The bright moon hangs high, beckoning him down from his pedestal.

Shen Wangxi was stunned by the three words she used to address him by his name, and almost thought he had misheard.

He slowly turned around and met her raised face.

Her delicate face was still streaked with tears, yet she remained remarkably calm as she spoke, "You think I'm not worthy of being your daughter."

"You think I'm trying too hard to gain your pity, you think I'm disgusting."

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze seemingly both puzzled and mocking. "But why don't you think about yourself?"

"Are you even worthy to be my father?"

Shen Wangxi frowned, wanting to reprimand her, but was silenced by her next words.

"From childhood to adulthood, besides food, clothing, and daily necessities, what have you ever given me—those cold, inanimate objects?"

She looked at him, tears welling in her eyes, but stubbornly refused to fall. "Have you ever truly looked at me, even once?"

"You personally taught Shen Jingyan how to ride a horse and learn to write, and you were her first teacher."

"But you don't even know how old I was when I started school, whether I could read or write, do you?"

She suddenly smiled and said, "Let me tell you, Shen Wangxi, 'going back to where he came from,' my mother taught me to recognize all of them when I was five years old."

Shen Wangxi froze, a memory flashing through her mind of how, not long ago in Qingyi Palace, she had looked up at the character "Hui" and asked him a question.

Her voice pulled him out of his memories, "But that day, I pretended not to know her and stammered as I read, hoping that you could teach me a few more words like you taught Shen Jingyan, and spend more time with me."

"And you believed it without hesitation."

Shen Wangxi's throat tightened, and he couldn't utter a rebuttal.

"When I was fifteen, my mother's health had been poor, but she persevered so that she could see me come of age."

"But I had just come of age, she had just left, her body was not even cold, and you casually said: 'Go ahead,' and then you threw me into Daliang to fend for myself."

"Did you even ask me if I was willing? Did you ever consider how I would conduct myself in a foreign land, bearing the identities of both a hostage and a concubine?"

"Later, after the Great Zhou Dynasty was established, Shen Jingyan lived in the prestigious Jingyang Palace, Shen Yinian lived in the Jingren Palace, and what about me?"

She glanced around the desolate palace. "Qingyi Palace, it was just a casual remark you made to settle things."

"And at the last spring banquet, I was almost betrothed to a playboy by your empress on a whim."

She finally choked out, "Shen Wangxi, ask yourself honestly, do you deserve to be my father?"

Shen Wangxi watched as she spoke words of accusation, tears streaming uncontrollably from her almond-shaped eyes, remaining silent for a long time.

Those details he had never paid attention to before were now making him feel breathless.

"You..." He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, perhaps to rebuke her for her rudeness, or perhaps to defend himself, but in the end, all the words got stuck in his throat.

He turned around and strode towards the outside of the hall, his back view subtly conveying a sense of fleeing in panic.

The palace doors closed behind him. Shen Wangxi stood on the steps outside Qingyi Palace. The warm spring breeze brushed his face, but it could not dispel the gloom in his heart.

He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, he had returned to normal. He coldly ordered the eunuchs guarding outside, "Princess Qingruo, your words and actions are inappropriate. You are confined to Qingyi Palace. Without my decree, you are not allowed to enter or leave."

The eunuch's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bowed and replied, "This servant obeys the decree."

Inside the hall, Shen Qingruo also heard the instructions coming from outside the door.

She twitched the corners of her mouth and smiled, a mocking smile.

Is it just a stay-at-home order?

Shen Wangxi, so you can feel guilty too.

Xiao Jiu's ball of light lit up in her mind's eye, her voice tinged with a hint of smugness, "Aruo, it seems we made the right move by spreading rumors. He did investigate, and he was quite angry."

Yes, those rumors about her background were spread unintentionally by Xiao Jiu using some unconventional methods to control various people from all walks of life outside the palace.

She achieved her goal; the truth came out, and their blood ties were completely shattered.

Although the process was more intense than she had anticipated, it finally broke the deadlock.

She walked to the window, looking calmly at the sky surrounded by high walls.

What's the next step?

Shen Wangxi is currently in a bad mood, and forcing your way in will only backfire.

She needed to calm him down, let time diminish his current rage, and at the same time, ensure that he couldn't truly forget her.

Her gaze involuntarily drifted back to the [Weakness Pill] in the system shop.

Some methods, though old-fashioned, are always effective.

Frailty, helplessness, and imminent death are the things that most easily evoke pity in the strong, especially for a princess whom they have severely wronged.