Chapter 162

Silence reigned.

Water dripped down like the sands of an hourglass running out the time of the tranquil night. 

Ning Yi stared blindly at Feng Zhiwei; his blurred, grey view could make out nothing, but he could imagine her face — the blush fading away, the cold determination between her dark brows, an expression like the one she wore when they first met last winter, by the icy lake of Qiu Mansion as she stepped down on grasping fingers. 

Calm, determined, and hints of hidden roguishness. 

Sometimes even when he knew he could not force a matter and understood that force would get him nowhere, he still moved forward. He did not even understand it himself, but after he had met her and gotten to know her, his plans went awry and he lost control of his heart.