Lu He was full of longing.

The homeland that she had been thinking of in her heart for so many years was actually only her own homeland. Perhaps it had always been a false place, covered with a beautiful illusion, and not real.

Her mother, the Empress’s, bedchamber also looked different from before. At the entrance was an old matron who had watched her grow up. She bowed slightly to Lu He and nodded.

“Third Princess, please come in. His Majesty is busy with a myriad of state affairs and can only spare a quarter of an hour to speak with you.”

This was a reprimand to her, not to delay too much inside.

The expression on Lu He’s face dimmed for a moment. She pinched her fingertips and did not speak.

Bai Ming was not at ease and wanted to follow. For more than a decade, the two of them had been almost inseparable and had long since become like one person. Seeing her about to enter the bedchamber alone, he for a moment forgot the rules of the Shan Kingdom and subconsciously wanted to follow.

The old matron’s expression, which had been relatively gentle towards Lu He, became sharp and disgusted when she looked at Bai Ming.

“Drag this ignorant boy down!”

The palace staff at the side immediately surrounded them, and like grabbing a little chick, they humiliatingly lifted Bai Ming to a distant place.

Lu He couldn’t help but frown and chased after them.

“Let him go!”

She was, after all, a member of the royal family. Even though she had not been in the Shan Kingdom these years, her nominal status was still there. The guards and palace staff hesitated for a moment, but still gave her face and let go of Bai Ming.

Lu He held back her anger and said to the palace staff, “Even if you want to discipline my husband, it is not your place to overstep your bounds.”

The palace staff walked away without a word, considered to have retreated.

The old matron stood under the corridor, looked at this scene, and shrugged shamelessly.

The Shan Kingdom was not lacking in husbands. A woman’s status was revered, and so many men fought to enter their back chambers. How could they be lacking such a sickly and tactless man?

The Third Princess had been in the Chaoying Kingdom for a long time and had gotten used to being a prisoner, which was why she would treat such a man as a treasure.

The old matron did not say it out loud, but in her heart, she also looked down on Lu He a little more.

Bai Ming’s collar was pulled askew, and his face was also flushed. Seeing Lu He about to get angry because of him, he said in a low voice, “You should go. I’ll wait for you here.”

He finally remembered that this was not the Chaoying Kingdom where he and Lu He had depended on each other. This was the Shan Kingdom, where status was clearly divided.

Just so that Lu He would not be laughed at by others, he also had to be careful.

Lu He gritted her teeth and looked back. Whether it was the old matron who had watched her grow up in the past, or those palace staff and guards, the look in their eyes as they looked at them was filled with an unconcealable coldness and ridicule.

It was as if Lu He had not returned to the homeland that had given birth to her, but a country bumpkin had gone to a place she had never been before, unpresentable, and so every move she made, every word she said, was watched and pointed out by others.

It was just because Lu He was, after all, the Third Princess, and she had the blood of the Shan royal family, that these people could not find fault with her rules, and would not openly laugh at her.

“I’ll be back in a moment. You… be patient.” Lu He instructed in a low voice.

Bai Ming smiled at her reassuringly. “When it comes to patience, who can compare to the two of us?”

Lu He’s heart immediately soured.

She was for a moment glad that her daughter had not seen today’s embarrassing situation. Otherwise, how sad would Qingqing have been?

The Shan Kingdom that she had been thinking of in her heart for so many years, that she had dreamed of when she was awake and asleep, turned out to be like this.

…

The Empress of the Shan Kingdom, while her makeup was being done, summoned Lu He, who was waiting outside.

“The moment you returned to the palace, you caused a panic. What are you trying to do?”

When the head palace maid was drawing the Empress’s eyebrows, she glanced at her third daughter through the bronze mirror and frowned.

Lu He no longer showed any emotion this time, but just said directly, “Mother, the Empress, please dismiss the others. Your daughter has an important matter to discuss.”

The Empress frowned for a moment, then raised her eyes, and the other palace staff immediately withdrew respectfully.

“Alright, speak quickly. What is the important matter?” The Empress was quite impatient.

Lu He gritted her teeth. “Back then, your daughter took away the ancestral jade pendant and spiritual incense. Does Mother, the Empress, still remember?”

The Empress’s eyes immediately lit up. “Of course. Where is that jade pendant? Did you bring it back?”

Her eyes revealed a trace of eagerness and impatience. She even sat up straight, a stark contrast to her previous indifference.

Lu He paused for a moment and shook her head.

“I have already given that jade pendant to Qingqing.”

The Empress was stunned for a moment, and then she was enraged. “An ancestral heirloom, and you didn’t bring it back!”

Lu He said calmly, “Qingqing is also a member of our Lu family. It is only natural to give it to her. Mother, the Empress, has not forgotten that Qingqing is my daughter, have you?”

The Empress was at a loss for words.

Just now, in her anxiety, she had indeed not remembered who “Qingqing” was.

To be honest, she had so many imperial children and grandchildren. It was already very difficult to just remember the few who had grown up by her side since they were young. How could she have the time to care for a bloodline that had been stranded outside since they were young?

To be able to remember this third daughter was already a sign of her being sentimental and righteous.

Lu He took in her mother, the Empress’s, reaction, and her heart grew colder. She no longer had any expectations and said quickly, “These few days, some formations left by the former immortal cultivation sects have appeared in various places. Mother, the Empress, must have already discovered this. I might as well inform you today that my daughter Qingqing has already become a cultivator.”

Speaking of this, Lu He’s slightly bent back suddenly straightened.

The look of “I am proud of having this daughter” that burst from her eyes was so bright it was piercing.

“That jade pendant was destined to be my daughter Qingqing’s opportunity, so Mother, the Empress, does not need to think about it anymore!”

From her return to her homeland to now, of all the things Lu He had said, these two sentences were the most proud and had the most weight.

At this moment, it seemed that even the Empress of the Shan Kingdom before her had become small.

The expression on the other’s face was complex, shocked, and also in disbelief and envy.

A cultivator?

The third daughter had actually given birth to a cultivator?!