Upon hearing this, everyone in the tent fell silent.
Du Huan stammered, “It’s too late. Last night, when I asked if you still wanted to go to Jiangzhou despite being so badly injured, you said you wouldn’t go. You were severely wounded, and I feared the journey would worsen your condition, so I took twenty personal guards and rented a boat to travel by water.”
Du Huan wore a guilty expression. Last night, the general had been burning with fever, muttering incoherently. Seizing the opportunity, he had asked the question without much hope, only to hear the general, in a daze, actually say he wouldn’t go.
Fearing the general might change his mind, Du Huan had immediately called for a boat and set sail overnight. It was the spring flood season, and the journey of a thousand li was completed in a single day. In just one night, they were already far from Jiangzhou.
Chu Yun thought back—in her dazed state, it seemed someone had asked her whether she wanted to go to Jiangzhou. It felt as if she had returned to those turbulent days at Chu Mansion.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know her aunt’s invitation to Jiangzhou might not be well-intentioned. But her father’s death was suspicious, and too many people in the capital were watching her closely. Only by temporarily going to Jiangzhou could she hope to find any clues.
During the three years she had stayed at Meng Mansion, her aunt’s family had practically tried to wring every last drop from her, even scheming over her marriage. So when Du Huan asked if she wanted to go to Jiangzhou, she had instinctively refused.
Du Huan cautiously looked up. “General, if we sail against the current, it will surely delay your return to the capital to report.”
Chu Yun frowned. The words had come from her own mouth; she couldn’t blame Du Huan.
But now that she had become Xie Zhaoshen, she had no idea what had happened to Xie Zhaoshen himself.
Steadying her thoughts, Chu Yun said, “It’s fine. There’s just one thing—I need to write a letter to Jiangzhou. When we reach the dock, have someone deliver it as quickly as possible.”
Du Huan was stunned. He had prepared himself for a storm of reprimands once the general woke up, even padding his back with a thick cotton cushion in case the general flew into a rage and ordered him beaten with military sticks.
But instead, his general spoke to him gently, saying, “It’s fine”?
Not only Du Huan, but everyone else looked at Chu Yun’s calm expression with surprise.
Realizing something was off, Chu Yun recalled Xie Zhaoshen’s usual demeanor and frowned, putting on a stern face. “If there’s a next time, you won’t be let off lightly.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief—that was more like it!
A wave of pain shot through Chu Yun’s chest. Impatiently, she waved her hand. “If there’s nothing else, you may all leave.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the people in the room scattered as if granted amnesty, fleeing as though Chu Yun were some kind of monster.
Chu Yun: ??
Once everyone was gone, Chu Yun quickly bit her sleeve and curled up on the bed.
With so many people around earlier, she couldn’t bear to cry in front of them. But now, tears flowed like a breached dam.
It hurt, it hurt, it hurt!
It was just too painful!
She had always been delicate since childhood and had never suffered such a severe injury. She cried and cursed Xie Zhaoshen, but after only a few sobs, she had to stop.
Some people were simply not suited for crying.
Like Xie Zhaoshen.
That deep, hoarse voice…
That eight-foot-tall, muscular body…
When she cried like this, it instantly made him seem like a cowardly bear.
Chu Yun felt embarrassed by herself. After a few sniffles, she wiped her tears with her sleeve and forced herself to toughen up.
She had survived the worst years of her life. This was just an injury—if Xie Zhaoshen could endure it, there was no reason she couldn’t.
After a while, Du Huan knocked on the door to bring her dinner.
Chu Yun quickly wiped her face, adjusted her expression, and called for Du Huan to enter.
Du Huan first bowed to Chu Yun, glanced up at her briefly, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
At this moment, the general’s eyes were bloodshot, her lips tightly pursed, and her facial muscles stiff, giving the impression that her mental state was far from normal.
The last time she had been in such a state was after battling fiercely for a day and a night, then charging hundreds of miles to behead the enemy general amidst tens of thousands of soldiers. Since then, no one in the world dared question her abilities, and the name General Xie had become utterly terrifying to enemy forces.
Chu Yun was completely unaware of Du Huan’s nervousness. Glancing at the dinner on the table—flatbreads, dried meat, and plain porridge—she replied weakly, “I don’t have much appetite. Leave the plain porridge and take the rest away.”
Chu Yun had just finished a bowl of medicine, her mouth was bitter, and coupled with the pain from her wounds, she truly had no desire to eat.
Du Huan was quite surprised. “Is that all you’re eating, General?”
Chu Yun replied matter-of-factly, “That’s already plenty.”
She was mindful that this body was injured. In the past, if she was in a bad mood, she would only take two or three sips of plain porridge before having it taken away.
Du Huan cleared the dishes and, before leaving, hesitated as if wanting to say something. “If you don’t have enough to eat, General, just call for me anytime.”
How could she not have enough? She was only worried she wouldn’t finish it.
Chu Yun struggled to sit up and drank the bowl of plain porridge.
Then she realized… she had eaten for nothing.
Just moments ago, she had no appetite, but after finishing the bowl of plain porridge, her stomach began to rumble loudly.
Helpless, Chu Yun called Du Huan back and asked for the flatbreads and dried meat she had earlier. Only after finishing them all in one go did she feel her stomach settle.
She couldn’t help but think of Xie Zhaoshen again, wondering how he was doing.
The inner courtyard was no less treacherous than the battlefield’s clashes of swords and shadows, with its schemes and plots that were impossible to guard against.
She had been cautious enough, yet she was still pushed into the water by someone sent by her aunt. Before she even regained consciousness, she was married off to Meng Zhuo.
Her cousin Meng Zhuo might have genuinely jumped into the water to save her, but marrying her was something he did reluctantly. After all, Meng Zhuo had long been in love with someone else, but due to their differing statuses, even if that woman entered the household, she could only be a concubine.
Chu Yun rested her forehead in her hand, carefully sorting through her thoughts.
Her aunt was not an impatient person, and besides, she had just emerged from mourning. Forcing her into marriage in such a rushed and clumsy manner wouldn’t bring the Meng Mansion any good reputation.
It seemed something must have happened in the Meng Mansion again, urgently requiring her to fill a gap or ward off disaster.
Chu Yun silently prayed in her heart, hoping Xie Zhaoshen was clever enough not to fall for those people’s tricks. Her money still had great uses.
On the other side, Zhaixing stared wide-eyed at her young lady, who was gnawing on a pork knuckle. While delighted that her lady’s appetite had improved, she was also worried she might overeat and suffer indigestion.
“Indigestion? How is that possible? I could even finish another whole goose,” Xie Zhaoshen said, taking another bite of the pork knuckle and washing it down with a sip of wine.
For three years on the frontier, he had endured harsh conditions, surviving on flatbreads and dried meat during marches. When had he ever enjoyed such steaming hot meals?
However, reality struck swiftly. Just as Xie Zhaoshen finished the last bite, he felt his stomach churning, stuffed to the point of nausea.
After retching a few times, Zhaixing anxiously said, “See, I told you eating so much at once would make you uncomfortable.”
Xie Zhaoshen looked at the table full of fine wine and dishes, feeling like an eighty-year-old man who had carried ten buckets of water to irrigate a field, only to realize it was someone else’s land—utterly futile.
After much thought, he concluded it was all Chu Yun’s fault for being so idle, letting her body deteriorate to this state.
Xie Zhaoshen said, “Prepare two eight… six, never mind, forty-pound stone locks for me.”
Zhaixing was so shocked his jaw dropped. “What do you need that for?”
To strengthen the body, of course, Xie Zhaoshen thought matter-of-factly. He didn’t know when he could return to his own body, but before that, Chu Yun’s physique couldn’t remain this weak. At the very least, it had to reach the point where one punch could smash Meng Zhuo’s head open.