In the pitch-black dungeon.
The torch flame in the wall niche illuminated the filthy bloodstains on the ground. The various torture instruments laid out on wooden racks were coated with a layer of dark red blood, while the stench of decay and blood permeated the chamber filled with screams of agony.
“Will you confess or not?”
“Will you confess or not!”
Each crack of the snakeskin whip sent droplets of blood flying.
The man chained to the torture rack was disheveled and covered in blood, barely having the strength to breathe. Yet with each strike of the snake-like whip upon his body, he couldn’t suppress his agonized screams before finally falling unconscious from the pain.
Beneath his blood-soaked prison garments, a fresh layer of blood had formed, mixed with small pieces of torn flesh.
The jailer’s arms had grown weak from wielding the whip. He cast a hateful glance at the prisoner who remained tight-lipped even after dozens of lashes. With barely visible cold sweat on his temples, he turned and nervously bowed to the observer behind him: “Marquis, this man is stubborn and still won’t confess. If we continue the torture, I fear he won’t survive.”
After receiving no response, his anxiety grew. He carefully raised his head to look into the shadows and saw the man reclining in the master chair, his elbow resting on the armrest, partially supporting his forehead. His eyes were lowered, long thick eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath them, seemingly lost in thought.
The jailer gathered his courage and called out again: “Marquis?”
In the next moment, the man who had appeared lost in thought suddenly raised his eyes.
Those wolf-like cruel and cold eyes made the jailer shudder. He instinctively stammered: “We… we’ve tried all forms of torture, but… but he still won’t confess.”
Xie Zheng swept his gloomy, ice-cold gaze toward the half-dead man on the rack and asked, “How many lashes?”
The jailer respectfully answered, “Forty-seven lashes, my lord.”
Hearing this number, Xie Zheng’s eyes showed no ripple of emotion, though his brows furrowed slightly with impatience. He said, “Eleven.”
Xie Eleven, who had been standing beside him, stepped forward and gestured to the jailer. Immediately, another jailer brought a bucket of cold water and doused the blood-covered man.
The unconscious man slowly regained consciousness, his filthy hair dripping with water, his body held upright only by the iron chains that bound him. Though his breath was barely a whisper, he still instinctively responded, “I truly… know nothing, nothing at all…”
Xie Eleven merely smiled and said to him, “You have a daughter who married into the Gao family in Jinan Prefecture.”
Upon hearing these words, a flash of terror appeared in the bloodied man’s unfocused eyes.
Xie Eleven continued unhurriedly, “Your younger son is studying at the Song Mountain Academy. Let me guess – the Li family used your children’s futures and lives to buy your silence? If you die, your son will receive a position in the Li family after he passes the imperial examinations? Your son-in-law will be promoted to a position in the capital?”
“How… how do you know?” the man bound to the rack asked in horror. Realizing his slip, he hurriedly denied it, “I have no children, I am alone in this world, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
From behind, Marquis Xie Zheng, seated in the master chair, had completely lost his patience. He spoke coldly, “My men could find your two children – do you think those hypocritical Li family scholars can protect them? A freshly severed head sent by fast horse to Jizhou Prefecture should take no more than three days.”
As he spoke, he rose leisurely and lowered his head to meet the eyes of the man bound to the rack. His sharp phoenix eyes were both casual and ice-cold: “My patience has never been good, Official Liu. Have you thought it through?”
The blood-covered man trembled like a sieve, his will completely crushed. He confessed in a quavering voice, “The person is hidden in Yueyue Mountain Villa.”
The two civil officials taking notes were first shocked, then overjoyed, quickly writing down the confession.
Having obtained this answer, Xie Zheng’s eyes frosted over. Without looking back, he walked out of the dungeon, with Xie Eleven hurrying to follow.
Since that night when Xie Zheng had warned Li Huai’an, he had kept the Li family under close surveillance. However, the Li family members were all as cunning as foxes and extremely cautious in their actions. They had finally managed to capture one of Li Huai’an’s chief clerks, but the man had proved remarkably stubborn.
Xie Zheng had ordered a thorough investigation into his background and discovered that after entering the Li family’s service, the man had changed his name and identity, presumably to protect his family should matters ever come to light. His family, known only to the Li clan, had become the Li family’s leverage over him.
Xie Eleven hurriedly caught up with Xie Zheng’s steps and asked, “Marquis, shall we dispatch troops to Yueyue Mountain Villa immediately?”
Walking out of the prison, the incoming wind carried a hint of coolness.
Xie Zheng narrowed his eyes, watching yellow leaves spinning down from the treetops.
Autumn had already arrived.
He said casually, “Select three hundred elite cavalry from the Tiger Step Camp to surround Yueyue Mountain Villa under the pretense of capturing bandits. Continue watching the Li family closely.”
Xie Eleven hesitated for a moment before saying, “Marquis, this matter is of great importance. Perhaps we should send the Blood Robe Cavalry instead?”
The eight hundred Blood Robe Cavalry under Xie Zheng were his troops, hand-trained by him. The first nineteen men who had been granted the Xie surname were the finest among them.
If the person hidden in Yueyue Mountain Villa was truly the Crown Prince of Chengde’s descendant, this mission would require Xie Zheng’s core troops.
However, Xie Zheng coldly curved his lips and said, “Yueyue Mountain Villa is merely bait laid by the Li family. Why rush?”
Xie Eleven was both shocked and confused. After all this effort investigating Liu, could it be they were merely playing along, putting on a show for the Li family?
His eyes instantly blazed with admiration, and as he was about to follow Xie Zheng, he heard the man walking ahead suddenly command: “Keep a close watch on that General Zhang under He Jingyuan as well.”
His tone was cold enough to form ice-
At the Li residence.
Li Huai’an sat before his desk wearing an indigo scholar’s robe, leaning back somewhat wearily. His head tilted back slightly, his long fingers half-covering his brow as he asked the messenger, “Have the Marquis of Wu’an’s men gone to Yueyue Mountain Villa?”
The man below answered, “This servant personally saw several hundred riders secretly leave Lu City.”
Li Huai’an lifted his eyelids, his light-colored eyes showing a jade-like luster in the beautiful floating light filtering through the window lattice. “Send word to the side residence, tell them to proceed to the capital quickly.”
Yueyue Mountain Villa was merely a decoy. Once the Marquis of Wu’an’s men were lured away, the imperial grandson’s party could secretly enter the capital.
This was a ploy to draw the tiger from the mountain.
The memorial impeaching Wei Yan had already been sent to the capital. They only needed to wait for Wei Yan’s downfall, then announce they had found the Crown Prince of Chengde’s descendant and “persuade” His Majesty to abdicate. Even though the Marquis of Wu’an commanded troops in the Northwest, he would be powerless to change the situation.
Unless he raised his banner in rebellion.
The Xie family was known for their unwavering loyalty. Li Huai’an knew that even to protect the reputation of the Xie ancestors, Xie Zheng would never take that step.
Moreover… there were still others in this world who could restrain him.
The messenger had already withdrawn, and the half-closed window had been blown open by the evening wind, letting in a shaft of sunset light.
Li Huai’an frowned slightly as he gazed at the recently completed painting on his desk.
In the painting, snow, and wind are pressed down on green cypress trees across the mountains. Within the vast expanse of white, a tiny apricot-colored figure on the winding official road was the only bright color in the painted world.
Looking closely, it was a woman wearing an apricot-colored jacket and skirt, walking forward with her back turned on the rough official road. Her face couldn’t be seen, but it seemed she had been walking in the snow for a long time, as frost and snow had settled in her black hair. One bare foot without shoes or socks was frozen red.
A general’s success is built upon a mountain of bones.
The Li family had reached this point with no way to turn back.
Yet even now, he still didn’t want to involve her.
She was the most sincere and passionate girl he had ever met, like a sun that left no place for the world’s filth and darkness to hide-
On the fourth day of Fan Changyu’s bed rest, Xie Seven and the personal guards she had sent finally escorted Chang Ning and Madam Zhao to Lu City. The group had little trouble finding where she was staying.
When Chang Ning and Madam Zhao saw Fan Changyu’s injuries, they embraced her and nearly cried themselves to exhaustion. Fan Changyu had to expend great effort to calm the old woman and child.
With so many people, they couldn’t all stay in the small courtyard allocated by the military for wounded officers to recover. Fan Changyu had Xie Seven find a residence in the city, and after making arrangements, she moved there with the similarly severely wounded Xie Five to live with Madam Zhao and the others.
Xie Five and Xie Seven were as close as brothers, and with Xie Seven looking after him, plus Madam Zhao’s daily variety of nutritious soups, his face, which had grown thin during his injury, quickly began to round out again at a visible rate.
Chang Ning, having heard the rebels had been subdued, asked Fan Changyu nervously with her large round black eyes, “Elder Sister, what about Bao’er and his mother?”
Fan Changyu had also been concerned about finding Yu Qianqian, but she had been ordered to stay home and recover and knew little about military movements.
She could only pat Chang Ning’s little topknot and comfort her, “They weren’t with the army, perhaps they escaped beforehand.”
Chang Ning’s chubby little face immediately wrinkled up. “Is that so? We can’t find Bao’er and his mother, and they can’t find us…”
She fidgeted with her fingers and asked quietly, “Will we ever see them again?”
Fan Changyu said with certainty, “We will.”
Only then did Chang Ning become cheerful again, saying, “Before Ning was taken away, I told Bao’er I would find Elder Sister and Brother-in-law to save him. Ning can’t break her promise.”
Fan Changyu smiled and rubbed her head, though her eyes held many worries.
She had yet to hear any news about surviving rebels and didn’t know if Xie Zheng truly didn’t know, or had suppressed this information.
Thinking of their chance encounter when she left the prison that day, her heart still felt somewhat heavy.
She thought perhaps she hadn’t yet grown accustomed to such a reunion.
Though she wondered who he had gone to interrogate in the prison that day, surely it couldn’t have been that mother and son…
Worried, after He Jingyuan’s funeral ended, she proposed returning to her military duties. However, Tang Peiyi suggested she take this opportunity to rest longer, waiting until the capital’s rewards were announced before returning to the army.
Fan Changyu couldn’t voice her true thoughts. She wanted to use military resources to secretly search for Yu Qianqian and her son and also wanted to know if Xie Zheng was secretly continuing to pursue Sui Yuanhuai.
They no longer had any connection, and after experiencing the tragic battle of Lu City, she couldn’t bring herself to drive Xie Five and Xie Seven away, treating them only as her brothers. Now she knew nothing of Xie Zheng’s movements.
If Xie Zheng wanted to deal with Sui Yuanhuai privately, perhaps they could cooperate, as long as Yu Qianqian and her son’s lives could be protected.
If Xie Zheng truly didn’t know of this matter, Fan Changyu felt she would have to find a way to locate Sui Yuanhuai herself and end this threat.
Yu Qianqian had lost the Yixiang Tower, and as a widow with her son Yu Bao’er, they likely had nowhere to go. Yu Qianqian had shown her kindness in the past, and now that she had established herself, she was willing to take in Yu Qianqian and her son.
Fan Changyu didn’t know if years later she would regret this current decision, but Yu Bao’er was now just a child who had done no wrong. He had been captured and taken to the Prince of Changxin’s mansion along with Yu Qianqian. He shouldn’t have to forfeit his life because of circumstances of birth he couldn’t choose.
Fan Changyu also believed Yu Qianqian could raise Yu Bao’er well.
If the worst happened, and Yu Bao’er turned out like his father and the Sui family, attempting to ignite warfare across the land, the child would be under her watch, and she wouldn’t show mercy in preventing him from causing great calamity-
After being confined at home to recover for several days, an unexpected visitor suddenly arrived.
At the time, she was being forced by Madam Zhao to drink a bowl of freshly made old hen soup when Xie Seven entered to announce that Zheng Wenchang was visiting and waiting outside.
Fan Changyu wondered why this fellow had suddenly come calling.
Could he be here to challenge her to a duel?
If so, with her injuries not yet fully healed, she would probably need to rest in bed for several more days after such a match.
She said, “Show him in first.”
The two of them had recently been the subject of baseless rumors in the military, and Fan Changyu didn’t want people to see anything that might spark more nonsense.
However, Xie Seven wore a strange expression as he said, “Commander, you’d better go see for yourself.”
Fan Changyu changed into attire suitable for receiving guests and went to the main gate. Upon seeing Zheng Wenchang kneeling shirtless at the entrance with a bundle of thorny branches on his back, her eyelid twitched violently.
She quickly gestured for Xie Qi to let her help the man up herself. “General Zheng, what are you doing? Please, stand up!”
Zheng Wenchang remained motionless on his knees. Seeing Fan Changyu, he finally clasped his fist in salute and said, “I, Zheng, am ashamed and have come bearing thorns to beg forgiveness from Commander Fan. My first offense: on the day the rebels attacked the city, the Commander feared I would act rashly and knocked me unconscious. I failed to recognize her good intentions and nearly came to blows with her outside Lord He’s funeral hall. This was dishonorable.”
“My second offense: my dispute with the Commander led to misunderstandings among others, damaging her reputation. This was discourteous. I implore the Commander to flog me with these thorny branches. Otherwise, I have no face to see the Commander, nor will I have the courage to face Lord He in the future!”
Zheng Wenchang was always rigid and stern to a fault.
Fan Changyu sighed, “General Zheng, there’s no need for this. Lord He’s kindness to me was equally profound. I understand your state of mind at the time and haven’t dwelt on that day’s events. Lord He would be comforted to see you regain your spirit. As for those absurd rumors, they’re baseless gossip not worth acknowledging.”
Zheng Wenchang, usually cold and unyielding, showed a hint of shame on his face today. He lowered his head and said, “I’m ashamed. Despite my years of military experience, my perspective and temperament still fall short of the Commander’s.”
Fan Changyu replied, “Regarding Lord He’s affairs, General Zheng was simply overly concerned, nothing to be harshly criticized for. I’ve never paid attention to rumors, and you needn’t blame yourself. We are comrades who both received Lord He’s teachings. We shouldn’t have let ill feelings come between us. In our future work together, I hope for your guidance, General Zheng.”
Zheng Wenchang bowed deeply to her once more: “I wouldn’t dare to guide you. In the future, I am at the Commander’s disposal.”
With this, she and Zheng Wenchang had fully reconciled.
Although Zheng Wenchang’s act of bearing thorns to beg forgiveness was somewhat dramatic, it effectively quashed the previous rumors.
Her relationship with Zheng Wenchang, beyond their previous comradeship, now held an additional bond of shared discipleship due to He Jingyuan.
Half a fortnight later, a victory banquet was held in the military camp.
The rebels had been completely subdued, but the rewards were yet to be announced. They would have to go to the capital, where the Emperor would personally bestow honors in the Golden Hall. The court was in an uproar over the impeachment memorial against Wei Yan, so the Emperor couldn’t spare time to draft the reward decree just yet.
Not all soldiers could accompany them to the capital, so the victory banquet naturally had to be held at the Jizhou military camp.
As a meritorious official in defending Lu City, Fan Changyu, despite her fifth-rank position, was seated near the front, directly behind Vice General He. One seat behind her was Zheng Wenchang, whose rank was one level higher than hers.
The few officers who had left the city with Xie Wu, though of lower rank, also had seats at the banquet. Apart from Xie Wu, the others were clearly both delighted and nervous.
Fan Changyu pondered that the seating arrangement must be based on the magnitude of their contributions.
The head seat at the very front was empty, obviously reserved for Xie Zheng.
The first table on the right side, in the civil officials’ section, was also empty.
Fan Changyu guessed that the seat must be for Li Huai’an.
As the military officers gradually took their seats, the hall began to bustle with activity. Even before the banquet officially began, many officers came to toast Fan Changyu, apparently aware of her great achievements and imminent promotion upon reaching the capital.
Although Fan Changyu’s injuries had mostly healed, she still insisted on using tea instead of wine, citing her wounds as an excuse.
Firstly, her injuries weren’t completely healed, and secondly, her alcohol tolerance wasn’t particularly high. Once the toasting started, it wouldn’t stop. Drinking with one officer but not another could easily offend people.
If she drank with everyone, she feared she’d be drunk at her seat before the banquet even began.
After declining the toasts, with Vice General He on her left and Zheng Wenchang on her right, Fan Changyu found herself without anyone to casually chat with to pass the time.
If the seating hadn’t been fixed, she would have squeezed in next to Xie Wu and the others.
Finally, as the banquet was about to start, Xie Zheng arrived just in time. However, the seat opposite, meant for Li Huai’an, remained empty. Fan Changyu didn’t know if he was late or simply not coming.
Fearing that meeting Xie Zheng’s gaze would only increase the awkwardness, she kept her head down, focusing on the cold dishes already laid out on the small table in front of her.
After the maidservants had finished bringing in the aromatic meat dishes, Fan Changyu had already nibbled on the braised pork knuckle a few times before she heard Xie Zheng’s deep voice from the head of the table: “Lord Li has caught a cold and won’t be able to attend this victory banquet. Nevertheless, everyone should enjoy themselves tonight. The Chongzhou rebellion lasted a year and a half before it was finally quelled. You are all great contributors to the Da Yin dynasty. I’ll first toast to all of you!”
Fan Changyu saw from the corner of her eye that people to her left and right were standing up with raised cups, so she followed suit. As she looked up, she saw Xie Zheng standing at the head of the hall, and the phrase “Heaven’s pride” suddenly came to her mind.
He wore a black satin robe embroidered with golden pythons, his long hair half-tied with a golden crown. His cold, stern features exuded authority. As he raised his cup, the five-colored cloud patterns on his wide sleeves shimmered in the candlelight, as if mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas were all contained within them.
There was a time when Fan Changyu feared that he would shine brilliantly among the crowd, while she remained as ordinary as a grain of sand, eventually parting ways with him. That’s why she had wanted to work hard to catch up to him, to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
Now she had come far enough on this path, but what drove her forward was no longer him.
As that cup of wine went down, it suddenly evoked a sense of melancholy in Fan Changyu.
Fan Changyu thought to herself that her alcohol tolerance couldn’t be this poor, getting tipsy after just one cup.
After the banquet began, the sound of clinking cups filled the air. Vice General He, Tang Peiyi, and other senior officers went to toast Xie Zheng. Zheng Wenchang, probably noticing that Fan Changyu had been silently eating, took the initiative and said, “I’d like to propose a toast to Commander Fan.”
Fan Changyu raised her teacup in return.
Just as she put down her cup after drinking, she felt an icy gaze, almost tangible, fall on her head, as if it would drill a hole through her scalp.
Fan Changyu instinctively looked up towards Xie Zheng but saw him turn sideways, saying something to Tang Peiyi.
Fan Changyu felt puzzled, thinking to herself, could it not have been him?
Under Xie Zheng’s command, military banquets strictly prohibited entertainment by dancing girls.
After three rounds of drinks, everyone was slightly tipsy. Some musically inclined officers started playing the huqin right in their seats. The civil officials, inspired, began reciting poetry. Towards the end, the drunken crowd started singing military battle songs.
“Who says we have no clothes? We’ll share the same uniform. The king raises an army, we’ll repair our spears and halberds…”
The deep, stirring voices rose to the rafters. The battles they had experienced along the way seemed as if they had happened just yesterday, and Fan Changyu felt quite moved to listen to the song.
The dead are gone, but the living must carry on. They still had a long road ahead of them.
A drunken officer came to toast Fan Changyu, hiccuping as he spoke, “Commander Fan, you must… *hic*… must drink with me, old Chen. I admire… admire you from the bottom of my heart. Before meeting Commander Fan, I didn’t believe… *hic*… that women could go to the battlefield.”
The man was already drunk, and Fan Changyu’s excuse of being injured and unable to drink fell on deaf ears. He kept insisting on toasting her.
Fan Changyu couldn’t refuse any longer and finally drank the cup he offered.
Little did she know that this drink would stir up a hornet’s nest. All the officers who weren’t passed out stood up swaying with their cups, saying they wanted to toast Fan Changyu.
Fan Changyu managed to drink five or six cups before she started feeling lightheaded. Her face flushed red as she waved her hands, saying she couldn’t drink anymore.
Xie Zheng, seated at the head table, heard the commotion and glanced over, his eyes already tinged with frost.
Xie Wu, noticing the situation, came over saying he would drink on Fan Changyu’s behalf, but his status wasn’t high enough, and the officers wouldn’t let him substitute.
Just as Fan Changyu was about to pretend to be drunk and lay her head on the table, Zheng Wenchang suddenly said, “Commander Fan is injured. I’ll drink in her stead.”
With that, he picked up the wine bowl and drank it dry.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst into teasing laughter.
Although the rumors between him and Fan Changyu had dissipated after he came to apologize with thorns on his back, this abrupt gesture suddenly made them suspect there might be something more to it.
Fan Changyu hadn’t expected Zheng Wenchang to help her either and was quite taken aback.
Tang Peiyi, hearing the commotion, looked over and chuckled to Xie Zheng, “That lad…”
But Xie Zheng couldn’t laugh. The cup in his hand shattered, shards of porcelain embedding themselves in his knuckles, drawing blood.
Tang Peiyi noticed something amiss and looked back. Xie Zheng merely said in a flat voice, “I can’t hold my liquor well and dropped the cup. Generals, please continue enjoying the banquet. I’ll take my leave for a moment.”
Tang Peiyi watched Xie Zheng’s retreating figure as he left through the side door, then looked at Fan Changyu surrounded by a group of officers. He nudged Vice General He with his elbow, “Old He, don’t you think there’s something odd between the Marquis and Commander Fan?”
Vice General He, recalling what he had seen that day, poked at the few peanuts left on his plate, pretending to be oblivious as he mumbled, “How would I know…”
After that round of toasts, Fan Changyu quickly pretended to be drunk and had two maidservants help her leave the banquet.
Once in a quiet place, Fan Changyu dismissed the two maidservants, planning to find a place to sit and let the wind sober her up.
But after walking for a while, it seemed the effects of the alcohol were catching up with her. Earlier, she had only felt her face burning, but now her steps were becoming unsteady.
Fan Changyu thought about washing her face with some water. She looked around but couldn’t find a washroom. She only found a row of water vats filled to the brim at the base of a wall far from the front hall, meant for fire prevention.
She walked unsteadily to the water vats and scooped up two handfuls of water to splash on her face. Still feeling hot, she decided to dunk her whole head into the water.
Just as she was starting to feel a bit more clear-headed, someone grabbed her collar and pulled her up, apparently mistaking her for someone drowning while drunk.
Fan Changyu said “Not drunk” twice, then stared blankly at the frost-faced person in the moonlight, not caring that she was still being held by the collar.
After a while, she finally realized who it was. Her alcohol-addled brain took a moment to process before she managed to make a saluting gesture with both hands and respectfully said, “Greetings, Your Lordship.”
The hand holding her collar suddenly let go, and Fan Changyu fell to the ground, sitting against the wall.
She was as soft as a ball of cotton now, so falling to the ground didn’t hurt. She just instinctively started brushing off the dust on her clothes.
But somehow, as she was brushing herself off, a great sense of grievance suddenly welled up in her heart. Her eyes stung, and a tear fell.
Fan Changyu stared at the droplet on the back of her hand, not even realizing it was her tear.
The person standing beside her crouched down. His face, illuminated by the moonlight, seemed carved from cold jade, his expression equally cold. He reached out to wipe away the tear from the corner of her eye and asked, “Besides ‘Your Lordship,’ what else do you call me?”
His tone seemed self-mocking, yet also filled with great resentment.
His fingertips were wounded, carrying the scent of blood – cut by the shattered cup at the banquet earlier.
Fan Changyu was drunk, and her entire demeanor had become extremely dull. She didn’t even remember why she had suddenly wanted to cry earlier. She stared at the jade-like face before her for a good while before uttering two words: “Yan Zheng.”
She reached out to pat his head and said, “You’re Yan Zheng!”
Xie Zheng’s hand, resting near her face, froze. The emotions surging in the depths of his dark eyes were chilling.
Unfortunately, Fan Changyu had become a drunkard and couldn’t see this. Her attention was drawn by the smell of blood on his hand covered in cuts. Her delicate brows furrowed as she mumbled, “You’re bleeding…”
She lowered her head, fumbling with her robes, seemingly trying to find which was her undergarment. Just as she finally found it and was about to tear off a corner, her chin was suddenly gripped forcefully. She winced in pain as her head was tilted up, only catching a glimpse of a pair of bottomless dark eyes before her breath was stolen away.
As her teeth were forcibly parted and her lips and tongue ravaged, she finally belatedly realized what the person before her was doing. She angrily pushed at him but to no avail. Instead, she found herself pressed against the wall.
Just before Fan Changyu was about to suffocate, the person finally released her.
Her lips stung, her mind was in a fog, but she still remembered she was angry. She continued to push him, trying to force him away, but it was futile.
She was pulled forcefully into his embrace, so tight that her bones ached.
The person buried his face in the crook of her neck. Despite his forceful actions, his posture was fragile and desperate, like someone who had walked too long in the desert and finally saw the way home.
“Fan Changyu, I regret it.”
Warm moisture seeped through her clothes, spreading across Fan Changyu’s shoulder.