Fragrant curtains veiled the bluestone road; wheels rattled, cicadas fell silent.
Xie Xinghan wore a lake-blue Silver-Mud Robe, the Blue Jade Hairpin in her hair, a glint of ice congealing a water soul; snow seemed to dance upon her skin, and a faint rosy glow shone through her radiant beauty. She watched Wang Yang with eyes like a star-filled lake, calm yet appraising.
Her gaze set Wang Yang's heart drumming, but his expression remained composed as he asked lightly:
"Where's Xiao Ning? Where did she go?"
Xie Xinghan tilted her head slightly. Her eyes seemed to conceal a blade that could pierce the human heart. Though she reclined at ease, she sent a fine, prickling itch across the back of Wang Yang's neck:
"Have you nothing to say to me, Young Master Wang?"
-Damn!
Had she met Xiao Baoyue?
Had that little brat sold out my identity?!
-No!
If she knew, she wouldn't need to ask like this.
She was-bluffing.
Once he grasped this, Wang Yang swiftly regained his composure. He looked into Xie Xinghan's eyes, the corners of his lips lifting in a faint smile:
"Is there something you want me to say to you, Lady Xie?"
The two gazed at each other in silence.
One had eyes like stars reflected in a cold pool, hidden currents surging in their depths; the other's resembled clear snow settling over an abyss, unruffled beneath their gentle elegance.
One was cool and clear as a cloud-crowned cliff, like the moon at dawn in a frosty sky; the other was warm as ripples stirred by a breeze, like smoke rising from warm jade.
The curtains swayed gently. The rumbling wheels rolled over the gaps between the bluestone slabs, rocking the patches of light sifted through the window gauze. Shadows flickered through the carriage,