A single tear fell from Su Wan’s eye but was wiped away mid-descent as she clenched her teeth tightly, resolved not to drop another. It was a matter of the Marquis Mansion’s legitimate daughter’s dignity.
However, at the moment when she turned around to leave, she heard Ning Xiao sigh.
"Big Brother, what’s wrong?"
Xiao Yu asked curiously, worry lacing her words as she looked at Ning Xiao.
"I feel a bit guilty."
To his closest junior sister, Ning Xiao finally spoke the words that he had never before voiced, "I have done something wrong."
Ning Xiao discovered that Ningyuan Marquis Mansion was related to the incident from the past but had no concrete evidence, merely some speculation.
What he had not anticipated was the fierce factional strife within the court; from his findings, the rivals of Ningyuan Marquis Mansion were able to exploit a weakness in Marquis Ning Yuan and ultimately topple him from power.
Recently, having delved deeper into the investigation, Ning Xiao realized that he had wrongly accused Marquis Ning Yuan.
But the deed was done; even with all his remorse, he could not restore Marquis Ning Yuan’s family.
Xiao Yu, kind-hearted by nature, was instantly filled with sympathy upon hearing Ning Xiao’s recount of Marquis Ning Yuan’s plight, "Can you help them?"
The order to ransack the family had come from the Holy Emperor himself; Ning Xiao was powerless to intervene.
"What about that very beautiful sister you mentioned?" Xiao Yu asked curiously, "Can’t you rescue her? It would be terrible if someone so beautiful fell into the wrong hands."
"I have someone looking for her, don’t worry."
Although he had not directly caused Marquis Ning Yuan’s downfall, the fact that the Marquis had been caught by a deadly rival through his actions meant Ning Xiao could no longer save him. However, Ning Xiao had made up his mind to rescue Su Wan.
Unbeknownst to the two conversing, the protagonist of their discussion was standing not far away.
Shu Wan stood quietly in a corner, her gaze fixed and seemingly immobilized while her eyes seemed to harbor a myriad of emotions, as if she was about to shatter at any moment.
One could see the emotional transformation on Shu Wan; she went from disbelief to acceptance and then a growing resentment. However, when her gaze fell on Ning Xiao, there was also a hint of struggle.
[Shu Wan’s acting... really hits the mark, doesn’t it? She’s perfectly capturing such complex emotions???]
[Great, the Commandery Princess starts down her path of becoming a villain today. With this trend, Shu Wan’s portrayal of a villain should be quite effective.]
[Just saying quietly, doesn’t anyone else think Shu Wan looks really beautiful when she cries? A beauty shedding tears isn’t just an adjective.]
After that night’s episode aired, the topic of Shu Wan’s transformation into a villain once again heated up the search trends.
Under the widespread skepticism of her acting in "Shushan Sword Immortal," the actual footage from "Yun Ni" seemed to smack of a face-slap.
At the Estate, just before going to bed, Shu Wan suddenly remembered something and went straight to Fu Yang’s room.
Fu Yang hadn’t locked the door. Shu Wan knocked twice, guessing he hadn’t heard her with headphones on, and pushed the door open.
She then saw Fu Yang intently watching his computer.
Feeling someone enter, Fu Yang instinctively looked up and briefly panicked when he saw Shu Wan. He closed his computer and pretended nonchalantly to look around, "Why didn’t you knock?"
"I did, but you had headphones on."
"Oh," Fu Yang replied, knowing he was at fault, and swiftly changed the subject, "Why are you here?"
"Didn’t you say you had a basketball game?"
With so much going on recently, Shu Wan had almost forgotten.
"What about it?" Fu Yang raised an eyebrow, "Even if you wanted to go, you don’t have a ticket, too late."
Three days ago, he had planned to give the tickets to Shu Wan, but Wang Tian had called and talked for nearly ten minutes.
By the time Shu Wan finished the call and asked Fu Yang what he wanted, he had put away the tickets.
"Give me two; I want to watch."
"Two?" Fu Yang looked puzzled, "Who else?"
"That’s not your concern."
"I’ll tell Fu Siyu you’re stepping out."
"Will you give them to me or not?" Shu Wan turned to leave, "If not, then I won’t go."
"....." Fu Yang stood up, dug out two tickets from his backpack, and handed them to Shu Wan, "I just happened to have two left over, no one else wanted them, so here you go."
Shu Wan took the tickets, "Thank you, I’ll be there on time."
"As if I care if you go or not," Fu Yang coughed lightly, "The whole stadium is my audience. I don’t need one more."
After Shu Wan left the room, Fu Yang promptly locked the door and sneakily returned to his desk to open his computer.