On the journey here, Jiang Xuening couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like when she saw the youth of the past again. After two years of bitter dormancy, without his noble status as the heir of the Marquis of Yongyi, would he be suffering, sad, and what exactly would he have become?

This life was undoubtedly better than the previous one.

But no matter how she tried to sketch his appearance in her mind, she couldn’t imagine what the youth would look like. Instead, the face of that young general from the previous life returning victorious to court would occasionally emerge from the depths of memory, making her break out in cold sweat.

That was a person thoroughly soaked in worldly affairs and hatred.

Back then, he had followed the long road through the capital escorting Shen Zhiyi’s coffin back to court, dressed all in white mourning clothes, yet without half a trace of the grief that should have been there. His entire body was stained with the violent aura of weapons and warfare. Those eyes were still and cold, icy and deep. When he looked at someone without speaking, it seemed as if they had grown thorns, piercingly sharp. So even though his features were familiar, Jiang Xuening couldn’t recall from that face what that spirited young man riding fine horses in splendid clothes had looked like in those days.

But now, it seemed nothing had changed.

Even though he had grown taller, his formerly pale complexion like that of a young nobleman had been tanned somewhat darker, and the corners of his eyes and brows bore the changes and experiences of these two years, yet those brilliant starry eyes were still blazingly warm as the midday sun, frank and sincere as the bright moon in the high heavens. Just hearing this familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar deep voice made her heart burn.

The fabric of his clothes was rougher, somewhat scratchy against her face.

But he had originally been the little marquis in the capital who wore fine silk and ate delicacies, who got whatever he wanted.

Jiang Xuening lifted her head and looked at him for a long while. Her throat felt dry. When she finally called out “Yan Lin,” she couldn’t help but feel her eyes heat up, and her voice choked with emotion.

Two years had passed, and the young woman had become even more beautiful.

Her figure graceful, her skin snowy and hair dark as ink.

Only when her eyes looked at someone with moisture in them, it still made his heart melt, reminding him of a small deer in forest mist. Yan Lin wanted to carefully cradle her, coax her to smile, keep her company playing, to make that face bloom with a heart-stirring smile.

The moment he embraced her was the most gratifying moment he had experienced in these two years.

When the Marquis household had its troubles and was raided and exiled.

He and his family traveled all the way from the capital to distant Huangzhou. Along the road, they even encountered several assassination attempts, though someone was protecting them in secret. After arriving in Huangzhou, bearing the status of criminals, they faced even heavier corvée labor. His father’s health had originally been poor, and he caught a chill on the road that hadn’t improved for a long time.

Greasing palms, hiring doctors for treatment—all required money.

Only then did he realize just how heavy and weighty that chest Jiang Xuening had secretly sent through someone was.

Not long after, Master Xie’s letter arrived.

Later still came assistance from the so-called “Ren Family Salt Works.”

With the vast distance and long roads, those letters took many days for even one to arrive.

But in those days in Huangzhou that were endured hour by hour, they were like a pot of strong liquor heated in the depths of winter, allowing one to grit one’s teeth and maintain that tiny hope until it grew deep into the barren soil, slowly taking firm root. Even ignoring the adversity of wind, snow, thunder, and rain, it gradually sprouted and branched out. Like a pine or cypress in a rock crevice, it possessed an especially powerful and tenacious strength.

He hadn’t wallowed in despair.

Each day he was filled with hope for the next day.

Until today, she finally came.

Heaven knew how happy he was when he received news that she would come together with Xie Wei.

He had even been anticipating it for two days prior.

Even handling military affairs, he had been rarely distracted.

Until this moment when he saw her.

That heart full of expectation finally completely settled, transforming into a gentle comfort. Yet it also made him completely unable to restrain his joy. Only after tightly embracing her did he realize his impropriety.

The youth had ultimately grown up.

When he glimpsed the astonished gazes of the surrounding soldiers from the corner of his eye, although everything he had done came from his heart, after all it wasn’t the time of his youth when he could act willfully and recklessly. He couldn’t help but blush, cough once, and release her.

Thus, he finally saw Xie Wei, who had been watching them from inside the carriage for some time.

This moment was somewhat quiet.

Only then did Yan Lin discover that Jiang Xuening had just emerged from this carriage—the two had come riding in the same carriage. His heart suddenly felt somewhat strange, but at this extraordinary time, he didn’t think deeply about it.

After pausing briefly, he gazed at the other man, restraining his earlier impetuousness and bowing respectfully with proper formality: “I greet Master Xie.”

Xie Wei lowered his eyelids indifferently and said: “Let’s enter the city first.”

Yan Lin also knew this was not the place for conversation, so he answered “Yes,” had a team of soldiers escort the carriage, cleared the way ahead, and proceeded all the way into the city. Riding high on his horse, he asked Jiang Xuening if she wanted to ride as well.

Jiang Xuening was also carefree by nature.

Ever since Xie Wei received the imperial edict, they had been on the road in the carriage the entire way, racing day and night toward Xinzhou. Not only did it feel like her bones were falling apart, but being constantly cooped up in the carriage also gave her no opportunity to come out for air.

Suddenly arriving at this place with such different scenery, she couldn’t help but feel playful.

She naturally agreed at once, carefully mounting a small horse led over by a soldier, following alongside Yan Lin’s horse as they entered the city together.

Xie Wei only watched from inside the carriage, not stopping her.

Xinzhou City was not large, and the buildings in the city couldn’t compare to the prosperity of the capital or the refinement of Jiangnan. Everywhere revealed a kind of roughness—even the walls were relatively thick, looking very solid.

There were actually more soldiers walking in the city than ordinary common people.

However, judging by the appearance of the surrounding common folk, they seemed quite accustomed to it, without the slightest sense of discomfort, still setting up stalls as usual, hawking their wares as usual.

This kind of place, with feng shui that didn’t nurture people as well.

Most of the local girls had rough skin.

Jiang Xuening, a young woman raised in the prosperous capital and steeped in two years of Jiangnan’s graceful refinement, was truly dewy and enchantingly radiant. Moreover, mixed among a bunch of rough-skinned, thick-bodied soldiers and riding on horseback, everyone who saw her wherever she passed was amazed. There were even ignorant children holding steamed buns who chased behind calling out “Fairy Sister,” truly making it impossible not to smile.

Yan Lin was just like when he had first brought her around to play in various places in the capital, pointing to things along the roadside one by one and telling her about them. Only his voice sounded somewhat deeper than before, and he was no longer completely carefree like a young nobleman.

He had experienced ups and downs and understood worldly affairs.

Even when talking about the porridge and meals by the roadside, there was a kind of compassion different from the old days, knowing when these common people worked and when they rested, how much rice could be obtained once grain was harvested, and whether there was a lame old grandmother in the blacksmith shop on East Street…

Listening to this, Jiang Xuening couldn’t help but turn her head to look at him.

The young general’s features were profound and resolute.

For the first time, she felt that cold, ceaseless time had actually brought a touch of tenderness, sculpting the youth in her memory into such a moving appearance. She couldn’t help but smile.

The soldiers escorting them along the way were all both surprised and puzzled.

General Yan had just arrived, and his methods could be considered swift and decisive. Although when studying defense deployments, he often ate and lived together with the soldiers, not at all like someone who had once been a little marquis, very approachable—but no one had ever seen him treat anyone like this.

Just who on earth was this beautiful young lady?