It was only a short distance of a few steps, yet at that moment Shen Xiling felt it was very long. She looked at Bai Song, and also at the wooden door he was leaning against, and seemed to see through that door to the man she had been thinking about constantly. For a moment, her heart became chaotic, like these bamboo plants at this moment, with their leaves rustling in the wind.

She finally walked to stand before Bai Song. She felt she should greet him, but at that time her mind was very confused, with a dreamlike sense of floating, and for a moment she couldn’t think of any words to exchange pleasantries with him. What came out of her mouth was: “Is he… inside?”

Bai Song looked down at her and nodded.

Shen Xiling’s heart began beating extremely fast. Bai Song had excellent hearing and heard that in the instant after he nodded, even her breathing became disordered. The way he looked at her thus faintly revealed some pity. He considered for a moment, then said to her: “The young master is drunk and has already retired to rest.”

Shen Xiling was stunned for a moment, then nodded very quickly and said: “I, I can take care of him.”

Bai Song sighed: “Qing Zhu is already taking care of him.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiling nodded and smiled, saying: “He’s clumsy and won’t do it well. I should go instead.”

Having said this, she raised her hand to push open that door. At that time, her hand was trembling—very obviously and very violently. Bai Song could see it clearly, but she herself hadn’t noticed.

Her hand had just touched that door when she heard the voice from inside.

“Is that the Duke’s wife outside the door?”

Shen Xiling froze in place.

She actually hadn’t heard his voice for a very long time, but saying this wasn’t quite accurate either, because during midnight dreams she often dreamed of him—mostly scenes from the past, of him speaking with her, whispering gently to her. Hearing his voice again after so many years, on one hand she felt it was exactly the same as what she heard in her dreams—both the gentle and calm voice that was very pleasant to hear. On the other hand, that address of “Duke’s wife” pierced her heart like someone had poured a basin of cold water over her head.

Her hand was still trembling severely. She touched that door but didn’t push it open. After a long silence, she said: “…It’s me.”

After answering, Bai Song saw her smile very faintly.

He didn’t know what Shen Xiling was thinking at that moment, nor could he fathom what thought could make her show such an expression, but Shen Xiling herself knew.

She had fantasized so many times about what it would be like when they met again. Perhaps just a distant glimpse in a crowd, perhaps an unexpected encounter at some prince’s banquet, perhaps their carriages passing each other on some street in Shangjing City. Maybe with better luck, they could exchange a few words—he might ask her how she had been these years, or perhaps he would simply tell her about his recent situation, or maybe he would just say something unrelated… She had thought about so much, yet she still hadn’t expected that he would ask her if she was the Duke’s wife.

She suddenly didn’t dare to hear what he was going to say, so she asked first: “I heard you were ill some days ago. I wonder if you’ve recovered completely?”

She was remarkable—even though her whole body was trembling, her voice actually sounded very calm and appeared very appropriate. Of course, that person would only be even calmer and more appropriate than her. She heard him say: “I am well. Thank you for your concern, Madam.”

Shen Xiling responded quietly, feeling her vision somewhat blurred. She desperately held back her tears and asked: “May I… may I come in to see you?”

May I come in to see you?

At that moment, she actually had many things she wanted to say. Some words she had accumulated for five years, and some words suddenly appeared in her mind at that very moment—too many to count. But when it came time to speak, only one sentence remained: “May I come in to see you?” Even the words she most wanted to tell him—”I miss you very much”—she couldn’t manage to say.

She had really tried very hard. Bai Song saw that her face was frighteningly pale, both hands clenched tightly, her nails digging deeply into her flesh. She probably hoped she could appear calmer, at least not seem too weak, but honestly, in his view, she looked quite pitiful at that time.

Just like her appearance many years ago that made him feel pity.

Anyone in this world, any person at all, upon seeing her appearance at this moment, would surely be unable to refuse her request, no matter what she asked for—they would try every means to give it to her.

But these people would definitely not include Qi Jingchen.

“Given our current positions, how can we meet again?” Bai Song heard the person inside say. “Madam, please leave.”

He suddenly didn’t dare look at Shen Xiling’s expression.

Silence. Very long silence. Only the rustling sound of bamboo leaves.

Shen Xiling suddenly became very calm. Her body stopped trembling, only her eyes felt hot, as if tears were sliding from her eyes—she could no longer distinguish clearly. She felt a roaring in her ears, momentarily as if she had gone deaf. She couldn’t hear her own voice, but still said very calmly: “I won’t cause you any trouble. I just want to see you once. Perhaps after today we will never have another chance to meet in our lifetimes, and I’ve finally come today with such difficulty. Just once—may I?”

She waited for a long time, but no sound came from inside the door again.

Bai Song looked at her, hearing footsteps approaching from the distance. Knowing someone was coming, though reluctant to interrupt at this time, he had to say to Shen Xiling: “Someone is coming. If you’re seen here, it won’t be good for either you or the young master.”

Shen Xiling didn’t speak, only looked at him with very empty eyes. After quite a while, she seemed to finally come to her senses. There were faint tear tracks on her face.

She was still trying to maintain calm composure, even smiling at Bai Song, saying: “Alright, I’ll leave then.”

Bai Song found it somewhat unbearable to hear.

She seemed to think for a moment, then finally reached out to touch that thin door panel again, saying very, very softly: “Although you may not particularly want to know, I still want to tell you that I’m doing well, and I heard you’re also doing well…”

She paused, then showed a sad yet satisfied smile: “…Perhaps this is good enough.”

Having said this, she turned and walked away.

When she left, her demeanor was quite stable, but her steps were rather disordered. Bai Song had excellent hearing—until she turned the corner and even her figure could no longer be seen, he could still faintly hear her chaotic footsteps, though before long they were covered by wave after wave of muffled coughing from inside the door.

He suddenly felt somewhat stifled.

Much later passed, perhaps half an hour or an hour, when Qing Zhu came out from the room. Bai Song asked: “How is he?”

Qing Zhu answered: “He took medicine and just fell asleep.”

Bai Song nodded. Qing Zhu left, and then he heard extremely low and deep sleep-talking from inside the door.

Very unclear—he had to listen carefully with his ear turned toward it.

“Wenwen…”

—It was that person’s whisper that only came in dreams.