Xie Yujin awoke to muted daylight mostly blocked by the tent, gentle rays softly illuminating Song Zhiluan's face.
She seemed stirred awake, shielding the light with her uninjured hand as she slowly opened her eyes, then smiled at him. "Morning!"
Xie Yujin asked, "Why did you block the arrow?"
Unable to turn easily or make large movements, Song Zhiluan pulled the quilt from her legs to the foot of the bed and said leisurely, "You're asking something you already know. You just want to hear me say something nice, don't you?"
The young man had again become an unrippled pond of water. Though sitting right there, he inexplicably made Song Zhiluan feel distant.
Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, she looked at him seriously. "I'm glad you're alright. If something had happened to you in front of me, I could never have gotten over it."
Xie Yujin lowered his eyelids indifferently. "Smooth talker."
Blocking the arrow for Xie Yujin was something Song Zhiluan had never imagined doing, but upon hearing he was in danger, her instincts drove her to his side.
Had it been just slightly off target, she truly would have died.
The wound was below the shoulder, with enough residual force after penetration to also pierce Xie Yujin's shoulder.
Thinking of this, Song Zhiluan raised a smile. "Would you say we've shared life and death once again?"
Xie Yujin didn't answer, instead asking, "Are you hungry?"
"Starving. Carry me to eat, quick!"
Xie Yujin gathered her fully into his arms. She seemed lighter than before, his eyes darkening imperceptibly as he carried her to the table. To prevent her from being picky, he simply held her and fed her himself.
Song Zhiluan looked surprised. "Why are you so accommodating today?"
Xie Yujin moved the food before her, his gaze not quite meeting hers.
"Less talking, more eating." He brought a bite of food to her lips.
After swallowing, Song Zhiluan pointed at the table. "This, this, and this – I want them all."
"Have some rice first."
Though somewhat unwilling, Song Zhiluan complied for Xie Yujin's sake. After eating, her free hand grew restless as she picked up chopsticks to serve him. "Your injuries aren't fully healed either. Eat more."
She piled food near his mouth, and Xie Yujin slowly ate it all.
Watching him, Song Zhiluan felt puzzled. Xie Yujin reminded her of the puppy she kept at her residence – accepting whatever she fed him without question. Her gaze grew warmer. "Xie Yujin, you should cherish me properly, treat me better than anyone else. Don't make me regret taking that arrow for you, understand?"
But the look Xie Yujin gave her was vastly different from a puppy's gaze.
With his prominent brow bones and sharp, deep-set eyes, his silent stare carried immense intensity.
Song Zhiluan could already interpret several meanings from it. Suppressing a laugh, she said, "You want to say, 'Song Zhiluan, enough fooling around. Eat your food before it gets cold,' don't you?"
Imitating his tone for the last sentence, she ended up amusing herself.
Even Song Zhiluan's laughter within the tent seemed to carry traces of radiant light.
On the cruel, merciless battlefield, time could somehow become peaceful, allowing people to feel tender affection.
Long ago, Xie Yujin had known: no matter how severe his injuries, as long as he could ride back to camp and lift that white tent flap, he would return from hell to the human world.
Because Song Zhiluan was there.
Outside the tent, the chaotic sounds of hoofbeats and scraping armor were muffled by the thick cloth, leaving only faint, heavy echoes.
Xie Yujin watched the dust motes dancing around Song Zhiluan, scattering in the sunlight, and suddenly felt something akin to regret sprouting within him.
This emotion felt inexplicable to him.
All along, their relationship had been one of mutual convenience.
She needed a guard, a companion; he needed an opportunity to gain the Song family's trust.
She needed a consort, so she bound him to her, and he could naturally take sides.
But Song Zhiluan loved him.
So in her eyes, everything took on a different meaning.
The meaning of mutual affection.
Enough to make her do foolish things like taking an arrow for him.
Making him indebted to her.
Xie Yujin felt like laughing, twitching the corner of his mouth, but no laughter came. His gaze lingered on Song Zhiluan's crown for a long time before he finally picked up a dish at her urging.
It had been wrong from the start—how could they return to the right path?
After this battle, most of the rebel forces had been suppressed. The generals of the Jiang Dynasty prepared to pursue the victory and storm the enemy's stronghold.
As a wounded soldier, Song Zhiluan remained in the rear with other non-combatants to recuperate while the vanguard and main forces cleared the way. Occasionally, she went up the mountains to enjoy game or sent Yunu to nearby villages to buy fresh local fruits, living quite contentedly.
After two more months, her arm had regained normal mobility.
Zhinu was bustling with nonstop work. Initially, due to her youth, the camp physicians didn't take her seriously when she offered help. But after witnessing her skilled methods in treating the wounded, she had gradually become the de facto leader there.
Her expertise had been honed in military camps, and now she was in her element.
With nothing to do, Song Zhiluan asked Yunu to take her to the makeshift training ground to watch the wounded soldiers' recovery exercises.
The so-called training ground merely had a few targets set up, or sometimes live targets marked, where several soldiers practiced archery.
She found a good spot to watch and sat down with keen interest.
When Xie Yujin returned on horseback, he saw Song Zhiluan resting her chin in her hands, intently watching a young officer. When the officer hit the target, she cheered and stood up excitedly.
On the training ground, the young officer in white was stealing the show. Encouraged by the cheers from the sidelines, he grew more competitive, picking up another quiver of arrows to continue.
Song Zhiluan was amusing herself with Yunu, betting on whether the officer in white or the man beside him would win. To her surprise, she won and earned a few taels of silver from Yunu.
Winning even a few taels from Yunu was already remarkable.
Just then, someone approached the officer in white and said something. The officer's expression turned serious, and he put down his arrows to follow the person away.
"Why did he leave…" Song Zhiluan's eyes followed the officer to the end, where she coincidentally met Xie Yujin's gaze fixed on the young man.
She missed her step. "Yunu, quick, help me up."
Yunu had barely helped Song Zhiluan to her feet when they saw the officer in white bow and depart. Xie Yujin dismounted, took his bow and arrows, and headed toward the training ground.
"The General has come to practice archery too!"
"I heard the General once shot through the head of a Northern Dynasty general from thousands of troops away! We're in for a treat today!"
"Come on, let's go watch."
Song Zhiluan asked Yunu to set her down, flexed her barely painful wound, and turned to an excited tall soldier beside her. "Is General Xie really that good at archery?"
"Of course! Would he be a general if he weren't?"
"Not all generals are necessarily skilled archers."
The tall soldier looked as if someone had stepped on his tail: "Don't tell me you've been listening to those malicious rumors outside, saying our general's title was inherited. Our general earned his marquisate through military achievements, one by one. Not only that, why do you think the emperor restored the title of Duke Xie? Wasn't it because of General Xie? If he had any weaknesses, could he have survived on the battlefield? General Xie always stands at the very front!"
"Are you really a soldier under our general's command? How could you ask such a question?" The soldier found it unbelievable.
Song Zhiluan looked up at the sky and down at the ground, a faint smile glimmering in her eyes.
Yunu looked at Song Zhiluan strangely.
Song Zhiluan leaned over and whispered, "Of course I know how capable Xie Yujin is—after all, he's the one I chose! But it's different when I say it myself versus when others say it. Hearing them praise and admire him makes me happy. What's that called? Sharing in the glory."
Yunu: "…"
Song Zhiluan was chatting animatedly with the tall soldier when Xie Yujin, after shooting an arrow, stood holding his bow, staring intently at her.
Yet even the roaring cheers from the field didn't catch Song Zhiluan's attention—she was laughing so much she couldn't spare a moment to glance at the target.
The crowd gathered around Xie Yujin: "General, excellent shot!"
"General, do it again!"
Xie Yujin didn't raise his bow, instead returning the arrow to its quiver and leaving surrounded by the crowd.
After Song Zhiluan's injury, Yunu had grown wary of every unfamiliar face around her. Seeing the tall soldier's neck flushed red as if wanting to argue or even confront Song Zhiluan, she led the princess away before things escalated: "Your Highness, General Xie has already left."
"Left?" Song Zhiluan forgot what she was about to say, turning to look in the direction Xie Yujin had gone. "Why did he leave so soon? Didn't he just arrive?"
With that, Song Zhiluan asked Yunu to accompany her to the Shuai Zhang. Hearing from the guards on both sides that only Xie Yujin and Deputy General Guo were inside, she lifted the curtain and entered, smiling. "You're back."
"How did the battle go?"
Xie Yujin stood by the window, writing something with a brush, seemingly not hearing her words.