"Isn't Lord Pei easily swayed by this?"

The snow fell all night, and the courtyard was piled high with snow. The red plum blossoms meandered and twisted, adding a touch of charm to the vast world.

When Wen Zhibai opened her eyes, she saw Pei Qinzhou asleep on the table. She gripped the blankets tightly, a warmth rising in her heart. Then she took out a gray-black cloak with silver patterns from the closet and gently draped it over him.

Her fingers unconsciously traced his sleeping face, and when her fingertips touched his thin lips, the image of herself boldly seducing him while drunk the night before suddenly resurfaced—

I miss you, I miss you so much...

She lowered her eyes, smiled gently, and whispered, "Me too."

"Bai Bai Bai, are you awake?" The cold wind carried Qi Yuning's hushed question into Wen Zhibai's ears.

Through the window, you can still see that figure outside.

Wen Zhibai walked to the window and opened it a crack: "Keep your voice down, Pei Qinzhou is still sleeping."

"It's almost 9 AM! What did you do after we got drunk last night? Lord Pei looks so tired—!"

Before she could finish speaking, Wen Zhibai covered Qi Yuning's mouth and put his index finger to his lips: "Shh! I'm really impressed with you, my ancestor. Don't say anything more, wait for me to come out."

"Oh." Qi Yuning shrugged and smiled, then immediately shut her mouth.

Wen Zhibai glanced back at Pei Qinzhou, and seeing that he was still unconscious, he breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed out of the room.

"Miss Qi, what brings you here so early in the morning?"

"Look!" Qi Yuning pointed to a corner of the yard where there was a huge snowman: "My brother used to build snowmen for me whenever it snowed." As she spoke, Qi Yuning's mood became somewhat downcast.

Missing home?

"Yes, it's New Year's Eve, how could I not think of them? You miss them too, don't you?"

Wen Zhibai pondered for a moment. Come to think of it, she has no home now. In Shangjing, apart from the Pei residence, there is nowhere else she can go.

With her mother gone, the Wen family mansion was no longer her home, and Jiang, who had been searching desperately, was unwilling to leave any clues to find them.

Whom am I thinking of? It seems there's nothing left.

Wen Zhibai looked up at the sky in the four corners, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes: "Happy New Year's Eve."

"Yes, Happy New Year's Eve."

Just then, Xia Chengen returned from outside the courtyard carrying a large bundle of wooden branches.

Qi Yuning's sadness was instantly dispelled. She ran towards Xia Chengen and took the wooden branch from his hand: "Your Highness, you are too kind!"

"you--"

Just as Xia Chengen was about to speak, Qi Yuning called out to Wen Zhibai under the eaves, "Miss Wen, look, there are so many branches, let's build a snowman together!"

Wen Zhibai nodded, looking at the lively Qi Yuning with envy in his eyes.

She used to be like that too.

Xia Chengen nodded, watching Qi Yuning's retreating figure, and murmured to himself, "You and I don't need to address each other as 'you'..."

Half an hour later, Pei Qinzhou pushed open the door, and there stood a snowman with moving arms in front of the door.

The snowman's arm twitched: "Lord Pei, guess who I am?"

A smile played on his lips as he slowly walked toward the snowman.

From Pei Qinzhou's perspective, all he could see was a furry head squatting there.

"my sweetheart."

Wen Zhibai took off the hood of his cloak, casually stuck a branch on the snowman's head, and rushed into his arms: "I like this answer. This is a reward for Lord Pei."

"call--"

A snowball flew over Pei Qinzhou's shoulder.

The two looked in the direction the snowball had come from and saw Xia Chengen and Qi Yuning sitting on the roof.

"Lord Pei, we're still in Liangchuan, aren't you being a bit too hasty!" Xia Chengen said, then grabbed another snowball, preparing to throw it at Pei Qinzhou: "Here, catch it!"

Pei Qinzhou pulled Wen Zhibai behind him, effortlessly caught the snowball, and threw it on the ground: "Heh, boring."

Qi Yuning took a bite of the chicken leg and said while chewing, "Lord Pei, you are mistaken. How can this be called boring? I think Miss Wen is already impatient!"

Following the gaze of the two people on the rooftop, Pei Qinzhou looked down. Rows of snowballs were placed at his feet. Wen Zhibai grabbed his sleeve with his right hand and handed him a snowball in his left hand: "Pei Qinzhou~ Let's play together, okay?"

Pei Qinzhou brushed the snow off her head and put the hood of her cloak on her head, his tone full of indulgence: "...Hmm, it seems Miss Wen has me under her thumb."

She blinked again, a hint of slyness in her eyes: "Doesn't Lord Pei fall for this trick of mine?"

He took the snowball, put his arm around Wen Zhibai's waist, and leaped onto the roof.

"Be careful, your injury hasn't healed yet." Wen Zhibai gripped the fabric of his clothes tightly.

"It's alright."

...

Qi Yuning gently rested her head on Wen Zhibai's shoulder, gazing towards the distant Shangjing, her tone unusually tinged with worry: "This time we defied His Majesty's will and secretly went to Liangchuan. When we return to the capital, I wonder how His Majesty will punish us..."

Wen Zhibai also turned to look at Pei Qinzhou, his eyes filled with the same question: "And what are the rumors in the capital that you deserted in the face of battle and His Highness was captured? What is the reason for this?"

Pei Qinzhou's gaze was calm, and his voice was steady as usual: "It's just a strategy to lure the enemy. Liangchuan has a strategic location, and the enemy outnumbers us. If we don't do this, it will be difficult to reverse the defeat."

“But it is still a crime of deceiving the emperor,” Wen Zhibai said softly.

Xia Chengen took over the conversation with a calm expression: "I have already sent the letter of apology to the Emperor. How the Emperor will decide is still unknown. However, in this battle, the people of Liangchuan are of one mind, the army is in good hands, and the officials in the court will surely weigh the matter."

"Your Highness is absolutely right." Upon hearing this, the worry in Qi Yining's eyes disappeared, and she suddenly stood up, her red robes fluttering in the wind and snow: "Having already made meritorious contributions, what is there to fear about what will be said after my death? Even thunder and rain are all the Emperor's grace, and I, Qi Yining—have a clear conscience!"

Wen Zhibai held Pei Qinzhou's hand tightly, his voice soft yet firm: "I only wish for peace for the people of this region, and for the safety of those I love. I have no regrets."

Of all things in the world, the spirit of youth is the most precious.

……

"Your Highness! My Lord! Ladies! Come down quickly, we have prepared the writing materials!" Xie An called out.

Inside the room, the tea stove was churning, steam rising, and several people were gathered around a desk writing couplets.

Then they cooked together, put up "Fu" (good fortune) decorations, and it was quite a lively scene.

As evening approached, the six of them carried the dumplings they had made by hand down the mountain to the clinic in town.

There were also soldiers who stayed behind to recuperate from their wounds. They were unable to return home for the Spring Festival and were left behind in a foreign land, feeling sorrowful.

Upon seeing Xia Chengen arrive at the clinic, all the soldiers rose to greet him.

"I never expected that His Highness the Crown Prince and General Pei would come to visit us in person..."

"Without you all, there would be no peace in Great Xia, and no peace for me. In this battle of Liangchuan, we faced death nine times out of ten, yet you all fought bravely to defend the land and rivers of Great Xia. I toast you all with this bowl of wine!" With that, Xia Chengen drank the wine in his bowl in one gulp.

"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, General Pei!" the soldiers shouted in unison, their voices loud and clear.

Xia Chengen then turned his gaze to Wen Zhibai and Qi Yuning: "Gentlemen, we owe a great debt to Miss Wen Zhibai and Miss Qi Yuning this time. If it weren't for Miss Wen risking her life to deliver food and clothing to our army, and Miss Qi leading the troops to break through the encirclement, I'm afraid this battle wouldn't have ended so quickly."

"Thank you both, ladies!"

One of the soldiers recognized Wen Zhibai: "Hey! Isn't this Miss Wen the woman who brought food and drink to us the other day? The one who said she was General Pei's friend?! Thank you so much, Miss Wen! This cup of wine is for you!"

“Friends…” Pei Qinzhou stepped forward, getting closer to Wen Zhibai, his voice not loud, but loud enough for her to hear clearly, “Just… friends?”

Wen Zhibai's cheeks flushed slightly, and she whispered, "Back then, we were really just ordinary friends..."

"Oh." Pei Qinzhou didn't say anything more, but he was clearly unhappy.

After returning to the mansion, he remained sullen and silent.

During the meal, Wen Zhibai moved his chair closer to him.

Wen Zhibai picked up a piece of tofu and placed it in his bowl: "We're just friends. Isn't it inappropriate for Miss Wen to do this?"

Instead of getting angry, she laughed and pretended to put the food back on her plate: "Fine, if you don't want it, I will."

Seeing that she was about to take the food back, he quickly grabbed her wrist, took a bite of the tofu from her hand, and looked up at her: "Mmm, delicious."

"Hey, you two, keep eating! You'll eat yourselves to death!" Qi Yuning teased irritably.

Xie An ate his meal with gusto, a smile never fading from his lips. He was genuinely happy for Pei Qinzhou, seeing that her years of waiting had finally come to fruition: "Miss, this is the first time the Master has smiled on a festival like New Year's Eve... He never celebrated any festival before."

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhibai looked at Pei Qinzhou with a more tender expression.

...

Xia Chengen led the way by raising his glass and saying loudly, "Wishing us a Happy New Year!"

Several wine glasses clinked together crisply: "Happy Chinese New Year!!!"

After dinner, Guangxi, Xie An, and Qi Yuning arranged the fireworks in the courtyard and lit them together.

Pei Qinzhou and Wen Zhibai stood side by side. He reached out and gently covered her ears from behind her head.

Brilliant fireworks burst in the night sky, reflected in everyone's eyes.

Fireworks burst forth in the starry sky, and even if they are brief, the momentary brilliance they leave in each other's memories is already a masterpiece.

"So beautiful..." Wen Zhibai exclaimed, looking up.

Pei Qinzhou's fingers twitched almost imperceptibly within his sleeve, subtly prolonging the duration of the fireworks display and adding a layer of flowing, five-colored light to its dazzling brilliance.

"Am I just imagining things? The fireworks here are so beautiful."

Do you like it?

“I like it very much. The important thing is that you are by my side.” Wen Zhibai turned her head, but found that Pei Qinzhou’s gaze was fixed on her.

My longing for you remains unchanged, and my tenderness is still as deep as water.

At that moment, it was as if everything around her had stopped, and all was silent. Wen Zhibai faced him, took half a step forward, and no longer cared about anything else. Her hand rested on his strong forearm, and she gently tiptoed, placing a light kiss, like a butterfly alighting, on his left cheek.

Pei Qinzhou's ears visibly grew hot, and his eyebrows drooped slightly, as if he was trying his best to suppress his surging emotions.

Pei Qinzhou, you don't need to wait for me anymore...

I will not leave you alone again.

“Pei Qinzhou, I’m back. From now on, I’ll be by your side for every important holiday. You and I are no longer alone…” Her eyebrows curved into a smile, her cheeks flushed with a light pink, and her thick eyelashes concealed the tears glistening in her eyes. She wanted to tell him that at this moment, she was very happy.

"..."

This time, Pei Qinzhou did not speak, but quietly gazed into the eyes of the person waiting for the Ninth Generation.

He found out.

From then on, neither of them was alone on their journey home.

Two hearts always reflect each other, black hair gradually turns white, my beloved holds my hand, and we will not fail our thousand-year-old wish.