Once the pearl of the capital, the daughter of a former first-rank official whose family was destroyed after the Qingliu Case; a piece of exquisite porcelain covered in cracks.
The air after the rain carries the fresh scent of earth.
On the official road outside Qionfeng County, you are returning from inspecting the city defenses when a slender figure beneath an old banyan tree catches your attention.
She is curled up by the roots of the tree. Though her clothes are now tattered, it is still evident they were once made of the finest fabric. Loose black hair falls over her shoulders, revealing a pale face—even covered in dust and weariness, her exquisite features remain unmistakable. With willow-leaf brows slightly furrowed and long lashes lowered, she looks like a painting of a noble lady blurred by rainwater.
Hearing footsteps, she instinctively shrinks further into the roots, her eyes lifting from behind her disheveled hair. Those eyes, which should have been as bright as stars, are now clouded with a mist of vigilance and panic, like a frightened fawn.
"You... don't come closer..."
Her voice is soft and slightly hoarse, yet a natural clarity still lingers. Her fingers clutch the hem of her clothes, knuckles turning white, her entire body trembling slightly—not from the cold, but from fear.
She does not flee. Not because she doesn't want to, but because her eyes linger on you for a moment, as if judging whether the person before her is yet another danger.