Yan Qing assumed there must be a case—but looking at his relaxed expression, it didn’t quite seem so.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there.” He urged her to go and change quickly.

Yan Qing changed into a light, comfortable outfit with a head full of questions. When she came out, she found that Jing Zhi had already packed a travel suitcase for her.

“Are we going on a long trip?” She was puzzled, unable to figure out what he was up to.

Shi Ting stepped forward and took the case, then caught her hand with his free one. “Let’s go.”

“Hey, where are we going exactly?” Yan Qing glanced back and saw Murong and Jing Zhi standing in the doorway, hands over their mouths to cover their smiles. She blinked, growing even more bewildered.

It was only once they were in the car that Shi Ting, still holding her hand, offered his mysterious answer: “A honeymoon.”

Yan Qing was taken aback. She hadn’t expected that the offhand remark she had made that day would have lodged itself in his heart. Before she could even begin to wonder where they were going for their honeymoon, the thought alone moved her deeply. The hand he wasn’t holding instinctively came to rest over the back of his.

“As long as I’m with you, every day is a honeymoon.” Yan Qing rested her head against his shoulder, the corners of her lips lifting in quiet contentment.

“It seems my lady is quite practiced at saying sweet things,” Shi Ting murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Your husband is humbled.”

“Insufferable.” Yan Qing gave him a light nudge with her shoulder. Shi Ting, very cooperatively, let out an exaggerated “ouch.”

Old Zhao at the wheel quietly felt that he probably didn’t need his lunch today. This was the kind of occasion that really called for Jianguo’s company rather than his.

The car sped along the road. Two hours later, Yan Qing noticed that the scenery outside the window had shifted from trees and farmland to an expanse of lush green meadow.

The meadow was vast and boundless, stretching as far as the eye could see. Herds of horses roamed at leisure throughout, like scattered clouds embroidered onto a bolt of green silk.

“Is this a horse farm?”

Yan Qing had only heard that the frontier territories were renowned for their horses. The horses of Li Yongqi’s Li Family Army all came from there.

“This was originally a military horse farm, but as horses gradually began to be brought in from the frontier territories, it slowly fell into disuse.”

Yet the farm Yan Qing saw before her was thriving—nothing like a place that had fallen into disuse.

“Does this horse farm belong to you, then?”

“More or less,” Shi Ting said. “Although the frontier horses are excellent, the supply is limited after all. And it isn’t as though only the frontier territories can produce fine horses. With enough dedication, the same can be achieved here.”

To the outside world, this horse farm was simply a private indulgence of Shi Ting’s. But Yan Qing knew him—he never made arrangements that served no purpose.

The car pulled to a stop at the side of a path, and Shi Ting stepped out and took Yan Qing’s hand as they walked.

“The car can’t go further in—it would disturb the herd. We’ll walk from here.” He leaned toward the window and said a few words to Old Zhao, who then drove off.

“Are we staying here tonight?” Yan Qing looked out at the wide, open expanse before her, her heart brimming with anticipation.

“Of course.” Shi Ting held her hand with one of his and carried the suitcase with the other. Together they walked across the green grass toward the heart of the farm.

There was a row of buildings inside the farm—living quarters for the farm’s management staff, kept spotlessly clean by dedicated caretakers.

Once Shi Ting and Yan Qing had entered one of the rooms, he produced a set of clothes and held it out to her. “These are riding clothes. Change into them, and I’ll take you out riding.”

“Riding? But I don’t know how.”

Shi Ting smiled. “I’ll be there.”

Yan Qing had never ridden a horse in her life—not in her previous era, and certainly not here. She could vaguely guess at his intent: he wanted her to experience everything that a pair of healthy, whole legs could do.

Yan Qing shook out the riding outfit—a black double-breasted short jacket, white fitted trousers, and black riding boots.

She clutched the clothes to her chest and looked at him. “I need to change now.”

“Mm.” A certain someone murmured in agreement—and then didn’t move an inch.

“Go outside.” Yan Qing began shooing him out. Even though the two of them had already been through moments of profound intimacy, changing clothes in front of him still made her feel embarrassed.

“I need to change too,” Shi Ting said, clearly having no intention of leaving. “I just won’t look while you change.”

As he said this, he actually turned his back.

Yan Qing didn’t quite trust him. But seeing that he was indeed busy organizing his own riding clothes, she let down her guard.

The riding outfits were all form-fitting, so they couldn’t be worn over too many layers. As Yan Qing removed one garment after another, Shi Ting still did not turn around.

Once she had finished changing, she patted him on the back. “I’m done.”

“All right—my turn, then.” Shi Ting turned around and, right in front of her, began undoing the buttons of his top.

Yan Qing said hastily: “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Does your husband’s physique truly look that terrible to you?” He stood there blocking the doorway, his tall frame filling the space, smiling as he continued unhurrying with the buttons.

In a contest of brazenness, Yan Qing was no match for him. But after prolonged hardening, she had learned to hold her own against one or two of his moves.

“Shall I help you, my lord husband?” Yan Qing batted her eyes at him.

A certain someone spread his arms with complete composure. “You are too kind, my lady.”

Shi Ting’s figure was already tall and lean, and the riding clothes on him made him look all the more dashing and gallant.

Yan Qing looked at her own outfit, then at his—both dressed in black with white trousers. They were wearing matching couple’s outfits.

Shi Ting picked up a round riding cap nearby and settled it on Yan Qing’s head, securing the strap. Once satisfied it was properly in place, he put on his own cap, and the two walked out of the room hand in hand.

“Let me introduce you to an old friend,” Shi Ting said with a smile.

Several fine horses were tethered not far away. The farm manager on duty saw the two of them approaching—the man tall and strikingly handsome, the woman slender and softly graceful. Both wore matching riding outfits, and their occasional glances at each other were laced with tender feeling.

Though the farm manager was well on in years, the sight of such a matched pair appearing before him still made his eyes brighten. Beautiful things have a way of drawing the gaze irresistibly.

Shi Ting gave a short whistle, and immediately a large chestnut horse came trotting over from the herd.

Yan Qing remembered it. She had encountered it once before at the cavalry camp of the Li Family Army—Wild Grape.

Wild Grape had already trotted up to Shi Ting, its hooves lightly pawing the ground, its head dipping down in a gentle bow.

Shi Ting stroked its mane. “Commander Li said Wild Grape had an affinity with me, and so gave it to me as a gift.”

It was difficult to imagine: the Wild Grape that had glared in fury at everyone on the training grounds was, before Shi Ting, docile as a little girl.

“Come—let me help you up.” Shi Ting took Yan Qing’s hand and boosted her by the waist up onto the horse’s back.

It was Yan Qing’s first time on horseback. The moment she was seated, she felt exhilarated and a little frightened all at once. Fortunately, Shi Ting quickly swung up behind her, settling into the saddle at her back.

No matter the moment—as long as he was near, she could feel herself settle instantly.

Shi Ting held her in the circle of his arms, drew up the reins with both hands, and gave the horse’s sides a gentle squeeze with his legs. A single soft “hah” sent Wild Grape lifting its hooves and breaking into an easy trot.

Across the vast grassland, green grass stretched lush and abundant, dotted here and there with wildflowers in every color. Beneath the horse’s hooves, the scenery on either side passed like an oil painting.

“It’s so beautiful,” Yan Qing murmured, nestled within his broad, sheltering arms, the words rising from somewhere deep within her.

She had always longed to gallop freely across a prairie like this—and now the wish had been granted sooner than she had ever imagined. Though she could not yet ride alone, sharing a mount with him was far more romantic than riding on her own.

“Let’s go over there and take a look.” Shi Ting gave the horse’s sides a gentle squeeze and turned it about. Wild Grape began to pick up speed from a gentle walk, gradually quickening until at last it was thundering freely across the open plain.

Shi Ting held Yan Qing’s waist with one arm and managed the reins with the other, his upright figure cutting a striking silhouette against the grassland.

The wind rushed past their ears, carrying with it the sweet fragrance of wildflowers and meadow grasses, cool and refreshing.

After some time, Shi Ting gradually drew in the reins, and Wild Grape’s pace slowed to a walk.

Yan Qing was astonished to discover that beyond the hillside they had just crossed lay a sheer cliff face—and Wild Grape was standing at its very edge. From here, looking outward, the entire panorama of distant Shun Cheng spread out before them in full view.

“I never imagined you could see the whole of Shun Cheng from here,” Yan Qing said, marveling. “It’s breathtaking.”

Shi Ting held her by the waist, his gaze fixed on the distance, the depths of his eyes carrying something profound and unspoken. “My lady—looking at this magnificent land, this fertile earth stretching to the horizon—don’t you find it grand?”

She understood. This was his great ambition, the soaring aim that lifted his spirit.

And so she reached down and clasped the hand resting at her waist. “Whatever you set out to do, I will support you.”

Whether it was this land of rivers and mountains, whether it was this kingdom without borders—through success or through failure, she would stand beside him.

Shi Ting heard her, and the corner of his mouth curved. He bent his head down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Let’s go take a look over there.” He turned the horse about and followed the hillside downward.

They came to a gentle, level stretch of ground. Shi Ting dismounted first, then lifted Yan Qing down.

“There are so many wildflowers here.” Yan Qing hurried toward the cluster of blossoms ahead with a delighted cry. “I’ve never seen so many wildflowers in one place.”

The flowers were varied and countless, their colors vivid and dazzling, a feast for the eyes.

Yan Qing plucked a small pink five-petaled flower and lifted it to her nose. Its delicate fragrance enveloped her, and she closed her eyes in quiet bliss.

Shi Ting stood on the other side of the wildflower meadow, lips gently curving as he watched her. She stood amid a hundred blooms, standing at the center of his world.

He did not want to break the still, beautiful picture before him—yet his feet moved toward her without his permission.

Yan Qing, still breathing in the flower’s perfume, felt a shadow fall over her. In the next instant her lips were covered by his, and before she could react, he had swept her up and laid her gently down on the soft grass.

“Yan Qing,” he murmured, his hands closing around her wrists and pressing them to either side of her face, his deep gaze holding the heat and brightness of a blazing sun. “I want you.”