Seeing that he was angry and understanding his concerns, Shen Xiling immediately began explaining to him. She said that this time she had brought Shuipei and Liuzi along, and had also hired escort guards—people who had previously helped transport goods for her business dealings. They were familiar with each other and very trustworthy. The entire journey had been quite smooth, and they hadn’t encountered any bandits.

After her flustered explanations, Qi Ying’s expression still hadn’t improved. Shen Xiling’s heart was uneasy as she reached out to tug at his sleeve. Seeing that he didn’t shake her off, she boldly nestled into his embrace, hugging his waist and mumbling: “I worked so hard to get here—can you please not scold me? I definitely won’t do it again next time…”

The young lady’s voice was soft and aggrieved, looking somewhat pitiful. The joy of their sudden reunion made Qi Ying reluctant to make her unhappy, and moreover, her current coquettish behavior made his heart soften.

He sighed and finally embraced her, his tone becoming gentler as he said: “I’m not scolding you… I’m just worried about you.”

Feeling his attitude soften, Shen Xiling’s heart relaxed, but then her small temper emerged again. She felt that after traveling with such hardship, sleeping rough, and enduring wind and rain just to see him, the first thing he did upon meeting was scold her. On top of that, she had discovered that other women had entered his tent before—it was really… really too much!

The more Shen Xiling thought about it, the more genuinely aggrieved she became. Tears began falling pitter-patter as she cried and accused him: “You… how can you bully people like this…”

This little girl… when she first came to his side as a child, she still knew to pretend to be strong. Now her true nature was completely revealed—crying at the drop of a hat. Yet he was completely susceptible to this. When she cried, his heart ached, and when his heart ached, he couldn’t help but coax her, temporarily setting aside all principles and rules.

He held her and apologized, kissing away her tears. After more than half a year apart, even the slightest intimacy could ignite passion. As he kissed her, he drew closer to her lips. The young lady had stopped crying, her small face flushed as if she were drunk, her eyes filled with a misty, dreamy quality that was both pure and alluring. Even the most steadfast Buddhist disciple would probably be tempted to break their vows by such an appearance.

Let alone Qi Ying—a worldly man who loved and missed her to the extreme.

He kissed her without restraint.

A kiss without control or hesitation, filled with both love and surging desire.

Shen Xiling quickly lost her senses in this kiss. She had missed and yearned for him for far too long—so long that she couldn’t help but run madly from Jiankang to Huaizhou to find him, so long that she dreamed of him night after night, so long that thinking of him made her heart feel empty… And now she was finally back in his arms.

She adored his kisses.

Dominant, passionate, and faintly wild—his left arm tightly encircled her waist while his right hand unconsciously grasped her wrist, drawing her with him into the depths of desire.

She became weak from his kisses, even unable to stand steadily, so he carried her horizontally to the bed, then pressed her beneath him while kissing her. At the same time, his hand caressed her body and was even undoing her sash.

Shen Xiling felt the world spinning, able only to let him manipulate her without making any judgments herself. Yet he was still asking her, using that extremely suppressed and extremely hoarse voice to ask: “…May I?”

Shen Xiling opened her eyes to look at him, seeing the surging fire restrained in those beautiful phoenix eyes. Desire made them seem almost demonic, yet even more beautiful, able to bewitch hearts even more easily.

At that time, she didn’t actually understand what he was asking, but regarding him, there was nothing she wouldn’t allow.

She answered nothing, only raised her head to continue that kiss.

Allowing him to take whatever he wished.

Qi Ying completely lost all restraint.

So be it… He only wanted to marry her as his wife and had always wanted to save everything for their wedding night to show his respect for her. Therefore, even though they had shared a bed several times before the northern expedition, he had always restrained himself from taking the final step.

But now he couldn’t hold back anymore.

They had been separated for so long, and he desired her more than he had realized. Though her unauthorized journey to Huaizhou did indeed worry and anger him, it also deeply moved him and… secretly delighted him.

He could restrain himself no longer.

Here and now, he wanted them to belong to each other completely.

In the depths of winter’s twelfth month, within the tent was boundless spring passion.

However, in the end, Young Master Qi still didn’t get his wish.

Because Shen Xiling… had her monthly courses.

This really couldn’t be blamed on Shen Xiling. After all, she was young and no one had taught her about matters between men and women, so she had thought this affair would at most involve removing clothes… She hadn’t expected there would be other aspects…

Sigh, she almost didn’t dare recall Qi Ying’s expression at that time…

However, after going through this ordeal, she finally understood everything thoroughly… And though they hadn’t… they had still…

He had also…

Sigh!

Due to their passionate abandon, the bedding had become unusable for sleeping. Qi Ying had water brought in for Shen Xiling to bathe while he personally changed the bedding.

Women weren’t allowed in and out of the military camp. Qi Ying worried she might cause trouble, so he never let anyone see her. Even when Qing Zhu entered the tent to deliver new bedding, he didn’t see Shen Xiling. He was secretly puzzled—hadn’t his master already bathed tonight? Why was hot water called for again…

When Shen Xiling emerged after her bath, the bed had been tidily rearranged, but Qi Ying wasn’t there.

She became somewhat panicked, looking around everywhere. After a while, she saw him return from outside the tent, carrying a charcoal brazier in his hand.

As soon as she saw him, she ran over to embrace him. Qi Ying, afraid the brazier might burn her, quickly set it down and held her with one arm, patting her gently while asking softly: “Were you afraid when you couldn’t find me?”

Shen Xiling hugged his waist and nodded. He smiled, kissed her forehead, then teased her: “Then when you ran away from home and traveled so far alone, weren’t you afraid?”

This was clearly meant to squeeze her.

Shen Xiling hit him lightly. He laughed, then carried her horizontally to the bed, tucked her under the covers, and went to fetch the charcoal brazier.

Actually, there had already been one charcoal brazier in the tent, but he worried that she was weak and afraid of cold, so he went out to get her a new one, wanting to make her as comfortable as possible.

This person was always very attentive and caring.

Shen Xiling nestled in the covers watching him busy himself for her sake, her heart incredibly sweet. When he finished tidying up, she leaned over to embrace him again, and he gathered her close as he also got onto the bed.

From Jiankang to Huaizhou was nearly five hundred li. She had traveled for several days, and only now did she feel settled—she had found him, and they were together again.

How wonderful.

After her bath, she smelled fragrant all over and had regained her spirits. Nestled in his embrace, she was in a very talkative mood. She propped herself up to look at him, remembering what had happened before their intimacy—other women had entered his tent before.

Of course Shen Xiling trusted Qi Ying, but she also enjoyed manipulating him, using coquetry and small unreasonable demands to enjoy the privilege of being pampered by him, while confirming his love for her through his helplessness. So she pretended to be angry and asked him about the circumstances of this matter.

Qi Ying understood her so well that he naturally knew she wasn’t truly angry, just being coquettish. He was originally happy to indulge all her little moods, and moreover, now that his young lady had traveled thousands of li to find him, he was even more willing to give her anything.

He explained to her kindly, saying it was local officials acting on their own initiative, that he had refused them all, that he would be more careful in the future, that he would absolutely never let her be hurt. His temper was so good that Shen Xiling couldn’t find a way to continue making a small fuss even if she wanted to.

She laughed and stopped pursuing such meaningless matters, only nestled back into his embrace, gently pinching his slender fingers. After a moment of silence, she asked: “Now that the war is over, can we leave? From now on, no one and nothing will ever separate us again, right?”

Before Qi Ying could answer, she burrowed deeper into his embrace, hugging him tighter and saying pitifully: “This is the limit of what I can endure. I can’t be separated from you any longer—if it’s any longer, I’ll die, I’ll really die!”

Hearing her speak such inauspicious words, Qi Ying frowned and pinched her small face with some force, scolding her: “Talking nonsense again.”

Shen Xiling looked up at him, her nose also wrinkling as she said very seriously: “I’m not talking nonsense. Anyway, I definitely don’t want to be separated again. From now on, I’ll stick to you every day!”

These words were childish, yet they made Qi Ying laugh.

He helped her pull up the covers, holding her as he asked: “Does your lower abdomen still hurt?”

She always had pain during her monthly courses. Previously at Fenghe Garden, the servants attending her would brew brown sugar and ginger tea, but the military camp conditions were crude—there was only hot water, and they couldn’t even produce a hot water bottle. He worried she might suffer from the pain.

Shen Xiling shook her head and answered: “It doesn’t hurt anymore. It hurt a few days ago while I was traveling, but now it’s almost better.”

Nestled in the covers, she looked both obedient and soft, extremely endearing. Qi Ying lowered his head to kiss her again, saying: “Mm, that’s good.”

As he spoke, his hand covered her lower abdomen, gently massaging for her.

His palm was very warm, rubbing very comfortably. She nuzzled in his embrace and realized she had almost been distracted by him again, so she grasped the previous topic and continued asking: “So can we leave? When will we leave?”

Qi Ying fell briefly silent.

Though the war was over, there were still some matters requiring resolution afterward, such as peace negotiations between the two countries. Additionally, Xu Zhengning had been captured and was currently imprisoned in Shangjing. He was a subordinate Qi Ying trusted, and behind him were also many Bureau of Military Affairs secrets involved. He couldn’t ignore this. After returning to Jiankang to report to His Majesty, he would still need to arrange these matters. If things went smoothly, it would probably take another two or three months.

Speaking of His Majesty.

He already knew about the Liang Emperor’s death, Prince Duan’s demise, and Xiao Ziheng’s succession. Returning to court after more than half a year away, the political situation would certainly have many changes. Though his father and brothers had been watching over the overall situation while he was away, since various matters hadn’t passed directly through his own hands, he still felt uncertain and needed to return to see for himself.

All matters were complex and difficult, not immediately resolvable, but he had no intention of letting Shen Xiling worry along with him. At this moment, he only paused briefly, then answered: “We can leave very soon. Don’t worry.”

His words set her mind at ease. Shen Xiling became even happier, propping herself up to kiss him. Within a few moments, she had stirred Qi Ying’s passion again.

He hurriedly pushed her away, his tone suppressed as he said: “You should sleep early. Tomorrow we have to rise very early to leave the camp.”

Tomorrow they would march. How could a vivacious young lady like her stay hidden? Even disguised as a man, she would be seen through at a glance. It was better to leave the camp early for safety. Tomorrow he would see her off and have Bai Song escort her all the way back to Jiankang.

Shen Xiling also understood priorities, knowing they had to rise very early tomorrow and leave before dawn. But right now she just didn’t want to sleep, only because her heart was reluctant to part with him and she still wanted to be intimate with him.

So she hummed and whined while trying to kiss him, hugging his neck and shoulders to nibble his ear. This nibble caused trouble—he flipped over and pinned her down, his expression and tone both unkind as he stared at her and said: “Don’t want to sleep? Fine, we might as well finish what we started…”

As he spoke, he made as if to undo her clothes, startling Shen Xiling.

Face flushed, she hid in the covers shaking her head: Just kidding—she had just bathed and definitely didn’t want to bathe again…

Qi Ying had only been scaring and teasing her, but now seeing how quickly she became obedient, he felt somewhat stifled. Later he sighed and didn’t continue arguing with the young lady, getting off the bed to extinguish the lamp before lying back down.

As soon as he returned, the young lady spontaneously nestled back into his embrace. That feeling of dependence made Qi Ying unconsciously curve the corners of his mouth.

Being like this, how could he not cherish and love her?

In the darkness, Qi Ying kissed the young lady’s forehead, then softly coaxed her: “Sleep now. I’ll wake you in the morning.”

She was fragrant and obedient, nodding in his embrace, nestling beside him with closed eyes. Before long, she had fallen into deep sleep.

Traveling a thousand li, just for this brief meeting.

Yet she still felt it was worth it.

Very much worth it.

Author’s Notes:

Thoughts on this chapter:

Ellipses—the world’s most powerful punctuation mark

Young Master Qi, I’m sorry

Please love without reservation, regardless of whether you’ll have to part in the future

Please don’t kill me, I’m begging!…