Yan Ning held the vase containing white lotus flowers, her tears falling like a broken string of pearls, soaking her dress.
"How could I, an atheist, possibly believe in the White Lotus Sect? But he can't even accept the identity of being a member of the White Lotus Sect. If I tell him the truth, what will he do?"
The white lotus in the vase has lost its original color, turning a withered yellow. And what about her love with him? Did it end so dimly before it even began? Or should she never have fallen in love in the first place?
Yan Ning slumped on the bed, clutching the vase. The gentle smile he gave her when he handed her the white lotus that day flashed through her mind, like warm sunlight melting the last wall of ice that had frozen her love. However, all of this was just to test her identity.
Yan Ning smiled bitterly. She had forgotten that he was a general, tasked with securing the country and eliminating dissidents!
Inside the military tent, Fukang'an ordered the kneeling officers and soldiers, "Don't let anyone else know about this. You may leave!"
Fukang'an leaned back in his general's chair, his face grave and brows furrowed. Yan Ning's demeanor yesterday didn't seem like that of someone he knew You Yuanzhi. You Yuanzhi had only saved her for her beauty!
Thinking of this, Fukang'an got up and left the military council tent.
"Reporting to the General, Miss Yan Ning just came by and left," the guard at the gate reported to Fukang'an as he came out.
Fukang'an was startled and said angrily, "Didn't I say that no one is allowed to approach the council tent without my order?"
The guard was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and argued, "The general instructed us the other day that if Miss Yan Ning comes, no matter what, we must not stop her."
He had already trusted her to such an extent, so why should he test her? Whether it was the White Lotus Sect or some other race, someone as weak as her couldn't bring any harm to the military camp or to him. With that thought, Fukang'an strode towards the military tent where Yan Ning was staying.
As soon as he entered the military tent, he saw Yan Ning sitting on the bed looking lost. He walked over and gently put his arm around her. "Yan Ning, listen to me. No matter what your true identity is, I don't care."
Yan Ning raised her head and looked at Fukang'an coldly. She recalled the day the two of them went on a trip. Although they didn't exchange many words, they smiled and looked at each other with boundless affection.
But now she realizes that it was all fake, just a pretense by Fukang'an to test her.
“Fukang’an, I know nothing of military strategy or tactics, nor do I possess your intelligence and wisdom. I am merely a woman, a woman not worth all the trouble you have gone to deal with. Any one of your orders could take my life, so why bother with this pretense of affection?”
Yan Ning refused to let her first love in eighteen years be trampled on like this.
Fukang'an looked at Yan Ning with a solemn expression and said, "I have already said that I don't care about your true identity. As long as you stay by my side, no one can hurt you."
He didn't care? He still suspected he was a member of the White Lotus Sect. Yan Ning gave Fukang'an a sharp look.
She stood up, placed the vase on the table, and sat with her back to Fukang'an. "I'm leaving the military camp. I won't depend on anyone for survival." If she couldn't be trusted, staying here would only make her sink deeper into this cross-generational love affair. It would be better to return to the capital alone and go back to the era she should have lived in.
"I won't allow it!" Fukang'an suddenly stood up and slammed his fist on the table.
The vase that Yan Ning had placed on the table shook due to the table's vibration, and she instinctively grabbed the vase in her hand.
Fukang'an looked at the white lotus in the vase. Was it because he had personally given it to her that she cherished this withered white lotus so much?
Yan Ning glared angrily at the domineering Fukang'an, then got up and left.
"Someone come here!"
At Fukang'an's command, four soldiers appeared at the door, and Yan Ning stood there stunned.
"Without my order, Miss Yan Ning is not allowed to leave the military tent." Fu Kang'an then changed his tone and said to Yan Ning in a gentle manner, "I still have things to take care of, I will come to see you again later."
Yan Ning looked at the four extra guards at the entrance of the military tent and smiled self-deprecatingly. "He is Fukang'an, who is well-versed in military strategy. He can see through your every move within ten steps. How could he not have foreseen today's situation? He probably made all the preparations before he came."
Zhao Xingli called out from the doorway, "Miss, dinner's ready."
Yan gazed at the sky; before she knew it, it had grown dark. "Come in."
Seeing Zhao Xingjian walking briskly, she knew his injury had fully healed.
After Zhao Xing set out the food, he bowed and said, "Please enjoy your meal, Miss. This servant will now take his leave."
"Zhao Xing, do you think I'm a member of the White Lotus Sect?" Yan Ning stopped him as he was about to leave.
"Of course not." Zhao Xing, who had been hesitant to speak to Yan Ning who looked worried, was overjoyed to see her taking the initiative to talk to him. "You look like a celestial being, you must be a fairy descended from heaven, how could you be associated with a cult?"
"Then why doesn't your general believe me?" Yan Ning continued to press.
"How could the General not believe the young lady? It's just that the General is always very calculating, and this servant isn't quite sure what the General is thinking." Zhao Xing scratched his ear, regretting that he wasn't learned enough to comfort Yan Ning. "However, this servant can see that the General likes the young lady, and likes her very much. Hehe..."
Yan Ning looked at the precocious Zhao Xing and asked sadly, "Do you know what 'like' means?"
"Of course I know. To like someone is to be as attentive as a general is to a girl, and for a girl to care for a general like she cares for him."
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