She bowed deeply, not waiting for Mei Liang's reply, and turned back toward her carriage with her maid at her side. Mei Lang, already in tears, hurried after her as if she had suffered an unbearable injustice, her maidservants rushing to keep pace.
De Fei and Wen Fei likewise returned to their carriages, the matter leaving the air heavy with tension. Along the roadside, the soldiers' eyes fell on Mei Liang as though she were some unforgivable sinner.
Mei Liang remained indifferent. Whether they despised her or whispered behind her back mattered little—so long as no one provoked her, she would not waste her energy on them. In her previous life, had she not been praised as kind and generous?
Yet when her family was accused of treason and branded as traitors to the kingdom, where were those voices then? Everyone had shunned her. No one dared speak a single word in her defense. So what value did a "good reputation" truly hold?
