Volume Three, Chapter 28

Zhu Bafu immediately pushed away Your Majesty who was leaning in too close, twitched the corner of her mouth, and greeted her own father.

Zhu Cong was also stunned, because he realized that the damned brat who had popped up out of nowhere was none other than the Emperor whom his wife cursed most frequently as a reincarnated courtesan, and for a moment he didn't know whether to chase him out or pay his respects, standing frozen in place with tear-filled eyes, looking aggrievedly at his own daughter.

Zhu Bafu massaged her temples with a headache. She had assumed that after years apart, her old man must have suffered quite a bit of hardship in his place of exile and would have acquired more manly vigor, or at least have tanned a bit; yet her old man still retained his delicate skin, tender flesh, and fair complexion from back then, and most importantly, his sentimental literati disposition hadn't changed a bit. Although he possessed a clean and noble character in the Imperial Court and never bowed to the powerful figures he despised, the mere onset of autumnal melancholy and the sorrow of parting could instantly transform him into a delicate maiden, reducing him to teary-eyed weeping with reddened eye rims. Seeing him caught between embarrassment and an unstoppable flood of tears at the sight of Your Majesty, she hurriedly hauled out her mother's name to suppress him--

"Dad, if you cry again, Mom is going to think you've run away from home like a delicate shou."

"..." This trick worked wonderfully and never failed; her father immediately tensed his entire body, raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears, and obediently knelt to pay his respects to Your Majesty.

Zhao Huangpu was caught between laughter and tears. Looking at the