After speaking, she viciously grabbed the man’s hair and slammed his head down toward the ground with a thunderous crash.

“Ahhh!” A pitiful scream rose to the sky. The ground was uneven with dirt and stones – after three consecutive impacts, the man’s forehead was a bloody mess, too horrible to look at. The soldiers behind him saw things going badly and hurried toward the Nanfu camp to fetch reinforcements. Chu Li’s expression was dark, showing no particular reaction as he quietly watched the general suffer brutal treatment at Qing Xia’s hands.

On the contrary, all the black-clad guards were rubbing their fists and palms together excitedly, barely restraining themselves from cheering loudly. They all watched Qing Xia’s satisfying beating with excited expressions, their faces showing pure elation.

With a thud, Qing Xia pushed the general away. Seeing him lying on the ground in such a sorry state, she couldn’t help but sneer, “Turns out you’re nothing but a pretty pillow. Are all the people from Nanfu this pathetic?”

“Who dares say all our Nanfu people are pretty pillows?”

A sharp, authoritative voice suddenly rang out. Fragrant wind wafted over as everyone looked sideways to see a richly dressed noblewoman approaching rapidly, surrounded by a group of yellow-clad guards.

She wore a golden phoenix-and-birds brocade robe with a white silk cloak over it, brilliant pearls around her neck, and tasseled ornaments in her hair. Her entire person glittered with gold, appearing even more regally magnificent than Chu Li, the actual Southern Chu Emperor.

“Your Imperial Majesty, Zhu Lan comes uninvited. Please forgive my impropriety.” She curtsied gracefully to Chu Li with a smile so sickeningly sweet it could nauseate an elephant. Qing Xia could almost see thick powder falling from her face to the ground.

“I wonder who just now disciplined my ignorant subordinate and extensively criticized the people of my Liyuan Nanfu for lacking proper upbringing?” Lady Zhu Lan raised her neck high, her sharp eyes sweeping toward Qing Xia, who stood out conspicuously in white among the crowd.

Qing Xia thought silently, “This is exactly what I was waiting for,” and stepped forward with a smile, saying, “This auntie, those words were spoken by me.”

“What did you call me?” Lady Zhu Lan’s eyes immediately widened, her voice rising several octaves as she shouted angrily. The others, especially the black-clad guards, all smiled openly after hearing Qing Xia’s words, making no attempt to hide their amusement.

“I called you auntie,” Qing Xia blinked innocently and pulled out a sweet smile, “That’s my country dialect – it’s a respectful term for middle-aged and elderly women who are past their prime, over forty, and corpulent.”

Lady Zhu Lan flew into a rage, her ample bosom heaving up and down. Her eyes stared venomously at Qing Xia as she said coldly, “If you have the guts, call me that again.”

“Hmm?” Qing Xia frowned as if very confused, sniffing the air doubtfully before saying perplexedly, “Should I call you grandmother instead? I think you’re not quite that old – at most fifty-something. His Majesty and I are about the same age, so I’m at most one generation below you.”

“What a sharp-tongued little vixen!” Lady Zhu Lan turned furiously toward Chu Li, saying, “Your Majesty, this woman has so insulted me. I believe Your Majesty needs to give me a satisfactory explanation.”

“Rest assured, Madam, I will certainly give you a satisfactory explanation,” Chu Li said gravely, then turned and walked toward Qing Xia. Qing Xia was startled and cautiously retreated a step, thinking to herself that she was helping him save face – surely he wouldn’t be unable to distinguish friend from foe.

“Xia’er,” Chu Li suddenly reached out to pull Qing Xia’s shoulder, placing one hand on her tender cheek as he said softly, “This is Lady Zhu Lan of Liyuan Nanfu. You mustn’t be impolite to her.”

Both Qing Xia and Lady Zhu Lan were greatly surprised. Qing Xia took advantage of the opportunity, quickly smiling at Lady Zhu Lan, “Auntie Lady Zhu Lan, Xia’er knows she was wrong. Your Nanfu people are all very proper – please don’t hold it against a junior.”

Her repeated use of “auntie” and “junior” nearly made Lady Zhu Lan smoke with rage. Her full figure trembled slightly, and despite the cold weather, her exposed skin flushed red. She said through gritted teeth, word by word, “Your Majesty, is this the explanation you give me?”

“What other explanation would Madam like?” Chu Li raised an eyebrow, taking Qing Xia’s hand as he stared back coldly.

“Fine!” Lady Zhu Lan snorted coldly, saying ominously, “Then Zhu Lan merely wishes Your Majesty’s realm eternal prosperity for thousands of generations! This subject takes her leave!”

“No need to see you out!”

Lady Zhu Lan departed in fury with her pungent fragrance. Qing Xia secretly felt somewhat disappointed – she hadn’t expected the woman to just give up like that. If she had been so enraged as to drag Qing Xia to her own tent, wouldn’t Qing Xia have been able to do whatever she pleased? After sighing for a while, she realized someone was watching her. Looking up quickly, she saw Chu Li’s eyes bright and fixed intently on her, with an inexplicable heat in his gaze.

“Don’t worry,” Chu Li said, gently stroking Qing Xia’s hair.

With that, he took Qing Xia’s hand and walked toward the central command tent.

However, before they reached the tent entrance, Xu Quan approached and said gravely to Chu Li, “Your Majesty, the three hundred thousand bushels of grain that Lady Zhu Lan brought are still on the road. With her leaving in such anger, there may be trouble.”

Chu Li frowned, about to speak, when a black-clad guard ran forward and said to Chu Li, “Your Majesty, Lady Zhu Lan is having people pack her belongings to return to Liyuan. And she sent someone with a message for Your Majesty.”

“What did she say?”

“She said she is not Wusi Mei’er.”

Chu Li’s brow immediately furrowed tightly. The incident with Wusi Mei’er had happened last night, and he had left camp under the pretext of supervising troops at Baileng Mountain. He hadn’t expected her to learn of it so quickly. Thinking of this, his expression grew even darker.

“Chu Li,” Qing Xia also sensed the seriousness of the situation and tugged at Chu Li’s sleeve, asking gravely, “Have I caused you trouble?”

“No,” Chu Li shook his head firmly, patting Qing Xia’s shoulder reassuringly, “It’s not your fault.”

“Come with me to the Nanfu camp,” Chu Li said gravely to the black-clad guards, then looking at Qing Xia’s somewhat uneasy expression, he said to Xu Quan, “Find reliable people to protect her well. If anything happens, you know what the consequences will be.”

“This subordinate understands!” Xu Quan replied sharply.

“Chu Li!” Qing Xia called out nervously, a small sense of guilt rising from her heart. Honestly speaking, she and Chu Li had never had any major grudges – she was just dissatisfied that he kept restricting her life. But after all, this body was Chu Li’s wife with countless connections, so from Chu Li’s perspective, his actions were understandable. At this moment, seeing that her actions had caused him such trouble, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat regretful.

“Be careful,” she said, rarely speaking so gently to Chu Li. Chu Li’s steps paused slightly, his eyes immediately warming.

“Wait for me to return,” he said, then walked toward the brightly lit camp.

“Captain Xu,” seeing Chu Li had gone far, Qing Xia said to Xu Quan beside her, “Have I caused Chu Li trouble?”

Naturally, Xu Quan dared not address Chu Li by name like Qing Xia did. He quickly said respectfully, “Miss did nothing wrong. His Majesty said it’s not Miss’s fault, so it’s not Miss’s fault. No need to worry.”

Since Chu Li had previously been unwilling to reveal Qing Xia’s identity in front of Lady Zhu Lan, Xu Quan wisely also addressed Qing Xia as “Miss.”

Seeing she couldn’t get any information from him, Qing Xia entered Chu Li’s central command tent.

Warm air circulated around. She sat on the bed in the rear section of the tent, no longer considering escape. She would definitely have to run eventually, but she couldn’t escape at this moment. Qing Xia suddenly felt somewhat regretful as she sat quietly on the bed.

Actually, Chu Li had always treated her quite well. Just look – she had beaten him up so many times, and every day he kept saying he would kill her and wouldn’t forgive her, yet he never actually did anything to her.

Qing Xia removed her heavy fur coat. Soldiers outside had already brought in steaming hot water. She absent-mindedly washed her face, then leaned against the bed to wait for Chu Li’s return.

Time passed bit by bit. The candle in the corner had dripped into long trails of wax, the night grew deeper, but Chu Li still hadn’t returned.

After galloping across the wilderness for a day and night, Qing Xia was already exhausted. After waiting a while longer, she drowsily fell asleep.

She didn’t know how long she had slept when she suddenly felt someone gently caressing her cheek. Opening her drowsy eyes, she found herself looking into a pair of eyes as deep as the sea. Chu Li was half-crouched beside the bed, his expression gentle, his eyes carrying the warm moisture of seawater. His handsome face was slightly flushed, as if he had drunk quite a bit of wine. Seeing Qing Xia wake up, he smiled happily, revealing white teeth.

Tonight’s Chu Li seemed different from usual.

No darkness, no scheming, no arrogant domineering. Seeing his childlike smile, Qing Xia felt warmth in her heart. She really hadn’t expected he could have such a side. She quickly sat up, and seeing him staring straight at her, couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed. Hastily arranging her disheveled hair, she said softly, “You’re back. Did anything happen?”

“Everything’s fine,” Chu Li smiled and shook his head, suddenly opening his arms to gently embrace Qing Xia, “With you by my side, nothing matters.”

Qing Xia’s body immediately stiffened. Feeling Chu Li’s warm body temperature and his faint happiness, she felt momentarily confused. In this meeting, something between them seemed to have changed. Chu Li was no longer as sensitive and suspicious as before, no longer guarding against her everywhere. The distance between them seemed to have shortened. Though they would still bicker and fight, it was no longer like before with constant wariness and mutual defensiveness.

“Chu Li, that old woman – isn’t she leaving?” she asked, still somewhat worried.