Baili Weisheng continued eating on his own, and even as Ziqing and the others prepared to leave, he showed no reaction at all. Meng Duo’er and Ziqing exchanged a nod, and no one saw them out.
Just as Ziqing and her group reached the entrance, they immediately ran into Old Meng Five, hurrying over!
Wasn’t this man supposed to be stationed at the southern border gate with the rest of the Meng Clan?
Before Ziqing could even speak, Old Meng Five asked anxiously, “Where’s Duo’er?”
“No idea where she went off to—she should be back soon, I imagine,” Ziqing lied, selfishly hoping to give Meng Duo’er and Baili Weisheng a bit more time together.
Scholar, it’s rare to have someone care for you like this—it’s rare for you to be this well-behaved, too.
Old Meng Five looked half-convinced, and was about to press further when Jun Beiyue said coldly, “Did the Meng Clan head give you permission to come here?”
That single sentence silenced Old Meng Five completely. He could only answer sheepishly, “I’ll just see Duo’er for a moment and head back!”
“Wait in the front tent for now. It’s not safe outside at night,” Jun Beiyue said flatly, then walked off with Ziqing and the others.
Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Old Meng Five had hurried over urgently to find Meng Duo’er, hoping to ask about Meng Wanyue’s whereabouts. All he’d heard was that Meng Wanyue had been somewhere in the vast deep sea, but he knew nothing about what had happened afterward, including where Meng Wanyue was now.
He assumed Meng Wanyue must have been placed under house arrest by Jun Beiyue.
Unfortunately, this good-natured younger brother had no idea, even now, of the depths of his sister’s wickedness, nor of what fate awaited her.
Meng Duo’er had never expected her father to arrive so late at night. At the moment, she sat quietly in the tent, watching Baili Weisheng devour his meal with gusto.
A large bowl of millet porridge and several side dishes were quickly swept clean by this man.
Finally, he was full.
Only then did Baili Weisheng look up, grinning sheepishly at her, a bit embarrassed by his own unrefined eating manner.
Meng Duo’er found herself grinning along foolishly. She’d always been a rather carefree, easygoing girl, yet for some reason, in front of this man—whether before or after his amnesia—she could never quite manage to stay carefree at all!
Before, she’d always felt stifled around him, unable to out-talk him or out-argue him. And now, seeing him so gentle and refined, she found herself instinctively growing quiet in his presence too.
“Have you eaten?” Baili Weisheng asked—well, only after filling his own stomach did he think to ask about someone else’s.
“I ate a while ago,” Meng Duo’er said, instinctively lying, not even sure why she’d said it.
“I feel like I’ve forgotten everything again,” Baili Weisheng ventured cautiously.
“You went to the battlefield to fight alongside us. You served as the vanguard, so brave and heroic—Prince Yao originally hadn’t even planned to advance further, but it was entirely thanks to you!” Meng Duo’er said, offering him her own handkerchief to wipe his mouth.
But Baili Weisheng didn’t take it, his expression suddenly stunned as he recalled what Xiong Xiaobao had said. Could it be true, then—that he really wasn’t a scholar at all, but truly some ruthless demon who killed without blinking?
At this thought, Baili Weisheng shuddered all over, falling silent. Meng Duo’er’s outstretched handkerchief froze in midair, and seeing that he had no intention of taking it, she could only sheepishly withdraw her hand.
“Scholar, why don’t I tell you about your past?” Meng Duo’er offered.
Baili Weisheng nodded. Meng Duo’er thought for a moment, then said with a smile, “Guess how we first met.”
Baili Weisheng instinctively rolled his eyes—guess? If he could guess, would he even have amnesia?
But his attention wasn’t really on her question at all. He didn’t answer, mulling something over for a long moment before finally asking quietly instead, “Girl, let me ask you something in secret—don’t tell anyone.”
Meng Duo’er grew suspicious—what could this man possibly need to be so mysterious about?
She nodded immediately, agreeing.
“Girl, Han Ziqing, she… she…” Baili Weisheng didn’t quite know how to phrase it, mulling it over for another long moment before finally just coming out with it. “Girl, I didn’t… have anything going on with Han Ziqing before, did I?”
Uh…
How was she supposed to answer that? What exactly was he asking?
Meng Duo’er sensed something was off, growing suspicious. “What exactly do you want to know?”
Baili Weisheng hesitated for a long moment again, then beckoned Meng Duo’er closer, instructing her repeatedly, “Don’t tell anyone—just pretend I never asked!”
Curious and puzzled at once, Meng Duo’er readily agreed.
She never expected Baili Weisheng would ask a question like this, and even less did she expect that, not long in the future, once Baili Weisheng recovered his memory and forgot everything that happened during his amnesia, she would still keep today’s promise, never breathing a word of it to anyone.
Baili Weisheng asked, “Girl, did I ever have feelings for Han Ziqing? I keep feeling like there’s something special between us.”
At this, Meng Duo’er suddenly felt something was wrong with herself. Though she’d clearly heard Baili Weisheng speaking, she somehow couldn’t process what he’d said at all.
“Scholar, what did you just say? I didn’t catch it,” Meng Duo’er said, genuinely feeling like she hadn’t heard him clearly—she had no idea why, since he’d spoken quite loudly.
“I want to ask… did I ever have feelings for Han Ziqing? When I see her, I get this really strange feeling,” Baili Weisheng repeated once more.
Only then did Meng Duo’er finally understand—she hadn’t failed to hear him clearly a moment ago; she simply hadn’t been able to comprehend what he was saying at all.
This man had feelings for Ziqing?!
How could that be possible!
Even though he usually loved bantering with Ziqing, even secretly flirting with her behind Jun Beiyue’s back, that was… impossible!
Meng Duo’er froze, instinctively shaking her head, then found herself laughing involuntarily.
Who said it was impossible? A man who constantly bantered with a woman, who loved to flirt with her, of course meant he’d fallen for her!
Especially someone with Baili Weisheng’s temperament—thinking it through carefully, Meng Duo’er realized the scholar had never treated any other woman this way. Of course, that included herself too!
So that was it…
Meng Duo’er felt as though she’d been struck over the head, utterly shocked!
Yet what filled her with genuine fear wasn’t the shock itself, but rather… the fact that she found herself aching with pain.
Her heart ached, because the scholar had someone he loved!
She’d only been so good to this damned scholar out of guilt—she had no other feelings involved at all. So why did she feel this ache?
Meng Duo’er couldn’t face her own heartache, didn’t dare think it through any further. She had no time to give Baili Weisheng any answer at all, standing up abruptly to leave.
“Wait a moment!”
Baili Weisheng hurriedly grabbed her arm. “What’s wrong with you? I was just asking, that’s all—please don’t tell anyone!”
Only then did Meng Duo’er come back to her senses. Where would she even go to tell someone!
In this moment, she finally understood—this secret, she could never tell anyone, ever. She would have to keep it buried deep in her heart forever.
In the whole wide world, only she and Baili Weisheng would ever know.
She stared at him blankly, still shaken for a long while.
“That… just forget I asked, I was only joking,” Baili Weisheng said timidly. Yet Meng Duo’er said, “I don’t know either whether you have feelings for her. If you want to know, you’d better pull yourself together and recover your memory soon. I promise I’ll never tell anyone.”
In this moment, Meng Duo’er finally, definitively knew—she had already fallen for the scholar long ago.
In this moment, Meng Duo’er finally understood—loving someone could hurt so, so much.