Chapter 168 - 2.64

Xie Yongrui rushed Xu Jiaqi into the room they had previously booked prior to their arrival.

Xu Jiaqi covered her face, embarrassed at how much Xie Yongrui was anxious about her condition. She felt like she was being paid a thousand people's worth of attention, and it made her flustered even though she was supposed to be used to this kind of treatment.

Xu Jiaqi: People do say that your perception will differ according to the person.

With Xie Yongrui, she seemed a lot more genuine than normal.

"Ao, what's with all this? I told you that I'm fine.. I just need some rest. I don't need all this~" Xu Jiaqi whined as she was being carried by Xie Yongrui and tended to the highest level possible.

He brought fruits for her to eat, cold drinks to drink, a duvet to cover her with, and many other things that assisted her even though the pain Xu Jiaqi felt laid within her emotional control. It was sort of laughable.

"You never know. Besides, my darling deserves to be treated with the best of the best, this kind of thing is nothing out of the ordinary." Xie Yongrui smiled. Combined with his peerless handsome looks, it was definitely a sight that would steal a lot of ladies' hearts.

"..You're having fun with this, aren't you?" Xu Jiaqi grumbled as she had a piece of tangerine be fed to her.

"Of course I am! Tending to my beloved, why wouldn't I have fun?" Xie Yongrui grinned widely, not having a speck of shame at all.

"Ha! It hasn't been a while since I recognized you and you're already this confident.. Tell me, is the meek, pitiful appearance you once showed me all a ploy, a device meant to set me up?" Crossing her hands, Xu Jiaqi turned her head away, a red flush starting to creep up into her face.

"I set you up for a lifetime subscription of a loving husband. Shouldn't you be happy?"

Xie Yongrui's warm voice made everything much more displeasing, as Xu Jiaqi found herself in a predicament as she was actually liking the development. Being treated so tenderly like this, she didn't know how to respond to it.

Even with Zenith, the man always had a rather closed off attitude until the end. He cared for her in an alternate way. Always being there, watching closely over her.

Whereas Xie Yongrui was much more prudent, and he liked to express himself more vibrantly using his actions.

Such fond memories.

"..Gee, I wonder." Xu Jiaqi playfully rolled her eyes as she delved inside the thick blanket and hid herself away, no longer wanting to face the frivolous man.

"Aww~ Is our lovely Qiqi feeling shy~?" Xie Yongrui was in a roll, as he continued to tease Xu Jiaqi. However, after considering that she really was tired, he stopped his actions and cleaned up all of the amenities that he had brought out for her.

Xu Jiaqi had to admit it, this kind of treatment made her mood rise and feel better about everything that happened. She closed her eyes, aiming to get some quality sleep so that her mind could be reset and returned to normal.

Xie Yongrui saw that she fell unconscious and smiled gently, brushing her hair away from ehr face so it wouldn't stick to her face. "Sleep well, Qiqi." He kissed her on the cheek once and left the room to take care of other matters.

When she woke up, it was already night time, and the rest of her travelling group was downstairs in the resting area having dinner together. Xu Jiaqi rose up from her bed and checked her state. She was relatively okay, although thoughts about Xu Yan still lingered from time to time.

Xie Yongrui was nowhere to be seen. She noticed that the System had left new pieces of information, which surprised her because he was only gone for a few hours. She noticed that the System might already be done with his job, so she called him out to check on his condition for the time being.

He popped out, making a notification sound as he greeted his Host.

'System~ think I might've provoked a thorny rose. I was too confident when I provoked the situation, I ended up stabbing myself and getting hurt.' Xu Jiaqi sighed. Perhaps she shouldn't have approached Xu Yan more than needed that time.

Pushing herself beyond the necessary levels just because she wanted to get some sort of leverage on the scenes. It was a rash move indeed, but she just couldn't help but do it.

[System thinks that Host did her best. Don't worry, Host. After we pass through this world, I will be able to upgrade even further. If we are lucky with the assessment, then maybe I could have a controller type benefit!]

'Controller type benefit?' Xu Jiaqi asked in curiosity.

[Yes, Host. As the name suggests, it's a benefit that will help us 'control'.. Depending on the subject and the level of the benefit, we might even be able to alter reality and the world's foundations! But for us, that kind of thing is still far away. However, if we get an emotion controller, I will be able to help you reduce the impact you receive in situations like this.]

'That's super convenient! We must do our best to get them. Since you are back here.. While I was asleep, did you perhaps finish collecting information? That was super fast...'

Xu Jiaqi stored the brilliant proposal the System gave, and made sure to fervently wish for a reward like that to appear.

[Ah, yes! I tracked down who Han Zhongli is. Part of the reason why I was so fast.. Is because Han Zhongli is a rather famous figure. It was easy, and yet difficult. Once I finally tracked his personal acquaintances.. It became easy.]

'..Famous? I have never heard about his name though.. Did I skip over some information? Me?'

[No, Host. The reason you aren't aware.. Is probably because Han Zhongli isn't a prominent figure in the regions you asked me to gather information about. That's why his name wasn't included in the data you memorized.]

'Wait.. By the way you're saying that.. It can't be, this body' birth father is from the late Empire?'

[Host is quick to catch on! Yes, Han Zhongli was a member of a powerful merchant family back when it was still the previous dynasty. Though.. there is something strange about him. Particularly regarding the timeline.. And how it coincides with the timing of him leaving your mother for good.]

'..Interesting, I want to hear more. Come have a little chat with me, we shall look at the clues properly.'

Xu Jiaqi's ears perked up as she prepared for the System to present his findings to her.

[Roger, Host!] The System responded enthusiastically and prepared all of the data he accumulated, readily gearing up for a thorough report.

[Although the things I've dug up is mainly the basic ones, it was still hard to get them. It's almost as if someone is purposely hiding them. The first thing I looked up was his family. The Hans are one of the 'background' supporters of the previous Empire, so to say. We all know that.. the previous Empire was much richer than it is now. One of the reasons that it could be that way, even though the Emperor was not the best person ever, was because of this family.]

The System displayed a diagram, showing the family tree of the Han family. [This is your father. The second son of the Hans. Han Zhongyuan, the head at that time, was actually not affiliated with the government whatsoever, but he had close ties with the Emperor, being accomplices with him. In exchange for economical support, the Hans would be granted with special permissions to act around their operations. All of this is a grey area... With unholy transactions being mixed in here and there.]

[In particular, Han Zhongli was quite the neglected child. He still had access to parts of the riches, so he lived his life quite lavishly. One of his jobs.. was being an attendant in the princes' palace.]

'...Go on.' Xu Jiaqi's expression grew more serious as her quick mind started to theorize on what this insinuated. There was a sneaking suspicion inside her head, but she hoped that it wouldn't be the case.

[*Cough*.. Host, Xie Yongrui was basically trained, taught, and raised by your birth father. It's a grueling twist of fate, but when he was out on his day off, he was dragged over by his acquaintance to the night district where your mother was. This was when he fell in love on first sight with her.. And when things started to crumble down, peaking at around your birth's timing.]

Xu Jiaqi's eyes narrowed.

As expected.

The reason her father left, leaving such a distasteful, unfinished letter out in the open... Was much deeper.