Zhao Shuxin's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, she was going to get soaked to the bone.

However, just as she was about to come into direct contact with the clear stream, her body was held in place. Wei Tingsi reached out and put his arm around her waist, using his extraordinary strength to lift her up.

As she was helped upright, Wei Tingsi reached out and carefully wiped the water droplets from the corner of her mouth, saying with a hurt expression, "Are you afraid of me?"

"I thought you were going to strangle me." Zhao Shu glared at him and said irritably, but her heart skipped a beat and her face turned red involuntarily.

"You... care about the rumors?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly. Although he tried his best to hide his concern about the answer to this question, his heart was filled with anxiety, and he could not hide it from Zhao Shu.

Rumors from outside? Zhao Shu smiled nonchalantly and shook her head. "No matter how bad a reputation is, it can be cleared up, and no matter how good a reputation is, it can be tarnished. It all depends on whether it's worth it or not. There is no perfect person in this world. Whether someone is good or bad will be judged by future generations. You are a great general of the current dynasty, and the historians will give you the fairest evaluation. Those who die and leave nothing but a pile of yellow earth are worthless."

"I misunderstood you and shouldn't have assumed that about you." A smile appeared on his face, and the sadness in his eyes had vanished. What others said about him or how history judged him didn't matter. As long as the person in front of him didn't think that way, that was enough.

Zhao Shu washed her hands and stood up. "It's alright. My reputation isn't good either. If it weren't for my father's inspection tour of the country on behalf of the emperor, and the Huo family's endorsement of him, along with the many benefits they gave me, my reputation would probably be worse than yours now. Before, I was just known for being willful and capricious. If it weren't for the endorsement a few years ago, after I opened my shop, I'm afraid someone would have wanted me to be reclassified as a lowly person."

She didn't care at all. Looking at the sky, she realized that night was about to fall. She ate a few hollow cakes, but she couldn't resist her hunger, and her stomach started to rumble.

Upon hearing this, Wei Tingsi took her arm and leaped over the thorns to the front of the banana house. "I'll go and hunt a pheasant. You wait here."

"Oh." Just like that, he escaped the question. Now, looking at his profile, I wanted to exclaim "divine craftsmanship," but I felt that the word was inappropriate, so I'll just say "handsome as jade."

When it comes to words of praise, Zhao Shu's mind is extremely limited. She doesn't know much about phrases like "before the young master, the jade flute played; under the silver lamp, a melody was so enchanting."

Gao Dan, who was hiding in the shadows, deliberately left a deputy by his side. Standing far away in the mountains, he watched Zhao Shu and Wei Tingsi. He picked up a piece of dry firewood, shaved it flat, and carved words on it, saying: "I knew long ago that General Wei had ill intentions towards our princess. You can know a person's face but not their heart. I misjudged him."

His deputy followed suit, picking up a piece of dry firewood, flattening it, and carving the words: "Captain, we must not let this bastard succeed. The brothers are at your command."

Gao Dan touched his neck, shrank back, slapped the assistant a few times until he bent over, and then said, "The princess hasn't spoken yet, are you planning a rebellion?"

The deputy, unconvinced, stood up straight and retorted, carving out, "You're just afraid of General Wei, and you'd disregard the princess!"

This time, Gao Dan didn't slap him with his hand, but with a wooden board. "You little rascal, if you don't get a beating soon, you'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles!"

His deputy had been with him for several years and knew his temper well. Although his beatings hurt, he never hit vital points. After being beaten many times, he became tough and the pain would subside. However, when he saw Wei Tingsi standing not far away with a cold face watching the two of them, he was startled and stood up straight. He stood up so suddenly that he knocked Gao Dan's wooden board away.

As luck would have it, it flew right to Wei Tingsi's feet. Gao Dan instantly felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat poured down his back. "General Wei," he said with a dry laugh.

Wei Tingsi picked up the wooden board, looking at the words that hadn't been carved off, his expression chilling. "Do you often go out on errands with the princess?"

Gao Dan wasn't sure what he was going to do, and instinctively said, "Occasionally." Over the years in the Prince's mansion, he had studied and practiced calligraphy, and could speak in a refined manner.

Wei Tingsi nodded after hearing this. "When you're by the princess's side, you must not have any flaws. Do you two have anything to be afraid of?"

The two exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously. "No."

Wei Tingsi tossed the wooden board over, and Gao Dan hurriedly caught it. He glanced at the words he had carved on it and gasped. The board was covered with dense cracks from being squeezed so hard, yet it didn't break apart. This showed how well he had controlled the force, something he couldn't do even after ten more years of training.

The difference between people is so great; it chills me to the bone.

"It's good that you're not afraid." His words seemed aimless as he turned and left, disappearing quickly afterward.

However, before Gao Dan and his deputy could breathe a sigh of relief, dozens of leaves flew from the direction where Wei Tingsi had disappeared. The leaves were long and thin and flew towards the two of them at an incredible speed.

There was no way to hide now. In a flash, Gao Dan thought, "It's over, I'm going to die."

The deputy, however, thought that he had originally planned to sacrifice himself heroically, but unexpectedly, things went wrong. It was true that loose lips sink ships.

The two men closed their eyes and shouted, "Enemy attack!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the remaining soldiers scattered in various places rushed over, but when they arrived at the two men's side, their expressions were extremely strange.

Gao Dan and his deputy opened their eyes after a long time, only to find that they were perfectly fine, while the other soldiers who had arrived smirked.

They exchanged a glance, followed the soldiers' gaze, and slowly turned around. They saw dozens of leaves stuck to the tree trunk, forming a single character: 'snake'.

A snake? Upon closer inspection, they indeed saw a green snake nailed to the tree. Both of them felt a sharp pain in their throats, and without prior agreement, they bowed deeply in the direction where Wei Tingsi had left.

Upon hearing Gao Dan's voice, Zhao Shu immediately hid behind a tree, remaining silent and waiting for her men to find and deal with the enemy. However, after waiting and waiting, no one came to report, and there was not even the sound of weapons clashing. She couldn't help but become nervous. Could it be that her men had all been wiped out in one move?

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!