He Yan stared at Yan He in a daze, his mind was blank. At this moment, he didn't know how to respond. There was only one thought that kept coming to his mind.

How is that possible?

How is this possible?

"No...that's impossible." He Yan tried to look relaxed, "Commander Xiao is not such a warm-hearted person."

"I knew you would react like this," Yan He said impatiently, "so I didn't bother to mention this to anyone these years. No one would believe me anyway."

"But, I can swear on my Yan He's head that this is absolutely true. When we were studying in the academy, that lunatic Xiao Huaijin actually wrote notes to He Rufei every day to teach him swordsmanship." He seemed to be thinking of the past, and his eyes were still filled with disbelief. "Every day, it was simply terrible."

At that time, he was still a young man with great vigor and vitality. Before Xiao Huaijin came down the mountain, Yan He had taken the first place in Xianchang Hall. After Xiao Huaijin entered Xianchang Hall, he could only be second.

This feeling is actually very annoying. Either you have never been first and are always second, or you are first and always first. But you were first before, but then you were second, and you have never surpassed anyone. This actually hits your confidence and makes others think that Yan He is no match for Xiao Jue.

They are all gifted children, and who really respects who? Yan He wishes he could spend six hours a day studying hard, and the other six hours competing with Xiao Jue. After all, every competition will have gains, and knowing yourself and the enemy will lead to victory in every battle. Unfortunately, this second son of Xiao is not a patient person. He can even ignore the words of the master, and he will ignore him completely.

Yan He challenged him eight or ten times, and if Xiao Jue could respond once, he would be in a good mood. Yan He was also arrogant, but compared to Xiao Jue's calm and indifferent attitude, he was still a little bit inferior.

He was almost pissed off to death by Xiao Jue.

So when Yan He was young, he had no worries about food and clothing, and everything went smoothly. The only adversity he faced was Xiao Jue. At that time, he believed that his lifelong wish was to defeat Xiao Jue.

In Xianchang Hall, the competition for the first and second place is so fierce that there is no shortage of people pursuing the first and second to last places, such as... Lin Shuanghe and He Rufei.

Lin Shuanghe was fine. As the descendant of a royal doctor family, he had no ambition to do this. It didn't matter if he was not good at either literature or martial arts. But the eldest son of the He family was very strange. He Rufei was extremely diligent and serious. Even if the progress was small, he would try every possibility. For such a person, Yan He could only look down on him, but he couldn't say he hated him. A genius like him always looked down on mediocre people.

However, one thing changed Yan He's view.

He discovered He Rufei's sword practice at night by accident. Rather than following He Rufei's steps, Yan He was paying attention to Xiao Jue's every move. One night, Yan He saw Xiao Jue sitting in the backyard watching He Rufei practice sword. He thought about it for a long time with his smart head, but he couldn't figure out the reason.

What was Xiao Jue doing? Was he unable to sleep and came out to watch the show? Or did he think that such a clumsy He Rufei could make him laugh? But if that was the case, it would be fine if it was just for one or two days, but it would happen every day. No wonder he always slept in the academy during the day, because he didn't sleep at all at night?

Xiao Jue practiced sword with He Rufei day and night, but he didn't say anything and didn't do anything, just drank tea. He Rufei also had a good temper. Even though he was watched like a monkey, he didn't get angry and just did his own thing diligently.

Yan He, for some reason, followed Xiao Jue out every day and spied on him secretly, thinking that Xiao Jue must be up to something and would never do such a useless thing. Later, Yan He looked back at himself and felt that he couldn't bear to look at himself. If there were other people watching them in the backyard, they would probably think that there were three lunatics in Xianchang Hall.

But Yan He had only one thought at that time, he wanted to see what Xiao Jue was up to, and he actually discovered the clues.

He Rufei's swordsmanship improves day by day.

This is a bit strange. He Rufei's teacher in the academy is also very good, but his progress is not necessarily so fast. However, He Rufei, who practices swordplay at night, can correct the obvious problems of the previous day every day. His swordplay has really made a big leap compared to the beginning.

Yan He absolutely did not believe that He Rufei was so spiritual. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally caught Xiao Jue who had put the note on He Rufei's desk.

He opened the letter, which was densely written with the flaws in last night's swordplay and the areas that needed improvement. Yan He said sourly, "You are more careful than the teacher in the academy."

Xiao Jue looked at him coldly and said calmly: "You follow me every day, do you want to do the same as those women outside?"

The women outside were all Xiao Jue's admirers. They would occasionally "pass by" the academy when they had nothing to do. After all, Xiao Jue had a very pretty face, and his indifferent and lazy look was really alluring, and many people were fascinated by him.

Yan He threw the paper on the table and looked at him with disgust: "Who is the same as those women?"

Xiao Jue turned around to leave, and Yan He hurriedly followed him out. Feeling unwilling, he asked, "You accompany him to practice swordplay in the yard every night just to teach him swordplay?"

"You follow me every night just to watch me teach him swordsmanship?" Xiao Jue answered nonchalantly.

"You're crazy!" Yan He said incredulously, "You actually wasted your time on someone like that!"

Although he didn't like Xiao Jue, he had to admit that Xiao Jue was gifted. Just as he had always considered Xiao Jue as his opponent, in Yan He's mind, Xiao Jue should also consider himself as his opponent and practice hard every day to maintain his first place. But now it seems that not only is he not diligent, but he also doesn't take himself seriously. Instead, he goes to watch the last-placed person practice swordsmanship every day to teach him swordsmanship? Yan He couldn't understand and felt angry. Doesn't this mean that in Xiao Jue's mind, he is not as good as He Rufei?

What is this!

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Seeing Xiao Jue ignoring him, Yan He got anxious and walked around to Xiao Jue, "Why are you wasting your time on that kind of crap?"

"Really?" Xiao Jue glanced at him with her beautiful eyes, walked up to the rockery, found a place to lie down, put her hands behind her head, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep: "I don't think so."

What do you think? Don't you think he is trash?

"You..." Yan He said angrily, "You give him guidance every day, but he has only improved a little. There are so many people in Xianchang Hall, why did you choose He Rufei? Are you trying to teach the last one to the first one to be satisfied? Then I tell you, give up as soon as possible! With He Rufei's qualifications, it is impossible."

Xiao Jue: "I'm not that boring."

His attitude of not caring about the pain made Yan He even more angry. He turned and walked out, "I'm going to tell He Rufei to stop occupying you. Using the guidance of the best master in Xianchang Hall, you have become like this. It's really ridiculous!"

Xiao Jue's lazy voice came from behind: "Competition."

Yan He stopped and asked: "What?"

"If you come to challenge me in the future, I will accept one out of three times." He didn't blink, his eyelashes drooped, his skin was as white as jade, and he leaned against the rockery and dozed, just like the handsome and romantic boy in the picture. "The condition is confidentiality."

Yan He stood there, feeling very conflicted. Finally, he couldn't resist Xiao Jue's temptation to compete with him, and gritted his teeth and said, "Twice."

"make a deal."

The sun shone hotly in the yard. Yan He sighed and said, "That's it. In exchange, I will keep it a secret for him and not tell He Rufei."

Even though many years have passed, Yan He still feels angry when he talks about this again. It would be good if He Rufei's swordsmanship improved dramatically under Xiao Jue's guidance, but his progress is not that of a genius. In Yan He's opinion, it is a bit of a waste of Xiao Jue's careful teaching. But Xiao Jue is really patient with He Rufei. Although he refuses to compete with him, he teaches He Rufei with all his heart and soul every day.

Yan He didn't know where his injustice and jealousy came from.

Perhaps it is because they cannot bear to see people with mediocre qualifications being taught by famous teachers and yet wasting the teachers' knowledge, which makes them angry.

"He later became famous," Yan He snorted, "but in my opinion, if it were me, I would definitely be more than that with Xiao Huaijin's guidance. I thought he was worthy of his teachings, but I didn't expect that in the battle of Huayuan, he was still the same as before. I think it's better for him to give up the title of General Feihong as soon as possible to avoid being laughed at."

"Boy," Yan He looked up at the person beside him, "Why don't you say anything?"

He Yan was startled. The sun was shining brightly and her eyes were a little dizzy. She didn’t know if she was shocked by Yan He’s words or what. She murmured, “I’m just...very surprised.”

"More than surprised, I thought Xiao Huaijin was crazy at first." Yan He said sarcastically, "And logically, He Rufei owed Xiao Huaijin such a big favor, I thought they had a good relationship. I didn't expect that in recent years, the two of them have not been very close. This time Rundu is in trouble, Huayuan is so close to Rundu, and Xiao Huaijin actually wrote to me instead of looking for He Rufei? It seems that Xiao Huaijin has kept this matter secret until now, and He Rufei still doesn't know about it. But it's hard to say, after all, it was many years ago, and the two of them are equally famous now, so it's natural for He Rufei to have a competitive heart."

Yan He really took every opportunity to discredit He Rufei, but He Yan didn't want to bother with him anymore. All she could think about was... Was it Xiao Jue who secretly taught her swordsmanship back then?

She had always thought that it was a kind-hearted gentleman from Xianchang Hall who taught her in secret, seeing that she was not good at swordsmanship. She had always been very grateful for this. If she had not left home to join the army when the He family was in trouble, she would have been able to see who the gentleman was with her own eyes. It has always been a regret in He Yan's heart that she was not able to thank him properly.

But now I learned the unbelievable truth from Yan He, it turned out to be Xiao Jue?

If it was Xiao Jue, then everything would make sense. His skills were no worse than those of the masters in Xianchang Hall. He Yan hadn't thought of Xiao Jue, but it was because Xiao Jue's personality was not that of a helpful person, not to mention that he and he were not close.

It turned out that he came to the backyard every night to watch her practice sword and drink tea, not for entertainment... but to guide her progress.

He Yan took a deep breath. How come she only discovered it now?

"What's that expression on your face?" Yan He frowned. "You look really excited?"

"I..." He Yan coughed lightly and said, "I just think Governor Xiao is a really good person."

"What good man? I think he is sick. This guy is good at everything in the academy, who can see that he has such a poor vision." Yan He patted the dust off his body and stood up, grabbing the Fang Tian Ji beside him, "I am not happy when I talk about He Rufei, forget it, I want to continue practicing the halberd, what do you do?"

He Yan's thoughts were in a mess at the moment, so he naturally had no intention of watching this man showing off his skills in front of him, so he said, "In that case, then I won't bother General Yan, I will go back to my room first."

He Yan turned and left.

…

It was getting dark.

Xiao Jue came out of the hall, and Li Kuang wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Because of Qiluo's matter, he was ashamed to see He Yan. When he saw He Yan, he felt nervous and fearful. He thought it would be better to talk to Xiao Jue, but this commander of the right army was even more difficult to deal with than the young Wu Anlang.

He carefully inquired about everything that had happened in Rundu in the past few days, including the previous incident of placing straw men on the city tower and attacking the enemy camp at night to burn food and grass. Li Kuang did not take credit for it and revealed all of He Yan's ideas. As for the captured women and Qiluo, Xiao Jue had already seen them at that time. When Li Kuang repeated it again, the young governor did not look as excited as He Yan, but looked quite calm. However, that calmness made Li Kuang feel even more uneasy.

After asking about the affairs of Rundu one by one, Li Kuang also knew that they would leave for Shuojing in a few days. Li Kuang breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, the crisis of Rundu was solved. Yanhe would leave some troops here, but those Wutuo people dared not come again.

The city was finally defended, but... it was not defended.

Li Kuang understood one thing very well: he had lost the support of the people.

The general of this city will not stay here for long.

The usually tall and burly man sat alone in the room. For a long while, he buried his hands in his palms and shed silent tears.

This is the punishment he deserves.

…

The night in Rundu is very cool.

The heat of the day faded away completely at night, but the famine in the city caused the leaves of grass and trees to wither, giving off a somewhat autumnal bleakness.

Xiao Jue put the drink on the table, turned around, and had just taken off her outer garment when she heard someone knocking on the door, one knock after another, polite and respectful.

He paused. "Come in."

The door opened, and He Yan stood at the door. He looked at him and asked, "Commander-in-Chief, can I come in?"

When he was in Liangzhou Guard, this man never knocked on doors. When he wanted to find someone, he would not even go through the main door to save trouble. He would knock on the middle door a few times without caring whether there was anyone answering or not. He would just treat it as a greeting and then sneak in and pry the lock with ease. Then a head popped out from behind the door with a bright smile on his face, and called out in a clear and loud voice: "Commander-in-chief!"

Now, after only staying in Rundu for more than a month, he has become so well-behaved and polite, but in this politeness, there is a subtle hint of politeness.

Xiao Jue raised his eyebrows slightly, put his outer garment away, and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

He didn't answer her "can you", anyway, He Yan would come in by himself. Sure enough, after a moment of obedience, He Yan walked in naturally and closed the door.

The room looked luxurious, but Rundu now lived on the food and grass brought by Yan He, so there was naturally no tea. Xiao Jue picked up the white jade porcelain pot on the table and poured water into the teacup. He Yan walked over and said, "Let me do it."

She took the teapot from Xiao Jue.

Xiao Jue did not refuse. When he moved, he accidentally touched her fingers. He Yan's heart trembled slightly. He raised his head and looked at the other person. However, the person lowered his eyes and it was hard to tell what his expression was. He Yan pretended to be nothing, walked to the other side of the table, and slowly poured water.

Skin intimacy, she and Xiao Jue had broken the rules countless times. But before in Liangzhou, there were many inconveniences, so she tried her best to ignore it. But now, she already knows a lot of things, and she also understands her feelings for Xiao Jue. As the saying goes, if you have no desire, you will be strong. If you have a guilty conscience, you will feel uncomfortable.

She cursed herself in her heart for being stupid, and spoke as calmly as possible, "Commander-in-chief, Brother Lin said today that we will return to Shuojing together in a few days."

Xiao Jue sat down at the table, "You don't want to go back?"

"No." She had been planning to return to Shuojing. "But why did His Majesty suddenly summon you back to Shuojing? And the Yan generals? If everyone returns to Shuojing, wouldn't it be very dangerous outside?"

These Wutuo people are eyeing the city covetously. Even if the emperor is worried about the safety of Shuojing, he does not have to recall all the powerful generals of Wei. In case the Wutuo people make a comeback at this time, although the possibility is not high, we still have to be on guard.

"You'll know when you get back." Xiao Jue did not answer her question directly.

That's right, it's not right to talk about it before we go back. But she didn't come here for this matter. She just wanted to find a reason to start a conversation.

She handed one cup of tea to Xiao Jue, and kept the other cup in her own hand. Holding the warm tea in her palm, the girl lowered her head and took a sip. After a while, she raised her head and seemed to be making small talk, "Commander-in-chief, I met General Yan in the daytime."

Xiao Jue said "hmm" and lowered his head to read. His attitude these days was very strange. He was cold, but calm and gentle. He was gentle, but he didn't take the initiative to talk to He Yan... Of course, he didn't take the initiative to cause trouble for He Yan either.

He Yan didn't quite understand this subtle sense of distance.

"General Yan seems to dislike General Feihong very much," no one said anything, so He Yan could only bite the bullet and continue speaking alone, "I sat with him for a while, and after listening to him talk, I found out that the governor, General Feihong, and General Yan were classmates!"

Her pretentious tone made Xiao Jue pause for a moment, and after a moment he said, "Stay away from him."

It was good that he could speak. He Yan pushed the teacup forward and looked at him. "I asked General Yan why he disliked Young Master He so much. General Yan told me..." She deliberately dragged out her voice and looked at Xiao Jue's reaction, "Because you, the commander-in-chief, taught General Feihong swordsmanship every night, General Yan got jealous and disliked you for so many years." He Yan held her chin and asked with a puzzled look, "So, commander-in-chief, do you actually like General Feihong?"

She looked like a subordinate who was curious about her boss's story, but her heart was beating very fast. Although Yan He said so, He Yan still wanted to verify it herself. She didn't know if what Yan He said was true, nor did she know why Xiao Jue did this.

Xiao Jue closed the book and looked at her calmly: "I am not a cleavage-sleeve clerk."

"I didn't say you were a traitor." He Yan said, "What I meant was, do you admire General Fei Hong very much? So you helped her secretly? Is it really you who taught her swordsmanship every night?"

Xiao Jue didn't say anything. Given his personality, this was tacit agreement.

He Yan sat up straight at once, unable to describe the feeling in her heart at that moment. After a long while, she asked, "Why do you want to instruct him?"

Xiao Jue raised his eyes and looked at her: "Why are you asking this?"

He Yan lowered his head, hiding the emotions in his eyes, "It's just not worth it for you. I heard from General Yan that when Young Master He was in Xianchang Hall, his academic performance was not very good, and his civil and military skills were very ordinary. I don't know why the governor chose him and taught him swordsmanship? And he did so much, but didn't tell Young Master He? Doesn't Young Master He still know that it was you who helped him back then? You...you don't think it's very unwise to do this?"

"It's just a casual act, no need to worry." Xiao Jue said calmly: "What does it matter if you know or not?"

He Yan stared at him intently, thinking, it does matter, if she had known it was him earlier... if she had known it was him earlier, maybe that little girl's fantasy would have lasted longer, maybe when Xu Zhiheng appeared, she wouldn't have been so single-minded in falling in love with him. She had been lonely for too long, and it was obviously Xiao Jue who appeared first... but she was moved too late.

As if noticing something strange in her expression, Xiao Jue paused and frowned, saying, "You..."

"I feel so sorry for the governor," He Yan smiled, "Even this Young Master He is really something. Even if you, the governor, have hidden your merits and fame and don't want others to know about it, and the kind-hearted people who quietly helped him, didn't Young Master He know to check it out? If he just let it go, he should have discovered you earlier. The governor also played a role in his current reputation."

Seeing her so anxious, Xiao Jue looked at her thoughtfully, and suddenly curled his lips: "Actually, he also tried to find me."

He Yan was startled.

Under the light, his face was calm and handsome, as if he was recalling scenes from the past. His beautiful black eyes were deep and rippled, almost drowning.

In fact, Xiao Jue had also seen He Rufei looking for someone without any reason. Every time he wrote on the notes, he expressed his gratitude to him, and he was very fearful and clumsy. He even tried to catch him once.

But how could he possibly catch him? He sat on the tree and watched He Rufei walk by. Although he was wearing a mask, he could imagine that he looked depressed and inexplicably pitiful.

He finally relented and agreed to let He Rufei take a look at him, although the result might not be very happy.

"One time he made an appointment with me to meet at the academy."

"What happened next? Did you meet her?"

The man, as elegant as a beautiful jade, lowered his head and said calmly, "I'm going."

"But he didn't come that night."