As Yanbei’s youngest general, Min Wenqing was handsome and refined, looking like a scholar. However, he possessed more of the strong decisiveness cultivated through military campaigns than ordinary literary men, making his temperament unique compared to both scholars and warriors.
Min Wenqing had originally been drinking tea while chatting and laughing with the servant attending him. Upon seeing Xiao Jinglin enter, he immediately set down his tea bowl, stood up, and smiled with bright eyes: “Princess.”
Seeing Min Wenqing’s smile, Xiao Jinglin couldn’t help but frown inwardly, thinking: I wonder what scheme this black-hearted fox is plotting – I must be careful in dealing with him.
Princess Xiao assumed her noble and aloof demeanor for outsiders, nodding slightly: “General Min.”
Min Wenqing gazed at Xiao Jinglin and smiled faintly.
The two took their seats as host and guest.
After sitting down, Xiao Jinglin waited for Min Wenqing to explain his purpose. However, Min Wenqing began by discussing everything from Yanzhou’s weather to the crooked tree outside the west gate of Jiajing Pass that had been struck by lightning and was now tottering, showing no intention of getting to business.
Though Min Wenqing’s voice was deep and magnetic, his words humorous and well-organized, making him a very pleasant conversational partner, Xiao Jinglin gradually grew impatient and interrupted: “General Min, are you very idle?”
“Why does the Princess say this?”
Xiao Jinglin glanced at him indifferently: “If you’re not idle, why are you gossiping about this and that like those inner courtyard women?”
The smile on Min Wenqing’s face stiffened, then showed some helplessness. He thought: The weather in Yanbei has been changeable lately – how is my concern for your health considered gossip? I’ve seen you pause and examine that crooked tree outside Jiajing Pass multiple times, clearly having some affinity for it. Now seeing it about to perish at the border, how can informing you about it be considered gossip?
However, Min Wenqing didn’t voice these thoughts. He was a refined man who preferred subtlety, appreciating the beauty of saying three parts while leaving seven unsaid.
So finally, after a pause, Min Wenqing smiled like a spring breeze: “There is one proper matter – the marriage between Deputy General Zhou and Lieutenant Qiuhong.”
Only then did Xiao Jinglin’s expression soften. She discussed the matter methodically with Min Wenqing. Since both were military leaders, even life’s major events were handled more efficiently than ordinary people, without too many formalities. Thus, in just a moment, Xiao Jinglin and Min Wenqing had settled the matter.
Once this “proper business” was concluded, Xiao Jinglin stood up and nodded: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first.”
Min Wenqing couldn’t help but smile bitterly, also standing and asking: “When will the Princess return to Jiajing Pass?”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinglin frowned thoughtfully: “I still have some matters to handle and need to stay in Yunyang City for several more days. I’ll have to rely on the General at Jiajing Pass for now.”
Min Wenqing should have agreed and taken his leave with a smile, but after looking at Xiao Jinglin for a while, he asked with a smile: “What matters does the Princess need to handle? Do you need my help?”
Xiao Jinglin frowned more deeply, seeming somewhat impatient, but still replied: “Just some private matters. I can handle them myself, thank you, General.”
Min Wenqing lowered his head with a smile, then looked at Xiao Jinglin as if possessed: “Could it be that the Princess is staying to attend Young Master Yun’s wedding?”
Xiao Jinglin remained expressionless and silent for a moment, then said coldly: “General Min, you’re overstepping your bounds.”
Min Wenqing instinctively narrowed his eyes slightly, concealing the emotions within, his lips curving slightly while his tone remained gentle: “Having known you since our youth, I naturally care more than others. Why is the Princess angry?”
Xiao Jinglin said indifferently, “I’m not angry. It’s just that private matters are private and official matters are official. I don’t like discussing my private affairs with the General.”
Min Wenqing looked at the coldly aloof Xiao Jinglin, his expression somewhat complex.
If he were an impulsive person, he might have demanded: What business is Young Master Yun’s wedding of yours? But Min Wenqing was not impulsive – he had regretted asking that question the moment it left his lips.
Sighing lightly, Min Wenqing still managed a smile: “I overstepped. Please forgive me, Princess.”
Xiao Jinglin remained expressionless. She nodded and was about to leave when someone came to report that Young Master Yun had arrived.
Xiao Jinglin pressed her lips together, standing still without moving, her brow unconsciously furrowing.
Min Wenqing glanced at Xiao Jinglin and smiled, instead returning to his previous leisurely attitude.
Yun Wenting quickly entered. Upon seeing Xiao Jinglin, his gaze immediately softened as he approached to greet her.
Xiao Jinglin glanced at him and nodded.
Min Wenqing chuckled lightly: “Young Master Yun, it’s been a long time.”
Yun Wenting seemed to notice Min Wenqing only then, nodding with a smile: “Indeed, it has been a long time, General Min.”
There was a moment of silence in the room. Though brief, Xiao Jinglin still sensed some awkwardness.
Finally, Yun Wenting broke the silence: “Is General Min in Yunyang City on official business this time? How long will you be staying? Several times when the General visited, I wanted to invite you for drinks, but never found the opportunity.”
Min Wenqing glanced at Xiao Jinglin: “I originally planned to return to Jiajing Pass with the Princess in a few days, but the Princess just said she has some private matters to handle, so I…” At this point, Min Wenqing slightly curved his lips and didn’t continue, but his words seemed to suggest he would wait for the Princess to finish her business before leaving together.
Yun Wenting was silent for a moment, looking at Xiao Jinglin.
Xiao Jinglin pressed her lips together and said to Min Wenqing, “General Min should return to Jiajing Pass first. Don’t delay official business.”
Min Wenqing’s smile stiffened slightly.
Yun Wenting’s eyes brightened as he gazed at Xiao Jinglin.
Xiao Jinglin said coldly, “Since you two get along so well, have a good chat and catch up. I have matters to attend to, so I’ll leave first.” After saying this, Xiao Jinglin looked at no one and walked past Yun Wenting expressionlessly.
Yun Wenting stared at her retreating figure, motionless for a long while.
Min Wenqing chuckled softly and returned to his previous seat.
Yun Wenting glanced at Min Wenqing, his previously gentle gaze turning somewhat cold: “Please inform me before General Min leaves, so I can send you off properly.”
Min Wenqing sat there unhurriedly: “Thank you, Young Master Yun, but your happy day is approaching – how would Min dare to be so tactless? Unfortunately, I fear I won’t have the fortune to drink your wedding wine.”
After hearing this, Yun Wenting didn’t glare at Min Wenqing or show any displeasure. His expression remained cold: “Min Wenqing, it’s been a long time, but you’re still as detestable as ever.”
Upon hearing this, Min Wenqing smiled, his fox-like eyes crinkling, his tone very gentle: “Likewise!”
Yun Wenting looked at him coldly and turned to leave, but was called back by Min Wenqing.
Min Wenqing stood up, slowly walked to Yun Wenting, and said with a smile in a low voice: “After leaving Yanzhou this time, the Princess should be permanently stationed at Jiajing Pass. You should know that guarding the border and protecting the country has been her wish since childhood. As her cousin, shouldn’t you be happy for her? The sea is vast for fish to leap, and the sky is high for birds to fly. These scheming games among your families will only cause her pain, so… Yun Wenting, you should let go, because you’re not suitable for her.”
Yun Wenting said coldly, “I’m not suitable for her, but you are? Min Wenqing, don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming.”
Min Wenqing raised an eyebrow: “Oh? What am I scheming? I don’t even know – why don’t you tell me?”
Yun Wenting looked at Min Wenqing and said flatly: “Though the Min family has always served the Yanbei Prince’s Manor, many junior officers in the army don’t know this history and think the Min family betrayed Prince Xian’s Manor to defect here. These years, though you’ve achieved military merits continuously, without the Prince’s protection and support, you’d probably struggle in Yanbei’s military, wouldn’t you?”
Min Wenqing’s smile faded as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Yun Wenting smiled somewhat sarcastically, the coldness on his face like a sharp blade, completely different from his usual gentle refinement: “Why did your grandfather insist you study martial arts under the same master as Lin’er back then?”
Min Wenqing’s expression also turned cold: “What do you mean?”
Yun Wenting met Min Wenqing’s gaze: “Min Wenqing, don’t take others for fools. Though Lin’er never speaks of these things, she understands perfectly. Do you know why, despite being her senior brother for several years and having the closest relationship with her, she’s always kept her distance from you? Because she knows your grandfather’s purpose in having you approach her was merely to stabilize the Min family’s position in Yanbei’s military!”
Min Wenqing’s face lost all traces of a smile. Without his smile, the scholarly, genteel air completely disappeared, and the killing intent forged on battlefields was released without restraint, making him more chilling to behold than those with fierce and evil appearances.
Such a Min Wenqing staring fixedly at someone was terrifying, yet Yun Wenting continued looking at him coldly without flinching.
After a long while, Min Wenqing finally restrained his aura, his face gradually returning to normal, even curving his lips in a smile: “Yun Wenting, what gives you the confidence to think everyone else besides you has false intentions?”
Yun Wenting nodded, looking at Min Wenqing with some pity: “Perhaps your feelings aren’t false now, but it’s too late.”
Upon hearing this, Min Wenqing’s smile froze.
Yun Wenting didn’t look at him: “Back then, I thought that wasn’t the best time for us to be together, because I knew better than anyone what kind of life she truly wanted. But at that time, not only could I not help her achieve it, I would only burden her with trivial inner courtyard matters, so I chose to leave Jiajing Pass first.”