Bai Qingqing didn’t know how to deal with this version of Ning Yan. She hesitated, clutching the silk fan a little tighter, her voice uneasy. “But what I was thinking… you might not want to hear it.”
“That’s all right. I promise—even if I don’t like it, I won’t be angry.”
The room fell into silence. Ning Yan kept his eyes on her lips, his ears subtly pricked, listening intently. Then, he saw her mouth part slightly, and three soft, feather-light words brushed past his ears:
“Yan… gege.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper. Those three words floated in like a wisp of down, and yet they made something deep in Ning Yan’s ears itch ever so faintly.
He looked at her again—her ears were flushed crimson, as if they’d been scalded. Her pale fingers clutched the fan handle tight, and her lowered lashes trembled like a frightened fawn’s.
Ning Yan shut his eyes for a brief moment, his Adam’s apple shifting. Then he leaned in a little closer. “What? Say it again.”
Bai Qingqing panicked. But when she looked up and saw the sincerity in his eyes, something inside her snapped. If she was going to embarrass herself, she might as well go all in. She raised her voice slightly, “Yan gege.”
She’d meant to call him “Yanyan gege,” just like she had as a child. But after getting the first syllable out, her courage failed, and she settled for a compromise.
“Again.”
“…Yan gege.”
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A strange smile tugged at the corners of Ning Yan’s lips. He straightened slowly and drawled, “Good. Let’s go with that.”
Bai Qingqing: “?”
She stared at him wide-eyed. Was he serious?
“Maybe we shouldn’t. If someone hears it and starts gossiping, it could be bad.”
Her mind was suddenly crystal clear. “Especially since you’re someone the Emperor trusts. Can’t risk giving anyone a handle to use against you.”
“It’s just a form of address. Who would dare make something of it?”
Ning Yan resumed his usual overbearing demeanor, the faint smile lingering on his lips. “Just call me that. I’d like to see who dares question it.”
…
He brought up the Bai family again. “The Ministry of Justice has already sent men to the southwest. They're going to re-interrogate everyone who knew anything back then. It may take some time.”
Bai Qingqing nodded. “I know. But they didn’t send many people, and among them is someone who’s already convinced my father killed Huang Xun to silence him. Who knows if anything useful will come of the trip.”
“How do you know that?”
She blinked, then answered honestly, “Fu Yi told me.”
Ning Yan’s eyes narrowed slowly. “Fu Yi? You’re calling him by name now?”
Bai Qingqing thought back to all the times Ning Yan had randomly lost his temper over Fu Yi, and frowned. “Fu Yi is a friend. Don’t keep picking on him. He’s… pitiful in his own way.”
“Hah. The legitimate son of a prince, pitiful? Your sympathy really knows no bounds.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. No use arguing with him. She could tell Fu Yi truly intended to give up his claim to the heirship. He had been sincere in offering help, bringing her information when she was otherwise flailing in the dark.
Noticing her silence, Ning Yan’s irritation deepened. “And how do you address him? Don’t tell me you call him ‘gege’ too?”
Bai Qingqing shot him a look. “I’m not short on brothers. Why would I go around calling everyone ‘gege’?”
Though she glared at him, Ning Yan found himself oddly satisfied. A smile returned to his face. “Well said. Remember that from now on. Now call me again.”
Bai Qingqing: “…”
Seeing she didn’t respond, Ning Yan shamelessly pestered her, coaxing and teasing until he got two more “Yan gege” out of her before letting it go. Fu Yi? What of him? Could he hear Bai Qingqing call him “gege”? No?
Ha.