The next morning, the soft morning light streamed through the window frames, gently spilling into the room and coating everything in a tender, warm glow.
However, this tranquility did nothing to soothe the turbulent waves surging deep within Bai Li’s heart.
She slowly opened her weary eyes.
Her eyelashes trembled uneasily, and her eyes were rimmed with faint red streaks, a clear sign that she had spent the entire night tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
A myriad of thoughts raced through her mind — grievance, shame, resentment, and embarrassment intertwined like a tangled mess.
It was so heavy that her chest felt stifled, and her entire being was tightly wrapped in an indescribable fatigue and bitterness.
Even though it was a beautiful day outside and the Dragon Palace was peaceful and harmonious, Bai Li felt as if she were trapped in an airtight, stifling jar, where even breathing felt heavily oppressive.
She hadn’t even done anything yet, but simply recalling the fragments of last night made her feel restless and uneasy.
She instinctively turned her head.
The other side of the bed was already cold.
The empty bedding was smooth without a single wrinkle, leaving not even a trace of lingering warmth.
Without having to think much about it, Bai Li knew exactly what had happened.
That heartless Longjiu must have patted her own backside and slipped away after making her lose all dignity the previous night.
At the thought of those scenes from last night that made her want to find a hole to crawl into, Bai Li’s cheeks burned uncontrollably.
The tips of her ears turned so red they looked ready to bleed.
The shame and grievance in her heart surged like a frantic tide, nearly drowning her completely.
She never imagined that upon waking up, her purity and dignity would be so thoroughly shattered in a single night that they couldn’t even be pieced back together.
She was once the formidable and respected Great Mentor of Humanity, the “Father” who had painstakingly raised Longjiu.
Wherever she went, she had stood tall and upright.
But now, she had been turned into this tiny, weak, and easily teased form, unable to even protect her most basic dignity.
Thinking of this, Bai Li couldn’t help but heave a long sigh in her heart, which was filled with unyielding bitterness and helplessness.
‘Dignity? I’m afraid it was cast to the back of my mind and lost long ago.’
She braced her sore, weak body and tried to slowly sit up to change her clothes.
But the moment she moved, a sharp, clear pain shot up from her lower body, causing her to gasp and her small frame to tremble violently.
“Hiss…”
‘How can it hurt this much?’
Bai Li bit her lower lip hard, enduring the piercing discomfort.
Every move she made felt like walking on the edge of a blade; it was agonizing.
Her resentment toward Longjiu instantly exploded, and she grit her teeth in her mind, wishing she could rush over and argue with that girl right then and there.
‘That dead girl was way too heavy-handed! She is an absolutely lawless, unreasonable, Rebellious Daughter! To think I worked so hard to raise her, only for her to bully me like this in the end. I really raised an ungrateful wolf!’
A whole night’s worth of grievance had accumulated in her heart, nearly overflowing.
However, Bai Li took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, refusing to dwell on those scenes that made her feel such agonizing shame.
Things had already reached this point, and self-pity wouldn’t help.
Since her body was already in this state, she might as well hurry and complete her original plan.
Regardless of what happened, she had to find a way to get Longjiu to agree to let her visit the Vampires.
She needed to persuade Baining and settle her affairs so that things wouldn’t turn into a complete mess.
Having reached this realization, Bai Li seemed to regain some of her confidence.
She endured the faint discomfort in her lower body and tried to pull together her scattered emotions.
Moving gently and slowly, she put on her clothes and tidied her slightly messy hair before limping cautiously out of the room.
Stepping into the familiar corridor, her gaze fell upon the Dragon Palace’s well-known carved beams, painted rafters, and ancient, elegant furnishings.
Everything was exactly as it was in her memory.
Yet, it was this very familiarity that caused a complex, indescribable emotion to rise in her heart.
Memories of her time as a Dragon Princess — mixed with humiliation, panic, sweetness, joy, and embarrassment — rushed toward her like a tide, enveloping her.
Those past moments of laughter and tears, shame and anger, all flooded her mind at once, making her sigh softly with helplessness.
The Dragon Soldiers on both sides still bowed respectfully when they saw her.
However, in Bai Li’s eyes, this respect felt somewhat awkward.
She could only lower her head as much as possible and quicken her pace.
She shook her head, trying to cast aside those chaotic thoughts.
Now was not the time to be immersed in memories.
The priority was to find Ziya and Xiaomiao to discuss their next move and see if there was a way to convince Longjiu to let her go.
Relying on her familiarity with the layout of the Dragon Palace, Bai Li easily found the bedroom belonging to Ziya and Xiaomiao.
To her surprise, the door wasn’t completely shut.
Instead, it was slightly ajar, leaving a small gap as if they had known she would come and were quietly waiting for her.
Bai Li’s heart stirred slightly.
She instinctively lightened her footsteps and crept toward the door.
She cautiously poked half of her head inside, intending to quietly check the situation before deciding whether to enter.
But it would have been better if she hadn’t looked.
The moment she did, she froze in place as if a paralysis spell had been cast on her.
Inside the room, Ziya and the Little Meow Maid were indeed sitting there peacefully, appearing to be casually chatting.
However, what Bai Li never expected was that the culprit who made her feel so angry, annoyed, ashamed, and afraid — that Rebellious Daughter, Longjiu — was also sitting calmly in the room!
In an instant, Bai Li felt her entire body go stiff.
“You… you rebellious — “
The anger that had built up in Bai Li all night rushed to her head.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to scold the girl for pushing her luck, her gaze swept over to Ziya, who was sitting obediently with a blank expression.
She forced herself to swallow that surging fire.
‘I can’t lose my composure in front of Ziya.’
That was her only thought at the moment.
No matter how angry or aggrieved she felt, she had to maintain her final shred of grace and dignity in front of Ziya.
She couldn’t lose her temper like an uneducated, unreasonable child.
“Daughter? You seem to have something to say, yet you swallowed it back.”
Longjiu looked at her flushed face and her expression of suppressed rage.
Her eyes were filled with a shimmering smile, and her tone was thick with unmistakable mockery.
Bai Li grit her teeth and whispered, “Longjiu, it’s one thing if you call me that in private, but are you going to call me that even with Ziya here? Do you care so little for my face?”
“Daughter, you know that from the day you ran away, your so-called face ceased to be important to me.”
Longjiu spoke nonchalantly, but every word stabbed deeply into Bai Li’s heart.
“You!”
Bai Li was instantly speechless, her entire body trembling with rage.
She knew that Longjiu was past the point of caring and didn’t even plan to act anymore.
It should be said that starting from last night, this girl had completely dropped her disguise, revealing her bossy and willful true colors.
“Father…”
Just as the atmosphere reached a deadlock, Ziya suddenly spoke softly.
Her voice was gentle, carrying a hint of hesitation and concern.