"It was me," Xiao Wen declared abruptly, shattering Tianshi's anxious silence. "Remember last summer, when you said we should visit Aunt for a few weeks? I sneaked Tianshi out of the Central Region so we could explore the Eastern Region for fun. I asked her not to mention it to anyone." Xiao Wen's voice wavered just enough to draw curious stares, but it held sufficient conviction to shape the narrative. Tianshi threw her a fleeting look, uncertain but relieved that someone had stepped in to help her.
Across from them, Xiao Feng's expression contorted with simmering disapproval. He turned to glare accusingly at Tianshi's bodyguards and Wen's own protector, as well as the twin servants Yi and Yu, all of whom had apparently failed in their duties to monitor the girls' whereabouts and actions.
