That small hand reaching out toward Zhan Yuheng was still as pale and delicate as ever.

Zhan Yuheng looked at her hand, and gradually, buried memories began to rise to the surface of his mind.

A little girl darting through a sea of flowers, a butterfly alighting on her shoulder — so endearing, so enchanting.

The smile in her eyes was a beauty so perfect it could make the heavens and earth lose their luster; those bright, lively large eyes were full of mischief and innocence.

She was so wonderful — so wonderful that one could not help but feel a yearning to cherish her…

Zhan Yuheng’s hand finally moved, reaching out to take hold of her small hand.

His gaze met hers, and in that instant, he seemed to glimpse the girl buried deepest in his own heart.

Those eyes — bright and lively, full of wisdom and playful spirit — were they not his Jiu’er?

“Have you truly… come back?” Zhan Yuheng’s hand came to rest against Feng Jiu’er’s cheek. The ugly scar there seemed to be of no concern to him whatsoever.

Feng Jiu’er was a little stunned. What did he mean? Why was the Crown Prince looking at her with such tenderness?

Yet she had not forgotten — she was Feng Jiu’er, the fool Ninth Miss. The Crown Prince was a sharp and perceptive man, and she absolutely could not let her mask slip in front of him.

So she smiled — the exact same smile as the real Feng Jiu’er had worn before she died.

“Brother Heng, I’ve come back, of course.”

The warmth in Zhan Yuheng’s eyes dissolved utterly in the face of her vacant, witless smile.

The hand that had rested against her cheek was drawn back in an instant.

In the span of a breath, the tenderness was gone — in its place was only disappointment, and a loneliness and desolation so thick it could not be dissolved.

Feng Jiu’er could not see through this man at all. He had clearly felt tenderness for Feng Jiu’er just now — he had not even been bothered in the least by her disfigured face.

Yet in a single instant, that tenderness had vanished.

Zhan Yuheng rose to his feet and strode toward the door. “It is late. Go back and rest.”

“Brother Heng…” Feng Jiu’er called softly after him.

But Zhan Yuheng did not even pause his steps. He was gone.

He had truly left. Jiu’er — now you can lay down that last shred of longing, can’t you?

He truly does not want you anymore…

Feng Jiu’er composed herself and stepped out of the side hall. She looked up and saw Zhan Yuheng surrounded by Feng Junzhuo and Feng Qingyin.

He was presumably waiting for his carriage, his guards standing watch behind him.

Was Feng Qingyin still unwilling to give up?

Amusement flickered in Feng Jiu’er’s eyes as she walked over. “Qingyin elder sister, you are here as well?”

Zhan Yuheng seemed to have no particular feelings for Feng Qingyin either — that much she could see clearly.

But as for Feng Qingyin toward Zhan Yuheng — her infatuation was one hundred percent complete.

Catching sight of Feng Jiu’er, Feng Qingyin was filled with loathing, yet in front of Zhan Yuheng she had no choice but to keep up a gentle facade.

“Jiu’er little sister, it is so late — why have you not gone back to rest yet?”

“But Qingyin elder sister hasn’t rested either, has she? Running about outside like this?”

Feng Jiu’er grinned cheerfully, then suddenly turned to look at Zhan Yuheng and gave a small pout.

“Crown Prince elder brother, I… could you please tell that Prince — whoever he is — that I… I don’t want to go to the Imperial Academy anymore.”

She didn’t want to go?

Everyone present was startled without exception.

Feng Qingyin’s face lit up immediately. “Jiu’er little sister, you… are you truly giving your spot to me?”

Feng Jiu’er did not respond to her words and kept her gaze fixed on Zhan Yuheng instead.

Feng Jiu’er pursed her lips in a small pout, looking as though she were rather frightened. “Qingyin elder sister said that everyone in the Imperial Academy is a bad person — not only do they harm people, they kill them too!”