Meanwhile, in the Matriarch's chambers, Chun Hua had just finished dressing. She smoothed out the creases in her robes and reached for the door, but the moment she pulled it open, she froze.
Her breath hitched, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Chun Hua? What is it?" Yu An asked, still adjusting the layers of her own robes while looking at herself in the mirror.
When there was no response, Yu An walked around the corner.
"Who's there?"
Chun Hua, with her eyes wide in disbelief and a rapidly beating heart, eventually spoke. Her voice barely above a whisper.
"It's… Fang."
Yu An's eyes grew impossibly wide. Her hands faltered, and the delicate hairpin she had been holding slipped from her grasp, as she ran to the doorway.
And there he was.
Xiao Fang stood tall, his presence commanding yet familiar, the very air seeming to ripple around him.
