In the military tent of Xuzhou, the lights were bright.

Cen Daoxi, Zhao Kui, and others were gathered around the sand table.

Chu Chengji was draped in a dark robe embroidered with a pattern of clouds in red silk thread, his white inner garment collar open wide enough to reveal the gauze wrapped around his shoulders and neck.

The flickering candlelight outlined his features.

Due to his injuries, Chu Chengji’s complexion seemed paler than usual.

He lifted a small flag symbolizing their side and inserted it into the sand table at a spot representing the enemy camp.

“After the disastrous defeat of the Prince of Huainan and the loss of a valiant general under his command, he won’t dare to attack Xuzhou again in the short term. If news of my serious injury spreads, the Prince of Huainan will think that Xuzhou is also severely weakened. Zhao Kui, tomorrow night, you will lead five thousand troops to attack their camp.”

Zhao Kui, a man who could match the strength of two, immediately clasped his fists and replied, “I will follow your command!”

However, Cen Daoxi had some concerns. “Your Highness, once news of your severe injury spreads, the Chen camp will likely take action. At that time, Qingzhou…”

Chu Chengji looked up. “Before I came to Xuzhou, I had already ordered An Yuanqing. If the Chen army attacks Qingzhou, An Yuanqing will lead his troops to burn the grain depot built by the Chen army in Sicheng.”

Cen Daoxi hesitated slightly. “Is Your Highness sure that An Yuanqing can be trusted? If An Yuanqing has any other intentions and the Chen army’s grain depot remains intact, then Qingzhou will be left isolated and helpless.”

Chu Chengji’s expression was indifferent, his demeanor calm and restrained. “Once Qingzhou is besieged, I will personally lead the Yongzhou troops to attack the rear of the Chen army. If An Yuanqing fails to burn the Chen army’s provisions, I will do it for him.”

Yongzhou was where An Yuanqing stationed his troops.

Cen Daoxi, hearing that Chu Chengji had already considered all these factors, turned his worries into joy. “Your Highness, attacking the Chen army from the rear under the Yongzhou banner, if An Yuanqing genuinely pledges allegiance, Your Highness’s actions will assist him and encircle the Chen army.

If he has ulterior motives, this plan can sow discord between him and the Chen army.

In either case, the troops from Yongzhou can be of use to us. Your Highness’s plan is ingenious, and I admire it.”

“However… Your Highness, with your injury, it’s best to focus on recuperation. Just in case, it might be wise to choose another capable general to lead the troops under the Yongzhou banner for the rear attack on the Chen army.”

After saying this, Cen Daoxi bowed deeply.

The valiant general beheaded under Chu Chengji’s horse was once the Grand General stationed in the southern border.

Although Chu Chengji emerged victorious, he was wounded in the shoulder blade by that valiant general.

“It’s just a minor injury, nothing serious,” Chu Chengji said.

Having suffered too many fatal injuries in his previous life, he truly didn’t pay much attention to such wounds.

Qin Zheng was still in Qingzhou.

He would only feel at ease once he returned personally.

The wick in the tall candlestick nearby flickered, emitting a faint “pop” sound.

The candle flame flickered in his pupils, casting a glow on his pale face, making him look both cold and enchanting.

With the urgent military situation, his hasty departure disrupted his original plan to find Qin Zheng at Chishui River.

He wondered if she had calmed down by now.

Chu Chengji closed his eyes, suppressing all his thoughts, and said to his subordinates in the tent, “You may all leave.”

Seeing that their persuasion was futile, everyone planned to return to their own tents.

But suddenly, a guard rushed into the tent, half-kneeling and clasping his fists. “Your Highness, the Crown Princess has arrived at the Xuzhou camp!”

Chu Chengji, sitting in the main seat, subtly stiffened his back.

Below, the courtiers and generals glanced at each other, quietly discussing among themselves.

Cen Daoxi said, “The Crown Princess must have heard about His Highness’s serious injury and rushed here out of concern.”

They were about to launch a counterattack against the Prince of Huainan, fearing that if they sent any messages to Qingzhou, they might be intercepted and their plans compromised, so they had refrained from doing so.

Chu Chengji remained silent for a moment before saying, “Bring the Crown Princess here.”

**

When Qin Zheng arrived at the central military tent, Chu Chengji was lying on the bed, while the military doctor was changing his bandages.

Cen Daoxi stood beside him, reporting various military matters.

Upon seeing Qin Zheng, Cen Daoxi bowed respectfully. “Greetings, Crown Princess.”

Qin Zheng nodded lightly, but her gaze remained fixed on Chu Chengji.

His face was noticeably pale, the bandages changed by the military doctor were stained with blood, and there was a large hole in his shoulder blade, even bigger than the one left by the arrow wound on his chest.

The wound had been treated with herbs, and the bloodstains appeared dark.

Chu Chengji also looked at Qin Zheng, and neither of them spoke.

Cen Daoxi glanced between the two of them, tactfully saying, “Your Highness, Your Highness, I’ll take my leave.”

As the military doctor began to reapply the crushed herbs to the wound, Chu Chengji’s bandage needed to be slanted across his shoulder and neck, and without Cen Daoxi’s assistance, the military doctor struggled a bit.

Qin Zheng stepped forward, pressing down on the bandage, and said to the military doctor, “Continue.”

Even through the bandage, she could feel the texture of his skin tensing and relaxing under her touch.

The warmth of his body radiated through the bandage to her palm, coursing through her fingertips and into her chest, filling her eyes with tears.

As the military doctor wrapped the bandage around, Qin Zheng lifted her hand to continue pressing down, occasionally brushing against his chest.

She could feel the tension in his muscles intensifying under her touch.

Chu Chengji still didn’t speak, just staring at her intently.

Qin Zheng didn’t want to meet his gaze or look at his gruesome wound.

She lowered her eyes but saw the bloodied bandages discarded on the ground, which tugged at her heartstrings again.

The military doctor noticed that something was off between the two of them.

After tying the bandage securely, he warned with a meaningful glance, “Your Highness’s injury is severe. You mustn’t exert yourself any further, and the wound must not come into contact with water until it heals.

If you don’t rest properly, you may have difficulty lifting heavy objects with your left arm in the future.”

He was speaking of the worst-case scenario.

After the military doctor left, Qin Zheng silently picked up Chu Chengji’s inner garment and unfolded it, her eyes red, and strained as she asked him, “Can you raise your hand?”

Her disheveled hair was tousled by the night breeze, and there were drops of red ink from the documents she had accidentally splashed onto her clothes.

From the moment she heard about his serious injury to organizing everything in Qingzhou and rushing over, she hadn’t even had time to change her clothes.

Chu Chengji raised his hand, but instead of putting on the inner garment, he wrapped his arm around her waist and hugged her tightly.

“Why did you come?”

He asked, his voice heavy.

He sat on the bed, and Qin Zheng stood in front of him.

This hug made Qin Zheng slightly taller than him.

Qin Zheng lifted her head, not wanting to cry in front of him, but tears still fell, landing on his shoulder and back, scalding like lava, searing through flesh and blood inch by inch.

“If you still don’t want to see me, I’ll leave now.” Qin Zheng let him hold her, not moving an inch.

“I want to see you, but you should be in Qingzhou, waiting for me to come back to you.” Chu Chengji closed his eyes, tightening his grip around her waist.

The recently bandaged wound cracked open again under the pressure, slowly staining the bandage red.

He showed no intention of letting go. “Xuzhou is engulfed in flames, you shouldn’t have come.”

All the worries, grievances, and heartache of these days reached their peak at this moment.

Qin Zheng’s tears fell heavily, “You want to see me? Weren’t you avoiding me and going to the study area? I should go farther away from you, so I won’t be a hindrance to your sight!”

She hadn’t finished her sentence before Chu Chengji pressed her into his arms.

For a moment, his expression was fierce, as if all his masks had been removed, revealing his true self.

“Don’t say such things,” he said.

Qin Zheng smelled the strong scent of blood and knew his wound had started bleeding again.

She struggled slightly, trying to ease his grip, and said with the remaining shreds of her composure, “Let go, I’ll go call the military doctor for you.”

But Chu Chengji showed no intention of releasing her.

He lifted her tear-stained face with one hand, the muscles in his arm tensed, his gaze heavy on her face, as he repeated, “Don’t say such things again.”

Qin Zheng looked at him with a cold smile. “You won’t allow me to say such things? But who was the one who acted like that in the first place?”

Reflected in Chu Chengji’s pupils was a complete image of her.

His lips tightened, but he didn’t speak.

Feeling a mix of frustration and sadness, Qin Zheng wiped her face awkwardly. “You’re injured, and I don’t want to argue with you right now. Let go, I’ll find the military doctor.”

Chu Chengji said slowly, “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you, or see you.”

He lifted his eyes, looking into the depths of hers. “Qin Zheng, I have only one heart, and I’ve given it to you completely. Why don’t you believe me? Because of a few words from others, you want me to write a contract to prove my feelings for you.”

A tear welled up in Qin Zheng’s eye, and he wiped it away gently. “Are my feelings and promises so worthless to you? I get angry too.

But looking at you, I can’t bear to be angry anymore. I can only avoid you, to let you know that I also get upset. You mustn’t doubt my feelings for you.”

“I’m not as magnanimous as you think. I can be stubborn too.”

“That night, I went back to the room and watched over you all night.”

“I recited all the Buddhist scriptures I had memorized, but still couldn’t understand why I was so anxious about you, why I was so attached to you.”

Listening to him,

Qin Zheng clenched her lips, trying to hold back the bitterness in her eyes, but it only made the tears well up more fiercely.

“If you can be anxious about me, why shouldn’t I be afraid too? I’m just a heretic here. Everyone thinks it’s natural for you to choose concubines and consorts. When it comes to ‘changing one’s heart so easily,’ what way out do I have?”

As she spoke, she couldn’t hold back the choking in her voice anymore.

Chu Chengji pressed her neck, making her lean completely against him, shoulder to shoulder, chest to chest, like a pair of intertwined mandarin ducks. “I’m sorry.”

Qin Zheng couldn’t hold back anymore and hugged him back, burying her head in his uninjured shoulder, crying bitterly. “You used to say you didn’t know how to treat people well, but I also fell in love for the first time. If you think I’m wrong, just tell me! I’m not afraid of your anger!”

Chu Chengji gently stroked her thin back through her long hair. “I’m sorry.”

How could he bear to get angry with her?

Qin Zheng wiped all her tears on his chest. “I heard you were seriously injured. All the doctors in Xuzhou have been summoned to the camp, and I was scared to death all the way here.”

Chu Chengji comforted her, “It’s not that serious. It’s just to make the Prince of Huainan and the Chen camp relax their guard, deliberately exaggerating the severity.”

He said it lightly, but Qin Zheng had seen the large patches of bloodied bandages and the blurry wound with her own eyes.

Even if it didn’t threaten his life, it was definitely not a minor injury.

The smell of blood was strong on him.

Qin Zheng sat up straight, hastily wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “Don’t fool me. I heard what the military doctor said. I’ll go find him and have him rebandage your wound.”

She tried to get up, but Chu Chengji grabbed her wrist and didn’t let go. “There are medical kits in that box over there. Bring it here, and I’ll bandage it myself.”

Although he said so, Qin Zheng couldn’t really let him do it himself.

After removing the bloodied bandages and reapplying the medicine to his wound, Qin Zheng looked at the walnut-sized hole with blood, her eyes red as she asked, “Does it hurt?”

Chu Chengji said, “It doesn’t hurt now.”

Qin Zheng pursed her lips and didn’t speak, silently wrapping his wound with the bandage.

How could it not hurt?

A new wound means a new scar.

After tying the bandage securely, she gently touched the arrow scar with her fingertips, leaned closer, and softly pressed her lips against it.

Her eyelashes trembled, and tears streaked down her eyelids, urgent and fast. “Whether we argue or cold-shoulder each other, you mustn’t have any accidents on the battlefield.”

Chu Chengji tensed all over.

He wiped away the tears on her face, his hand caressing her cheek gently. “The battlefield is a place where swords and spears have no eyes. This injury has nothing to do with that. As for the contract you wanted, I rewrote one. It’s in the second drawer under the desk.”

Seeing Qin Zheng’s puzzled expression, he smiled lightly. “Didn’t you see it? You can look at it when you go back.”

He had written it that night, intending to take it with him to the Redwater River to find her, but it was delayed because of the military situation in Xuzhou.

But Qin Zheng shook her head. “I don’t need any contract. Whether our promises are written down on paper or not doesn’t matter.”

Chu Chengji kissed her still-damp eyelids, pulling back slightly to look at her.

His gaze was deep, enveloped in the smell of blood and a faint scent of herbs. “It’s not just between us. Everyone in the world can testify to it.”