Xianyu gazed at his subordinate, amusement in his voice:
"Of course."
Chenzhen smiled back. "...That's good."
Soon, Hua erased part of Chenzhen's memories, then turned and returned Fenghuang Down to Xianyu.
Xianyu put the item into his System Inventory, then lowered his head, meeting Chenzhen's eyes.
His subordinate nodded as though she understood and declared loudly:
"I get it now. You must be my dad-"
Xianyu moved swiftly, covering Chenzhen's mouth and cutting her off halfway through the form of address.
He withdrew his hand and said with a smile, "I'm your superior."
Chenzhen feigned hurt. "The Crown Princess can call you that, but I can't? That's so unfair-you're playing favorites..."
Xianyu and Hua both froze.
He shook his head. "Hua has never called me that."
Chenzhen paused, then immediately seized the opening:
"If the Crown Princess doesn't call you that, then all the more reason for me to call you daddy-"
Xianyu coldly refused. He pressed his hands against his subordinate's shoulders and turned her around.
"All right, all right. I'll braid your hair. You should head back to the Zhuming soon."
Chenzhen sighed at first, then happily told him what she wanted.
"I want the Crown Princess's hairstyle."
Xianyu raised a hand and undid his subordinate's hair ribbon.
"Sure, sure."
Xianyu had previously unlocked plenty of hairstyles for Hua, pulling out quite a few strands of her hair along the way.
Thanks to that practice, he had gotten fairly good at it.
Xianyu worked quickly, soon weaving two small braids for his subordinate before tying her hair into a high ponytail as she requested.
Chenzhen instinctively raised a hand to touch the braids.
She abruptly stopped, seemingly afraid of messing up her hair, and reluctantly lowered her hand. Then she turned around, her expression solemn and her tone