In contrast to when he left wherein only the Emperor, Wen Lian, and Qing Xue sent him off, Bai Ruyi was now being welcomed back by at least half of the court.
But the young man of twenty-three did not flatter himself that this was all to honor him. Rumors must have spread that he was not returning home alone, and it was the identities of the guests he might have brought with him that had sent many of those other people here in curiosity.
There were only two people who were sincere in welcoming his return, and this was enough for him. Yet though he knew he should also search the crowd for the second of those two people, he was still finding it impossible to wrench his gaze away from the first of them.
It was almost as if Qing Xue had found a method to extend his habitual clinginess into
