Chapter 4: Gathering Storm

The Marchioness's face turned ashen, her gaze darting between Su Mingli and Xiao Jingxuan before she spat through gritted teeth, "Since the War Prince insists… Mingli shall depart with His Highness."

Su Mingli lowered her lashes, veiling the frost in her eyes. She knew the truth — this wasn't mercy, but a purge. A scarred, discarded daughter was a stain the household longed to erase.

But she couldn't care less.

"When the War Prince commands," she said coolly, stepping toward Xiao Jingxuan with unflinching poise, "how could this subject refuse?"

Xiao Jingxuan's lips curved in a blade-sharp smirk. "Miss Su wastes no pleasantries."

They walked side by side through the manor gates. A biting wind whipped through, making Su Mingli's robes flutter at the hem as she inhaled the night air. The capital sprawled below them, its shadowed rooftops sharp as knives in the moonlight.

Xiao Jingxuan strode ahead, posture military-straight. "Aren't you curious why I intervened?" he asked idly, sensing her scrutiny.

Her laugh was a soft exhale. "Your Highness posed a question earlier. It seems only fair I ask one in return."

He arched a brow. "And what would that be?"

She turned fully to face him. "What connection does the War Prince have to the Gilded Bronze Figures?"

The night itself seemed to still.

Xiao Jingxuan halted mid-stride, his eyes deepening to obsidian pools. After a weighted pause, a low chuckle rumbled from his throat. "Your audacity surpasses even my expectations, Miss Su."

"Audacity," she countered mildly, "is how one survives."