Some hours later, with the two parted but still in each other’s arms, Qing Xue sensed Bai Ruyi’s plummeting mood and knew what it was about.
“I’ll be sending you back,” he told him with a reassuring squeeze. “At least as far as the border of the capital.”
“You don’t have to,” Bai Ruyi replied, touched but worried. “Won’t you be missed by your company? We can just rejoin them and request escorts for me.”
“I’m still a captive as far as they know. And… it’s not just because I also don’t want to part with you yet. I’m sorry, Ruyi, please don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s best that they don’t know you’d been so worried about me that you took this journey alone. I’m warmed that you did so despite the risks, but to others… this just wouldn’t look right.”
Bai Ruyi only needed to think ab
