Xiao Jinglin finally reined in her horse impatiently: “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Yun Wenting sighed, but his tone was very gentle: “Nothing at all. Wherever you go, I’ll go.”

Xiao Jinglin was stunned for a moment, then brushed away Yun Wenting’s hand that was placed on her waist, saying indifferently: “I’ve already decided to be permanently stationed at Jiajing Pass, and Father has already agreed. Don’t tell me you want to follow me to guard the border?”

“Why not?” Yun Wenting lowered his eyes and said quietly, “Jinglin, people inevitably make mistakes in their lifetime. I’m an ordinary person, so naturally I’m no exception. But does making one mistake mean there’s no chance for correction?”

Xiao Jinglin was silent for a moment, then simply dismounted and pulled Yun Wenting down as well.

The two stood facing each other. Xiao Jinglin frowned and said earnestly to Yun Wenting: “When I accompanied Mother to watch plays, I discovered that people always love to watch stories about broken mirrors being mended. I don’t understand—if a relationship breaks apart, it means the contradictions between both parties cannot be reconciled, or, after weighing the options, that relationship was abandoned. If that’s the case, even if you start over ten thousand times, wouldn’t the result be the same? The contradictions would still be there, and what was abandoned would still be abandoned. Young Master Yun, you’re an intelligent person—why don’t you understand this principle?”

Yun Wenting looked at Xiao Jinglin, his expression somewhat dark and difficult to read, his voice also somewhat hoarse: “Whether you believe it or not, I’ve never weighed you against anything else. If I had, it would never be you who was abandoned.”

Xiao Jinglin looked at Yun Wenting expressionlessly: “So what? The contradictions remain there. It’s not like they don’t exist just because you pretend not to see them. You can avoid them once, but can you avoid them a second time, a third time? You’re an ordinary person, you make mistakes. I’m also an ordinary person, so I also made a mistake in my youth, but I’ve already corrected it. I hope you can correct yours, too.”

After saying this, Xiao Jinglin nimbly mounted her horse. This time, she didn’t give Yun Wenting a chance to climb onto her horse’s back. She pressed her legs against the horse’s flanks and rode away without the slightest hesitation, leaving dust in her wake.

Yun Wenting watched as the figure of the woman and horse gradually disappeared from his sight. He smiled bitterly and murmured: “A mistake?”

Yun Wenting didn’t know how long he had stood there. Finally, he sighed, put his hand to his lips, and whistled. Before long, the sound of hoofbeats came from the road behind him, and the horse that Xiao Jinglin had driven away earlier quickly ran back.

Yun Wenting patted the horse’s head, then mounted and chased after Xiao Jinglin in the direction she had disappeared.

Xiao Jinglin was in a very bad mood because when she arrived at Da’an City as agreed to meet with her subordinates, she soon discovered that Yun Wenting had followed her again. This time, Yun Wenting didn’t hide his tracks but openly followed behind their cavalry unit.

Most of Xiao Jinglin’s subordinates recognized Yun Wenting and couldn’t help but look curiously at the eldest young master of the Yun family, then turn to glance at Princess Xiao. Fortunately, they all could see that Xiao Jinglin’s expression was unpleasant, so none of them asked any questions.

Xiao Jinglin was thinking about rushing to Wuzhou to find Xiao Jingxi as quickly as possible and had no time to waste with Yun Wenting. So seeing that he insisted on following behind them, she was too lazy to drive him away. She did want to use force to beat Yun Wenting down, but Yun Wenting’s martial skills weren’t much weaker than hers, and without getting serious, she really couldn’t take him down.

After leaving Da’an City, Xiao Jinglin traveled day and night without rest. Finally, after passing through Xinzhou and reaching the border of Wuzhou, before even entering the city, a group of horsemen came out to meet them. The leader wore a white scholarly robe, sat upright on his horse, and looked both refined and imposing, causing quite a few female generals in Xiao Jinglin’s group to blush.

“General Min, is there any news?” When Xiao Jinglin saw Min Wenqing, she showed no particular reaction.

Min Wenqing was about to speak when he turned to see Yun Wenting, who had dismounted not far away and was walking over. His eyes narrowed slightly, then he turned to Xiao Jinglin with a smile: “Please allow me to speak with Your Highness privately.”

Xiao Jinglin nodded and followed Min Wenqing aside to talk.

Yun Wenting glanced over but didn’t tactlessly follow.

When Xiao Jinglin saw they were far from the others, she stopped: “Fine, speak here.”

Min Wenqing glanced at Yun Wenting standing in the distance and smiled: “How did Young Master Yun come to be here?”

Xiao Jinglin frowned: “I don’t know. You can ask him yourself. Now, speak about business first.”

Min Wenqing looked at Xiao Jinglin, smiled slightly, then took out a letter and handed it to her: “Your Highness should read this first.”

Xiao Jinglin took the letter from Min Wenqing and unfolded it. The familiar handwriting inside made her pause. She glanced at Min Wenqing, frowned, then quickly read through the letter.

“When did he give this to you?” Xiao Jinglin looked up and asked Min Wenqing.

“After receiving news that the Second Young Master was injured,” Min Wenqing replied. Without waiting for Xiao Jinglin to ask more, he continued, “The Second Young Master stated in the letter that Your Highness should come to Wuzhou as quickly as possible to take his place in managing the overall situation and participating in peace talks. I was afraid that sending this letter to Yanbei Prince’s mansion would take too long and might cause complications, so I simply waited for you to arrive before saying anything.”

Xiao Jinglin pressed her lips together: “Where is he now?”

Min Wenqing sighed and shook his head: “The Second Young Master’s whereabouts… remain unknown.”

Xiao Jinglin’s expression became somewhat unpleasant.

Min Wenqing consoled her: “I think the Second Young Master had someone deliver this letter to Your Highness, also to report his safety. The Second Young Master is supremely clever—he must have encountered an unexpected situation on the road and changed his itinerary.”

“The letter doesn’t explain his injuries either. I don’t know if they’re serious or not.”

Min Wenqing thought for a moment and asked: “Can Your Highness be certain this letter was indeed written by the Second Young Master himself?”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinglin looked at Xiao Jingxi’s letter again, then nodded: “It’s written in his hand.”

Min Wenqing smiled upon hearing this: “Then Your Highness can be at ease. The Second Young Master probably wasn’t injured, or even if he was, it’s certainly a light injury.”

Xiao Jinglin couldn’t help but look up at Min Wenqing.

“Although the Second Young Master didn’t explain his injuries in the letter, the previous news said he was shot in the right chest with an arrow.” Min Wenqing pointed to the handwriting on the letter to show Xiao Jinglin: “But the characters in this letter show no signs of hesitation or weakness. Your Highness is also a martial artist—you should know that chest and abdominal injuries would more or less affect hand strength. So I say this letter is the Second Young Master reporting his safety.”

After Min Wenqing explained it this way, Xiao Jinglin thought about it carefully and indeed smiled. She put the letter away: “I’ll have someone send this letter to Yaoqi later. She’ll understand Xiao Jingxi’s meaning.”

Min Wenqing stared at the smile on Xiao Jinglin’s face for quite a while before smiling: “Why should Your Highness go to such trouble? Wouldn’t it be fine to just report safety to the Young Madam directly?”

Xiao Jinglin shook her head, and the smile on her face also faded: “Since he chose to report safety this way, he must have his reasons. So the news that he’s uninjured—let’s not spread it for now.”

Min Wenqing looked at Xiao Jinglin thoughtfully: “Your Highness means… the Second Young Master has enemy spies among his people?”

Xiao Jinglin said, “Who knows? It’s always better to be cautious.”

Min Wenqing nodded: “Alright, I understand.”

After their conversation concluded, Xiao Jinglin nodded to Min Wenqing, then walked away without another word. Min Wenqing could only helplessly follow.

Although Yun Wenting stood far away, his gaze never left Xiao Jinglin, including when she smiled at Min Wenqing.

When Yun Wenting and Min Wenqing—two people who found each other mutually disagreeable—met again, the atmosphere wasn’t as tense as the last time. In front of Xiao Jinglin, both men still smiled and greeted each other.

Yun Wenting took down the water flask hanging on Xiao Jinglin’s horse and naturally handed it to her. Xiao Jinglin also took it without thinking, then both froze for a moment.

Yun Wenting looked at Xiao Jinglin with a smile in his eyes. Xiao Jinglin took her water flask with an expressionless face and left to find Hong Ying to arrange for sending the letter.

Min Wenqing’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Yun Wenting somewhat mockingly: “Young Master Yun, what act are you putting on now?”

Today, Yun Wenting was in a good mood and even spoke pleasantly to Min Wenqing: “Speaking of which, I should thank General Min.”

Min Wenqing curved his lips in what looked like a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Yun Wenting also smiled: “If not for General Min’s appearance, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have understood so quickly.”

Min Wenqing raised an eyebrow: “Oh? What great matter has Young Master Yun understood?”

Yun Wenting looked at him and smiled: “I understood that I should let go of what ought to be released, then use the remaining time to properly cherish what I can’t let go of.”

Upon hearing this, Min Wenqing smiled coldly: “Oh? Then I wonder if Young Master Yun has asked about the wishes of the person you can’t let go of?”

Yun Wenting smiled slightly, but his tone was devoid of warmth: “What business is it of yours?”

Min Wenqing was about to respond when he saw that Xiao Jinglin had already mounted her horse and was about to enter the city.

Yun Wenting didn’t look at Min Wenqing again, mounting his horse on his own. Min Wenqing watched coldly as Yun Wenting got on his horse, then mounted his own and rode to Xiao Jinglin’s side, smiling: “Your Highness, please follow me. I’ve already arranged a place to rest.”

Speaking thus, Min Wenqing looked at Yun Wenting again, his smile unchanged: “Young Master Yun shouldn’t be staying long in Wuzhou, should he? In a few days, it will be your wedding day. The Princess and I both have official duties and probably won’t be able to make it to drink at your wedding feast. I’ll have someone escort you back to Yanzhou shortly.”

Seeing that he repeatedly brought up his marriage in front of Xiao Jinglin, Yun Wenting was displeased inwardly but said indifferently: “No need to trouble the General.”

Min Wenqing smiled and was about to say more when he suddenly heard a horse’s neigh. Turning his head, he saw that Xiao Jinglin had already spurred her horse forward.

Yun Wenting paid no more attention to Min Wenqing’s provocations and rode after her.