"Dad!" Qian Xueying smiled as she brought the medicine to his lips, "Be a good boy and take your medicine. Otherwise, when the doctor comes to check the medicine bottle tomorrow and finds that the pills haven’t decreased, he’ll nag you again. I promise, as long as you finish this week’s medication, we will never have to take medicine again, okay?"
As she spoke, she already brought the pill to his mouth, and Duke Locke simply opened his mouth and swallowed the medicine.
Unfortunately, the doctor wasn’t there at the moment; otherwise, he would have realised that the pills Qian Xueying fed Duke Locke were not the same medication he had prescribed.
"Here, have some water." She brought the cup to Duke Locke’s lips and fed him a few sips of water before wiping the drops with a handkerchief, "Be a good boy, drink a little more."
After setting the cup aside, she turned around, picked up his reading glasses to put them on him, and placed the documents brought from the Royal Palace on Duke Locke’s knees.
"Here is a document that needs your signature, please read it carefully."
Duke Locke took the document and reviewed it under the light.
At first, he read it intently, but soon the words on the paper began to blur. He pinched his temples and blinked, but the words did not become any clearer; instead, they grew increasingly fuzzy.
"Dad, what’s wrong?" Qian Xueying asked with a smile.
"I... I can’t see clearly?" Duke Locke took off his glasses and put them on again a few times, but the words became more indistinct. He rubbed his eyes forcefully, but nothing changed, and his tone began to show irritation, "Why is this happening?"
"You must be too tired. How about you close your eyes and rest for a while? I can read it for you, would that be okay?" Qian Xueying took the document from his knees and read it to him attentively.
Duke Locke leaned back in his chair, at first listening intently, but gradually he closed his eyes and unknowingly fell asleep, with the reading glasses slipping onto the carpet from his hands.
Qian Xueying stopped reading and picked his glasses up from the ground.
Duke Locke didn’t respond at all.
With a slight smile at the corner of her lips, Qian Xueying stood up, set the document aside, placed the glasses back on his face, and covered his knees with a blanket before walking to the door.
The butler was on his way upstairs with her prepared dinner; seeing this, Qian Xueying immediately went to meet him.
"He’s looking at some documents, let’s not disturb him."
The butler glanced through the slightly ajar door and saw Duke Locke seated on the couch with glasses on his face and documents on his lap, seemingly reviewing the files.
Because he was facing away from the door, the butler couldn’t see his closed eyes and, of course, had no suspicion.
Qian Xueying closed Duke Locke’s room door, "I will eat in my room first. Come up in half an hour; I have something to tell you."
"Okay," the butler nodded and went back downstairs.
After standing still for a moment, Qian Xueying turned and walked into her bedroom.
She lazily ate a few bites from the meal on the table before getting up and walking into the bathroom.
A short while later, the butler came upstairs according to her request, knocked gently on her door with no response, but the door crept open.
The butler called softly.
From the direction of the bathroom, came Qian Xueying’s cry for help.