Lu Mingyu looked at the tenderness in her father’s eyes, knowing that he was thinking of her mother who had died so many years ago, she felt a little depressed.

  ”Father,” Lu Mingyu asked softly, “How did my mother look like?”

  Lu Lin stared at his daughter as if seeing the girl he loved when he was young through the beautiful and heroic face in front of him: “Your mother was born with thick eyebrows and phoenix eyes, bright and charming. She had practiced martial arts since she was a child, and she had great strength, and her skills were not weaker than mine.”

  ”You and your mother look a lot like each other at your age.”

  Madam Xiao’s maiden name was Yuniang.

  After giving birth to her daughter, Madam Xiao passed away. Lu Lin was devastated. After burying his wife, he didn’t speak for half a month, feeling extremely depressed.

  Until the nanny brought the crying daughter to him.

  The little baby girl’s skin was snow-white, her eyes were black and bright, and she cried very forcefully.

  His grief dissipated a little hearing the cries of his daughter. He carefully carried his daughter into his arms, and said in a low voice, “Your mother is called Yu Niang, and father will name you Ming Yu, okay?”

  He called his daughter’s baby name Xiao Yu as if he was calling his deceased wife.

  The daughter grew up day by day, lively and mischievous, with boundless strength. He loved her like a treasure and personally taught his daughter martial arts. He took good care of his daughter to grow up.

  This was his daughter, and it was his wife’s flesh and blood in exchange for her life.

  Lu Lin’s eyes became more and more gentle: “Xiaoyu, you have outstanding martial arts talent and supernatural power. In fact, you inherited this from your mother. It’s just that you are more straightforward than your mother at this age.” 

He was just sugarcoating it. Others call her “straightforward” nature as having a bad temper!

  Since he was the biological father, he never saw anything bad in his daughter.

  Lu Mingyu smiled casually: “Father, don’t coax me. I know my temper is not good. I get irritated easily and lash out. My mother must have been more gentle than me.”

  Lu Lin laughed: “Yes after your mother married me, she fought alongside me. When she was free, she washed my clothes and cooked for me. She is the best woman in the world.” 

“I met your mother when we were 14 years old and got married at 16. Our relationship was extremely good, like glue. We also had our arguments, but I could never win against your mother. However, even when she was winning, she couldn’t bear to see me angry. In less than a moment, she would come to comfort me. I would pretend to be angry and insist that your mother make me a bowl of noodles before I would be okay again…”

  Lu Lin suddenly couldn’t continue and turned his head to one side.

  Lu Mingyu also felt a little sad in her heart.

  She had lost her mother when she was born, and it was her father who raised her. But she was no stranger to her mother because whenever her father was free, he would chatter about her mother in front of her. There was also a portrait of Madam Xiao hanging in the study.

  Lu Lin has been fighting all year round, and he had become more and more dignified in his prime.

  Madam Xiao in the painting was forever frozen in his youthful years.

  After a while, Lu Lin turned his head, and his eyes were a little red: “It’s getting late, you go and rest first! I’m going to stay in the study for a while.”

  Whether Lu Lin was in a good mood or not, he loved staying in the study, talking to the portrait of her mother.

  The sourness in Lu Mingyu’s heart grew stronger, and she whispered: “Father also go to bed earlier.”

  Lu Lin nodded in agreement.

  …

  After Lu Mingyu left, Lu Lin got up and walked to the portrait.

  Xiao Yuniang in the portrait was wearing a red military uniform, holding a spear, with heroic eyebrows and a bright smile.

  Lu Lin stretched out his hand to caress the face of the woman in the portrait, and said in a low voice, “Yu Niang, our Xiaoyu is engaged.” 

“Her future husband is the Second Prince. Not to mention his status, he is honorable, he is smart, motivated, and treats others with humility and courtesy. Besides, he cares about Xiaoyu very much.”

  ”Are you satisfied with such a future son-in-law?”

  Lu Lin babbled, at some point, his eyes were already red, and a few tears rolled down.

  Yu Niang, I miss you so much!

  Over the years, many people persuaded him to marry again.

  When his daughter Xiaoyu was ten years old, she said to him: “Father, don’t worry about marrying again! I have grown up, and I am not afraid of having a stepmother. I am so strong, the stepmother will not dare to bully me when she comes in.” “

  He couldn’t control it at that time, hugged his daughter and cried for a while, and then said to her daughter: “Xiaoyu, I don’t want to get married again. I have had your mother in my life, that’s enough.”

  His wife, there was going to be only one. She left, and he had no intention of marrying someone else.

  Some colleagues and friends acted as matchmakers for him, but he politely refused them one by one.

  Three years ago, Emperor Yongjia wanted to match him with a royal princess.

  Princess Duanning ^[1]Basically it means she is the princess of the place called Duanning. Junzhu is the term used in the original which according to Wikipedia means daughter of a first-rank prince with his Princess.  was six years younger than him. Her husband died on the battlefield, and she was a widow in the mansion. She also had only one daughter under her knees. Princess Duanning was the cousin of Emperor Yongjia. Marrying her meant having an extra layer of in-law relationship between him and Emperor Yongjia; which was a good thing for him and the Lu family.

  Moreover, Princess Duanning was born beautiful and gentle, neither unruly nor aggressive, and even quite talented.

  Such a good marriage, but he still refused: “I have no plans to remarry, thank you for your trouble.” 

Emperor Yongjia did not force others into difficulties, seeing that he really didn’t want to, he had no choice but to give up.

  Princess Duanning came to see him in person when she knew about this, “Does the king of Xingyang despise me as a widow, so he doesn’t want to marry me? Or is he worried that I will treat Miss Lu poorly after marrying into the family?” 

He bowed his hands and apologized: “The Princess misunderstood. My beloved wife passed away many years ago, and I have been a widower for twelve years. How dare I despise the princess. The Princess is well-known, and I think she is definitely not the kind of person who will treat the little girl harshly.” 

“Princess, you are not bad in any way. But I still have my dead wife in my heart, and I didn’t want to marry again.”

  Princess Duanning looked at him, with a hint of affection in her eyes: “The King of Xingyang loved his dead wife deeply, and he didn’t remarry for more than ten years. This matter I already knew.”

  ”What I admire is also a good man like you who is so affectionate and righteous. To tell you the truth, I personally asked my cousin to be the matchmaker for this marriage. I dare not expect you to treat me like this. I only hope that you can marry me as a continuation. In the future, I will take good care of Fourth Miss Lu and take care of the trivial matters in the house, so that you won’t worry.” 

“Also, although you have many adopted sons and daughters, you have only one biological child who is Miss Fourth Lu. I… I haven’t reached my thirties yet. In the future, I can have children for you and inherit the incense of the Lu family…” 

“Princess!” Lu Lin looked over intently: “Xiaoyu is my blood, in the future, if she marries and has children, she will be able to pass on the incense of the Lu family.”

  ”I have no plans to marry a wife, and I dare not delay the prime of your life Princess. So, please go back!”

  Princess Duanning left sadly.

  After the news spread, no one matched him anymore.

“Yu Niang, if you know it underground, you will be happy too!”Lu Lin’s eyes flashed with water, and his voice was low: “Your spirit in the sky, you must bless our Xiaoyu, marry a beloved, husband and wife love, and be happy in your life.”

Xiao Yuniang in the portrait still smiled brightly.^[2]T/N I will be frank, my eyes teared up translating the chapter. He is the best father, best husband, and best father-in-law in the whole book.