He looked at the fierce, burning glare she was levelling at him.
He saw the tight clench of her jaw and the righteous, furious indignation practically radiating from her small frame.
For a moment, he stared at her, absorbing the unfiltered hostility.
And then, the stoic Vanguard Commander threw his head back and laughed.
Unlike Xiao Yichen or other protagonists, it was a loud, booming, chest-deep roar of genuine hilarity that echoed out over the serene waters of the lotus lake, startling a flock of sleeping cranes into the night sky.
Ji'an flinched, completely thrown off balance by the reaction.
"What is so funny?!" Ji'an snapped, her voice cracking slightly, abandoning any pretense of polite young-master decorum. She slammed her teacup down onto the stone table, the liquid sloshing over the sides. "Are you laughing at me? Because I don't find this situation amusing in the slightest, Commander!"
