“Hehe,” the old man laughed as he stood up, rubbing his hands together and shaking the medicinal powder from the hem of his clothes, saying, “Young lady, what swift footwork you have.”

“Here you are.” Taking the lotus flower from her hat, she said, “I was afraid of missing the timing and delaying the medicine’s effectiveness. Please hurry and prepare it.”

Elder Cangxu said, “Everything is already prepared – I was just waiting for the young lady to return.”

“Old sir,” Qing Xia thought for a moment and quietly lowered her voice, saying, “Please don’t let His Highness know about my going to gather medicine.”

Elder Cangxu paused, then nodded. Qing Xia smiled and walked out of the tent. She immediately saw Na Keduo, Li Xian, and several others walking toward her. These men had now entered regular military service in Qin Zhiyan’s army camp. The Yan Division was renowned throughout the world, and being able to join Great Qin’s most elite regular army made everyone very happy.

“Sister Qing!” Li Xian had sharp eyes and spotted Qing Xia immediately, calling out loudly.

Qing Xia smiled and slowly walked forward to meet them, saying, “Are you all free now?”

“We just received our military armor.” Na Keduo laughed heartily, holding up the military armor in his hands.

The dark blue-black military armor of the Yan Division’s regular troops gleamed with flowing colors under the evening sunset. Qing Xia patted Na Keduo’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Do well!”

“Sister Qing! His Highness is in the main tent. The council meeting just ended, and General Yizhou said we’ll advance into White Deer Plains tomorrow.” Several of them had previously suffered an ambush from White Deer Fort, and though they had turned disaster into fortune, they had also secretly harbored resentment. Especially Na Keduo, who wanted to achieve merit and avenge his mother, was eagerly awaiting battle.

Qing Xia nodded, greeted them, and walked toward the main tent.

The camp guards already knew Qing Xia well and didn’t stop her. She lifted the curtain and saw Qin Zhiyan sitting in the center of the main military tent, head lowered as he wrote something.

Qin Zhiyan wore a blue scholarly robe with a scholar’s headband. His features were serene and distant, his entire being radiating a gentle scholarly elegance. No matter how you looked at him, he didn’t seem like a blood-clothed war general who charged across battlefields.

Hearing the sound, Qin Zhiyan raised his head and saw Qing Xia in her snow-white fox fur standing at the entrance with a smiling expression. He gently curved his lips and smiled, saying, “It’s cold outside – come in quickly.”

Qing Xia lowered the curtain and entered. Seeing an empty bowl on Qin Zhiyan’s small table, she knew he had obediently eaten the pear and lotus seed soup she had cooked. Happily, she said, “What are you writing? You’ve traveled all day – take a rest.”

Qin Zhiyan put down his brush, his expression gentle as he naturally made room for half his space. The warm, melting fragrance of fritillaria immediately surrounded Qing Xia. The murderous aura from her recent struggle with those people instantly dissipated. Sitting beside Qin Zhiyan, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the teacup from the small table, and without caring that Qin Zhiyan had just used it, took a sip.

“This is Wu Chun tea from Nanjiang – it has the effect of moistening the lungs and nourishing beauty. You should drink more.”

Qing Xia said carelessly, “I don’t understand tea – I’ve always drunk it like an ox. But this tea is indeed good. You moisten your lungs, I nourish my beauty – each takes what they need.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled and shook his head without speaking. Qing Xia casually picked up the scrolls on the table to read. She saw stacks of military documents and governmental papers from Xianyang. Having no intention of exploring Great Qin’s military affairs, she only glanced briefly before pushing them aside and picking up a geographical atlas from the desk to flip through casually.

Qin Zhiyan sat beside her drinking tea, his expression serene, like a landscape painting.

“Qin Zhiyan,” Qing Xia said somewhat unclearly while eating pastries from the small table, “Elder Cangxu says you should pay more attention to rest and work less – only then can you properly recuperate your health.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled and turned his head, his smile faint. “Mm, the elder is right. I’ll pay attention.”

“Then don’t sit here anymore – go to the back tent and rest for a while.”

Qin Zhiyan slowly shook his head and said, “That won’t do. Tonight there’s an honored guest coming – I still need to wait a while. If you’re tired, go rest yourself.”

“Honored guest?” Qing Xia’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as she asked puzzledly, “Who?”

Just as Qin Zhiyan was about to speak, suddenly a soldier outside the tent called loudly, “Your Highness, General Yan Hui of Xichuan leads the Xichuan warriors and requests an audience outside the camp!”

Qing Xia suddenly stood up. She hadn’t expected that the honored guest Qin Zhiyan mentioned was Xichuan General Yan Hui. Of the four most famous young talents of this chaotic age, Qing Xia had already met three – only this last one she hadn’t had the chance to meet. She truly wondered if he was also as brilliantly talented and powerful as Qin Zhiyan and the others.

Qin Zhiyan stood up with elegant composure and walked to the tent entrance. The soldiers outside quickly lifted the curtain, and Qin Zhiyan said calmly, “Form up the entire army and march out to receive them.” Qing Xia draped a cloak over Qin Zhiyan and stood beside him. Behind them was Great Qin’s most elite Yan Division army, with torches standing like a forest and banners unfurled. The night’s long wind rushed toward them, and the great banners behind them whistled and flapped – what a magnificent military display.

The dark mass of Xichuan troops gradually approached. Qing Xia stood beside Qin Zhiyan, slowly turning her head to look at his knife-sharp, resilient profile. Suddenly she felt he was like a towering mountain to be looked up to. At this moment, standing before this army of a million, the night’s long wind whipped back his black hair and stirred his cold armor. The torches crackled, the iron armor gleamed, and the young general was matchlessly handsome, like a god of prosperity, possessing the noble bearing and graceful manner that made even the gods jealous.

Feeling Qing Xia’s gaze, Qin Zhiyan turned his head and stared intently into her eyes. His gentle eyes were as vast as the ocean. Suddenly he slightly parted his lips in a warm smile. Qing Xia instantly felt that all the flames and light in heaven and earth dimmed in comparison – before her eyes were only Qin Zhiyan’s peerlessly elegant smile and his jade-like gentle face. Qin Zhiyan slowly raised his hand to smooth a strand of hair at her temple, then lowered his hand and tightly grasped Qing Xia’s hand.

It was like an electric shock. Qing Xia leaned against him, her petite figure looking up at this man who had extended a helping hand to her countless times in danger. She felt the tenderness in her heart surge like ocean waves. On this night of howling cold wind and pitch darkness, the two stood together on the wilderness, hand in hand, watching the rapidly approaching Xichuan cavalry, leaning on each other like two trees growing side by side.

“Third Highness!” A clear voice suddenly rang out high above the thunderous hoofbeats. Qing Xia raised an eyebrow and looked coldly ahead. From the midst of the magnificent army with unfurled banners, a silver-armored general emerged from the crowd, galloping forward at the lead. He had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a face like polished jade, and a great red cloak that fluttered in the wind like raging fire. His pair of narrow eyes were fox-like, flashing with bewitching light. He galloped with incomparable swiftness to the front, nimbly dismounted, and together with the tens of thousands of Xichuan soldiers behind him, clasped their fists and said loudly, “It’s been a long time, Third Highness. Your bearing remains unchanged. Yan Hui pays his respects.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly and cupped his hands, saying, “For this White Deer Plains hunt, we must rely on General Yan’s iron cavalry. I hope the general won’t hesitate to share his guidance.”

Yan Hui’s eyes narrowed slightly, the corners tilting upward, making him look even more like a fox. Smiling, he said, “What words are these? With the Great Qin War God present, how dare Yan Hui’s grain of rice dare compete with the sun and moon? Please don’t mock me, Your Highness.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly and said, “The general’s great talent is known to everyone under heaven. If you humble yourself as a grain of rice, this world would sink into eternal night, never again to have sun and moon’s radiance.”

Hearing this, Yan Hui laughed heartily, his voice clear and bright. His silver-white armor shimmered with flowing light, complementing his wickedly beautiful face, making him seem like a bewitching divine being with an otherworldly charm.

“I wonder who this is?” Yan Hui’s gaze seemed only now to turn to Qing Xia, as if he had never seen her before. His eyebrows lifted slightly with a surprised expression, carrying a trace of amusement and humor.

Qin Zhiyan held Qing Xia’s hand, his expression relaxed and face elegant. The night’s cold wind whipped up both their long hair, entangling it together for a long time. He looked at Qing Xia with a faint smile and said slowly, “This is the one Zhiyan admires.”

Qing Xia was startled and immediately turned to stare straight at Qin Zhiyan. Though she had long known that Qin Zhiyan liked her, she hadn’t expected him to acknowledge it so openly before others, and in such terms. She saw that Yan Hui also seemed surprised. After thinking for a moment, he said with some embarrassment, “To gain Prince Xuan’s favor, this young lady must be a phoenix among people, with extraordinary talent that surpasses the world.”

Qing Xia smiled faintly. What a narrow road for enemies – this person was the famous Yan Hui. Seeing his fox-like gaze constantly sweeping between herself and Qin Zhiyan, she smiled lightly and said, “I dare not accept such praise. General Yan is young and romantic, having seen all the beauties under heaven, with countless beautiful wives and concubines in his mansion. This humble woman is plain and ordinary – how could I catch the general’s eye? The general jests.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled slightly, then said, “Fine wine has been prepared in camp. If General Yan would honor us, we could gather together.”

Yan Hui smiled and said, “Your Highness need not trouble yourself. Tomorrow at White Deer Plains, when the elite troops of four nations gather, it won’t be too late to drink heartily then.”

Qin Zhiyan’s brows furrowed lightly as he asked gravely, “How so? Have Crown Prince An and the Chu sovereign already reached White Deer Plains so quickly?”

“Precisely!” Yan Hui glanced meaningfully at Qing Xia standing beside Qin Zhiyan, his cunning eyes lifting slightly as he said, “In the battle at White Deer Fort outside Yao Pass, Your Highness timely rendered aid, allowing our Xichuan Shi family disciples to escape disaster and survive. Afterward, the incident of Miss Xia Qing disguising herself as a man, joining the army, and single-handedly resisting three thousand elite troops from White Deer Fort spread throughout the land. At this moment, Sovereign Chu Li and Crown Prince An of Qi are rushing to White Deer Plains to meet this brilliantly talented heroine. Yan Hui has also admired her for a long time – I never expected to finally see Miss Xia Qing’s true face today. What great fortune!”