Obsessively Raised by My Doll 33

Chapter 33

Zheng Xuening said nothing, finishing the two open pages of the manual in her hand.

“This Princess has a way to help you get the Yushan bamboo.”

The Crown Princess’s voice was exceedingly cool and calm, as if she had merely noticed Lu Dieqing’s difficulty and mentioned it casually.

As her words fell, she saw Lu Dieqing, who had been somewhat reserved just now, press closer like a curious little deer, completely unguarded, her eyes filled with surprise and astonishment.

“Really?”

“Why would Your Highness help me?”

The girl’s almond eyes were wide and round. The space between her brows was just right, her features both exquisite and open, a look that clearly didn’t hold grudges.

Her little expressions seemed more varied than those of others in the palace. When she was happy, she was especially lively.

Having received help from the Crown Princess several times, even if Lu Dieqing was broad-minded, she realized this was not right.

If a superior’s help to a subordinate was just a light, one-time thing, it could be understood as a sudden act of kindness. But if they were so friendly time and time again, it was not normal.

Lu Dieqing didn’t understand why the Crown Princess was so special to her alone.

She could afford to buy the candied haws on the straw effigy with her own saved silver, but some other things, she couldn’t afford to repay even if she sold herself.

Lu Dieqing was a little afraid. She was afraid that some good luck had been exchanged for something she couldn’t bear.

From surprise to doubt, in just a few short breaths, Lu Dieqing’s mood plummeted from its peak to the valley of unease.

The light in her bright eyes was a little timid as she looked at the Crown Princess.

Seeing that Zheng Xuening didn’t answer, the little girl quickly tried to remedy the situation, explaining, “I mean, Yushan bamboo is very precious. Why would Your Highness want to help me find it?”

Aiya, it’s so confusing.

Lu Dieqing didn’t know what to say. She felt that she had suddenly become clumsy with her words, unable to clearly express the thoughts in her mind.

She wanted to refuse Her Highness’s kindness, but she found that she cared immensely about whether she could give the doll a better body. So much so that it became so difficult to say a firm “no.”

She had to fight against the greed in her heart, to overcome her own human weakness.

Perhaps, from the first time she had received the waist token from the Crown Princess, she had fallen into this kind of strange cycle.

—Clearly knowing that this was not her own power, yet when the other extended an olive branch, she couldn’t firmly push it away.

Zheng Xuening quietly watched the girl, taking in all her panic, apprehension, hesitation, and wavering.

She was not surprised by Lu Dieqing’s reaction.

It was strange, but she was slowly getting to know and understand the other’s personality.

She knew that this girl was gentle with a core of steel, with some inexplicable persistence, yet at other times, she was so fragile she would crumble at a single blow.

Lu Dieqing seemed to have no shell, so gentle that anyone could come and step on her, yet… she was naive to the point of being strong.

Yes, she had actually seen a shadow of strength in this powerless girl.

Lu Dieqing could always hold onto a passion for chasing the sun and moon for hopes that others would deem unrealistic, firmly believing that they existed and would be realized.

Just as she had so miraculously pulled her from her identity as the Crown Princess of Chaoying into a doll’s body, recreating the skills of a puppeteer.

Fate was indeed strange.

“This Princess was just curious, seeing you study the art of puppetry, and wanted to see how far you would go.”

Zheng Xuening replied lightly, not revealing a single clue.

She had a pair of phoenix eyes that, when she smiled, would occasionally appear charming. If she had been born among the common people, her looks would have made many fall for her. But most of the time, she didn’t smile, as cold as ice. Without deliberately putting on a cold expression, her exquisite and flawless face was already written with “strangers, keep out.”

When the Crown Princess gave that reply, she seemed to have returned to the coldness of an heir, but Lu Dieqing suddenly relaxed.

“Does Your Highness also want to make a doll?” Lu Dieqing asked curiously.

“Slightly interested.”

Zheng Xuening glanced at her, her eyes complex, and suddenly changed the subject.

“How about this Princess makes a deal with you?”

Lu Dieqing hesitated for a moment and asked cautiously, “…What kind of deal?”

Seeing her suddenly become so careful, Zheng Xuening abruptly closed in on her.

“Look, does this Princess look like the kind of person who would force a common girl to warm my bed?”

The Crown Princess’s tone was wicked, a smile on her lips.

When she smiled, she could truly captivate the world. Her fine, long lashes made her eyes look exceptionally deep, the smile on her lips bright, her pearly teeth white.

She was clearly a great beauty who could make one’s soul turn upside down, but looking at her up close like this, Lu Dieqing felt as if she had fallen into a jungle, facing a magnificent big cat.

The big cat looked at her lazily, reached out a paw to touch her, full of interest, as if weighing which part of her had more meat, where to bite without hitting a bone.

A strange shiver ran through Lu Dieqing’s heart. She didn’t know if it was panic or shame, or because of the teasing words the Crown Princess had just said.

In short, the little girl’s face was now flushed, her watery eyes as if they would shed tears with a single blink.

She suddenly looked even easier to bully.

“Your Highness…”

Lu Dieqing’s mind went blank. Her lips moved, stammering, and she could only squeeze out this title.

She had no idea that her appearance would only make one want to bully her even more.

“Why aren’t you answering? Hmm? Is my question so hard to answer?”

Zheng Xuening closed in, bit by bit, almost pinning the girl to the corner, forming an enclosing posture, blocking all her escape routes.

At this moment, she was like a patient spider who had woven its web, watching the fine, dense threads surround its prey bit by bit, and then waiting for that cute little prey to fall onto the web, struggling in vain, only to be devoured by her.

Their noses were almost touching.

The little heart in Lu Dieqing’s chest was beating so fast and hard, it was as if a hundred little rabbits were trapped inside, frantically trying to escape.

Nervous.

The poor little girl had never experienced anything like this in her life.

Although as a hostage of the Shan Kingdom, born in the Chaoying palace, she had been bullied by palace staff like Matron Li. But to be cornered like this… with just the two of them alone, in such a private and intimate way, and to be watched so closely, this was the first time she had experienced it.

She knew that the Crown Princess would not harm her, that the other was not a truly bad person, but she just couldn’t relax.

For a moment, Lu Dieqing’s body was pressed against the wall, shrinking.

“If you agree to warm this Princess’s bed and serve me day and night, I will get you that Yushan bamboo. How about this deal?”

Zheng Xuening’s deep eyes fell on the girl’s palm-sized face, and she couldn’t help but sigh at her peerless beauty in her heart.

She wanted to find out if the relief of her headaches was because she had become a doll, or because of… Lu Dieqing.

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

The Crown Princess raised an eyebrow, bent down, and looked deeply into the girl’s eyes.

Lu Dieqing’s gaze was dazed, completely stunned.