Li Xianfang asked in astonishment, "Y-you, what is your relationship with Her Highness?"
Pei Ye said, "We rode in the same carriage and lived under the same roof. Seven days ago, I even spent a night in her bedchamber."
Li Xianfang gaped. "You... you... those words could cost you your head!"
Shocked and anxious, she lowered her voice, almost wanting to cover her benefactor's mouth.
Pei Ye smiled. "It's not as if I'm lying."
"B-but Her Highness never mentioned it." Li Xianfang recalled Her Highness's attitude just now, and truly had not felt that she treated this benefactor any differently.
"Yes, because I've been angry with her these past two days," Pei Ye said casually. He gazed at the horizon in silence for a while. "Her coming was an empty promise; her going left no trace... I suppose I'm the only one willing to remember someone like her."
Li Xianfang stood bewildered and dazed. Pei Ye parted with her before the palace gates, but did not hurry away. He settled beneath an eave, laid his sword across his knees, and sat quietly.
If even Vermilion Mirror Hall yielded nothing, there was even less chance of finding any trace of her elsewhere.
From midmorning until dusk, rain fell for a long time. The entire Divine Capital had forgotten Li Xizhou.
The sky grew completely dark, but the rain showed no sign of stopping. The Divine Capital's intricate lamplight wove a hazy blur in the distance.
Pei Ye led his horse along the street toward the Immortal Platform. Black Cat crouched on his shoulder.
Pei Ye could understand, or at least accept, the Water Masters' "disappearance." That painted scene fading away in the rain had left a deep impression on him.
They had always been creatures of the Spirit Realm.