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"... Even you don't believe me?"

Sticking out her tongue, she looked completely innocent. "Of course not! I naturally believe you, Father, it's just... you two standing together, you look... hehe... quite good-looking."

"..."

"Anyway, now that the child and Xiaojiu are born, Father doesn't need to worry about Incense anymore. Why not go and pursue your own happiness!"

"Slap slap slap"

As the saying goes, trouble comes from the mouth. In the end, the father did not betray the mother to pursue his own happiness. Instead, he pinned this little girl, who was only six years old and already had impure thoughts, to his lap and gave her a good beating.

Although my father looks frail, his strength when he gets angry is no joke.

Mother was gone for half a month. Father was busy with both the Imperial Court. During the day, he talked about governing the country, but when he got home, he would carry his baby and go to the homes of relatives and friends to mooch a meal. Without a woman to take care of things at home, the handsome father's Clothing and coats were haphazardly put together, and he always forgot to shave. Looking at him like this, hmm! He no longer looked so much like a weak and submissive man!

Let her go back to her old ways, act as a flirting prop, recite a love poem, and try to please her mother, expressing her longing for her while her mother is away. Then everything should return to the way a perfect family should be.

In order to make her father turn back into a charming but weak man, she should read it aloud like this when her mother comes back!

"Taoxi no longer offers a leisurely stay, autumn lotus roots have vanished without a trace. I once stood by the Chilan Bridge, today I alone seek the Yellow Leaf Road. Countless green peaks rise amidst the mist, the setting sun paints the backs of wild geese red as dusk deepens. People are like clouds drifting into the river after the wind, emotions are like raindrops clinging to the ground like willow catkins."

"... Fuer, when your mother isn't around, does your father really recite this poem all the time?"

"Yes! Mother, don't run away anymore. When you're not home, Father, Brother, and I are all going to grow moths. This poem is proof that Father's love for you is as deep as the sea. You and Father are a match made in heaven. Anyway, no matter where you run off to, the male character will eventually be with the female character forever. So stop making futile struggles."

"That would only work if your father were a male lead and I were a female lead! He doesn't care about me at all!"

"How could that be! Look at the love poem Father is reciting... this love poem..."

"Still entangled with him? He still wants to maintain an entanglement with that prime minister, general, or even the emperor, staying overnight in the palace for several days in a row, isn't that right? Yellow Leaf Road? Hmph, that's practically an insult implying I'm already an old hag! Go back and tell him that I'm saying goodbye to him, never to see him again in this lifetime!"

She knew there was something wrong with the poem. Knowing her mother's tendency to read without understanding the deeper meaning, coupled with her gossipy nature, she thought, "Father, you've read too many books and your brain has gone haywire! Why not just write 'I love you, but I can't say it; I want to leave a clean reputation in the world'? Why show off with this ancient poem? What literary talent are you flaunting?"

"No, no! Mother, come back! That doesn't mean lingering attachments, and you're not some haggard old woman on Yellow Leaf Road! I don't want to live the life of a barbarian with Father. The Tang and Song poems he reads to me aren't as interesting as the little books you give me. Don't go, Mother! At least tell me the ending of 'The Amnesic Young Master and the Bubbly Maid,' did the young master eventually regain his memory?"

With Zhu Furu woke up from her afternoon nap. Her body, which had been lunging forward, veered to the side. She completely forgot that she was on a tree branch and tumbled down from the height.

Snap

A fresh and elegant fragrance wafted past her nose, and surprisingly, she didn't feel any pain in her buttocks. Instead, she felt a slight sinking, as if something was supporting her. Her tightly closed eyes timidly opened, and what came into view was the enchanting and handsome face of a young man.

Unconcerned about soiling his brocade robes, he knelt on one knee, gazing at her with a worried expression, just like the male protagonist in a novel falling deeply in love with his destined heroine.

"Are you... are you alright?" He reached out, about to touch her hand with concern.

Just as I awoke from a deep dream, a wonderful person appeared before me—what a beautiful thing!

She immediately went to him, "I, I'm fine..."

Before she could finish speaking, the young man had already gripped her hand tightly with all his might, lifted her up, and was about to hold her in his arms and comfort her for a while, wasn't he?

"Smack!"

A gust of wind whistled past her ears, and she suddenly felt a real pain in her buttocks.

What's wrong? Why does my butt hurt so much?

Hey! What's going on? When did she get thrown out?! And thrown so far that her whole big butt landed vertically on the ground! This doesn't fit the story at all!

Are you alright?

"How could nothing be wrong? Of course nothing is wrong!" Instead of a warm hug after being held tightly by the handsome young master, she was thrown far away and shoved into the dirt. This was not just something wrong, it was something extremely serious!

"What business is it of mine?" The handsome young man, whose very back was striking, turned around indifferently. His cold tone was a far cry from his previous caring attitude. He glanced coldly at Zhu Furu, "You're in trouble now. You'd better shut your mouth and stay there quietly."

"Huh?" Instead of falling in love, making vows of eternal love, marrying a rich and handsome man, managing a noble family mansion, and reaching the pinnacle of life, she's in trouble? This is a bigger fall from grace than falling from a tree.

Seeing her sitting there blankly, he quickly turned back to look at the tree and gently called out in a voice so tender it seemed to overflow with affection, "Xiaojing, Xiaojing, are you alright? Open your eyes and look at me, can you see me? Are you dizzy? It's all my fault, it's all my fault for wanting to see you and sneaking out, leaving you waiting here for me..."

"..." So, after all that, the object of his deep affection and long-held feelings wasn't her, but someone else entirely?

"That brat hit you like that, it must have hurt a lot. Say something, don't scare me."

A trembling, pale hand rested on the handsome young man's shoulder, and a clear, melodious voice softly rang out from beneath the tree, "... I'm alright."