Perhaps because they knew Little Juzi was about to leave, everyone in Flowing Sand especially cherished the time they spent with Ning Que.
Everyone went up to speak with Ning Que.
One by one, they told him their names, their family backgrounds, why they had joined Flowing Sand, their ambitions, and so on...
Ning Que listened to them all.
These were all people whose backs had been bent beneath the collapse of the Dynasty...
They had joined Flowing Sand only because they had no other choice.
Each person was a story.
At a time like this, wine became the best way to ease the mood.
The night grew late, and Ning Que began to feel sleepy.
Just as he was about to return to his room to sleep, the door quietly opened a crack.
A slender figure tiptoed inside.
"It's you?"
Ning Que looked surprised. "Miss Zhuge?"
The visitor was none other than Zhuge Qing.
Compared with the Zhuge Qing he had met in Qingzhou City, dressed as a man, the Zhuge Qing before him in plain cloth clothes and a headscarf seemed far more down-to-earth.
Her delicate face bore not a trace of makeup, yet she was beautiful all the same.
"Still awake this late?"
Ning Que smiled as he spoke to her.
"I couldn't sleep."
Zhuge Qing was not worried about being alone in a room with a man. In Qingzhou City, they had spent three days like that.
"Why couldn't you sleep?"
"..."
The question left Zhuge Qing momentarily at a loss for words, but she still answered, "I was just... feeling wistful."
"If I hadn't left Qingzhou City, I would probably still be the daughter of Qingzhou's Provincial Governor."
Zhuge Qing gazed at the bright moon outside the window as she spoke.
"If you hadn't left