What made Nalan Yanran feel even more stifled was that the engagement she had once discarded like a worn-out shoe had now become a match others could only dream of. And the youth she had once looked down on now had someone by his side who cared for him with all her heart.
Ya Fei's teasing and the crowd's laughter reached her ears, yet each sound pierced Nalan Yanran's heart like a needle.
At her side, Nalan Su, the head of the Nalan Lineage, seemed to notice his daughter's distraction. He lightly touched her shoulder and asked in a low voice, "Yanran, what are you spacing out for? The Xiao Clan is no longer what it once was. Even the Imperial Family and the Mittel Family have to show them some respect, let alone a family like ours that must maintain balance among the empire's major powers."
Nalan Su lowered his voice even further, his gaze carrying a hint of warning. "That engagement between you and the Xiao Clan... if you hadn't stubbornly gone to the Xiao Clan to break it off back then, there might still have been a chance for you and Xiao Yan to be together now. What a pity..."
"Father, I understand." Nalan Yanran took a deep breath, her voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible tension. "I just never expected that, in the end, I would still regret it."
She forcefully suppressed the turbulent emotions in her heart and squeezed out a reluctant smile. Draining the strong liquor in her cup in one gulp, she felt the fiery wine scorch her throat, yet it could not suppress the sudden surge of regret—if she had not been so proud and so rash back then, would she be the one standing beside Xiao Yan now?
"Yanran..." Seeing