Ji Yinshu obediently ate, but after only a few bites, she put everything down.

Jingrong didn’t want to pressure her further and had someone clear away the food.

Then he asked her seriously, “In your heart, are you thinking about that Master Su?”

Ugh!

It was as if someone had suddenly pried open her heart, and a cold wind poured in, catching Ji Yinshu completely off guard and chilling her.

She stared at him, thought for a moment, then lowered her head again.

Jingrong reached out and tightly grasped her hand, his brow revealing unconcealed sadness and disappointment.

He only said, “This prince is no fool. What’s in your heart—it’s not that I don’t know, I just didn’t want to pry.”

“I…”

“Forget it, this prince doesn’t want to know.”

He cut her off decisively!

How awkward!

So Ji Yinshu truly said nothing more.

The two sat like this for a long time—

Until the hour of the rooster!

Jingrong prepared to leave.

As soon as Jingrong left, Ji Yinshu closed the door, changed into women’s clothing, and removed the mask from her face. That scar, unless one looked carefully, was barely visible at all.

She applied light makeup and arranged her hair in a simple bun, using a wooden hairpin to secure the hair on both sides.

Simple, yet elegantly refined like a lotus emerging from water.

After the sky gradually darkened, she took a lantern and left.

She arrived at a long-abandoned city tower in the capital!

Mottled walls, moss-covered stone steps, plus a broken and crumbling tile roof—this tower appeared extremely eerie.

Fine drizzle drifted from the sky. Her waterfall-like black hair seemed coated with frost, glowing silvery-white under the solitary moonlight.

Her slender, upright figure slowly ascended the tower!

Cold wind rushed in. Her body trembled slightly, causing the lantern in her hand to sway as well. That beam of orange light extended along the flagstones one by one until it reached the rampart platform of the tower.

There, Su Ziluo was waiting for her.

Lie’er wasn’t by his side.

At this moment, there were only the two of them.

Su Ziluo didn’t turn to look at her, but hearing the subtle footsteps, his brow merely furrowed slightly.

Nothing more!

Ji Yinshu walked to his side and set down the lantern in her hand, the light falling precisely on Su Ziluo’s profile.

One sitting, one standing!

In the cold wind, neither spoke for a long while.

Until—

The lantern placed on the city wall was blown down by the wind, falling into the pitch-black area below.

The candlelight was instantly extinguished the moment it fell.

Suddenly, Ji Yinshu’s eyes reddened. She turned her gaze toward Su Ziluo and asked a question.

“Are we also like this?”

Like that extinguished lantern!

Su Ziluo didn’t respond, his gaze looking into the distance!

“Before, I often thought that if there were someone I’d willingly do everything for, I thought I would definitely brave fire and water for him, even if I were covered in wounds!”

She was speaking of Ji Pei, naturally!

Hearing this, Su Ziluo only pursed his lips and asked, “Is he very important to you?”

“Yes, very important!”

After saying this, Ji Yinshu smiled again, her face full of happiness as she continued, “I still remember the first time I saw him that year. He stood behind Ji Huan, head deeply bowed, wearing plain-colored robes. He was clean, innocent—those clear eyes, I’ll never forget them my entire life.”

“He told me to wait for him, so I’ve been waiting. No matter how long, I’ll wait. Even if he died before my eyes, I’d still be waiting.”

She was somewhat agitated!

Hearing her finish these words, Su Ziluo’s calm eyes gradually reddened as well.

His hands gripped the wheelchair armrests with great force.

Ji Yinshu sniffed and suddenly asked him through choking tears.

“Why? Why did we become like this!”

“…”

“Tell me, why? These past two years, where exactly have you been?”

Tears fell beyond her control!

Even if Su Ziluo didn’t say it, Ji Yinshu had already confirmed it.

He was Ji Pei!

The Ji Pei she’d waited two years for.

“I’m sorry!” Su Ziluo suddenly said.

Sorry?

Ji Yinshu shook her head and smiled. “Is that all? Besides ‘sorry,’ there’s nothing else?”

After a moment, Su Ziluo met her tear-streaming gaze, his face full of guilt and sorrow.

“I’m sorry, Shu’er. Besides these words ‘I’m sorry,’ I don’t know what else to say.”

“You’re finally willing to call me Shu’er!”

Crying, she crouched down, looking up at him, placing both hands on his thighs, her heart aching.

Su Ziluo reached out, his slender fingers gently touching her face, as if afraid he might shatter her!

“My dear Shu’er, I’m sorry. These two years have been torment for you, but haven’t they been the same for me?”

For the first time, Su Ziluo choked up like this.

Ji Yinshu: “What exactly did you go through? That day after being carried out of the Ji estate, what did you experience?”

Recalling events from two years ago, Su Ziluo’s expression darkened. After a long while, he finally said, “Perhaps heaven truly took pity on me—didn’t let me die on the battlefield, didn’t let your father whip me to death either. Ji Yuanzhi had people throw me in a mass grave. With my last breath, I crawled out, but accidentally rolled down a slope, breaking my legs. By chance, I was rescued by some Qujiang people and taken back to Qujiang.”

“So it was also at that time that you remembered everything from before?”

“Yes!”

“Then you…”

Before Ji Yinshu could finish, Su Ziluo said, “Five years ago, Dalin and Qujiang fought at Cangshui. You should know about this.”

She nodded!

“As commander-in-chief, Ji Li led an army of one hundred eighty thousand. My father, under orders from the King of Qujiang, engaged in battle. On the battlefield, I saw with my own eyes my father killed by Ji Li. I was also injured and didn’t remember anything.”

Speaking to this point, Su Ziluo’s words carried a fierce edge.

Even though Ji Li was already dead, he still hated him!

The Ji Pei of those days should have been refined and elegant, but the current Su Ziluo—she found him unfamiliar.

Ji Yinshu asked, “So from the very beginning, your goal wasn’t those two cities at all, but Ji Li, right?”

“Both.”

“Is this also your reason for not coming to find me?”

Faced with such a question, Su Ziluo chose silence!

This very silence precisely confirmed that indeed, this was so.

Ji Yinshu took a deep breath.

She said, “You clearly knew I was always waiting for you. Even if you had vengeance to pursue, a king to serve loyally, you shouldn’t have abandoned me for so long.”

Su Ziluo looked bitterly at his own legs.

“Like this, I couldn’t come find you.”

“I don’t mind!” Ji Yinshu said firmly.

How could she mind?

Waiting two years—wasn’t it all for him?

The feeling of heartache surged in her chest, as if she would suffocate.

And Su Ziluo’s heart—wasn’t it equally pained!