Xiao Qiao slowly closed her eyes. Wei Shao initially stayed with her until she fell asleep. After a long while, he opened his eyes and glanced down at her.

Xiao Qiao’s eyes were closed, her lashes lowered, and her breathing even as she fell into a deep slumber.

Wei Shao thought for a moment, then slowly released her. He gently got out of bed, tucked the blanket around her, and turned to put on his clothes.

As he bent to pull on his boots, he heard a soft, delicate voice behind him: “It’s already dark, where are you going, my lord?”

Wei Shao paused and looked back. Seeing Xiao Qiao sitting up in bed with her eyes open, he cleared his throat, turned to her, and said casually with a smile, “Nothing important. I just remembered something I wanted to ask Jia Si about. Did I wake you?”

Without waiting for her reply, Wei Shao kicked off the boot he had just put on, lay down on his side, and gently pulled her back onto the pillow, saying softly, “I’m sorry. I’ll stay with you.”

Xiao Qiao nestled in his arms, closing her eyes quietly for a moment before suddenly opening them again.

Wei Shao seemed to sense this and stroked her hair. Seeing her look up at him, he asked, “Can’t you sleep?”

“My lord is hiding something from me,” Xiao Qiao said with certainty.

Wei Shao raised an eyebrow: “What could I be hiding? Don’t overthink it.” He said, pulling her closer.

Xiao Qiao shook her head and broke free: “My lord must be hiding something. I can feel it… Could it be related to Chen Rui, whom you mentioned earlier?”

At the mention of Chen Rui, Wei Shao’s eyelid twitched, and a dark shadow passed through his eyes.

Having been with him for over a year, Xiao Qiao had grown familiar with his subtle expressions and immediately sensed a hint of hostility. She pushed his arm gently: “Why aren’t you saying anything? Did I guess correctly?”

Wei Shao had cut off his earlier sentence to avoid frightening her.

While Xiao Qiao was asleep, he realized that he’d been in the inner chambers since returning last night and hadn’t gone out to check how Jia Si had handled the matter. He had planned to go out and inquire while she slept.

Moreover, he hadn’t wanted her to know about such things.

Now, pressed by her questions, he spoke lightly: “That scoundrel had ill intentions towards you before, and he was lucky to have lived until now. This time, he even caused you such a fright. It seems too easy to just let him die like that. I merely wanted to exhume his body and dismember it again. Only that could appease your anger and quell the rage in my heart.”

Xiao Qiao was greatly startled. She stared at him with wide eyes, realizing he wasn’t joking, and hurriedly shook her head: “My lord, please don’t!”

Wei Shao looked at her directly, not hiding his slight displeasure at being stopped: “You can’t bear it? I heard from Jia Si that you specifically ordered him to be buried properly that day.”

Xiao Qiao sat up, holding the blanket to her chest, her eyes fixed on Wei Shao: “Indeed, I did tell Lin Hu to bury him in a coffin. I did so not out of any particular sentiment, but because even though this man disgusted me, he had already lost his life, which can be seen as karmic retribution for his actions in this life. He died before me, and while I could have ordered his body to be left in the wilderness, doing so wouldn’t have brought me any more peace of mind. Therefore, I treated him as an ordinary person and had him buried. It was a small gesture that cost nothing, so why not do it?”

Wei Shao continued to look at her, but the hint of displeasure in his eyes gradually faded.

“I also don’t agree with you exhuming him now. Once buried, why not let him rest? Digging him up now might satisfy a momentary anger. But my lord, if you search your heart, even if you dismember him a thousand times, will it truly erase your hatred for him?”

Wei Shao remained silent.

Xiao Qiao moved closer to him, her arms encircling his waist, her face pressed against the crook of his neck where his pulse throbbed, and said softly, “Moreover, Manman is afraid. Manman doesn’t want my lord to do such a terrifying thing.”

The rage that had been building in Wei Shao’s heart since he learned the details last night, which had almost burst his blood vessels, slowly subsided inch by inch at her gentle words.

Finally, when she leaned lightly into his embrace and said that Manman was scared and didn’t want her lord to do such a frightening thing, although Wei Shao still didn’t find it particularly terrifying, he felt genuinely remorseful.

He embraced her in return, kissing her forehead comfortingly, and said in a low voice, “I’ll do as Manman says. I won’t bother with that scoundrel anymore.”

…

Her reasons for not wanting Wei Shao to do such a thing were quite complex.

Partly it was for Chen Rui. Although she truly detested him when he was alive, now that he was dead, subjecting him to such treatment again seemed excessive to her.

Partly it was for Wei Shao. She didn’t want him to bear the reputation of a corpse mutilator because of her. After all, in any era, that was not a flattering reputation.

Lastly, perhaps subconsciously, she couldn’t help but associate this with Wei Shao’s hatred for her own Qiao family.

Although she knew that Wei Shao’s hatred for Chen Rui couldn’t compare to his hatred for the Qiao family if he was willing to let go of his hatred for Chen Rui because of her, could she hope that one day, Wei Shao might also set aside his hatred for the Qiao family because of her existence?

He had finally given the response she had hoped to see.

Xiao Qiao felt relieved and happy, and also a bit grateful.

She looked up at him, gently wrapping her arms around his neck, and said softly with parted lips, “My lord, you are so good.”

Wei Shao grinned, kicked off the boot still on his other foot with a thud, and lay down with her in his arms.

“Sleep now, I’m not going out,” he said.

…

A few days later, Jia Si finally got to see Wei Shao and asked about the follow-up.

That night, he had hurriedly led people to do the grueling work of digging three feet deep and then had someone guard what they had dug up, waiting and waiting, but never receiving further instructions from the Marquis.

After waiting for so many days, he couldn’t hold back anymore and asked.

“You dug it up? Bury it back,” Wei Shao said casually as if he had just remembered.

…

Wei Shao stayed in Jinyang for only five or six days before receiving news from Xihe Commandery.

As expected, Feng Zhao had regrouped his forces and was now heading back towards Shang Commandery.

On the day when Gongsun Yang and Yuan Wang had sworn brotherhood by mixing blood, while the Beihu people were singing and dancing, the Diaomo messenger who had come to deliver the message found it quite dull and quietly left when no one was paying attention.

The Diaomo hadn’t given up. Later, they brought rich gifts to the Beihu territory to meet Yuan Wang. They apologized for their previous actions and tried to persuade him to ally with them. Even if he wouldn’t send troops, they asked him not to align with the Han people.

Yuan Wang had always been open-minded and disliked war. As he grew older, he increasingly longed for peace. Moreover, having learned from Yuan about what the Diaomo had done to his grandson, how could he possibly agree? He didn’t even show his face, feigning illness to avoid meeting, and asked the Diaomo to take their gifts and leave.

The Diaomo continued to try to persuade other Qiang people to ally with them and send troops. But since the Beihu had submitted to Wei Shao and received his covenant, other tribes were also tempted. Despite the Diaomo’s efforts, there was little response. Undeterred, they returned home, trained their troops, and decided to bide their time.

Another great battle was inevitably approaching.

Xihe Commandery was a strategic military location, and it wasn’t suitable to bring Xiao Qiao along. Wei Shao bid her farewell once again and returned to Xihe Commandery.

This parting lasted three months.

When the calendar entered the seventh month of that year, Xiao Qiao received the latest letter from Wei Shao.

In his letter, he told her that half a month ago, in a battle in Anding Commandery, Feng Zhao had suffered a great defeat and completely lost Liang Province, which he had now taken over.

The Shaodan Qiang people continued to resist stubbornly, but they were of little concern. He estimated that he would be able to end the war and return to Jinyang soon.

“I miss you, and you appeared in my dream again last night. But I wonder, who appears in your dreams as your husband?” he wrote at the end of the letter, half-teasingly and half-jealously.

Xiao Qiao read the letter several times, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Sitting alone by the window, she picked up a brush to write a reply.

Halfway through writing the letter, Spring Maiden suddenly rushed in from outside, her expression solemn. She leaned in and whispered, “My lady, guess who else has come to Jinyang?”

Xiao Qiao looked at her, noting her expression of disgust as if something unclean had arrived. She smiled and said, “People come and go in Jinyang every day. Who has made Spring Maiden so displeased?”

Spring Maiden snorted and said, “Who else could it be? That Madam Su, wife of the Duke of Zuofengyi! She’s come to Jinyang uninvited!”

Xiao Qiao slowly put down her brush.

Su E Huang, whom she hadn’t thought about for a long time, had now come to Jinyang.

Originally, Xiao Qiao hadn’t thought about this woman for some time. But now, with her sudden arrival, many memories from her previous life about this woman and her current husband, Wei Shao, flashed through her mind like a lantern show.

Her ability to come to Jinyang smoothly wasn’t surprising. If she had returned to the State of Zhongshan after leaving Youzhou following the previous Lurong Assembly, then the route from Zhongshan to Jinyang was all within Wei Shao’s territory and relatively safe.

Moreover, she couldn’t have traveled alone.

As for her purpose, Xiao Qiao didn’t need to guess to know that it must be for Wei Shao.

“When did she arrive, and where is she staying now?” Xiao Qiao asked after a moment of contemplation.

“She arrived yesterday. She’s staying at the official guesthouse. She brought many attendants and beautiful maids, quite a grand entourage,” Spring Maiden said in a tone of disgust.