Chapter 84

As the sun sank in the west, the tattered battle flags planted across the battlefield were stained by the sunset into a blood-red hue tinged with faint golden light. Corpses littered the ground, painting a scene of endless desolation.

The cavalry charging toward them was like a steel blade forcefully driven into this war-ravaged land. The rebel soldiers who had just laid down their weapons and surrendered looked even more terrified, huddling together like lambs awaiting slaughter.

As the distance closed, Fan Changyu could finally see the lone rider charging at the very front more clearly.

His face was as cold as carved jade, and his eyes—like stars burning amidst ice—were locked onto her with the ferocity of a wolf hunting across the wilderness. He cracked his whip viciously and galloped straight toward her.

A chill ran through Fan Changyu.

She muttered to Xie Wu, “Now that he’s closer… why does he look even more like him?”

Xie Wu looked as though he were about to cry. Seeing Xie Zheng’s murderous expression, he blurted out instinctively,

“Miss, run!”

Fan Changyu had long since lost her helmet. After her fierce battle with the rebel general, the small bun atop her head was barely holding together. Loose strands of hair flew wildly around her face, making her stand out conspicuously among the dirt-covered soldiers.

She assumed Xie Wu was panicking because her disguise as a man and her substitution for Yan Zheng on the battlefield had been exposed.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Without having time to think about why the commander on horseback looked so much like Yan Zheng, she turned and sprinted toward the crowd, hoping to hide herself first.

Unfortunately, two legs could not outrun four.

The enormous black warhorse, a head taller than most men, charged forward like a gust of wind. Before Fan Changyu could even pick up a helmet from the ground and put it on, she was suddenly lifted around the waist and hoisted onto the horse.

Her head and feet dangled downward, her stomach pressed painfully against the front of the saddle. Before she could catch her breath, the horse wheeled around and galloped back the way it had come.

The scenery around her blurred as it rushed backward.

From within the cavalry ranks, someone shouted loudly,

“The rebel commander Shi Yue has been slain by the Marquis at the mountain pass! Here is his head as proof! The army returns victorious!”

The exhausted soldiers of Yanzhou erupted into thunderous cheers that shook the heavens.

Fan Changyu instinctively struggled after being seized, but she had already spent too much strength fighting earlier. Now that the battle adrenaline was fading, her limbs felt weak and sore.

The hand pressing against her waist and back was like an iron clamp, preventing her from moving no matter how hard she struggled.

As she twisted about, she caught the scent of heavy blood mixed with the bitter fragrance of medicinal herbs.

Her struggling weakened.

Turning her head with difficulty, she stared at the handsome face above her, cold as frost.

Uncertainly, she called out,

“Yan Zheng?”

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes and glanced at her.

He said nothing.

Instead, he looked ahead and suddenly dug his heels harder into the horse’s flanks.

“Hyah!”

Though the voice was cold and filled with anger, Fan Changyu immediately recognized it.

It really was Yan Zheng’s voice.

She abruptly stopped struggling.

Like a stunned goose draped across the horse’s back, she hung there motionlessly.

Reflected in her eyes were only the sunset, the mountains, and endless confusion.

Yan Zheng wasn’t an ordinary soldier.

He was a general.

Why had he lied to her?

Xie Zheng’s horse had already left all his attendants far behind.

Green mountains and flowing rivers lined both sides of the official road.

After noticing something strange about Fan Changyu’s silence, Xie Zheng pulled on the reins and slowed the horse.

He reached out to pull her upright.

Unexpectedly, Fan Changyu suddenly attacked.

She twisted her elbow, evading his hand. Like a leopard, she sprang up and shoved him backward onto the horse.

Her round almond eyes burned with anger as she grabbed his collar and pinned him down.

“You lied to me!”

The coldness on Xie Zheng’s face faltered slightly.

“I can explain.”

The sky had grown noticeably darker.

As Fan Changyu stared at the man pinned beneath her, her anger slowly gave way to an indescribable sense of grievance.

She had feared he would die on the battlefield because of his severe injuries.

That was why she had risked everything and secretly taken his place.

Yet from beginning to end, it seemed he had been deceiving her.

If his injuries had truly been that serious, how could he have lifted her onto a horse with one hand?

Pressing her lips together tightly, she demanded,

“Are you going to explain why you became a general? Or explain why you lied about your injuries never healing?”

Because she was gripping him so hard, the split skin between her thumb and forefinger reopened, fresh blood seeping out.

Feeling the warm, sticky sensation, Xie Zheng’s expression changed immediately.

“You’re injured?”

Ignoring her question, he grabbed the hand clutching his collar and tried to inspect the wound.

Fan Changyu exerted more force and kept him pinned down.

Xie Zheng’s face darkened further.

Even now, his racing heartbeat had not calmed.

He didn’t know whether it was from riding desperately all the way here or from the lingering fear still gripping him.

Suppressing his anger, he said,

“I can explain all of that. First, let me take you back and treat your injuries.”

Fan Changyu’s fury had not subsided.

“I don’t need you to worry about me.”

Without anyone controlling the reins, the horse gradually slowed to a stop.

After releasing her hold on him, she prepared to jump off.

Before she could, the man behind her suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her forcefully into his embrace.

Ever since she had sprung upright, they had been sitting face-to-face.

Now his arm was squeezing her so tightly around the waist that it felt as though it might break.

One hand gripped her jaw firmly, making her bones ache.

His eyes were bloodshot.

Almost viciously, he growled,

“You don’t need me to worry about you? Then why did you drug me and go to the battlefield in my place?”

“Do you even know what a battlefield is?”

“It’s a place where human lives are treated as worthless!”

“When you went down the mountain to seize grain last time, did you forget everything I told you?”

Fan Changyu had never seen him so furious.

The veins on his forehead bulged.

His eyes were savage enough to devour her alive.

Yet the arm around her waist held her so tightly that his knuckles turned white, as though he were desperately protecting something precious he had nearly lost.

She was already angry and hurt because of his deception.

Now, after being shouted at, her eyes suddenly stung.

Holding back the tears threatening to spill out, she gritted her teeth and yelled back,

“I only did it because I was afraid you’d die on the battlefield!”

“Even if I died there, you still shouldn’t have gone!”

The moment those words left his mouth, he saw the tears gathering in her eyes.

She stubbornly refused to let them fall.

A searing pain struck his heart like a branding iron.

The flesh inside his chest contracted painfully.

Both of their breaths trembled.

His face remained tense, but when he lowered his eyes, his voice softened.

“If I had died, you should’ve taken your sister and left the camp.”

“Find somewhere else to settle down.”

“Open a pork shop if you want.”

“Build a pigsty and raise pigs if you want.”

“Just live well.”

“And someday, marry the refined, handsome scholar you like.”

“Have children and build a family…”

A tear she had stubbornly held back finally fell onto his hand.

Looking at the girl before him, tears streaming silently down her face, the redness in his eyes deepened.

Suddenly, he gripped her jaw and kissed her fiercely.

Boom!

A clap of thunder exploded across the sky.

A brilliant flash of lightning split the dark night apart.

After half a month of clear weather, a sudden spring storm finally arrived.

Raindrops as large as beans poured down.

Fan Changyu shoved him several times, but couldn’t push him away.

Rainwater slid down her face.

For a moment, she couldn’t tell whether the wetness on her cheeks came from rain or tears.

Several times she drove her elbow hard into him.

She heard muffled grunts of pain.

Yet the hand cradling the back of her head never loosened.

Instead, he kissed her even more fiercely, as though risking his life.

Lightning swept across the mountains.

For a brief instant the world was illuminated before sinking once more into boundless darkness.

When it came to recklessness, Fan Changyu could never match him.

Countless unfamiliar emotions tangled inside her chest.

She couldn’t even manage to cry properly.

When it finally ended, he rested his forehead against hers.

His scarred hand gently stroked her rain-soaked hair.

His voice was quiet.

His dark eyes were unfathomable.

“As long as I’m alive, don’t even think about bearing children for another man in this lifetime.”

Fan Changyu had cried enough.

The turmoil in her heart had finally been vented through those tears.

When she raised her eyes to look at Xie Zheng again, she showed no mercy.

Her fist shot out.

She put her full strength into the punch.

Xie Zheng was knocked straight off the horse.

Without even glancing back at him, Fan Changyu yanked the reins and shouted,

“Hyah!”

The warhorse bolted forward, splashing mud and water behind it.

Lying flat on his back in the rain, Xie Zheng covered his left eye with one hand and sucked in a sharp breath.

After a while, he lowered his hand.

Staring up at the rain-filled night sky, he suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

—

Fan Changyu rode at full speed the entire way.

Along the road, she rubbed her lips with the back of her hand.

The moment she touched them, they hurt.

She didn’t need to think to know they were swollen.

The cold rain struck her face head-on.

Yet her cheeks felt strangely hot.

She rubbed her lips even harder, as though trying to erase something.

Ahead on the official road, she encountered a group of personal guards who had come looking for Xie Zheng.

Xie Wu was among them.

The moment he saw her, he hurried his horse forward.

“Miss Fan.”

Noticing that she was riding Xie Zheng’s horse, he looked behind her but saw no sign of Xie Zheng.

“Where is the Marquis?”

Fan Changyu had assumed Xie Zheng was merely a general.

Hearing Xie Wu call him “Marquis,” she froze briefly.

Then her face darkened.

“He fell to his death.”

With that, she ignored the expressions of the guards and rode onward.

Xie Wu immediately pointed to several men.

“You escort Madam back.”

“The rest of you, come with me and find the Marquis!”

The dozen or so guards split into two groups.

One group followed Fan Changyu from a cautious distance.

The other rushed off frantically to search for Xie Zheng.

When they finally spotted him along the road, Xie Wu and the others quickly dismounted and hurried over.

“Marquis!”

The pine-resin torches continued burning despite the rain.

When the guards saw the dark bruise around Xie Zheng’s eye, they all froze.

Madam had punched the Marquis?

Remembering that he had also helped deceive Fan Changyu, and recalling how she had smashed the rebel general to death with her hammers, Xie Wu swallowed hard.

Would Madam beat him too when they got back?

Xie Zheng paid no attention to his foolish worries.

He asked,

“Where is she?”

There was only one person that “she” could refer to.

Fan Changyu.

Xie Wu immediately snapped back to attention.

“Xie Jiu and the others are escorting Madam back to camp.”

Xie Zheng nodded and asked no further questions.

Mounting the warhorse that Xie Wu had brought for him, he said,

“Return to camp.”