As the sun set in the west, the tattered flags on the battlefield were bathed in a blood-red glow tinged with faint golden light. The corpses scattered across the ground painted a scene of endless desolation.

The approaching cavalry was like a steel blade thrust into this war-torn land. The rebel soldiers who had just surrendered grew increasingly anxious, huddling together like lambs awaiting slaughter.

As they drew closer, Fan Changyu could see the man riding alone at the front. His face was as cold as jade, his eyes like icy stars, fixed on her with the intensity of a hunting wolf on the plains. He cracked his whip and charged towards her.

Fan Changyu felt a jolt in her heart and stammered to Xie Wu, “He looks even more like him up close, doesn’t he?”

Xie Wu was on the verge of tears. Seeing Xie Zheng’s murderous expression, he instinctively shouted, “Miss, run!”

Fan Changyu’s helmet had long since fallen off, and her small bun had come loose after her fierce battle with the rebel general. Her disheveled hair made her stand out among the grimy soldiers.

Thinking Xie Wu was panicking because her disguise as a man had been exposed, Fan Changyu’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t have time to ponder why the approaching rider looked so much like Yuan Zheng. She turned and ran towards the crowd, hoping to hide.

However, her two legs were no match for the horse’s four. The large black steed, a head taller than a man, seemed to bring a gust of wind as it galloped. Before Fan Changyu could even pick up a helmet to cover herself, she was scooped up and placed on the horse’s back.

With her head and feet dangling, her stomach pressed against the saddle, she couldn’t catch her breath as the warhorse galloped back. All she could see was the scenery rapidly receding behind them.

A loud voice from the cavalry shouted, “The rebel commander Shi Yue has been slain by the Marquis at the gorge entrance! Here is his head as proof! The army returns victorious!”

The exhausted Yanzhou troops erupted in thunderous cheers.

Fan Changyu, kidnapped onto the horse, instinctively struggled. But having expended so much energy in battle, her limbs felt weak and sore. The hand pressing on her back was like an iron clamp, preventing her from breaking free.

As she struggled, she caught the scent of blood mixed with a bitter herbal smell. Her resistance weakened, and she turned her head to look at the man on the horse, his handsome face covered in a layer of frost. Uncertainly, she called out, “Yuan Zheng?”

Xie Zheng glanced down at her without a word, then looked ahead and suddenly spurred the horse, shouting, “Hiya!”

Though his voice was cold and filled with anger, Fan Changyu recognized it unmistakably as Yuan Zheng’s.

She suddenly stopped struggling, hanging limply on the horse like a dazed goose. Her eyes, reflecting the sunset and mountains, were filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Yuan Zheng wasn’t a common soldier, but a general.

Why had he lied to her?

Xie Zheng’s warhorse had left his guards far behind. The official road was flanked by mountains and streams.

Noticing Fan Changyu’s unusual behavior, Xie Zheng pulled the reins, slowing the horse. He reached out to pull Fan Changyu up but didn’t expect her sudden attack. She dodged his hand with a twist of her elbow, leaped up like a leopard, and pinned him down on the horse’s back. Her almond-shaped eyes blazed with anger as she shouted, “You lied to me!”

Xie Zheng’s cold expression faltered slightly. He said, “I can explain.”

The sky had grown darker. Fan Changyu looked at the man she had pinned down by his collar, and after the initial anger, she felt an inexplicable sense of hurt.

Fearing he would die on the battlefield due to his severe injuries, she had secretly taken his place in battle. But it seemed he had been deceiving her all along.

If his injuries were truly severe, how could he easily lift her onto the horse with one hand?

Fan Changyu pressed her lips together, her anger mixed with a sense of betrayal. She demanded, “Explain why you’ve become a general, or why you lied about your injury not healing?”

Her grip had caused her cracked tiger’s mouth to bleed again. Xie Zheng felt the warm, sticky sensation and, ignoring her questions, his expression changed: “You’re hurt?”

He reached to examine her hand, but Fan Changyu forcefully kept him pinned down.

Xie Zheng’s face grew colder. His heartbeat still hadn’t calmed, either from the wild ride or from fear of something. With barely contained anger in his eyes, he said, “I can explain everything you’ve asked. Let me take you back to treat your wound first.”

Fan Changyu’s anger hadn’t subsided. She coldly replied, “I don’t need your help.”

With no one holding the reins, the warhorse had slowed to a trot and stopped. As she released her grip on Xie Zheng and prepared to dismount, he suddenly grabbed her waist and pulled her tightly against him.

Fan Changyu had been sitting face-to-face with him after she had flipped him over. Now, with her waist in an iron grip and her chin forcefully held, she felt pain in her bones. His eyes were bloodshot as he almost snarled, “You don’t need my help? Then why did you drug me and go to the battlefield yourself? Do you know what a battlefield is? It’s a place where human life means nothing! Have you forgotten everything I told you when you went down the mountain to steal food last time?”

He seemed more furious than ever before. The veins on his temple bulged, his eyes fierce as if he wanted to devour her. Yet the hand on her waist gripped so tightly, his knuckles turning white as if desperately holding onto the most precious thing he had almost lost.

Fan Changyu was already angry and hurt by his deception. Now, being yelled at, she felt an inexplicable sting in her eyes. Fighting back tears, she gritted her teeth and shouted, “I was afraid you’d die on the battlefield!”

“Even if I died there, you shouldn’t have gone!”

As soon as these words left his mouth, Xie Zheng looked at Fan Changyu, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, stubbornly refusing to let them fall. His heart felt as if it had been seared by a red-hot iron, the beating flesh contracting painfully. Both of their breaths trembled.

His face remained tense, but as he lowered his eyes, his voice softened, “If I died, you should take your sister and leave the military camp. Find a new place to settle down, open a pork shop build a pigsty to raise pigs, or just live well. In the future, marry a gentle and handsome scholar you like, have children…”

As a tear finally fell from Fan Changyu’s eye onto his hand, he watched as more tears began to fall silently. The bloodshot look in his eyes intensified, and he suddenly cupped her chin and kissed her fiercely.

“Boom—” A clap of thunder shook the sky. A flash of lightning split the night. After half a month of clear weather, a sudden spring rain finally arrived.

Large raindrops pelted down. Fan Changyu pushed hard several times but couldn’t break free. Rain slid down her eyelids, and she couldn’t tell if the wetness on her face was from rain or tears. She struck his body with her elbows several times, hearing grunts of pain, but the hand on the back of her head didn’t loosen at all. Instead, he kissed her even more fiercely, as if his life depended on it.

Lightning flashed across the mountains, illuminating the world for an instant before plunging it back into darkness.

When it came to madness, Fan Changyu was no match for him.

Her chest was a tangle of unfamiliar emotions, and she couldn’t even cry properly.

When it ended, he pressed his forehead against hers, his scabbed hand gently stroking her rain-soaked hair. His voice was soft, his eyes pitch black: “As long as I’m alive, you’ll never bear children for anyone else in this life.”

Fan Changyu had cried herself out, the terrible emotions in her heart released through her tears. When she looked up at Xie Zheng, she threw a punch at him without mercy.

She didn’t hold back, and Xie Zheng was knocked off the horse’s back by her blow.

Fan Changyu didn’t even look back at him. She grabbed the reins and shouted, “Hiya!”

The warhorse galloped away, kicking up mud and water.

Xie Zheng lay on his back in the rain, one hand covering his left eye where Fan Changyu had struck him. He sucked in a cool breath, then after a while, lowered his hand. Looking up at the rainy night sky, he burst into laughter.

Fan Changyu rode wildly, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. They hurt at the touch, undoubtedly swollen. The cool rain hit her face, but her cheeks felt oddly warm. She rubbed her lips harder as if trying to erase something.

Ahead on the official road, she encountered a group of personal guards searching for Xie Zheng, including Xie Wu.

Seeing Fan Changyu, Xie Wu hurriedly rode up and called out, “Miss Fan.”

Noticing that Fan Changyu was riding Xie Zheng’s mount, he looked behind her but didn’t see Xie Zheng. He asked, “Where’s the Marquis?”

Fan Changyu had thought Xie Zheng was just a general. Hearing Xie Wu call him “Marquis,” she was stunned for a moment, then scowled and said, “He fell and died!”

Without waiting for the guards’ reactions, she spurred her horse and continued forward.

Xie Wu quickly directed some men: “You escort the Madam back. The rest come with me to find the Marquis!”

The dozen or so guards split into two groups. One group followed Fan Changyu at a distance, while the other hurried to find Xie Zheng.

When they saw Xie Zheng on the official road, Xie Wu and his group quickly dismounted and approached. “Marquis!”

The pine resin torches burned despite the rain. The guards noticed the bruise at the corner of Xie Zheng’s eye and were stunned.

Had the Madam struck the Marquis?

Xie Wu, remembering that he had also deceived Fan Changyu and recalling how she had beaten the rebel general to death with a few hammer blows, swallowed hard.

Would the Madam beat him too when they got back?

Xie Zheng, unaware of his foolish thoughts, asked, “Where is she?”

This “she” could only mean Fan Changyu.

Xie Wu quickly came to his senses and replied, “Xie Jiu and others are escorting the Madam back.”

Xie Zheng didn’t ask anything more. He mounted the warhorse Xie Wu had brought and said, “Back to camp.”