030
In Guangping County, Song Ling noticed that Yu Baizhou seemed a little uncomfortable, and remembering the items and letters he had asked someone to bring earlier, he was at a loss for words.
"I'd like to ask, General, what do you mean by this?" Song Ling took a box, inside which was the bag that Deputy General Shi had brought back earlier.
All of them are extremely precious medicinal materials.
"It's nothing special, I just thought you might need it, so I brought it to you." Yu Baizhou's eyes showed a hint of nervousness. "Aren't these useful?"
Song Ling didn't know what to say. She stroked the box in her hand, a ripple of emotion stirring in her heart.
The atmosphere between the two seemed to have changed, and the silence carried a different meaning.
"It's useful, General, thank you for your trouble."
Yu Baizhou's fingers twitched slightly at his side, unsure of what to say. "How is Zhi Ning?"
"That little girl is doing well." Song Ling smiled slightly. "Qi Man sends me messages every day; she's gained quite a bit of weight."
“Let’s hold a birthday banquet for her in a few days,” Yu Baizhou suggested. “Once the epidemic is over, it will also reassure the people of the Southern Barbarians.”
“Okay,” Song Ling lowered her eyes slightly, looking at his left arm, which he had been carefully dodging, her expression somewhat complicated, “Are you injured?”
"No." But he paused slightly. "Since you're alright, I'll go first..."
Yu Baizhou hurriedly got up to leave, his movements carrying a hint of fleeing in panic.
Unexpectedly, his movements faltered slightly.
In a moment of panic, a delicate hand grabbed his belt, and Yu Baizhou froze, rooted to the spot.
Song Ling realized that her subconscious action was somewhat inappropriate, but surprisingly she did not let go, after all, she had always been the most polite person.
With a clever move, they pulled the person back.
Song Ling's expression remained relatively normal, but Yu Baizhou's ears were practically ringing with excitement, and he stammered, "Miss, this doesn't seem quite right..."
He raised his hand and then lowered it, but dared not push the other person's hand away at all.
"Is that so?" Song Ling gently stroked the worn belt around his waist. Even though it didn't touch his skin, it made Yu Baizhou so nervous that he swallowed hard.
"What did the general mean by the sentence he wrote at the end of the letter? And what about the few red beans he put at the bottom of the envelope?" Song Ling asked with a half-smile. "Or was it a mistake?"
"Was it Lieutenant General Shi who released it?" She released her hand with great ease. "Then Ling will go and find Lieutenant General Shi."
Yu Baizhou wished he could go back and slap himself. Really... what was with his sudden sadness that night? He had assumed she wouldn't notice it these past few days.
Seeing that she was about to go look for Shi Qing, she felt a pang of panic and instinctively reached out to stop her, "No, don't look for him."
If they really went to investigate, he would lose all face as the commander-in-chief. Once Shi Qing found out, the whole army would know.
He himself was fine, but he unnecessarily tarnished Song Ling's reputation.
"I was wrong about this. I acted improperly." He lowered his head. "Miss, just think I've lost my mind."
What could Song Ling say? She could only shake her head slightly and say, "It's alright, let's just consider this matter over."
"and you……"
Song Ling gently removed his large hand from her wrist, saying, "The general should not be so hasty in marrying or taking in women who are meant to be his concubines."
His expression was calm and ruthless.
Yu Baizhou felt as if his passion had been doused with cold water, and he slumped down, like a large, abandoned dog.
"Then why can't it be you?"
Yu Baizhou was still unwilling, but under Song Ling's warning gaze, his tone gradually softened, "Why can't it be you... I really do love you, Xin Yue..."
"No." Song Ling looked at him with some confusion. "But what did I do wrong that caused the general to misunderstand?"
She believed she had always fulfilled her responsibilities as a strategist and had never overstepped her bounds.
“Ling can be changed.”
With each cut, Yu Baizhou's face fell. "Am I really that worthless?"
"I know I'm a military officer, illiterate, not good at understanding people, and not very learned... but I will learn well, you..."
How could this be?
Song Ling was genuinely amused by him. "How could a general think like that? To compare one's weaknesses to others' strengths? Which teacher taught you that?"
“It has nothing to do with these things,” Song Ling gestured for him to sit down. “The general’s future plans are far-reaching, and the marriage is actually a major bargaining chip for the general.”
“General, marrying a wife in the future will surely be of great benefit to your cause,” Song Ling smiled slightly. “Besides, since you are currently unmarried, you have not seen many women, which is why you are not speaking to me about this. Moreover, there are so many women in the world, you will surely meet one you truly admire.”
Yu Baizhou paused for a moment, "Does the young lady think I'm too naive in matters of the heart, and that I'm not truly in love with you?"
Song Ling's expression froze slightly. It seemed that of all the things she had said, he only remembered this one sentence. Weren't the previous sentences more important?
“I don’t agree with the girl’s point of view,” he said, looking at her seriously. “I know what I want and I can see the feelings in my heart. I’m several years older than the girl and I’m no longer a child.”
"Besides, if I can't even decide my own marriage, how can I possibly compete for that position?"
Song Ling had no idea where he got such a twisted logic from, and was determined to correct him, "Throughout history, which emperor hasn't done this? Marriage alliances have always been the most solid bargaining chip for consolidating power. How can you be so willful, General?"
“That’s them!” Yu Baizhou’s voice weakened a bit. “I can always be different. I can’t learn everything from them.”
What do you think?
Song Ling pinched the bridge of her nose. She must have gone crazy today, arguing with him about these meaningless things.
"Are you feeling unwell because you caught a cold?" Yu Baizhou immediately became tense. "Should we go see a doctor?"
"You're the one who made me angry!" Song Ling said irritably. "You don't listen to me."
"I will listen to you..." Yu Baizhou knelt down, no longer pretending after his thoughts were exposed, and raised his hand to touch her forehead, "I will listen to whatever you say from now on."
Song Ling slapped his hand away, "Don't touch me."
"I apologize..." Yu Baizhou withdrew his hand. "I can listen to anything, but you cannot arrange my marriage in the future."
"I don't want to marry a woman I don't like and then torment each other."
Song Ling glanced down at him and said, "Do you still want to fight for that position? Do you still care about the greater cause? The general should know that as long as you remain unmarried, countless people will covet your position as the general's wife."
"And this situation will only worsen once you gain momentum."
Song Ling got up, opened a drawer, took out a bottle of medicine powder, and tossed it into Yu Baizhou's arms. "General, go back and apply the medicine. Let's talk about this another day."
"Can I ask you..."
Song Ling smiled slightly, "No."
...the idea.
"Oh." Yu Baizhou lowered his eyes and looked for a moment of dejection. "Could that girl apply some medicine for me? I can't touch it myself."
Song Lingcai wasn't buying it. "The general is injured in the arm."
He paused, his earlobes turning bright red, "I also have injuries on my back."
Hopeful eyes turned towards her, but Song Ling was heartless and indifferent. "Then you can go find a soldier to help you apply the medicine."
The two remained locked in a stalemate for about fifteen minutes. Seeing that his left sleeve was soaked with blood from the strain of his muscles, Song Ling glanced at him and said, "Stubborn."
"Take off your coat and lie down over there."
General Yu revealed a triumphant smile, disregarding his own shyness, and quickly stripped off his shirt, appearing much more natural than when he had administered acupuncture to him earlier.
At this point, he probed further, "Miss, now that you've seen my body, shouldn't you take responsibility for me?"
Song Ling didn't speak, but she applied the medicine with a little more force.
"hiss……"
"If you can't speak, then shut up."
"So, do you like someone like Shi Yu?" Faced with this sudden question, Song Ling was taken aback. "Where did you hear that from?"
"It's nothing, never mind." The voice was muffled, perhaps unaware of what she was imagining again.
Yu Baizhou's mind was filled with the scene when Shi Yu came. It made sense; she was intelligent and resourceful, and naturally she preferred a gentleman like him, rather than a crude and vulgar military man.
"Smack—"
"Speak your mind, don't hold back."
Yu pouted; as expected, she disliked him. This was the second time she had hit him out of impatience; the last time was during the acupuncture session shortly after they met.
"I can learn what kind of girls like."
He was sullen, his head buried in his arms, but his ears, red as blood, betrayed his shyness.
Do you like it...?
These words only flashed through her mind for a moment before Song Ling dismissed them, saying, "A general should act like a general."
After saying that, she took a half step back and put down the medicine bottle. "General, you can bandage the wound on your arm yourself."
Before Yu Baizhou could ask any more questions, the room had already disappeared.
Okay, he lowered his eyes. It was the first time he had ever liked a girl, and it seemed like he had completely messed her up.
She's such a heartless woman.
Little did anyone know that Song Ling, after leaving, remained silent in the room for a long time before taking out the envelope and placing it over the candlelight.
For some reason, it burned down to about half its original size and then suddenly stopped, leaving only a small portion of the letter when the flame died down.
It should be burned.
She thought to herself.
But his hand wouldn't obey, and he couldn't bring himself to place it over the candlelight again. Finally, he sighed, tucked it into a book, and tossed it to the bottom of his bookcase.
………
military camp
"What's the urgent matter?"
Yu Baizhou dismounted and hurriedly entered the camp.
Wei Yan and several deputy generals had been waiting here for a long time, and now they all had their brows furrowed.
At this moment, Wei Yan handed over a handwritten edict, "His Majesty summons the general to the capital to report on his duties. He shall depart on a chosen date."
"General... what should we do?"
Now, the King of Qi's intention to march south is growing stronger, and the southern barbarians are constantly probing and eyeing us covetously. If the southwestern army loses its commander at this time, it will be no different from a group of dragons without a leader or backbone.
"Your Majesty is truly at ease!" Lieutenant General Li's brows furrowed into a deep frown. "Is this the time for a performance review?"
"This is fucking ridiculous!"
The other deputy generals didn't speak, but they seemed to have a similar idea.
"If you ask me, in this kind of world, we might as well just rebel against his grandfather." Lieutenant General Li got more and more carried away as he spoke, and several lieutenants behind him pulled him back, saying, "Watch your words, watch your words, Brother Li!"
"The time to rebel is not now."
The tent fell silent instantly. Apart from Wei Yan, the other deputy generals stared at their general in shock, as if they had swallowed a duck egg.
"I knew it! Our general has soldiers when he wants them, and... what?" Lieutenant General Li turned around abruptly, his face even more shocked than the others behind him.
His expression immediately became serious. "General, are you joking, or are you serious?"
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