It was not until the next morning that she was told about the three men who stood under her window the whole night.

As she sat on her bed, sorting out her feelings for the three men, Gu Qing Chen visited her residence with grim news. Xie Zhao, her twin brother, had apparently been involved in an attempted assassination while he was outside yesterday, just like her. But fortunately, he was saved by Yan Gui, who had coincidentally been nearby, as he had just entered the city.

Gu Qing Chen had sent his men to look into these assassins and had came to a conclusion that these men belonged to the Queen Mother's faction. There was even proofs found regarding how the escaped people of House Cui had survived due to the help from the royal family of the South.

Hence, Yan Gui's heroic actions not only saved her brother's life, but clearing up all the suspicion of him giving help to the Queen Mother's faction.

As the king's savior, Yan Gui had requested to gain an audience with Princess Qing Luan as his reward, as he intend to clarify the issue regarding Countess PingTing.

Xie Zhao had no choice but to invite her into his palace to discuss this issue.

Xie Zhao was lying on his bed weakly when she reached, and upon seeing her, he struggled to get up from his bed, “Big sis, when you meet Yan Gui later on, do NOT believe anything he says!”

“Little brother, didn't Brother Yan Gui saved your life yesterday? Why are you still so hostile to him?”

“How can I be sure that it wasn't an act performed by House Cui and him to distract us from the truth?” Xie Zhao answered in spite.

(TNote: House Cui is the Queen Mother's family…)

“But I've heard news that you were already injured when he saved you, if he wanted you dead, he could've pretended that he did not see you and leave you to die. Plus you've been trying to retrieve his authority over the armies, if you had died yesterday, our city would be in chaos and he could easily take over as king…” She muttered softly with her eyes downcast, “If he had bad intentions from the start, why would he bother saving you then?”

“Big sis… What if I told you that he had stood nearby, only reaching out to save me after I was slashed once by the a.s.sa.s.sins…” He stared at her firmly, trying his best to convince her.

Princess Qing Luan stayed silent, her eyes wide as they stared at each other, lost in thought.

Soon, the servants came with the news of the arrival of Yan Gui, she nodded at her brother as she left his room.

It was frustrating for her as she did not know how to face him, due to many different reasons, and she decided to hide behind the walls while peeking at him.

Surprise flashed through her face as she landed her gaze on him. The sixteen year old young boy was now all grown up, charming and handsome. It was no surprise that the Countess PingTing fell in love with him at first sight and was even willing to kill for him.

And the charming man in front of her held his head down, emitting a strong wave of sadness as she watched him silently.

After a moment of hesitation, Princess QingLuan moved out of hiding and called out to him softly, "Brother Yan Gui~"

Yan Gui lifted his head up immediately, gazing at her gently as his face lighted up in a big smile. The extreme sadness she felt from him previously was suddenly gone, replaced with such gentleness that would melt any woman's heart.

Her eyes teared up as she stared fondly at her childhood friend and her ex-fiancée.

The familiar sparrow had finally returned.

(TNote: It's a smart use of idioms and names, where Yan 燕 means sparrow and Gui 歸 means return.)