A seven or eight-year-old little girl, blinking her big eyes and looking up at him, calling him “beautiful brother”—at that time he had felt his heart melt completely because the little girl was just too adorable.

Now Pang Xiao also felt his heart melt completely.

Because this call of “beautiful brother” truly made him weak to his very bones. He had always felt he had inexhaustible strength in his body, but now he felt he might have lost even the ability to lift his arm. Only that feeling of weakness throughout his body occupied his senses.

“What happened back then was truly our Pang family’s wrong against you.”

After a long while, Pang Xiao slowly spoke this sentence.

Qin Yining’s mind was extremely chaotic at this moment, but her tears seemed to have their own will, refusing to obey her control and flowing out continuously.

She wasn’t a weak person and rarely shed tears. She didn’t know what was wrong with her today—upon hearing that the matter of her being switched out of the residence years ago was done by her father’s former subordinates, she felt inexplicably wronged.

Perhaps it wouldn’t matter who had done this thing; she wouldn’t hold it against them. Only with Pang Xiao, because she had invested too much emotion, did she have particularly high expectations of him?

It wasn’t resentment, just feeling wronged.

Seeing that Qin Yining hadn’t answered for a long time, and faintly hearing sobbing sounds in the quiet room, Pang Xiao reached his large hand toward her face. Feeling it wet with tears, he immediately panicked.

“Yi’er, don’t cry anymore. It’s my fault, I’m no good.” Pang Xiao leaned forward heartbroken, pulling Qin Yining into his embrace. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. If I had known earlier back then, if I could have spared time to visit you more often, you wouldn’t have suffered so much.”

Qin Yining shook her head, sobbing as she said, “This wasn’t your fault. If you hadn’t given me those ten-plus taels of silver back then, I wouldn’t have been able to treat my adoptive mother’s illness, and I might have ended up selling myself later. You still helped me greatly, giving me silver to show filial piety to my adoptive mother and see her to her final rest.”

Hearing her say she had almost had to sell herself to pay debts back then, Pang Xiao truly felt his heart being cut by knives. He tightened his embrace and rocked her, saying, “If you had really been harmed to that extent, I would truly deserve to die ten thousand deaths.”

“You don’t know—this matter has always been a knot in my heart. Because before I could participate in your life, it was because of my father’s people that you suffered hardship and grievance. I feel I’ve wronged you.”

“But in my early years, my status and position in the army were still unstable. I had no power or connections of my own, and had to watch people’s faces to do anything. Only in recent years have I gained my own strength and been able to do things I want to do.”

“So you took the opportunity of attacking Great Yan to go to the capital?” Qin Yining thought of the scenes when she first met this person at the Immortal Maiden Temple, sitting up straight as she said, “Was Immortal Liu already your subordinate then?”

“Not exactly my subordinate—we had some exchanges early on. Immortal Liu is extremely clever and good at scheming. Since Mutou and I are close friends, I often went to discuss various matters with her.”

Qin Yining wiped away her tears, her mind spinning rapidly as she connected various relationships. Mu Jinghu was Tianji Zi’s disciple-nephew, and Pang Xiao’s words just now proved that Immortal Liu was Tianji Zi.

Having analyzed this conclusion, Qin Yining wasn’t particularly surprised, but thinking about how she had once spent a large sum of silver to have Immortal Liu pretend to be Tianji Zi made her feel inexplicably embarrassed.

Pang Xiao continued, “Actually, ever since the Qin family found you, I received some news. The war situation was tense then, and father-in-law naturally received much attention due to his high position. On the day you first returned to the residence, I even went to secretly watch. They arranged you in a courtyard near the wall and deliberately slighted you, making you wait for a long time. When you sat on the stone bench by the bamboo grove, I was watching you from the rooftop.”

Now Qin Yining was truly shocked.

She hadn’t expected that their first meeting, apart from that childhood encounter, had so many other details.

Speaking of this, Pang Xiao’s voice actually revealed some awkwardness, saying somewhat shyly, “Later, that hairpin I snatched from you—I kept it under my pillow and took it out to look at every day.”

Qin Yining stared in astonishment, remembering that libertine who had descended from the sky, not only snatching her hairpin but also touching her face. This incident had always bothered her quite a bit—she never expected Pang Xiao would do such a thing!

Hearing him say he kept the hairpin under his pillow and looked at it every day, Qin Yining’s entire face turned completely red.

So before they met at the Immortal Maiden Temple, he was already paying attention to her, caring about her, even snatching her hairpin to take back and “think of the person through the object.”

“You, from that time you already, already…”

“Yes, I was already fond of you then. Although I didn’t understand clearly in my own heart at the time, every action I instinctively made had already proven my heart had long been inclined toward you.”

Pang Xiao’s hands held Qin Yining’s, his rough fingertips caressing the back of her hands that were as smooth as tender tofu, devoutly placing a kiss in her palm.

“Yi’er, you now feel the same fondness for me and care about me. I’m very happy.”

Such direct words made Qin Yining both shy and delighted. Not knowing how to react for a moment, she could only look at his vague silhouette in the darkness and smile foolishly.

Pang Xiao sensed her joyful emotions and placed countless kisses on her fingertips and the backs of her hands.

Having spoken openly about past events, Pang Xiao’s feelings of guilt also lessened somewhat. He asked anxiously, “Yi’er, can you forgive me?”

Qin Yining said with amusement, “That wasn’t your fault. Why would I blame you? I very much agree with what you said—disasters don’t affect family members. What the previous generation did was done by the previous generation. The person who stole me from the Qin family wasn’t arranged by you either. You really don’t need to torment yourself too much over this matter.”

“But I still feel uneasy in my heart.” Pang Xiao once again pulled her into his embrace, letting out a long sigh.