Chapter 62 You can hear me when I'm jealous.
Xie Lanzhou did not return all night, and Su Panyue could not sleep well after returning to her tent, tossing and turning until dawn.
I finally managed to fall asleep just as dawn was breaking, only to hear three rooster crows in the distance, followed by the sound of synchronized training outside the tent.
Su Panyue covered her head with the blanket, trying her best not to hear or think about it.
After a moment, she broke down. She abruptly threw off the covers, gasped for breath, and got up to leave the tent.
Feixue was quite surprised to see her come out: "Why did you get up so early today, Miss?"
Feiyan pulled her aside in surprise and said, "Didn't you sleep well last night, Miss? Why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?"
Su Panyue nodded sadly, then suddenly remembered something, raised her hand to touch her face, said "wait a moment" and went into the tent.
When they came out again, they were already wearing masks.
"Where is His Majesty?" she asked expressionlessly.
Feixue Feiyan was already used to her wearing a mask all the time. She raised her hand and pointed to a tent in the distance, saying, "His Majesty and the General are discussing matters in the main tent."
She nodded and walked straight in that direction.
Heavily guarded the main tent, and they stopped her as soon as she approached. "What are you doing here? This is not a place you can enter."
Su Panyue replied truthfully, "I have something to discuss with His Majesty, please inform him."
The guards scoffed and rudely ushered her out.
Shouxi, who was serving inside the tent, heard the commotion, lifted the curtain and came out. After seeing Su Panyue, he hesitated for a few more seconds before glancing at her.
Su Panyue immediately greeted him: "Shouxi! It's me. Please call His Majesty for me."
Hearing her voice, Shouxi still hesitated, not daring to recognize her, but Xie Lanzhou had already walked out of the tent behind her.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Everyone bowed in unison, except for Su Panyue, who remained standing in place.
Xie Lanzhou walked straight to her side, naturally took her hand, and asked, "Why are you up so early today?"
After a night of anxiety and sleepless nights, Su Panyue finally had an outlet. Unable to make any expression, she could only lower her eyes unhappily.
Even so, Xie Lanzhou could tell at a glance that something was wrong with her mood.
He turned and glanced at the guards who were kneeling on the ground and Shouxi who was hanging his head and not daring to utter a sound. He took out a jade pendant from his pocket and handed it to Su Panyue.
The cool jade pendant rested in her palm, and Su Panyue instinctively gripped it tightly, asking, "What is this?"
"This is my personal jade pendant. Seeing this pendant is like seeing me in person." Xie Lanzhou's voice was not loud, but it made everyone's heart skip a beat.
This jade pendant is called the Zhenguo Pendant. It is the founding jade pendant passed down from generation to generation of emperors of the Great Qi Dynasty. It is said to be made from the same piece of jade as the imperial seal. Holding this jade pendant not only allows one to freely enter and exit the palace, but also to command officials from all walks of life, and even the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Such an important jade pendant, how could His Majesty give it away like this?
Regardless of the different thoughts of the people below, Xie Lanzhou pulled Su Panyue and turned to enter the tent.
As he walked, he asked, "Why are you unhappy? Is it because I didn't go back to keep you company last night?"
Su Panyue played with the jade pendant, gave a dissatisfying snort, and was about to speak when she saw several generals gathered around the sand table inside the tent.
She recognized several of them: the ever-victorious general, the valiant general, and his cousin Ji Hongxi; and a few other imposing figures she didn't know.
The conversation among the group stopped abruptly after she and Xie Lanzhou entered.
Xie Lanzhou brought her a chair and sat down not far from the head of the table, then said, "You've come at the right time, so you can listen too."
Su Panyue blinked and sat down.
Xie Lanzhou patted her shoulder and turned to signal the others to continue.
Several generals hesitated and none of them spoke, but finally the valiant general couldn't hold back and said, "Your Majesty, how can such a military secret be known to the Lady?"
Xie Lanzhou glanced at him and said in a deep voice:
"The topographical map you are looking at now was drawn by her own hand. Why do you think she wouldn't know that?"
There was a moment of silence in the tent before Ji Hongxi was the first to react, praising repeatedly, "Your Majesty has truly been a great help to us!"
The crowd echoed, "We wish you more, Your Majesty."
Although they had no idea how a woman had suddenly appeared beside His Majesty, judging from His Majesty's attitude, calling her "Your Majesty" wouldn't be wrong.
Su Panyue waved her hand somewhat embarrassedly, indicating that they could continue and that they didn't need to worry about her.
The tent became lively again. Su Panyue listened quietly for a while and realized that they were discussing strategies for attacking the city.
An unfamiliar general said, "Why not use a catapult? Let's load up with hundreds or thousands of pounds of stones and smash it open! I refuse to believe we can't break it!"
Another person disagreed, saying, "Transporting and throwing stones requires a huge amount of time and energy, and the cost is too high."
"Why not build ladders and force our way up, while archers from the rear shoot at us?" the valiant general suggested.
Ji Hongxi frowned: "Even so, it is inevitable that a large number of soldiers will be killed or wounded as a result."
With everyone offering their opinions but unable to reach a consensus, Su Panyue, who was sitting in the corner, suddenly spoke up: "There are side gates on the city wall, which are specifically for herders to go out of the city to ride horses and graze their livestock. Perhaps the guards are not that strict."
Xie Lanzhou tilted his head and asked, "Do you know where the side gate is?"
Su Panyue recalled for a moment and said, "I don't know the exact location, but there is one every fifty miles for the convenience of the herdsmen."
Xie Lanzhou nodded and immediately ordered, "Send three teams of ten men each to search along the city wall tonight to determine the location of the corner gate and its defenses."
"You can discuss the rest."
After saying this, Xie Lanzhou left the camp with Su Panyue.
After the two had walked a short distance, Su Panyue couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you finished discussing it yet? Are you just leaving like this?"
Xie Lanzhou stroked her wrist with his fingers, saying nonchalantly, "My wife has already taken care of the most important matters for me. If I have to make every decision myself, what's the point of having them?"
Su Panyue nodded in agreement, then noticed the dark circles under his eyes and asked, "Your Majesty didn't sleep last night either?"
The man raised an eyebrow: "You weren't asleep either?"
"Go back and get some more sleep."
Without waiting for Su Panyue's reply, he led her back to their resting tent.
The milk pudding that Feixue had prepared for her was still warming on the clay stove, bubbling and emitting a milky aroma.
Xie Lanzhou served each of them a bowl.
Su Panyue sat down next to him, took a couple of sips of the warm milk, and gradually relaxed. It seemed that there was nothing to be afraid of when she was with him.
She reached out and touched the stubble that had just sprouted on his chin, and asked, "Was there a fire last night?"
Xie Lanzhou shook his head, "No, someone was just trying to test you. Did they disturb your rest?"
"A little," Su Panyue nodded, then asked, "Has Your Majesty been able to find out who sent those people last night?"
"They set a wildfire and ran away, without catching anyone alive." As Xie Lanzhou spoke, he served her another bowl of milk.
Su Panyue didn't answer, and looked somewhat worried.
Xie Lanzhou was very patient. He scooped up a spoonful, blew on it twice, and brought it to her lips, saying nonchalantly, "Don't worry, it's just some prince coming to test the waters."
Su Panyue frowned and said, "I saw Shan Mingyuan's men yesterday, and I have a bad feeling about it."
Xie Lanzhou paused slightly in the hand holding the spoon, lowered her eyes and asked, "You saw him?"
"Who?" Su Panyue asked in confusion.
"That guy surnamed Shan," Xie Lanzhou reminded him.
“Shan Mingyuan? No, how could he come in person? I just accidentally bumped into his personal bodyguard,” Su Panyue explained.
“I suspect he has already ascended to the throne; he was the most likely candidate to do so years ago,” she continued her analysis.
Xie Lanzhou, however, lowered his head and stirred the milk in the bowl with a spoon, occasionally making a crisp sound as it hit the side of the bowl.
After waiting for a while without receiving a response from him, Su Panyue asked curiously, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Does his personal guard recognize you?" Xie Lanzhou's voice was a little hoarse.
Su Panyue nodded and said truthfully, "I had seen him before and he might have recognized me, but with the chaos of war last night, I'm not sure if he saw me clearly."
Xie Lanzhou reached out and pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder. The newly grown stubble prickled her skin through her clothes, making her feel a little itchy.
But Su Panyue still opened her arms and hugged him tighter, hearing the man's innermost thoughts:
Have you ever loved him? Have you ever held him like this?
Only then did she realize that he was jealous. Even such a confident and arrogant man could be jealous. She couldn't help but chuckle softly.
And because he was wearing a mask, he could only smile with a straight face, which was really strange.
Xie Lanzhou tilted her head in confusion, not asking why she was smiling, but giving her a thoughtful look.
Su Panyue stopped smiling, pushed him away slightly, and said seriously, "It would be the worst outcome if Shan Mingyuan took over. He is a very cunning and difficult person to deal with. You must not be careless."
"He also had a group of advisors who were dedicated to giving him advice. He was very good at making good use of his talents and often listened to their opinions and humbly sought their guidance."
Xie Lanzhou couldn't help but interrupt: "Are you implying that I'm not humble enough to learn?"
Su Panyue gave a short "Ah," and said, "That's not what I meant."
She then added, "His Majesty is more capable than him, so naturally he doesn't need so many advisors to manage the Great Qi well."
Xie Lanzhou then asked, "Are you also very familiar with the people around him?"
This question is a bit difficult to answer. Su Panyue thought for a moment and said, "No, I've only met a few people by chance."
After saying that, she looked up at Xie Lanzhou, but the man lowered his eyes and remained silent, stirring up a bowl of warm milk soup until it was cold.
Su Panyue simply raised her hand and turned his face towards her, then kissed him on the cheek.
"Don't be upset~ I was engaged to him before, but that was a long time ago. Now that I have you, he probably doesn't know how many concubines he's taken. He might not even recognize me if we meet again."
Her words failed to comfort Xie Lanzhou; instead, they made his face darken even more.
If he didn't have a concubine and had remained faithful to you all these years, would you have changed your mind and gone back to him?
Hearing his thoughts, Su Panyue was stunned for a moment, but Xie Lanzhou grabbed her chin:
He uttered three words softly: "Answer me."
"Of course not!" Su Panyue answered instinctively.
Upon hearing her reply, Xie Lanzhou chuckled softly, "You really can hear me."
Su Panyue then realized that in her nervousness she had answered the question he was thinking of, and closed her eyes in annoyance.
"Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?" she stammered.
Xie Lanzhou looked at her with a half-smile.
Su Panyue knew she couldn't fool anyone today, so she decided to use her ultimate skill and strike first:
"Well, Your Majesty, you knew all along that I could hear you, and you've been testing me all along! Explain what this means!"
Xie Lanzhou: ?
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Author's Note: What should I do if my wife remembers everything about her ex-fiancé? [Melted]
What should I do if my wife overhears me being jealous? [Glasses]
What should I do if my wife gets angry after I called her out on something? [Chin resting on hand]
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