My Seven Sisters Are Stunningly Beautiful (The Return of the Gods)

Inside the Han family courtyard, the morning light was just breaking, and rays of sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices, casting patches of light into the quaint hall.

Inside the hall, Deacon Han, dressed in an elegant blue robe, sat on a rosewood chair carved with dragons and phoenixes, his brows furrowed, his eyes gazing sternly ahead.

Not far from him, Han Qingqing, the darling of the Duobao Pavilion's steward, was dressed in a way that was out of place in this solemn occasion.

Han Qingqing sat cross-legged on the smooth ground with her skirt spread out, looking like a wild flower untainted by dust, but her face looked a little dull because of the aggrieved look on her face.

"Grandpa, please let me go out and find Brother Li Tian, ​​just this once!"

There was a hint of coquettishness and persistence in Han Qingqing's voice. She rubbed the corner of her clothes with her little hands and tears seemed to drip from her eyes.

Deacon Han frowned even more tightly, and he tapped the armrest lightly with his weathered fingers, making a dull sound, as if he was counting for this disobedient granddaughter.

"Qingqing, as the daughter of Duobao Pavilion, how can you be so disregarding of your status? Li Tian is just a small city gate guard. Let alone his character, just the disparity in status alone is something you should think twice about."

When Han Qingqing heard this, her little face puffed up like a bun, her eyes widened, and her stubbornness was fully revealed.

"Grandpa, you always say that about Brother Li Tian, ​​but he is not that kind of person! He is very nice to me, and every time I go into the city, he protects me from being harassed by those annoying guys."

"Grandpa, you love me the most, so let me go find him. Brother Li Tian hasn't come to see me for a day. What if...what if some other vixen secretly seduces him while I'm away?"

As she spoke, tears actually welled up in Han Qingqing's eyes, and she looked extremely pitiful.

Deacon Han felt mixed emotions when he saw this, a mixture of love and helplessness. He sighed deeply, and this sigh seemed to take away a lot of his strength.

"Ah, it seems that I, as an elder, have doted on you too much, and that has led to your fearless character. Qingqing, you know that this world is treacherous and people's hearts are unpredictable. Grandpa is doing this for your own good."

There were deep sighs in Old Han's words, but Han Qingqing just felt that her grandfather was trying to stop her happiness. She pouted her lips, and the tears in her eyes finally fell, dripping onto her clothes and forming transparent flowers.

"Grandpa, you are always like this. I don't care. I am going to find Brother Li Tian. No one can stop me!"

Deacon Han's face darkened, and his gentle gaze suddenly became stern. He raised his hand, as if to scold. "You..."

"Grandpa!" Han Qingqing interrupted him immediately when she saw that the situation was not going well. She jumped up from the ground like a frightened deer and looked at Deacon Han with tears in her eyes.

"I'll go back and reflect on myself, okay? But you have to promise me that if Brother Li Tian comes to see me, don't stop him."

Looking at his granddaughter's appearance, even though Old Han felt extremely helpless, he could only let out a long sigh.

"Okay, okay, you go back first and think about it carefully." After saying that, he waved his hand, indicating that Han Qingqing could leave.

Seeing this, Han Qingqing's lips pursed and she pouted in grievance, with tears hanging from the corners of her eyes. She slowly moved out of the hall, looking back every few steps.

It was not until her figure disappeared outside the door that the hall returned to peace. Only Deacon Han was left, staring at the tightly closed door with a complicated look in his eyes, showing both doting and worry.

Han Qingqing returned to her boudoir, slammed the door, threw herself on the couch, hugged the pillow, and sobbed in grievance.

"Brother Li Tian, ​​where have you been? Why didn't you come to see me..." The girl's thoughts were like the finest raindrops in spring, dense and tangled, unable to be cut off.

The next morning, Han Qingqing had been waiting for a whole day.

Han Qingqing's boudoir was decorated magnificently, with brocade curtains outlined with gold threads hanging low and curtains made of pearls swaying gently. The room full of jewels and precious stones seemed to isolate the dust from the outside world.

On the large mahogany carved bed, she was angrily throwing a brocade bag embroidered with twin lotus flowers to the ground, cursing non-stop. Those delicate objects seemed extremely fragile under this stormy anger.

"This is outrageous! That ignorant Li Tian actually dared to ignore me for a whole day. Humph, when he comes, I will make him pay!"

Han Qingqing gritted her teeth and paced back and forth in the room as she spoke. She didn't care even if she kicked over a few expensive porcelain pieces. She just wanted to vent her dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the door, and then a servant rushed in in a panic, sweating profusely, and knelt in front of Han Qingqing, breaking the furious atmosphere in the room.

"Oh no, miss, oh no!"

The servant spoke breathlessly, his voice trembling like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind.

Han Qingqing was already extremely irritated, and was even more furious at this sudden interruption. She raised her eyebrows, opened her eyes wide, and spoke angrily.

"Why are you so flustered? Can't you just talk about it calmly?"

The servant was so frightened by this momentum that he trembled all over and spoke even more incoherently: "Yes, it's the Li family. Over at the Li family, Master Li Tian's life lamp... the life lamp is out!"

These words were like a bolt from the blue, leaving Han Qingqing frozen in place for a moment, the shock on her face turning into an expression of unbelievable madness.

Han Qingqing suddenly took a step forward, kicked the servant, and roared, "How dare you, you dog slave, talk nonsense and curse Master Li!"

The servant was kicked to the ground, but he didn't care about the pain. He quickly crawled to Han Qingqing's feet, with a sad face, and spoke haltingly.

"Miss, how dare I lie to you? This is the news from the Li family themselves. Young Master Li's life lamp has indeed gone out!"

Han Qingqing's body swayed as if struck by lightning, and the world in front of her seemed to be spinning. She grabbed the bedpost and barely stood still. A gleam of disbelief flashed in her eyes, and then turned into a blank look.

"What did you say? I don't believe it, I don't believe it!"

She staggered towards the carved window and pushed it open, as if she wanted to use the fresh air outside to prove that all this was a lie.

However, it was still sunny and windy outside, with nothing unusual happening. Only her heart felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar, so cold that she could hardly breathe.

"The life lamp is out..." Han Qingqing repeated this sentence, her voice so weak that it was almost inaudible. She suddenly turned around, rushed to the door, and shouted desperately.

"Take me to the Li family. I want to see it with my own eyes. Li Tian... he can't be in any danger!"

The servant quickly got up and stumbled after Han Qingqing, praying silently in his heart that this was just a false alarm.

The two hurried figures quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor, leaving behind a mess and silence in the room.