Mei Liang met her gaze. For a brief moment, neither spoke, yet both understood the same uneasy thought—they had wandered too far.
With a quiet sigh, Mei Liang turned toward Cuiyu, who was still kneeling in the dirt, trembling. "Cuiyu," she said softly, her tone calm but firm, "stand up.
It's not your fault. Apologizing won't change anything right now. What we need to do is figure out where we are."
Hearing that Mei Liang had forgiven her, Cuiyu froze in surprise, completely missing the rest of what Mei Liang had said. She slowly lifted her head, relief washing over her face as if a heavy stone had been lifted from her heart.
Cuiyu kowtowed once more, her head touching the cold ground. "Thank you, Mistress," she whispered before slowly rising. When she lifted her gaze, her expression shifted—fear flickered in her eyes as she glanced around.
