Chapter 47 : A strict father and a kind mother — their love is as vast as the sea

Liu Yingying released her hand, and after the Third Great Ancestor walked out of the courtyard gate, she whispered: “Old rascal!”

However, before her words even faded, a white-bearded head suddenly poked out from outside the courtyard gate.

“Ah? Girl, did you call me?”

“Ah~ No, no~”

“Oh… I’m old, so I’m prone to auditory hallucinations. I thought you were secretly cursing me?”

Liu Yingying trembled all over and quickly forced a smile: “How would I dare~ Third Great Ancestor, walk slowly~”

“Alright, alright, I’ll walk slowly, slowly…”

It wasn’t until the Third Great Ancestor’s voice faded into the distance that Liu Yingying finally let out a long sigh of relief.

This Third Great Ancestor was truly an old rascal, not easy to deal with at all, and his hearing was excellent, always keen on eavesdropping.

Gathering her composure, Liu Yingying took a deep breath, adopted a serene expression, and turned to the study door.

She raised her hand and knocked three times, one long and two short.

‘Dong~ Dongdong~’

“Enter.”

As a stern middle-aged man’s voice came, Liu Yingying slowly pushed open the door.

“Father.”

Upon entering, she first called out “Father” and performed a curtsy.

Only then did Liu Yingying slowly raise her head, but she dared not look directly, only glancing before immediately lowering her head again.

“Father, you called your daughter?”

“Hmm…”

Liu Chendong sat behind the desk, holding a book titled “Precepts for Women.”

When Liu Yingying saw the book’s title, she secretly thought, ‘This isn’t good.’

Sure enough, Liu Chendong’s next sentence directly hit the mark.

“Today, you went to that young man surnamed Xu’s house again?”

“…Yes, Father.”

“What, are you feeling unwell?”

“Yes… a little.”

“Hmph! I think you are…”

Liu Chendong was about to open his mouth to scold her but couldn’t.

He pointed at Liu Yingying, chiding her with a look of disappointment: “How many times have I told you? You are an unmarried young woman. What kind of behavior is it to go to a man’s house all day? What about the face of our Liu family if this gets out!?”

“Father…”

“Don’t say anything else. Starting today, you are grounded. Copy this book of ‘Precepts for Women’ three times and bring it to me! You’ll be ungrounded when you finish copying it!”

“Yes.”

Facing her father, Liu Yingying dared not resist in the slightest.

She could only take a small, aggrieved step forward, picked up the book that had been slapped onto the table, then retreated a few steps, said “Your daughter takes her leave,” and turned to leave.

However, she didn’t know that the moment her front foot stepped out of the room, Liu Chendong slipped to the door and secretly watched her receding figure through the crack in the door.

Looking at her lonely and wronged appearance, Liu Chendong felt his heart breaking.

Suddenly, from behind him, a mature woman’s voice came.

“If you feel so bad, why are you always like this to her? Don’t you know how afraid our daughter is of you, her father, now?”

Hearing that voice, how could Liu Chendong not know who it was?

“How can that be? I am her father! A strict father, understand, a strict father!!”

Liu’s mother watched Liu Chendong, who was leaning over with his backside sticking out, peeking out through the door crack.

And he calls himself a strict father with that look?

Who is he trying to fool? Only his eldest daughter, perhaps.

Throughout the entire Liu mansion, who didn’t know he cherished his daughter more than his own life?

Liu’s mother rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Go on, be strict. You’ll regret it someday.”

“Hmph, none of your business! I’m happy to! My daughter, how could she make me regret it? Even if she hates me, I won’t regret it, but my little cabbage definitely won’t be given away for free to some pig outside!”

He paused, then suddenly turned to look at Liu’s mother.

“I’m warning you, don’t incite our daughter! Otherwise, I’ll fall out with you!”

“I don’t have time for you. Our daughter is upset. If you, the ‘strict father,’ don’t want to deal with it, I, as her mother, can’t just ignore it. Move! You’re blocking me.”

“Alright, alright, why so loud!”

Liu’s mother pushed Liu Chendong away and hurried a few steps to catch up with Liu Yingying.

“Yingying.”

Upon hearing her mother’s voice, Liu Yingying’s eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she turned back to call out.

“Mother~”

They say a child is a mother’s precious flesh and blood.

When that soft, aggrieved “Mother” came out, Liu’s mother felt as if her heart had been sharply pierced.

“My dear daughter, what’s wrong? Quickly tell your mother. Look at you, so pitiful~ My heart is breaking for you.”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry, my dear daughter. What’s going on? Quickly tell your mother. Did that young man from the Xu family upset you? Tell your mother.”

There was no need to hide anything from her mother.

She recounted everything she had experienced at the Xu family’s house in detail.

She cried as she spoke, her usually somewhat sharp eyes now swollen into two big red circles from crying.

After hearing everything, Liu’s mother sighed.

“Oh, you~ I don’t know what’s so good about that young man named Xu, that you’re so utterly determined to be with him?”

Liu Yingying sniffled, her pretty face slightly red, and she lowered her head.

She didn’t speak, but how could a mother not know what her daughter was thinking?

Thinking of Liu Chendong’s expression, even though she knew this path would be difficult, if her daughter wanted it, and if she, as her mother, didn’t stand by her, who else would?

“Oh, you~ sigh… Tell your mother, what does that girl look like, and what’s her name? Your mother will help you figure things out~”

“I… I don’t know that girl. She’s very pretty, not worse than me… Also, she, her face was very pale, she looked like she was very ill.”

“Very ill? Then didn’t you ask if she was going to see the young divine physician Xu for treatment?”

At these words, Liu Yingying’s pretty face flushed.

“I… I forgot~”

This girl, it wasn’t that she forgot; she was so angry and anxious at the time that she simply ran off without asking anything.

“When will your hasty temper settle down a bit? You didn’t ask anything; why did you just come back? Next time you go, ask properly. I don’t think young divine physician Xu is unreasonable; he probably wouldn’t lie to you.”

“But… but Father has grounded me~ I…”

Liu’s mother couldn’t help but laugh exasperatedly, raising her hand to tap Liu Yingying’s smooth forehead.

“You, you’re really quite dense. Think, in this family of ours, who wouldn’t listen to your father?”

Liu Yingying’s delicate eyebrows slightly raised, and the figure she had just seen suddenly appeared in her mind.

“Third Great Ancestor?”

“That’s right! Go ask your Third Great Ancestor to take you out to play. Don’t worry, as long as your Third Great Ancestor speaks, even your father won’t be able to do anything to you.”

Liu Yingying was immediately overjoyed: “Thank you, Mother!”

She then ran out. Watching her daughter’s joyful back, Liu’s mother shook her head with a doting smile.

“This girl, still so impatient, I wonder who she takes after. It’s truly worrying… Ning’er, go follow the eldest young lady, and remember to come back and tell me everything in detail.”

The maid servant nodded slightly:

“Yes, Madam.”