Su Li could hardly breathe. She waited for the Empress Dowager's response but the more time passed in silence, the more she felt her trepidation rising.
She didn't realise until her mother turned around to wipe her face that she was crying.
The other person made a haphazard attempt to wipe her tears with their sleeves but that made her cry even more – as if the dam had finally burst open and she couldn't contain the pain and hurt that she felt inside.
It took all her considerable will to not start bawling like a child.
"It's alright, my child. Ajia is not angry with you. How can Ajia be angry with you when Ajia hasn't even spent enough time to heal your wounds – physical and emotional? Hmm."
Su Li gave a wan smile at those words but they made despair and isolation rise like a waning tide inside her.
"Shh...Everything is going to be alright. Shh...Don't worry."
