"I..."
Hearing Xu Shi ask that, Pan Ling was at a loss for words. She stood there in a daze, silent for a long while.
It was not that she did not know the answer. She simply did not know how to answer, or perhaps she did not want to answer.
Out of curiosity, she had indeed sensed Luo Yu's thoughts back then, but the result had been completely different from what she had expected.
Both her father and Uncle Xu had thoughts hidden beneath the surface, which made her uncomfortable. She had thought Brother Luo Yu would be different from them, but his heart was the same too... Strands of darkness hidden beneath the light even made Miss Ling shudder.
Why was Brother Luo Yu also... Yet even so, she had deliberately skipped over him earlier, trying her best to avoid anything related to him.
It was the little girl's own selfishness. Luo Yu was someone very important to her, after all. From the bottom of her heart, she hoped he was different from everyone else. Maybe this time was just an exception?
"Tell me the answer."
Xu Shi gave her no such chance. Staring into her eyes, he pressed the question in a low, serious voice.
"Brother Luo Yu, he, he, he..."
How could Pan Ling withstand that tone? Trembling, she spilled everything.
Her voice was almost mechanical. "He deliberately made things difficult for you, and... and stood by without helping. He did not care about those attendants either. He... he seemed to have already had... had..."
"Had what?"
"...Had the thought of getting rid of them..."
Miss Ling quietly completed the sentence.
After listening to her haltingly recount everything, Xu Shi nodded meaningfully.
It really was just as he had guessed... He had needed to confirm it