He remembered!
The moment Baili Weisheng said this, Ziqing and Jun Beiyue nearly let go of him simultaneously, and for a moment, everyone stood frozen in shock!
He remembered?
What did that mean?
Had he remembered everything, fully recovered his memory—or had he simply remembered Situ Haonan specifically?
Everyone was stunned, yet no one dared to ask, as if afraid that even the slightest wrong move might startle Baili Weisheng back into amnesia. Everyone watched him with cautious care, the entire room’s air frozen solid, the atmosphere suddenly unbearably tense.
Baili Weisheng stared blankly at Situ Haonan, and Situ Haonan, the most tense of all, even kept his breathing carefully measured, letting Baili Weisheng study him as long as he needed.
The room fell utterly silent. After a long, long moment, Baili Weisheng finally murmured, “Situ Haonan…”
“Here,” Situ Haonan answered instinctively.
“I remember now. I remember what Xuanyuan Lige entrusted to me before he died,” Baili Weisheng said, each word spoken with excruciating slowness.
Yet every single word he spoke left everyone present even more stunned than before.
Xuanyuan Lige, before his death, had entrusted something to this very man?
What had he said? What had he entrusted him with?
No one had ever anticipated such a thing, let alone that what Baili Weisheng had remembered would be something like this.
Ziqing’s face remained calm, yet her body was clearly trembling.
Xuanyuan Lige had left words behind, before the end.
All this time, that man had left nothing behind at all, not even a single word—she’d quietly grieved, quietly regretted it, even felt remorse over it, all this while.
If only he’d left some word behind!
If only he’d said something, anything at all!
But it had all happened so suddenly—nothing at all, not even a goodbye!
It was as if something profoundly important in her life had simply vanished without a trace.
It wasn’t that Ziqing wasn’t grieving—perhaps it was simply that, to this day, she’d been unwilling, and hadn’t had the time, to carefully revisit those memories, that person.
And now, she was actually hearing news related to him once more!
Ziqing’s body trembled, her heart trembling along with it. Just as no one dared move, she immediately gripped Baili Weisheng’s arm tightly, no longer caring whether it hurt him, demanding sharply, “What did he say!”
Yet Baili Weisheng ignored Ziqing entirely, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on Situ Haonan instead.
This sight made Situ Haonan’s heart suddenly race.
In truth, he could see clearly how much Ziqing grieved over Xuanyuan Lige’s death, but no matter how good his friendship with Jun Beiyue and Ziqing was, he had no room to consider that right now.
What Xuanyuan Lige had done was something he could never forgive for the rest of his life.
Whatever Xuanyuan Lige had entrusted to Baili Weisheng—did it have anything to do with him?
Just as Baili Weisheng was about to speak, Situ Haonan suddenly barked sharply, “Enough! I don’t want to know anything related to Xuanyuan Lige! All I know is that he’s dead!”
With that, he grabbed hold of the still-stunned Yelu Qianqian, about to leave. But Baili Weisheng suddenly wrenched his hand free from Ziqing’s grip and stepped forward, blocking Situ Haonan’s path!
At this moment, Baili Weisheng’s gaze was so clear, so utterly transparent, as though he had already fully recovered.
The old Baili Weisheng had returned!
Such a gaze, though not overtly commanding, still made Situ Haonan instinctively look away.
“Move aside! This has nothing to do with us, we don’t want to know, move!” Yelu Qianqian suddenly snapped, furiously kicking at Baili Weisheng.
But Baili Weisheng still wouldn’t budge, standing his ground, speaking each word with utmost seriousness, “I haven’t remembered anything else at all, but I’m absolutely certain I remember this one thing—before he died, Xuanyuan Lige entrusted me with something to tell Situ Haonan!”
“We don’t want to hear it! Don’t want to hear it, don’t you understand? Don’t make me resort to force!” Yelu Qianqian was truly fierce now, driven by both hatred and fear, unable to heal the wound, so she could only hide it away, bury it deep, refusing to let anyone see it—refusing even to let herself see it!
But burying it away didn’t mean it was gone.
No matter how strong one was, that didn’t mean an old wound could just be casually reopened by anyone!
Xuanyuan Lige, that man without limits, without principles—what could he possibly still have to say to them?
Regret?
An apology?
Seeking forgiveness?
None of it was needed!
Not needed at all!!
Baili Weisheng still didn’t move, staring blankly at the couple before him. It wasn’t that he refused to speak—it was that he needed to sort things out for himself first.
Yet just then, Situ Haonan suddenly raised his hand, about to strike.
“Don’t!” Meng Duo’er lunged forward almost instantly, but she was still a fraction too late. Ziqing had already thrown herself in front of Baili Weisheng, and almost simultaneously, Jun Beiyue moved to shield Ziqing.
Ziqing would never, ever raise a hand against Situ Haonan and his wife over the matter of Xuanyuan Lige—but please, forgive her selfishness this once.
She wanted Baili Weisheng to say it. To say it right in front of Situ Haonan.
Because… because in a certain sense, those were Xuanyuan Lige’s last words, his one and only final wish.
Whether it was an apology or forgiveness, whether it was even necessary or not, Ziqing wanted, more than anything, to fulfill Xuanyuan Lige’s final wish.
Ziqing said nothing, simply spreading her arms to block the way. She didn’t look at Situ Haonan or Yelu Qianqian, her head lowered—no one truly understood just how conflicted, how pained she felt in this moment.
This foolish woman—how could she forget that the moment she spread her arms to protect a friend, and in a certain sense, to protect Xuanyuan Lige too, her own husband would just as willingly spread his arms to shield her in turn?
“Baili Weisheng, say it. Say it in front of them. Whether they choose to act on it is their own business,” Jun Beiyue said flatly, yet his calm tone carried an air of absolute, undeniable authority.
Situ Haonan should have understood him well enough by now—today, until Baili Weisheng finished speaking, no one was leaving.
Yelu Qianqian pressed her lips tightly together, lowering her head and covering her ears, while Situ Haonan’s fists clenched tighter and tighter. Yet just as he was about to make a move, Baili Weisheng finally gathered his thoughts and spoke. “Xuanyuan Lige said…”
“Shut up!” Situ Haonan shouted.
Baili Weisheng ignored him, his voice even louder than Situ Haonan’s own, “He said, tell Situ Haonan that the matter concerning Yelu Qianqian never actually happened…”
The moment these words left his mouth, everyone in the room went utterly still.
It was as if everything had frozen in place, including time itself.
What did that mean?
The matter concerning Yelu Qianqian… never actually happened?
Ziqing and Yelu Qianqian both lifted their heads at almost the exact same instant, and the tension that had been building between Jun Beiyue and Situ Haonan instantly vanished. The two men locked eyes, both utterly stunned.
Jue Mingzi and the others standing nearby were equally dumbfounded.
For Baili Weisheng to say something like this…
Everyone stood frozen in shock, because they all knew exactly what “the matter concerning Yelu Qianqian” referred to—yet Baili Weisheng had no idea at all!
He looked at everyone’s changed expressions, paused for a moment, and then, amid the dead silence, continued to finish what he had to say. “Xuanyuan Lige said this matter was extremely important, that I absolutely, absolutely had to tell you. He said the matter concerning Yelu Qianqian was actually…”