The wheels rolled over the bluestone road, leaving two faint tracks of water.
Nalan Yanran sat in the swaying carriage, her mind elsewhere. The bustle and clamor of the Imperial Capital outside the window seemed separated from her by a thick pane of glass, blurred and unreal.
The reception hall called Snow Listening Courtyard, the mysterious figure wearing a bamboo hat, and those words that had seemed so mild yet struck at the heart all lingered in her mind like a curse that refused to lift.
"The Brand Poison has fused with your bone marrow and become one with your blood and qi."
"If the poison isn't removed, you'll turn to ash before long."
What had shaken her most, though, was the question she had somehow asked on her way out.
A question about the Xiao Clan, about that good-for-nothing whose engagement she had torn up with her own hands.
The man had merely lifted his teacup and, in a tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather, said something that still chilled her to the bone.
"A true powerhouse never needs to defeat a fallen youth to prove his strength."
The words had pierced the proud heart she called "the heaven's favored daughter," buried beneath the praise of her sect, her elders, and the entire Imperial Capital.
She had always believed she'd broken off the engagement to pursue a higher level of martial cultivation, to escape the burden and humiliation of being tied to a good-for-nothing.
But in that moment, the conviction she had thought as solid as a rock had cracked for the first time.
Had I... really done the right thing?
For the first time, the question rose uncontrollably from the depths of her heart.
Three days later.
The Imperial Capital, in a