Liu Qi POV

“Yes… Your daughter understands.” But at this time, I had no choice but to respond like this. As royalty, and as an adult, I have to proclaim my independence, that I am old enough to stand on my own.

Especially when I’m in front of Liu Cong who is still immature and soft.

When I looked at Liu Cong, I saw that she was frowning and seemed to be agonising over how to respond. After a moment, she nodded, “I understand, father. I will a.s.sist elder sister Kuai Liang to the best of my abilities.”

Father nodded and looked at me, “Well then, Qi’er, how about you?”

“Eh?” This sudden question surprised me, “Me?”

Though I could largely guess what father’s intent was, I still erred on the side of caution and asked him.

“You’ve been a colonel for a while now. I’ve seen what you’re capable of.” Father said and smiled, “What do you want to do next?”

Father’s eyes were deep and I believe that this is not a misconception of mine, that father is trying to send me a message.

— Take over my position.

Eh?

Wu!

Just then, this thought popped up in my head and when it did, my heart skipped a beat and I felt weak in my knees.

“Ah… That’s…” I opened my mouth but could not say anything coherent.

All it took was a simply reply but it was much heavier than I thought it would be.

“It’s fine, just say what you want to do the most.” Father said softly, his eyes continuing to send the same message.

“Ah…”

Liu Qi, what are you hesitating for? Back when you went to Jiangxia, you openly stated your lofty ambitions and displayed the drive for it, yet why have you become a coward who is afraid to take the next step?!

Father…

Haa… Huu… I took a deep breath and put aside all my stray thoughts and considered only father’s question. What is it, that I want most now?

“… Father, I’ve thought about it.” When I came to an answer, I looked at father and slowly delivered my reply, “I intend to command the garrison of Jiangxia.”

“Command the garrison of… Jiangxia?” Father frowned and seemed troubled at my words.

“Elder sister?” Liu Cong reacted similarly.

But this is all that comes to mind now.

“Yes, that is my decision.” I stood up and continued in as firm a tone as I could, “I was the one who received the Jiangdong amba.s.sador and I also partic.i.p.ated in the Battle of Jiangxia. I believe that taking command of Jiangxia for a time will greatly further my personal development.”

Yes, the reason why I chose to go to Jiangxia is for my personal development.

If I take father’s position now, destruction will only await me.

Instead of taking helm in a rush, I would rather take my time for now and make myself worthy of the position. Facing reality and taking firm steps towards a goal is what uncle taught me after all.

(TL: …)

“I see…” Father’s displeased expression remained on his face even after he heard what I said but then he sighed and did not say much else, “… That works as well, I guess.”

Father nodded and smiled, “Looks like it was the right decision to send blood brother with you to Jiangxia.”

“Yes,” I smiled and nodded back, “I too feel the same.”

Perhaps uncle taught me a lot more than I thought. Even though uncle does not seem like much at firs

t glance, I agree wholeheartedly with what father said.

Liu Bei would have saved the world, but now, he has fallen…

When I thought about this, my heart began to ache once more. It’s been almost half a month now but I still cannot come to terms with what happened.

“In any case,” I said as I took a deep breath and saluted, “Don’t worry, father. When I can really stand on my own, I will return. When the time comes, I hope that father can ask me the same question again.”

“Un,” Father said as he raised his arms laboriously but still managed to salute properly, “I will wait for that day to come.” I said. There was a lot more I wanted to say but I did not dare to continue as I was afraid that my resolve would crumble away.

“Father, please take care.” I said and steeled myself to turn away. But then, for some unknown reason, my mouth opened once more, “… Liu Cong, you’re the only one with father now, take good care of him.”

When I finished, I felt like my heart was being engulfed by a whirlpool of emotions and immediately left. When I made it out of the room, I began to sprint out of the mansion. Only when I made it out and took some deep breaths did I manage to calm down.

If it were not for the pain from the intense heat from the sun, I would have thought that what just happened was just a dream. Now that I think about it, the exchange I just had with father was simply incredible. I wonder, when did father decide to let me be his heir? There was no forewarning at all.

But… I really got caught up in the moment and shot myself in the foot. As expected, I began to regret my decision the moment I left.

I could have said that I wanted to be his heir before saying all that stuff about improving myself…

“What is the young mistress doing moping around at the doorway?” A light, dull voice came from the side. The voice was not loud and felt calm like one’s normal breathing.

“Ah!” I got a shock and when I looked over, I found that it was a very familiar face, “You gave me a shock, Yi Ji…”

“The young mistress doesn’t look like she has been shocked at all.”

“I did indeed feel shocked.”

You of all people are not fit to talk about how others do not show their feelings in their expressions.

“By the way, what did you just say about me?”

“Nothing.”

“… Fine, I’ll take it that you said nothing.” I wanted to send her some barbs in return but then lost the mood for it and decided against it, “By the way, what is Yi Ji here for?”

“For work.” Yi Ji said as she looked at me, “Thanks to a certain someone who has been preoccupied with personal affairs lately, Lord Wen Ping and I have had much more work to do.”

That’s me… Why does Yi Ji always have to say things in such a roundabout manner…

“I’ll make it up later on.” I said in an apologetic tone as I coughed.

“There’s no need for that.” Yi Ji said as she closed her eyes, looking satisfied. Seems like those few words of mine are enough for her.

As we continued walking back, we chatted along the way. Though we’ve been lord and retainer for a while now, it seems like we’ve gotten much more intimate recently. It seems like I’m joking around more often and our conversations are more lively. Yi Ji has also been less formal with me.

This time, the main topics of our conversation were the recent events, father’s illness, Cai Mao’s punishment and how father hoped for me to be his heir. In particular, I also asked Yi Ji if there was any news about uncle.

For the past half a month, Wen Ping has been in charge of the search. Though I had asked Wen Ping about it already this morning, there is always the possibility that there is new information later in the day.

“Nothing.” Yi Ji replied, in a tone devoid of irritation.

I do not know when it began but my att.i.tude towards finding uncle has changed. I first thought that it would be better to find a corpse than nothing at all but now, I’m beginning to hope that uncle will not be found.

There is always the possibility that uncle is still alive as long as nothing has been found. Instead of believing that uncle has drowned, I might as well believe that uncle somehow escaped and will eventually reappear before me one day.

By the way, it seems like Yi Ji is really affected by what happened to uncle as well. In the beginning, her previously flawless work was riddled with mistakes and she seemed completely out of it. Only after she was given leave for a day, where she just stayed inside her room the whole day in a daze, did she slowly recover.

From how she looks now, she should be fine now.

“Oh right, there’s more.” I said when I remembered that there was more to tell her about my reply to father. My account of what just happened stopped at where father asked me what I wanted to do. This, also happened to be the most important point which was probably why I decided to tell her everything else first.

“Un,” Yi Ji nodded and before I could continue, she stared at me closely before saying. “Looking at the young mistress, I’m afraid you did not do as my lord wished right?”

You guessed it. And how did you tell when my expression should be normal now?

“Yes.” I said, feeling impressed and shrugged as I nodded, “I’ve decided to be the Administrator of Jiangxia for the time being.”