Chen Xinyi washed up and stood by the door, staring into the distance like a wife waiting for her husband’s return. Her eyes were dim and marked by exhaustion, anticipating the arrival of a certain someone.
She did not know how long she had waited. It felt like she had been waiting for a long time. After what seemed like aeon past, she saw the figure of the person she had been waiting for. The man braved the howling wind and pelting snow. Even though only his silhouette was visible, she knew, without a doubt, who the man approaching was. Her eyes lit up as if a spark had been ignited, breathing life into her vacant orbs.
To think, she was waiting for her!
Feng Tianlan passed through the wind and snow, one step at a time. She saw the heartfelt happiness shinning in Chen Xinyi’s eyes and shivered. Such gentleness, such deep affection; they should not have been trained on her. It was disconcerting. “Miss Chen.”
“Master Shen, you’re here. You’re finally here…” Chen Xinyi stared at the face of the man whom she had missed day and night. Her eyes reddened, and crystalline tears rolled down the sides of her face. She was beside herself with joy.
It took a great show of effort on Feng Tianlan’s part to resist the urge to shudder. The look being aimed at her did not belong on Chen Xinyi’s face. The fact that she could not stand it when girls started crying merely compounded her discomfort.
“Miss Chen, don’t cry.” Feng Tianlan didn’t know what she should do or say. Not even she wanted to be the cause for a woman’s tears.
Chen Xinyi could not hold back her tears, and they blurred her vision. “Master Shen, may I hug you?”
“Miss Chen, I…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Chen Xinyi pounced on Feng Tianlan and hugged her as if her life depended on it. Crying helplessly, she sobbed out, “Master Shen, I knew you would come. You will definitely come to save me. Do you know? I have waited for you for a long time. I knew you would come to save me from the moment I stepped foot into the palace. I knew with all my heart that you would bring me away.”
Feng Tianlan stiffened as she heard Chen Xinyi’s words. She had never thought that Chen Xinyi would hold such deep feelings for her – a woman in men’s clothing. Chen Xinyi was relying on her in the same way she would a man.
“Please… please take me with you… bring me out of this place.” Chen Xinyi released her. With tear-filled eyes, she begged, hoping Feng Tianlan would whisk her away.
Facing her hopeful, pleading gaze, Feng Tianlan nodded. She hesitated for a long time but eventually resolved herself. Wrapping her slender arms around Chen Xinyi’s waist, the two of them disappeared with a light tap of her shoes. Almost immediately, they were out of the palace.
Regardless of the outcome, Feng Tianlan decided she would end things with Chen Xiyin using her identity as Master Shen. It was best she persuaded her against pinning after a man who did not exist.
Chen Xinyi leaned into Feng Tianlan’s embrace, breathing in the soothing minty fragrance clinging to Master Shen’s skin.
Though the clothes she wore belonged to Si Mobai, and thus, were too big for her, they possessed a certain masculine charm that captured Chen Xinyi’s heart.
“Master Shen, I didn’t do anything to let you down.”
In Chen Xinyi’s eyes, the person in front of her was not Feng Tianlan but Master Shen, the man she yearned to be with.
Feng Tianlan pursed her lips and used her cloak to block the sleet and snow raining down upon them. Mobai had once done the same for her, and she thought well of his considerate action.
“I didn’t hurt Wang’er or Xi Lin, and I didn’t send people to the United Mercenary Regiment.”
Feng Tianlan raised her eyebrows. “Miss Chen…”
“Please, call me Xinyi. Don’t be so cold…I’m already chilled to the bone as it is. I’ll tell you anything you want to know, and after today, we’ll be completely square. I won’t think about Master Shen anymore, and I won’t do anything else.”
Feng Tianlan bit her lips and considered Chen Xinyi’s proposition. After some thought, she agreed. “Alright.”
It was for the best. The matter between Chen Xinyi and Master Shen should come to an end. If Chen Xinyi’s proposition enabled her to work past her obsession for this fictitious persona of hers, then it was all the better.
