It had to be said that the King of Nanhuai was truly attentive.
Three days after Bai Qingxue’s arrival, the palace sent the first batch of gifts.
Two carved food boxes contained exquisite pastries shaped like flowers and birds, filled with honey-preserved fruits unique to Nanhuai.
There were four bolts of cloud brocade, woven with gold and silver threads, folded neatly.
A basket of spirit fruits, though not of high grade, had bright skins, clearly the best the royal gardens could offer.
Bai Qingxue did not refuse them.
Refusal was too much trouble; the King of Nanhuai would just find different ways to send more, and she would have to keep dealing with it.
It was better to accept them and leave them in the side hall, unused.
The pile of items grew larger. The food boxes were stacked three high, the fabrics were piled in the corner, and spirit fruits rolled out of the basket to the legs of the table, left where they fell.
The door to the side hall was half-open, and an occasional breeze carried the cloyingly sweet scent of honey-preserved fruits into the room.
On the seventh day, the King of Nanhuai paid a visit in person.
Bai Qingxue was drinking tea in the courtyard.
At that moment, she held her cup and watched the leaves of the old locust tree swaying in the wind, one by one, slow and leisurely.
Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the courtyard gate.
“Immortal Master, this King requests an audience.”
Bai Qingxue set down her teacup. “Enter.”
The King of Nanhuai pushed open the gate and entered, followed by two others.
A boy and a girl, both dressed in formal royal ceremonial attire.
The boy was about fifteen or sixteen, with a proper face, but his eyes held a flightiness he couldn't quite hide. However, the moment he entered, he suppressed that flightiness and replaced it with a respectful expression, clearly having been coached beforehand.
The girl was younger, barely ten years old, wearing a palace dress that didn't fit. The hem dragged on the ground, and her sleeves had to be rolled twice just to reveal her fingers.
The girl’s head remained lowered, her chin almost touching her collarbone, as if she were deathly afraid of being seen.
The King of Nanhuai stepped forward and bowed deeply. “Immortal Master, this is my son, Xiao Chengyuan, and my daughter. I have brought them to pay their respects to the Immortal Master.”
Bai Qingxue’s gaze swept over the two but she did not respond.
The King of Nanhuai straightened up, a flattering smile on his face. He rubbed his sleeves with his fingers, seemingly weighing how to speak.
“Immortal Master, this King has a request, though I know not if it is appropriate to speak of it.”
Bai Qingxue looked at him.
The King of Nanhuai felt somewhat uncomfortable under her gaze. He gave a dry cough but spoke anyway.
“This child Chengyuan has dull natural talent; this King is well aware of that. But if he could receive even a bit of guidance from an immortal, even just to initiate his path...”
The King of Nanhuai paused. “I know this request is presumptuous, but please forgive a father’s heart, Immortal Master.”
Bai Qingxue did not answer immediately.
She looked at Xiao Chengyuan. The youth stood behind his father with his hands down, following the rules well enough.
He wore an ink-blue Heir Apparent ceremonial attire with a jade belt and a proper crown.
But Bai Qingxue noticed his eyes; from the moment he entered, his gaze flitted between her face, the sword at her waist, and the teacup on the stone table, as if he didn't know where to look or was sizing everything up.
Bai Qingxue’s spiritual sense probed into his body and withdrew in an instant.
Bai Qingxue spoke bluntly, “He is not suited for cultivation.”
Upon hearing this, the King of Nanhuai’s face stiffened.
The stiffness was brief—so brief that if Bai Qingxue hadn't been using her spiritual sense, she wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Then he resumed his smile, the exact same one Bai Qingxue had seen when they first met, with fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and a slight curve of the lips—gentle, proper, and flawless.
“The Immortal Master is correct. This King knew as much, it’s just...” The King of Nanhuai did not finish.
He knew he shouldn't say any more.
Xiao Chengyuan knew it too.
He lifted his gaze from the ground in front of his toes and shot a look at Bai Qingxue. It was a very short look, but Bai Qingxue saw the resentment within it. She treated it as if it were nothing.
Her gaze moved past his shoulder and landed on the other person.
The girl who had come with Xiao Chengyuan still stood near the entrance. From the moment they entered until now, she hadn't taken a single step forward or said a single word.
She just stood there with her head down, her hem dragging on the ground and her sleeves rolled twice, revealing a small section of pale wrist.
She was very thin—not the elegant kind of thin, but the kind resulting from long-term poor diet and lack of sleep.
The contours of her cheekbones protruded slightly beneath her skin, like stones beneath a thin layer of ice on a winter river.
She didn't look like a princess at all...
Bai Qingxue’s spiritual sense reached out to her.
At first, Bai Qingxue felt nothing.
Just as she thought this girl was the same as the King of Nanhuai, the same as Xiao Chengyuan, and the same as every other mortal in this city.
But her spiritual sense touched a faint ripple deep within the girl's heart. It wasn't spiritual power, but something else.
It was very pure yet very weak, submerged beneath the girl's chest like a seed buried in silt.
However, Bai Qingxue did not make a sound; she simply withdrew her spiritual sense silently.
After all, what did whatever secret this so-called princess held have to do with her?
Still, Bai Qingxue did not look away, instead asking indifferently:
“What is this girl’s name?”
The King of Nanhuai was taken aback. His gaze lingered on Bai Qingxue’s face for a moment, as if confirming who she was asking about, before following her line of sight to Xiao Nanyuan.
“My daughter, Nanyuan,” he said. His tone was a few degrees colder than when he had mentioned the Heir Apparent. In the Nanhuai royal family, a princess's name was never something that needed to be prioritized.
Bai Qingxue looked at Xiao Nanyuan.
“Xiao Nanyuan.”
Bai Qingxue’s voice was soft, but Xiao Nanyuan’s head lifted slightly.
Just for a moment, like something rising from deep water, touching the surface, and then sinking back down.
Bai Qingxue saw her eyes. They were very black, shining with a dark light like two wells without moonlight.
Clearly, these were eyes that had soaked in silence for far too long. For some reason, as Bai Qingxue looked at the little girl before her, she inexplicably recalled the Bai Qingxue of her memories...
Bai Qingxue withdrew her gaze.
“The King may leave.” Bai Qingxue picked up her teacup and took a sip.
The King of Nanhuai took the hint and bowed to withdraw.
As he turned, he gave Xiao Chengyuan a pull. The youth stumbled a step and followed his father out.
Xiao Nanyuan walked at the very back, her hem dragging on the ground with a faint rustling sound.
When she reached the courtyard gate, her footsteps paused for a second.
She didn't look back; she just stood there with her back to Bai Qingxue, like a small tree bent by the wind—bowed, yet stubbornly resilient.
Then she continued forward, walking out of the gate.
Bai Qingxue looked down at the tea infusion in her cup.
The tea had gone cold, and the bitterness was heavier. She took a sip, and her throat moved as she swallowed.
She knew Xiao Nanyuan had a secret, but so what?
Bai Qingxue didn't need to think too much, nor did she want to interfere. She had come to Nanhuai for the altar, not for this child.
Nanhuai was a small state on the edge of the Eastern Region. She was a True Disciple of the Xuantian Sect; she wouldn't be staying here long.
Once the altar was stabilized, she would go back.
Back to Xueji Peak, back to the old plum tree, and back to the pot of tea that appeared punctually every evening.
And this child would continue to grow up in the Nanhuai royal palace, continuing to wear ill-fitting palace dresses, continuing to keep her head down, and continuing to be silent. It would have nothing to do with her.
Bai Qingxue stood up and walked into the house.
She sat cross-legged on the bed. The ice lotus rotated silently within her dantian, but at this moment, Bai Qingxue was not cultivating.
Her consciousness floated on the surface, like a leaf drifting on water. That leaf drifted from Nanhuai back to Xueji Peak, and from Xueji Peak even further away.
Finally, it drifted into a tiny quiet room, where a little girl curled up in a corner, hugging her knees and burying her face in her arms.
She seemed to be crying, yet she didn't make a single sound.
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