Over the following days, outside Huangzhou city gates, Prince Cheng’s troops launched several more attacks. However, Huangzhou’s terrain was inherently easy to defend and difficult to attack, which was not an easy matter for those people. Moreover, after the city garrison successfully defended the city several times, Prince Cheng’s troops’ morale was greatly damaged and they were no longer as fierce as during that first night raid.

The common people of Huangzhou still lived their days in fear and trepidation, but the city garrison’s successful defense gradually gave them confidence as well. Apart from repairing the houses burned that night, they gradually also worked hard to restore their previous lives. The city garrison still patrolled and searched the streets daily, looking for any assassins who had slipped through the net, lest they cause trouble again someday and create chaos among the common people.

When military affairs weren’t so tense, Ji Heng and Lu Ji would no longer be absent from the estate all day. This morning, after several days of rain, the sky finally cleared, revealing warm sunshine. Wenren Yao was in the courtyard teaching Lin Yao to read the characters on his divination plate. Lin Yao’s parents, brothers, and sisters had all been buried under the arrangements of Wenren Yao and Jiang Li. Lin Yao had nowhere else to go, so he stayed here. Of course, even if he hadn’t said anything, Jiang Li wouldn’t have left him alone in his original house.

Lu Ji came in from outside and said, “Dowager Consort Liu has been decreed death.”

Jiang Li had just gotten up and walked to the hall. This was what she heard. Ji Heng sat in a chair drinking tea.

“Is she already dead?” Jiang Li came out and also sat down in a chair, asking, “Prince Cheng didn’t send people to rescue her?”

“No,” Lu Ji shrugged.

“Then His Majesty’s plan to lure the snake out of its hole has fallen through,” Jiang Li said.

Hearing this, Ji Heng laughed. “Not necessarily.”

Jiang Li looked at him, and Lu Ji explained, “Prince Cheng is selfish by nature. His Majesty must know this. Going to the palace to rescue Dowager Consort Liu would be far too dangerous and would also disrupt his original plans. Once this matter occurred, Dowager Consort Liu was inevitably going to be sacrificed. If His Majesty truly wanted to lure the snake out of its hole, he would certainly have other methods. It was precisely because His Majesty understands Prince Cheng’s nature that he directly decreed Dowager Consort Liu’s death. Since she couldn’t escape death anyway, it was better to give the common people an explanation sooner.”

“I see,” Jiang Li nodded. Her understanding of Emperor Hongxiao was limited to what she knew from Shen Yurun in her previous life, as well as her father’s accounts. In this life, she had met Emperor Hongxiao only a handful of times. She only knew that this emperor still held quite a few trump cards, but she didn’t know very clearly the specifics of his relationship with Prince Cheng.

“Also, His Majesty has already dispatched General Wuwei to Huangzhou.”

Jiang Li said, “That’s good news.”

Once General Wuwei arrived, Huangzhou city would be preserved.

Lu Ji glanced at Ji Heng before saying, “General Zhao De is also on his way back to the capital.”

His tone was strange, so much so that Jiang Li also looked toward Ji Heng. Ji Heng’s expression didn’t change. He only said, “Prince Cheng is going to head for Yanjing.”

Jiang Li thought for a moment and asked, “Prince Cheng is no match for General Zhao De, right?”

Ji Heng smiled lightly and said, “A wolf and a tiger—do you think the wolf bites the tiger to death, or the tiger devours the wolf?”

He spoke casually, yet it made Jiang Li’s heart turn cold. On the surface, Ji Heng’s words were saying Prince Cheng was no match for General Zhao De, but if one delved deeper into the meaning behind his words, it was different. Prince Cheng had already been preparing for this moment for many years, to the point that even Emperor Hongxiao hadn’t dared to move against him easily before. Yet according to Ji Heng’s words, the disparity in strength between Prince Cheng and General Zhao De was vast. If General Zhao De was truly this formidable, it meant his power was even greater than Prince Cheng’s. So from when did General Zhao De begin his preparations?

Back when the Late Emperor suddenly transferred General Zhao De to the northwest, apart from this, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly significant that happened between the Late Emperor and General Zhao De. Did General Zhao De pose a threat to Emperor Hongxiao’s throne? If Emperor Hongxiao knew, he probably wouldn’t have let General Zhao De return to the capital.

Jiang Li always felt that Yin Zhan’s matter probably involved a great secret of the imperial family. But at least for now, she could only glimpse the tip of the iceberg. Moreover, both Ji Heng and Old General Ji had hinted to her not to meddle in this affair. It wasn’t that Jiang Li wanted to be nosy, but her instinct told her that this was probably a matter she couldn’t avoid even if she wanted to, because the Jiang family was also involved.

She had to protect the Jiang family, protect herself, protect Xue Huaiyuan and Xue Zhao. Otherwise, one wrong move would mean losing everything.

As she was contemplating these matters, Ji Heng stood up and walked outside. Lu Ji asked him, “Where is Your Grace going?”

“Out for a walk.” He reached the door, paused, and asked Jiang Li, “Together?”

Jiang Li stood up. “Alright.”

The sunlight was still as brilliant as always. After the rain, it was even brighter. The streets in the city were covered everywhere with stones and wooden beams fallen from houses. Some had already been repaired and people were living in them. Others that couldn’t be properly repaired—people had gathered some thatch and built thatched huts on the side. On the ground were coffins that hadn’t yet been buried. Some monks sat beside the coffins, chanting sutras for the deceased.

The children didn’t know what had happened and didn’t yet understand the cruelty of war. Taking advantage of their parents’ inattention, they played games with their companions on their own, laughing happily. But the parents knew that peace would not last, and each wore a worried expression.

Most of the shops along the street had already closed. Very few remained open. There was a tea and pastry shop still open up ahead. The door frame had been burned pitch black, yet they still paid it no mind. Inside, there were far fewer tables and chairs than before. An elderly couple was busily working.

But these days, who had the mind to sit here eating tea and pastries? Therefore, under the erected grass awning, there wasn’t a single person at the tables. Even if there were, they were women who came hurriedly, fumbled a few copper coins from their sleeves, bought a package, and hurriedly left.

At this juncture, the streets were exceptionally unsafe. Although staying at home wasn’t necessarily much better, it was still much better than wandering around on the streets. Who knew whether those vicious assassins would suddenly jump out and take someone’s life?

Jiang Li stopped at the tea and pastry shop and said, “I’m going to buy something.”

The maid who had been temporarily hired earlier had already left. The situation with Ji Heng and the others really wasn’t suitable for outsiders to be present. So there was no one to attend to Jiang Li. Fortunately, Jiang Li wasn’t truly a pampered young miss, so she didn’t mind. She even helped clean up the estate. As for food, it was all bought from outside by Wen Ji. Since the city was in this state, of course it wouldn’t be particularly tasty—it was just to fill their stomachs.

Jiang Li wanted to buy some tea and pastries, not for herself but for Lin Yao. Although the little fellow had people accompanying him daily, he often had nightmares at night, dreaming of his family’s tragic deaths, and would cry endlessly. Wenren Yao was also at his wit’s end. Children liked sweeter foods. If she bought some back, Lin Yao would surely like them.

The elderly couple saw Jiang Li approach and asked what she needed. Jiang Li selected some items. While waiting for the old man to wrap them up, she casually asked the woman, “Auntie, with the city in this state, why are you still keeping your shop open?”

The woman smiled and said, “This shop is an old establishment, left to us by our parents. We eat and sleep in the shop. Even if the fighting comes into the city, we have nowhere else to go. Besides, if those soldiers really enter the city, hiding in a residence or being on the street—it’s all the same. While we’re alive for a day, we live that day well. At our age, there’s not much left to fear.”

As she spoke, the old man had already wrapped up the pastries and handed them to Jiang Li. Jiang Li wanted to pay with silver, then suddenly remembered that she had changed clothes today and left her purse behind. She thought for a moment and was about to remove the bracelet from her wrist when a slender hand reached over, holding an ingot of silver, and placed it before the elderly woman.

“This…” The elderly woman was startled and said, “We don’t need this much. We don’t have extra copper coins to give as change…”

“No need.”

Jiang Li turned her head and saw that Ji Heng had somehow already come to her side. He had probably waited for her for quite a while and, seeing her predicament, had specifically come to help her out of the difficulty.

“Young lady,” the elderly woman immediately said gratefully, “your husband is truly a good person.”

Jiang Li’s face flushed red. She was about to explain when Ji Heng had already pulled her away.

Jiang Li still held in her arms the oil-paper package emitting a sweet fragrance. After thinking for a moment, she still raised her head to look at Ji Heng and saw that his lips still held a casual, careless smile as he walked forward unhurriedly.

“Did you hear just now…”

“What?” He turned his head to look at Jiang Li, his gaze full of amusement.

“That aunt said you’re a good person,” Jiang Li replied without changing expression. “Didn’t you say that in all the world, only I alone thought you were a good person? Now it can be said there are two people.”

Ji Heng paused, probably not expecting this was what she wanted to say. But he quickly reacted and said, “I don’t mind making her take back her words.”

This was said rather coldly. Jiang Li was speechless. Only then did she notice that Ji Heng was holding her sleeve. However, their sleeves were wide, so from a distance, it looked as if he were holding her hand. Jiang Li inexplicably felt uncomfortable. She didn’t know whether Ji Heng disliked others getting close to him or was deliberately maintaining distance out of respect for young ladies.

Jiang Li secretly tried to pull her sleeve from his hand, but unfortunately, no matter what she tried, she couldn’t succeed. Because her movements were too large, her body swayed unsteadily and she nearly tripped, but was steadied by Ji Heng.

“Watch where you’re walking,” he said with a smile.

Jiang Li could only give up.

The two of them walked on the streets outside Huangzhou city. Even in such chaos, there truly weren’t many people who dared to swagger about on the streets in broad daylight like this. Moreover, Ji Heng’s appearance was too striking, immediately attracting much attention. People hid behind windows and courtyard gates, secretly watching them. Especially young girls—seeing Ji Heng’s extraordinary bearing, they had long been observing him in secret. Incidentally, they also kept looking at Jiang Li, whom Ji Heng was leading.

Jiang Li truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She really didn’t like being watched as if she were some curiosity.

Jiang Li said, “Your Grace, I think we should go back. Or you can stroll alone—I’ll go back first.”

“When you were Xue Fangfei, you should have been quite used to it,” Ji Heng reminded her unhurriedly.

Jiang Li choked. That was true. When she had just married and come to Yanjing city, her beauty was stunning, and she had also been scrutinized wherever she went. At first, she had also felt uncomfortable, but later she got used to it. But now she was no longer in Xue Fangfei’s appearance. Jiang Li said, “The past is the past, and now is now. I’m no longer Xue Fangfei.”

Ji Heng said, “Then you should get even more used to it.”

Jiang Li asked, “Why?”

“I don’t like staying with gray mice,” he answered matter-of-factly. “If you’re not good-looking enough, don’t stand before me.”

Jiang Li remembered—right, this person loved beauty and hated ugliness. She suddenly caught the flaw in Ji Heng’s earlier words. Rarely feeling mischievous, she raised her head and asked Ji Heng, “Then does Your Grace mean that I’m still very good-looking now?”

The joy and pride in her voice couldn’t be hidden no matter how she tried. Ji Heng couldn’t help but turn his head to look at her. The girl was looking up, her eyes clear and full of laughter. The frank courage unique to young women was reflected within, making her like a newly bloomed pear blossom—pure white and adorable, so pure that one couldn’t help but smile along with her.

Ji Heng’s heart stirred.

From the beginning, she had been a gentle yet indifferent, cunning yet lonely young girl. Now, she always liked to smile. Compared to the Jiang Li he had first met, she was already a completely different person. But perhaps this was her true appearance—in those past years, during Xue Fangfei’s girlhood, before she encountered Shen Yurun, this was what she was like.

It was hard to imagine that later she had become a dull woman, busy with trivial matters all day long. She had put away her spirited intelligence and wisdom, becoming no different from those beautiful official wives of Yanjing city. Shen Yurun had transformed a soft, adorable, frank, and charming pear blossom into a man-eating flower constantly struggling in a dark flower bed. What a waste of heaven’s gifts.

He had never been someone who cherished beauty and protected jade. In the world, he had seen quite a few beautiful women. He had been cursed as having a heart of stone, as being heartless and unrighteous. But at this moment, he also felt the sunlight was warm and her smile lovely. He only hoped such a smile could continue for a long time, that this Jiang Li could remain forever a courageous young woman as she was before him now, with the courage to risk everything and the good fortune blessed by heaven.

He moved closer to Jiang Li and said softly, “Mm.”

Jiang Li froze.

All the words she had prepared in advance to counter him and tease him came to an abrupt halt. The smile at the corners of the young man’s lips was gentle. In his amber eyes, there were no longer the varying degrees of callousness and pretense—they were like the sunlight at this moment, warm and bright.

She suddenly couldn’t speak. Her cheeks slowly flushed red.

That little deer that had been dormant suddenly slowly stood up again, slowly lifted its legs, tentatively walked, then bounced and jumped, running back and forth in her heart, trampling it into chaos.

Jiang Li could almost hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

She had actually forgotten what kind of feelings she had when she first liked Shen Yurun. After all, that was very long ago. But now, at this moment, she knew that she herself—perhaps just a little bit, slightly—had developed feelings for the man before her.

This was not a good thing at all. Jiang Li was dazed and at a loss. Yet the instigator seemed completely oblivious, straightening up and walking forward.

Sunlight fell on his tall figure, dyeing him golden as well.

Jiang Li knew—this was very bad indeed.