Chapter 373 - The Last Conversation Before Leaving

Shi Qingxue returned to Duke Shi’s mansion after getting out of the imperial palace.

All people in the mansion were busy making preparations for Shi Junhe’s upcoming trip to the battlefield in the north.

It was not Dong Hui’s first time to watch her husband go to the battlefield. She knew that she didn’t have the right to say no, so she had to carefully prepare everything and make him have nothing to worry about.

However, sadness could hardly be concealed on her face. As soon as she saw Shi Qingxue, tears were going to fall from her eyes, but she restrained herself toughly. She just smiled at Qingxue faintly. “You have come back in time. Your father wanted you to go to his study after you came back. He has something to tell you.”

Shi Qingxue thought that she hadn’t told Shi Junhe that she would go to Jiangzhou, so she nodded in a hurry and then went there.

Shi Junhe was reading in the study. Qingxue had come to him, while he was still absorbed in the book and had no reaction.

Qingxue had to reach out her fair-skinned hand and put it on the book. “Father, I have come.”

Shi Junhe raised his head and smiled. Then he put down the book conveniently and rubbed his brows wearily. “Where did you go today?”

“I entered the imperial palace,” Shi Qingxue answered and then her eyes fell on the cover of that book.

It was a book about military tactics. Shi Junhe must be annoyed by the battle in the north.

Shi Qingxue pondered for a moment and then asked, “Father, is there anything that I can help you with?”

“No,” Shi Junhe replied gently.

Qingxue didn’t believe him but insisted, “Don’t take me as an outsider…”

Shi Junhe patted Shi Qingxue’s head, able neither to cry nor to laugh. “What are you thinking about? If there is something, would I refuse to tell you?”

Shi Qingxue thought that her father always trusted her and wouldn’t hide anything from her if there was something wrong.

So his words were trustworthy.

Shi Junhe didn’t give her time to make wild conjectures but asked, “Why did you enter the imperial palace?”

Shi Qingxue didn’t say that she had wanted to ask for leave for Wenren Chi and failed yet was trapped by the emperor. She just casually told her father that Mo Junyu planned to send her to relieve the people in the stricken area, Jiangzhou these days.

She specially stressed that Mo Junyang would accompany her, so she would be safe.

After hearing that, Shi Junhe still frowned deeply and asked in disbelief, “You are a girl. How can such an important job as to relieve the people in the stricken area be given to you?”

She was naturally subsidiary, and Mo Junyang was the most important.

Shi Qingxue complained in silence.

However, she couldn’t say something like that, so she hurriedly smiled at Shi Junhe flatteringly, saying with confidence, “Of course, he thinks highly of me because I am silver-tongued, smart and capable.”

Shi Junhe was speechless. How did he have such a shameless daughter?

Duke Shi had something on his mind. Although he guessed that Shi Qingxue didn’t tell the truth, he thought that it must be no problem if they went to Jiangzhou to help the sufferers.

She would just go to have a trip, and it was better than to risk her life at the northern border.

It was fine that she didn’t tell the truth.

Shi Junhe let it pass easily and just looked as if lost in thought.

After a long time, he suddenly asked, “His Majesty told you to go there with His Excellency?”

“Yes, so Father, you don’t need to worry,” Shi Qingxue answered and took it for granted.

Nevertheless, when she reacted as usual, Shi Junhe frowned more deeply.

He seemed to think of something and finally couldn’t help but ask, “Do you trust him so much?”

Shi Qingxue was stunned and had no reaction, as if she didn’t understand what Shi Junhe meant.

Since Shi Junhe had said that, he didn’t hide it anymore but added frankly, “Qingxue, I know Mo Junyang’s feelings for you. He loves you. However, have you thought about one thing?”

“What?” Shi Qingxue asked in reply in a daze.

She asked subconsciously, and even she didn’t realize what she had said.

Shi Junhe looked serious suddenly. “After all, you and he are two people. He loves you now, willing to do everything for you, and he has the ability to fulfill your wishes. It is great.

“But when you are old and not beautiful anymore, the man’s love will change. Qingxue, a woman’s beauty will fade someday. Then what will you do?”

Shi Junhe’s voice was prolonged and sad. He was really worried about his beloved daughter.

Shi Junhe had seen how nice Mo Junyang was to Shi Qingxue and how much he indulged her these days.

To be fair, the best love in the world was just like this.

However, when it happened, the father was more worried.

He was a man, so he understood the men’s deep-rooted bad habits.

When a man loved a woman, he could do everything for her and even give her stars or the moon, yet if he didn’t love her anymore but forgot the past, he would be more heartless than anybody.

Shi Junhe had raised this youngest daughter with all his love since her childhood. How could he bear to see that Shi Qingxue would be in such a pitiful position in the future?

So the father was depressed. He would never object to the marriage of a couple who loved each other, while many loving couples became unhappy in the end.

So he had to save against a rainy day for Shi Qingxue.

However, after hearing Shi Junhe’s care and thought for her, Shi Qingxue laughed happily and covered her belly, almost with tears in her eyes. “Father, you are worried all day long. Are you worried about something like this?”

She said playfully and casually.

Shi Junhe stressed involuntarily, “Qingxue, it’s not something insignificant. It’s about your happiness for a lifetime. Be serious.”

As Shi Junhe glared at her, Shi Qingxue had to stop joking and restrain her smile, nodding at him. “Yes. I am willing to listen to your instructions.”

“Qingxue!”

Shi Junhe looked livid and spoke in an anxious tone.

Shi Qingxue had to be serious, yet she still felt that it was laughable, with helplessness in her eyes. “But Father, what do you want me to do? Now the marriage is decided. Do you want me to…break off the engagement?”

As soon as she said the last words, Shi Qingxue seemed to think of something horrible and shook her head in a hurry.

“No, no, absolutely not.”

Shi Junhe said, “Of course, I know that you can’t break off the engagement. The late emperor granted the marriage, and even His Majesty has no right to break off the engagement.”

Qingxue pretended to pat her chest exaggeratedly and stuck out her tongue naughtily. “Fortunately. Otherwise, Mo Junyang will surely go crazy.”

Shi Qingxue knew this point.

Mo Junyang’s gloomy and vicious breath faded a lot in this life. He became gentle and agreed with her no matter what she asked for, yet it was under the condition that she didn’t cross his bottom line.

It was better to say that the man was more skilled in pretending than to say that he became kind-hearted.

He concealed all his emotions, and others couldn’t see through him but felt panic-stricken in front of him.

Shi Qingxue might dare to offend Mo Junyang depending on his love for her in something else, yet when it came to this matter…

She was timid and afraid of death.

Moreover, she didn’t plan to break up with Mo Junyang.

Shi Qingxue felt too shy to reveal her feelings to Shi Junhe for the last point, which made him more worried.

Seeing that Shi Qingxue was so afraid of Mo Junyang, Shi Junhe was more anxious as he didn’t know that she pretended.

He rebuked angrily, “Why do you fear him so much?”

Shi Qingxue looked confused. She didn’t fear him.

Since she didn’t answer, Shi Junhe confirmed his guess.

Then he continued worriedly, “I know that this marriage is set in stone. I don’t want you to break off the engagement. I just want you to consider more for your future.”

“Consider what?” Shi Qingxue looked more confused.

Shi Junhe just thought that his daughter was inexperienced and didn’t know that she would feel at ease only when she had actual power, so he taught her how to control power and other people’s feelings.

In the end, he sighed helplessly. “I know that you are not interested in scheming against each other, but you need to know one reason. With power, you may not gain everything, yet power is the backup if you want to do anything that you want to.

“I am not trying to ruin your relationship with His Excellency. It’s great that a couple love each other, but you can’t depend on him too much. You must know that a couple are two different individuals. You can’t be dependent on him. If you want to be at the same level as him, you must have power in your hands.

“As for how to control power, I think that with your wisdom, you can learn it with no teacher and don’t need me to say more. However, you should keep my advice in mind. Do you understand?”

Shi Junhe’s weighty advice made Shi Qingxue dumbfounded.

She finally realized that her father taught her how to keep a foothold in King Rui’s mansion in the future and keep independent to live a better life.

She had understood these in the past, and in the previous life, she had even exhausted all her mental efforts and been immersed in it for many years. If anybody else, such as Dong Hui told her this reason, she could understand the speaker’s hard effort.

Nevertheless, when it was Shi Junhe, Shi Qingxue felt that it was strange.

She was hesitant and surprised, but at last, she felt touched.

If Shi Junhe didn’t consider for her sincerely, why would he repeatedly tell her something that he disdained most to study even though it was annoying?

Shi Qingxue had tears in her eyes at once and grabbed Shi Junhe’s rough hand, answering in a sobbing voice, “Father, stop. I know it.

“I promise to you that I will live a good life and won’t be bullied.

“Don’t worry about me.”

She didn’t try her best to tell Shi Junhe that after the previous life, she knew that anybody might betray her, yet only Mo Junyang wouldn’t.

Even if she gave such an “empty promise”, Shi Junhe wouldn’t believe it.

Moreover, Shi Junhe never cared about what Mo Junyang would do. He was just worried about whether Shi Qingxue would live a good life.

Shi Qingxue was more willing to tell him with the fact that she would live in comfort in the future.

Hearing Shi Qingxue’s firm and solemn promise, Shi Junhe finally stopped worrying so much.

He had a smile on his serious and dignified face. “Great, great. I will rest assured when I leave.”

The father and daughter just took it as an ordinary conversation between them, yet when Shi Qingxue thought of this talk in the future, she could do nothing but shed tears and keep silent.