Shen Qingwu was chased out of the tent by Zhang Xingjian, thoroughly deflated.

His only mercy, it seemed, was allowing her to get properly dressed before kicking her out.

The night had grown deep, the dew heavy.

Shen Qingwu stood outside the tent flap in a daze, that unfinished thrill of pleasure cut off by force. Blocked there at the entrance, she couldn’t tell whether it was the desire left hanging, unable to go up or down, that irritated her, or Zhang Xingjian’s anger that left her muddled.

She felt like some no-good husband who’d said the wrong thing and been thrown out of the house at night by his young wife.

But she didn’t fully understand where she’d gone wrong.

Besides, the camp had night patrols on rotation, and at any moment someone might notice the commotion. For her to stand brazenly outside his tent, humbling herself, would only draw attention—and undo all their earlier performance of having a “bad relationship.”

Better to see how things stood tomorrow.

Shen Qingwu thought it over, then turned and left—

Meanwhile, Zhang Xingjian, tormented by desire and then doused with cold water right at the peak of it, had thrown her out expecting she’d come back with a few soft words. After a while of dazed anger, he began to soften.

Zhang Xingjian made excuses for himself, telling himself that this wasn’t the first time Shen Qingwu had ruined the mood, that there must be some reason behind the jade pendant business, and he ought to go hear her out… Zhang Xingjian pushed open the tent flap and saw only the high, deep night, torches burning.

No one stood at the entrance.

Zhang Xingjian was at once startled and furious.

This time, he truly could not forgive that scoundrel—

Before going to see Li Lingge the next day, Shen Qingwu made a special detour past Zhang Xingjian’s quarters.

She knew the camp’s morning and evening schedule intimately, and in the time it took to pass by on her morning ride, she happened to see Zhang Xingjian standing in the pale light of dawn, his brows and eyes strikingly fine.

His face was, as ever, lovely, though his complexion wasn’t good, with dark circles beneath his eyes.

He probably hadn’t slept well the night before.

The general riding alongside Shen Qingwu called out loudly in greeting, “Isn’t that Zhang Sanlang! No need for morning drills, Sanlang, and yet you’re up so early.”

Shen Qingwu’s heart gave a thud.

Because Zhang Xingjian’s gaze turned this way.

Astride her horse, she couldn’t help but straighten her back, watching his expression without blinking.

Zhang Xingjian’s expression was perfectly even.

He was gentle and elegant as always, greeting the two generals. “General Chen, General Shen.”

Shen Qingwu thought, …

She couldn’t help thinking that perhaps she’d been overthinking things.

Zhang Xingjian looked completely normal.

Right—hadn’t he always prided himself on his good temper? Perhaps he truly didn’t care about last night, and she, troubled over it, looked like a joke by comparison.

Shen Qingwu, realizing she’d made a joke of herself, felt lighter for the first time because of it.

At that moment, Shen Qingwu didn’t sense anything amiss at all—

Li Lingge sent for Shen Qingwu to talk.

The princess, having deliberated for several days, finally gave her a conclusion: “…A’Wu, go along with Zhang Sanlang for a while. Don’t you have quite a few injuries on you? Take this time away from camp to recover your health as well.

“Once you’ve recovered, I mean to make good use of you going forward.”

Shen Qingwu said, “All right.”

Li Lingge mused, “I’ve settled things with Zhang Sanlang. I won’t ask where he’s going, and I won’t send anyone to watch him. I’ll only have you go along—he says it’s for your own good, but I firmly believe A’Wu wouldn’t betray me. Isn’t that right?”

Li Lingge wanted reassurance.

Shen Qingwu gave it to her. “Right. As long as you don’t do anything strange, I won’t be your enemy.”

Li Lingge smiled.

Something strange?

Li Lingge said warmly, “Then you may set your mind at ease, and I have confidence too—this trip of yours will surely bring a win-win result.

“So long as Sanlang and I come to an alliance, with the old subordinates from Dongjing, the officials secretly supporting me, and the backing of the Zhang Family besides, my chances of succeeding grow that much greater…”

She sank into thought.

She also considered how to realize her ambitions by indirect means—Zhang Sanlang’s condition was that harm to the common people be kept to a minimum wherever possible.

Li Lingge, too, had no wish to widen the war, no wish to harm the people. Part of what let her stand against those rigid ministers, those outdated rites, those great clans, those ancestral house rules, was precisely the people’s approval. Li Mingshu had exhausted the people and drained the treasury, while she divided and governed Great Zhou to clean up the wreckage. Through the years of Li Mingshu’s recklessness, she had borne the pressure, kept him in check, and held the nation steady. Now, in the south that Li Mingshu could no longer control, it was only with her arrival that she could truly demonstrate her own capability.

Li Lingge wanted renown, wanted advantage, wanted the people’s hearts turned toward her.

At the very least, the people south of the great river ought to be able to feel, once she arrived, a change in how the world treated them.

That was exactly what Zhang Xingjian meant to observe.

Li Lingge let him watch as he pleased.

Li Lingge instructed Shen Qingwu, “I won’t assign you any task, because whatever task I give you, Zhang Xingjian will surely ruin it anyway. Just recover from your injuries properly and stay by his side. If you feel something’s off about him, contact me.

“As for what counts as ‘off,’ you’ll have to judge that yourself.”

Shen Qingwu fell silent.

Judge for herself?

Bo Rong had once forced a choice on her and then left her to handle the rest on her own; now Li Lingge, having secured her promise, was leaving the rest to her judgment as well.

Was it fitting to call them master and disciple, then?

Both of them were… such confident people—

Once again bearing the princess’s orders, Shen Qingwu was to leave the camp.

Many of the grown men in camp envied her frequent trips out on official business. With everyone now watching the movements to the north, preparing for the outbreak of war, none dared step a foot outside the camp… to be able to go out at all was its own kind of fortune.

Because of this, several generals kept wandering by Shen Qingwu’s tent, again and again.

Shen Qingwu ignored them.

But when Shen Qingwu went to get her midday meal, she heard someone greeting her enthusiastically from a distance.

“General Shen, General Shen!”

The voice sounded a little familiar.

Shen Qingwu turned and saw a young soldier running toward her, sweat pouring down his face.

Who was this?

Shen Qingwu kept to herself and rarely had soldiers approach her on their own. This young soldier ran up and handed her a bowl of rice topped with vegetables.

The soldier said, “There are too many people eating over there, and it’s so hot—General, you shouldn’t squeeze in with them. General, you gave me a jade pendant the other day, and I sold it to scrape together medicine money for my sick mother. My whole family is grateful to you, General!

“You’re not angry that I sold the pendant, are you?”

Shen Qingwu didn’t care about that.

What she cared about was—”How much did you sell it for?”

The soldier named a figure.

Shen Qingwu thought: that was a full sixty percent below the jade’s original value.

Her own two hands had gone and ruined sixty percent of the value of a fine piece of jade.

Shen Qingwu said nothing.

The soldier smiled. “So, I got your meal for you! As long as you’re in camp, General, I’ll bring you your meals every day from now on!”

Shen Qingwu said coldly, “No need.”

The soldier scratched his head, embarrassed.

Shen Qingwu glanced at him. “I’m leaving. I won’t be in camp.”

The soldier realized then that Shen Qingwu hadn’t been looking down on him, and relaxed at once into a smile.

Relieved, the soldier cast about for something to say. “General, how’s your little sweetheart doing?”

Shen Qingwu didn’t follow. “What little sweetheart?”

The soldier reminded her, “You know—your friend’s little sweetheart!”

But in his heart, the soldier thought: that “friend” of yours is surely you yourself.

He understood.

They were all men together… no, they were all soldiers together, and in camp there was never anyone to their taste, so of course some of them kept a little sweetheart tucked away outside. He understood completely.

Only, what a shame.

They’d once guessed that General Shen fancied Bo Shuai. Later they guessed that General Shen and General Yang might be a pair. But now it seemed General Shen’s affections lay elsewhere.

Only, who could it be?

What kind of sweetheart could possibly beat out Bo Shuai or General Yang?

The soldier felt deeply unconvinced, but respectful all the same.

Slowly, Shen Qingwu recalled the advice she’d once sought about the jade pendant.

Fight at the head of the bed, make up at its foot.

She had followed it to the letter.

And ended up thrown out the door.

Shen Qingwu shot a glare at this grinning soldier.

The soldier startled. “That sweetheart hasn’t forgiven your—friend?”

Shen Qingwu glared at the man who’d given her the terrible advice.

The soldier looked baffled. “That shouldn’t be right? Fight at the head of the bed, make up at its foot—doesn’t that work?”

Shen Qingwu said, “It doesn’t.”

The soldier said, “Did your—friend—coax them properly afterward?”

Shen Qingwu said, “That sweetheart likes rough treatment.”

The soldier said nothing.

The soldier swallowed. “So did your—friend—get rough?”

Shen Qingwu said, “Exploded with it.”

The soldier asked, with real concern, “Your friend’s sweetheart wasn’t hurt, was he?”

Shen Qingwu found this soldier’s hesitant, halting manner strange.

She didn’t want to keep talking. She turned to go.

The soldier hurried after her. “General, General! Fight at the head of the bed, make up at its foot—that’s definitely sound advice. If it didn’t work, something must have gone wrong on your end! Maybe your—friend’s—technique wasn’t good enough!”

Shen Qingwu spun around abruptly.

Her gaze turned sharp. “Who are you talking about?!”

The soldier was instantly frozen by the cold fierceness in her eyes, his whole body going icy where he stood.

The soldier swallowed and gave an awkward laugh. “Your friend… General, look, isn’t that Zhang Sanlang over there?”

The soldier had only meant to change the subject, but Shen Qingwu immediately turned her head to look at the group approaching in the distance, Zhang Sanlang among them—

Zhang Xingjian was walking and talking with several generals, finalizing the terms of an agreement they’d reached.

Zhang Xingjian saw Shen Qingwu deep in animated conversation with that same soldier from before.

He laughed once.

The general beside him asked, “What is it?”

Zhang Xingjian said mildly, “Nothing.”

Even as he spoke, Shen Qingwu began walking toward him. He raised an eyebrow, but showed nothing on his face.

Shen Qingwu stopped before him and greeted him with a military salute.

Zhang Xingjian returned it. “General Shen.”

Shen Qingwu, suppressing her eagerness, said, “When do we set out?”

Zhang Xingjian said, “Whenever the General wishes to set out, we set out.”

Shen Qingwu thought about it. “May I have a word with you privately?”

Zhang Xingjian said, “This one has nothing he cannot say before others. Whatever the General wishes to say, this one will listen right here—no need to step aside.”

Shen Qingwu failed to catch the subtle edge in that moment.

Shen Qingwu said, “…I wanted to ask you, for our journey, what should I pack to be prepared, to keep pace with you? Or rather, do you think I should bring a saber, a spear, or a bow—which would serve better?”

Zhang Xingjian said, “Whatever the General likes to bring, bring it. Whatever the General wishes to discard, discard it. Entirely as the General pleases.”

Shen Qingwu said nothing.

She was beginning to sense, vaguely, that something was wrong.

But with so many generals present, all praising Zhang Xingjian’s courteous manner, Shen Qingwu said nothing further—

That afternoon, Shen Qingwu left camp together with Zhang Xingjian.

They traveled light.

Zhang Xingjian even sent the death soldiers who usually accompanied him away, assigning them other tasks. What exactly, Shen Qingwu didn’t know, and didn’t ask.

Now that only the two of them were on the road, Shen Qingwu grew restless with anticipation, thinking the mood between them might return to how it had been before they’d come to camp.

The two of them rode on horseback.

Shen Qingwu caught up from behind, staying half a horse-length back out of courtesy. Reining in her horse, she looked at his jade-fine profile from the side and behind, at the strong lines of his hand and wrist.

After quietly admiring him for a while, all Shen Qingwu heard was the rustle of wind, all she saw was green leaves drifting down.

It was a little too quiet.

Shen Qingwu coughed once.

She looked at Zhang Xingjian.

Zhang Xingjian seemed not to have heard.

Shen Qingwu coughed again, louder this time. He still rode with the same easy grace, as though he truly hadn’t heard a thing.

At last Shen Qingwu called out, “Zhang Yuelu!”

Astride his horse, Zhang Xingjian had no choice but to turn and look at her. “Does General Shen need something?”

Shen Qingwu thought: why was he calling her “General Shen”?

Her face stayed calm. “Nothing in particular…”

Zhang Xingjian said mildly, “Is the General bored?”

Shen Qingwu nodded.

Zhang Xingjian said, “Then the General should enjoy the scenery along the way.”

He turned his head away and ignored her again.

Shen Qingwu thought, …

Racking her brain, she said, “Where are we going, anyway?”

Zhang Xingjian said, “To see a teacher of mine.”

He answered readily. “He taught me my letters for several years at the Zhang household. He never achieved much as an official and resigned his post. We’ve kept up correspondence over the years, and since we’re in the area, there’s no harm in paying him a visit.”

Shen Qingwu said, “Oh.”

Shen Qingwu said, “So, um…”

He pretended not to hear.

Shen Qingwu coughed. “You’re not angry, are you?”

Zhang Xingjian smiled. “About what?”

Shen Qingwu said, “Last night.”

Zhang Xingjian smiled. “What happened last night? Why would General Shen think too much of it?”

This courteous, mild-mannered Zhang Xingjian put Shen Qingwu’s mind at ease, and yet in some way, made her feel even more unsettled.

He was a man remarkably skilled with words.

Whenever the two of them traveled together, she’d stay quiet the whole way while he always found the right thing to say to draw her over to him. Now that he wasn’t initiating conversation, Shen Qingwu racked her brain and couldn’t come up with much to say at all—this trip together was thoroughly dull—

Partway through, they stopped to rest at a tea stall.

Zhang Xingjian asked the shopkeeper for a bowl of tea.

Shen Qingwu tethered her horse and went into the stall for shade, and saw Zhang Xingjian slowly blowing on a bowl of tea.

Shen Qingwu stood at the table, looking at the empty space before her.

A chill began to creep into her gaze.

She said coldly, “Zhang Yuelu.”

Sitting properly at the table, sipping his tea, Zhang Xingjian’s lashes lifted like wings, his glassy eyes turning toward her.

Utterly innocent.

Shen Qingwu said, “Where’s mine?”

He feigned confusion. “Your what?”

Shen Qingwu demanded, “You’re so busy quenching your own thirst, you don’t spare me a thought at all?”

Zhang Xingjian blinked.

He said, “Why doesn’t Second Miss Shen just ask for her own tea? Could it be you have no coin? A bowl of tea is only two coppers—if Second Miss Shen doesn’t have it, this one could lend it to you.

“Second Miss Shen keeps her word, so I’m sure you’ll repay the debt—no need for a written note.”

Shen Qingwu looked at him coldly.

She began to feel a familiar sensation stirring—

Like being back in the days when she’d held him captive, the two of them locked in a battle of wits.

His way of playing deaf and dumb was every bit as sharp as ever.

He’d stirred in her an inexplicable urge to fight.

Shen Qingwu stood ramrod straight, blocking his view, maintaining her domineering air. “I want you to speak on my behalf.”

Zhang Xingjian refused. “This one isn’t your servant, isn’t a stand-in for your mouth. Second Miss isn’t deaf or mute—why should this one speak for you?”

Shen Qingwu said, “You used to.”

Zhang Xingjian said with a smile, “Did I? I think Second Miss Shen is imagining things.”

Shen Qingwu said, “So you’re unwilling?”

Zhang Xingjian smiled. “Yes.”

Shen Qingwu said, “You’re deliberately trying to make me angry, aren’t you?”

Zhang Xingjian said, “How could you call it deliberate—compared to Second Miss Shen, this one’s skills fall far short.”

He sighed, as if moved. “I really must learn more from Second Miss Shen.”

He raised his tea to her in a toast. “Let us learn from each other and improve together, shall we not encourage one another.”

What sarcasm!

Even without fully understanding it, Shen Qingwu was genuinely angry now.

The old man running the tea stall watched this young couple’s spat with great interest.

This little road usually saw few travelers; he used to be afraid the officers would tax him under some strange pretext, so he hadn’t dared set up his stall. Only recently, with those officers gone, had he come back out to earn a little tea money. With so few travelers passing through, sweethearts for him to watch bicker were even rarer.

But seeing that this young couple looked about to really quarrel, the old man no longer dared enjoy the show and hurried to smooth things over. “It’s only a bowl of tea, isn’t it? This old man will treat you, young miss…”

Shen Qingwu said coldly, “No need.”

The old man froze.

He watched Shen Qingwu remove the straw hat from her head. With her face revealed, beyond her air of valor, there was a certain delicate beauty to her.

Shen Qingwu, eyes fixed on Zhang Xingjian sitting properly with his tea, held the straw hat in her hand and, without turning her head, said, “Give me a bowl of tea.”

The old man was baffled.

Zhang Xingjian laughed softly. “Don’t panic, old sir. She’s speaking to me, not to you.”

Having said that, Zhang Xingjian showed Shen Qingwu his empty tea bowl.

He said, “There’s none left…”

The old man, behind them, said, “It’s only a bowl of tea…”

Shen Qingwu said, “Shut up.”

Zhang Xingjian said, “That, too, was said to me.”

The old man said nothing.

Shen Qingwu said, “Is that really so?”

Zhang Xingjian said, “Can’t be helped—the water’s all gone, Second Miss will have to fend for herself… Old sir, that was still directed at me.”

As Zhang Xingjian carried on this exchange with Shen Qingwu while also “translating” for her benefit, the old man watched, dazzled, unable to keep up.

Shen Qingwu said, “Turn around.”

Zhang Xingjian said softly, “…Old sir, that one was for you. Do as she says—she’s quite fierce.”

That “quite fierce” lingered on his tongue, his tone soft and unhurried, laced with a hint of coquettish complaint and a hint of allure.

Such a small, subtle thing made Shen Qingwu’s lashes tremble.

Without even turning to look, she could sense from the shift in the air that the sole spectator behind her had obediently turned his back, no longer watching their little show.

Shen Qingwu tossed the straw hat once in her hand and made one last confirmation with Zhang Xingjian: “Really not going to call for tea for me?”

Zhang Xingjian only smiled and said nothing.

In the next instant, the old man, his back turned, heard the young miss’s voice come very softly: “Very well, then.”

A silence fell.

The old man strained his ears and heard nothing.

Too curious to resist, he slowly began to try turning to look—when a small blade flew past his ear and buried itself in the post of the tea stall.

That young miss was a trained fighter!

The old man truly dared not turn around now, dared not move, dared not watch the show any longer—

What the old man didn’t know was that behind him, Shen Qingwu had turned the straw hat on its side, holding it upright in her hand, and leaned down.

A flicker crossed Zhang Xingjian’s eyes.

He was clever enough that even without warning, he could read the signs from her the instant it began. His elbow braced on the table, he made to rise and leave, but Shen Qingwu caught his shoulder with one hand and pressed him back down.

She lowered her head and kissed him.

Holding the straw hat upright in her hand, she used it to shield them from any potential onlooker behind.

Dust drifted faintly through the air; time slowed and sharpened at once.

Every hair on Zhang Xingjian’s body stood on end, his eyes widening. His elbow, braced on the table, trembled; he glared at her fiercely: how dare she!

In broad daylight!

And yet, in broad daylight, Shen Qingwu was exactly that bold.

He didn’t want to alarm their one and only witness, so he couldn’t make a sound; if he meant to resist her, the kiss would only drag on longer; and the longer it dragged on, the more easily his feelings would rise, the more easily his body would respond.

His bent fingers, resting on the table, twitched.

Sweat beaded at his temples.

Her soft lips and tongue pressed and worked against his again and again, forcing him to yield.

In the end, he wasn’t shameless enough to hold out; he had no choice but to part his lips and let her force her way in, dominant as ever. Her tongue pressed and curled, drawing all the moisture from his mouth to ease her own thirst.

But was there ever such an unreasonable method in this world?

Her method was simply wrong!—

The old man coughed once.

He asked, trembling, “Can I turn around now?”

Shen Qingwu said flatly, “Mm.”

The old man turned and saw the two of them seated together again. Perhaps it was the heat, but that fine young gentleman’s neck had gone quite red from the sun, and the young miss’s face had gone a little red too…

The young gentleman’s brows and eyes were lovely, his expression distant and composed; the young miss’s brows and the corners of her eyes carried a faint air of pleasure.

The old man said kindly, “It’s so hot out—mind you don’t catch heatstroke. Let this old man treat you to a bowl of tea, free of charge.”

Zhang Xingjian rose abruptly.

With his back to the old man, he said gently, “No need. We’re leaving.”

He left two coppers on the table and went to fetch the horses outside the stall. A stray glance showed his lips flushed a deep red, as if rouged.

Shen Qingwu smiled to herself, well pleased, and rose unhurriedly to go fetch her horse as well—

By nightfall, the two of them finally found a post station, and upon inquiry, learned there were rooms available.

By this point, Shen Qingwu had already begun to suspect Zhang Xingjian was working against her on purpose.

She just wasn’t entirely certain.

So she stood with her arms crossed at the counter, determined to confirm it once and for all.

Shen Qingwu heard Zhang Xingjian speaking with the attendant: “Two guest rooms, thank you.”

Shen Qingwu’s lashes flew up as she shot him a look.

The attendant said, “Ah, rooms are a bit tight right now…”

Zhang Xingjian said, “This one doesn’t mind sleeping while waiting for a room to open up.”

The attendant glanced between the two of them, apparently guessing at their relationship.

Zhang Xingjian said, “Siblings.”

Shen Qingwu let out a cold laugh.

The attendant said nothing.

Fine, then. Whatever the guests wanted was their own business—even if the two of them, however one looked at it, seemed nothing like siblings at all—

In the middle of the night, Zhang Xingjian suddenly woke.

He shot his hand out at once, and without even looking, swung the dagger hidden beneath his pillow. Its cold gleam flashed—only to be caught midway by a pair of hands.

Someone was sitting astride his waist, leaning down to grip his dagger.

Zhang Xingjian’s expression stayed blank.

Shen Qingwu said, “Did you think sealing the door and windows would keep me out?”

Zhang Xingjian said, “It’s hardly proper for Second Miss Shen to come calling in the dead of night.”

Shen Qingwu said, “You could always get even—come calling on me instead.”

Zhang Xingjian said nothing.

In the darkness, Shen Qingwu kept up her contest of wills with him.

She thought it over slowly. The soldier had said her technique wasn’t good enough, that was why she couldn’t coax Zhang Xingjian around.

Should she try something else?

Zhang Xingjian reminded her, gentle and mild, “General, it will be dawn soon.”

After a long, long while, Shen Qingwu sighed, took hold of his hand, and flung the dagger far out of his grip.

She leaned down to embrace him, doing her best to soften her voice as she coaxed him. “My lord… Sanlang… Zhang Yuelu, won’t you stop being angry? I already know I was wrong…”

Zhang Xingjian said, “Don’t strain your voice like that.”

Shen Qingwu thought, …

Damn it.

Who was straining their voice???

She was being coquettish!!!