I’m An All Stars System - Chapter 7 1.6 Star Dancer

After a moment of asking herself why her luck was so bad, she felt someone touch her shoulders, she snapped out of thoughts, and accidentally looked directly into the 2nd Imperial Prince’s eyes.

They were dark brown in color. Somehow, they gave her a sense of mystery, like they contained many unforetold stories. When her eyes moved away from them, she noticed that he had nicely tanned skin, giving him a robust and strong aura. Also, his red lips and angular shaped eyebrows added a sense of charm and majesty to his already nicely sculpted face. Unexpectedly, he had a small beauty mark underneath his right eye, magnifying his already charming face.

She had to admit, he was decently good looking.

The 2nd Imperial Prince watched her clear pupils dart around his face, his gaze was deep as he paid attention to her eyes on him. At first, he tapped her shoulders in concern over her silence, but his voice got caught in his throat when he saw her observing him. Was there something on his face? He couldn’t help but touch it to verify his guess, but didn’t feel anything off about it. Her continuous stares made him nervous and his heartbeat couldn’t help but speed up.

After closing in on her, he felt her pleasant aura and smelled her honey scent, he took a few extra whiffs, loving the feeling of it tickling his heart.

How fragrant. He wanted to smell more of it.

After he moved his gaze from her eyes, it incidentally fell on her luscious lips, by chance they were parted open, inviting him to take a nibble. His body started to uncontrollably heat up and his throat became parched, his hand reached out towards her chin and –’

“2nd Imperial Prince?” The leading imperial guard watched his frozen master and called out in a worried tone.

Both Tian He and the 2nd Imperial Prince withdrew their gazes from each other and stepped back in nervousness. Tian He was shocked that she actually thought the person whose been giving her nothing, but bad luck so far was good looking. 2nd Imperial Prince was equally astounded by his actions. However, his fired up male hormones and his fast heartbeat told him what he needed to know, he wanted her.

Her scent, aura, smile, pure personality, and clear bright eyes were all a fatal enticement to him. No wonder he was so curious about her.

Tian He spoke up first to break the awkward silence between them, “2nd Imperial Prince, since your guards have arrived, I’ll be taking my leave first, please excuse me.” She jumped onto a tree’s crown and headed for the academy, not noticing the peculiar glint in his eyes.

2nd Imperial Prince watched her leave until her figure was too far for him to see. He looked back down and took out a jade token, on its front were the words representing the capital’s most famous artist academy, and when he turned it around, on the top, the name, ‘Li Tian He’ and below it, ‘First’ was engraved on it.

He smiled slyly and kissed the token, “We’ll definitely meet again, Tian He.”

The leading guard captain’s jaw was about to fall out, his noble and indifferent master had actually smiled gently, he didn’t even know his master could do that!

2nd Imperial Prince looked at his leading guard, his aura changed from gentle to fierce, “Let’s return.” He jumped in another direction from Tian He’s and moved towards the center of the capital, where the imperial palace and his enemy was located.

The leading guard captain almost thought he was hallucinating but was quick to obey his master’s words, he turned towards the rest of the guards and shouted, “Move out!” The leading guard captain used his full strength to keep up with his master, throwing his ‘delusion’ out of his mind, he’s his master’s leading guard captain, he only needed to follow his master’s commands and not concern himself with anything else.

When Little Stars awoke from his absentmindedness, he already saw his host leave in a hurry, “Wait for me host!” He chased after Tian He, leaving a trail of pink particles behind him.

Suddenly, the 2nd Imperial Prince looked back in Little Stars direction, as if sensing something, but finding nothing there, he paid it no mind and continued his journey towards the imperial palace.

…..

Tian He opened the door to her courtyard in the academy, feeling weary again, she had too much to think about, but before she could, she caught the smells of the river water on her, I guess sacred powers can’t be used to wash off smells. She went outside to go fetch a pail of hot water, however; what greeted her was Yu Yan with an ugly face.

Her face was pale from lack of sleep and her eyes were puffy and still slightly red, probably from crying too much.

“Tian He!” Yu Yan immediately throws herself onto her, relieved beyond measure that she was safe. Her eyes couldn’t help but tear up again.

“Wu wu, thank goodness, you’re alright.” Yu Yan wipes her tears from her eyes, then her miserable looking face suddenly turns stern.

“Where were you last night?! We were worried sick about you, next time when you say that you’ll be fine heading back by yourself, I won’t believe you.” Yu Yan complains with a half smiling, half crying face.

“Coughs, Tian He, I’m glad you have safely returned. I see that you’re about to freshen up, we’ll leave you to yourself then.” Liu Wei smiles kindly to her, glad that she was unharmed, and starts dragging Yu Yan away.

“Tian He, once you’re done washing up, we’re going to resume our training, this time I’ll definitely become strong!” Yu Yan’s shouts slowly fades into the distance as she gets pulled away by Liu Wei.

Tian He smiles happily, the first genuine smile she had shown since her innocent childhood years. She was incredibly thankful for them not probing her for what happened last night. She could tell that they were contented with just seeing her safe and unharmed, she was grateful for their existences. They’ll never know how much their considerate attitude has affected her, she could feel that her closed heart began to slowly loosen.

In the past, she thought that she would only trust her parents and close siblings, but after getting to know them, she feels that they could change her mind.

Tian He brings in the pail of hot water to her room and fills up a wooden bathtub, she adds in a couple of fragrant rose petals, freshly picked from her gardens. After she soaks in the bath, she thinks about the recent events that have occurred.

Since this Chen Su Su is her mother, then why did she abandon her in the first place? And since her ‘current’ parents who take care of her weren’t her actual parents, how are they related to Chen Su Su?

Looks like she needs to visit them later to find out.

She sighs, unloading a bit of weariness off her mind, looks like the mystery of the original owner’s ‘parents’ abandoning her after she failed the dancing competition is cleared up. Since she wasn’t their biological daughter, it made sense to throw away a ‘stranger’ after realizing her prospects for the future were ruined.

When she got out of the bathtub and finished dressing herself, she was ready to head towards Yu Yan’s courtyard, however; she suddenly hears slight crying sounds beside her. “Wu wu, Host~, you abandoned me. Even after I went ahead and helped you, wu, why did you ignore me host?” Rivers of tears were pouring out from Little Stars eyes; a mini-sized transparent puddle was beginning to form in front of her.

Oh no, she forgot! “Little Stars”, she hugs his transparent body gently. “Don’t cry, I’m sorry, it was my fault, I was just too caught up in trying to figure out some things, I didn’t mean to ignore you. Truthfully, you’re the best pink fluffy floating baby I’ve ever met. I couldn’t be more thankful for your help.” Tian He consoles him nicely.

“Sniff, Sniff, really?” Oh, the mini-sized puddle is disappearing. She needs to redouble her efforts.

“Yes, of course, I mean what I say. You’re absolutely useful and I couldn’t do my tasks without you.” Tian He adds quickly.

“Sniff, host! I couldn’t be happier to hear you say that, I know I’m not as useful compared to the other advanced systems, but I’ll try my best to help you in any way I can.”

Huh? Other advanced systems? Don’t tell everyone has adult looking spirits, while I was stuck with this one?

Tian He smiles slightly, “Little Stars~, what did you mean just now by ‘other advanced systems’? What kind of system are you then?”

“Ah…that…I’m sorry host, I can’t tell you. I suddenly need to go check up on something, call me when you need me.” Little Stars escapes in a hurry, his pink particles leaving a trail behind him as he rushes towards the skies.

“Hmph, don’t let me catch you.” Tian He is extremely puzzled now, how come she didn’t get an advanced system? How are they assigned? Or does all the Hosts start off with a baby like Little Stars?

She shakes her head and clears her thoughts. First, let’s go see Yu Yan, the poor girl is probably going to fume if she takes any longer.

When she walks into Yu Yan’s peony filled garden, she sees Liu Wei already testing his instruments and adjusting its notes.

Yu Yan sat by the stone table, silently staring at the gardens, occasionally her gaze would land on Liu Wei. Seeing his serious expression while he works, seemed to have brought out his charm, making her enchanted with it. She didn’t notice this until now, but he is pretty decent looking.

The sunlight spilled into the garden, shining on the flute held by his jade like hands, creating a mesmerizing scene.

“Coughs, Yu Yan, shall we practice together now?” Tian He timely breaks up the beautiful couple like scene.

“Huh, I mean, yes we shall, what took you so long? I’ve been waiting.” Yu Yan drags Tian He deeper into the gardens.

“Of course, you’ve been waiting for me.” Tian He mumbles to herself.

Yu Yan totally misses Tian He’s whispers and quickly signals Liu Wei to start playing the recent song he finished composing.

Yu Yan turns to Tian He, asking her if she was ready to dance with her. Tian He nods happily in acknowledgement.

When the music begins, Tian He forgets her other troubles and drowns herself in the beautiful melody. It was the first song he played when she first danced in this courtyard, except this time, it was much more refined and more pleasant on the ears.

Yu Yan and Tian He held each other hands and began dancing along the wonderful music. As gorgeous water peonies and golden lotus blossoms forms, their movement speeds up, and they twirled their satin ribbons, mixing blue and golden together, causing it to look like a sparkling lake with millions of tiny glittering flowers.

While Yu Yan and Tian He practiced their dancing in preparation for the upcoming competition, the 2nd Imperial Prince finally arrives in the palace. He made haste towards the imperial study, he didn’t want his ‘imperial father’ to wait any longer for him.

When he saw the figure dressed in golden robes with a five clawed dragon sown on its front shirt, he saluted politely, “Imperial father, your son has returned.”

The Emperor turned to face this ‘child’ of his, staring at his fatigued but safe appearance, he slowly relaxed inside. His eyes darted to the seat in front of him, signaling for him to sit down.

“Your child thanks imperial father for bestowing your child a seat.” Second Imperial prince sits down straightly and waits respectfully for his ‘imperial father’ to speak.

“Qiong’er, please give me the full details of what happened. I heard from your guards that you were chased by assassins that have similar strength as you, yet We see that you are miraculously unharmed. Please clarify Our thoughts for Us.” The Emperor asks tentatively.

“In replies to Imperial father, your child was indeed heavily injured by the assassins, especially by their leader, his strength was stronger than I expected. I only managed to escape through a stroke of luck.” When Li Qiong answers his ‘imperial father’, he couldn’t help but think back to what happened, and thank his ‘lucky goddess’ for her help.

Li Qiong continued to tell his ‘imperial father’ of the series of events that occurred last night, starting from the moment he heard news of weapons being smuggled out of their country, the deal was to be held in a small building, just west of the city’s center area. His guards and him infiltrated the small building, but apparently, they underestimated the strength of the people guarding the place, he escaped first while his guards tried to hold back his pursuers.

However, when he was escaping the area, he met a peculiar lady. Unnoticeably, when he started talking about Tian He, his eyebrows loosen, and his eyes soften, his noble aura resided and couldn’t help but become a bit gentle.

His story ended when he told him how they separated in the west woods.

When the emperor heard the part of the mysterious lady healing his ‘son’ of his grievous injuries, he suddenly couldn’t control his body from shaking a bit. A possibility of the girl’s identity appeared in his mind, but he soon erased it and focused on his ‘son’ in front of him.

“Qiong’er, since this lady has saved an important member of the imperial family, it’s only proper for Us as your Imperial father to invite her into the palace to personally express Our gratefulness.” The Emperor says attentively.

Li Qiong did not miss the glint in his ‘Imperial father’s’ eyes, and combined with his body shaking earlier, a name appears in his mind.

Chen Su Su!

He knew of his ‘Imperial father’s’ favoritism towards this specific lady, all these years, he kept her hidden and close by, but even after his constant pursuits, she only accepted a bit of his advances. At first, he thought his imperial father would grow tired of her antics, but he was wrong, his treatment of her has only increased since then.

Judging from his strange reaction earlier, could Tian He be somehow related to Chen Su Su and his ‘imperial father’? After all, she could evoke golden lotus blossoms and blue roses just like Chen Su Su and his imperial father, it’s too much of a coincidence for it not to be true.

After he finished analyzing his thoughts, he looked at his ‘imperial father’ in front of him, his powerful perceptiveness managed to catch a flash of nervousness hidden within his eyes. It looks like he guessed correctly, however; he had seen Chen Su Su’s face and she shared no resemblance to Tian He, unless she wore a disguise?

It must be because of Consort Dai! Somehow, she knows of Chen Su Su’s existence, although she’s currently using the identity as the Imperial Dancer who saved me 10 years ago to stay in the palace, and his father has been cautious in showing his care for her, if she ever found out that they loved each other, and even gave birth to imperial father’s child, she’ll never them go.

It looks likes Tian He needs to stay hidden until the fires settle down.

It’s best if he hides her. Her strong healing sacred powers are too noticeable. Although she may be his ‘imperial father’s’ daughter, he wasn’t his real son, so he didn’t have to worry about his ‘imperial father’ or anyone else misunderstanding their relationship.

Wait, their relationship? What exactly is their current relationship? Acquaintances or friends? Suddenly, he realized a terrifying thought, she still thinks I don’t know her, so they don’t even count as acquaintances.

Damn, he needs to fix this, fast.

“Imperial father, I will seek for her and inquire about her decision on this matter. Since it isn’t early anymore, your son shall take his leave.” Li Qiong also needed to act quickly and secure the clues for this time’s assassination attempt. Although he didn’t mention it, he was sure that his ‘imperial father’ knew who the culprit was, and that the smuggling site was most likely a set up for him to end his life there.

It seems like he, and his ‘imperial father’, needed to remove some pests in the court and in the imperial harem.

“Qiong’er, please hold your steps.” Li Qiong obeyed. “Although imperial father may not be your biological father, but I have watched you grown up, I would be saddened to see you hurt. The Dai family has been counting on my feelings for your elder imperial brother and thought that I wouldn’t retaliate against them, however; since they want to test my bottom-line, I shall fulfill their wishes. I will give you permission to proceed with the preparations and wipe out the troubles by its roots.”

Li Qiong was shocked. “Imperial father, you –”

“Don’t say anymore, I know what you want to ask. This time, they have gone too far with their actions, it seems that if I don’t show my blade once in a while, they’ll forget that this dynasty’s name is currently Huang, not Dai! As for your elder imperial brother, I’ll take care of him myself, other than him and his mother, everyone else, I trust that you know what to do.” The emperor said seriously.

Li Qiong was solemn, “Your son accepts imperial father’s commands.”

When Li Qiong left the main study, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes and a powerful aura surged from him, like a dragon ready to descend into a battlefield.

Dai family!

I’m sorry I’ve let you wait so long, soon, I will make sure that this capital will cease to have anyone surnamed Dai!

He swiftly enters his palanquin and rides it towards his residence outside the palace walls. His preparation to take down the Dai family has already been completed five years ago, however; he has never launched the final strike because he was wary of his ‘imperial father’s’ intentions. He knew that once the Dai family has been taken down, his elder imperial brother will lose all hope of inheriting the throne, so his imperial father was hesitating to pass the throne onto someone that’s not of his bloodline.

Thinking about it, he should thank his ‘lucky goddess’ for indirectly giving him a helping hand, if those assassins have never chased Tian He and him, then his ‘imperial father’ may still be wavering in his choice. However, since he knew his feelings for her now, he’ll make sure that from now on, anyone who dares touches even a hair on her, he’ll completely ruin them!

As he thoughts steered towards Tian He, he couldn’t help but think it was a pity that he couldn’t see her immediately, his men needed him at the forefront to take control and wipe out Dai family’s forces.

However, it won’t be long now, once those nuisances are taken of, he’ll pursue her with full force. Li Qiong eyes couldn’t help but lighten up and his lips curved into a sly smile, looking like a beast who’s ready to hunt his prey.

The Emperor saw his adopted son finally withdraw, and couldn’t sit still any longer, although his instincts were certain that this mysterious girl, who could evoke strong healing lotus blossoms and blue roses, was his daughter, he still needed to see his beloved Su Su to confirm it.

Although his son had hidden her identity from him, but since he raised him personally, how could he not know of his intentions? His son would never stay with a person longer than needed, yet he slept a night in the woods because of her.

“He..he… Qiong’er, I could help you in anything, but courting my daughter that even I haven’t seen yet, it won’t be that easy.” The father of Tian He smiles mischievously.