Obsessively Raised by My Doll 8

Chapter 8

Lu He looked at her only daughter, her heart filled with sorrow and sighs.

Lu Dieqing, however, didn’t notice her mother’s emotions. She just lifted her smooth little face and bloomed into a beautiful smile.

“Mother, I wasn’t doing embroidery.” She didn’t want to hide the doll-making from her mother.

Lu He was puzzled. “Look at your eyes. If you weren’t up all night embroidering, how could they be like this?”

She didn’t know who her Qingqing resembled more. Her devastating beauty was so overwhelming that even coarse linen couldn’t hide it. Her skin had been delicate since she was a child, and if she stayed up even a little late, faint bluish circles would appear under her eyes, making her look even more fragile and pitiable.

Seeing her mother’s disbelief, Lu Dieqing dashed back into her room and carefully brought out the wooden doll with its newly carved features for Lu He to see.

“Look.”

She hadn’t rested well all night, focused only on meticulously carving the wooden doll’s face.

At the first light of dawn, when Lu Dieqing saw the light outside and then turned to look at the little doll’s face, an unparalleled sense of satisfaction had welled up inside her for some unknown reason.

Even after finishing a beautiful piece of embroidery, Lu Dieqing had never felt anything like this.

Now, as she showed the little doll to her mother, her almond eyes curved into crescents, waiting for praise.

Lu He stared at the wooden doll for a while, the corners of her lips twitching imperceptibly twice before she managed to squeeze out a smile.

“It’s lovely.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say any more.

She called for Bai Ming, letting him do the praising.

Bai Ming had been a scholar and was never at a loss for words when it came to composing poems, but looking at the lopsided little wooden doll with its squeezed-together features in his daughter’s hands, he was stunned into silence, unable to produce a single good line.

“My child is indeed… a talent in the making. For a first attempt at carving a doll, she has already shown a glimmer of genius.”

He squeezed out the sentence, his conscience aching slightly.

Afraid of upsetting their daughter, Lu He and her husband secretly observed Lu Dieqing’s expression.

The latter, however, was completely oblivious to the reluctance in her parents’ words. She took it as genuine praise, her little tail nearly wagging behind her.

It’s lovely. Mother and Father both think my little doll is lovely~

My little doll will surely like it too!

The winter snow was still falling, not having completely stopped, but Lu Dieqing was so happy it felt as if spring had already arrived. The brightness of a full spring day seemed to gather into a light that fell upon her, kissing her dark hair and hibiscus-like face.

She hugged the wooden doll, pressing it to her heart, so happy that she broke into a little run as she walked, her figure full of life.

“Little doll, my little doll,” Lu Dieqing kissed the doll’s cheek, her voice gentle and brimming with joy.

Lu He and Bai Ming watched their daughter’s retreating figure, momentarily stunned.

“I’ve never seen Qingqing so happy,” Lu He sighed.

She always blamed herself. If she hadn’t been so mediocre back then, would she have avoided becoming a hostage? If she hadn’t been sent to the Chaoying Kingdom, her daughter wouldn’t have been born here to suffer so much with her.

As parents, they couldn’t protect their own child, only let her live under another’s roof with them.

The thought of this always brought a sharp pain to Lu He’s heart.

Now that Qingqing was older, she had to start thinking of a plan.

…

Changning Palace.

A row of palace staff stood at the palace gate, their heads bowed, trembling.

They were all palace maids under the age of twenty, almost all of whom worked under Matron Li. Now, they, along with Matron Li, had all been summoned to the Crown Princess’s Changning Palace. Everyone’s hearts were in their throats, beads of sweat breaking out on their foreheads.

“Matron Li, why does the Crown Princess want to see us?”

The maids shivered, thinking of the Crown Princess’s wicked reputation. They were afraid that once they entered this palace gate today, they wouldn’t come out, leaving their heads behind.

Matron Li’s armpits were clamped tight, her neck shrunk like an ostrich’s. Hearing the maid beside her ask, she said impatiently, “How should I know?”

She was also very uneasy.

Not only were the summoned staff confused, but even Matron Zhang, who served the Crown Princess year-round, didn’t understand why her Highness would suddenly want to see these maids from the side-palaces.

Zheng Xuening sat in a pavilion, looking incredibly leisurely. On the stone table before her was a platter of fresh fruit, a rare delicacy for this season.

As the maids walked over one by one, their necks shrunk, and stood before her, Zheng Xuening slightly lifted her gaze. Her incredibly deep phoenix eyes instantly revealed the majesty of a superior.

Not one of the maids standing in a row outside the pavilion dared to look up at her. All of their palms were sweating profusely, and they didn’t dare to breathe too loudly.

The Crown Princess’s aura was far too intimidating.

Seeing her Highness’s stern expression, Matron Zhang cleared her throat, walked over, and addressed the row of young palace maids.

“All of you, speak up. What are your names!”

She was an old servant who had served by the former Empress’s side. Her voice carried a great deal of pressure.

But in her heart, Matron Zhang had no idea why her Highness wanted to hear the names of these obscure little palace maids. Her Highness managed a myriad of state affairs. Just dealing with the people at court was enough to keep her busy. Why would she divert her energy to see these servants?

Zheng Xuening closed her eyes, deliberately not looking at the row of people standing below, forcing herself to rely only on her hearing to identify the little palace maid’s voice.

Since they are maids who have been bullied by Matron Li, then they should all be here.

The row of young palace maids began to state their names one by one.

“This servant’s name is Xiaohong.”

“This servant is Qingyue.”

“This servant, Anxiang.”

“This servant, Lianpeng.”

Some voices were dry, some shrill, some hoarse and raspy, some…

After listening to the entire row of maids, Zheng Xuening’s brows furrowed tightly.

Unpleasant.

She hadn’t heard that familiar voice among them.

She opened her eyes and scanned the row of maids, finding not a single one she found pleasing to the eye.

Of course, the Crown Princess looked at everyone this way.

Her head began to hurt. A trace of hostility unconsciously emanated from her, and her expression grew even colder, like an iceberg.

Matron Zhang noticed the change in her Highness and quickly waved her hand at the maids.

“Dismissed.”

Once the pavilion was clear of outsiders, Matron Zhang cautiously approached Zheng Xuening and said, “Your Highness, shall I summon the imperial physician?”

Zheng Xuening rested a hand lightly on her forehead. The section of her wrist revealed from her sleeve was as white as jade, her skin as cool and aloof as her personality.

“No need,” she said indifferently, forcefully suppressing her headache.

Matron Zhang didn’t dare say more and could only retreat to the side, watching her Highness with worry.

These past few days, Her Highness had seemed a little off. But Matron Zhang couldn’t put her finger on what exactly was wrong.

…

By the time the sky was completely dark, Zheng Xuening was already lying in her bedchamber in Changning Palace.

Others were puzzled as to why she was retiring so early, but only Zheng Xuening herself knew the reason.

—She was waiting to return to that little palace maid’s side tonight, to become a wooden doll.

The wait became exceptionally unbearable.

Zheng Xuening only hoped that after becoming a wooden doll, her headache would ease again.

Finally, as the bright moon climbed over the tree branches, Zheng Xuening felt her soul lighten, and her entire being seemed to…

Huh, wait.

Our Crown Princess looked at the unfamiliar quilt before her, a sense of shock and suspicion rising within her.

She could see?

She had turned into a wooden doll, and she could see?