He Wants to Trick Me Away

Smack! Minister Zhuo slammed his hand on the table. "You don't know either? You didn't know he would say that?"

"I-I-I really don't know..." Grace nervously twisted her clothes, not daring to look at her father.

"Tell me, are you having a secret affair with him?" Minister Zhuo knew her well. "Otherwise, why would you keep trying to push the palace selection onto Cynthia?"

"No! There's no affair," Grace said, afraid her father would hit her, so she kept making up lies: "But when I went to see him... he said I was pretty and asked if I was engaged to anyone. I guess... maybe he likes me..."

"Really?" Minister Zhuo frowned, looking very displeased.

"It's true!" Grace insisted. "He definitely didn't realize I'm your daughter, so he pretended I was his, trying to trick me away..."

Seeing Grace's flushed, guilty face, Minister Zhuo asked a tough question: "Be honest with me—do you want to be tricked away by him, or not?"

Uh... I think I've already been tricked away by him.

Actually, he's the one who's already been fooled by me—meow!

"Hmm?" Minister Zhuo's gaze was sharp and piercing.

Grace cleared her throat and said, "Well... I guess I used to be a bit narrow-minded. He's actually better than the Emperor..."

Minister Zhuo's face instantly darkened.

"I-I was just saying! I'm about to enter the palace, I don't have any other thoughts!" Grace hurriedly explained.

Minister Zhuo finally looked a bit better.

"Dad, let's drop this topic. What exactly did he say to you? About Grandfather's signet ring?"

Minister Zhuo actually said, "That's not something you should ask about."

"Not something I should ask about?" Grace's eyes instantly turned cold. "Dad! How can you just burn the bridge after crossing it? I was the one who brought the signet ring back! Just to get information from him, I nearly got framed as a concubine by that crazy Cecilia Chen! And now you say it's 'not something I should ask about'?"

What happened to your integrity?

Minister Zhuo said, "I've already told him."

"Huh? What?" Grace felt like she couldn't keep up with Prime Minister Zhu's train of thought anymore.

"You—Miss Xi, you'll be entering the palace as an attendant alongside my daughter Grace. The list has already been submitted, so I can't give you to him," Minister Zhuo said.

"Oh... I see..."

"What? Are you disappointed?"

"No! Of course not! Absolutely not!" Grace didn't realize just how disappointed she looked...

"The lists of palace maids and attendants have already reached the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Stop overthinking it," Minister Zhuo said, frowning.

Grace blinked her big eyes. "Okay, Dad! I promise I won't overthink it..."

"Next, I'll be leaving Danyang City for a while," Minister Zhuo continued. "If things go quickly, I'll be back in seven or eight days. If not, maybe half a month. I see you've grown a lot lately—keep it up, and don't cause any trouble."

"Oh... You're going on a trip? Where are you headed?"

"It's government business. A girl like you shouldn't ask," Minister Zhuo replied, clearly brushing her off.

"Government business, huh! Is it about your private meeting with Evan Xiao?" Grace's intuition told her it definitely was!

Minister Zhuo saw her scratching with curiosity and finally sighed, relaxing a little. "Don't ask about this anymore. I can't tell you for now. But remember, as he said, you must keep this secret. Otherwise, the Zhu family could face unimaginable disaster."