Vol 8 Chapter 86 (1/2)

VOLUME 8 CHAPTER 86: DON’T TELL ME THIS IS DILU’S SUCCESSOR (4)

Liu Bei POV

“Are you serious?” She asked.

“Without a doubt.” I replied and returned Yi Ji’s stare with a resolute stare of my own.

We continued to stare at each other. This stare however, was not of the heart-pounding sort that everyone is definitely thinking about. I am actually feeling very uncomfortable from this ice-cold stare.

After a while, Yi Ji sighed and closed her blank eyes, “… Please pardon me for saying so but you are just as weird as ever.”

“You’ve said that to me a lot of times already.” I sighed and gave a stiff smile. I looked up and saw that she had opened her eyes and was staring at me again.

Hai~ She then gave yet another stare.

“Forget it, I’ve done my part. Whether you heed my words or not is up to you.” She paused for a moment and picked up the bowl of water and stared at the ripples, “If you think about it, you’re no ordinary man anyway in certain bizarre ways.”

“Hahaha, I’ll take it that you’re praising me then.” I chuckled.

“No, I am indeed praising you.”

Eh? When I looked at Yi Ji, I saw that she had s.h.i.+fted her gaze from the bowl to me. It was clear from her eyes that she was serious about what she just said.

“You don’t need to be so surprised. You are by no means an ordinary man.” She said, and covered her mouth with her sleeve as she added, “At least, that’s how I see it.”

“Haha… I see…”

I was caught off guard by this and didn’t know how to respond at all. All I could do was scratch my head, smile and nod. At the same time, I felt like I should change the topic to avoid further discussion about this.

“… Ah, right, Yi Ji, I haven’t seen Liu Qi at all recently. How is she doing?” I asked as I leaned forward.

When she heard my question, Yi Ji’s eyebrows twitched for some reason, “The young mistress is doing well, she’s just very busy. These are extraordinary times as well, if she meets with you and Lady Cai finds out, she might scheme something again.”

Ah, that’s right. If Liu Qi comes to see me, she might be subject to surveillance or even a.s.sa.s.sination. It’s better to err on the side of caution.

“It’s fine I guess… As long as Yi Ji conveyed the message.”

“I have conveyed your message to the young mistress from the last time. Please be at ease.” Yi Ji said and put down her bowl before resting her hand on her thighs, revealing the rather attractive face which beheld a bland expression once more.

“Ah… Then did Liu Qi blame me or anything?”

“As I told you the last time, the young mistress bears no ill will towards Imperial Uncle for that. Instead, she seems even more motivated than before. For this, I am truly grateful to Imperial Uncle.” Yi Ji got up and saluted me when she finished. I didn’t feel like I’d done anything special that was worthy of that so I hurriedly got up and stopped her.

“But, I do have a favour to ask of Imperial Uncle.” Yi Ji continued. This was perhaps the very first time she asked me for something.

“Go on, please tell me.” I bade her to continue.

Un? For some reason, she came up to my ear and said slowly, “Should you meet the young mistress again in future, no matter how far she has progressed, I hope Imperial Uncle will give her some words of praise.”

And here I was wondering what it could be.

“Of course, I’ll definitely do that.” I readily agreed but after a moment’s thought, I felt a little embarra.s.sed, “To be honest, I really haven’t done anything.”

I really can’t think of anything that I’ve done which has led to a drastic change in Liu Qi. From my perspective, apart from improving her relations with her retainers and helping her trust them, nothing much has changed.

However, Yi Ji did not agree and shook her head at my reply.

“No, though you aren’t particularly strong, and you lack the experience my lord has in various aspects,” Wow she really is being frank huh, “But your image, and your actions, make you the perfect role model for the young mistress. At the very least, there are many qualities you have which the young mistress lacks.”

“… There are?”

“Yes.” Yi Ji nodded.

“You have a positive outlook, you hold strong views of your own, and most importantly, I have never seen you blame the heavens or others.” Yi Ji said as her eyes gleamed and bent forward, “I believe that the young mistress has learned some of what I have just mentioned from you.”

“Ah…” Is it really appropriate to heap praise on someone like this? I don’t know how to respond to this.

“Of course, the way you do things is rather strange at times.”

In the end, she calls me strange yet again… But compared to myself, there is something I am more worried about.