“We have arrived, host. I am picking up signals of Guaibao from the room at the furthest right hallway on the second floor of this inn.”
The system breathed a sigh of relief as it finally located Guaibao. Observing the calm expression of its host, the System subconsciously gulped its saliva. It felt reminiscent of the calm before a storm.
“Um…”
Glimpses of negative emotions could be seen in Su Jin’s eyes. Her gaze was fixated on the inn in front of her.
Following the instructions from the System, she took several leaps and swiftly entered the second floor through a side window, avoiding a number of guards in the process. Su Jin couldn’t help but feel puzzled. The security on the second floor of the inn was unusually tight compared to before.
Based on the quality of their armaments, she could deduce that they were not your run-of-the-mill guards.
Hooking her right foot on the eaves of the roof, Su Jin dangled upside down in mid-air. The System had confirmed that Guaibao was the only presence in the room. She gently tapped on the window.
Guaibao, who was struggling with her clothes, paused when she heard the knock. She cautiously stepped forward to investigate. Just as she was debating whether or not to call her daddy for help, a familiar voice came through.
Guaibao’s eyes lit up immediately and she quickly opened the window, being especially careful not to cause any noise to alarm her dad.
Tears began to well up in her eyes when she visually confirmed that the person was indeed her mother.
Seeing her reaction, Su Jin felt heartbroken and gently comforted Guaibao.
“Don’t cry, mom is here now. Don’t worry, darling. Mommy will take you home soon.”
Guaibao quickly wiped her tears and shook her head. She only lost control of her emotions upon reuniting with her mother and could not hold back her tears.
“Mommy, Guaibao met daddy. He saved Guaibao.”
Her tearful face immediately brightened up and was replaced with a radiant smile. It was obvious that she really liked her father.
Su Jin was surprised. Her grip on the windowsill tightened as she asked Guaibao.
“How did you know he was your father?”
“He looks exactly like Guaibao. Daddy said he wanted to bring Guaibao to the capital. Can Guaibao go with him, mommy?”
After asking for permission, Guaibao lowered her head slightly and secretly glanced at Su Jin with beady eyes.
From this conversation, Su Jin understood that Guaibao had indeed met the prince. For the father and daughter to be reunited like this, perhaps their fate might be more deeply intertwined than she had expected.
Su Jin looked at her with a serious expression and asked calmly, “What is Guaibao’s opinion of him? Does he treat you well? Do you want to follow him?”
Guaibao tilted her head slightly and thought seriously. She met her mother’s eyes with a tense expression: “I think he genuinely cares about Guaibao. He even fed Guaibao personally just now! The way he looks at Guaibao… his eyes are… just as tender and caring like mommy’s!”
She fidgeted her fingers with a conflicted expression. With a soft and meek voice, Guaibao continued, “Mommy, Guaibao wants to explore the capital. I will return afterwards. Can I go with daddy?”
She had to verify for herself, if the hands of those cute little city-bred boys from the capital matched up to her expectations. She would return after having her fill.
Seeing her little darling struggling internally, Su Jin couldn’t help but smile bitterly. All of her pent-up frustrations had dissipated. She sighed and reminded Guaibao.
“Keep this in mind, Guaibao. Avoid divulging any information of our family to him for now. Mom shall entrust you with the task of finding out if your daddy has any other wife or children, and whether he is suitable to become your daddy, okay? After mom is done with the matters here, I will come to find you in the capital.”
“Guaibao heard that Daddy is still unmarried.” With her keen ears, Guaibao had picked up this piece of information when that uncle was whispering to himself while stealing peeks at her.
Su Jin’s eyes immediately lit up. With a stoic face, Su Jin replied to Guaibao:
“These are all secondary matters. The most important thing is to take good care of yourself and not get hurt. Otherwise, mommy’s heart will ache, alright?”
Guaibao sniffled and nodded resolutely.
After leaving her with a couple of additional reminders, Su Jin then jumped down from the eaves. But she did not leave and instead hid within the shadows.
Unless that man treated her extremely well, there was no way Guaibao would consider following him, given her personality. It was negligence on Su Jin’s part. How could a little girl not yearn for fatherly love?
Although her three kids never mentioned it at home, this situation served as a wake-up call for her. Did her darlings truly not desire paternal love at all? Or did they choose not to express it and kept this desire bottled up deep within their hearts?
……
Guaibao finished bathing and put on her clothes properly. She rubbed her reddened eyes as she opened the door.
Ming Jue, who was leaning against the wall, noticed her swollen eyes. He became nervous and asked in a panic: “What happened?”
Guaibao leaned gently against his arms and sniffled.
“Mommy dropped by just now. Guaibao has obtained her permission to go to the capital with daddy. But… but… Guaibao doesn’t want to be separated from mommy.”
Ming Jue instantly swept his eyes across the room when he heard that her mother was here.
But his attention quickly returned to Guaibao, who was still sobbing in his arms. This was not the time to worry about other matters. He gently picked her up and patted her back. He didn’t know how to comfort a child and felt somewhat lost.
With every sniffle sound from her, Ming Jue felt like his heart was wrenching up. All he could do was to clumsily pat her on the back and sway her back and forth within his embrace.
“If daddy stays by Guaibao’s side until Guaibao falls asleep, Guaibao promises not to cry anymore.”
Her face was still stained with tears, and the small figure looked at Ming Jue with big moist eyes.
“Alright…”
Mingjun sighed in relief. He would do anything to stop his precious daughter’s tears.
“See that, Host? He is a grown-up who cannot even comfort a crying child. In my opinion, it is a mistake to leave Guaibao under his care. Let’s take her back immediately.”
The System instigated her in a roundabout approach.
However, there was no reply from Su Jin. Instead, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. She could see that this man truly cared for Guaibao.
That flustered expression was definitely not an act. As long as he was looking after Guaibao, she did not have to worry about Guaibao being bullied.
She now had more reason to pick up her pace and settle matters here. The quicker she wrapped up her business matters, the sooner she could depart for the capital.
If only there was a publicly available market rate for dowry that she could use as a benchmark when requesting for the prince’s hand in marriage from emperor… If only she hadn’t lived like a wastrel for the past two years. But she had no time for regrets.
She took a deep breath, her eyes flickering occasionally as she watched the back figure of the departing Ming Jue.
(No, this can’t do. I have to speak with him personally.)
……
Ming Jue finally consoled the little girl to sleep. The tension between his eyebrows eased and he sat on the edge of the bed, quietly watching over her for a while. After making sure that was sound asleep, he tucked the quilt cover and left the room.
The moment he stepped out of the door, he noticed someone watching him. His face stiffened. After closing the door, he turned and shot a sharp gaze towards a dark corner.
His guards had been split into several details, patrolling around the area at all times. Yet this person was able to quietly infiltrate without anyone noticing.
Considering what Guaibao had told him earlier, he had a rough idea on the identity of the person. He spoke towards the darkness.
“You can come out.”
Su Jin was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Hearing his words, she slowly revealed herself from the shadows and approached him with a smile on her face. She shamelessly gazed at him from head to toe, not bothering to hide her intentions of sizing him up.
Ming Jue looked straight at her, maintaining his composure, implicitly condoning her brazen conduct. He asked in a cold tone devoid of any feelings: “Have you seen enough?”
Su Jin did not answer. Instead, she suddenly went for his hand.
Ming Jue was caught off guard, but managed to barely avoid that with a quick turn. Refusing to give up, Su Jin pounced at him again while keeping her strength in check. The exchange between the two of them continued for several rounds.
Noticing that their exchange was getting way too loud, Ming Jue glanced at the tightly shut door of the room where Guaibao was sleeping in. Jumping back to create some distance, he asked Su Jin with a stern look: “What on earth are you up to?”
Su Jin could only wallow in regrets at the missed opportunity. She just wanted to cop a feel of his hands. Why was it so difficult?
As shameless as Su Jin was, it would be too embarrassing for her to say that out directly. Her pride as a matriarch could not permit that. Despite having done all sorts of grown-up stuff with him when they first met, she missed the chance to get a quick feel of his hands.
She lamented in frustration while sneaking a few glances at the man’s slender fingers, but that only served to fuel her regrets.
Leaving aside the missed opportunity, she did manage to achieve her original objective with that exchange. In just a few moves, she could discern that the man had quick reactions and was well-versed in martial arts. There should be no problem leaving Guaibao under his protection. More importantly… that slim, killer waist of his!
(Whoops? Have I gone off topic again?)
Su Jin quickly reined back her stray thoughts. She cleared her throat and pretended to be in full seriousness with her answer:
“I just want to test if you have the ability to protect Guaibao.”
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Do let me know in the comments or discord if there are any errors or mistakes.
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