The snow from the night had not stopped by morning.
The fragmented snowflakes were driven by the north wind, striking the window with a rustling sound.
Inside, the stove fire burned brightly, warm and comforting, completely isolating the icy world outside the door.
Su Wanqing woke up very early—or rather, she had hardly slept at all through the night.
Lu Zhanting was the same.
They didn’t say much, but a heavy tacit understanding flowed in the air between them.
He boiled water and cooked; she tidied up the house, like on any other ordinary morning.
As if what was coming wasn’t a storm that could crush people, but just a normal journey.
Su Wanqing folded their few clothes neatly and placed them into a military green canvas bag.
Her movements were slow, carrying a solemnity almost like a ritual.
Her hand-sewn red cotton jacket, the sweater she knitted for Lu Zhanting, and the several pairs of thick cotton shoes were all stacked neatly on top.
These things were the warmth of their small home, her mark.
Lu Zhanting checked his equipment.
The blade of his military dagger was polished to a sharp, cold gleam, and every component was taken apart and maintained carefully.
When he did these things, his expression was frighteningly focused, as if the entire world consisted only of him and his weapon.
But Su Wanqing knew his heart was not here.
The faint crease between his brows had not relaxed, and the line of his jaw was taut into a cold, hard straight line.
He was like a blade about to be drawn, radiating danger that kept everyone away for miles.
Breakfast was plain porridge with pickled vegetables.
Lu Zhanting ate very quickly, as if carrying out a mission that must be completed.
After eating, he got up and walked to the window, silently staring at the gray sky outside.
That tall, upright figure now appeared in Su Wanqing’s eyes as a loneliness that could drown a person.
She knew what he was thinking about.
The capital, the Lu family.
That strange, immense, all-crushing center of power.
In the army, he was an undefeated battalion commander, the feared “living hell”.
But facing the family that gave him life and upbringing, he became a trapped beast bound hand and foot.
Su Wanqing’s heart felt clenched by an invisible hand, aching so much her fingertips trembled.
She put down her chopsticks and walked behind him.
Without a sound, she imitated the way he used to comfort her, reaching out and gently hugging his waist from behind.
The man’s body stiffened suddenly like iron.
“Lu Zhanting,” her cheek pressed against his broad, warm back, her voice very soft but every word clear, “Don’t be afraid, I’m with you.”
The muscles in Lu Zhanting’s body, tense to the extreme, relaxed inch by inch because of her words.
He did not turn around, only raised his hand to cover the hand wrapped around his waist, squeezing it tightly.
At that moment, the roar of a car engine came from outside the courtyard.
The sound grew louder, finally stopping at their doorstep.
On this snowy and stormy morning, the sound was startlingly abrupt.
Lu Zhanting’s body tightened again, his gaze instantly sharp as a blade.
He released Su Wanqing’s hand and said in a very low voice, “Stay inside.”
Before she could respond, he flung the door open and strode out.
A gust of wind mixed with snow blasted inside, making Su Wanqing shiver.
She quickly walked to the window and peered out through the curtain gap.
A military jeep was parked outside the yard. A young soldier in a military overcoat jumped down from the car and, seeing Lu Zhanting, immediately stood at attention and gave a standard military salute.
The soldier held a sealed manila envelope and handed it to Lu Zhanting with both hands.
No extra words were exchanged.
After completing his mission, the soldier saluted again and quickly got back into the jeep, which soon disappeared into the wind and snow.
Everything happened with startling speed, with the unique, unquestionable efficiency of the military.
Lu Zhanting stood in the snow holding the envelope but did not enter immediately.
Snowflakes settled on his shoulders and hair, quickly piling into a thin layer of white.
He stood there like a statue eroded by wind and snow, motionless.
Su Wanqing’s heart sank little by little.
She understood.
What was meant to come had come.
That private family letter was an ultimatum; now this one was the official verdict.
After an unknown length of time, Lu Zhanting finally moved.
He turned around and pushed the door open to come inside.
The cold air swirling around him, mixed with a heavy aura of deathly silence, caused the warmth inside the room to retreat.
He shut the door behind him, threw the envelope onto the table with a dull thud.
“What is it?” Su Wanqing asked softly.
Lu Zhanting did not answer.
He walked to the stove and stretched out his reddened, cold hands to warm them by the fire, but his gaze remained fixed on the envelope on the table.
In that look was a surge of suppressed anger to the extreme, and a hint of even deeper helplessness.
Su Wanqing walked over and picked up the envelope.
The seal was bright red, with a stamp she had never seen before, marked with an unfamiliar military unit number.
The envelope was thin and cold to the touch.
She looked up at Lu Zhanting, seeking his opinion with her eyes.
“Look,” Lu Zhanting’s voice was hoarse, every word seemingly forced out from his throat.
Su Wanqing bit her lip, pressed her fingertips hard, and tore open the seal.
Inside was indeed only one sheet of paper, stiff and firm.
At the top were two huge bold black characters in Song typeface:
Transfer Order.
Below was cold printed text:
“Comrade Lu Zhanting, commander of the Independent Battalion of the Northern Frontier Military District, is hereby ordered to depart immediately and report to the capital military district headquarters within three days for special military disciplinary inspection. Specific arrangements will be notified upon arrival.”
Su Wanqing’s breath stopped for a moment.
Special inspection?
Those four characters pressed down on her heart like four invisible mountains.
Her gaze continued downward to the last line.
That line seemed to carry shards of ice, stabbing her eyes painfully.
“According to relevant regulations, this transfer requires that family member Comrade Su Wanqing accompany, to facilitate comprehensive organizational understanding.”
Accompany family member… to accompany.
Called “understanding”.
In reality, a hostage.
Su Wanqing’s hands uncontrollably trembled. The light paper now felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
She finally fully understood.
This was no simple family dispute; it was a long-planned hunt.
And she was the living bait tied to the trap to lure the prey.
She raised her head and looked at Lu Zhanting.
There was no expression left on his face, only cold dead silence.
The fury in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a more terrifying, nearly destructive calm.
“This is their method,” Lu Zhanting slowly said, his tone flat as if stating something unrelated to himself. “Using military discipline, using the organization’s name, to transfer me back. They counted on me not to disobey orders.”
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, the curve full of bitterness and sorrow.
“A soldier’s duty is obedience to orders. This is what my grandfather taught me since childhood. Now, he uses this phrase to bind me with the strongest shackles.”
He paused, then turned and took a few steps toward Su Wanqing.
He reached out and took the transfer order from her trembling fingers, then with a resolute strength, tore it to pieces.
The paper scraps floated down like a swarm of dead white butterflies.
“Su Wanqing,” he looked at her, deep in his eyes were endless struggles and pain, “You cannot go.”
Su Wanqing’s heart suddenly clenched sharply.
“You stay here.” Lu Zhanting’s voice was low, both a command and a barely perceptible plea, “The capital is their territory, a dragon’s den and tiger’s lair. If you go, I can’t protect you. They will use every means to go after you, to force me to compromise. I can’t… I can’t let you become my weakness.”
This was the first time he admitted his “powerlessness” in front of her.
He could go to battle and kill enemies, fight ten against one, but he could not fight against the huge net woven by family and power.
Su Wanqing looked into his bloodshot eyes, saw the despair almost devouring him, and felt unbearable heartache.
She didn’t argue but reached out and gently smoothed the furrowed brow with her fingertips.
“Lu Zhanting,” her voice was gentle but carried a soothing firmness, “I ask you, if I stay, what will happen to you?”
Lu Zhanting was silent.
“You will go back alone, then what?” Su Wanqing pressed on.
“You will compromise with them to protect me, agree to all their conditions?”
“Divorce me and marry that Miss Song?”
“I won’t!” Lu Zhanting almost shouted, grabbing Su Wanqing’s shoulders with a grip strong enough to crush her bones, “I would die first!”
“Good, you won’t.” Su Wanqing let him hold her, her clear eyes looking straight into his, “Then you’ll fight them to the end. And the result?”
“Placed under house arrest?”
“Sent to a military tribunal?”
“Or stripped of the uniform you love most and kicked out of the army?”
Lu Zhanting’s body trembled violently, his breathing heavy like an old bellows.
Each of Su Wanqing’s words was like a precise scalpel, cutting open his bloody reality.
“Lu Zhanting, look at me.” She intensified her tone, “They are sending you back because they are sure you’ll be alone and at their mercy.”
“They want me to be your weakness.”
“But what if I’m not your weakness, but your armor?”
Lu Zhanting was completely stunned, looking at her blankly as if he didn’t understand the meaning of those words.
“You going back alone means fighting solo. Us going back together means fighting side by side.” Su Wanqing spoke each word clearly and decisively.
“If they want to investigate, let them.”
“If they want to make things difficult, let them.”
“I want to see with my own eyes just what kind of iron wall the Lu family — the one that even scares you — really is.”
“You said we are husband and wife; if the sky falls, we bear it together.”
“The sky hasn’t fallen yet, and you want to push me away already?”
Her words thundered through Lu Zhanting’s confused mind.
He looked at the woman before him.
Her figure was so frail, her shoulders aching from his grip, yet in her eyes was no fear or retreat.
Only a clear, soul-shaking courage and trust.
Yes, how could he have forgotten?
His wife was never a delicate flower to be coddled in a greenhouse.
She was Su Wanqing, who endured hardships in the countryside for years, who could stand firm after a broken engagement and calmly plan her future.
She was Su Wanqing who could face a shrew like Li Juan and fight back reasonably and confidently.
She was far stronger and braver than he imagined.
He always thought about how to protect her but forgot that she wanted to stand by his side, weathering storms together.
Lu Zhanting’s hand slowly loosened on her shoulder.
He reached out with both arms and pulled her tightly into his embrace, as if wanting to blend her into his very bones and never let go.
“I’m sorry…”
He buried his face in her neck, his voice muffled and broken.
“Sorry, Wanqing…”
He wasn’t apologizing for the transfer order, but for his earlier wavering and cowardice.
Su Wanqing gently patted his trembling back, like comforting a lost child.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” She spoke softly, “Pack your things. We’ll go together and face them.”
“All right.”
Lu Zhanting raised his head; the struggle and pain in his eyes had faded, replaced by a cold, tempered resolve.
If the storm was destined to come, then they would walk straight into it.
If war was unavoidable, then they would burn the fire to the enemy’s heart.
He was no longer alone.
He had his wife.
His strongest armor, his sharpest weapon.
The two began packing again.
This time, the atmosphere was no longer heavy but filled with calm and solemnity before battle.
Su Wanqing swept the torn paper scraps on the table into the trash bin, but as she bent over, a sudden wave of nausea surged up her throat, turning her stomach upside down.
She instinctively covered her mouth and rushed into the bathroom.
She dry-heaved several times but could bring nothing up except sour liquid rising.
“What’s wrong? Feeling unwell?” Lu Zhanting immediately followed, worried as he looked at her pale face.
“Nothing,” Su Wanqing rinsed her mouth with water and forced a smile, “Maybe I ate too fast this morning; my stomach’s upset.”
Though she said so, something quietly stirred inside her.
She instinctively gently touched her lower abdomen.
Her gaze became firmer than ever before.
No matter what, she would protect herself.
Not just for Lu Zhanting, but also for… the future that perhaps already existed, belonging to both of them.
An hour later, the two locked the door behind them, carrying a simple canvas bag.
Lu Zhanting looked back one last time at the small home they had built together, filled with the warmth of everyday life.
Then, holding her hand, he walked without looking back into the swirling snowstorm.
The northern frontier’s wind and snow could not keep those returning away.
The vortex of the capital had already opened its huge mouth, waiting for them.