The girl wore a floral crown, floral ornaments painted between her brows, and a gauzy, gold-woven dress of dark blue and ink-black, beneath a pomegranate-red cloak embroidered with intertwining flowering branches.
The silk stole draped over her arms rested carelessly on the felt mat, like clouds or drifting floss.
White teeth and crimson lips, vivid and radiant-
She was like the Gushe Goddess stepping down from an ancient mural.
Many in the hall secretly studied her, unable to keep themselves from staring.
"Hehe!"
Hearing Chen Heng's voice,
Qiao Rui, seated several places away, gave an artless smile and nodded vigorously.
A trace of bright childishness now showed between her brows, softening her graceful, dignified bearing. She looked like an adorable little girl who knew nothing of the world.
"Your face-"
She poked her own cheek with a fingertip, then carefully pointed at Chen Heng and asked curiously,
"Has your face healed?"
"It's nothing serious anymore."
Chen Heng cupped his hands and smiled slightly.
After the two exchanged a few more words, Mi Hui, whose table stood beside Chen Heng's, finally lost patience and eagerly joined their conversation.
He was greatly surprised that Chen Heng knew Qiao Rui.
But he had not seen Chen Heng for days.
He had already stored up a bellyful of difficult questions and could hardly wait to seek Chen Heng's advice.
Without anyone quite noticing, Mi Hui steered the conversation toward cultivation and current affairs.
Seeing Mi Hui talking with such fervor, utterly lost in the conversation,
Qiao Rui opened her mouth in bewilderment, hesitating to speak. After several failed attempts to get a word in, she could only purse her lips and turn back to her own table.
She felt somewhat stifled, yet somewhat amused.
"Little Qiao, how did you come to know him?"
An