Chapter 68
Listening to her doll Xinxin’s accusation, Lu Dieqing couldn’t even lift her head.
There was no way to explain how happy she had been last night, holding the Crown Princess as she slept.
Zheng Xuening watched the girl’s speechless, almost-hiding appearance, and her heart was touched by her cuteness.
But she hid her emotions and continued to ask calmly.
“So, do you prefer holding me, or her?”
The little doll calmly posed a life-or-death question.
Lu Dieqing answered honestly, “It’s Xinxin.”
Her little doll was a spirit condensed from her own heart’s blood. Its relationship with her in this world was unparalleled, and no one could compare.
Seeing Lu Dieqing answer so readily, Zheng Xuening, on the contrary, was a little displeased.
She found that no matter which one the girl chose, the one who was not chosen would feel abandoned.
And so, that feeling of abandonment, on the contrary, overshadowed the happiness of being chosen.
She was indeed greedy and insatiable.
She couldn’t enjoy the brief moments of being in the doll, being watched with wholehearted devotion.
While Zheng Xuening was silent, Lu Dieqing cautiously looked at her little doll.
Her slender, fair fingers gently brushed over the little doll.
After a day, the part of the doll that had been soaked in the bathtub last night had completely dried, its color no longer so dark.
“Xinxin, look at this.”
Lu Dieqing wanted to coax her doll to be happy. She scrambled up and brought over something from the nearby table.
Zheng Xuening glanced at it, a little surprised.
Lu Dieqing had actually brought over the Yushan bamboo statue she had casually carved last night.
“Without comparison, I wouldn’t have known how bad my carving was.”
“Look at this statue, isn’t it beautiful? With it as a comparison, I only just realized… the way I carved the doll before was really a disservice to you, Xinxin.”
Lu Dieqing tried her best to feel Xinxin’s emotions, not wanting Xinxin to have any barriers or opinions against the Crown Princess.
“Xinxin?” The girl’s every gaze was on the doll, filled with concern.
Zheng Xuening: “Mhm, it’s beautiful.”
Seeing the girl’s clumsy attempts to coax her, Zheng Xuening’s gloom quietly dissipated.
Lu Dieqing had coaxed the doll, and a relaxed smile appeared on her face. Her eyes curved, and the corners of her lips also turned up.
The dimples were very sweet, but they didn’t seem to be the sweetest part of her face.
What Zheng Xuening liked most were Lu Dieqing’s eyes.
They were clean and pure, holding nothing, only revealing her inner emotions in every emotional fluctuation.
When she was happy, it was simple and pure, ardent and moving.
When she was sad, her eyes would fill with a misty fog, as if her heart had been broken.
Zheng Xuening had never seen such bright and beautiful eyes.
Many times, when she faced Lu Dieqing, all the actions she took that were far removed from her original life were like adventures.
She was irresistibly drawn in, yet it made her feel more like a living person.
Lu Dieqing was very easy to coax. Seeing that her little doll was no longer angry, she immediately came closer and whispered, “Xinxin, would you like to change into a new body first? For example, this one?”
The Crown Princess’s carving was really good. The statue made of Yushan bamboo felt very smooth in her hand, like fine jade, with a gentle and moist feel.
Moreover, this statue had such a beautiful face, looking very exquisite, like a fine collectible.
Lu Dieqing couldn’t help but want to give Xinxin the best things.
Zheng Xuening saw the girl’s urgency and was silent for a moment.
“No.”
The first time she had seen the wooden carving’s appearance, she had indeed disliked it, finding it not exquisite enough, a little ugly.
But that was the first time in this world she had become a version of herself that was unrelated to “Zheng Xuening.”
Its meaning had nothing to do with beauty or ugliness.
It had to do with the person who loved it.
Lu Dieqing was rejected and asked with blinking almond eyes, “Why not?”
The wooden doll: “The one you carved is very good.”
Wow!
Xinxin praised me.
Lu Dieqing had rarely heard her little doll praise her.
She picked up the little doll, kissed its cheeks, then its forehead, and held it tightly against her heart.
“I like it when Xinxin praises me.”
“I will continue to work hard. In the future, I will definitely make the most beautiful body for you.”
The girl promised in a small voice, her heart filled with motivation.
She had almost read all the puppetry manuals in the Chaoying Kingdom’s Library Pavilion.
But as Teacher Jiang lectured in the academy and unintentionally mentioned some things, Lu Dieqing discovered that becoming a puppeteer was not so simple.
Giving a doll a spirit was, strictly speaking, only the first step.
A true puppeteer could bestow special abilities on their dolls.
Powerful dolls could even be invulnerable to blades and spears, could walk on walls, and even cast spells.
When Lu Dieqing heard this, she was stunned.
She couldn’t help but share what she had seen and heard these past few days with her little doll.
“Xinxin, do you think the things Teacher Jiang said are true? Can you become that powerful in the future?”
She had originally thought that the most powerful thing about dolls compared to ordinary people was that their bodies could be repaired with various materials if they were damaged, and they would not die.
But the things Teacher Jiang had unintentionally mentioned were like things from myths and legends.
Lu Dieqing couldn’t even imagine it.
“Why did the puppetry tradition die out in the last two or three hundred years?”
She murmured to herself, inexplicably attracted to this matter and very interested.
Zheng Xuening answered casually, “Perhaps puppeteers were never meant to appear among the common folk.”
Lu Dieqing didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
Zheng Xuening was vague. “Ancient texts once recorded that there were emperors who sought the art of immortality and searched for traces of immortals everywhere. If you think about the strange abilities of puppeteers and compare them to cultivators, wouldn’t everything make sense?”
Lu Dieqing stood there, stunned. “Cultivators…”
The little girl’s worldview was greatly impacted. She was dumbfounded.
She had never thought in that direction.
“But… cultivators, aren’t these things all just fabricated myths and legends?”
Lu Dieqing said weakly.
The wooden doll’s voice, which sounded in Lu Dieqing’s mind, held no emotion.
“What is fabricated, and what is real? If those in power have the intention to hide it, as long as they destroy all the related records and strictly forbid the common folk from discussing these things, with heavy punishments to make an example of some. After two or three hundred years, would you still think that the things that once truly existed are real?”
Lu Dieqing was dumbfounded. She didn’t even notice why her little doll knew so many things.
“Then… are there really cultivators?”
The girl kept murmuring. Although she found it incredible in her heart, she also vaguely felt that it was reasonable.
Otherwise, why would a doll, after being successfully awakened, be endowed with a spirit and be able to think and talk?
Seeing that her words had thrown the girl into confusion, Zheng Xuening snorted lightly.
“If you believe, then there is. If you don’t believe, then there isn’t.”
She wanted the girl to hold her and sleep, but seeing Lu Dieqing like this, she was afraid she wouldn’t be sleepy for a while.
“Don’t get distracted.”
The little doll was a little domineering.
Lu Dieqing came back to her senses and immediately began to coax her.
“No, I was just thinking about what you just said. Xinxin, immortals are all powerful. Do you think we’ll have the chance to meet a real immortal and let you become a real person?”
The wooden doll was quiet for a moment and then asked her.
“Why do you want me to become a real person?”
She had never heard of anyone wanting to turn a doll into a real human.
The things the girl was thinking of often surprised Zheng Xuening.
Seeing her ask this, Lu Dieqing answered honestly.
“These past two days, I’ve had all three meals at the Caiyun Academy. The food there is so delicious. I sometimes think, if you could eat, then no matter where I go in the future, I could share all the delicious food I taste with you.”
When she spoke of these things, Lu Dieqing’s eyes were full of anticipation and sincerity.
Zheng Xuening suddenly felt a trace of guilt welling up from the depths of her heart.
The little rabbit treated her with ardent sincerity.
However, what she wanted to do was to shackle and possess the other even more.
