DDDV Ch 139 Part 2 – As an Impartial Daughter (II)

Several colorful birds landed on the eaves and hopped nimbly along the roof ridge, chirping continuously. Sunlight streamed in through the wide-open windows, casting a golden glow on the floor.

“Little Martial Aunt? Little Martial Aunt!” Today, Suqing came to help Lu Yaoyao get ready as usual, but she didn’t see her already up, so she knocked on the bedroom door. “Little Martial Aunt, it’s time to get up! You have to go to class.”

In the adjacent study room, Lu Yaoyao was suddenly awakened from her slumber, and without even opening her eyes, she reached for a brush.

“Where was I in the letter? I need to continue writing…” Lu Yaoyao’s fair face and hands were smeared with dried ink, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Suqing knocked on the door for a while, and when she knocked harder, the door opened slightly. She exclaimed and pushed the door open, only to find that there was no one on the bed in the inner room. The blankets were neatly folded, and they felt cold, indicating that no one had slept in them last night.

Suqing walked out, and as she raised her voice to call out, “Little Martial Aunt, where are you?”

At that moment, she heard movement from the adjacent room. “Suqing…”

Suqing quickly entered the adjoining study room and saw Lu Yaoyao sitting at the table. She was covered in ink and seemed to doze off with a brush in her hand.

Suqing hurriedly walked over and placed the spring water she had brought on the side. She then lifted Lu Yaoyao and placed her in a nearby chair. “Little Martial Aunt, how did you fall asleep in the study room?” Suqing could tell that she had stayed up all night working on her assignments.

“Little Martial Aunt, you’re still young. You can’t stay up late. What if you don’t grow tall…” Suqing nagged nonstop as she quickly wiped Lu Yaoyao’s face and hands.

With a cold, damp cloth on her face, Lu Yaoyao woke up a bit and heard Suqing’s non-stop chatter.

“If you can’t finish your assignments, just tell Hall Master. Pushing yourself too hard is only harming yourself. Little Martial Aunt, you’re still young, and you can’t neglect your health…”

Suqing knew that Lu Yaoyao had an exceptional talent in alchemy. Hall Master Mo attached great importance to Lu Yaoyao’s education and was determined to personally nurture her.

The Hall Master placed too much hope at the moment and maybe didn’t realize that the number of assignments that a young child could bear is different from that of teenage disciples…

Suddenly, Lu Yaoyao woke up and saw the bright daylight. She was sitting in front of a table covered in paper sheets. “Ah, how did I fall asleep like this?!”

Suqing also noticed the stack of paper covered in writing and thought it was Lu Yaoyao’s homework. She genuinely praised, “Little Martial Aunt, you managed to write so much in one night; that’s already impressive!”

Lu Yaoyao was not happy at all. With just this thickness, how long would she have to write until it reached her height? At this moment, she wished she were a bit shorter.

“Why did I fall asleep?” Lu Yaoyao almost cried in frustration. She picked up her brush and prepared to stay up all night yesterday, but she didn’t even know when she had dozed off.

If she couldn’t provide Father with a stack of letters of the same thickness tonight…

Lu Yaoyao clenched her small fists — no, it was too early to give up. She still had a whole day, and she could struggle a bit more!

“Suqing, I’m so tired. Can I skip class today?” She asked.

Suqing looked at Lu Yaoyao’s now clean face, which revealed dark circles under her eyelids. Suqing felt sorry for her and said, “Well, it’s okay to skip class today.” Anyway, there’s no rush until the exam. Little Martial Aunt can make up the missed lessons later.

Lu Yaoyao breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Suqing wasn’t strict. She smiled, “Suqing, can I ask you for a favor?”

“Little Martial Aunt, please tell me!”

“Could you let my friends know that I’m not taking the class today?”

“No problem.” Suqing knew Lu Yaoyao’s friends and immediately agreed, “I’ll go over and tell them later.”

“Thank you, Suqing.”

Suqing waited until Lu Yaoyao finished her breakfast and sent her back to bed. Only after seeing Lu Yaoyao close her eyes and fall asleep did she leave, still somewhat worried.

Lu Yaoyao lay on the bed for a while, and once she was certain Suqing had gone, she quickly jumped out of bed and rushed to the study.

Time was precious, and she couldn’t waste a single moment.

Lu Yaoyao seized the opportunity to write as quickly as she could.

…

Wen Zixing glanced sullenly at the empty seat beside him. After knowing that Lu Yaoyao had skipped class today, he couldn’t help but slam the table in frustration, “This is outrageous!”

Du Qianshan agreed, “You’re right. We are still new disciples, and it’s not good to skip class so soon.” He had been wanting to say this all along, differentiating between themselves and the other disciples. Others shouldn’t be skipping class, too!

Wen Zixing continued to grumble, “We agreed to skip class together, but she left us and went off on her own!”

Du Qianshan: “…” Let’s pretend he didn’t hear that.

Chao Muxue explained, “Yaoyao went to catch up on her sleep.” She looked concerned, “I didn’t expect Hall Master Mo to be so strict. Yaoyao stayed up all night doing her assignments and still couldn’t finish.”

Wen Zixing pouted; he also wanted to catch up on sleep. Since joining the Guiyuan Sect, he hadn’t experienced what it felt like to sleep in. “How about we go check on Yaoyao?” He said with curiosity.

Chao Muxue thought it wasn’t a good idea, “We shouldn’t disturb Yaoyao’s rest.”

Wen Zixing justified, “How can that be considered a disturbance? We’re just going to check on our friend!”

Chao Muxue thought for a moment, “Let’s wait until after class.” Indeed, they won’t feel at ease until they have checked on her.

Wen Zixing pouted again. Today was rather unfortunate; they had a full schedule in the morning and afternoon. Yaoyao had certainly chosen the perfect time to skip class.

Wen Zixing couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.

He also wanted to skip class…

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Translator’s note: