Chapter 97

But the technologies like iron refining and papermaking were different. These two could only be controlled by someone who would never betray her.

Right now, facing Scholar Fu, she didn't have anything in her hand that could guarantee he would always stay loyal.

Scholar Fu... as a certain memory fragment came to mind, Elara put down the bamboo slip in her hand. She looked at Scholar Fu's gentle, jade-like side profile and suddenly asked,

"Scholar Fu, I'm a little curious. Back then, why did you agree to enter the Princess's Residence of your own will?"

Yes, even though she kept saying Scholar Fu had been forcibly taken by the original Elara, there was a little bit of unfairness in that claim.

Although the original Elara really had planned to take this handsome and elegant top scholar by force, regardless of whether he agreed or not, the result wouldn't have changed.

But before she ever acted on that plan, Scholar Fu had already entered the residence without resistance. He could even be described as obedient, staying quietly there for two whole years.

Scholar Fu's face didn't change at all when Elara asked her question. He answered as if it were just a normal greeting.

"It was fate. Meeting the princess was something destined in my life. Why resist it?"

If it weren't for the lack of expression on his face, his words could almost be taken as a direct confession in this ancient world.

But looking at Scholar Fu's calm and gentle profile, Elara knew he was only stating what he truly believed. She couldn't help but smile. This Scholar Fu wasn't quite what she had imagined.

"Does the top scholar also know how to tell fortunes? Did you already know that meeting me was unavoidable?"

"I know a little. But whether I can tell fortunes or not, what difference does it make? What's meant to happen will still happen."

Elara raised her brow slightly. These words carried a sense of Daoist acceptance of fate. Was this why he hadn't resisted at all when he entered the Princess's manor?

She stared at Scholar Fu for two seconds. It seemed she really did need to adjust how she saw him.

If he truly followed fate and had no desire to fight or struggle, Elara's wariness toward him would lessen. People like that usually move toward a path away from worldly desires. No matter how tempting the rewards, they might find more joy in a Buddhist lamp or a scroll of Daoist texts.

Such a person would not be likely to betray her.

But if that were true, how could she keep someone like him close and working for her?

Scholar Fu was just too useful. Even in the twenty-first century, finding such an efficient and reliable secretary would be difficult. And now she was stuck in an ancient world without proper education systems.

Elara felt a little unwilling to let him go.

She thought for a moment. Then, staring at his pale and calm profile, she asked again, "So, did you ever try to calculate how long our fate together will last?"

Scholar Fu lifted his eyes from the bamboo scroll and looked at her. "Not yet."

That wasn't a helpful answer. Elara didn't want to wake up one day and find her newly chosen second chief aide had suddenly disappeared like a breeze.

She remembered the original reason she brought him out of Plumera Capital. She asked carefully, "Are you an old friend of Emory?"

"Something like that."

Elara raised her brow again. Just "something like that"? Emory had almost thrown everything away just to get him out of the Princess's manor. When he came to talk with her, all he talked about was Scholar Fu.

As long as she let Scholar Fu go, Emory was willing to accept any condition.

That didn't match Scholar Fu's calm tone when he said "something like that."

Elara looked at his gentle eyes and brows. She thought a moment and asked softly, "Then do you know what Emory has gone through in the past two years inside the Princess's manor because of you?"

Scholar Fu's tone stayed mild. "I visited him after he entered the manor. I told him that what happened to me didn't require such actions. But everyone has their own fate.

Emory entering the manor might partly be because of me. But that wasn't the whole reason. He has his own path and cause."

So Emory entered the manor mainly because of his own destiny? Just like how Scholar Fu entered hers? Was there also some destined connection between her and Emory, just like hers with Scholar Fu?

Elara never used to believe in fate. But hearing Scholar Fu's calm and steady voice now, she found it kind of interesting.