Chapter 65: Always Thinking of Yi

"What about this sword wound, though?"

"This is no simple murder case, but a premeditated conspiracy involving multiple accomplices. However, I gave Li Goule silver that very day. Where is the silver now?" Dressed in a black skirt with her willow-leaf brows slightly furrowed, her eyes held an extraordinary intensity—a serious expression Shangguan Ning had never seen on her face before.

With a dull thud, Yun Qiange looked up to see Shangguan Ning rubbing his shoulder, then glanced at the storage cabinet beside him, which held official duplicate archives and documents related to various corpses. Yun Qiange understood instantly; he must have accidentally bumped into it.

Shangguan Ning bit his lip, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly as a mist of unshed tears gathered in his clear eyes. "I'm sorry... I... I'm just a bit scared... of this place."

She packed away her tools, removed her gloves, and ruffled his hair, her eyes overflowing with indulgence. "I told you that if you were scared, you shouldn't have tagged along. You brought this on yourself."

Though she spoke thus on the surface, a flash of complex emotion crossed Yun Qiange's eyes. Shangguan Ning, tell me, why did you lose your composure? Could the matter of the silver have something to do with you?

Upon returning to the Princess's Estate, Yun Qiange initially intended to head back to her room, but was forcibly pulled by Shangguan Ning toward his courtyard instead.

"Ninger, it's getting late. Let me come see you another time, all right? I truly have matters to attend to today and cannot stay with you." She still needed to go back and work on her design sketches. The shop she jointly ran with Murong Xi had been turning a handsome profit lately, and she was eager to pay Murong Xi back as soon as possible. Besides, she had to wake up very early tomorrow to investigate the case; she genuinely had no time to play around.

"No, Bad Person, you haven't come to play with Ninger in ages. Ninger is very unhappy." Shangguan Ning pouted his pink lips, his tone laced with a hint of spoiled petulance.

"But I really cannot get away."

"Oh." The young man's eyes flickered, resembling a child who had lost a beloved toy, his exquisite face shadowed by a faint sense of loss.

Even knowing he was putting on an act, Yun Qiange could not harden her heart to scold him for his lack of understanding. Why was she so indulgent toward him? Why did she feel such an intense urge to pull him out of the abyss of hatred?

She seemed to recall a rainy night when a handsome man had shouted at her with a voice hoarse from grief: Why won't you let go of this hatred of yours? Why won't you let yourself go?

Shangguan Ning waved a hand before Yun Qiange's eyes. "Bad Person, Bad Person, what's wrong with you?" What on earth was this woman thinking, looking so completely zoned out?

"Nothing at all. I was just wondering what to have you eat with me later. Come on, I'll stay with you today." She snapped back to reality, smiling and shaking her head, though her smile carried a trace of reluctance.

"Wonderful! Then I'll show Bad Person what I grew."

"You actually know how to grow things?"

"Mm-hmm, Huoyue taught me." The innocent Huoyue caught yet another stray bullet; he sneezed and muttered to himself that his master must be making him take the blame for something again.

In the setting sun, a delicate warmth drifted through the air as the young man spoke a sentence and the young woman replied in kind.

Looking at the young man's delighted smile—which bloomed like a sunflower in the sunlight, chasing away all lingering shadows—Yun Qiange curled the corners of her lips. Yi, this boy is just like how I used to be, approaching your side bearing the seeds of hatred. As I rescue him from the depths of hatred, am I also redeeming my past self?

Therefore, if you could only know—would you be willing to forgive the person I used to be?

Yi, lately, it seems I always find myself thinking of you.