“A hint?” I stared at him blankly.
“Pity you didn’t notice,” he smiled helplessly. “Next to the Yao flower, I added a duckweed leaf. I was worried you might think I was dead, so I used the duckweed to tell you I was safe. But you didn’t look carefully at all.”
“The handkerchief was covered in blood. How could I have the heart to look carefully?” I felt my nose grow sour, but held back my tears. “Since you’re fine and haven’t lost your freedom, why didn’t you come find me? I’ve been in Xiliang for so many days. Why didn’t you reveal your identity?”
He silently looked at me, not answering.
One unexpected event after another had left me not knowing how to respond. I had thought An Jin would appear before me at a specific time, standing up for me when I needed him most. However, when my father-in-law left, he didn’t appear; when I fled to Nanrui, he didn’t appear; during those days in Nanrui, living in constant anxiety, he still didn’t appear.
When I had to stand up and face everything alone, when I thought he was somewhere waiting to be rescued, he suddenly appeared behind me.
I didn’t even know whether to rush into his arms first or to clarify everything.
After staring at each other for a moment, he finally spoke. “Are we going to keep staring like this?”
I closed my eyes and stretched out my arms. “Brother Jin, hold me.”
I heard him laugh softly, and almost in the next moment, I was tightly embraced. Warm and fresh, like the fragrance of locust flowers in midsummer. This was An Jin’s scent. Though this chest wasn’t as thick as I remembered, this smell couldn’t lie.
“Finally…” I buried my face in his chest, breathing in his scent. “Why did you only appear now…”
His fingers combed through my hair, gently stroking. “Why didn’t you listen to me? Didn’t I say not to come to Xiliang? These past few days, watching you deal with Xia Zhiyuan and Yan Or, do you know how hard it was for me to restrain myself?”
“But why did you—?” I raised my head, looking at him questioningly.
