“Shuying, I’m sorry for frightening you.”

After finishing her vomiting, Qin Shuying felt much better. She had once thought about overcoming this problem, but unfortunately, she simply couldn’t do it.

“It’s not your fault, Ziyu. It’s my own inability to stand the sight of them.”

Liang Zhe felt somewhat regretful. With Qin Shuying having such a problem, although there were no large trees here, there was still green grass, and bugs inevitably lurked in the grass. It seemed they would have to return to the camp after all.

Qin Shuying knew what Liang Zhe was thinking. She said, “Ziyu, the water here is very clear. I just saw a large fish. Were you planning to catch fish to eat?”

“I originally had that idea, but now we should go back. With the sun this strong, you’ll get sunburned and your skin will peel. You’re a young lady—you’ll end up crying about it.”

A young lady?

An indescribable feeling surged in Qin Shuying’s heart. She wasn’t a young lady—she was already twenty-four years old, a woman who had seen through human emotions and interests.

Qin Shuying smiled somewhat sadly, “It’s alright. I’ll just have to trouble Ziyu to survey the surroundings and drive away any you find.”

Liang Zhe hadn’t wanted to go back anyway, and hearing this, he was delighted. “Then you stay under the parasol.”

Qin Shuying looked at the sky. The sun was now hidden behind clouds and wasn’t too hot. “It’s fine, I’ll help you.”

Qin Shuying’s voice was soft and sweet, carrying some of the southern accent of the Long family. It sounded particularly pleasant, making Liang Zhe’s heart itch even more.

That bug earlier was truly detestable—it had ruined his good moment!

Liang Zhe chose a relatively flat and clean spot, went down into the water himself, waited for a moment, raised his wooden stake, and quickly stabbed into the water. Then Qin Shuying saw water splash as something struggled, and Liang Zhe raised his stake with a plump fish speared on it.

Qin Shuying had followed Liang Zhe’s instructions and collected some dried leaves and small twigs, piling them in the gap beneath a cluster of dry wood.

Liang Zhe consecutively caught two more fish and even some snails, using stone shards to shell and clean them with remarkable speed.

Finally, he pulled out a wooden bottle from his chest, poured some salt into his hand, and evenly rubbed it on the fish and snail meat.

He even picked some grass-like plants, washed and tore them up, stuffing them into the fish bellies.

“This is fragrant herbs—it removes fishy odors and adds aroma.”

Liang Zhe worked with practiced ease while explaining to her.

Qin Shuying helped him wash things and threaded snail meat on twigs, listening to his detailed explanations.

“Ziyu, you learned all this in the army, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. There were many grasslands and forests there. In our free time, we would fish and hunt to improve our meals.”

Which noble young master in the capital would be like him?

Having sacrificed so much and endured so much hardship, in the end he still couldn’t escape his fate of death…

Thinking of this, Qin Shuying’s tone became even gentler. “Ziyu, you must have suffered greatly.”

Hearing this, Liang Zhe felt incredibly stirred—that feather was tickling and tickling, tickling endlessly…

Moreover, she was right there, just three steps away, her clear and pristine eyes gazing at him quietly.

In her eyes was a special kind of intimacy and warmth that made him lose himself in them, unable to extricate himself.

“Mm!”

Liang Zhe responded heavily, his breathing becoming labored.

He lowered his head and continued preparing the fish, while his heart had already soared to the clouds.

Soon, everything was ready, and Liang Zhe began making fire.

He took out a fire starter, lit the flames, and the fish were placed over the fire to roast. Now both of them sat on stones, continuously turning the twigs in their hands to ensure the fish were evenly heated.

While roasting fish, Liang Zhe pulled out a lens from his chest and handed it to Qin Shuying. “Shuying, this is for you to play with.”

Qin Shuying took it and saw it was a lens nearly as large as her palm.

But this lens was of pure quality—clearly not something that could be made in Great Zhou. “This came from foreign lands, didn’t it?”

“Shuying has good eyes. Feel it—what’s peculiar about it?”

Qin Shuying gently touched it and said in amazement, “Thick in the middle, thin on the sides!”

“Exactly! Now try looking at things through it.”

Qin Shuying did as instructed and indeed discovered something strange—this lens could make things appear much larger.

Qin Shuying found it interesting and began examining it closely.

Liang Zhe told her that if she focused sunlight through it onto a single point, it could set things on fire.

“Could it be that Madam Liang’s storehouse caught fire this way, with no one finding traces of arson… No, that was at night—there was no sun.”

Liang Zhe smiled. “That was done with flour explosion.”

Seeing Qin Shuying’s surprised expression, Liang Zhe explained the process and steps in detail, adding, “Years ago, we used this method against the Western State. Back then, we had no choice and came up with this solution. This time, of course… you understand. Madam Liang’s storehouse contained many precious paintings and silk fabrics that burned quickly. Otherwise, just two bags of flour wouldn’t have been enough to burn down the entire storehouse.”

Qin Shuying suddenly giggled. “Ziyu, you’re truly formidable!”

Burning his stepmother’s storehouse—only Liang Zhe could do such a thing.

Liang Zhe beamed. “However, Shuying, Luo Meixiang is no easy opponent. I think you can handle her. But my grandmother… Shuying, you’re truly being wronged.”

Liang Zhe had lost his mother at a young age. If Qin Shuying showed disrespect to Old Madam Liang after marrying in, it would easily give people something to criticize. Whatever happened, others would certainly think that Qin Shuying was disrespectful to her elders, rather than considering that Old Madam Liang was making things difficult for her grandson’s wife.

Qin Shuying shook her head. She wanted to say, wasn’t this part of their transaction and alliance? What was there to feel wronged about?

However, thinking of Princess Fuping’s words, Qin Shuying couldn’t bring herself to speak in a detached tone.

Since Liang Zhe had forgotten the original circumstances of their cooperation, she would just play dumb. It didn’t matter anyway—she was going to help him regardless.

Even if he didn’t mention cooperation or help her escape the Liu family’s marriage arrangement, she would still help him. He was her benefactor.

As they chatted and laughed, the fish was cooked.

Qin Shuying didn’t usually eat much fish. Being a northerner, fish rarely appeared on their dinner table. Moreover, eating fish and picking out bones was troublesome, and young ladies had to observe proper etiquette—using only chopsticks couldn’t remove all the bones, but using hands instead of chopsticks was unseemly.

Therefore, few young ladies knew how to eat fish properly.

She carefully took a bite. Mm, what delicious fish!

Then she took a small bite of fish meat.

The fresh flavor spread through her mouth, and Qin Shuying nodded repeatedly.

Seeing her eat with such relish, Liang Zhe noticed that her mouth was stained black, and even her cheeks were marked. He couldn’t help but reach out to wipe it for her.

Having her cheeks gently pinched several times, Qin Shuying looked up in bewilderment.

Liang Zhe only felt that the young lady before him was as charming as a fresh flower, but the flower’s mouth was stained black, which naturally didn’t look good.

He was simply focused on wiping away that blackness and didn’t notice anything improper.

Qin Shuying’s body stiffened again.

She wasn’t truly a fourteen-year-old girl. She felt she should understand what Liang Zhe’s focused expression meant.

But the problem was—why was he treating her this way?