"Truly, I am no one of importance," Peng Mingzhu gave a deep sigh. "If I had to be honest though, the only reason why I even hold an ounce of importance is probably due to the treatment from the second prince."
"The second prince?" Tian Guang asked with a confused look.
"When I first met him, I thought we'd be in a relationship of strangers," Peng Mingzhu honestly stated while once again sighing. "However, before I knew it, he started confessing that he liked me. Do you know how much shock I was in?"
Tian Guang shook his head. He was not a girl nor a lady, how could he possibly know how it feels to get confessed by an imperial prince?
"I truly could not believe that a stranger would tell me that he loves me," Peng Mingzhu said with a chuckle that hid the sadness in her eyes. "But he continued to surprise me by telling everyone that he was going to make me his princess consort. Sigh…"
"You are accepting his marriage proposal?" Tian Guang asked while staring at her and examining her to see why Wei Kangnuan would fall in love with her.
Shaking her head, Peng Mingzhu answered, "No. I don't plan to have anything to do with imperials."
"But are you not already involved with them?" Tian Guang questioned with a confused look after staring at Peng Mingzhu for a while.
Tian Guang did not know how Peng Mingzhu managed to attract Wei Kangnuan, an imperial prince of an empire when there were so many noble girls out there that he could have chosen from. Or could she be a daughter of a secret noble family that is secretly related to the imperial family, only that no one knew due to the tight security?
"It seems to be that way, yes," Peng Mingzhu once again answered and another sigh came out from her mouth. "Are you currently thinking that I'm probably a noble girl from a secret noble family that is secretly related to the imperial family?"
"Another educated guess?" Tian Guang asked with a raise of his brow.
"Something like that," Peng Mingzhu told Tian Guang while crossing her arms after changing her sitting position into where she crossed her leg over her other.
"Am I right though?" Tian Guang questioned as he watched her change her position once again out of uncomfortableness.
"Do I look like I behave like one of those noble girls?" Peng Mingzhu instead questioned him back with a raise of her brow and while staring at him.
"No," Tian Guang shook his head and thought about her actions and manner of speech. "The way you speak is not like what a girl raised from a noble family is taught. Though, your grace and elegance seems to be similar to what is taught, the way you walk is different. If I had to say my opinion honestly, you do not seem like a girl raised in a noble family, but rather someone that managed to train herself to behave in such a way."
"Hm… You're not that off the mark," Peng Mingzhu praised with a light voice before going back to the important business. "Now that I've told you why I can protect, are you willing to be my subordinate?"
"How confident are you that the second prince will not betray you?" Tian Guang asked with serious eyes. "How confident are you that the second prince will not stop loving you?"
"Never be confident in the emotions of humans," Peng Mingzhu suddenly said as though warning Tian Guang, but also herself. "I'd rather be confident in myself."
"In yourself?" Tian Guang asked with a tilt of his head.
"You're not confident in yourself?" Peng Mingzhu questioned him with a strong gaze.
"What do I have to be confident in myself?" Tian Guang self-deprecatingly asked with a sad smile. "My married life was a lie and I do not even have the ability to return to where I came from now. So, how can I be confident in myself?"
"Your skills are something that is unpar in this world and the amount of knowledge you can carry is more than enough to have people addressing you as 'Master'," Peng Mingzhu told him as though trying to raise his depressed mood.
"Then what about you?" Tian Guang suddenly asked with curiosity. "What do you have that keeps you from wanting to kill yourself?"
"The people near me," Peng Mingzhu answered with a serious face while recalling the memories of the past. "Humans are social animals and having friends by my side has helped me to stay alive for this long."
"I was wondering skill-wise…" Tian Guang clarified after clearing his throat.
"Skill-wise?" Peng Mingzhu questioned as she leaned her head on her hand that was set on the tea table. "Hm… Perhaps my medicinal skills? Or perhaps my fighting skills?"
Then, Peng Mingzhu shook her head before answering again, "That's incorrect. I'm quite skilled in growing plants and learning about the history of oriental countries - mostly something of the same caliber as the Donghua Continent."
Tian Guang did not know why Peng Mingzhu emphasized on the Donghua Continent, but he did not pay close attention to her emphasis. Instead, he moved onto the topic that made her come to him.
"About becoming your subordinate...I will reluctantly agree to this idea," Tian Guang stated, although the hesitance in his voice was very clear. "However, if I find that I want to leave, you must allow me to leave with no attachments."
"I have no problems with that," Peng Mingzhu agreed to his demand. "If and whenever you want your freedom back, just tell me. I'll allow you to leave with no hard feelings and no deep attachments."
"You really will just allow me to leave?" Tian Guang asked as though Peng Mingzhu was just lying to him.
"I don't have a deep need for a subordinate," Peng Mingzhu expressed her truest feelings to Tian Guang about the current matter. "However, I'm more than sure that you'll be useful in the future. Thus, I've decided to save you and wait to see what's in store for the unknown future."
"I will be useful in the future?" Tian Guang laughed as though he just heard the funniest joke ever.
"I don't know how you will be useful or how useful you are, but I do know that me saving you now will come in handy in the future," Peng Mingzhu continued to express with honesty.
"I will take your word for whatever you are saying then," Tian Guang continued to chuckle with disbelief. "After all, you were the one that was willing to give me a second chance at life."
"Oh, right, before I forget - if I don't summon you, you can do whatever you want with your free time," Peng Mingzhu told Tian Guang with a careless tone. "As long as you're not killing innocent people and causing problems for me, I won't care much what you do."
"You are willing to give such freedom to someone who is supposed to be a servant now?" Tian Guang asked with wide eyes of surprise.
"My way of thinking is absurdly different from others," Peng Mingzhu replied to the question that Tian Guang posed.
Then, standing up from the chair that she was sitting on, Peng Mingzhu walked to the door.
Before leaving though, she left a final message for Tian Guang, "Have more confidence in yourself. Don't stray into the past too much. The burden of the past...is something that a person like you shouldn't deal with."
Leaving Tian Guang alone to think of his future, Peng Mingzhu finally left the room and followed the hallway to go back to her room and rest for the time period. She would soon go find Mo Nianzu to help her find a reputable inn as she would no longer rest in the Second Prince Estate.
Peng Mingzhu was never one to speak empty words and even if god came to stop her, she would still be stubborn enough to continue with what she had spoken. This was why there were many people in her world that refused to get on her bad side.
At the same time, many were anxious to receive her promises because they knew that she would never break her promises. However, whoever that made a promise with her knew that they must keep their side of the promise because she would make sure that karma would stab them in the back.
However, even with all the plans running through her mind currently, she was still thinking back on the conversation she held with Xiao Qiqiang and the team. She was also thinking about whether she would try to find a permanent residence in this world or would she not.
There were too many decisions and plans that she needed to make. Too many questions and problems that she needed to solve.
When Peng Mingzhu finally came back to her room and laid on her wooden bed with a silk padding that had cotton filling inside, she immediately released a deep sigh and let go of her tense shoulders and back.
'I'll think of everything tomorrow,' she sighed internally and closed her eyes to fall into dreamland.