They hadn’t seen it, but Yu Shiyan standing on the shore saw everything clearly.
She was crying.
It was clearly the hairpin his late mother had left him. He hadn’t even cried yet, so why was she crying first?
Could it be guilt…?
No, impossible.
He knew her temperament all too well.
If it were before, she would have laughed in his face for a full quarter of an hour, then brought it up every time they met to stab at his heart.
Before…
Today she seemed truly different from before, as if she had become a different person.
A sudden dull pain in her fingertip.
Yuan Siyin froze for a moment, then incredulously felt around.
A slender hairpin body, with three or two not-quite-round agate red beans dangling from the end.
“Found it!”
Overjoyed, Yuan Siyin clenched the hairpin, pushed aside the lotus flowers and leaves around her legs, waded ashore, and presented the hairpin to Yu Shiyan: “Found it!”
Her words cut off abruptly.
Because the hairpin was covered in mud, with none of its original delicate craftsmanship visible.
She bit her lip, vigorously wiped her hand and the hairpin on her clothes, then untied the whip binding Yu Shiyan and carefully placed the red bean hairpin in his hand.
“Don’t let others take such an important thing away again in the future.”
Yuan Siyin sniffled and said softly.
Having said that, she lowered her head and quickly walked away.
Yu Shiyan stood stunned, looking at the hairpin in his hand, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
The palace maids and eunuchs along the way scattered in fear at the sight of Yuan Siyin, afraid that this young mistress would vent her anger on them if she were displeased.
And Yuan Siyin, unable to think of where to go in such a disheveled state, wandered aimlessly until she found a secluded, deserted corner, where she curled up under a tree, dispirited.
How wonderful.
She had helped him recover his mother’s keepsake.
But what her own mother had left her… could never be recovered.
Tears instantly spilled uncontrollably from her eyes.
All the unease and grievances surged up at once, as if there were no other way but to cry, only crying could release them.
“Well, well, has Miss Yuan started crying? This really doesn’t seem like you.”
The newcomer whistled flippantly, his armor gleaming silver in the sunlight.
“Si… Fangming?”
Through tear-blurred eyes, Yuan Siyin murmured his name instinctively, though she didn’t recognize the spirited young man before her.
“Thank you for remembering this subordinate’s name, young mistress. I am deeply honored.”
He chuckled lightly, knelt on one knee, took out a handkerchief from his chest, and gently wiped away her tears. His movements were so practiced, as if he had done it thousands of times before.
“I heard many things about you as soon as I returned, but now that I see you, they all seem to be baseless rumors.”
“How did you come back?”
Yuan Siyin had cried so much she was somewhat oxygen-deprived, her brain in a shutdown state unable to react immediately.
Something felt off, but she couldn’t pinpoint what.
…
Damn it!
Wasn’t Si Fangming supposed to return from the border only after the female lead appeared?!
Heh, thanks for that.
Si Fangming took off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders, not minding the mud on her hands as he reached out to pull her up: “This habit really can’t be broken no matter what. Since childhood, you’ve always run here to hide whenever you wanted to cry.”
“I don’t…”
Yuan Siyin somewhat embarrassed, withdrew her hand.
Accustomed to the male lead’s type, she couldn’t quite handle the second male lead’s style for the moment.
“Why is there a smell of blood? Are you injured?”
Si Fangming had long been stationed at the border, where the harsh environment naturally cultivated his keen sensitivity to the scent of blood.
As he spoke, as if to bolster his credibility, he even sniffed seriously.
Yuan Siyin: “…”
Are you a dog?