Xiao Rongyan's hand that was stroking the jade cicada paused, he turned his head, and the gaze in his deep-set eyes became extremely cool, hiding a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of surprise, "You meant… Miss Bai of the Bai family?"
"Exactly. I had wanted to get a sample of Miss Bai's handwriting to compare it, but the servants of the Bai Mansion were not easy to bribe and… not easy to slip past either." Xiao Rongyan's subordinate knelt on one knee, "I begged my lord's pardon."
Outside the window, the hanging lantern painted with plum blossoms under the eaves swayed in the deep-winter wind and snow. Xiao Rongyan, dressed in a sky-blue long robe, stood at the window with an air of calm detachment, his hands clasped behind his back as he tightened his grip on the jade cicada. The dark, unfathomable color of his eyes seemed almost swallowed by the shadows beneath the lamp.
