Xie Lingqin looked at An Shangning, interrupting what she was about to say.
An Shangning paused, then slowly nodded. "Yes."
Tinghai then withdrew.
Outside the tent, Xu Yiran listened to Xie Lingqin's words inside the camp. Her fingers, which had been slightly curled up, suddenly relaxed, whether due to nervousness or something else.
The barbarian tribes remained remarkably calm throughout the day.
As darkness fell, Xie Lingqin and An Shangyu bid farewell and left because Xu Yiran came to pick them up in person.
The Southern Emperor sent her a message, urging her to return to Southern Qi as soon as possible.
An Shangning did not keep her. Not only was the internal strife among the barbarians still unresolved, but Xie Lingqin's cough sounded like more than just a common cold. An Shangning wanted her to return to the warmer climate of Southern Qi as soon as possible. Even if war broke out, her health could always be restored.
Zhuidamu was grateful and, somewhat embarrassed, toasted Xie Lingqin with a glass of wine. He then personally led a group of people to escort the two of them to the road leading to the extreme cold before leaving.
"She's your friend, someone you care about. I've done this much, isn't that enough to please you?"
On the high horse, amidst a misty, chilly atmosphere, Chuidamu stood with his hands on his hips, staring intently at An Shangning. His tone, though rough, carried a rare hint of tenderness.
An Shangning glanced at him and then looked away, her tone cool, "If it weren't for Sister Lingqin, my people wouldn't have come, Mingemu wouldn't have been afraid, wouldn't have retreated, and we would still have lost. So, you should treat her as an honored guest. That's all you have to do; it's just how you treat your benefactor."
The subtext is that it's none of my business, and it's your responsibility.
"An Shangning, are all the women of Beirong so hypocritical?"
Zhuidamu was somewhat angry.
An Shangning ignored her and spurred her horse to speed up. Unexpectedly, she felt a weight behind her and a tightness around her waist. It was Zhuidamu who had abandoned his horse and mounted hers.
"Get out of here."
An Shangning frowned and shooed the person away.
"I won't go down. I want to see if the slap Mingemu gave you last night has healed yet."
As Zhuidamu spoke, he actually started to take off An Shangning's clothes.
Although there was no one around, their men were hidden not far away in the shadows...
"Zhuidamu, you bastard, if you touch me again, I'll bite my tongue and kill myself."
An Shangning roared, and Zhuidamu finally stopped. His thick eyebrows furrowed even more. After a long while, his voice softened, and it even had a hint of explanation in it, "These hands of mine haven't touched a woman in a long time."
"It has nothing to do with me."
An Shangning couldn't quite articulate his feelings. With a flick of his toes on the horse's back, he suddenly flew onto the back of the horse that had just been riding Zhuidamu. He spurred the horse and galloped away.
Zhuidamu remained seated on his horse, watching the figure gradually disappear into the distance. Frustrated, he punched a hole in the ground beside him, before turning his head to look at that frigid land.
It's an extremely cold place, so the sky over that area is always gray.
"drive."
A glint flashed in Zhuidamu's eyes, and he rode away.
...
At that very moment, shortly after Zhuidamu left, two heads suddenly appeared in a grove of trees a few hundred meters away.
Are you sure about this side?
"certainly."
"Fatty Xu, this is a matter of life and death. If anything goes wrong, I might never see my sister again. Can you please be more serious?"
"Xie Danling, how could you tell I wasn't serious? But you, you were nowhere to be seen the day Sister Lingqin had her accident."
The two boys lay on the ground, staring at each other.
That's right, these two are Xie Danling and Xu Shixun, the youngest legitimate son of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion. He was the chubby boy who was once taught a lesson by Xie Lingqin for bullying Xie Danling, but later became more restrained and better because of Xie Lingqin.
Xie Danling remained silent for a long time before finally managing to utter a few words, "My sister sent me away ahead of time."
There was a hint of disappointment in his words.
Xu Shixun was taken aback, but didn't seem too surprised. He looked ahead and suddenly sighed, "Well, I'm exhausted. Let's take a rest. I haven't slept for almost a day and a night."
At this moment, the faint light of the setting sun seemed to grow weaker and weaker under the oppressive weight of the distant gray haze.
Xie Danling looked at herself covered in dust, then at Xu Shixun, whose sleeves were torn and who was now lying there without any regard for his image, like an exhausted pig. She went up to him and poked him, "Hey, why aren't you enjoying your carefree life in the capital? Why are you here helping my sister?"
To be precise, Xie Danling and Xu Shixun met at the border a day ago. At that time, they could both be described as "runaways" and lacking social experience. The feeling when the two met was almost unimaginable. Then, the two of them inexplicably ended up traveling together.
"I want to uphold justice for Heaven. I overheard my father and several other adults discussing these routes in their study. I thought, since your sister is so fierce and powerful, she'll definitely take this route. So I'm taking a chance and coming to help her."
Upon hearing this, Xie Danling saw him open his eyes and scoffed lightly. However, after a while, she turned back to look at him and said, "But thank you anyway. Without your map, we might have walked for a long time."
"Don't be so polite. I've found this trip much more enjoyable than the one in the capital."
Fun?
Xie Danling's initial goodwill towards Xu Shixun suddenly diminished.
Xu Shixun rubbed his nose, still confused as to why he had come out.
"However, you are the general's son, so why did Sister Lingqin send you away early?" Xu Shixun asked curiously.
Upon hearing this, Xie Dan's bright eyes dimmed slightly. After a moment, he smiled and said, "Because I am not General Xie's son."
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