The way Guxi had asked wasn’t an accusation, nor was it him pressing the point from the position of a victor. Even from the standing of a servant, he was neither servile nor arrogant.
Baili Xiaosheng was angry inside, but for some reason, Guxi’s manner made her angry without being able to actually explode.
He couldn’t quite be called courteous, nor could he quite be called a refined gentleman — his build was more like a hardened military man. But his temperament put people at ease, giving off an indescribable sense of security. Even without knowing him well, there was nothing to worry about around him.
“I’m going to see Aunt Qing!” Baili Xiaosheng snapped coldly at him, not bothering to continue sparring with him, and put away her box before turning to walk off. Guxi didn’t follow immediately — instead, he picked up all the insect corpses littering the ground first, then caught up with her.
Baili Xiaosheng hadn’t lied — she really was going to see Ziqing.
Only, just as she arrived at Ziqing’s courtyard gate, she happened to run into Jun Buli approaching from a distance, personally carrying a huge stack of memorials.
Whether ten years ago or ten years later, in Baili Xiaosheng’s eyes, Jun Buli would always be a little brother.
She didn’t know if Jun Buli remembered the things from their childhood, but she remembered them quite clearly herself.
Their first meeting had been in the palace’s Xuanwu Hall, when Jun Beiyue received the rulers of various nations. This little brat and the giant Zizhu beast had been secretly peeking from the roof beams together — and back then, she’d analyzed for him the state of the world, the various maneuvers and intentions of Jun Beiyue.
From that time on, Jun Buli had looked up to her tremendously, wanting her as his little sidekick.
But gradually, over time, Jun Buli had actually become her little sidekick instead, following behind her everywhere like a happy little puppy, all while mistakenly believing wholeheartedly that she was a boy, and mistakenly thinking her name was “Xiaosheng.”
Later, when they’d reached the Sheng family and her disguise as a boy had been exposed, she remembered it very clearly — for several days, Jun Buli had hated her intensely, refusing to speak a word to her, looking down on her with contempt.
Later still, he’d returned to Da Zhou with his parents, and that parting had lasted ten years.
Watching Jun Buli approach from a distance, though Baili Xiaosheng remembered the things from their childhood, facing the person before her now, she felt a deep unfamiliarity.
If it hadn’t been for their earlier clash in Nanzhao, where she’d learned his identity, she might not even have recognized him as that little troublemaker Xiong Xiaobao from back then, standing before her now.
Thinking of this, Baili Xiaosheng suddenly recalled her master’s old jokes — that unscrupulous master of hers had once teased her about getting closer to Xiong Xiaobao, about childhood sweethearts, about being close to the water tower getting the moon first, about her becoming Aunt Qing’s daughter-in-law.
Back then, she’d told her master that Xiong Xiaobao was too young — that someday he would grow up, someday he would become Jun Buli, no longer everyone’s Xiong Xiaobao.
She hadn’t been wrong. Now, facing this tall, upright man with his cool, handsome features and refined bearing — the ruler of Da Zhou, the sovereign of Longyuan — even though she remembered him, remembered everything from the past, she couldn’t bring herself to call him “Xiong Xiaobao” anymore.
Watching Jun Buli draw closer and closer, that formless sense of unfamiliarity, of estrangement, that distance born of their different stations, grew stronger and stronger.
Baili Xiaosheng took the initiative and stepped back, bowing to him. “This humble subject, Baili Xiaosheng, greets Your Majesty.”
Jun Buli was momentarily stunned, then quickly and rather formally told her to rise. “No need for courtesies. Sister Xiaosheng is practically my sworn elder sister — there’s no need to be so distant.”
In truth, Jun Buli quite admired this elder sister figure and never put on airs in front of her. It was only that lately, with Baili Weisheng and Ziqing deliberately trying to matchmake them, he’d become thoroughly annoyed and had been keeping his distance from Baili Xiaosheng in various ways.
Now that Baili Xiaosheng, with her memories restored, was being so formal, he was quite happy to keep things at this polite, courteous level.
Baili Xiaosheng smiled faintly, still keeping a considerable distance from him.
A hint of slyness flickered across Jun Buli’s eyes. He thought to himself that in this situation, he’d like to see how his mother would try to matchmake them now. His mood improved greatly, and he said with a smile, “Come see my little sister. Come on, let’s go in together.”
Baili Xiaosheng nodded, and instinctively turned to look behind her, only to find that Guxi, who had been following not far behind her all this while, was gone.
“What’s wrong?” Jun Buli asked.
“Nothing,” Baili Xiaosheng quickly turned back around and entered together with Jun Buli.
She had originally planned to come by anyway, and upon suddenly running into Jun Buli, meant to bring up the matter of Guxi. She wasn’t about to do anything foolish — she didn’t need a personal bodyguard watching over her like this.
Besides, even if she did need someone close by, using a talent like Guxi for such a task would be a waste of his abilities.
As they walked, Baili Xiaosheng wanted to bring it up several times, but somehow kept hesitating, and in the end said nothing.
Just as they reached the door, they heard peals of laughter from Meng Duo’er and Situ Jing’er from inside — especially Situ Jing’er, laughing so exaggeratedly, without a shred of the restraint and cultivation befitting a national princess.
“Screeching like a demon!”
Jun Buli muttered, clearly displeased with Situ Jing’er’s ruckus. These past few days, he’d basically been bickering constantly with Situ Jing’er, because she kept monopolizing his little sister!
If it weren’t for his mother saying that Situ Jing’er was also like a little sister and needed to be indulged, he would have blown up at her long ago.
Hearing Jun Buli mutter, Baili Xiaosheng found it hard to believe, and turned to look, only to catch sight of Jun Buli’s displeased expression.
At this moment, Baili Xiaosheng finally felt a touch of familiarity, sensing that Jun Buli hadn’t fully grown up after all — he still had a bit of childishness in him from years past.
Still, Jun Buli quickly returned to his usual reserved and cool demeanor.
The moment they entered the room, everyone saw Baili Xiaosheng, and all at once, the laughter and chatter came to an abrupt halt.
“Xiaosheng!” Ziqing was the first to recover. She was confined during her postpartum recovery and couldn’t go out, and had asked Jun Buli about Baili Xiaosheng’s condition several times. That little troublemaker had always said she was fine, telling her to rest easy during confinement and not worry too much.
Now, seeing Xiaosheng in person, the first thing she noticed was how much weight she’d lost.
“Aunt Qing!” Baili Xiaosheng rushed straight over. Since learning of her master’s departure, she hadn’t cried once, hadn’t wanted to cry. But for some reason, seeing Aunt Qing made her inexplicably want to cry, want to throw herself into her arms and weep.
Was it because her master had always treated Aunt Qing best of all, and seeing Aunt Qing felt like seeing her master?
Helplessly, she still held it back, and put on a sensible smile instead. “Congratulations, Aunt Qing, on your little princess. I’m sorry I’m a bit late.”
At those words, Ziqing grew displeased. “You silly girl, did you hit your head and knock some sense loose? What kind of talk is that?”
Too much formality — Ziqing didn’t care for it. They were all companions who’d been through life and death together — in her heart, Baili Xiaosheng wasn’t just a goddaughter, she was a comrade too!
The scar on this girl’s face had nearly cost her her life!
Baili Xiaosheng burst out laughing at once. “Just teasing you. Come on, come on, let me get a look at our little princess first!”
With that, she lifted the little princess out of the cradle. The little princess, wrapped in a pink swaddling cloth, was unbearably adorable, her bright, sparkling eyes lending her a touch of spirited liveliness within her noble bearing — truly, one couldn’t help but adore her.
Behind Ziqing’s smiling eyes was hidden a pang of heartache — of course she could see it. Baili Xiaosheng was putting on a brave face, forcing a smile. She probably had no intention of bringing up her master.
The manhunt order had already been issued across the realm, and Ziqing had also sent people to the Jiao clan to find Madam Jinjiao, but to this day there was still no word of Baili Weisheng.
Where on earth could that scoundrel of a scholar have gone?