Tuoba Keyan said nothing more. Knowing that he had once hurt Feng Jiu’er, he was overcome with utter shame and had no place to hide his face.

After the midday meal was done, he stood up and, without waiting for Yanu to come, began clearing things away himself.

Jiu’er made no move to stop him, only watching him with a mild expression.

When he was about to head out the door, Tuoba Keyan suddenly turned and looked back at her. “Actually, I know — I can understand what you meant by ‘don’t believe you.'”

“Mm?” Feng Jiu’er raised an eyebrow.

Tuoba Keyan said helplessly, “If it were me in your position, I would have said the same. But you still protected me today, and for me, that is enough. Jiu’er, thank you.”

He left. Jiu’er stood in the doorway watching him go to the meal room to tidy up, and watching him depart through the door of the east wing.

No sooner had Tuoba Keyan gone than Qiao Mu came: “Young master, the Long steward from the World’s Foremost Manor has arrived and would like to invite you to come over.”

——

By the time Tuoba Keyan returned, Xue Gu had already come back and was at that moment waiting in his room.

Having known that he had been out for most of the day, Xue Gu had been worried — but before it was even her turn to go out looking for him, Jiu’er had already brought him back.

Sometimes, Xue Gu truly felt heartfelt tenderness toward Feng Jiu’er. She was so young, and yet any matter that fell into her hands seemed to resolve itself effortlessly.

Compared to her birth mother, Long Feiyan, in the past — although Jiu’er’s martial prowess fell far short of hers, and her forces were no match either — when it came to handling affairs, she was by no means inferior to her mother.

The most crucial point was that Feng Jiu’er had a gentle temperament. Compared to General Long, she was far more able to adapt, to bend as well as to stand firm, and far more skilled at reading the times and acting accordingly.

As for General Long…

A weight settled in Xue Gu’s gaze, yet the corner of her lips could not help but curve into a slight smile.

General Long’s temper was truly not so agreeable, nor was she willing to swallow her pride and endure things the way Jiu’er did.

And so General Long was better suited to riding across the battlefield, while Jiu’er… Xue Gu let out a breath, smiling with a certain gentle warmth.

By comparison, Jiu’er was more suited to be someone who held power — resourceful and clever, with a cool face and a warm heart, capable with ease of winning people’s loyalty.

He who wins the hearts of the people wins the realm…

“I’m sorry.” Tuoba Keyan walked in and carried the medicinal herbs over to the pavilion in the courtyard for Xue Gu. While sorting through them, he said evenly, “Today was my fault. I ended up making Jiu’er go out and search for me for a long time.”

Xue Gu glanced at him and shook her head. “Xiao Yingtao hurt you so — you’re not angry anymore?”

Looking at his complexion, though it wasn’t great, it wasn’t dreadful either.

Besides, the person had come back from Jiu’er’s side, so Xue Gu wasn’t worried about his condition. If something were truly wrong, Jiu’er would have treated him. When it came to seeing whether someone was ill or injured, Jiu’er was more capable than herself.

Tuoba Keyan gazed at the medicinal herbs in his hands, his eyes growing heavy for a moment before he continued sorting through them.

“Jiu’er said I was a bad person in the past, who hurt Xiao Yingtao.”

“So you’ve decided not to be angry?” She had known all along that Keyan’s true nature was good — nothing like the way he had once presented himself.

Tuoba Keyan nodded. “Since the fault was mine to begin with, what right do I have to be angry? For Xiao Yingtao to be so agitated — the wrongs I committed in the past must be even more serious than I can imagine.”

He paused, then added, “Jiu’er said I was a foreign military commander. In the past… I must have killed a great many people?”

“That’s all behind you now.” Since he had been a commander, killing enemies on the battlefield was nothing strange — each side serves their own master.

“Then you and they…” The conclusion that he was a bad person had already been confirmed, without even a shred of room to overturn it.

Tuoba Keyan simply could not understand: if he was a villain, why did everyone still treat him so well?

“You and Jiu’er… was it you two who saved me? But why?”

Saved him… A strange stillness came over Xue Gu’s expression. After a long while, she finally shook her head. “I hurt you as well. The poison in your body — it was because of me that…”

“Xue Gu, the kindness you have shown me, I hold in my heart. I bear you no resentment.”

Tuoba Keyan had most likely worked it out himself — in the past he must have harmed them all, and Xue Gu, for the sake of the others, had harmed him in turn.

And afterward, none of them had been willing to watch him die, and so had saved him.

By some fortunate coincidence, when he had woken, he had forgotten everything from before. And so, as things naturally fell into place, he had come to live among them.

As for why Xiao Yingtao had always kept him at a distance — and even Qiao Mu and Xing Zizhou were the same — there was actually not much to be said about it.

Amnesia was something no one could speak with certainty about. As Xiao Yingtao had said, what if he had been feigning it all along? If he were in Xiao Yingtao’s position, with Feng Yinan having suffered such an ordeal, he too would certainly have suspected him.

“Xue Gu, it was not I who harmed Feng Yinan. I swear it.” He looked at Xue Gu, his voice earnest.

Xue Gu nodded. “I believe you. If I didn’t, I would not have protected you until now.”

But there was still a part of her heart that Xue Gu could not entirely set at ease. Tuoba Keyan had no idea that when she had poisoned him, she had not intended to let him live.

Had it not been for the chance discovery that the martial art he practiced bore a striking resemblance to Long Feiyan’s — leading her to suspect he was Long Feiyan’s disciple — she would never have staked everything she had to bring him back from death’s door.

The reasons behind it all were too complicated, too vexing. Since he was not pressing for answers, Xue Gu had no desire to bring it up again.

The matter of Long Feiyan could not be spoken of. The matter of his poisoning was also something she did not wish to revisit. She only wished to spend whatever years she had left making it up to him.

“Now that your martial arts are completely gone, if you encounter danger outside, you will likely not be able to escape it.”

Xue Gu set down the medicinal herbs in her hands and fixed him with a serious look, studying his striking, handsome face. “That is a bad thing, but it is also a good thing. I have here an inner cultivation method that suits someone with no martial foundation at all. Would you like to try it?”

Tuoba Keyan looked at her for a long moment, then suddenly shot to his feet, his face flooding with delight. “I… I can still practice martial arts?”

“You are an excellent candidate for martial cultivation — why could you not?” All the more so because to practice that particular method, one had to cast away everything one had ever learned in one’s lifetime, and only then would the effort yield twice the result. His current situation was perfectly suited for it.

Tuoba Keyan drew a deep breath, his voice shaking with excitement. “Thank you… thank you. Master, please accept your disciple’s bow!”

He clasped his hands together and was about to kneel before her and kowtow.

Xue Gu’s expression shifted slightly. She immediately pulled him to his feet and said, “I have no right to be your master. Do not call me that.”

“How could that be…”

“Call me Godmother — if you don’t mind.”

His master had once been Long Feiyan. And how could she possibly be placed on the same level as her own master?

Her master’s disciple absolutely could not become her disciple as well.

“Keyan, if you are willing, from this day forward you will be my adopted son. From now on, I will supervise your training diligently and help you master the method as soon as possible.”

Tuoba Keyan was genuinely overwhelmed with emotion. Not only could he now resume martial cultivation, he had also gained a Godmother!

Xue Gu truly cared for him — with her whole heart!

At last he knelt down, his voice trembling with feeling: “Godmother, please receive your son’s bow!”