The old servant led the group of female servants into the room with trepidation, asking through the curtain: “Young Madam, Guilaitang has sent medicinal cuisine. Would you like to have some?”

Nanyi was lying on the bed in boredom when she suddenly caught a whiff of fragrance… so aromatic!

The meals these past two days had been mainly bland with many dietary restrictions. Suddenly smelling such an enticing aroma, Nanyi unconsciously swallowed, her mind sluggish for a moment before reacting—Guilaitang?

Zhang Yuehui had come looking for her? But why did he only send things without coming to see her? Did he think such trivial compensation could buy her off?

Shouldn’t he come sincerely explain everything to her?

“I won’t eat it!” Nanyi suddenly got a bit angry.

The old servant immediately felt relieved, hurriedly agreeing: “Then this old servant will have them take the things away right now.”

“Wait…” Hearing the footsteps retreating to the doorway, Nanyi suddenly called out to them, “If these medicinal dishes are taken back, how will they be handled?”

There was silence outside the curtain. The old servant looked at the lead female servant, who lowered her head and respectfully answered: “Naturally they would be thrown away.”

Nanyi blurted out: “What a waste!”

The old servant asked uncertainly: “Then does Madam want to…”

“The person is no good, but the food isn’t at fault—why shouldn’t I eat it?” Nanyi righteously convinced herself, “Bring it in.”

The old people in the alleys used to say that after death, one had to go underground and eat all the food wasted in this lifetime before being allowed to reincarnate. Her life principle was to absolutely never have a problem with food.

Having received the instruction, the small room was quickly occupied by these dozen or so well-trained female servants, pushing the two old servants aside and rendering them completely useless.

The female servants had clear divisions of labor—some spread carpets, some laid tablecloths, some served dishes in order. Even the dining chair was brought by them, covered with extremely soft fur so that sitting in it would minimally irritate her wounds. At the same time, two female medical officials went behind the curtain to check Nanyi’s pulse, then based on her current condition, handed her a bowl of prepared medicinal soup.

Only after everything was finished did they invite Nanyi to come eat.

Nanyi was somewhat amazed. Although Wangxue Hollow was already luxurious beyond her imagination, their usual expenses weren’t this extravagantly indulgent.

She sat at the dining table as if in a dream—there were a full eight dishes, plus a sweet soup and a bowl of chicken broth. The portion of food in each plate was just right, allowing her to enjoy eating everything without being too full.

It could be said to be meticulous in every detail.

Nanyi looked up at the lead female servant: “Zhang Yuehui is this wealthy?”

The female servant thought it was finally time to show off their master’s financial power, even answering with some pride: “Our master’s enterprises span the nine provinces—describing him as wealthy enough to rival a nation would not be an exaggeration.”

Nanyi fiercely stabbed her chopsticks into the plate and tore out a chicken leg.

The female servant noticed that this young madam seemed unhappy to hear that their master was wealthy, so her voice automatically became quieter and she obediently shut her mouth.

However, Nanyi did indeed eat this meal with great relish.

She hadn’t been able to eat properly these past few days, only managing to drink a little rice soup. The medicinal soup the female medical official had made her drink before the meal had a miraculous appetite-stimulating effect. In the spirit of not wasting anything at all, Nanyi swept all the food on the table clean.

When Xie Queshan saw the completely clean cups and plates being carried out from the room, reason told him this was good, but some emotion made him sour with jealousy.

She really was… Why did she show him no good face, yet seemed to let bygones be bygones with Zhang Yuehui?

So his feelings were just part of their long-separated reunion, lovers finally becoming a couple.

He had made such a great resolution, willing to die rather than fail to rescue her. Now thinking about it, actually it wouldn’t have mattered if he hadn’t gone—Zhang Yuehui would have taken care of her just as properly.

For the first time, Xie Queshan felt like a clown jumping around.

…

But Zhang Yuehui, who was being envied, wasn’t having as glorious a time as he appeared.

Of his seven-day agreement with Wanyan Jun, only five days remained. Knowing that Nanyi would at least accept his arrangements only slightly relieved a tiny bit of his guilt. He still hadn’t figured out how to face her, so he could only first sit down and properly sort out his own affairs.

It wasn’t that he had no choices—Song Muchuan’s identity was excellent information that could help him easily escape.

But Zhang Yuehui didn’t like being threatened. Wanyan Jun riding roughshod over him made him very displeased—how could he obediently deliver information to him? Otherwise, once or twice would spoil Wanyan Jun into thinking the entire Guilaitang should work for him.

He had always been someone who sought revenge for the smallest grievance.

However, conspiring with a tiger brought no benefit. This time escaping wouldn’t be so smooth… He had to stand firm while preserving strength to protect Nanyi, which meant he had to turn the tables—make Wanyan Jun become the drowning dog, humbly begging him.

This was tantamount to setting hell-level difficulty for himself.

But how could the scheming Boss Zhang not have backup plans?

The chess board before him was orderly with intersecting lines, displaying half a game. But Zhang Yuehui directly scattered a handful of black pieces onto it, making the good chess board chaotic, as if black and white pieces were in a melee.

Hmm… some unlucky bastards could be brought to the table now.

Gusha had been listless recently, staying behind closed doors.

The loss of those soldiers under his command naturally couldn’t be hidden. Wanyan Jun had even filed a complaint first, severely reporting him for acting without authorization, nearly disrupting plans and causing great damage to their forces.

The memorial was currently crossing mountains and rivers toward the capital of Great Qi. When the court’s directive returned, Gusha might have to shamefully remove his uniform and return to face punishment.

He now lacked spirit for everything, too lazy to even go to the military camp, just drinking heavily and sleeping in at home.

One day, the persistent knocking from outside disturbed his peaceful dreams. He threw on clothes and cursed as he opened the door, seeing a small beggar leaning on a crutch. Even angrier, just as he was about to start cursing, he saw the beggar throw away the crutch and fall to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face.

“General—!”

Gusha was stunned and rubbed his eyes.

Damn, there was still a survivor?! Was this a person or a ghost?

As it happened, this beggar had originally been Gusha’s personal guard. That night he had been secretly dispatched to search Hugu Mountain for the Yucheng Army. When Wanyan Jun exploded the tunnel, their entire team had entered through the well opening, only to discover that the tunnel contained only armor but no Yucheng Army. He tried to pursue them and happened to have reached a position near the exit, becoming the only survivor by a fortunate coincidence.

He crawled out from the collapsed tunnel with one leg already numb, dragging himself for several li trying to return to the city to report to Gusha, but finally collapsed unconscious in the bitter cold. When he woke again, he was already in a strange small hut.

Spring had come to the mountains. He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious or who had saved him, or why they had hidden themselves after he woke… as if they knew exactly when he would awaken.

But he didn’t think too much about this matter, assuming some hunter had saved him then left him in the hut to fend for himself, and that his own tough fate had kept him alive. The most important thing now was to quickly return to the city to report to Gusha—they hadn’t seen the Yucheng Army in the tunnel at all!

He still didn’t know who had caused that day’s explosion. He had thought Gusha would be greatly surprised to hear this news, but unexpectedly, Gusha’s face, which had been gloomy for many days, suddenly showed joy.

“You’re saying—there was no Yucheng Army in the tunnel at all? All the dead were our brothers?!”

“General, exactly so. This must have been a trap the Yucheng Army used to escape! Please dispatch people quickly to search for the Yucheng Army!”

“No, no—the important thing isn’t the Yucheng Army at all,” Gusha paced back and forth in the tent, appearing strangely excited. His face flushed red as if he’d found some treasure, his eyes shining alarmingly. “In our army, there must be a spy working in coordination with the Yucheng Army! Find that person and things will become easy.”

“Then the general suspects…”

Who could know so clearly that Wanyan Jun would ambush the Yucheng Army, who else knew that Gusha would try to steal this credit… Xie Queshan! That person who had voluntarily been placed under house arrest in Wanyan Jun’s residence, making everyone overlook him, yet appearing cleverly at every critical juncture.

The truth hidden beneath the iceberg was beginning to surface due to the existence of one survivor.

“Once I uncover the truth, I must skin this person alive! No… there’s probably more than one! I’ll use their heads as wine cups to vent my anger and avenge our dead brothers!” Gusha said through gritted teeth. “That Wanyan Jun, more hindrance than help, that fool! He even wanted to suppress me—when I succeed, I’ll make him get lost too!”

“The general is wise!”

“Those spies are all very cunning—we can’t let them know we’re investigating this matter. I’ll arrange for you to recover in secret. The news of your return cannot leak even a bit.”

“Yes, General.”

Song Muchuan, who had been focused on shipbuilding for days, finally sensed something was wrong.

Wanyan Jun had given a tight schedule—build a dragon-bone warship in three months. This happened to coincide perfectly with Song Muchuan’s final planned scheme, so he had thrown himself into it day and night.

The Yucheng Army was hidden deep in the mountains with no immediate danger of exposure. Normally they wouldn’t communicate, but on this day he received a letter Ying Huai had given to a secret contact, asking whether he had received Nanyi.

Song Muchuan had no idea that Nanyi had entered Li Du Mansion!

Something was amiss. He rushed overnight to the Yucheng Army camp, only to learn that about ten days ago, Nanyi had suddenly proposed going to Li Du Mansion, then sent back word saying there was a mission in the city requiring her to stay longer. But Ying Huai always felt something strange—the Bingzhu Division hadn’t told him about this matter… Due to the inconvenience of the Yucheng Army communicating with the outside world, things were always delayed, but it had been ten days with no news from Nanyi.

While Ying Huai sent a letter asking Song Muchuan, he also checked whether there were any irregularities in his own camp. This investigation was significant—he actually discovered a spy.

Under torture, they learned this was someone from Guilaitang—it was Guilaitang who had tricked Nanyi into the city.

Just then Song Muchuan arrived, and Ying Huai informed him of this matter.

Although it was early spring, cold sweat broke out on Song Muchuan’s back. Under his very nose, he had actually lost Nanyi!

He immediately sent people to track Zhang Yuehui.

Huachao Pavilion’s auxiliary building had burned down and was now being renovated, while Zhang Yuehui still lived in the main building, spending his days in wine and song, revelry and peace, appearing completely normal.

Guilaitang was like an impenetrable copper wall, very difficult to infiltrate and almost impossible to extract any useful information from.

Until Song Muchuan discovered that Guilaitang had bought a restaurant.

Normally, a large merchant association buying a shop would be nothing unusual. But coincidentally, the restaurant was right next to a Xie family private residence.

—Precisely the residence where they had claimed she had suddenly contracted a malignant disease and been moved to the outer estate in order to send Nanyi away.

Song Muchuan kept watch for several days and discovered that the restaurant sent meals and medicinal soups to the residence daily through a private alley connecting them. Xie Queshan also occasionally appeared near this residence.

This greatly confused Song Muchuan—could the person in the residence be Nanyi? What exactly were Xie Queshan and Zhang Yuehui doing?

He began trying to find ways to infiltrate this seemingly unremarkable residence that was guarded like an iron barrel.

…

However, there was one person who could enter the residence at any time, yet wandered outside daily.

Zhang Yuehui found himself a reason each day for why he couldn’t go in today.

As soon as he approached this residence, his heart became chaotic. Every day he cared about how she was recovering, yet hesitated to see her. The decisive and resolute him became a hesitant deserter before this door.

Until the half-moon rose in the night sky, he still couldn’t decide whether his steps should go forward or backward.

Thinking that it was so late, she should be sleeping, he decided to forget about today.

Unexpectedly, with a creak, the wooden door opened.

Zhang Yuehui looked up to see the young woman standing in the moonlight with her black hair draped over her shoulders, quietly watching him.

Only then did he notice that the magnolia flowers on the wall had somehow bloomed, their subtle fragrance filling his sleeves.

This long winter seemed to have passed.