Vol 8 Chapter 72 (1/2)
VOLUME 8 CHAPTER 72: DON’T TELL ME THIS IS A SECRET LATE NIGHT RENDEZVOUS (20)
Yi Ji POV
“You don’t need to be so surprised. That really is a rare expression on yours.” The young mistress said with a calm expression, “Un… I’ve actually been doing as what uncle told me to, to get along with others and trust them. After doing so, I found that the people around me weren’t as cold or unapproachable as I’d thought they were. Even Wen Ping feels different from before.”
Why do you have to use Wen Ping as an example?
I nodded as I looked at the young mistress. The young mistress looked at me and bit her lip as she tried to say what she felt, “So… I was wondering if I relied on my own capabilities, perhaps I could win father’s trust and respect.”
“Young mistress…” I softly uttered as I went over to her and bowed deeply, “You can consider it over again before coming to a conclusion about this.”
Perhaps the young mistress was expecting to receive my judgement, but at times like this, it’s much better for the young mistress to make her own choice.
But to be perfectly honest, for the young mistress to think like this, there is simply no better outcome.
“And…” The young mistress seemed to have more to say, and I stood upright and looked at her but she had already turned around and had her back to me with her arms folded as she continued, “Ever since the Jiangxia expedition, my impression of uncle has changed drastically in all aspects, be it strategy, everyday routines or during crunch times when he can be strangely stubborn about certain things. That’s why when we were separated with uncle, I was indeed very anxious as I was afraid something might have happened to uncle.”
“Are you afraid that you might get blamed by our lord?”
I knew what the young mistress meant but I still asked it anyway. The young mistress shuddered a little and sank into thought for a moment before she continued, “Partly yes… But can’t I be personally concerned for uncle? As fellow royalty who share the same bloodline, we should be looking out for each other.”
“Naturally.” I replied. The young mistress’ choice of words was so stubbornly defensive that I wanted to burst into laughter.
“Un,” The young mistress looked up at the night sky and placed her hands behind her back as she continued, “So during the banquet this afternoon when I saw Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang berate uncle, I felt my heart ache for some reason. I feel that uncle shouldn’t be receiving this sort of treatment.”
When she said this, the young mistress took a deep breath and spat it out to calm herself down as much as possible, “So… When I heard that uncle didn’t accept the command of Xiangyang’s garrison and would not be in danger any longer, I heaved a sigh of relief inside as I thought ‘Ah, uncle won’t be involved in the coming bloodshed any longer.’, and felt that it was a good thing.”
“Young mistress… Do you not wish to receive help from Imperial Uncle’s side?”
“I do, of course I do.” The young mistress replied very quickly and turned around as she looked at me with resolve in her eyes, “But I hope that I can guarantee uncle’s safety before that. I do not wish to see uncle suffer great loss or meet with harm in the course of helping me.”
(Instead of receiving help, I’d rather see uncle safe and sound.)
The young mistress said, the last line almost a whisper.
A gentle breeze blew, making it cool and comfortable. As I stood in front of the young mistress, I could feel that she had grown.
And the trigger for that was Imperial Uncle.
Though I know that Imperial Uncle and the young mistress had made some kind of promise of sorts, I’m not clear about the details nor do I know what kind of words Imperial Uncle used to persuade the young mistress to his view.