The wind blew fiercely, fine rain blowing in from beyond the eaves, dampening the threshold and wooden windows with moisture. In this slanting wind and drizzling rain, Wen Yu tilted her head slightly. Her skirts wrapped tightly around her voluptuous figure, her sash and long hair flying. Her profile was bright as the clear moon, yet the pair of eyes looking toward Xiao Li were dark and murky, making it impossible to discern the emotions within.

She seemed to pause for a moment before saying, “The totem on the banner is the secret emblem of Prince Changlian’s residence that I modified slightly. Only the death warriors in the residence and some of my father’s old subordinates would recognize it. The people who came seeking might be old subordinates who, after the chaos in Fengyang, learned I was heading south and set out for Pingzhou first.”

“But we can’t be entirely certain. First have Zhao Youcai’s side watch them secretly and see if we can determine how many of them came in total.”

Xiao Li used the cloth to wipe the water from his face and asked, “Then how do we test their identities?”

Wen Yu glanced at Xiao Li’s still-dripping hair and said, “These matters require long-term consideration. Change your clothes first.”

Her skirt hem lightly brushed past the threshold as she closed the door and went downstairs.

Xiao Li used the cloth to roughly wipe the rainwater from the back of his neck, pondering the meaning in her words.

From Wen Yu’s schemes in Xinzhou, he had truly witnessed her brilliance and had always felt she was like a distant mountain shrouded in thick fog—no matter how he looked, he could never see clearly.

Her erudition and intelligence far exceeded his understanding.

Many things only became clear to him after she explained them.

But he also wanted to understand what she didn’t say.

Once she reunited with her old subordinates, he would no longer be the only useful person by her side.

This thought made Xiao Li inexplicably irritable. When he stripped off his wet clothes, he used too much force. Pain shot through his arm. He glanced at the blood-stained, rain-soaked gauze on his right arm and tore it off in one motion.

The wound, turned pale from soaking, was hideously exposed, with faint scab marks at the edges, clearly showing the wound had torn open multiple times.

Yet he seemed to feel no pain. He merely wiped the water stains on his body casually, then took medicine powder to sprinkle on it, tore off a strip of gauze, and wrapped it up.

—

Walking along the wooden corridor in the drifting drizzle, Wen Yu gazed at the gray-tiled, white-walled dwellings in the distance through the misty rain, momentarily lost in thought.

Some things she would probably never let Xiao Li know.

For instance, compared to those old subordinates who had already come seeking her, he was actually more worthy of her trust.

The exterminated Wen clan could only attract followers through either loyalty or shared interests with her.

But loyalty was something difficult to measure.

The Wen clan had fallen. With the blood of the old Liang imperial family flowing through her veins, she was now the deer being hunted.

Every step forward from now on would be like walking on thin ice. Her father’s old subordinates, even if all were utterly loyal to her, even after verifying the identities of those who came to the city, she couldn’t rashly meet them.

She was their hope for national restoration. In the future, she would have to lead them back to Great Liang and stand in the position of sovereign. She had to suppress all her distress and vulnerability and become a master they could submit to.

She just didn’t know whether Xiao Li… would still follow her.

Thinking of him, countless complex emotions surged in her heart.

Publicly speaking, with his martial arts skills, she should recruit him. However, she was clear that he stayed by her side not for fame and fortune.

Privately speaking, having experienced so many life-and-death situations together, he was both her benefactor and a friend. She hoped to always have such a person by her side, but following her into this murky water would likely be even more dangerous than him going to the battlefield.

After all, open attacks were easy to dodge, but hidden arrows were hard to defend against.

Rainwater from the eaves dripped onto the wooden railing, making a faint “patter.”

Wen Yu lowered her eyes, raised her hand to catch the next water droplet falling from the eave corner, and slowly said, “I’ll let you go.”

—

When Wen Yu returned from the inn’s kitchen with ginger soup, Xiao Li had already changed his clothes. However, his hair wasn’t yet dry. When he came to open the door, the wet hair he’d combed back had soaked a patch of his collar.

His expression was somewhat gloomy for some unknown reason, only restraining it somewhat upon seeing her.

Smelling the faint bloody scent in the room, then seeing the gauze he’d thrown in the corner, Wen Yu frowned and asked, “You’re injured?”

Xiao Li took the ginger soup from her hand. Hearing this, he only answered, “The old wound on my arm tore open. It’s nothing serious.”

Wen Yu’s furrowed brows didn’t relax.

She instinctively thought of him lifting that stone weight earlier, and how he’d frequently gone out these days to handle matters for her.

This injury was on his right arm. If it still hadn’t healed by now, it was probably because whenever he used his blade and exerted force, the wound would tear open. If it left some permanent damage later, that would be terrible.

She asked, “Have you applied medicine?”

Xiao Li finished the ginger soup in one gulp and said, “I’ve treated it.”

His wet hair was truly quite bothersome. Another water droplet fell onto his eyelid. He gathered his hair with his left hand and combed it back again.

Having experienced him burning up unconscious before, Wen Yu worried he might catch cold again and said, “Your hand is injured, so it’s inconvenient to wring out your hair. Sit down and I’ll help you dry it.”

When she pressed his firm shoulder and sat him down at the table, the gloom on Xiao Li’s face visibly froze.

There were no clean cloths left in the room, and the two only had two sets of clothes to change into. Xiao Li had come back soaked through, and after changing into his own clothes, only Wen Yu’s worn men’s clothing remained in the bundle.

She took the inner garment, draped it over Xiao Li’s head, and dried his wet hair for him.

Xiao Li was tall. Even sitting there, he wasn’t much shorter than her. Previously, Wen Yu had always felt Xiao Li’s build had an oppressive presence, but at this moment, with him quietly lowering his dark lashes, elbows resting on his knees, he unexpectedly exuded an indescribable obedience, rather like a large dog.

Her ten fingers, separated by the cotton fabric, gathered his half-dry hair and used some force to rub it chaotically, as if truly rubbing that large dog her family used to keep.

This action made Xiao Li look up at her. Several strands of half-wet hair messily covered his forehead. Those intense, handsome brows and eyes quite resembled the profound depth of foreign men, carrying a wicked air.

Yet he had restrained all his savagery and ferocity, only looking at her quietly.

Like a vicious dog wandering the streets, picked up by someone and receiving care it had never had before, not even daring to bare its fangs for a moment, afraid of being abandoned again.

Wen Yu felt something like a soft tentacle gently touch a place in her heart. Her ten fingers still held his head through the half-wet cotton cloth, staring at him like this for two breaths.

The atmosphere became somewhat subtle. Suddenly, a knock came from outside the door.

Wen Yu came back to herself. Leaving that inner garment still draped over Xiao Li’s head, she walked over in a few steps to open the door.

It was the inn’s laundry woman. Her face full of smiles, she said, “Earlier, madam left word that there were clothes to wash. I’ve come to collect them.”

Wen Yu remembered she had mentioned this when getting ginger soup from the kitchen and said, “Wait a moment.”

She went back into the room to get the wet clothes Xiao Li had changed out of. She was about to take the inner garment she’d used to dry Xiao Li’s hair to be washed as well, but Xiao Li had continued using that inner garment to dry his hair himself.

Not wanting to keep the woman waiting, Wen Yu only handed over his wet clothes to her.

After the woman left, Xiao Li said, “I’ll help you wash this garment clean later.”

Wen Yu said, “It only got some water stains on it. It doesn’t matter.”

The sound of rain outside the window continued. Looking at the person sitting across from her, she suddenly vaguely sensed the tangled emotions in her heart.

Xiao Li noticed she kept staring at him and asked, “What is it?”

Wen Yu brought up what she had prepared to tell him before returning. “What are your plans for the future?”

Xiao Li stopped drying his hair, furrowed his brow slightly, and said nothing.

Wen Yu said, “We’re already close to Pingzhou. I must understand your thoughts to make subsequent arrangements. I’ve told you before—my marriage alliance with Southern Chen is merely a union of interests. If you continue following me, it will only be extremely dangerous, and I don’t have sufficient confidence to protect you. However, the Pingzhou Prefect is my father’s man. If you stay in Pingzhou, I can entrust him to look after you. No matter what, he can ensure your safety.”

Xiao Li clutched that half-wet inner garment in silence for a long time, then suddenly smiled roguishly. “That sounds like a good place. Let me see Pingzhou first before deciding.”

Wen Yu’s long lashes lifted lightly. She seemed not to have expected him to say this, but she nodded.

That night, both of them rarely suffered from insomnia.

On the bed, Wen Yu lay on her side facing inward. The inn’s bed curtains were gauze curtains for mosquito protection, so even with the curtains down, one could still vaguely see shadows inside.

The table in the room had been moved to the corner. Xiao Li had made a floor pallet where the table originally was. Pillowing his head on his left arm, he gazed at the ceiling in the darkness with gloomy eyes.

Outside, the rain pattered, and intermittent dripping sounds came from under the eaves.

Yet his heart held none of this rainy night’s tranquility. The darkness and violence that had been suppressed in the depths of his heart since that spring dream were growing uncontrollably again.

He could hear it—she wanted to drive him away again.

She said she wanted to know his plans, but between the lines, she had actually already made the choice for him.

He was clearly already working so hard to make himself useful to her. Why didn’t she still want him?

In a trance, he felt as if he’d returned to childhood, being discarded like worn shoes time after time.

In the black night with only the clamor of rain, unwillingness and anger collided in his heart, bringing up a bitter resentment. Though Xiao Li tried his utmost to restrain himself, he still let slip a few deep breaths.

Wen Yu on the bed also hadn’t fallen asleep. Hearing his heavy breathing, worried he had developed a fever again, she hesitantly called, “Xiao Li?”

But the person sleeping on the floorboards didn’t respond to her.

Fearing he had fallen unconscious from fever, Wen Yu lifted the gauze curtain, put on her shoes, and walked over.

The room was very dark, but one could still barely make out the rough outlines of the furnishings inside. She crouched down by the cotton quilt where Xiao Li had made his floor pallet, groping to reach her hand toward his forehead.

She had slept fully dressed, only getting up in haste. Her outer garment was already somewhat loose, and she hadn’t bothered to adjust it. With her reaching motion, a section of wide gauze sleeve lightly brushed across Xiao Li’s face.

When she got up and came over, Xiao Li knew he couldn’t pretend to be asleep. Just as he was about to speak, he felt something brush against his face—a subtle coolness, a faint fragrance lingering at his nose.

Amid those wild, tearing emotions, this fragrance was like the last straw that crushed his rationality.

In that instant, he didn’t know what he was thinking. Almost following an instinctive impulse, he grabbed that wrist, yet made no other movement.

Wen Yu still had one hand propped by his pillow. She only felt the palm gripping her wrist was burning hot. Frowning, she called to him, “Xiao Li? What’s wrong with you?”

His deep breaths mingled with the sound of rain.

After an unknown number of breaths, Xiao Li finally released her hand, got up, and walked outside, saying, “I had a nightmare. I’m going out to wash my face.”