In the elegant quiet of Qingxin Pavilion, Bai Qingqing sat alone, her gaze unfocused, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.

Since Fu Yi had left, she hadn’t moved an inch—nearly an hour had passed. Outside, Zidai was pacing anxiously, completely at a loss.

So when Ning Yan arrived, Zidai, unlike before, rushed in without hesitation to announce him.

It took a long while for Bai Qingqing to respond, and even then, her tone was indifferent. “I don’t want to see anyone today.”

“Then I’ll ask Master Ning to leave.”

Just as Zidai turned to go, Bai Qingqing suddenly lifted her head. “Let him in. Just as well—I have something to ask him.”

The moment Ning Yan stepped into the room, he sensed something was wrong. Bai Qingqing sat quietly, and though she noticed the sound of his entrance, she barely lifted her head. The eyes he once found bright and clear were now dim and dull.

He frowned instinctively as he approached. “Who bullied you? Why do you look like this?”

Bai Qingqing ignored him. Out of nowhere, she asked, “Master Ning, is your Commander... a good man?”

Ning Yan was taken aback. “Why do you ask that?”

She waited in silence for a moment, then lowered her eyes again. “Never mind. Pretend I never asked. Just curious, that’s all.”

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Her thoughts were slow and heavy, her mind resisting any effort to think. Asking Ning Yan to come in had been a whim. “Do you have any business, Master Ning? If not, you may go.”

Ning Yan stared at her, dumbfounded, then let out a breathless chuckle. He had just walked in.

“You’re kicking me out already?”

Bai Qingqing gave an unflinching "mm" in response, her tone stubborn and unafraid.

Her ghostlike demeanor made Ning Yan narrow his eyes. Instead of leaving, he swaggered over and plopped down beside her. “But I don’t want to go.”

Bai Qingqing glanced up at him, her eyes still vacant. “I’m very sad. I want to cry. I’m afraid I’ll annoy you if you see it. You’d better leave now, I’m almost at my limit.”

Ning Yan: “…”

Her eyes were indeed turning red, like a little rabbit. Ning Yan waved a hand dismissively. “So what? It’s not like I haven’t seen someone cry before.”

No sooner had he spoken than tears welled up in Bai Qingqing’s eyes—clear, silent, sudden—rolling down her porcelain cheeks to her chin and dripping onto her lap.

That… Ning Yan really hadn’t seen before.

She cried without a sound. Only those big eyes brimmed with tears that dropped one by one, soaking the hem of her dress at the knees.

Bai Qingqing had cried in front of him once before, but back then she held it in, unwilling to let anyone see her break. This time was different. The tears wouldn’t stop. They seemed to rise from some cavernous grief within her, endless and devastating.

Ning Yan panicked. More than when he’d been surrounded by enemies, cornered with nowhere to run. He instinctively reached for his robes—he didn’t have a handkerchief!

If she kept crying like this, wouldn’t she cry herself dry? Awkwardly, he shifted a little closer. “Even if someone bullied you, you’ve still got that favor I owe you. Just crying won’t help, you—”

But Bai Qingqing heard none of it. Her eyes were swollen now, but she looked like a doll who’d lost her soul. Deep in her gaze was only heartbreak, fragile enough to shatter at a touch.

Ning Yan let out a long sigh. No handkerchief, fine. At least he had sleeves.

He gently pulled her into an embrace. He didn’t know what came over him—he normally had no patience for crying women. But for some reason, her tears didn’t irritate him. They just filled him with a helpless, aching frustration.