Welcome Back Victorious, Your Imperial Majesty! (4K) (Continued)

Over the years, whenever she recalled and savored her master's stern measures from back then, she came to understand new layers of profound meaning within them. She now understood the painstaking care behind them.

So...

Her thoughts churned. Li Qingjue parted her delicate lips, wanting to say something, yet felt her throat tighten.

After years of waiting and countless struggles at the brink of life and death, what had sustained her—besides her obsession with seeing her brother again—was that figure in her memories, stern yet warm in every way.

But now, that figure had reappeared before her eyes, yet seemed so distant, so cold.

Yet precisely because of this, she had to admit that perhaps only such a master was the "master" from her memories—the person who had always been unsmiling toward her and treated everything with such indifference.

Tap...

As if possessed, perhaps because emotions suppressed for so long needed release, or perhaps because she simply wanted to express her closeness to her master,

"Master, all these years, Nannan... this disciple has truly missed you..."

Li Qingjue suddenly took a small step forward. She gently spread her slender arms, a trace of cautious expectation and deep filial affection appearing in her eyes as she asked tremblingly,

"Can I... can I... hug you again?"

She was undoubtedly clever, using the word "again" with great subtlety.

However,

What answered her was Tan Lin's eyes, still as deep as an abyss and devoid of even the slightest emotion.

That gaze was as calm as ever.

It seemed to carry a clear, impassable boundary. The feeling was like an ice awl, stabbing Li Qingjue until her outstretched arms froze in midair, and the expectation on her face instantly solidified into pallor.

"How have you cultivated your heart all these years? Have you forgotten