Thanks to Xia Xiuyan’s statement “she is my wife,” by the time she returned to her small table, Qiu Xinran was too embarrassed to directly reach out and tear at the lamb leg placed on her table. She could only endure the gazes occasionally cast from all directions, holding herself with dignified bearing as she used a small knife to cut off two pieces and put them in her mouth, not even daring to chew carefully. And He Zhong beside her had remained in a daze since her return, seeming unable to figure out what had happened even by the time the banquet ended.

As soon as they returned to the post house arranged by the royal court, Qiu Xinran dove straight into her room. It wasn’t until lamp-lighting time that a maid came on orders to deliver a set of clothes, saying respectfully: “This is what the Marquis Dingbei ordered this servant to deliver. Please change into it early tomorrow morning.”

Xia Xiuyan had ordered someone to send this?

Qiu Xinran received the clothes. After the maid left, she shook them open to look and discovered it was a long dress worn by Diyue women. For a moment, she found his intention hard to fathom.

Early the next morning, when the sky was still dimly lit, there came a knocking sound outside the room. Xia Xiuyan stood with arms crossed under the corridor eaves outside the door. After waiting a while with no one coming to answer the door, he turned his head to glance at the morning sun about to rise, hesitating whether to come back later. Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from inside the room.

The door gave a soft creak as it opened. A woman wearing a red dress appeared behind the door. The man under the corridor froze, gazing at her and finding it difficult to move his eyes away for a moment.

She wore a red gauze dress with intricate patterns embroidered in gold thread. A silver belt at her waist hung with several tassels, accentuating her slender waist. The woman’s peach blossom eyes tended toward an alluring appearance, and her figure wasn’t as thin as a Daoist’s. Normally she deliberately wore plain, elegant clothes. But today this red outfit was closely tailored, setting off her slender waist and long legs. Like clouds at the edge of heaven wrapped around her body, falling before his eyes, her radiance practically surpassed the morning sun.

Qiu Xinran hadn’t noticed the expression on his face. Holding a piece of red silk in her hands, she lowered her head to compare it against her waist, asking him for help without awareness: “Is this how you wear these clothes?”

Xia Xiuyan’s gaze dimmed slightly. He reached out to take the silk scarf from her hand, moved behind her, and gently wrapped it half around her face, covering half of it.

Qiu Xinran squinted and smiled with empty hands: “So that’s what it’s for—is it similar to the veils in the Central Plains?”

Xia Xiuyan reached out to carefully arrange her hair, lowering his eyes: “The border has strong winds and sand. This headscarf can also be used to block wind and sand.”

Qiu Xinran’s eyes lit up: “Is the Marquis going to take me to see the grasslands?” Seeing Xia Xiuyan didn’t deny it, she became happy at once and couldn’t help asking, “Then when do we leave? I see the others don’t seem to have risen early yet…”

“He Zhong and the others still need to stay here for half a day. It’s just the two of us.” Xia Xiuyan explained, “The return to Yuzhou doesn’t pass through there. We’ll set out early to make a circuit there and then meet up with them at the next town. Otherwise, going there with a whole group making a big show would be too ostentatious.”

Qiu Xinran had originally thought the Kada tribal grasslands were a necessary route back to the city. She hadn’t expected Xia Xiuyan planned to take her there specially, and for a moment she couldn’t speak. But Xia Xiuyan saw through her thoughts and said blandly: “I’ve heard there are quite a few refugees in that area recently. I was planning to go see the situation anyway.”

He had also changed into local clothing today, though men’s clothes were much simpler than women’s—not as exaggerated as her outfit. Qiu Xinran glanced at her red dress: “If we’re going in disguise, isn’t this outfit too eye-catching?”

Xia Xiuyan chuckled softly. He had asked a palace maid at the royal court to find her women’s clothing, originally wanting to leave the city quietly. But the palace maid had misunderstood—everyone at the banquet knew this woman from Dali was the Marquis Dingbei’s wife, so naturally she didn’t dare be negligent and found her extremely luxurious dress and skirt.

However… Xia Xiuyan glanced again at the woman in the red dress and suddenly felt somewhat reluctant to part with the sight. He feigned calmness: “Forget it. Finding someone to get another set of clothes to change into would waste time. Let’s just go in this.”

Going to the grasslands would only delay them a day—they didn’t need to bring much luggage. The two traveled light, mounted swift horses, and before the sun was high they had already left the city heading toward the grasslands. Along the way they passed several villages and had a simple lunch. By noon, with the sun shining overhead, the further in they went, the quieter their surroundings became. Looking up, they saw nothing but endless plains stretching to the horizon.

They let their horses roam freely along the river. Along the way they could see cattle, sheep, and horses scattered around grazing with lowered heads. It was the height of summer, when water and grass were most abundant. In the azure sky floated large, large white clouds, making one’s mood involuntarily lighten.

Qiu Xinran pointed at a small hill in the distance and asked: “What’s behind there?”

“More grassland.”

“And beyond that?”

“Still more.”

The woman on horseback laughed, her eyes bright and shining as she looked back at him: “Is this the place you longed for in Chang’an?”

Xia Xiuyan was startled, then also laughed: “That’s right.”

“When I was young in Yuzhou, my father often rode with me to this area. He said when I could ride across this entire grassland, only then would he teach me military strategy and tactics. Later when I returned to Yuzhou, the first battle I fought was here. In Qi Kedan’s eyes there was only Yuzhou, but my father taught me: wherever your horse can run, that’s where you can go.” The man on horseback gazed toward the distant horizon, light in his eyes, as if everywhere his eyes could see were places he could reach.

Qiu Xinran still remembered when she first met him as a youth—back then he was full of gloomy, lingering illness. But now all that had disappeared. She had never felt so grateful for the divination she performed that year at age fifteen. The white horse carried the youth away from Chang’an, and from then on, prosperous Chang’an lost a sickly heir, while the vast borderlands gained a Marquis Who Pacifies the North.

An eagle flew overhead. Qiu Xinran watched it soar away through the clouds. Her thoughts stirred, and in this moment she seemed to comprehend something, but before she could think carefully, that bit of spiritual insight had already fleetingly passed.

She said to Xia Xiuyan: “When I was little in the palace, I received a letter from a fellow disciple. In her letter she mentioned General Xia taking their group to the grasslands outside the city, and I was very envious. I never imagined that ten years would flash by and another General Xia could bring me here to see it.”

Her words were playful with some teasing. Xia Xiuyan sat on his horse, seeing the wind blow away the red head scarf from her face, revealing beneath it a flower-like smiling face. He recalled what Xia Hongying had said to him when bringing him here in childhood. Princess Mingyang had never left Chang’an in her life. Back then, his father had sat alone on horseback and said to him when he was still young: “The grasslands are so beautiful. When Yan’er grows up and has a girl he loves, he must bring her here to see it too.”

Now the girl he loved was beside him, smiling at him with sparkling eyes, making his heart sway. He reached out to grasp that section of red silk and suddenly said: “I remember you rarely wear such bright colors?”

Qiu Xinran glanced at him sideways: “What, is the Marquis going to say I don’t look good in red either?”

Xia Xiuyan was startled, then remembered that year at Qinglong Temple when he had been contrary inside and deliberately said she didn’t look good in white. He hadn’t expected she still remembered this grudge and had suddenly settled old scores with him, making him unable to help but laugh: “You do look very good in red.”

Qiu Xinran humphed. In her heart she wasn’t really angry with him, but said with her mouth: “You think saying this now means I won’t be angry anymore?”

She raised her hand to pull that section of red cloth from his hand to wrap it around her face again, but couldn’t pull it free—instead he grasped her hand. The man held her fingertips through the red silk and said something in a low voice. Qiu Xinran was startled, then a wave of heat rapidly climbed up her cheeks. She forcefully yanked the red cloth from his fingertips and, before he could notice, frantically covered her cheeks, wrapping them tightly. Without a word she spurred her horse to run ahead, hearing from far behind a low, muffled laugh.

After running some distance, in her ears she seemed to still hear what he had just said: “The moment I saw you this morning, I thought you would look very good in wedding clothes too.”

She hadn’t run far when she heard hoofbeats catching up from behind. Somewhere a herdsman was singing loudly, his voice clear and melodious, carried by the wind blowing across the plains to distant places.

Qiu Xinran listened with her head tilted for a while, then asked curiously: “What is he singing?”

“He’s singing about his homeland, and also about cattle and sheep.” Xia Xiuyan looked at her, his gaze as clear as lake water. “He’s asking the girl who came from afar to stay in his homeland.”

Qiu Xinran still remembered the earlier grudge and deliberately said: “I think you clearly don’t know either, but are just making something up to fool me.”

Hearing her say this, Xia Xiuyan wasn’t annoyed but instead laughed softly. After a moment, Qiu Xinran suddenly heard a low humming voice by her ear. It took her quite a while to realize this was Xia Xiuyan singing that song.

The distant singing was clear and pleasant, but the voice of the man beside her was low and melodious as if whispering in her ear. The horse walked aimlessly forward in the singing. Gradually she could no longer hear the distant singing and could only hear the voice of the man beside her.

Just as she was lost in thought, the singing abruptly stopped. The person beside her suddenly reached out to grasp her reins, his expression serious as he gazed at a small hill not far away, seeming to notice movements in the vicinity.

Qiu Xinran also looked around in a circle, finally discovering something strange. The surroundings had somehow suddenly become extremely quiet, as if even the wind had stopped. The horses beneath them showed some agitation, stopping in place and snorting several times, unwilling to go forward.

Xia Xiuyan stared intently at the small hill to the northwest. In the silence, he seemed to hear the faint rustling of grass. He held the horse of the person beside him and slowly backed up two steps.

Qiu Xinran followed his gaze toward that small slope. The rustling sound of grass gradually became clearer in her ears. After a while, when she finally saw clearly the figure appearing on the slope, she couldn’t help but tighten her grip on the reins—it was a silver-gray wolf.

Or rather, it was a pack of gray wolves.

Wolf packs often appeared on the grasslands and rarely moved alone. Before long, pairs of green eyes emerged one after another on the small slope. The horses began to neigh. If Xia Xiuyan weren’t gripping the reins tightly, they would have immediately turned and run.

The wolf pack discovered these two uninvited guests on the grassland. After seeming to compare the numerical advantage, the alpha wolf first slowly walked down the slope a few steps.

Qiu Xinran didn’t dare make a sound. This was her first time encountering such a situation—she didn’t know how to respond.

Fortunately, Xia Xiuyan remained very calm. The horses they rode out of the city were fine horses. In terms of speed, they might not be unable to break through and escape. The fear was that in the chaos they would be scattered by the wolf pack. Qiu Xinran had no experience traveling on the grasslands—if they got separated here…

Thinking of this, his gaze darkened. He said to the person beside him: “Come onto my horse.”

Qiu Xinran was alarmed. Before she could react, the wolf pack on the slope seemed to have already sensed their intention and suddenly charged.

There was no time for more words now. The two turned their horses to run in the other direction. Xia Xiuyan reached out his hand toward the woman beside him and called out loudly: “Come here, don’t be afraid!”

In her panic, Qiu Xinran grasped his wrist, kicked free of the stirrups beneath her feet, and suddenly released the reins she’d been gripping tightly. Xia Xiuyan pulled hard with his hand. Qiu Xinran only felt her body become airborne, then opening her eyes again, she was already sitting on another horse.

The horse she had originally been riding, now unrestrained, immediately bolted off wildly, charging away to who knows where. The horse beneath them, however, had its forward speed slowed by the added weight of another person.

The wolf pack behind quickly caught up. Xia Xiuyan gripped the reins tightly with one hand while drawing his long sword with the other, swinging it backward. He indeed managed to wound several gray wolves running in front.

The alpha wolf yelped in pain and rolled on the ground, but didn’t give up the pursuit and soon caught up again. The wolf pack chased the swift horse across the vast, boundless grassland. At this critical moment, hoofbeats suddenly came from the slope on the other side. Billowing dust rose in the distance, as if thousands upon thousands of troops were rushing in this direction.

The relentlessly pursuing wolf pack, hearing the commotion, gradually stopped chasing. A group of men waving lassos and shouting rode down the slope. Horse hooves rose high, trampling toward the wolf pack. The wolf pack, scattered by the horses descending from the sky, fled in all directions and soon turned tail to escape.

The man in the lead chased for a distance before stopping. He turned his horse to walk toward the man and woman on horseback.

Qiu Xinran sat in front of Xia Xiuyan, not knowing whether those approaching from the dust were friend or foe. As the dust gradually settled, she finally saw clearly the attire of the man in front. This didn’t seem to be a merchant caravan. The man in the lead had a large saber on his back and was built like a bear with a tiger’s back. The group of people behind him also didn’t look like ordinary herdsmen. They silently sized up the two on horseback. After a moment, the man in the lead furrowed his brow and asked in broken Han language: “Where are you from?”