Ji Bozai noticed the way Ming Yi looked at Zheng Tiao – her eyes sparkled with admiration and warmth, completely different from how she gazed at him. She didn’t know how many ways there were to look at someone you liked, but something felt off about the man before her. He was too calm. Though his eyes were handsome and his gaze gentle, it seemed to lack a certain something.
“Why would you think that?” Hearing her words, he lowered his eyes, looking quite hurt. “After all this time, don’t you understand what kind of person I am?”
It was precisely because she understood him somewhat that she dared not trust him easily.
Ming Yi smiled insincerely and turned back to continue arranging her clothes. “This isn’t exactly a place of absolute peace. My lord, you should focus on important matters. Don’t concern yourself with these trivial things.”
How did rekindling their relationship become a trivial matter?
Ji Bozai exhaled deeply, helping her tidy up the bedding piled to one side before stepping out of the room.
Ming Yi didn’t even look up, continuing to sort through the mountain of clothes.
Then she sat down, gazing out the window lost in thought.
If he only wanted her alone… how could he possibly want just her? Setting aside all worldly complications, his seemingly inexhaustible energy wasn’t something she alone could handle.
However, in the days that followed, Ji Bozai truly seemed like a changed man. Many in Cangshen City came to curry favor with him when they heard the news, including several beauties that even Ming Yi found captivating. But he didn’t so much as give them a second glance. He left early for training and returned late, even taking her out for street-side wonton soup on the way back to their quarters.
They couldn’t manage all the children themselves, but Ji Bozai didn’t hire young maids. Instead, he brought in elderly nannies in their fifties and sixties. He also didn’t keep the half-grown children around to run errands but gave them all to her care.
As Luo Jiaoyang put it: “Why does the chicken soup we’ve been eating lately always seem to be made from roosters?”
Ming Yi observed coldly, thinking he was probably just putting on an act for the time being. But before she knew it, October had arrived, and Ji Bozai was still focused solely on training, without the slightest involvement with women.
This had other benefits too. Their team’s cohesion improved rapidly. If their ragtag group had been at fifty percent strength before, Ming Yi felt they were now at ninety percent. At the very least, defeating the team from Chaoyang City wouldn’t be difficult.
As the year-end Six Cities Conference approached, every city grew tense. The Grand Minister of Muxing City urgently summoned them back.
The day before their departure, Ji Bozai deliberately woke Ming Yi up early.
Shivering from the cold, he wrapped her in a large tiger-skin blanket and carried her up to the rooftop.
The roof was very high. Looking down, everything – houses, flowers, trees – was covered in a white coat. Early-rising traders in Cangshen City would light torches by their doors. Red flames flickered to life one after another, casting a glow on the pure white landscape, creating a unique ambiance.
Now fully awake, Ming Yi couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder.
Ji Bozai smiled gently. “You won’t see such scenery once we return to Muxing City. You always wake up late, so you should at least see this before we leave.”
How considerate of him.
Sniffling and wrapping the blanket tighter, Ming Yi looked down at the courtyard where the six children they had taken in were already up, busily sweeping snow.
“There will be room for them on the flying beast carriage,” Ji Bozai said, glancing at her. “I know what you’re thinking. Once we’re back in Muxing City, you can arrange for their care.”
Her eyes brightened slightly, but Ming Yi lowered them demurely. “If so, then I thank you, my lord.”
“Have you ever thought about saving more people?” he suddenly asked.
Ming Yi smiled bitterly. “What good would thinking about it do? The customs of the Qingyun Realm have been established for hundreds of years. How could I, a mere woman, hope to change them?”
“If you want to, you can,” he said, brushing snow off his shoulders and carrying her down from the eaves. His dark eyes gazed ahead. “Whatever you want, I will bring it to you.”
Ming Yi stared at his profile in astonishment.
Who wouldn’t be moved by someone handsome and noble, wealthy yet generous to her, even granting her every wish? It was truly difficult – the human heart is made of flesh, after all.
But just as her heart began to flutter, she forcefully suppressed it.
In a duel between high-level fighters, sometimes victory depends on who makes the first move. The one who acts first reveals a weakness, allowing the opponent to find a way to defeat them. Matters of the heart seemed similar – whoever gives their all first becomes vulnerable to manipulation.
She and Ji Bozai both understood this principle, so she didn’t believe Ji Bozai truly cared for her as much as he showed.
And yet, he did seem to be very mindful of her.
As they were about to return to Muxing City and everyone was loading their belongings onto the carriage, he stood by the vehicle talking to Qin Shangwu. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her stepping onto a low stool to board. Without turning his head or interrupting his conversation with his master, he reached out to shield her from the doorframe she might have bumped her head on.
As her forehead touched his palm, Ming Yi heard the uncontrollable pounding in her chest.
Thump-thump, thump-thump—
Taking a deep breath, she sat down in the carriage compartment and fanned herself with her hand.
Luo Jiaoyang, having settled the children, turned to see her state and couldn’t help but ask with concern, “We haven’t even left Cangshen territory yet. How are you already so flushed?”
“It’s nothing,” Ming Yi replied vaguely. “I’m just excited about going back.”
“That’s understandable. It’s been nearly half a year since we left Muxing City,” Luo Jiaoyang sighed, then smiled. “It’ll be good to return. I must learn from you and Bozai – I’ll keep all my gold on me!”
Ming Yi smiled, then turned to see Ji Bozai opening the door to board. His dark eyes met hers directly.
Casually averting her gaze, Ming Yi took a sip of tea, watching the clouds begin to roll back outside the window.
“The Grand Minister of Cangshen is straightforward and didn’t make Bozai sign a contract,” Qin Shangwu said with relief as he sat down. “Our minister is suspicious by nature. If he finds out, we’re bound to suffer.”
“Master, don’t worry. We’re all on the same side. No one will betray him,” Chu He said with a smile. “This journey has brought us closer to Bozai. From now on, we’re all brothers – we rise and fall together.”
“I’m glad you think that way. Then this trip wasn’t in vain,” Qin Shangwu nodded, then looked at Ming Yi. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “I don’t know when news of your identity will reach Muxing, but for now, they’re unaware. I hope you can participate in the Six Cities Conference alongside Bozai.”
He paused, then said through gritted teeth, “If we succeed, I can request a reward of one thousand taels of gold from the Grand Minister.”
Ming Yi, who had been lounging to the side, immediately sat up straight upon hearing this amount, her eyes wide as saucers. “The Six Cities Conference is a serious matter. How can money be… Wait, how much did you say?”
“One thousand taels. Of gold.” Qin Shangwu held up one finger.