Dai Tianxing looked deeply at Lin Xia, his gaze seeming capable of piercing through every disguise and reaching straight into one's heart. He slowly spoke, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.
"Mm, I understand. Focus fully on your search. The Empire will provide whatever support is necessary. Remember, the restoration of the Star Radiance Crown concerns the fate of the nation. I look forward to your performance."
Though the final words were spoken lightly, they carried an immense weight.
Lin Xia's heart tightened slightly, but his expression remained calm as he respectfully replied,
"This junior will certainly not fail Your Majesty's expectations!"
He put away the storage soul tool filled with precious materials and, under Dai Tianxing's watchful gaze, turned and departed from the dazzling yet perilous Imperial Secret Treasury.
As he stepped through the slowly closing liquid-metal gate, Lin Xia's back tensed slightly. He could feel those two profound gazes behind him, as though they were physically branded onto his body.
Dai Tianxing's generosity was genuine, but behind that generosity lay mountain-like pressure and an absolute demand for results.
"Larvitar?"
Larvitar rubbed against his shoulder, its crimson eyes filled with inquiry.
"It's nothing. Let's head back."
Lin Xia suppressed his thoughts and rubbed the little fellow's increasingly hardened shell before turning toward the Zhu residence.
The treasury expedition had yielded abundant rewards. Next, he needed to quickly study that nameless gray stone and determine whether it could serve as a substitute for the Star Radiance Crown's core gemstone. At the same time, he also needed to prepare for the search for Illusion Star Glaze.
However, the moment he stepped through the familiar gates of the Zhu residence, an unusual atmosphere rushed toward him like an icy tide.
Ordinarily, the residence was oppressive enough, but it at least maintained the orderliness expected of a great noble clan.
Yet now, the air was filled with a tense atmosphere on the verge of eruption, mixed with faint, suppressed sobbing.
Lin Xia halted in his tracks, his gaze instantly locking onto the scene beneath the corridor in the front courtyard.
There stood Zhu Zhan, the head of the Zhu Family, his expression dark and gloomy as he clasped his hands behind his back. His entire body radiated an intentionally oppressive authority, like the calm before a storm.
His brows were tightly furrowed, his sharp gaze carrying disappointment and sternness, as though saying, "I never expected you to be this kind of daughter." His eyes were fixed firmly upon the small figure standing opposite him.
That figure was Zhu Zhuqing.
After only a few days apart, she seemed to have grown even thinner.
Wearing the black formal dress that symbolized her status only made her delicate frame appear even more heartbreakingly frail.
Her tiny shoulders trembled slightly. Her pale lips were tightly pressed together as she stubbornly lifted her head. Her dark eyes brimmed with tears, yet she bit down hard on her lower lip to stop them from falling. Still, her thick eyelashes had long since been soaked by tears, clinging damply to her eyelids.
Her eyes were filled with grievance, confusion, and the pain and disbelief of being treated this way by her own family.
That stubbornness, displayed upon her tear-streaked little face, seemed both especially fragile and especially strong.
Around them, several maidservants and guards stood silently with lowered hands, hardly daring to breathe. Yet within their eyes flickered traces of pity, indifference, or even faint, barely concealed schadenfreude.
Lin Xia's heart suddenly sank.
This scene was far too familiar.
He barely needed to think. Combining Zhu Zhuyun's earlier remarks in the teahouse about "tempering," along with Zhu Zhan's tacit approval of the shifting atmosphere within the residence, Lin Xia instantly understood.
This was yet another performance.
A performance personally directed by Zhu Zhan, and perhaps even involving Zhu Zhuyun, intended to "temper" Zhu Zhuqing's will, forcing her to "face reality" and experience "isolation," "helplessness," and "humiliation."
Lin Xia quietly walked over to a servant woman standing farther away and secretly watching the scene. Lowering his voice and pretending to be curious, he asked,
"Aunt Wang, what happened? Why is Second Young Lady crying like this?"
Seeing that it was Lin Xia, this special guest, Aunt Wang did not dare neglect him. With a hint of excitement from watching the drama unfold, she quickly lowered her voice and "reported" the situation.
"Oh my, Young Master Lin, you're finally back! Something terrible happened! Early this morning, Nanny Zhang discovered that the ten Gold Soul Coins she had saved up for so long were missing! That was supposed to be part of her daughter's dowry! She cried her eyes out from panic! And then then sigh!"
Aunt Wang deliberately paused for suspense. Her gaze drifted toward Zhu Zhuqing, and her voice dropped even lower, carrying an intentionally mysterious and suggestive tone.
"Then someone said they saw Second Young Lady wandering around Nanny Zhang's room yesterday evening…"
The corner of Lin Xia's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
This excuse could it possibly be any more clumsy or perfunctory?!
A six-year-old noble young lady stealing ten Gold Soul Coins painstakingly saved by a servant woman?
No matter how neglected Zhu Zhuqing was within the Zhu family, her allowance and daily necessities still far exceeded anything an ordinary servant could compare to. Why would she steal such a small amount of money? To buy candy?
Anyone with eyes could tell it was slander! A deliberate setup!
Yet Zhu Zhan believed it! Or rather, he needed to believe it!
Sure enough, Zhu Zhan's deliberately raised voice rang out once more, filled with disappointment and grief, crashing heavily into the silent air.
"Zhuqing! How has your father taught you all these years?! Members of the Zhu family stand tall and upright, acting openly and honorably! If you lack something or want something, you can simply ask! How could you commit such a sneaky act of theft?! This is not merely disgracing yourself, it is disgracing the ancestors of the Zhu family!"
Zhu Zhuqing's body trembled violently, as though struck by an invisible whip.
She abruptly raised her head. Tears finally burst forth uncontrollably, yet she still bit her lips tightly without defending herself. Her tear-filled black eyes stared fixedly at Zhu Zhan, clearly screaming:
It wasn't me! I didn't do it!
Zhu Zhan seemed momentarily shaken by that stubborn gaze, but his expression immediately hardened again.
"You still dare glare at me?! The evidence is conclusive, and there is even a witness here! Yet you still refuse to admit your mistake?! Must I bring out the family punishment before you bow your head and confess?!"
He pointed toward a servant woman nearby whose eyes shifted nervously while maintaining a face full of "righteous indignation."
"I… didn't… do… it…"
At last, Zhu Zhuqing forced several words out through clenched teeth. Her voice was hoarse and choked with sobs, filled with the extreme grievance and fury of being falsely accused. Her tiny fists were clenched so tightly they trembled.
"You still dare argue back?!"
Zhu Zhan roared furiously, his voice making the entire corridor seem to buzz.
"It seems I have been far too lenient with you, to the point that you have even lost the most basic sense of shame! If you do not publicly apologize to Nanny Zhang and admit your wrongdoing today, this matter will not end here!"
A nameless rage surged straight to Lin Xia's head.
He looked at Zhu Zhan's "grief-stricken" expression, at the servants around them who stood silent yet secretly watched the spectacle unfold, and finally at Zhu Zhuqing's fragile figure trembling on the verge of collapse, abandoned by her own family and pushed into a pit of despair.
His stomach churned.
How was this education?
This was clearly mental torture! They wanted to completely crush this little girl's dignity and trust!
At that moment, Zhu Zhan's peripheral vision caught sight of Lin Xia standing at the edge of the crowd.
His gaze froze slightly. Clearly, he had also noticed the undisguised coldness and disapproval in Lin Xia's eyes.
But Zhu Zhan paused only briefly before his expression became even more "resolute," as if saying:
Look. This is reality. This is what she must face!
He turned back toward Zhu Zhuqing once more, his voice becoming even harsher.
"Zhuqing! Apologize! And this matter will end here! Are you saying that a daughter of the Zhu family does not even possess the courage to take responsibility for her mistakes?!"
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