Little Four let out a cry of shock, while Suzhen’s legs trembled so much she could barely stand steady.

Her father had been there that year? What was he doing there? Li Zhaoting’s implication was that if her father hadn’t been there, he would have…

What exactly did he fear about her father? At that time, he was merely an eleven-year-old boy, but perhaps even her father didn’t know that he had actually been aware of his presence all along.

She pressed her hand tightly against her heart and heard Little Four say in a low voice: “This servant was confused. All these years, Young Master’s heart has only held…”

His voice grew smaller and smaller, and she couldn’t hear clearly, but she saw him looking at Li Zhaoting, who was picking up the scroll and examining it intently.

When it had been spread on the table earlier, she couldn’t see clearly, but now she could see it was a woman.

With black hair in an elegant chignon and a gentle smile, she was so delicate and beautiful, yet her brows carried an air of wisdom, and wherever her gaze fell, she possessed an absolutely captivating beauty.

Who was this woman?

She suddenly wanted to run to him regardless of everything and ask him: if Minister Feng hadn’t been there that year, would you still have saved me? And who is this woman in the painting?

But if she could suppress even her intense desire to return to Huai County to retrieve her parents’ and brother’s remains, what was there now that she couldn’t restrain?

Going out would lead to nothing more than two outcomes: either implicating him, or having him turn her over to the authorities. Whichever it was, it was a risk she couldn’t afford to take. As for this woman in the painting, there was no need to ask—from how he quickly bent to pick up the painting, from that one glance he gave Si Lanfeng, the answer was already crystal clear.

Her father had once said that in-laws might not necessarily appreciate a daughter-in-law who dabbled in literature and poetry. Apart from only showing rudimentary literacy in front of them, in everything else, she had been completely sincere toward Li Zhaoting.

But it turned out Li Zhaoting had not been the same toward her.

She had secretly given silver to the boy servant responsible for preparing ink in his household, climbing over the wall every morning at dawn to grind ink and prepare paper for him in his study. Unexpectedly, one day he rose early… In the dim morning light, he stood tall and elegant outside the door, watching her quietly. She screamed and fled, but he reached out to grasp her hand, took out a handkerchief, and carefully wiped away the ink stains on her hands one by one. She had thought he liked her.

She had once lured him to play in the suburbs. She said she was cold and tentatively stretched out her hand. He looked at her with an ambiguous smile for a long while, then covered her hand with his large one to warm it. She had thought he truly liked her.

But was it all because of her father?

Her whole body felt ice cold, and she truly found Li Zhaoting terrifying.

If he were a completely heartless and calculating person, that wouldn’t be so frightening. He truly was gentle, and not entirely heartless either—he repaid Song Yang’s kindness, didn’t avoid talented rivals, and had never blamed her. However, this was precisely more frightening than being heartless. This person’s ruthlessness could be so silent and invisible.

She could no longer steady herself and was about to fall when a force suddenly encircled her waist, supporting her. She looked up to see Leng Xue close before her. He must have been outside for quite some time, because his eyes were filled with sharp, cold killing intent. He bent down to her ear and said: “I’ll go kill him.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Having endured such great pain, what does a broken heart matter? Leng Xue, shall we continue on our journey tonight?”

Gripping his hand tightly and refusing to let go, Leng Xue’s lips pressed tighter and tighter. Finally, he nodded and said in a lowered voice: “I sense some presences. There might be experts nearby.”

Suzhen became alert. There might be people lurking in the shadows? If Leng Xue’s feelings were correct, they had to leave immediately, even if those people weren’t necessarily targeting them.

Since leaving home, everything had been turbulent and people’s hearts unpredictable, striking at her one by one at times and places she could never anticipate. She narrowed her eyes looking at Leng Xue, who frowned and said: “Zhen’er, what are you thinking?”

She smiled faintly and asked: “Leng Xue, can I really trust you?”

“Nonsense!”

Leng Xue turned around, scolded her sternly, and led her away through the side gate. For some reason, he didn’t look into her eyes while reprimanding her as he usually did. She said nothing more either. From the corner of her eye, she saw Li Zhaoting carefully roll up the scroll and put it away, then lead Little Four out of the courtyard. When his snow-white robes disappeared around the wall corner, her heart slowly calmed down, no longer aching as sharply as before. But she knew that from now on, it would forever be missing a piece and would never be whole again.

Zhaoting, we’ll compete in the examination halls in the future. We shall meet again in the capital.