His fingers combed through my hair. “Why didn’t you listen to me? Didn’t I say not to come to Xiliang? Watching you deal with Xia Zhiyuan and Yan Or was hard for me.”
“But why did you—?” I raised my head, looking at him.
“I wanted to find you, but the Eastern Palace was at the guest inn. If he discovered me, all our plans would be ruined,” he paused, hesitant. “Also, I wanted to know how you would choose.”
I angrily bit his chin. “Did you collude with Yan Or?”
“More precisely, he designed this choice, and I was curious too,” he smiled slightly, an expression that looked ridiculous on Mu Qu’s dark face.
I tried to imagine his original appearance to suppress my strange feelings.
“You also came to test me?” As I pieced together the story, it became clear. Yan Or was skilled at manipulating emotions. If I had chosen the Wujin token, it would have created an unresolved knot in An Jin’s heart, likely stemming from his resentment of An Jin’s previous calculations, serving as his revenge. Yet An Jin accepted this arrangement, coldly observing my choice alongside Xia Zhichun. How could I remain calm?
An Jin coughed and changed the topic. “Don’t you want to know what I’ve been doing in Xiliang, and why Xia Zhichun is here?”
“Don’t change the subject,” I pushed against him, glaring hatefully. “Do you know how I’ve spent these past months? I haven’t had a single peaceful night, dreaming that you were injured or betrayed. My mind was consumed with thoughts of where you were, what you were doing, and why you didn’t come to me. Finally arriving in Xiliang, I wanted to know your whereabouts but didn’t dare reveal it to Yan Or, fearing he might harm you. In front of everyone, I had to pretend to be calm and indifferent, acting like a proper Southern Rui princess. And you, whom I’ve worried about, were watching me get manipulated?”
By the end of her speech, her voice was hoarse, as if she had exhausted all her energy.
By the end, she was heartbroken, everything before her blurry and hazy.
As long as she didn’t blink, the tears wouldn’t fall. She held her eyelids, not wanting to cry after such an accusatory speech.
