Lin Cheng Returns

The palace halls were eerily quiet, the usual clamor of courtiers and servants muted under the weight of the recent events. Song Rui's heart still thrummed in her chest from the confrontation with Feng Xuan, but the quiet only deepened the unrest that simmered beneath the surface. The calm before the storm was always the hardest to bear.

She wasn't sure how long she had been walking through the labyrinthine corridors of the palace, lost in her thoughts, when a familiar voice cut through the stillness.

"Li Yue."

Her blood froze. The name hit her like a wave crashing against her chest. It was a name she hadn't heard in years—a name that belonged to a past she had tried so hard to leave behind. Slowly, she turned, her eyes locking onto the figure that stood before her.

Lin Cheng.

He hadn't changed much in the years since she last saw him—still tall, still as handsome as ever, with the same sharp eyes that once held so much warmth for her. But now, there was a hardness to his expression, a coldness that made her stomach twist.

"Li Yue," he repeated, his voice tinged with disbelief, but also something darker—something that made her spine stiffen. "Is it really you?"

For a moment, Song Rui couldn't breathe. The man before her wasn't the Lin Cheng she had once known. The Lin Cheng who had laughed with her, the one who had promised her that no matter what, they would always be together. The man standing before her now was a stranger, his eyes distant, filled with a cold that burned like ice.

"I—" Song Rui started, but her voice caught in her throat. She had never imagined that this moment would come. She had never thought she would have to face the past again, not here, not in this place.

"Don't you recognize me?" Lin Cheng stepped closer, his gaze hardening. His face was inches from hers, and she could feel the intensity of his stare like a physical weight. "You really have become Li Yue, haven't you?"

Song Rui's heart pounded in her chest as his words hit her like a slap. He was looking at her as if she were the same woman from their past—Li Yue, the woman who had once been so sure of their future, so certain that they would be married. But that woman was gone. She had died along with the dreams that had once bloomed between them.

She wasn't Li Yue anymore.

She was Song Rui. A woman who had her own path to carve, no matter how difficult it might be.

"I'm not Li Yue," Song Rui said firmly, meeting his gaze with a strength she hadn't known she still possessed. "I'm not her anymore."

Lin Cheng's brow furrowed as he took a step back, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?" His voice was laced with skepticism, his features hardening further as if he couldn't believe the words coming from her mouth. "You're standing right here in front of me. You look the same, you sound the same. You—"

"I'm not her," she interrupted sharply, taking a deep breath. "I've changed, Lin Cheng. You don't know me anymore. I'm not the same person you knew."

He stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, a flash of something—pain, maybe, or regret—passed through his eyes. "You've changed... but you still carry her with you. You still carry everything we had."

The words struck her like a blade to the chest.

Everything we had.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, the memories of her life with Lin Cheng rushing back—of promises whispered in the night, of dreams of a life together. But that was a life she could never have again. A life that was stolen from her in the chaos of the past.

"I don't carry that with me anymore," Song Rui said, forcing the words out. Her voice was steady, but inside, her heart ached. "Li Yue is gone, Lin Cheng. You need to understand that."

He was silent for a long time, his jaw clenched tightly. The air between them grew thick with unspoken words and unresolved emotions. Finally, Lin Cheng spoke, his voice lower, colder.

"I see." His gaze sharpened as it flicked over her, taking in her current state—her position in the palace, the unfamiliar robes she wore, the way she held herself now, so different from the shy, hopeful woman he had once known. "So this is who you've become? A pawn in this game?"

The words stung, though she fought to keep her composure. "You don't understand, Lin Cheng. You never did. You think this is a game, but it's my life. I'm not who you remember, and I'm not the woman you want me to be."

His expression faltered for a brief second, as if her words had landed somewhere deep inside him. Then, he stood straighter, his shoulders tightening as if he was trying to hold back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

"I always knew you had strength, but I didn't think it would be like this," Lin Cheng said, his voice strangely soft for a moment, before hardening again. "You're just like the others, aren't you? Using your beauty and your charm to survive in this world of power and politics. You've become just another tool in their hands."

Song Rui's heart clenched, but she refused to let the hurt show on her face. "You don't get it. This isn't about beauty or charm. It's about survival. I'm not playing anyone's game—I'm fighting for my own life now. And that includes staying away from you."

Lin Cheng's eyes darkened, his lips curling into a bitter smile. "So, you've made your choice. You've chosen this path, and you're willing to forget everything we had."

"I haven't forgotten anything," she replied, her voice steady. "But I can't live in the past anymore. And I won't let you pull me back into it."

Lin Cheng took one last, long look at her, as if searching for something in her face that would make him believe she was still the woman he once loved. But he found nothing. Only a stranger.

With a sharp exhale, he turned on his heel and walked away, his footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. Song Rui stood there, feeling as if the world had just tilted beneath her feet.

He was gone. And she was free.

But freedom came with its own price.