The palace was unusually quiet the next morning.
Too quiet.
Like something was waiting.
—
Xueying sat by the window, her hair still slightly damp from the night before. Qingyu stood beside her, worry clear on her face.
"They went too far," Qingyu said softly. "You could have—"
"I didn't," Xueying interrupted gently.
Her voice wasn't shaken anymore.
It was calm.
Controlled.
Different.
—
A knock came.
Before Qingyu could respond, the door slid open.
Gu Yichen stepped in.
His presence filled the room instantly.
Serious.
Cold.
Focused.
—
"Leave us," he said.
Qingyu hesitated, then bowed and stepped out.
The door closed.
Silence remained.
—
"You knew," Yichen said.
Not a question.
Xueying didn't look surprised.
"Yes."
His gaze hardened.
"And you still went."
"I told you," she replied quietly. "I needed to see."
"See what?" his voice sharpened slightly.
"How far they would go to destroy me."
A pause.
Then—
"And now I know."
—
Yichen stared at her.
Long.
Searching.
"You could have died."
The words were low.
Heavy.
Real.
Xueying's fingers tightened slightly on her sleeve.
"But I didn't."
"That doesn't make it acceptable."
Her gaze finally met his.
"And what would you have had me do?" she asked softly.
"Hide?"
"Stay quiet?"
"Wait for them to destroy me slowly instead?"
Silence.
—
Yichen had no immediate answer.
Because she wasn't wrong.
—
"They've already decided who I am," Xueying continued.
Her voice steady.
"So why should I keep trying to prove them wrong in silence?"
Something in Yichen's expression shifted.
"…You've changed."
"Yes."
A simple answer.
But it carried weight.
—
A pause.
Then—
"I'm going to speak to Zhao Meilin," he said.
Xueying's eyes flickered slightly.
"That won't change anything."
"It will make things clear."
"It will make things worse," she corrected calmly.
—
Yichen didn't respond.
But his silence said enough.
He was going anyway.
—
Xueying looked away.
"…Then be careful."
He paused.
Just slightly.
Because that—
Wasn't something he expected her to say.