After a long journey of half a day, the three of them finally arrived at the lake that Pichu had mentioned. The vast grassland was a beautiful expanse of blue, like a jewel embedded in the grass.

"See? I wasn't lying to you. This scenery is the most beautiful on the grasslands!" Pichu said, looking at their astonished faces.

Xueying was stunned by the beautiful scenery before her. "This lake... is so beautiful!" Hongli looked at the woman in front of him. A gentle breeze blew in his face, ruffling Xueying's hair. Hongli couldn't help but exclaim, "The scenery is beautiful, but the woman is even more beautiful!"

Upon hearing the prince's words, Xueying looked up and met his deep eyes, giving him a shy smile. "Since the lake water is so clear and there are such plump fish, why don't we go swimming and fishing?" she said, preparing to take off her clothes.

Xueying hurriedly turned around, "Your Highness...you...your injuries haven't healed yet, you can't get wet, let's go back!" Hongli took off his shirt, looked at Xueying's panicked back, and laughed loudly, "Xueying, you don't need to be shy!" With a splash, Hongli jumped into the lake, and Pichu, who was standing nearby, also became interested and followed him in.

Xueying slowly turned around and saw the two of them playing in the lake. "Pichu, how did you find this place? The scenery here is really beautiful." Hongli slapped the water hard, splashing up waves that hit Pichu's face.

“This place has been here for many years. When I was a child, my father often brought me here to fish and swim. The water was so clear and blue back then!” Pichu’s heart ached when he thought of his father. If it weren’t for this damned war, his father would have been enjoying his old age in peace… To avoid worrying them, Pichu quickly recovered.

Xueying looked at the clothes scattered on the grass, smiled helplessly, tidied them up and put them aside, and then sat down by the lake.

Xueying fell into deep thought, wishing time could stand still at this moment! No palace, no family, no scheming and plotting. Xueying gazed at Hongli's profile, wanting to imprint this moment of Hongli deeply in her mind, wondering... when she would see Hongli so happy again.

"Xueying... Xueying..." Hearing someone call her name, Xueying snapped out of her thoughts. "Xueying, look, I caught a fish!" Hongli was waving his arm, holding a large carp in his hand.

Hongli swam back to the lakeside, placed the fish a meter or two from the shore, and said to Xueying, "We can grill the fish later!" Xueying smiled and nodded.

"Pichu, let's have a fish-catching contest! Whoever catches the most fish can go back and drink a few more jugs of wine!" Hongli shouted. "Alright, looks like you owe me a few jugs of wine!" Having lived by the lake since childhood, Pichu catching a few fish was a piece of cake for him. Hongli wasn't going to be outdone, "It's always better to be humble, otherwise you won't be able to catch the next fish..." As he spoke, he grabbed another fish from the lake.

Pichu ignored Hongli and focused on catching fish. Before long, there were several fish on the shore. Xueying quickly stopped her, saying, "Alright, alright... don't catch any more, or we won't be able to finish them all later!"

"Princess Consort, the extra fish can be taken back to reward the soldiers, so don't worry about it!" Pichu laughed loudly. The two of them didn't seem to intend to stop, so Xueying didn't say anything more and sat to the side watching the scenery in the lake.

Xueying had been disguised as a man throughout her trip to the Northwest, even wearing men's clothes. Despite the clothes, her figure was perfectly outlined, and her bright and beautiful face shone even brighter in the sunlight. A few stray hairs fell beside her ears, and her cherry-like lips were slightly open, as if she were muttering something.