69: Chapter 55, Bury Myself and Tang Fei Together!
69: Chapter 55, Bury Myself and Tang Fei Together!
“Princess Your Highness.”
Phoenix Palace’s head steward, Chen Fenglei, saw Phoenix approaching and proactively bent forward to greet her.
Phoenix looked at Chen Fenglei and said with a smile, “Grandpa Chen, it’s been a while since I last saw you.
How have you been?”
“Ah, my Princess, just call Lao Chen…
I really can’t deserve that title.
Aren’t you shortening my lifespan by doing this?” Chen Fenglei’s voice was soft and his speaking tone sowhat sharp, which really did seem a bit like the ancient court eunuchs.
However, Chen Fenglei had not been deliberately castrated; such practices were no longer necessary in the court nowadays.
It happened because he accidentally injured a vital part while training in his youth, lacking a ridian of the Yin Yang Qi, so he could only exert himself in the softer aspect of his energy.
The more he practiced, the softer his energy beca, until even his voice and physical traits underwent a significant transformation.
“You watched my father grow up, and you’re about the sa age as my grandpa…
isn’t it only appropriate that I address you as Grandpa Chen?” Phoenix said cheerily.
“I daren’t accept…
Please, just call Lao Chen or Housekeeper Chen.
You’ll be comfortable, and so will I.” Chen Fenglei bent forward humbly.
“My dad doesn’t mind, so you shouldn’t make such a fuss.
Considering your friendship with my grandpa, it’s only right to call you Grandpa,” Phoenix said.
“Where’s my dad?
Has he had dinner?”
“He just finished a eting and was thinking about grabbing a quick bite to eat, but then Princess Your Highness, you arrived,” Chen Fenglei said as he helped push open the grand door, inviting Phoenix inside.
“Perfect, I haven’t had dinner yet, either,” Phoenix said with a smile.
“Ask the kitchen to send so food, sothing light…
Oh yes, bring a serving of Star Snail Soup.
It’s been a long ti since I’ve had so, and I really miss it.”
“Yes, Princess Your Highness,” Chen Fenglei replied with a smile.
Phoenix walked into the room where her father Zhong Daolong was sitting on a sofa, reading a docunt with a large cigar in his hand.
Phoenix went straight up to him, took the cigar from Zhong Daolong’s hand, and pressed it into the ashtray, saying, “Why are you starting with this now?
We had a deal, rember?
No more than one a day.”
Zhong Daolong was tall and stately.
His features, considered individually, were not outstanding, but together they were quite appealing.
Dressed in a well-tailored white suit and wearing rimless glasses on his nose, he exuded an intellectual air.
At first glance, he didn’t seem like the monarch of an empire but more like a professor at a major university, perhaps teaching a traditional subject like literature studies.
Yet, it was this refined and scholarly-looking man, often criticized by the public as being sowhat weak-willed, who wielded supre authority over the entire empire.
Zhong Daolong looked at Phoenix with a doting expression and said, “Didn’t we lose contact with you a few days ago?
I was beside myself with worry, and I didn’t stop smoking…
went up to two or three cigars a day.
Trying to cut back all at once now really is a bit hard for .”
“Just stick with it and you’ll get used to it,” Phoenix said, looking at Zhong Daolong with a serious and earnest expression.
“If you keep smoking like this, you’ll just increase your habit again.
It’ll be even harder to change back later if you get used to two or three a day, right?”
“Alright, alright, I’ll listen to our daughter,” Zhong Daolong laughed heartily and said, “In the whole country, you’re the only one brave enough to snatch away my cigar…
It’s really nice to have you back, daughter.”
“But isn’t it bad?” Phoenix teased with a deliberately cold expression.
“Nagging by your ear every day, not letting you drink, not letting you smoke, urging you to sleep early…
it must be quite annoying, right?”
“That’s the annoyances of happiness.
Those who don’t have daughters won’t understand this kind of joy,” Zhong Daolong said, chuckling.
“Don’t ntion it; these past few days without you nagging in my ear have really thrown off.
Food didn’t taste as good, sleep wasn’t as restful, and I kept smoking cigar after cigar until my throat was almost on fire.
I couldn’t even enjoy the usual aroma of the tobacco leaves…”
“Then that’s good,” Phoenix said with a satisfied look.
“Shall I keep on managing then?”
“Keep managing, keep managing.
I’ll listen to my daughter.”
“Let’s eat then,” Phoenix said as she glanced at the classic, elegant chanical watch on her wrist.
“It’s already past seven o’clock.
From now on, dinner must be before seven.
No more delays, or your stomach ailnt will flare up again.”
“I had just finished a eting…” Zhong Daolong began to explain.
“Right, I heard you outside asking for Star Snail Soup.
Have you not had it for a long ti?”
“Yes, you have no idea.
On the Old Land, you know what I was eating…
two-headed goats, red-eyed rabbits, wild chickens nearly half a man’s height, and field frogs and rats…”
Zhong Daolong patted Phoenix’s shoulder with compassion and said with a look of heartache, “You’ve had a hard ti these past days.”
“But it was delicious,” Phoenix said.
“???”
Zhong Daolong’s eyes widened as he looked at Phoenix.
He knew that his daughter had always been picky with her food, refusing to eat this or that.
In the past, multi-headed goats, red-eyed rabbits…
Just hearing those descriptions, those things would never make it onto her nu.
When she was very little, she would choose her food based on its appearance, saying she wouldn’t eat anything that looked ugly!
After just one trip out, how did she suddenly change her taste?
“But it was so delicious,” Phoenix said with a blissful look, as if those foods left her with infinite aftertaste.
“When I first started eating, I was really scared, but after having so…
it was amazing, truly incredible.
I never thought there would be so many delicious things on the Old Land.
It’s such a pity, though, I will never be able to eat them again.”
“Hehehe…” Zhong Daolong laughed awkwardly and casually said, “As long as you like it, if you like it…
I’ll have soone make it for you in the future.”
“Can I bring soone over to make it for ?” Phoenix asked.
Zhong Daolong looked at Phoenix and asked, “Who do you want to cook?”
“Dad, I want to discuss sothing with you.” Phoenix, hooking Zhong Daolong’s arm and resting her head on his shoulder, whispered, “I really thought I would never see you again.
You don’t know how scared I was when the escape pod was damaged and landing, how utterly desperate I felt in my heart…
I thought I was going to die, or even encounter sothing worse than death.”
Hearing his daughter’s words, a murderous intent flashed in Zhong Daolong’s eyes as he said sternly, “I will definitely seek justice for you.
Whoever is behind this will pay a heavy price.”
“Dad, that’s not what I an.” Phoenix looked up at Zhong Daolong and said aloud, “I just want to tell you how difficult it was for to co back.
You just said it’s good that I can co back, and I also think…
yes, it’s really good to be back.”
“During these days, I’ve been lying in my room all the ti, recalling the thrilling life on the Old Land, where it seed like getting up each day was a struggle, where each brush with danger was a narrow escape…”
“I also think about my current life, with a comfortable big bed, beautiful clothes, delicious food, and my dad being the most powerful man in the whole world…”
“I had already lost everything, but I found it again.
However, my friends on the Old Land, they helped , saved , helped survive one challenge after another…”
“They fed , clothed , helped fend off those assassins, and protected from being violated by the beasts of the Fla Shrine…
They did so much for , but still, their lives didn’t change at all.”
“They continue as before, lacking clothing and food, fighting the most ferocious Mutant Beasts, facing acid rain that could fall at any ti, and dealing with ruthless and despicable enemies…
and even those assassins who were offended because of …”
“I’m really worried about them, afraid they might encounter retaliation…
If they die because of , I’ll hardly be able to live with myself.”
Zhong Daolong looked thoughtfully at Phoenix and asked, “So, what you’re saying is?”
“I want to improve their lives, let them have enough to eat, warm clothes to wear, and live in a place that’s safe and full of love…”
Phoenix looked up earnestly at Zhong Daolong and said, “Dad, I want to ask you for a chance to show gratitude and to give them an opportunity to live and work happily on New Star.”
“I think they will be grateful to beco a part of the Phoenix Empire and proud to have a ruler like you as their father.”
Just then, a servant pushed in a cart loaded with food.
Zhong Daolong patted Phoenix’s head and said with a smile, “Let’s eat first.
While eating, you think carefully about your experiences on the Old Land…
and tell about those friends of yours, I want to know what kind of people they really are…”
“Okay,” Phoenix agreed readily.
Her heart, however, sank.
She knew her father was still hesitating.
She had tried every tactic, reasoning and appealing to emotions, but her father had yet to agree.
So, there must be a problem sowhere.
Phoenix glanced at Chen Fenglei, who was busy helping to arrange the dishes and serving the soup, as if he was completely uninterested in what the father and daughter were discussing.
Could it be because of that phrase “thinking of ”?
When the words slipped out, she believed that the separation would be forever…
She had been ready to part ways forever, who would have thought she’d still want to provide a ho for him?
“Zhong Yu Xiu Xue, you fool!” Phoenix cursed herself bitterly in her heart.
She had dug a hole and buried both herself and Tang Fei in it.
That’s just how it is in this world, whether man or woman, wanting to give soone a ho is an incredibly difficult task.
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