Chapter 18 - Selfish Calculations

Murong Yun had taken his leave when Prime Minister Luo arrived at Luo Pavilion.

Prime Minister Luo looked around and did not find the person he was hoping to see, he asked with a smile on his face, “Qianqian, where is Prince Eighth?”

‘Feng Qing is here, Prince Eighth should be nearby as well.’ thought Prime Minister Luo.

Luo Qianqian, who was playing on a swing, replied with indifference, “You mean Murong Yun? There was a message from the imperial palace looking for him, he just took his leave, I suppose he now is in the imperial palace.”

‘Great! Prince Eighth is not at Lou Pavilion.’

He was racking his mind trying to find a perfect excuse to convince Prince Eighth send these betrothal gifts to him instead of Luo Qianqian, yet he didn’t come up with anything. Now that Prince Eighth had left, everyone shall obey what he said in his own mansion.

Luo Qianqian saw through Prime Minister Luo, she felt that greedy gaze sweeping through all those boxes.

Luo Qianqian was speechless.

But it suddenly occurred to her that she and Prime Minister Luo did not bear any family resemblance, they looked nothing alike.

Was that a coincidence?

Luo Qianqian still looked calm and collected while she was in deep thought about the family resemblance matter, there was a faint smile hanging on her face, looked like a sneer.

Prime Minister Luo walked towards Luo Qianqian, he grabbed the swing and pretended he had not seen Luo Qianqian’s sneer, “Qianqian… …”

Luo Qianqian now was sitting on the swing and playing with her hair.

‘Hmm, I remember he used to call me mannerless little brat.’ thought Luo Qianqian, and she kept silent.

Seeing Luo Qianqian’s attitude, Prime Minister Luo’s face turned ferocious, “Luo Qianqian, why didn’t you answer me?”

Luo Qianqian stood up slowly and shot him a glimpse, “Yes?”

“Why did you ignore me just now?” fumed Prime Minister Luo.

Luo Qianqian’s gaze turned cold, “Father has always called me mannerless little brat, you just called me by my name, it took me a second to realize it was me that you were calling.”

Xiao Yue was told to guard the betrothal gifts and not to pay attention to anything else, she watched this from afar, saying a prayer for her lady.

“You!” Prime Minister Luo was shocked, little did he expect Luo Qianqian would be so articulate.

He had always remembered his fourth daughter Luo Qianqian as a good-for-nothing, such a pushover, always crying for forgiveness.

Never had he spared any parental love to her, deep down he loathed her.

But now, his fourth daughter who was standing in front of him, looking more beautiful than ever, and all that sass reminded him of the love of his life — Luo Qianqian’s biological mother.

“Father, do you mind leaving Luo Pavilion now? You have seen it yourself, my place now looks cramped due to all the betrothal gifts that Prince Eighth has sent me, I have no time or space to host you.” demanded Luo Qianqian, she did not care to fawn him.

That reminded Prime Minister Luo why he made this visit, he put on a fake smile, “Qianqian, Luo Pavilion indeed looks a bit cramped now and shorthanded for guardians, I’ve been thinking we should put all these gifts in our Treasury for now, I promise I’ll return them to you on your wedding day.”

Such a considerate suggestion.

How shameless this person was! As a father, all he had done to her was treating her like garbage, and now he had designs on her betrothal gifts.

Sorry, she would not let that happen.

Luo Qianqian crossed her arms and smiled, “Father, thank you so much for your concern, I know you are helping me out, but I don’t have the heart to bother you.”

“No, don’t be silly, I’m happy to help. People, now move all these boxes to our Treasury.” Prime Minister Luo did not he the sarcasm, all he could think about was the treasures in the boxes and how they could benefit himself.

The butler was about to lead the servants to carry the boxes, Luo Qianqian sneered and said, “That’s not gonna happen.”

She was not planning save Prime Minister Luo’s face at all.

“You! Such a ill-bred brat!” Prime Minister Luo turned red with anger, how he wished he could slap the mannerless little brat in front of him!

Prime Minister Luo did not notice he was being very loud.

Hearing that, Feng Qing, whose top priority was to protect the princess-to-be, he put aside the box that he was holding in hand and threw himself between them.

“Are you all right, Your Highness?” asked Feng Qing with concern.

Luo Qianqian shook her head, she did not bother to correct the way Feng Qing addressed her at this point.

Feng Qing once again confirmed this princess-to-be was anything but a pushover like everyone else said.

She was a prickly rose, beautiful and dangerous!

Feng Qing was perfectly fine with the way Luo Qianqian communicated with her father, he knew very well how this Prime Minister Luo treated Luo Qianqian for the past decade or so.

What Her Highness did was nothing compared to what Prime Minister Luo had done to her.

“Prime Minister Luo, please don’t worry. I will assign people to guard these treasures after I’m done with unloading them, you might as well leave it to me.” observed Feng Qing.

Prime Minister Luo did not know what to say.

He just wished he had said something different when Prince Eighth asked him about his opinion, all those treasures in front of him! He wanted them all!

How he regretted that he had said something like all the betrothal gifts would belong to Luo Qianqian!

Prime Minister Luo’s eyes turned red, he was racking his brain on thinking a proper excuse to take away all the treasures.

And right at that moment, the First Lady was entering the gate together with Luo Yuyan and several servants.

Luo Qianqian squinted, she was so sick ant tired of the way the whole family picked on her.

Feng Qing almost drew his sword if not Her Highness signaled him to stand aside and watch.

Those people had gone too far!

Feng Qing now was aflame with indignation, he thought bullying Her Highness was no difference than bullying his master — Prince Eighth.

“Prime Minster.”

“Daddy.”

The mother and daughter cried loud.

Prime Minister Luo was still in a bad mood, he rolled his eyes at them and asked, “What are you doing here?”

The First Lady smiled at Luo Qianqian, and replied gently, “I heard today is the day that Prince Eighth sent the betrothal gifts to Qianqian, I’m here with Yuyan to congratulate Qianqian.”

Luo Qianqian almost burst into laughter, ‘To congratulate me or to have a finger in the pie?’

But she did not tell them off, she wanted to see what selfish calculations they were planning.