This time, Xie Linzhou laughed.
A real laugh, amused and entertained.
"Interesting," he said, voice curling at the edges with familiarity. "You still carry the same tone as back then."
Ling Yu's hand stilled.
Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his.
"I didn't expect to meet you here, Former Princess Rui."
He reached for the wine glass, swirling it slowly. "I'm surprised to see you still walk with such dignity. I heard the Emperor himself signed your name off the royal ledger. And you scammed that old man out of a huge amount of money? That was such good news, tsk, tsk, tsk." Xie Linzhou clicked his tongue, pretending to be sorry, but actually being sarcastic.
"Stop being sarcastic unless you don't want your head over your shoulder anymore."
He studied her like a critic eyeing a flawed masterpiece. "But honestly, I think you're just wasting your time here. You have presence. Precision. You could be in front of cameras, or at the very least, at my side."
