Shen Xiling truly hadn’t expected that one day she would meet Northern Wei’s Gu Juhan.

She had heard of this person’s reputation since childhood, knowing he was Qi Ying’s enemy who had repeatedly inflicted defeats on Great Liang on the battlefield. When Southern Dynasty people mentioned this general, most couldn’t help but change their expressions, just as Northern people feared when mentioning Qi Ying. Shen Xiling had always imagined this famous Young General Gu to have a fearsome face with fangs, and had always secretly resented him for being Qi Ying’s enemy. Especially during the most critical moments of this Northern Expedition, she had even secretly…

Sigh.

Who would have thought she’d now owe him a debt of gratitude?

She was quite confused for a while, not even remembering how she had parted with Gu Juhan. After getting into the carriage, she remained speechless the entire way, and even after returning to the guest quarters and entering Qi Ying’s room, she still hadn’t recovered her senses.

Qi Ying glanced at the dazed young lady, then took her hand and had her sit in a chair, extending his hand toward her: “Give me your arm.”

Shen Xiling came back to her senses upon hearing this and looked up at him, stunned.

She hadn’t told him about her injury, because meeting Gu Juhan had shocked her so much that she’d even forgotten about the pain in her arm.

She hadn’t expected him to discover it anyway…

Shen Xiling looked at Qi Ying, pressed her lips together, and extended her left hand to him.

He stood while she sat. With one hand holding her left hand and the other gently rolling up her left sleeve, he revealed the injury beneath. That shopkeeper, a northern man, had struck down hard with such a thick rolling pin—naturally the force was considerable. Shen Xiling’s left arm was already a mass of blue and purple bruises with some blood clots.

Upon seeing this, Qi Ying’s face immediately turned frighteningly cold and stern, and his entire aura changed.

He had kept her by his side for so many years, never bearing to touch her roughly, always carefully and lovingly protecting her. Even during that incident with Yang Dong, she hadn’t suffered such serious injuries. Now she had been hurt like this for no reason—how could he not be angry?

Qi Ying’s brow was tightly furrowed. At that moment, he couldn’t spare time to immediately investigate the matter, only first sending Qing Zhu to fetch a doctor. After the doctor came and treated her wound, he began asking about the ins and outs of the incident.

At that time, Shen Xiling was leaning in his arms and heard him ask with suppressed anger: “Who hurt you?”

She knew he was angry, so she quickly told him the whole story. To prevent him from dwelling too much on the matter, she added: “This injury only looks serious—it doesn’t actually hurt that much. And that… General Gu already helped me teach that shopkeeper a lesson. He even made him compensate me with many steamed buns.”

Shen Xiling looked up, meeting Qi Ying’s somewhat dark gaze. Her heart began to pound, and her voice lowered as she said: “He really did teach him a lesson… He made that man kowtow and apologize to me, and even said he wanted to take him to see the authorities. I was afraid of making things bigger and causing trouble, so I said to forget it…”

Afraid that Qi Ying wouldn’t believe her, she vividly described how Gu Juhan had twisted the shopkeeper’s arm, how the shopkeeper had cried out in pain, and how he had kowtowed to admit his fault. She deliberately made the shopkeeper’s suffering sound worse, hoping Qi Ying would calm down and not go settle accounts with that person, lest it cause more trouble.

Qi Ying’s face showed a noncommittal expression. Shen Xiling couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, but seeing he didn’t get angry again, she felt he really didn’t plan to pursue the matter further. She happily nuzzled against him in his arms, only to be scolded by his frowning face, telling her to be careful of her wound.

Shen Xiling actually wasn’t very afraid of Qi Ying anymore. She knew he cherished her and wouldn’t really have the heart to scold her harshly. His coldness and sternness were for outsiders—to her, he was just a paper tiger.

So she didn’t listen to him, still moving around mischievously in his arms. He indeed had no way to deal with her and couldn’t bring himself to be harsh with her. In the end, he still coaxed her gently before finally convincing her to behave.

Shen Xiling’s little scheme succeeded, and she was delighted, giggling in his arms. Looking up to see him somewhat lost in thought, she kissed his cheek and asked quietly: “What is Young Master thinking about?”

At that time, Qi Ying was thinking about Gu Juhan.

Speaking of which, the two of them had been enemies across north and south for many years, yet today was their first meeting. Previously, he had only seen Gu Juhan’s portrait in Privy Council documents, and presumably Gu Juhan’s knowledge of him was similar. So when they suddenly encountered each other, both were somewhat stunned.

Gu Juhan…

He was indeed a capable minister and general. Even though current Northern Wei was constrained by so many factors, he still caused Great Liang considerable hardship on the battlefield. Even at the Battle of Jianshan Pass, if Emperor Wei hadn’t listened to slander and forced the Gu family to start fighting prematurely, Gu Juhan might truly have been able to cut off the Liang army’s supply lines, making victory or defeat unpredictable.

If he were a minister of Jiangzuo, perhaps the situation in the world today would already be different.

Qi Ying’s attitude toward Gu Juhan was quite complex. When they faced off, they naturally opposed each other as enemies, but setting aside positions, he admired him. There was no need to discuss military affairs—Gu Wenruo was the finest of his generation, even more formidable than his father. But what Qi Ying admired more was his character—throughout these years of frequent warfare between the two countries with victories and defeats on both sides, Gu Juhan had always treated prisoners well. When he captured three Jiangzuo commanderies four years ago, no massacres had occurred, showing the style of a benevolent general. Moreover, he had saved Shen Xiling today, making Qi Ying indebted to him.

However, factional struggles were always brutal, especially when the Gu family’s opponents were imperial relatives, making things even more disadvantageous.

Now that Northern Wei had just suffered defeat, Emperor Wei was already quite resentful toward the Gu family. The Zou clan was coming on strong and wouldn’t give the Gu family any breathing room. Taking advantage of the Gu family’s great defeat, they immediately stirred up muddy waters in court, beginning to openly demote officials from the Gu faction. The Gu family already showed signs of losing power.

When such a high-ranking noble family failed in factional struggles, what they usually faced wasn’t merely decline, but complete and utter destruction—like Great Liang’s Shen family years ago, which vanished overnight, leaving only bones behind.

The Gu clan was a military family. Since old Duke’s generation, they hadn’t been skilled in political maneuvering. Otherwise, such a centuries-old noble family wouldn’t have been pushed to this extent by upstarts like the Zou clan who relied on marriage connections. And Gu Juhan was probably similar.

Ultimately, the Gu family was a clan that survived through warfare. Once there were no more wars, their value to Northern Wei would be diminished, giving others opportunities to exploit and easily placing them in mortal danger.

This was this family’s tragedy.

But for a Liang minister like Qi Ying, the Gu family’s decline was naturally good news. He was happy to see them turn to dust and even added fuel to their downfall. Today Gu Juhan had saved his young lady, and he was indebted to him, but this was a private favor. He wouldn’t develop compassion for the Gu clan because of it—they were still political enemies, and this wouldn’t change.

Seeing Qi Ying’s expression growing increasingly dark, Shen Xiling became somewhat afraid. She gently tugged at his sleeve to bring him back to his senses.

He smiled at her, again appearing very gentle, coaxing her to lie down for an afternoon nap and saying he had to go out again in the afternoon.

Shen Xiling had actually found it strange long ago. These past few days he had always returned very late, but today he was back before noon, which was naturally unusual. Only now did she realize—he originally wasn’t planning to return, but happened to encounter her on the road and came back to escort her.

She knew the matters he was busy with were all very important, so naturally she didn’t dare delay him, only obediently saying: “Mm, you go ahead. Don’t worry about me.”

He kissed her forehead, thought for a moment, then said to her: “From now on, just stay and play in my room. If anyone asks you to do other things, you don’t need to pay attention. I’ll give advance notice.”

His care naturally made her feel sweet, but the first part of his statement made Shen Xiling feel somewhat speechless—what did he mean “stay and play in my room”? He made it sound like she was still a child…

She lightly hit him once and smiled: “I know…”

That night Qi Ying returned very late, close to midnight, and when he returned he brought someone with him—covered in wounds and bloodstains, already unconscious, supported by Bai Song.

Shen Xiling didn’t recognize that the wounded man was Xu Zhengning, one of the twelve division chiefs of Great Liang’s Privy Council.

This official had lurked in the north for months, secretly supporting rebel forces within Gao Wei territory. At the beginning of the war, he had kept Gu Juhan trapped at the front lines for over two months, winning invaluable strategic opportunities for the Liang army. He was captured by Gu Juhan in July and had been imprisoned in Shangjing ever since. Because he was a high-ranking Great Liang official with knowledge of many Privy Council secrets, the Wei people naturally wouldn’t spare him. They had been torturing him severely all this time, trying to extract information about Great Liang’s Northern Expedition from him.

Xu Zhengning was upright by nature and tough as nails. He himself had once been called an executioner and had seen all kinds of interrogation methods. No matter how the Wei people tortured him, he gritted his teeth and never said an extra word, leaving the Wei people with no options.

Though he had saved his life, his injuries were extremely severe. On the way back, Bai Song took a rough look and could see his right leg was broken, several ribs were also broken, and his body was covered with countless layers of whip and rod wounds, making it unbearable to look at.

That night the envoy’s guest quarters were brightly lit. As soon as Qi Ying brought Xu Zhengning back, he immediately had someone fetch a doctor to treat his injuries until nearly dawn, then dismissed everyone to return to their rooms to rest.

Upon returning to his room, he saw the young lady hugging her knees and sitting curled up in the corner of the bed, her face also very pale. As soon as she saw him return, she ran over and threw herself into his arms, holding him tightly while her body trembled slightly.

Qi Ying raised an eyebrow, not knowing what was wrong with the young lady, then realized she had never seen such bloody and brutal scenes before and had been frightened by what she’d just witnessed.

He held her, gently patting her back to comfort her: “I won’t let you see such scenes again. Don’t be afraid.”

Shen Xiling continued trembling, holding him tightly in his arms. After a long silence, she said muffledly: “I’m not afraid of seeing blood…”

She looked up, her eyes already moist, and said to him: “I’m just afraid that the person who becomes like that might be you.”

Qi Ying was stunned. He had originally wanted to help wipe her tears, but she buried her face in his chest again and continued in a low voice: “I know it’s selfish of me to think this way, but I’m really glad that the person who became like that wasn’t you… I never want you to be hurt—I always want you to be well…”

Qi Ying’s expression became increasingly gentle at her words.

For a moment he didn’t know what else to say to her, so he simply embraced her silently, quietly enjoying this peaceful moment, then kissed her hair and said softly: “Nothing will happen. Once we leave, these affairs will have nothing to do with me—don’t be afraid.”

Shen Xiling nestled in his arms, nodding desperately while looking forward even more to the day they would leave.

Fortunately, she knew it was very close.

Author’s Note:

Danger! The paper tiger’s identity is exposed! The wife won’t be managed anymore!

Tomorrow there’s still Young General Gu~