The Presence of a Father

Cao Family, inner residence.

A middle-aged man in brocade robes was bending over the flowers in a planter, his expression calm as though he had not noticed the girl waiting silently nearby.

"After all these years, the Soul Nurturing Flower Rui'er planted back then is still blooming so luxuriantly. It truly makes me nostalgic."

After an unknown amount of time, the man finally set down the watering can and raised his head.

"It is a pity that she spent her entire life wanting to rise above others, yet in the end, she still did not get to see what you have become today."

The man's features were square and imposing, his broad face carrying an innate authority even in private leisure, the majesty of one long accustomed to high status still apparent.

Hearing this, Cao Ying could not help but sneer, her tone laced with faint mockery.

"These tricks might work on those things rushing to curry favor with you. There is no need to put on this act of a cat crying over a mouse in front of me."

The man in brocade shook his head and sighed.

"Ying'er, while your talent is extraordinary, your temperament is ultimately too proud. If you understood your father's painstaking intentions, you would not have suffered such a disastrous defeat in that assessment."

"Painstaking intentions? You deserve to speak of that?!"

Cao Ying's voice was filled with fury. Her pearly teeth clenched tight, as if holding back a blazing hatred on the verge of erupting, she said slowly, "If you truly had such intentions, why did you hide Mother away? Why did you claim I was Cao Dan's full sister? Do you not know how filthy and disgusting the way he looks at me is?"

The brocade-robed man's expression stiffened. Though Cao Dan