Lu Yuanpeng glanced at Shen Qingzhu following behind Bai Jinzhi, and his eyes immediately lit up…

Others all said Shen Qingzhu was a cold-faced female demon, but he knew this Miss Shen was a guard who had followed the Bai family sisters since childhood. Her martial skills were excellent, and she was also a member of the Bai family sisters’ female guard unit.

Several times he had seen this Shen Qingzhu killing enemies on the battlefield – she was incredibly clean and efficient. He had wanted to properly seek her guidance, but unfortunately, this Miss Shen was constantly by the Bai family sister’s side, leaving him no opportunity to ask for instruction.

Bai Jinzhi’s sudden invitation was like a pillow being delivered to a sleepy person!

Without a second word, Lu Yuanpeng leaped onto his horse: “Let’s go!”

After the army captured Pingdu City, Ren Shijie had been put into a prison cart, but he hadn’t had time to enter the city yet. Bai Jinzhi still needed to go outside the city to collect him.

At this moment, Ren Shijie sat in the swaying prison cart, leaning against the wooden bars and stretching out his hand to catch the falling snowflakes. He wondered if he could catch a handful when the snow got heavier to fill his stomach a bit – he was starving beyond endurance.

Not only had Bai Jinzhi forgotten to send Ren Shijie back to Yan Kingdom, but she had also forgotten to send him food.

The main issue was that the soldiers guarding Ren Shijie had received orders from above saying that the High Righteousness Prince would take Ren Shijie away during the four-nation alliance meeting on the fifteenth of the twelfth month, so after the fifteenth, no one continued to send Ren Shijie meals.

Later, seeing that the High Righteousness Prince was taking so long to come for the prisoner, the two soldiers who knew the guards thought this was the High Righteousness Prince deliberately giving Ren Shijie a show of force, and they didn’t dare rashly share their food with Ren Shijie.

But as Ren Shijie’s guards, they couldn’t let Ren Shijie die. When Ren Shijie asked for water, they would sometimes secretly give him a bit of dry rations, but never much, just enough to keep Ren Shijie barely alive until today.

In just over ten days, already emaciated beyond human form, plus these past few days of having only one mouthful of dry rations per day, even though Ren Shijie’s willpower was iron-strong, his body couldn’t withstand it. He was so weak that even standing up was difficult, and he was faint with hunger.

From the moment he heard he was to be sent back to Great Yan, Ren Shijie’s mindset had changed. After all, having been away from home for so many years, he had never imagined there would be a day when he could return alive to his motherland.

When people are in despair, what they lack most is hope. Having hope of returning but being unable to realize it for so long was more despairing for Ren Shijie than being imprisoned in a completely silent dungeon.

Suddenly, the swaying prison cart stopped. Ren Shijie, covered in snow on his body and eyelashes, raised his eyes to look ahead and saw several mounted soldiers blocking the prison cart. Soon, the two soldiers responsible for guarding Ren Shijie came running over, fumbling for keys to open the prison cart while saying: “Ren Shijie, the High Righteousness Prince is going to send you back to Yan Kingdom!”

Hearing these words, Ren Shijie supported himself on the cart’s wooden bars, trying to stand up, but due to hunger and dizziness, he fell back down.

“Let’s hurry up and send this person away, then we two brothers can finally relax!” one of the guard soldiers said to his companion.

Ren Shijie, wearing shackles, was helped down from the prison cart.

Bai Jinzhi rode forward and pointed at the shackles on Ren Shijie’s feet and hands with her riding whip: “Remove the shackles, there’s no need for this!”

The two soldiers responded and removed the shackles from Ren Shijie’s hands and feet. Lu Yuanpeng also rode forward and asked: “Why let him out? How do we send him back then? Can his small frame even ride a horse?”

As he spoke, Lu Yuanpeng squinted his walnut-swollen red eyes to look at Ren Shijie a few times, then said: “Why do I feel like I’ve seen this person somewhere before?”

“Of course, he looks familiar – Ren Shijie, the strategist beside the Jin Dynasty Crown Prince…” Bai Jinzhi looked at Ren Shijie and said, “Now that Yan Kingdom and Great Zhou are allied nations, my elder sister ordered me to send you back to Yan. I don’t want to hurt your dignity with a prison cart. Can you ride a horse?”

“I have met the High Righteousness Prince and Young Master Lu…” After Ren Shijie bowed to Bai Jinzhi and Lu Yuanpeng, he said, “Although I’m not feeling well, I can manage to ride a horse. Thank you, High Righteousness Prince!”

Lu Yuanpeng nodded and applied the snow-wrapped handkerchief to his eyes again, giving Ren Shijie a thumbs up: “Even when I look like this, you can still recognize me. Impressive!”

When Bai Jinzhi turned around, she saw Lu Yuanpeng dabbing at his eyes with a pink handkerchief. She raised her eyebrows and stared at the handkerchief embroidered with a flying bird, suddenly understanding.

A flying bird? A great roc spreading its wings… Lu Yuanpeng!

Bai Jinzhi quickly looked away, feeling like she had discovered another incredible secret.

If someone said this handkerchief was given by some young lady, they wouldn’t give such a feminine handkerchief to a man, especially one embroidered with a great roc spreading its wings!

Could this child… actually be a delicate girl at heart? Using such a feminine handkerchief!

Bai Jinzhi watched Lu Yuanpeng using that pink handkerchief with a completely comfortable expression, becoming more and more certain of her thoughts, and increasingly convinced of why Lu Yuanpeng could always make Grand Commandant Lu so angry that he’d blow his beard and glare.

This Lu Yuanpeng’s playboy appearance was all an act, wasn’t it? Joining the army was also to increase his masculine qualities, wasn’t it?

Bai Jinzhi was a good girl – she would not look down on her comrade-in-arms. Even if Lu Yuanpeng was so feminine at heart, he had still joined the Bai Family Army. She was different from that old stubborn Grand Commandant Lu – she should be tolerant of Lu Yuanpeng and treat him as a brother… bah! Treat him as a sister! Take good care of him!

Noticing Bai Jinzhi looking at him from the corner of his eye, Lu Yuanpeng, with his pair of walnut eyes, turned to look at Bai Jinzhi, completely unaware of how inappropriate it was for him to use this pink handkerchief: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, do your eyes hurt?” Bai Jinzhi asked with a smile.

Lu Yuanpeng got angry talking about this and nodded: “You don’t know how bad your Fifth Brother is! He made me burn chili peppers… it was so irritating to the eyes that others thought I was scared to tears by seeing so many dead people! Judge for yourself… am I, Lu Yuanpeng, the notorious demon king of the capital, the kind of person who would be scared to tears?”

Bai Jinzhi pretended to agree on the surface: “Of course you’re not! It’s all my Fifth Brother’s fault!”

Seeing how reasonable Bai Jinzhi was, even agreeing when she criticized her Fifth Brother, Lu Yuanpeng glanced at the silent Shen Qingzhu behind them. Pushing his luck, he moved closer to Bai Jinzhi and whispered: “If you feel bad about what your Fifth Brother did, after we finish delivering this person and come back, could you help me get Miss Qingzhu to give me some pointers?”

“No problem, leave it to me!” Bai Jinzhi felt even more sympathy for Lu Yuanpeng. He must have been scared to tears on the battlefield and only now realized how cruel the battlefield was. He wanted to learn a few moves from others but was afraid of being mocked for being feminine, so he wanted to ask Sister Qingzhu for guidance. How could Bai Jinzhi not help with such a small favor?