Chapter 18 The Visible Change

Days pass by as a new dawn of a new day started, sun shining so brightly as birds chirp happily. Ah! Spring! A time of love and romance but instead our protagonist in this story was cursing a certain "old man" so early in the morning as she read the mountain of memorials piled up high in her room, she had been reading all these memorials for the past few days as she tried to stock all of the information written in the memorials inside her "genius brain"!

*Bam!*

"Finally!" Huan Mingyun stretched her hands as she celebrated for finally finishing all the memorials that she had to read. "D*mn that old man giving me so much to read! If I had known that it would be like this then I wouldn't have taken the position as Du Hua and torture myself! If only I knew, even if they beat me to death I wouldn't agree!"

"Miss, congratulations for finishing all the memorials. Have some snacks, miss." Yinyue put a plate full of osmanthus cake in front of Huan Mingyun and then served her tea.

"You're really the best, Yinyue!" Huan Mingyun rub her tummy to calm the beast inside as she happily eat the snacks in front of her.

"Right, where is that "old man"?" Huan Mingyun had finally officially renamed Xihuan Shui into an "old man" because of making her suffer, she thought about it carefully and thought that it really suits him.

"Miss, do you mean Chief? Chief, went out early this morning. He said that he will be back soon before miss would even know it." Yinyue said. She had finally started calling Xihuan Shui as "Chief" when she knew that Huan Mingyun had finally knew her real identity.

"That old man, where did he go?" Huan Mingyun thought as she took a bite of her osmanthus cake.

After dinner, Huan Mingyun finally saw Xihuan Shui. She quickly ran to him and asked him where he'd been.

"Old man, where did you go? I thought you said that you will be back soon but it's night already, is this your way of "early"? I did not know that early and night is connected."

Seeing Huan Mingyun telling him off, Xihuan Shui could only endure her endless blabber as she goes on and on. They ad already arrived in her courtyard but she was still talking nonstop, Xihuan Shui could only nod his head in everything that she said to appease her anger. After talking for so long, Huan Mingyun was finally satisfied as she finally vented her anger.

"So, where were you? You said that you'll come back early but instead you came back so late at night. Knowing you, your not the type of person that go against his words, if you did so then something must have happened that had prevented you from coming back early." Huan Mingyun deducted quick wittedly, her mind was finally fresh and clear after venting her anger.

Huan Mingyun's sharpness surprised the old man because the old Huan Mingyun was not this sharp and smart but ever since she went missing she had changed, others might have noticed it yet but he did. What use could he be if he could not even see what is happening to her, the child that he had personally raised.

Huan Mingyun was like his own, a daughter that he never had. When she was born, Xihuan Shui was the first person to hold her in his arms. There was a rebellion at that time and he was ordered to protect the madam, they were being chased by assassins and was forced to fled to the forest when the Princess Manor was rained with fire. They then hid in a safe secret place that no one knew and there Xihuan Shui witnessed the birth of Huan Mingyun, it was no easy birth of course because their was no midwife or anyone who knew how to help a mother give birth. The only thing that the madam could rely on at that moment to not give up despite the difficulty of giving birth was that she wants to see her little treasure, she wants to give birth to her little treasure in this somehow cruel world. And also, she wanted to see her husband again so she persevered and gave birth to Huan Mingyun successfully.

But who knew that fate could be so cruel, his Master died protecting the previous Emperor during the rebellion. He saw how his madam broke down and could not get up for days on her bed, she was sometimes delirious and would sometimes shout like a madwoman when she remembered what happened to her husband so it was inconvenient for her to take care of the infant Huan Mingyun.

At that time, Xihuan Shui could not help but pity the newborn as he took on the responsibility to take care of her and protect her from the dangers. He became a father figure to Huan Mingyun, he thought her everything that she knew and protected her while his madam was still recuperating.

After a year, his madam had finally come back to her senses and had the time to take care and love Huan Mingyun. He was happy for the both because finally Huan Mingyun would be loved by her "family" but who knew that happiness is short lived, it was only three months away and Huan Mingyun would turn 8 but before that could happen, Princess Lianhua died protecting the prince's.

Yet again, Xihuan Shui found the little girl in his arms. She stared at her dead mother getting buried but never did a tear drop in her eyes, even he who had killed so many people was scared of her. He was afraid that the little girl broke, that was then the time he knew that the little girl knew nothing about emotion it was like she was not even born with one.

When he realized this flaw in her, he tried everything to cure her but nothing did cure her. Sometimes when the prince's visits, to see her smile was the most painful and heartbreaking thing in his eyes. She smile yet her eyes were empty, she laugh but her eyes were like an endless dark abyss that no one could ever reach.

The only time that he saw her smile so happily with her eyes showing a little bit of light was while she was reading a martial arts manual, ever since then just to see her really happy he would teach her martial arts from day to night an endless cycle. Even he himself was puzzled why his young miss would feel happy just by practicing martial arts but maybe, just maybe it was filling that empty void in her heart.

Ever since then, he would do everything to make Huan Mingyun happy even at the cost of his own happiness, he did not marry and take in a wife because his only wish in his lifetime is to protect this pitiful little treasure that is too pure for the world to taint.

But looking at her now, Xihuan Shui was really glad, really glad that he can now die with no regret. Huan Mingyun who looked like a lifeless puppet in the past, with eyes as deep as an abyss had now finally been reborn. She was now so full of life and could even think on her own, her lifeless sapphire eyes were twinkling with new light! She was like a lifeless puppet that was given a soul, the soul was making her shine even brighter, brighter than the brightest star in the whole universe.

'Miss, this old man is really glad. Really glad that miss is now finally truly happy.'