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Peng Xuan'an hosted a banquet for the old man and rewarded him with some gold and silver to thank him for his help. After absentmindedly finishing a cup of wine, he got up and left, leaving Lu Fu and the others to entertain the old man.
He learned from the old man that he and his friend had gone hunting in the forest that day when they heard a girl crying for help. He and his friend went to investigate and found a woman surrounded by more than a dozen men. The woman was struggling desperately to survive, and he and his friend rushed to help. One of his friends was accidentally attacked and had his hands crippled.
He and several of his friends were all skilled martial artists who had followed Commander Mu in battle. Now that they were old and frail, they chose to retire from court and live in seclusion.
He felt a mix of emotions upon hearing this.
He walked around outside for a while, feeling confused and annoyed. As he walked, he bumped into Qin Xiangde, who had just come out to comfort him.
Qin Xiangde called out to him, who was lost in thought, "Xuan'an, Lin Qiu is awake. Do you want to see her?"
Peng Xuan'an hesitated for a moment and asked hesitantly, "Is it okay?" He wasn't sure if she would be afraid and avoid him after he went in.
"Go and check on her." He nodded. "Where is that old man now?" He wanted to go and express his gratitude.
“I have already prepared a banquet in the main camp. You can go and have a chat with him.” His gaze passed over Qin Xiangde and landed on her tent.
Qin Xiangde understood and said, "Okay, I understand. You go in first, I'll go and prepare the medicine for Linqiu."
"Okay." His leg injury hadn't healed yet, so he walked in slowly.
He was still somewhat conflicted. He lifted the curtain, went inside, and turned to see Pang Linqiu sitting on the bed. He was overjoyed. She had returned unharmed… just with some mental issues…
He smiled gently and walked towards the bed. "Miss Pang, are you... feeling unwell?"
Pang Linqiu had only just opened her eyes, her vision still blurry. She squinted at the person who had spoken. She recognized Peng Xuan'an just from his voice and said calmly, "What are you doing here?"
Peng Xuan'an was stunned for a moment, her chest felt tight and painful as if it had shattered. Did she not want me to come?
“Come...to see you…” He found a stool and sat down, his deep eyes filled with sorrow as he looked up at her.
Pang Linqiu was dressed in coarse linen clothes, her face haggard and dull, as if she had suffered something unspeakable. His gaze fell on her fair neck, where there was a faint red mark—a bite mark…
He seemed to know what she had been through, and his heart ached.
His breath hitched. He looked away, a wry smile on his face. "Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
“…No.” She didn’t know why he had come, but she just didn’t really like him.
"But I heard from Xiangde that you love the Cuiming cake from Xiafeng Town the most. How about I go and buy some for you?"
Her brows were furrowed; she was already in a bad mood because of that incident, and now he had to come and get in her way! She retorted sharply, "Of course I like what Brother Mohe bought! Peng Xuan'an, what are you doing here?"
Peng Xuan'an didn't know what she had done wrong, or what she had said that had angered her so much. Her voice was low and worried as she said, "I'm worried about you..."
"I don't need you to worry about me, please leave!"
"But..." he wanted to say something else.
"I want Brother Mohe! I don't want you! Get out!" She was already annoyed, and seeing him only made her more so. She had just wanted to rest in peace, but he had disturbed her, and a surge of anger rose within her. She pointed out the curtain and yelled, "Get out!"
Seeing how unwelcoming she was to him, Peng Xuan'an lowered his eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry, I've disturbed Miss Pang." He broke down, turned around and slowly left. He wanted to look back at her one last time, but he was afraid that her haggard face would show disgust.
He came out of the tent, but his heart seemed not to have come out... it was still inside, or perhaps it had shattered into dust and drifted away with the wind.
As he left the camp, Qin Xiangde happened to be bringing over some medicine. He looked at Peng Xuan'an and asked, "Xuan'an, are you done talking?" He wanted to know how their relationship was going, but seeing his dejected look, he shut up.
Peng Xuan'an suppressed his frustration and pretended nothing had happened. "It's alright, go see her. She seems... more interested in seeing you. I'm going to tidy up the military matters." He quickly left the area.
Qin Xiangde seemed to understand something, and sighed as he entered the tent.
Pang Linqiu rubbed her temples, her head aching. Hearing footsteps approaching, she turned to look and saw Qin Xiangde! She smiled weakly and said, "Brother Mohe, Chun'er's head hurts so much."
Qin Xiangde placed the medicine on the bedside table, tidied the bedding, and said softly, "Be good, Zhichun, after you drink your medicine, go to sleep and your headache will fly away." He was coaxing her like a younger sister.
Pang Linqiu smiled even more brightly, her voice soft and sweet: "Okay!"
Qin Xiangde stroked her head. "What did you and Xuan An talk about? I saw how sad he was." He sat down, straightened his back, and looked at her.
"Nothing much, just some boring chatter."
"Is that so?" He picked up the medicine, stirred it with a spoon, and said gently, "It's not good for Zhichun to lie!"
Pang Linqiu looked aggrieved, "I just said I didn't want to see him..."
He sighed softly, his peach blossom eyes filled with tolerance and helplessness. "Hey, Zhichun, do you know that you're hurting him deeply?"
“While you were away, he sent men to search the entire forest and interrogate many people who had left the country…”
"So what? Did I ask him to do this?" She didn't want to fall for his excuses about doing this for her, even if it meant getting hurt or wronged. Her mother had taught her that if she wasn't forcing someone to do something, why should she be moved by it?
Qin Xiangde was taken aback. "Zhichun, he is still injured and needs to rest. You have hurt him deeply, and I'm afraid his wounds won't heal much."
“I didn’t cause that injury.” She was annoyed that Qin Xiangde was constantly defending him. “Brother Mohe, can’t you mention him?”
Qin Xiangde didn't know what to say, "Zhichun, I'm just worried about him. Listen to your brother, go and check on Xuan'an, okay? Xuan'an is your brother's good brother, and I think he..."
Unable to resist Qin Xiangde's coaxing, Pang Linqiu reluctantly agreed, her face contorted with displeasure. She crossed her arms and said, "I can go see him, but Brother Mohe—can you please stop mentioning him!"
“Alright!” He nodded and smiled. “Zhichun, I heard something interesting happen in town today. I’ll tell you…”
After administering the medicine, Pang Linqiu obediently rested.
As night quietly descended, crystal-clear snowflakes drifted down from the branches, and the bonfire blazed brightly, bringing warmth to the cold night.
Pang Linqiu arrived as promised and went to the tent where the two of them were staying. Qin Xiangde was unable to return because of a military meeting. Peng Xuan'an was reading military documents by lamplight when Pang Linqiu secretly peeked out to take a look.
Seeing him intently reading the memorial in his hand, she tiptoed forward and whispered, "You... General, what are you doing?" The girl's voice was curious.
Peng Xuan'an glanced at her, then continued reading. "Reading the military report, what is it?"
This sentence left her unsure whether he was angry or annoyed, so she tentatively asked, "I came to see the general, to find out if the general is angry with me..." She scratched the back of her head.
Peng Xuan'an put down the memorial, his deep eyes showing a hint of interest. "I am broad-minded, how could I be angry with you?"
She quickly chimed in, "That's true, a man with such large breasts as the General..."
He frowned at her. "I have big breasts?"
She quickly waved her hand in denial: "No, no, no, it was a slip of the tongue... haha..." and gave an awkward laugh.
He chuckled dryly. "Miss Pang, a visit so late at night can't be anything good." He looked at her meaningfully.
"General, are you so sure it's bad? What if it's good news?"
"Then tell me, what good thing could possibly warrant your visit so late at night?" He rested his chin on his left hand, tilting his head slightly as his gaze fell upon her.
She wanted to correct his use of the word "late at night," as it always sounded strange—a lone man and woman alone in the dead of night…
"It's only 7 PM, not really late at night..."
Was it late that night?
"..." She didn't want to dwell on this neurotic issue. "General, is your injury any better?"
Peng Xuan'an frowned and lowered his eyes. He didn't need to guess why she had come to see him. Who else could she possibly be? Besides Qin Xiangde and her father, there was no one else.
His face turned cold. "Did Qin Xiangde send you?"
Startled by Pang Linqiu's immediate guess as to who was behind it all, she gave a wry smile and tried to deny it: "No way... I just came to see you..."
Her unease only convinced him further: "I don't believe it."
"General, we can't let good intentions go to waste. Look how much Brother Mohe cares about you. Can you please stop using me as a middleman?"
“Miss Pang, you’re overthinking it. I have a very good relationship with him, and I don’t need you to act as a mediator. Besides, you can refuse his request; I don’t need your concern.” He seemed angry.
Pang Linqiu pursed her lips, spread her hands, and sighed, "Fine, then I'll go back and read my storybooks."
Seeing that she turned to leave without hesitation, he quickly called out to her, "Wait..."
"What?" She glanced back at him.
He hesitated for a moment, "Are you injured?"
"No."
"It's late, get some rest, and don't read any storybooks, it's bad for your eyes," he said naggingly.
She turned around and scoffed, "General, you have the nerve to talk back to me? You're reading late at night and you're concerned about me now."
"I'm not going to read it anymore, I should go to sleep too, you should get some rest as well." He put away the memorials on the table.
"Oh," she replied dismissively. What she really wanted to say was that she had slept enough during the day and couldn't fall asleep, so she was reading some short novels.
"If you feel unwell, you can tell me..."
Pang Linqiu interrupted him, saying calmly, "General, how is your injury? Is your calf alright?"
His gaze softened, and he seemed somewhat happy. "I'm almost better, but walking is still a little difficult..."
Not knowing what to say, she casually replied, "Then you should rest more and I hope you recover soon."
The candlelight flickered, casting dappled light on the boy's profile. His deep eyes held a deep sense of reluctance as he looked on in the quiet night, alone with his loved one.
"good……"
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