Huh?
Hearing the unexpected words left Qi Shou completely stunned, too stunned that even his voice was stuck in his throat.
His jaw hung wide open, his head aching, his eyes scrunched up from pain and confusion, his heart pounding loudly against his chest wall.
It was only after an entire minute that he managed to mouth some words.
His lips twitched as a feeble, inaudible voice left his lips.
"Just... what's going?"
However, he didn't get any answer.
As usual, the system remained silent except for assessing tasks and giving out rewards.
But he too had gotten used to it as his eyes were already looking at the system screen or was it his mind projecting it in front of him something that wasn't corporeal.
Nobody knew the answer to that.
It was right there, though.
And the words on it made his blood run cold, his entire body stiffening.
[Congratulations Host for finishing the tutorial and being granted the complete Doting Dad System!!]
[There shall be no tasks for the host except doting on Qi Qingluo. Doting—may include, but is not limited to—giving gifts, making her happy, recieve her love and admiration, shower her with your love and blessings, protect her from evil hands, laying a foundation for her future, good parenting, instilling moral values, cooking delicious food, buying or sweing clothes for her...]
There were so mamy words on it that Qi Shou felt a little dizzy and came to a realization.
"This damn term–doting–is way too freaking vague!"
Literally anything could be on the list and it was supposedly his task?
But what chilled his blood were the latter words.
[...saving her from destiny manipulation, altering her fate, finding her fate, fixing her fate, finding a worthy partner...]
And once again the irresistible and unending list continued on.
However, the words on it were enough for Qi Shou to understand the current situation.
It seemed her 'fate' was altered and focused on the protagonist, the Young Hero, or Shu Yuxian.
Shu Yuxian.
As his name suggested, he was of the imperial bloodline.
But he wasn't some sidelined prince who rose to power.
He was the legitimate heir to the Shu Dynasty Empire where Qi Shou currently lived.
Though no crown prince had been officially announced, it wasn't hard to guess.
Shu Yuxian had saved countless lives, was exemplary in bearing and character.
He did deserve the throne.
It was the protagonist that made Qi Shou wait for years for ten-thousand chapters averaging more than two thousand words to be complete.
Thus, the problem also became that severe.
"Shu Yuxian is a monster, who's way past the Foundation Establishment realm. He crossed that realm at age of five..."
Just the thought sent chills deep into his bones.
Having to fight a monster like that?
What a joke!
One move, and he'd die.
But... did that mean he would give up on his darling daughter?
No. Definitely not!
"No matter what. As long as she's stronger than him, she won't be interested in him."
That was the plan he had from the beginning if things turned out this way.
And it indeed did.
Qi Shou wasn't just idling around before confirming this world was that same novel.
He'd come up with multiple scenarios and planned ten steps ahead.
This wasn't much of a hurdle.
Rather, it was the unexpected nature of the event that left him baffled.
Now, he had regained his bearings.
"Even if I can't protect you, making you capable enough to withstand any calamity is my goal."
His voice was unbearably low, his eyes moist, his focused yet blurry gaze landed on the sleeping child.
Walking closer, he saw her serene expression, sleeping peacefully thanks to the heartstone pendent.
He lenaed in and tied a small bracelet around her wrist.
A twinge of spiritual energy escaped the bracelet before enclosing it and changing its size to fit Mingzhu's tiny wrist.
It then encapsulated her form briefly before dissipating.
It seemed to had changed nothing.
However, Qi Shou pursed his lips.
'What did I just see? Spiritual energy?' He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating.
No matter how he racked his brains, there was no mention of spiritual energy being visible.
It was always referred to as an invisible existence.
'Her talent is effortlessly manipulating Qi as if it were part of her body,' he mused, remembering why Mingzhu could fight across realms and actually become part of Shu Yuxian's party.
Of course, it was mostly due to Qin Jiyue's teachings as he was her master as well.
'How did he get his hands on cultivation techniques and weapon techniques?' He wodnered, finding a fragment of thought he always left unfounded.
There was no mention in the novel, implying Qin Jiyue was already a cultivator or had some fortuitous encounter.
But that didn't make sense, did it?
Why would an antagonist have a fortuitous encounter?
They were reserved for the protagonist party.
Although this was real world and it couldn't be rejected just based on that, Qi Shou still found it hard to believe.
'I'll dig more into this tomorrow,' he decided before reluctantly heading to the bed and going to sleep.
Sleep, sadly, eluded him.
It was destined to be a sleepless night with his thoughts racing to catch up with one another.
It was only when the first rays of sunshine shone in that he fell asleep.
Unfortunately, the ancients woke up even before sunrise...
So, he was woken up before he could even completely fall asleep.
"Just what time is it even?" He grumbled under his breath, feeling the warm sunrays on his face.
Nonetheless, he sat up and left to get ready for the day.
Today was the day for Mingzhu to be officially registed as Qi Qingluo and a member of the Qi Household.
Such records were mandated by the second Emperor of the Shu Dynasty and it had been followed ever since, with many updates and rules following it.
Especially the registration that was changed from newborn children to 1-year-olds.
It indeed saved time and resources to record many children dying before even turning one.
There were even rumours for this rule to shift to registering only 5-year-olds, but no one knew wheter it was true or not.
Either way, it would just save the officials' time and the court's resources.
Though it did leave countless grieving for their unregistered children who couldn't even have proper burials or graves for... being unregistered.
Well, that was the law.
Fight the Emperor if you hated it.
And did anyone have the guts for it?
Nope.
No one except one.
"I hope I can meet her one day," mumbled Qi Shou, remembering the woman's importance and how she abhorred Shu Yuxian with fervor as he opposed her.
She was one of the antagonists many readers like due to the sympathy towards a grieving mother.
Most adults had faced such situations, let alone married adults and wouldn't hesitate to clearly give their views on the idea.
Even the author admitted that was right, but the protagonist, their creation, refused to budge, adamant on staying true to the Imperial Rules.
"All of it for a confrontation with the female lead... tsk, what a poor choice."