Even though Princess Xinyang has become a mother, she is less experienced in matters of the heart compared to Gu Jiao. After all, Gu Jiao has shared joys and sorrows with Xiao Hen for four or five years, seeing each other day and night, growing closer with each passing moment.
When it comes to this aspect, she was almost a blank slate.
In the past, she couldn’t bring herself to like any man, so she didn’t understand what the feelings between a man and a woman felt like.
Xiao Ji, looking at her tense figure through the ink-black night, said, "Qin Fengwan, are you having another episode?"
"I..." Princess Xinyang clutched her pounding heart, feeling as if it would leap out of her throat. The closer he got to her, the more he spoke to her, the more she felt this way.
Is this really having an episode? Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
Why does it seem even more severe than before?
Her heart felt like it was burning anxiously.
Xiao Ji’s eyes darkened slightly, and he released her arm, putting some distance between them.
Princess Xinyang instinctively said, "You don’t—"
These words that almost always came out whenever he approached her flashed through Xiao Ji’s mind, and he finally withdrew even the fingers that had been resting on her waist.
The fervor in his blood slowly cooled, and he returned to the loneliness and coldness he felt before the battle.
Princess Xinyang sensed his intentional retreat, just like on their wedding night when she held a dagger to his chest and said those hurtful words, and he responded the same way.
Did he just think she wanted him to go away?
She took a deep breath and decided to say what she was about to: "You don’t..."
A sentinel’s voice suddenly sounded from outside the barracks.
Xiao Ji’s gaze sharpened, and he sat up. His movements as he lifted the quilt were light and swift, hardly letting any cold wind inside.
He casually pressed the quilt down, closing the gap between her and the quilt.
He stepped out of the barracks in his thin clothes and spoke in a low voice, "What’s the matter?"
"An urgent report has arrived from the front lines, the situation has changed, the Dongyi people..."
Princess Xinyang heard this much, but the rest seemed to be intentionally lowered by the sentinel on Xiao Ji’s instructions, rendering her unable to hear it clearly.
In no time, Xiao Ji turned back into the barracks and began dressing and tying up his hair.
Princess Xinyang’s heart tightened, and she rose to ask him, "Is there going to be a war?"
"I’m heading to the front lines." Xiao Ji tightened his belt and picked up the armor on the rack, putting it on with swift, decisive movements, each sound carrying a heroic killing aura.
He always had a charming and graceful demeanor of a noble in front of her; this was her first time seeing him off to war.
What should a wife do?
Help him don his armor, or see him off?
Princess Xinyang looked at the glinting armor on the rack, her fingertips twitching slightly.
He turned his head back.
She quickly pulled her hand back under the quilt: "Let me light a lamp for you."
Xiao Ji put on the cold helmet: "I can see."
Outside the barracks, the sound of cavalry preparing to march could be heard, indicating the urgency of the situation.
Xiao Ji, fully dressed, grabbed the long sword from the rack and said to Princess Xinyang, "I’ll bring Yujin over. Don’t leave the military camp if there’s nothing urgent."
With this, he quickly left the tent.
Words about him taking care had risen to Princess Xinyang’s throat, but not a single word came out.
The fabric of the tent flapped in the cold wind, and the warmth within the quilt rapidly dissipated with his departure, turning the whole tent icy like a cellar in an instant.
His sharp, authoritative voice echoed in the cold wind, and five hundred iron cavalry charged toward Donglin Pass, Zhan’s last line of defense in the eastern frontier, with a fearless resolve.
Yujin lifted the curtain and entered the tent. She first took a fire starter from her bosom, lighting the oil lamp on the table.
Then she came to the bedside, looking at Princess Xinyang who was staring blankly at the entrance, and gently helped her lie down: "Don’t catch a cold."
"He’s gone," Princess Xinyang said blankly.
Yujin removed her cloak. She had only walked a few steps, yet was covered with snow. How much colder might Lord Xiao and his men be, rushing through the snow?
She hung the cloak and sat by the bed, tucking in the corner of the quilt for Princess Xinyang and softly comforting her, "The Lord has been through countless battles; he will certainly come back safely."
Princess Xinyang murmured softly, "Hopefully so."
Xiao Ji’s departure lasted several days.
Princess Xinyang did not reveal her identity, and Little Princess Dongyi, possibly instructed by Xiao Ji, also didn’t disclose who she was to the outside world.
Moreover, Little Princess Dongyi treated her with much more respect, which must have been specially instructed by Xiao Ji before he left.