Li Gu’s daze lasted only a moment. Seeing Xie Yuzhang emerge, he asked, “How long have they been kneeling?”

He opened without the honorific “Your Highness,” stripping away all the polite yet useless pleasantries, going straight to what he wanted to know.

Just as the maids had tacitly dropped “Li,” calling him simply “General.”

Xie Yuzhang said, “Nearly half an hour.”

Li Gu nodded. “That’s about right. It’s cold here — any longer and their knees will be ruined. They won’t be able to ride a horse or take to the battlefield.”

Xie Yuzhang then told the maids, “Have those two come in.”

Li Gu, however, said to her, “Only Wang Shitou needs to come in.”

The maid looked at Xie Yuzhang; Xie Yuzhang looked at Li Gu.

Li Gu said, “It’s not good to reprimand him in front of his subordinates.”

Xie Yuzhang nodded. “Tell Qian Fugui he doesn’t need to keep kneeling either.”

The maid went out to call Wang Shitou and also told Qian Fugui to rise.

Wang Shitou had been kneeling so long that his knees had gone stiff and his legs were numb and aching. He shuffled his way inside. The moment he saw Xie Yuzhang seated at the head, he dropped to his knees with a thud, his forehead striking the ground with a crack. “This subordinate is guilty! Please punish me, Your Highness!”

With Xie Yuzhang present, Li Gu held his tongue. He sat quietly to one side, watching to see how she would handle Wang Shitou.

Xie Yuzhang had been extraordinarily good to Wang Shitou — nearly as good as Li Ming was to Li Gu. For Wang Shitou, this was the grace of being truly recognized. When grace runs so deep, the time to establish authority arrives as well.

If she was too angry and punished him too harshly, there would still be time to speak on Wang Shitou’s behalf. The point was to keep him whole — keep his life, keep him in one piece, let him continue north with Xie Yuzhang and serve her faithfully for a lifetime.

He simply waved his hand, dismissing the maids to preserve some of Wang Shitou’s dignity.

But Xie Yuzhang remained silent. She only looked at Wang Shitou without a word.

Though she had been deeply disappointed last night, she found herself unable to punish Wang Shitou harshly.

The sound of Wang Shitou’s cries back then — from fierce defiance to despair to utter silence — still echoed in her ears. How could it be that in this life, he had become so useless?

The bitterness of betrayal that had filled her chest suddenly dissolved the moment she saw Wang Shitou cowering before her on his knees.

Wang Shitou did not dare raise his head. Li Gu waited a long while without hearing Xie Yuzhang speak, and looked over in surprise — only to see two trails of tears sliding down Xie Yuzhang’s jade-white face.

Li Gu was startled. “Your Highness?”

Wang Shitou heard and looked up. Seeing Xie Yuzhang in tears, he stared in bewildered confusion, not knowing what had happened.

Xie Yuzhang did not look at Li Gu. Her gaze remained fixed on Wang Shitou, and at last she spoke. “Wang Shitou.”

Wang Shitou quickly prostrated himself again, but heard Xie Yuzhang say, “It is my fault.”

“Huh?” Wang Shitou lifted his head, baffled.

Xie Yuzhang looked at him. “The truth is, I already knew you before you ever knew me.”

Wang Shitou was even more confused. It was only in the eighth month, when the Princess herself had come to the encampment to see him and Ma Jianye, that he had first laid eyes on Her Highness. How could Her Highness have known him before that?

“Don’t ask me why I took notice of you. We’ve already come this far — asking that has no meaning anymore,” Xie Yuzhang said. “But when I received the marriage procession roster and saw your name, I decided to bring you to my side.”

“I know — you were nothing more than a squad leader before, suddenly promoted several ranks at once. It’s true you may not yet be equal to your position.”

“But I thought it didn’t matter. Ability is something that can be sharpened slowly; it can always be trained. I felt I could give you time. If the right person came along, I could even go and ask them to mentor you.”

“The one thing — the only thing — is that you did not obey my orders.” Xie Yuzhang said, her voice pained. “That I cannot tolerate.”

She spoke slowly. “We are heading beyond the frontier. I go alone, with only these five hundred men to guard me. You do not yet understand what Mobei is like — what kind of situation a peace-marriage princess faces there. These five hundred men must be placed in the hands of someone who is wholeheartedly, solely loyal to me. That person cannot afford even a moment’s hesitation, even a trace of timidity. Wang Shitou — can I trust you one more time?”

Princess Baohua Xie Yuzhang had finally spoken her true intentions plainly — she had indeed wanted him to replace Ma Jianye. Exactly as he and his brothers had guessed.

Wang Shitou knocked his forehead against the ground again and again. “This subordinate has never been disloyal to the Princess! This subordinate — I — yesterday my head was muddled! I thought wrong! I will never dare again!”

“The General beat some sense into me yesterday!”

“The General even gave me a new name! He told me to be loyal only to the Princess! If you don’t believe me, ask the General!”

Xie Yuzhang was briefly taken aback.

Wang Shitou raised his head. His forehead was already swollen and red. Despite the felt carpet on the ground, he had struck it with such force that the skin had broken, and faint traces of blood were visible.

“From now on I’m not called Wang Shitou — I’m called Wang Zhong!” Wang Zhong declared loudly. “The General beat some sense into me! For the rest of my life, I follow the Princess! Whatever the Princess says to do, I do it! I won’t overthink things — I only follow orders! I follow only the Princess’s orders!”

Li Gu said in a low voice, “Wang Zhong, tell Her Highness what your name means.”

Wang Zhong said loudly, “Loyal to the Princess alone, to protect the Princess alone! From now on I am Wang Zhong! In life I am the Princess’s man, in death I am the Princess’s ghost!”

To speak of life and death — in a former life, had it not been exactly that? Life’s separation and death’s parting, with not even his bones returning home?

Xie Yuzhang’s tears fell.

“Very well. Then I will trust you once more. But this is the last time,” she said. “Do you understand?”

“I understand!” Wang Zhong said quickly. “I understand! There will be no next time!”

Xie Yuzhang turned her head to wipe away her tears, but then heard Li Gu say to Wang Zhong, “Wang Zhong, tell Her Highness what happened last night.”

Xie Yuzhang turned back. She listened as Wang Zhong said, “Last night the Khan forced his way in. Her Highness had said before — anyone drunk is not to be allowed in, no matter who it is, not even the Khan. I — this subordinate went to block him. The Khan kicked me square in the chest and sent me flying. I got up wanting to block him again, but Ma Jianye grabbed me —”

Wang Zhong recounted the details of the previous night one by one, and said with shame, “This subordinate thought he made sense, hesitated for a moment, and when the others saw me hesitate, none of them dared move either. So the Khan forced his way in. This is this subordinate’s fault — please punish only me, Your Highness. Don’t blame the others. I was the one in charge. They’re all just ordinary soldiers — they had to follow my lead.”

“Then this subordinate heard that the Khan was clearly dead drunk. That’s when it hit me — that this was wrong. Even between husband and wife, when a man is that drunk, things can go badly.”

“This subordinate shook Ma Jianye off and was about to chase after them when — the General had already gone in first.”

There was no need for him to repeat what followed. Xie Yuzhang had been the one living through it herself.

She drew a long, deep breath, and squeezed three words out through clenched teeth: “Ma — Jian — Ye!”

Li Gu watched her small fists clench so tightly that her knuckles turned pale. He could see that it was Ma Jianye she truly despised. She had never trusted Ma Jianye from the start — clearly there was a reason for it. He didn’t know the history, but as she herself had said, they had already come this far. Whatever came before no longer mattered.

What mattered was what lay ahead. The future.

Li Gu glanced at Wang Zhong, still kneeling on the felt carpet. This was the man she would rely on going forward. If he was to be relied upon, there needed to be a shared understanding between them, so they could move in step.

So he asked in front of Wang Zhong, “What do you intend to do about Ma Jianye?”

Xie Yuzhang stared at the dark felt carpet, and said in a low, distant voice, “I should never have let him live until now.”

The air in the tent suddenly stiffened for a moment.

Cold sweat broke out on Wang Zhong’s forehead.

Li Gu, however, raised his hand and rested it on the hilt of the blade at his back. “Shall I go now?”

The words had barely left his mouth when silent killing intent began to fill the air.

Wang Zhong’s back was soaked through.

Xie Yuzhang’s deep, dark eyes lifted and found Li Gu.

Li Gu — he would actually kill someone on a single word from her?

Something strange surged in Xie Yuzhang’s heart — a tide she couldn’t name, a tremor she couldn’t explain. She pushed down the sudden inexplicable emotion and refused. “No need for you.”

“These are my people. This is my matter,” she said. “I’ll handle it myself.”

In her former life, she had been helpless against that petty man Ma Jianye.

But in this life — what did she have to fear?

She no longer feared even Xia’erdan! What was there to dread about a mere Ma Jianye? Why would she need Li Gu to act?

She could do this herself. This was just a stone in the path of her life — she could move it herself, step over it herself.

Li Gu had actually harbored thoughts of killing Ma Jianye since the previous night. But last night, Xie Yuzhang had specifically assigned Wang Zhong to guard duty — Ma Jianye had not been on watch, and when things went badly he had simply slipped away as though he had never been there. By the time Li Gu had finished handling everything, Ma Jianye was nowhere to be found, so he had dealt with Wang Zhong first.

He had come here today intending to settle things with both Wang Zhong and Ma Jianye.

Li Gu gazed steadily at Xie Yuzhang.

There were still tear-tracks on her face; the corners of her eyes still tinged red — the very image of a delicate young woman who stirred one’s pity and tenderness.

If he could always remain by her side, he would never let her hands be stained with blood. What Li Gu thought best for Xie Yuzhang was that she could live as she had in the palace — free to laugh when she wanted to laugh, to dance when she wanted to dance.

But he could not stay by her side. The distant sounds of the camp’s commotion drifted over. They would part here — one heading north, one heading south.

From here on, she would be alone, with no one to rely upon.

In that case, he was willing to see her dare to do these things herself. A blade she had sharpened herself would better protect her.

This gave him some small measure of peace.

“Very well.” Li Gu said, “Then you handle it yourself.”

He finished speaking and turned to look at Wang Zhong. “What was said just now does not leave this tent, and does not pass beyond the three of us — you, me, and Her Highness. Understood?”

As he said this, his hand still rested on the hilt of his blade.

Wang Zhong flung himself prostrate. “Understood!”

Li Gu nodded and looked toward Xie Yuzhang. Xie Yuzhang said to Wang Zhong, “There’s much to be done outside. Go.”

Wang Zhong withdrew.

The tent held only Xie Yuzhang and Li Gu.

Their eyes met, and at the same moment they both rose. Parting was imminent, yet suddenly neither had anything to say. They stood in silence, facing each other.

“Are you leaving soon?” Xie Yuzhang looked up. Once she stood, looking at Li Gu meant tilting her head back.

“Yes.” Li Gu looked down at her and said, “I must return to report. This mission — I have not failed what I was entrusted to do.”

Then whom had he failed? What had he failed?

The emotions churning at the bottom of his heart — could he still keep them pressed down?

Even if he couldn’t, he had to. Since he could give her nothing, all the more reason he must not give her empty hopes, empty longing — empty regrets left behind. Let her go in peace, without too many thoughts. Too many thoughts would only harm her. To be unencumbered, untethered — that would be best.

“May Your Highness travel safely.” Li Gu folded his hands in a salute. “This subject — takes his leave.”

From last night until this moment, they had been able to dispense with even forms of address between them. Yet suddenly, Li Gu retreated back to the position of a subject.

Ruler and subject — that was, after all, where the two of them each properly stood.

Xie Yuzhang did not speak. In the tent, one could have heard a pin drop — only the muffled noise of the camp drifted in from outside, the lowing and neighing of cattle and horses.

Li Gu felt he could no longer wait for Xie Yuzhang’s reply. He lowered his gaze — not even daring to look at her again — and took two steps back with a slight bow before turning to walk toward the entrance.

He reached the doorway, raised his hand to lift the heavy felt curtain woven of coarse wool, when Xie Yuzhang suddenly called out his name — “Fucheng!”

Li Gu stopped.

This was the first time in Xie Yuzhang’s life that she had called Li Gu by his courtesy name. Looking back later, it would also be the only time.

She gazed at Li Gu’s upright silhouette.

— I will come back. You and I will meet again in Yunjing.

But what she actually said was, “In this life — farewell.”

Li Gu turned slightly, offering her his profile. The light filtering through the gap in the curtain traced a silver edge along his high nose and strong jaw.

Xie Yuzhang saw his hand clench tightly into a fist.

But in the end, he did not turn back to look at her again.

He paused only that one moment, then lifted the curtain and walked out without a backward glance.

In this life — this is farewell.