Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 25: I Love You

AN: Emotionally triggering warning! Read author’s note for more details.

Did she enjoy studying? It wasn’t a question Anji ever thought about. To her, studying was merely something she did when she wanted more information. Was studying something to be enjoyed? She knew her second brother enjoyed reciting poems and reading books. However, reading books was not the only way to find more information.

"Anji doesn’t know," she replied honestly. "I read books because they are interesting. But I don’t enjoy poetry like Brother Mingshen does."

Hmm? It wasn’t quite what Mingfeng was expecting. He thought Anji’s curiosity was similar to Mingshen’s. However, she had a more practical approach to things. Why was she so interested in reading, and what was she reading? Lizi mentioned the genres Anji read were very wide. However, they were all non-fiction.

"What kind of information are you looking for?"

For a while, Anji did not answer. She debated on telling the truth.

Mingfeng studied her. Although he was her father and did not always understand Anji’s train of thought, he could still read her expressions and emotions like the back of his hand. Her troubled expression was one that everyone knew best. Anji often wore a frown on her face more than a smile. It was why everyone in the sect did their best to make her laugh. Children her age should be smiling and laughing carefreely instead of looking as if the weight of the world rested on their shoulders.

"It’s alright," he smiled, pinching her little nose lightly. "I won’t berate you or be upset. Unlike your siblings, who know what they like and dislike, you’ve never openly expressed them to us. We’re just worried, especially when you’ve decided to follow a different teacher."

Ah, so that was what her father meant. Of course. Anji decided to study under Yan Ping because she wanted to live longer. However, to her parents, they might think she was abandoning them because they had no cure for her.

"That’s not it, father. Anji has merely been studying ways to live a little longer. I hope the Gods will forgive me for being a little greedier. But if I can’t live longer than what was written in my book of destiny, then I suppose I could learn to live a little happier and healthier and share that knowledge with others similar to me."

Greedy? Was this what Anji thought counted as greedy? Zhao Mingfeng felt torn. Of course, he was happy to know that his child was still as pure as freshly fallen snow as she grew up protected in his sect. The world outside the mountain was a very gruesome place with much greedier people. However, despite that little greed that Anji thought she harboured, her innate kindness still shone through. Even if Anji could not live for a long time, she wanted to live happier and healthier while sharing her blessing with the less fortunate.

Shocked to see her father crying, Anji immediately held onto his hand out of concern. Zhao Mingfeng was a very strong man. She had never seen him cry, even when the situation was very bad. However, according to her mother, Zhao Mingfeng cried on the day she was born. She must have been a horrible daughter if she had made her father cry twice.

"I’m wrong, father! Please don’t cry..."

Wrong? What wrong has Anji done? Still unable to understand his sweet young daughter’s thoughts, Mingfeng could only laugh while crying. He picked her up in his arms and hugged her in his chest. Although she was bigger than the day she was born, she was still so small and fragile.

"My dear daughter," he sobbed into her shoulder. "You can afford to be greedier and make many more mistakes. Even your brother Yihao makes more mistakes than you in a day than you’ve made in your life, and we still love him just as much. So don’t apologise. You don’t have to be responsible for anything you don’t want to at your age. So please be a little more childish. Otherwise, I won’t be able to do anything else for you except become a useless father."

Hearing how her father was berating and blaming himself for her misfortune, Anji’s eyes widened in shock. Although she was born different, she never thought of herself as unlucky. On the contrary, she loved her family and sect more than anything else in the world. That was why she became determined to work hard to return all the love she was given.

Shaking her head in his arms, Anji felt her nose burn with a familiar sensation as her eyes became wet. The salty trails on her cheek created little dark spots on her father’s outer robe as she tried not to get snot on it.

"Don’t say that, father. I love you, my mother, brothers and sister so much! Actually, I also want everyone to be happy and healthy for a very long time and not sick like me. If God can grant my wish for everyone to stay safe, happy and healthy forever, then Anji won’t ask for anything else in life. There’s no need for other ambition. I’m very satisfied with what I have."

"My Anji..." Mingfeng’s voice cracked as he rocked his precious child to soothe her tears. "I’m so lucky to have you as my daughter. In future, if there is anything you need or want, remember that you can always come back to the family. Don’t think about your political position as the successor to the Mystical Qilin Sect as a burden. The Celestial Dragon Sect has always been and will always be your home."

Hearing her father’s true feelings, the knot in Anji’s heart loosened. A small part of her was prepared to make the one-sided sacrifice of never returning to the warm embrace of her family and sect after accepting Yan Ping’s condition to study as the Mystical Qilin’s successor to live longer. However, truthfully, she wanted to dine with them, live with them and talk with them every day instead of watching them from afar and exchanging letters once a year. Hearing that she still had a place to return to, Anji finally acted like her age and bawled like the child she was.

Wisely, Lizi, who had long returned from her errand, stood guard outside the room and smiled with the books in her arms.