Chapter 47: Before the Palace Banquet

  Is he heartbroken? She actually asked him so indifferently if he was heartbroken——

  "Ling'er, are you still the Ling'er I've been thinking of all this time?" He saw her pull away from him, looking at her sideways, with delicate features and slightly upturned eyelashes, eyes like autumn water, filled with a dense, floral fragrance.

  Why, after all, why, why is it like this - He thought she loved him, every time with Xia Ziying's pretended ambiguity, from her melancholy expression, he thought that only by using this method could he find a thread of her care, otherwise, what to do? Her reserve, her calmness, made him both love and hate - He simply couldn't determine her feelings.

  "Don't leave me—" The man who was once brave and unparalleled on the battlefield, with a majestic appearance and an aura of grandeur on horseback, still wore a white robe, but his voice was so weak, sorrowful, and despondent, as he suddenly and tightly hugged her from behind.

  Those powerful arms wrapped tightly around her waist, Xia Ziyou only slightly tilted her head back, her eyes brimming with tears hoping they wouldn't fall so suddenly, took a deep breath, the scent of snowflakes filled her senses.

  But still can't help it, two lines of clear tears slide down with their due trajectory, cold and piercing...

  Big Brother Hao. We missed it, and in the end, we were wrong. What you did, I cannot forgive, nor can I be forgiven...

  Steel herself, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes tightly, using both hands to pry open the arms wrapped around her waist.

  "I'm sorry—"

  She also didn't know why she was apologizing to him out of the blue, when it was clearly his fault for dumping her in the first place.

  Then, with a back to the pain, shock, and despair in her eyes, she left without looking back, along that familiar road. Along the way, the cold wind was biting, the air was icy as frost, and the tears on her face stung even more painfully as they were blown by the wind. She walked through the plum forest, across the bridge, where people came and went, but she looked like a soulless person, staring at the icy river water below, making a mournful sound.

  Xiazhi stood on the bridge for a long time, and the wind blew her neat bun into disarray, adding a touch of carefree beauty.

  Elegant and refined

  "Yan Wang Fei——" A gentle voice came from the wind.

  Xia Zi Li did not turn her head, but with a glance, she knew who the newcomer was. Unfortunately, nothing could stir up ripples in her heart anymore.

  "It's unbearable to bid farewell to an old lover——"

  On the bridge, a few feet away, standing steadily in a purple robe, hair as smooth as silk fluttering down unrestrainedly, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, like pearl-like phoenix pupils still showing off alluring charm.

  She didn't say a word, Nangong Jin smiled knowingly and gazed coldly at the dark green water below the bridge.

  "It's clear that the King of Yan is now busy with the 'war and peace' matters between the State of Mu Xuan and the State of Xi Yue, if he were to find out that his wife was secretly meeting her old lover in the forest, I'd love to see how long the Queen can maintain her noble demeanor——"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Ziyu indeed turned her head to look at him, with a resentful gaze, but a hint of elegant smile on the corner of her mouth.

  "Last time you helped me, I thought you were a gentleman, but it turns out you're just a despicable person——"

  Nangong Jin's expression turned slightly serious, his face still as gentle as a spring flower.

  "Help you? What makes you say that, Your Highness?"

  Xia Ziwei snorted coldly and turned her face away.

  "Do you think I'm a fool? You're Ning Wang's person, every move must be instructed by Ning Wang. On that day, your appearance at Zui Chun Feng was so coincidental, and in front of everyone, you helped me out of the predicament and took me to see my mother's room. But you didn't dare tell me everything. When I saw Ming Zhu wanting to rush over, you stopped me abruptly. What does this explain? It can only be explained that you wanted to tell me something, but you didn't dare to do so openly, because you knew that if Ning Wang found out it was you who brought me to see Ming Zhu, you would also fall into an irredeemable situation!"