[GL] I'm Just A Side Character... So Why Is The Heroine Chasing Me?!-Chapter 38: Returning home

They left the Academy at dawn.

The carriage was nicer this time. Not because the Zhao family had sent a better one, but because Mo Tian had quietly arranged for an imperial escort carriage to deliver Zhao Lingxi to the capital. Nobody questioned it. Nobody dared.

Lan Yue sat inside the carriage with Zhao Lingxi while Liu Ruyan and Chen Mei rode at the back. Zhao Han had been left at the Academy under Tang Xiaoli’s care, which Lan Yue was only slightly nervous about.

"If she feeds him nothing but dumplings for three days, he’ll survive," Lan Yue reasoned.

"She’ll also teach him how to blow things up," Zhao Lingxi said.

"He’s a smart kid. He won’t actually blow anything up."

"Tang Xiaoli is a terrible influence."

"She’s the best friend we have right now."

Zhao Lingxi didn’t argue with that. She turned to look out the carriage window, watching the mountain scenery roll past.

She was wearing her gray robes. Simple. Clean. Nothing that would draw attention. But the pearl hair pin sat in her dark hair like a quiet declaration, catching light whenever the carriage shifted.

Lan Yue tried not to stare at it.

She failed, obviously. But she tried.

"Stop fidgeting," Zhao Lingxi said without turning from the window.

"I’m not fidgeting."

"You’ve adjusted your collar four times since we left."

"It’s itchy."

"It’s the same collar you wear every day."

"Maybe I’m allergic to family reunions."

That earned her a small exhale from Zhao Lingxi. Not quite a laugh, but close enough.

---

The journey took most of the day. By the time the capital walls came into view, the sun was already sinking toward the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and red.

The Zhao Residence looked exactly the same. Red gates. Stone lions. Lanterns lining the path. From the outside, it was the picture of a powerful, respected household.

Lan Yue knew better.

The gates opened for them without ceremony. A single servant stood waiting, his face blank and unwelcoming.

"The Master is in the main hall," he said. "The banquet begins in two hours. The First Miss is expected to attend."

"Expected," Lan Yue muttered under her breath. "Not invited. Expected."

"There’s a difference?" Chen Mei whispered.

"One sounds like they want you there. The other sounds like they want you to show up so they can do something horrible."

Chen Mei went pale.

They were escorted to the Clear Frost Garden, which was somehow in even worse condition than when they had left. The roof had developed a new leak. The courtyard was overgrown. And someone had removed the blankets from the beds.

"Petty," Lan Yue said, looking at the bare mattresses.

"Madam Hua’s doing, probably," Liu Ruyan said through gritted teeth.

Lan Yue pulled spare blankets from her personal dimension when nobody was looking and made up the beds while Liu Ruyan and Chen Mei prepared water for washing.

Zhao Lingxi stood in the center of the courtyard, looking up at the fading sky.

"Two hours," she said.

"What’s the plan?" Lan Yue asked.

"Walk in. Stay calm. Watch everything." Zhao Lingxi turned to face her. "They’ll try to provoke me. That’s what this is about. They want me to lose my temper in front of witnesses so they have an excuse to punish me."

"And if they try something worse?"

"Then I handle it."

"We handle it."

Zhao Lingxi looked at her for a long moment. Then she nodded once.

"We handle it."

---

Two hours later, they walked into the main hall.

The banquet was already in full swing. Long tables had been set up in rows, covered in food and wine that looked far too elaborate for a simple family celebration. Servants moved between tables carrying platters. Musicians played softly in the corner.

Everyone was there.

General Zhao sat at the head of the hall on his elevated platform, his massive frame casting a long shadow. His expression was stone.

The main wife sat to his right, her face painted and powdered, radiating cold superiority.

Madam Hua sat further down, whispering behind her silk fan to another concubine.

And at the center of the second table, surrounded by a cluster of young nobles, sat Zhao Ruoqing.

She wore pale pink robes embroidered with cherry blossoms. Her hair was elaborately styled, adorned with jade pins and golden threads. She looked every inch the perfect noble daughter. Gentle. Graceful. Unthreatening.

Sitting beside her, fan in hand, smile perfectly practiced, was Qin Wen.

Lan Yue’s jaw tightened at the sight of him. The man who would murder Zhao Lingxi in the original story. The man who had tried to poison her with a fake Meridian Cleansing Pill. He sat there looking like he owned the world, not a care showing on his handsome, lying face.

One day, she promised herself. One day he would pay.

"Ah, Sister!" Zhao Ruoqing rose from her seat, her face lighting up with practiced warmth. "You’re here! I’m so happy you could come!"

She crossed the hall and took Zhao Lingxi’s hands, squeezing them like they were the closest of friends.

"Let me look at you." Her eyes swept over Zhao Lingxi’s simple robes. "You look... well. The Academy must be treating you nicely."

"It is," Zhao Lingxi said. "Thank you for your concern, Second Sister."

"Come, sit with us!" Zhao Ruoqing gestured toward her table. "Everyone is dying to hear about your time at the Academy."

Dying being the key word, Lan Yue thought.

---

The first hour of the banquet was a performance.

Zhao Ruoqing asked sweet, innocent questions designed to make Zhao Lingxi look bad. How were her grades? Oh, how wonderful. And her cultivation level? Still only fourth level? Well, everyone goes at their own pace. And who was this new friend, Bai Xuelan? Such a powerful young woman. How lucky for Zhao Lingxi to have someone like that carrying her through the Trials.

Each question was a needle wrapped in silk.

Zhao Lingxi deflected every single one with the patience of a woman who had been doing this for twenty years.

"Actually, Second Sister, Bai Xuelan and I were equal partners. She said my combat technique was the best she’d encountered at the Academy."

"Oh, really? She said that?"

"She did. In front of the entire class."

Zhao Ruoqing’s smile stiffened just a fraction.

Qin Wen sipped his wine, watching the exchange with amusement. His eyes drifted to Zhao Lingxi more than once, lingering in a way that made Lan Yue’s skin crawl.

"Miss Zhao," he said smoothly, "I must say, the Academy seems to have done wonders for you. You carry yourself with such... confidence now."

"Surviving tends to build confidence," Zhao Lingxi replied.

"Indeed." His smile widened. "Though I do hope you haven’t forgotten your old friends while making new ones."

"I haven’t forgotten anyone, Young Master Qin. I have an excellent memory."

Something flickered behind his eyes. He heard the double meaning. He knew she remembered the poisoned pill. And for just a moment, his perfect mask slipped, revealing the cold calculation underneath.

Then it was back, smooth as glass.

"How reassuring," he said.

---

The real attack came during the second hour.

General Zhao stood, and the hall fell silent.

"We are gathered tonight to celebrate my First Daughter’s admission to the Imperial Academy," he announced. His voice was formal, carrying no warmth whatsoever. "It is a rare honor for the Zhao family."

Polite applause.

"However," he continued, "admission to the Academy does not erase past disgrace. The incident at the Empress Dowager’s banquet still stains our family name."

The applause died.

Lan Yue’s hands curled into fists beneath the table.

"Therefore," General Zhao said, "I have arranged for the Zhao family to make amends. The Shen family has agreed to accept an apology, provided certain conditions are met."

Zhao Lingxi’s expression didn’t change. But Lan Yue could see the tension in her shoulders. The slight rigidity of her spine.

"What conditions?" Zhao Lingxi asked calmly.

General Zhao looked at her directly for the first time all evening.

"You will publicly apologize to Shen Yiming for the disgrace he suffered. You will acknowledge that the incident was a misunderstanding. And you will accept a new engagement to restore the honor of both families."

The hall went completely still.

Lan Yue felt the blood drain from her face. A new engagement. To Shen Yiming. The man who had drugged and assaulted her.

She looked at Zhao Ruoqing across the table. The Second Sister’s face was perfectly composed, but there was a gleam in her eyes that she couldn’t quite hide. Triumph.

This was her doing. All of it.

Zhao Lingxi stood slowly. Every eye in the hall was on her.

"Father," she said. Her voice was steady as stone. "With respect, I will not apologize to the man who poisoned me. I will not call my own assault a misunderstanding. And I will not marry someone who tried to destroy my mind and my cultivation."

General Zhao’s face darkened. "You dare refuse?"

"I dare speak the truth." Zhao Lingxi met his gaze without flinching. "The Empress Dowager herself judged the incident and found Shen Yiming guilty. He was punished by imperial decree. If the Shen family wishes to dispute that judgment, they can take it up with the palace."

Silence.

"Furthermore," Zhao Lingxi continued, her voice carrying to every corner of the hall, "I am now a student of the Imperial Academy under the recommendation of the Empress Dowager. Any engagement must be approved by the Academy elders. That is imperial law."

General Zhao’s hand gripped the armrest of his chair so tightly the wood cracked.

Zhao Ruoqing’s smile had frozen on her face.

Qin Wen’s fan had stopped moving.

Zhao Lingxi bowed once. Polite. Perfect. Devastating.

"Thank you for the banquet, Father. The food was lovely."

She turned and walked out of the hall.

Lan Yue followed, her heart pounding so hard she thought the whole room could hear it. Behind them, the silence was so thick you could have cut it with a sword.

They made it to the courtyard before Lan Yue grabbed Zhao Lingxi’s arm.

"That was incredible."

"That was necessary."

"You just told off the most powerful general in the empire in front of his entire household."

"He’s only powerful when people are afraid of him." Zhao Lingxi’s dark eyes glittered in the moonlight. The pearl hair pin glowed softly against her hair. "I’m not afraid anymore."

Lan Yue looked at her. Standing there in the courtyard of the home that had tried to destroy her, with enemies on every side and no certainty of what tomorrow would bring.

She had never looked more powerful.

Or more beautiful.

Not that Lan Yue noticed. Because she definitely didn’t notice things like that. Because that would be unprofessional.

"Let’s go," Zhao Lingxi said. "We have packing to do."

"We’re leaving tonight?"

"We’re leaving right now. Before my father decides to lock the gates."

Good point.

They gathered their things in record time.