And before that, doing something for Chu Li as repayment was not unreasonable.

This wasn’t using him – everything required interest to be paid. She was clearing obstacles from his path to power, so collecting some compensation was perfectly justified.

The night wind carried a slight chill. Qing Xia wore a thick cotton robe, her jet-black hair neatly tied in a ponytail behind her head, looking clean and refreshed, full of energy. Just as she spotted Chu Li’s main command tent, a burst of noisy voices suddenly emerged. Qing Xia paused, raising her eyebrows slightly. The military council should have ended by now – who could still be remaining here?

Lady Zhu Lan’s corpulent figure immediately appeared in her mind, sparking anger in her heart as a flash of cold light passed through her eyes.

“Why should I have to go back!”

A clear, melodious female voice suddenly rang out, sharp and crisp, sounding quite young.

A woman wearing white warrior’s clothing suddenly stumbled out of the main tent, pushed roughly. Chu Li’s voice carried a hint of anger as he instructed through the tent curtain to those around him: “Escort Princess Xilin back.”

“Yes!” Two Black Guards answered in unison and walked toward the young woman.

The girl was only sixteen or seventeen years old, petite with a cute face, but this adorable face was now pale with anger. She shook off the two Black Guards’ hands and shouted loudly toward the main military camp: “That old woman Zhu Lan can stay here, so why are you making me leave?”

“Lady Zhu Lan is Nanfu’s acting family head with noble status. The princess should be more careful with her words – if someone with ulterior motives heard this, it would inevitably give them ammunition,” Chu Li said in a low voice, emotionlessly.

“You’re afraid of her, but I’m not!” the girl shouted, pushing away the two personal guards beside her and yelling toward the main military camp: “Just you wait and see – I’ll do exactly what I say!” After speaking, she suddenly turned and ran wildly into the pitch-black night.

Qing Xia hid in the shadows cast by torches. The girl passed right in front of her without noticing her presence.

“Everyone stay where you are! No one is allowed to follow!” With a crack of a whip, the girl held a fiery red whip and struck one of her subordinates who tried to follow, angrily shouting: “Anyone who dares take a step forward can leave their head where they stand!”

Qing Xia frowned slightly, considered for a moment, then carefully followed after her.

This was the first major conflict since Chu Li’s ascension, involving massive military forces. The North Camp stretched over ten li from north to south, with various vassal states joining the battle, making the camp unimaginably large. Even with Qing Xia’s excellent tracking skills, unfamiliar with the terrain and needing to avoid patrolling soldiers, she soon lost track of the girl.

Just as she rounded a camp section and reached the camp’s perimeter, Qing Xia was wondering how to slip out undetected when she suddenly heard faint sounds reaching her ears. With her acute hearing, especially on such a quiet night, she prioritized urgent matters and headed west, rounding a tall woodshed to reach an open field.

“In the first year’s early winter, having been banished, born in the south and buried in the south, living away from home but dying to return. Wishing for one meeting but unable to obtain it – who knew this would be the place where bones return? Alas! What came before cannot be imagined, what comes after cannot be known; weeping for you, I cannot hear your words; making offerings to you, I cannot see you eat. Paper ash flies about, the north wind blows wild and vast – are you cold down there underground?”

A low voice suddenly echoed across the field. Qing Xia looked over curiously to see paper money and ash flying everywhere. A young man in plain blue robes held a string of paper money, crouched on the ground silently burning offerings.

Hearing him muttering ancient funeral rites, Qing Xia gradually frowned. This person was secretly holding memorial services for the dead within the military camp – a great taboo. If discovered, he would certainly die horribly. She wondered who this could be.

“Miss Xiangju, today is your seventh day after death. Lin is bound by military duties and cannot visit your grave to pay respects, so I can only express my feelings here. I hope you will soon reincarnate and be reborn as human.”

The man in plain robes suddenly stood up. Qing Xia was greatly shocked to recognize the historian Lin Mubai, whom she had met once before. Then the “Miss Xiangju” he spoke of must be herself – the one Chu Li had lied to him about being dead! She hadn’t expected this foolish scholar to still remember her. Qing Xia couldn’t help but smile inwardly, though she thought it best not to get involved with this person. Chu Li wouldn’t want her meeting with him either – it would destroy the trust between ruler and minister and harm the scholar’s career prospects.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, she suddenly heard the scholar say: “Miss Xiangju, after that brief meeting that day, I never imagined we would be separated forever by death. Lin painted a portrait of you, originally intending to personally deliver it to you, but now it seems I’ll never have that chance. Today I burn it here to honor your departed spirit.”

He then took out a scroll and slowly unrolled it. Qing Xia turned to look and saw it was identical to the one she had given Chu Li previously.

Scholar Lin held up the scroll, suspending it high above the fierce flames. The scroll, taller than a person, was raised high above his head. The woman in the painting had beautiful features and sharp eyes, appearing full of heroic spirit. Lin Mubai seemed momentarily stunned, staring blankly at the woman in men’s clothing riding a horse in the painting. The roaring flames gradually burned up from the bottom of the scroll, crackling loudly.

“Oh no! I can’t!”

Suddenly, Scholar Lin, who had been holding the scroll high, cried out and frantically bent down to beat at the already burning scroll. As if regretting his action, he frantically tried to extinguish it. But the fire was too large – despite his frantic efforts, most of it burned, leaving only the portion from the shoulders up.

Scholar Lin’s sleeves were burned to tatters, black and sooty, his face streaked with black and white. Holding the now unrecognizable scroll, he looked dejected and pitiful, almost tearful, appearing quite comical. He lovingly stroked the lifelike portrait, saying very sincerely to the woman within: “Miss Xiangju, I just remembered His Majesty already took the other copy. If this one burns too, I won’t have any left. How about this – tonight I’ll go back and paint another one, then burn it for you tomorrow night. What do you think?”

Naturally, no one would respond to him, but he still nodded foolishly as if the woman in the painting had actually nodded in agreement. Finally, he carefully rolled up the half-burned painting.

At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance. Scholar Lin’s expression changed drastically – he naturally knew the consequences of burning paper money in a military camp at night. He quickly picked up the fire basin from the ground and fled in panic toward the distance, stumbling and nearly falling several times.

Qing Xia covered her mouth watching his embarrassed escape, almost laughing out loud. This foolish scholar was truly adorable – she had only saved him once, yet he was so grateful.

“Qiao’er!” A sharp shout suddenly rang out. Qing Xia carefully hid and silently approached.

When you’ve worn out iron shoes searching everywhere, you find it effortlessly. The girl in white warrior’s clothing was running rapidly in this direction, followed by a man in blue military dress.

“Qiao’er!” The man grabbed the girl’s clothing and said sternly: “Do you want to worry father to death?”

“Let go!” the girl shouted, struggling violently.

“Enough! Stop making trouble!” the man said angrily. “Father hasn’t even settled accounts with you for disguising yourself as a man and secretly following Taishu to the military camp, and you’re still throwing tantrums here?”

“Why can’t I come?” the girl raised her eyebrows, repeating the same phrase: “That old woman from the Li family can come, so why can’t I, Xilin Yuqiao?”

“Qiao’er!” The man in blue flew into a rage, shouting harshly.

“Also, didn’t he bring back a woman last night? What about ‘no women allowed in military camps’ – doesn’t it all depend on what he says!”

The man’s expression froze. He patiently and earnestly said slowly: “Qiao’er, he is the Emperor.”

“I don’t care if he’s the Emperor or not!” The girl’s eyes reddened upon hearing this, and she suddenly covered her face and wept bitterly: “I only know that a year ago, he was the Li Chu I rescued from Pengli’s mass grave. Why did everything change after I went to Bailing and came back?”

The man sighed deeply, extended his long arms to pull the sobbing girl into his embrace, and said quietly: “Qiao’er, face reality. He was never Li Chu to begin with – he is our Southern Chu’s Great Emperor, a noble sovereign. You will never have any connection with him in this lifetime. Return to Heng City – mother must be worried sick waiting for you. Listen to your elder brother.”

“Elder brother, why is it like this?” The girl could no longer contain herself and burst into loud weeping. Standing in the shadows, Qing Xia had understood the general situation from just these few sentences. Though she hadn’t gotten the answers she wanted, she couldn’t help but sigh helplessly – status and position were forever a vast chasm between lovers, whether ancient or modern.

“Who’s there!” A sharp shout suddenly rang out. Xilin Yuqiao’s elder brother’s gaze turned cold as he whirled around, shooting a freezing cold glare toward where Qing Xia stood.

In the darkness, only a crisp “ding” sound instantly pierced the quiet night sky. The man in blue raised his eyebrows and quickly ran forward, only to see his throwing knife had been knocked to the ground and split in half. Not far from the knife, a pale yellow bead lay on the ground, gleaming with soft light.

In the pitch-black night where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, being able to identify location by sound and knock down his hidden weapon showed accuracy that left the man far behind. Suddenly, he realized there was no need to continue pursuing, because if the newcomer had wanted to kill both siblings just now, it would have been as easy as turning over his hand.

The man in blue held the pale yellow bead, stood in place looking at the dark night sky, and slowly frowned.

“Miss!” Before returning to her rest tent, Chu Li’s personal guard Le Song suddenly rushed forward, saying urgently: “His Majesty returned and didn’t see you. After waiting a long time without your return, he just led troops out of camp to search for you.”