It was night, in Li Jiqian's private study at the King of Xia's residence.
"The girl is back?" Li Jiqian asked Zhang Pu, who stood before his desk, then gestured for him to take a chair at the side.
"She just returned. I was careless this time and nearly let the Fang Family capture her. Had they really taken her, we would have been left on the back foot," Zhang Pu said, seemingly breathing a sigh of relief.
"No plan is seamless! What matters is that she's back! She wasn't hurt, was she?" Li Jiqian asked.
"No. From the way she looked when she returned, she seemed to have encountered something that made her happy. It really was rather strange." Zhang Pu shook his head, puzzled.
"Something that made her happy?" Li Jiqian was also rather bewildered, unsure what Zhang Pu meant.
"I can't say for certain, but my guess is that the girl may have taken a fancy to some young gentleman. She keeps sitting there in a daze by herself, then smiling foolishly now and again. That's most likely it," Zhang Pu said.
"Really? Which family's young gentleman, or which sect's disciple?" At this, Li Jiqian rose from his chair and asked urgently.
"That I do not know." Zhang Pu shook his head. "Your Highness, what do you think of this?"
Zhang Pu's question immediately cooled Li Jiqian's excitement. He sat back down, frowned, and sighed. "Naturally, I hope she can choose someone she likes. As long as she likes him, and he isn't too lacking, I would grant her wish. But... ah... it isn't for me to decide either..."
Since Zhang Pu was Li Jiqian's trusted confidant and their relationship was far from ordinary, Li Jiqian did not use his princely form of address when speaking with