"Are you still laughing?" He pretended to be fierce and tried to pounce on Zhao Shu. Zhao Shu hurriedly ran away. The soldiers who were setting up the tent saw the two of them arguing and smiled, glancing around nervously. They were having a hard time holding back their laughter.
In the distance, Zhou Hanyan sat back down next to Lin Dongxue, silently wiping the sweat from his face. The usually lively girl had become quiet and reserved. As she tried to pull her hand back, Lin Dongxue grabbed her wrist. "I'm sorry."
Zhou Hanyan forced a smile, "It's alright, I know you have your reasons."
Having been deceived for so long, I still can't easily let it go. It's not that I'm angry, it's just that I feel sad. I like him so much, but I can't get his complete trust. It's just heartbreaking.
Lin Dongxue placed his hand on his heart, looked into her eyes, and said, "Don't do this, it hurts me. I promise I'll never lie to you again, okay?"
Zhou Hanyan looked at him with a smile, "Brother Lin, there's no need for this. You have your life, and I have mine. You don't need to let me know everything."
This statement may be somewhat hypocritical, but it is true. Even married couples sometimes have secrets they cannot share.
"You're angry with me." The woman he knew was carefree and adorable, like a legendary elf. But now she had lost her innocent smile. It was his fault. With his identity revealed, he didn't know how many people he would lose.
He wished he could keep the status quo, do some business every day, and then marry her when he was old enough. But many things seemed to be getting out of control. Should he thank Zhao Shu for not pressing him any further?
Even if Zhao Shu stopped pressing him, he still felt like he had a knife hanging over his heart, afraid that everything he had would vanish in the blink of an eye—his father, mother, grandfather, brothers—it all seemed unreal, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water.
He no longer knew who he was. From a young age, he was forced to be the eldest son and learn everything about the eldest son of the legitimate wife. From the time he could remember, he was instilled with the idea that he would inherit the family business in the future. However, he was actually several years younger than his brothers and had to accept that his younger brothers would call him "elder brother".
He grew up with his grandfather from a young age and rarely went out. He didn't even see his brothers until he was ten years old, when he disguised himself and returned to live with his parents.
At first, his grandfather said that he had chosen him to inherit the family business in the future, but the Lin family followed the principle of primogeniture, and he had an elder brother, so he had to pretend to be older than him in order to avoid internal strife among the brothers.
He used to be worried about being exposed, but as he grew older and more experienced, he became less worried. Unexpectedly, he was eventually exposed.
"Brother Lin, what about you and Sister A-Jun?" She didn't know much and could only guess, not daring to be sure of anything.
Lin Dongxue closed his eyes. "I don't know."
All the words and guesses seemed to be frozen in the four words "I don't know".
Zhou Hanyan burst into tears, burying her face in his chest. "I'm not angry, I'm just worried." As clever as she was, how could she not know the possibilities? She was just the daughter of a merchant, how could she compare to royalty? Well-versed in Han culture, she knew that marriage in the Central Plains was very particular about matching social status.
"Don't worry, I'm here." Lin Dongxue gently stroked her head, his gaze firm.
Zhao Shu had no idea that they were worrying unnecessarily. Even if Lin Dongxue was her brother and she had been recognized, her father would not force him to marry a woman of equal social standing.
His Highness Prince Yong is a very enlightened person.
After the two had a bit of a commotion, Zhao Shu sat down, and Wei Tingsi roasted a pheasant for him. Zhang Chang walked over, swallowed hard, and handed Wei Tingsi a slip of paper, which should be some intelligence that had just been sent.
Wei Tingsi handed the still-cooked roast chicken to Zhang Chang, then looked at it carefully before handing it to Zhao Shu, saying, "It was sent by Mr. Luo."
After so long, there was finally news from her teacher. Zhao Shu was very excited and couldn't wait to take a look. The handwriting was indeed Luo Hu's. There wasn't much content; it was just a simple description of the defenses in Shu.
"The fact that the teacher can still send messages means I'm safe, so I feel relieved."
“Mr. Luo is no ordinary person. He can ensure his own safety, so don’t worry. You should be worried about what Mr. Luo will do to me when he sees you. I hope you will come to my rescue then.” He said with a straight face.
Zhao Shu pouted, "The teacher is a very strict person, I dare not." She was determined to stand by and watch.
Zhang Chang suddenly said, "Marshal, Mr. Luo loves to drink and compose poetry. If you write a good poem and bring a pot of good wine, the problem will be solved."
Wei Tingsi nodded, and Zhao Shu immediately rebuked Zhang Chang, "So, you sold me out with just a pot of wine?"
“Princess, look at what you’re saying. How could the Marshal bear to sell you? If anyone should be selling, it would be Mr. Luo, and our Marshal would buy you.”
Zhao Shu swung the dry firewood on the ground and swung it at him, yelling, "Get out of the way!"
Zhang Chang quickly grabbed the pheasant and left, but after taking only two steps, Wei Tingsi coughed and reluctantly returned the pheasant. Zhao Shu wanted to laugh at the sight of him constantly swallowing his saliva.
But we will absolutely not distribute it!
Through this incident, Zhang Chang came to the conclusion that one should never use a princess to curry favor with the marshal, or one will suffer a terrible death!
The fragrant pheasant had just been roasted when Zhou Hanyan came over, her eyes watery, staring blankly at the pheasant. She didn't ask Zhao Shu for any. For some reason, she felt that her sister-in-law was a scary thing. What if she didn't behave well? Would she be disgusted?
If Zhao Shu knew that she actually thought this way, she would definitely tell her, "You're overthinking it."
"Is Young Master Lin hungry?" Zhao Shu asked.
Zhou Hanyan nodded, looking at Zhao Shu hopefully.
Zhao Shu handed over the roast chicken, saying, "Here, this is for you. He's not better yet, so he shouldn't eat this kind of thing. Just make him some porridge."
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