Did Young Ancestor hear that? Gong Tianqing peeked at Xue Qilin’s face and found that the other party is gazing at her with a look of sorrow on her face. She evidently heard her voice her true feelings just now.

  As Gong Tianqing was worried about how to explain it, Xue Qilin outlined a gentle smile — though there are traces of sorrow in the smile.

  “Little Qing, how can you be useless? You are much more useful than me. You can not only help Little Seven deal with affairs and are proficient in all kinds of miscellaneous tasks, but you are strong. If it wasn’t for you, Little Yang would not have met me. If he didn’t meet me, he wouldn’t have gotten a chance to be saved.”


  Gong Tianqing looked silently at the floor.

  After who knows how long, her voice rose slowly.

  “I…… am I really useful? Am I really not unnecessary?”


  She spoke in a tone of someone who has a hard time letting go.

  “Foolish lass.” Xue Qilin stroked Gong Tianqing’s head, “There is no such thing in the world that is truly unnecessary. Anyone or anything that exists has their own value.”


  Gong Tianqing held her breath and raised her trembling eyes. She met Xue Qilin’s gaze and asked, “Really?”


  “Your Young Ancestor has a shortcoming, that is, I don’t dare to look people in the eyes when I lie.”


  Xue Qilin deliberately opened her eyes wide and placed her face in front of Gong Tianqing’s.

  “Look at me, am I not looking you in the eyes just fine?”


  Gong Tianqing was startled when the other party suddenly came close to her face.

  “That, that so……”


  Xue Qilin crossed her arms and snorted lovably.

  “If you were really unnecessary, would we need to work so hard to catch a bad child who ran away from home like you? If it was Little Zong [1] who ran away, I wouldn’t have cared!”


  Gong Tianqing fell silent again.

  If one day you lost something unimportant, would you go to great length to find it? She doesn’t think she would.

  Was it because she finds me important that Young Ancestor was willing to cross a great distance without hesitation and take me back — this is clearly such a simple reason…… why did I understand it only now? Gong Tianqing feels like crying, thinking that she’s such a fool.

  In that case, all she has to do is apologize.

  “Young Ancestor, I’m sorry…… I –”


  “Fine, I forgive you.”


  Consequently, before she could fully express her apology, Xue Qilin said with a smile that she forgives her.

  “But, I –”


  Xue Qilin covered Gong Tianqing’s mouth with a hand and blocked her words.

  “Little Qing, that’s enough — that’s enough apologizing.”


  Unable to let go completely, Gong Tianqing asked a little emotionally, “I…… made Young Ancestor show a hurt expression several times. How can you forgive me so easily?

  “How?”


  Like a summer flower in full bloom, Xue Qilin showed a smile — a smile full of tenderness.

  “Because we are family!”


  At this moment, Gong Tianqing vaguely saw the outline of happiness, as if catching a glimpse of a glimmer of light in the endless night.

  — family.

  Gong Tianqing couldn’t say anything for a long time, could only stay in place.

  If this is the attitude of family, then what are her father and grandfather? No matter how she thinks about it, Gong Tianqing can only think of one answer — strangers.

  “So, do you want to go back?”


  “If Young Ancestor wants me to go with you, then I’ll go with you –”


  “Little Qing, I’m asking you if you want to go back, not if you want to go with me.”


  Xue Qilin looked straight at Gong Tianqing.

  The bright yellow eyes are without ripples, are as tranquil as mirrors. The deep, limpid eyes seem to reflect Gong Tianqing’s heart.

  “I……”


  Gong Tianqing hesitated for a while.

  Finally, she shook her head blankly and replied, “I don’t know.”


  She suddenly felt that the Gong Clan is a little unfamiliar.

  Until now, she has lived in two places — the Gong Clan and the Merak Temple. Although she has lived longer in the Gong Clan, yet she strangely feels that the Merak Temple is her “home”.

  Maybe it’s because only in the Merak Temple can she feel the concern of others.

  Her efforts at the Gong Clan never bore any fruits. Instead, her investment in the Merak Temple brought her love.

  If you have to be able to love and be loved to be a person, then when she silently invested in the Gong Clan yet got no love in return — was she not a person before?

  She still can’t find the answer. But at the moment, Gong Tianqing is aware of one thing — she doesn’t appear to be as attached to the Gong Clan as she imagined.

  If it wasn’t for Little Yang’s sudden mishap, would I really set foot in the Gong Clan again? Gong Tianqing asked herself, and then came to the answer — probably not.

  Gong Tianqing finally realized that she doesn’t care about the Gong Clan at all.

  What she wanted to return to the most was not that place devoid of warmth, what she wanted to see the most was not her father who would always torment her, nor her grandfather who would turn a blind eye to everything.

  If that was not the case, Gong Tianqing would not have wavered when Xue Qilin snuck into the Gong Clan and asked her to return to the Merak Temple with her.

  It turns out that in her mind, the Gond Clan isn’t important.

  In this case, why did I leave the Merak Temple with Commander Luo, why was I willing to exchange my life for my younger brother’s health? Gong Tianqing tried to think of the answer.

  — needed.

  In the end, this word came to her mind.

  She seems to have understood something.

  However —


  “I want to go back, Young Ancestor.”


  Only Gong Tianyang — only her younger brother has always called her older sister, has shed tears for her due to the wounds covering her body. Gong Tianqing cannot abandon him.

  “Okay, let’s go together. But before that, you still have to apologize to one person.” Xue Qilin smiled mischievously, “That person went nearly mad from worry when you disappeared.”


  Gong Tianqing doesn’t have to think to know who that person is.

  They are the first person to care about her, to cherish her, to praise her when she did well, to reprimand her when she didn’t do well.

  Her name is Qi Qiqi.

  A red figure seamed to instantly appear in front of her, and Gong Tianqing finally revealed a happy smile.

  “Thank you, Young Ancestor. I’ll go to Older Sister Teacher right now to apologize to he and ask forgiveness!”


  ＊


  “Princess, this is the information you wanted.”


  In the Poster Princess’ study, Yinping standing in front of the desk fished out a letter from her clothing, put it on the desk, and pushed it to in front of Qin Shiyu.

  Qin Shiyu glanced at the envelope, and then continued to bury her head in the book in her hands, fully absorbed in reading.

  Although the information she sent was ignored. But Yinping, who is familiar with Qin Shiyu’s character, didn’t feel dissatisfied. On the contrary, she is a little curious about what her master is reading.

  — “Record of the Office of Eunuch Affairs”.

  When the words written on the cover of the book entered her eyes, Yinping showed a helpless expression.

  Record of the Office of Eunuch Affairs is a list of the names of concubines who are favored by the Emperor each night. Some are written more carefully, and even record the details of the concubines’ nighttime service.

  The princess really, she is unexpectedly reading this kind of thing. I wonder where she got it from. If His Majesty knew that his daughter is interested in this kind of thing and is even engrossed in it, I really wonder what he would think…… Yinping sighed.

  [1] – Liu Chengzong – the guy who held a grudge against Xue Qilin for burying the corpse of Luo Qing, who killed his adoptive son in Volume 1. He tried to have Xue Qilin assassinated by the Shadow Gate and messed up Xue Qilin’s relationship with Shui Yun’er in Volume 2