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Qi Man was about to step forward to hand over her handkerchief when Wu Sheng suddenly grabbed her. Just as she was about to question him, he gave her a look that gestured for her to look.

General Yu's arm remained outstretched in mid-air for a long time, before his tone softened slightly as he said, "Don't cry... we can discuss this..."

"Really?" Song Ling looked up at him, the redness at the corners of her eyes adding a touch of pitifulness to her pale face. This was the first time Yu Baizhou had seen her show weakness in the nearly one month since they met.

“Really, it’s just a child, why are you crying?” Yu Baizhou touched his nose. “I’m not really thinking about getting married right now, so let her stay with me. It’s a way of comforting her father.”

Song Ling smiled slightly, her eyes filled with respect as she looked at him. "I knew I was right. To treat the orphans of soldiers like one's own children, General, is truly the most sincere and kind person."

No one had ever praised him like that before, and the warmth instantly spread from his ears to his neck.

"I...I'll go talk to them." With that, he fled in panic.

Qi Man saw Song Ling slowly hand the child back to her, then take out a silk handkerchief from her sleeve and carefully wipe the corner of her eye. Only then did she realize that the girl was pretending again.

Wu Sheng, being a few years older than them, sensed something unusual about General Yu. "Miss, isn't General Yu a bit too easy to talk to? Also, I feel like he's treating you..."

He said all he needed to say, and he believed the girl would understand.

To everyone's surprise, Song Ling said indifferently, "It's not important, as long as the goal is achieved." She had schemed against so many people, what was scheming against herself and her lord?

The little girl in Qi Man's arms was kicking her legs restlessly, seemingly uncomfortable being held.

"Let me take it," Wu Sheng said, but Song Ling intercepted the child before he could take it.

Surprisingly, the child calmed down as soon as he entered Song Ling's arms, and even happily raised his little hand to grab her hair, which made Qi Man, who was standing next to him, quite dissatisfied, "This little kid is naughty."

“This child and I seem to have some kind of connection,” Song Ling said. But she wasn’t particularly interested, because she couldn’t predict the child’s future, and wondered if it was a karmic entanglement.

As soon as Yu Baizhou stepped into the tent and made his announcement, it immediately caused a commotion.

Wei Yan tugged at his ear, thinking he was hallucinating. "What do you mean, General? Are you saying that child is yours?"

"Yes." That curt reply was already Yu Baizhou's limit.

For a moment, Deputy General Wang's expression twisted, and he asked cautiously, "You and... Miss Song had this child?"

Yu Baizhou stumbled as he walked over, then rushed towards him to slap him, yelling, "Get the hell out of here! Spreading rumors about other people's girls all day long!"

"She's an unmarried woman, where would she get a child?"

Vice General Wang was chased all over the camp, running while clutching his head, crying out, "General, I was wrong! No, no, no... don't hit my face..."

Yu Baizhou stretched his wrists and returned to the main seat. He took a sip of tea to calm his nerves and explained, "The child was born in an accident... Her mother recently passed away. The strategist divined that I was pregnant, so he personally went to bring the child back."

Fortunately, Song Ling never intended to hide her medical and divination skills from the beginning.

Yu Baizhou's words were ambiguous, and he didn't explain what the accident was, but everyone had a knowing look on their faces, so he knew they had all misunderstood.

If he had known this would happen, he would have followed Song Ling's suggestion and said that the child was born to the woman he loved.

As for why he couldn't say directly that she was the orphan of a soldier from the Southwest Army, he thought it was probably because he was afraid of retaliation from the Southern Barbarians. After all, there were too many such cases, and many families had been wiped out.

"Don't go around saying things like that in the future, especially watch your mouths and don't talk nonsense in front of the children." Yu Baizhou, at a young age, rose to the position of commander through his own strength, which made everyone present submit to him.

Since he has given the order, naturally no one dares to disobey.

The children belong to their general, so the nature of the situation is naturally different.

Lieutenant General Li asked cheerfully, "General, bring the child over so I can see him."

Before they could finish speaking, Song Ling lifted the curtain and came in. There was an awkward moment for everyone, after all, they had just wronged the young lady.

"Do any of you generals know how to hold a child?" Song Ling asked naturally, without the slightest hint of displeasure. "Would you like to hold a child?"

The way the group pushed and shoved each other, wanting to step forward but hesitant to do so, was quite amusing.

"Hahaha, you guys are no match for me, Old Li, are you?" Li Yin subconsciously wiped his hands on his clothes and stepped forward excitedly, "Strategist, let me handle this!"

His wife had given birth to two sons, and now he was longing for a daughter. Several of his lingering lieutenants also gathered around.

The little boy was very well-behaved. He wasn't afraid of so many people and even went to grab Lieutenant General Li's beard with a grin, pulling off several hairs and holding them in his little hand.

"Hiss—" Lieutenant General Li was not annoyed and laughed heartily, "This little kid is incredibly strong. No wonder he's our general's son. He's bound to be a brave and valiant general in the future!"

"Where is that little girl? Why are you making her wield knives and guns?"

"What about a girl?" Li Yin glanced at Shi Qing. "You're younger than me, how can you be so old-fashioned! A girl can become a general if she's raised properly."

"We've already held the baby, but the general, the father, hasn't even held him yet!" Lieutenant General Li said cheerfully as he gently placed the baby into the arms of General Yu, who was standing aside and watching.

This was the first time Yu Baizhou had ever held such a fragile... thing... person, and he stiffened his arms, not knowing what to do.

Perhaps his holding posture was wrong, or perhaps his embrace was too hard, but the usually well-behaved little girl suddenly pouted and burst into tears.

Startled, he started sweating profusely. "W-what should I do?" He had no experience with this.

"Let me do it, General, you're really no good!" Li Yin took the child back, and the little girl laughed again.

"No..." Yu Baizhou turned to look at Song Ling, pointing at the group of people not far away and accusingly said, "This little kid did it on purpose, didn't he?"

Song Ling was also a little puzzled, and for once she felt like comforting him, "Perhaps he's not used to it yet, General, you'll get used to it after a few more hugs."

“I…” Yu Baizhou looked at the cheerful scene beside him, feeling extremely depressed.

*

Night

Qi Man had just finished putting the little girl to sleep when he heard a faint footstep outside the tent.

Song Ling also noticed that someone was coming, so she got up and picked up her sword.

The person at the door stood there for a while, hesitating before finally asking, "Is the strategist asleep?"

Song Ling and the other person exchanged a glance; it was General Yu.

“No,” Song Ling lifted the curtain, “General, please come in.”

"I won't go in, it's already too late." Yu Baizhou hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped. "You seemed a little hesitant when you talked about the child today, is there something you're having trouble saying?"

Could the child really be hers?

Song Ling could tell from his eyes that he had probably misunderstood. "General, did you agree to this today because you're worried that the child being mine will get me into trouble?"

"I didn't mean that," Yu Baizhou hurriedly explained, but the more he explained, the more confused he became.

“There are indeed some difficulties to discuss, General. Please come in and speak.” Seeing that he was still hesitant, Song Ling added, “Qi Man and the child are also inside the tent, so there’s no problem.”

She looked at Wu Sheng, who had come out of a nearby tent after hearing the commotion, and instructed him, "You stay here and keep watch."

"Does the general still have any concerns?"

Yu Baizhou's hand twitched. What could he possibly worry about? He was already somewhat concerned that Miss Song's reputation would be affected by him, but she seemed completely unconcerned. Could there really be such a person in this world who was devoid of joy, sorrow, desire, and ambition?

Inside the tent, Song Ling poured him a cup of tea and said softly, "I have to keep this a secret. This child is not a soldier's orphan, but the posthumous child of the Ning family."

Yu Baizhou's heart stirred slightly, but he still wanted to confirm, "Which Ning family?"

"The Ning family of Luoyang".

A seemingly casual remark felt like a boulder crashing into his heart, causing the water in his cup to spill out.

"You..." Yu Baizhou looked at her in alarm, angrily pounding his thigh several times, "Do you know how big of a problem this is?"

He thought that having this child with this girl was enough for him to handle, but now it seems he underestimated her.

“This child absolutely cannot be kept.” Yu Baizhou stood up, his eyes fixed firmly on her. “I can’t be so selfish. I have to be responsible for all my brothers who have risked their lives for me! This is a capital offense!”

"The world only knows that on the day of the great change in the Ning family, Madam Ning gave birth to a son after ten months of pregnancy. He was born weak and died within a quarter of an hour."

Song Ling explained in detail: "Only two people knew that Madam Ning actually gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. One was the second young master Ning, who took away the younger sister who was born first, and the other was the midwife who was in charge of the delivery."

"Madam Ning suffered postpartum hemorrhage and died one after the other, along with the young master. The old nanny also died from being hacked to pieces."

"This little girl is the child who was taken away."

Song Ling poured him tea again, saying, "That day I saved this girl's life and, after examining her destiny, I realized that she was destined to have some connection with the general."

Ling was worried that she might be a threat to the general in the future, so he thought it might be better to keep an eye on her in the present.

Yu Baizhou was skeptical, but then something occurred to him, "Is Young Master Ning still alive?"

"This is the second thing I want to tell the general," Song Ling gave a look, and Qi Man left the tent on his own.

Song Ling suddenly leaned forward, and Yu Baizhou froze, feeling a sudden warmth on his ear, followed by the girl's earth-shattering words, "Young Master Ning is currently in the Southern Barbarian Army, serving as an inner agent of our army."

!!

Noticing the shock in General Yu's eyes, Song Ling instructed, "This matter is known only to the General and to me. It concerns his life, so it must not be revealed to a third party."

Song Ling's gaze suddenly fell on the little baby sleeping soundly on the tatami mat beside her. "These things have nothing to do with the child. He only wishes for his remaining blood relatives to live out their remaining lives in peace."

Song Ling stood up and bowed. "This is also why I hope the general will raise the child under his care, because only the general can protect the child, and only in this way can that person be kept in check."

"You planned all of this from the beginning, didn't you?"

There was no shock, anger, or joy in Yu Baizhou's eyes. They had only known each other for a month, and he still didn't understand this girl at all.

"From arriving at the military camp and saying he could help us solve the food problem, to interrogating prisoners to obtain information about the Southern Barbarians, using information gaps to lure the Southern Barbarians into sending troops, and then to using feints to steal food twice..."

"An inner room was also conveniently installed."

“Miss Song is truly remarkable,” Yu Baizhou said with an unusually cold expression. “Why is that? What could possibly make you go to such lengths?”

"Just because of that one sentence the girl said when she met me, she wants me to steal that position?"

Song Ling uttered, "Not bad."

"Did that girl ever consider how many people would die if she wasn't careful? She's just a baby a few months old, and she's already become part of your plan!"

Yu Baizhou pointed to the child beside him, his eyes stung by her coldness and ruthlessness. "Isn't it interesting to watch us all revolve around your schemes? Are all you strategists like this? If any mistakes are made, will Ning Jiazi, and even Deputy General Wang who has penetrated deep behind enemy lines, all die?"

“I…” Song Ling was stunned for a moment, “General…”

“Miss Song, I am a rough man, not capable of being both scholarly and martial, nor am I fit to be an emperor.”

"Girl, don't waste your time on me."

After saying that, he strode away, flung the curtain aside, and left.

Song Lingzhan did not stop him at the exit, but a glint of emptiness flashed in her eyes before returning to her cold and inscrutable state.