No one spoke. Even the murmuring had gone silent.

Below, there was only the sound of gasps filled with wonder, and sharp, involuntary intakes of breath.

Zhan Yuheng stared at the woman on the platform — disbelief, shock, and astonishment all converging at once, until at last they melted into a tender, aching tenderness.

His Jiu’er had come back — wholly and completely.

Yet why was it that in this moment, he could no longer feel even a trace of himself within her heart?

Time had moved so quickly. He and his Jiu’er had been apart for so many years. She had clearly returned — and yet she had been unwilling to let him see her true face.

Her heart no longer belonged to him.

But what could be done about it? In her most difficult hours, he had been unable to find the familiar feeling he once had for her, and had chosen to distance himself instead.

All those years — how had she endured them?

Simpleton, ugly girl, madwoman — those insults had followed her for years. In those days when she had been lost and helpless, alone and with no one to lean on — where had he been?

A sharp, metallic sweetness surged suddenly in his chest. A mouthful of dark blood rose to his lips.

He turned aside, stepping behind the trunk of a tree. With a sweep of his long sleeve, he wiped the blood away, while his entranced gaze remained fixed, unwavering, on the figure at the platform — reluctant to look away for even half a breath.

High above, the silhouette concealed in the shadows stiffened slightly. The ten fingers resting on the windowsill slowly curled inward.

He had never imagined that she would be so breathtakingly beautiful.

Even though he had always known that if her face were undamaged, she would certainly be a handsome young woman — he had simply never anticipated it would be this far beyond expectation.

Mu Mu’s gaze was locked on Jiu’er.

She stood there now in the sunlight — her face, her entire being — brilliant as something that emitted its own light, so dazzling it was almost too much to look at directly, yet impossible to look away from.

Her fair complexion, her refined and exquisite features — was there a single woman present who could honestly claim to be even half as purely and naturally beautiful?

The two individuals who had just entered through the front gates of the military academy grounds from outside, catching sight of the scene at the platform from a distance, were both left utterly dumbstruck.

The Empress had come in plain dress today. She had heard that A’Jiu had left the city overnight, heading for the frontier — yet her people had found no trace of him whatsoever.

Suspicious by nature, the Empress had decided to come to the Dragon Martial Academy in person, to see whether A’Jiu was in fact still within the academy.

She had not expected that instead of finding A’Jiu, she would be confronted with the truth of Feng Jiu’er’s appearance.

This wretched girl had been hiding her stunning looks all this time!

No wonder A’Jiu had been willing to keep her by his side — so it turned out she did have some degree of charm after all.

In her youth, there had been only two women in all the realm whose beauty could rival the Empress’s own — but both of those women had long since faded from the world.

And so, even now, seeing Feng Jiu’er’s face, she paid it little mind.

A mere girl — could she possibly compare to her? The Empress possessed not only status but beauty as well. How could A’Jiu possibly choose some reeking, unproven little girl over her?

A’Jiu was simply using this girl to provoke her — of that the Empress had never had a single doubt.

As for Feng Qingyin, who stood beside her — upon seeing Feng Jiu’er’s true face, her legs buckled beneath her, and she very nearly collapsed.

“Young Miss, be careful!” Qin Xue rushed to steady her.

“How can this be — how can this be? How is she — how could she possibly…?”

Feng Qingyin stared at the face of the woman on the platform, and whether it was shock or fury that gripped her, she had lost all coherent thought and was barely able to string words together.

Impossible. It was impossible. How could Feng Jiu’er possess a face so flawlessly beautiful?

It was absolutely not possible. It was absolutely a fake.

She was the most beautiful young lady of the Feng Family — her unparalleled beauty was universally acknowledged. That was not Feng Jiu’er’s face. It had to be false. It was absolutely, certainly a fake.