Not long after that night, Shen Xiling departed from Shangjing together with Qi Ying. They set out just before dawn, when Shangjing’s sky was pitch black and one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face.

The person who came to escort them from that wilderness mountain was very familiar to Shen Xiling, yet she never could have imagined – it was actually Lian Zi, the maid who had been by her side for these five years.

When Lian Zi saw her, she greeted her with the same gentle and proper manner as always, then bowed to Qi Ying in salute, addressing him as “My Lord.”

This…

Shen Xiling looked at Qi Ying with eyes full of questions, but he only smiled faintly and didn’t give her an explanation at the time. Only after they boarded the carriage together and set out on the southern journey did he tell her that Lian Zi was not originally an ordinary maid, but a female official serving in the Privy Council.

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiling could hardly believe it. She was speechless for a long time before barely coming to her senses. She asked: “A female official…? Then why was she by my side…?”

As soon as she asked this question, she felt foolish – why else? Of course it was because he cared for her, so he had secretly arranged for someone to watch over her.

Shen Xiling covered her mouth, already unable to say anything more.

Qi Ying sighed and gently embraced her. The wheels rumbled, and he didn’t speak, probably thinking like Shen Xiling at this moment of their entire five years of separation.

Shen Xiling leaned against Qi Ying’s shoulder, thought for a moment, then asked him: “Were you afraid I would take my own life, or afraid I would be bullied at the Duke’s mansion? To specially send someone to stay by my side…”

He smiled and answered: “Both.”

I was afraid you would become melancholy and depressed, and also afraid you would be isolated and helpless.

Shen Xiling understood, and for a moment didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. She paused, then asked: “Then what about those letters I wanted to send you back then…?”

During these five years, she had written many letters to him, most of which were never sent but just hidden at the bottom of her dressing case. Could it be… that Lian Zi had also copied these letters and shown them all to him?

Indeed, Qi Ying smiled and nodded, answering: “I’ve seen them all.”

This…

For a moment, Shen Xiling didn’t know whether she should be happy or angry – of course she was glad that this person had been silently caring for her, but this method was somewhat… and it was also very unfair. He knew everything about her, but his affairs were strictly guarded, and despite all her inquiries, she only knew fragments.

Qi Ying sensed the small displeasure in her heart and smiled as he took her hand, saying: “If I confess some other things now, would you stop being angry?”

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiling’s eyes widened as she asked: “There are other things?”

Her angry little appearance amused Qi Ying. He pinched her puffed-up little face and said: “When you were ill some time ago, I came to see you.”

Shen Xiling was stunned, even more incredulous, but thinking carefully, she felt there were indeed traces to follow.

At that time, when she had awakened from her fever dream, she was somewhat dazed, and vaguely felt she could smell some familiar sweet pine fragrance. She had asked Gu Juhan if Qi Ying had ever come, and Gu Juhan said no, so she believed him. She hadn’t expected it wasn’t her imagination after all.

She became interested and pressed him for details: “You, how did you get there? Why did you go?”

He sighed, his phoenix eyes downcast, and said: “To feed you medicine.”

She had been like this since childhood – whenever she became seriously ill, she couldn’t be fed medicine. Like that time when she knelt in the snow outside Fenghe Courtyard’s gate, she fell gravely ill on New Year’s Eve and nearly died. No matter how the doctors tried, they couldn’t get her to take medicine, until he rushed back from the main family to her side, and only then did she drink the medicine.

Now that she was grown up, she was still the same.

Some time ago, he heard she was ill, but didn’t know it was so serious. Only when Lian Zi sent him news did he learn she was gravely sick, and he quickly went to the Duke’s mansion once with Gu Juhan’s help. She kept having nightmares in her illness, always with tears at the corners of her eyes, constantly murmuring his name.

His heart ached terribly, but he couldn’t stay long by her side. He only coaxed her for a while, waited until she drank the medicine, then left again under cover of night, instructing Gu Juhan and Lian Zi not to tell her he had come to see her.

Shen Xiling could piece this all together, and for a moment felt both moved and emotional – they had experienced painful separation, and by this contrast, their current togetherness seemed all the more precious.

Shen Xiling leaned quietly in Qi Ying’s arms for a while longer, then pushed open the carriage window and looked back toward the rear.

Behind the carriage, the majestic and imposing Shangjing city had gradually become a small dot. The years she had spent there, the people she had met, the stories that had happened all seemed to be gradually leaving her behind.

She had spent extremely painful and lonely five years there, but now when parting and remembering, many good things had also happened here. Besides meeting some very good people, these five years had also tempered her character, truly making her independent and strong, and giving her the power to realize her own will – only, at present, Qi Ying hadn’t given her any opportunity to show this…

Sigh.

Parting always inevitably brings melancholy. Qi Ying sensed the small dejection in her heart and said to her: “If you miss this place in the future, when we have leisure, we can come back again. I’ll accompany you.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiling turned to look at him, and they smiled at each other.

She didn’t know whether they would have another chance to come to Shangjing in the future, and at this moment just took Qi Ying’s words as a joke. But she was no longer dejected, because she had found another way to comfort herself: though Shangjing was growing distant from her, Jiankang was drawing nearer.

She was going home with him.

Lian Zi didn’t escort them very far. After leaving the county boundaries, she departed, and replacing her was Bai Song, whom they hadn’t seen for a long time – he was still the same as before, dressed in black, arms folded around his sword, with the scar in the middle of his left eyebrow exactly as Shen Xiling remembered.

For some reason, seeing Bai Song gave Shen Xiling a feeling of relief, and she felt inexplicably happy, probably because she always felt Bai Song should be by Qi Ying’s side. When he wasn’t there, she would feel something was off, as if things were always somehow different from the past. Now that he was back, she felt everything was right, and her heart was very comforted.

Her joy was obvious – everyone could feel it. Even the usually stern-faced Bai Song showed a smile in his eyes when he saw her, nodding to her through the carriage window before sitting at the front to drive as usual. Shen Xiling could still hear Qing Zhu chatting with Bai Song outside the carriage, seemingly all complaints, probably about how hard it had been for him alone to take care of their master during Bai Song’s absence. Bai Song ignored him, while Qing Zhu muttered endlessly by himself.

So familiar, it made her feel incredibly at ease.

Qi Ying smiled, scratched her nose, and asked: “Happy now?”

She joyfully leaned into his embrace, smiling until her eyes curved, nodding continuously and saying: “So happy.”

His eyes were suffused with gentle laughter, looking extremely tender. He chatted with her for a few more sentences, then seemed to gradually fall into contemplation.

Shen Xiling didn’t disturb him, but pushed open the carriage window a crack to look outside. She saw farmland and mountains on both sides of the official road, and soon saw a boundary marker with “Guangping Commandery” faintly visible on it.

Guangping Commandery?

Shen Xiling had been in commerce for many years, with business spread throughout the great lands north and south. To become such a major merchant, understanding waterways and geography was basic skill. She knew the north-south official roads like the back of her hand – just closing her eyes, a clear map would appear in her mind. If traveling from Shangjing to Jiankang, most should take the route through Shangdang Commandery, through Yuzhou to Jingzhou to cross the river, then divide into waterway and land routes – either following the river down to Gaoping first then south, or taking the direct land route through Ruyang Commandery to Jiankang.

No matter which way, there was no reason to detour through Guangping Commandery.

She felt somewhat strange and inquired about the reason from Qi Ying, while also asking where the other Great Liang officials from this marriage escort were currently located. Especially that young master from the Han family – did they know Qi Ying was still alive? Were they going directly back to Jiankang? Or would they first meet up with the other Great Liang officials?

But Qi Ying, as usual, was unwilling to break down these details for her.

His expression was quite serious. Ever since leaving Shangjing, she could feel his demeanor had become heavier, presumably planning something in his mind. Connecting this to the mountain fire he had previously suffered, Shen Xiling naturally could easily think that he was avoiding a new round of assassination attempts. This way, their deliberate detour and avoiding main roads made sense. As for Bai Song, he seemed very familiar with the distribution of small roads in this area, and even the arrangements for changing horses and resting at way stations appeared to be planned in advance. Presumably, the reason he hadn’t been imprisoned together with Qi Ying on that wilderness mountain was to arrange these things in advance.

Though Shen Xiling knew Qi Ying always acted thoroughly and securely without any oversights, thinking of people pursuing them from behind made her heart uneasy, and she couldn’t help asking more questions in her anxiety.

He knew her clearly. Though he didn’t say much to her, he comforted her: “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”

Shen Xiling had now grown accustomed to his habit of keeping everything in his heart, so she no longer threw tantrums with him like she had recently. Since he insisted on being this way, so be it.

In any case, he always made her feel at ease.

However, a few days later, Qi Ying fell ill, starting again with his withdrawal symptoms.

Five years of taking the Five Stone Powder had caused extreme damage to the human body. Even though Qi Ying had far greater self-control than ordinary people and could restrain himself from touching the powder again, its effects on him still persisted and couldn’t be eliminated overnight. Previously in the mountain dwelling, he could barely suppress the withdrawal symptoms, but now while traveling, his body gradually couldn’t bear it. He visibly grew weaker day by day, until finally he could no longer hide it and Shen Xiling noticed something was wrong.

Shen Xiling had always known he was enduring physical pain, but hadn’t realized everything had become this serious. Worse still, triggered by the Five Stone Powder, his original stomach ailment became even more severe, even to the point of vomiting blood.

The first time he vomited blood in front of her, her whole body trembled. While wiping away the blood traces for him, she tried to think of solutions, but in her shock and pain, her mind was completely blank – forget about solutions, she couldn’t even speak a word.

His face was pale as paper, so weak he seemed about to collapse the next moment, yet he was still comforting her, telling her he was fine. How could Shen Xiling still believe that? She was very angry – angry that he had hidden his condition from her – but more than that was heartache and fear.

She grasped his hand and said: “Let’s find a city to rest. Let’s find a doctor. You need to see a doctor – you can’t continue like this…”

But he shook his head.

“It’s fine,” he said. “I know my own body best. There’s no need to worry so much.”

Shen Xiling was nearly driven to death by his stubbornness, but when it came to his health, she would only be more stubborn than him and wouldn’t compromise a single step.

She said very firmly: “What are you afraid of? Afraid of exposing our trail after entering the city? That’s just one possibility, but if you don’t see a doctor now, you might die before we reach Jiankang! That’s also a possibility!”

Her voice had risen. Previously she had always avoided that word “death,” but now she was too panicked to care about such things, clearly already on the verge of breakdown. Qi Ying knew that simple consolation would hardly work at this point. After pondering for a moment, he said: “Alright, once we enter Great Liang’s territory, I’ll go see a doctor. For now, listen to me, okay?”

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiling laughed, with some mocking overtones, saying: “Is my lord still treating me like a child to be fooled? Or do you think that at this point I still can’t guess that those trying to kill you are Great Liang people? Once we enter Jiangzuo territory, everything will only become more dangerous. You won’t expose your whereabouts now – how would you change your mind then?”

She was truly very perceptive.

She was no longer the little child who used to curl up beside him and listen to everything he said. These five years, she had independently experienced many crises in commerce, and when dealing with officials from both dynasties, she inevitably had to constantly strategize and scheme. She had gained much experience in making independent judgments, and she was increasingly learning to trust herself.

She had come to understand that when you want a result, besides desperately fighting for it yourself, there is no second path to take.

At this moment, she was also unwilling to argue further with Qi Ying. While supporting him to lean against her, she said through the carriage curtain to Bai Song outside: “Big Brother Bai, is that Xiangzhou City ahead?”

Bai Song’s voice came from outside the carriage: “Yes.”

“Let’s enter the city this afternoon,” Shen Xiling immediately continued. “We’ll spend the night in the city tonight.”

The wheels rumbled, while Bai Song’s voice carried some hesitation: “My lord…?”

He was seeking Qi Ying’s opinion, and Qi Ying remained silent.

That was silent refusal.

Shen Xiling knew that as long as Qi Ying didn’t relent, Bai Song could never enter Xiangzhou City as she wished. He was ultimately still his personal retainer, only following his orders.

A wave of despair rose in her heart.

Qi Ying could feel her grievance and sadness. He sat up straight with some difficulty, suppressing another wave of blood in his throat, gently embracing her and saying: “I promise you, as soon as we cross the river, I’ll find a doctor. From then on, I’ll listen to you in everything…”

“Just this once… I truly cannot afford to lose.”

That day, Shen Xiling had no choice but to compromise, but two days later they still entered Qingyuan City in Wei Commandery.

Because Qi Ying had completely collapsed.

Thinking about it carefully, between Shen Xiling and Qi Ying, it had always been Shen Xiling who was ill. As a child, she had been seriously sick several times, with constant minor ailments usually, and almost every time it was he who stayed by her side to care for her, with very few exceptions.

Now it was Qi Ying’s turn to fall ill.

He rarely got sick, or perhaps he had been ill before but never let others know. Now it could finally no longer be concealed, revealing very deep-seated ailments.

That day he lost consciousness and developed a high fever. Everyone was terrified. Even though Bai Song had previously received Qi Ying’s strict orders to follow the original plan and absolutely not allow entering cities midway, he still had no choice but to disobey his master’s orders and drive the carriage into Qingyuan City’s gates under cover of night.