The moonlight reflected the rippling shallow creek.

The young general rolled up his sleeves by the creek. Since it was his first time doing such a thing, he joined his fingers and reached in, washing with extreme meticulousness.

Lizhu, on one hand, felt that his serious appearance was excessively handsome.

On the other hand, she felt—how could he use that face to so seriously do this kind of thing?

The water’s surface reflected the shadows of the two standing shoulder to shoulder.

“Ah, one broke.”

Lizhu blinked.

Pei Zhaoye’s face instantly sank.

Lizhu, however, curved the corners of her eyes. “It’s fine, it’s your first time learning to do it, you’re already very good.”

“……”

Pei Zhaoye silently turned his head to look at her, seemingly not comforted by her words.

Pei Zhaoye said, “It’s best you don’t say that at other times.”

Lizhu didn’t understand, but seeing the subtlely vexed look on his face, she suddenly found it quite novel.

“There are still so many, what are you regretting, use them all up… you’re not even afraid of tiring yourself out.”

Her face flushed red, and her fingers lightly stirred the creek water flowing past her feet.

In her previous life, they probably hadn’t used so many, right?

Lizhu didn’t know.

She hadn’t worried about such things at all—her past life’s Pei Zhaoye would do everything for her, nothing ever needed her concern.

Pei Zhaoye said, “In this kind of matter, a man only ever thinks there’s too few, never too many, unless he himself can’t do it. I’m not afraid of being tired, only of tiring out the Princess… the days to come are long, I won’t drain the pond to catch the fish, the Princess need not worry.”

Lizhu tilted her head, watching him wash so cautiously and earnestly.

The scene was somewhat absurd, yet as she kept looking, she suddenly became dazed.

…Like a newlywed couple.

Not the two who had met after wasting over twenty years, but the ones still young, bodies healthy, with endless time ahead of them.

Pei Zhaoye glanced aside, seeing her stretch out her slender wrist and tap at his reflection in the water.

“The days to come are long… you’re right,” she said softly, “Pei Zhaoye, these aren’t many. We’ll use even more in the future.”

They would be husband and wife for a lifetime, not just those short three years.

Pei Zhaoye paused for a moment, then looked toward her, extremely slowly.

Did she know what she was saying?

Footsteps suddenly sounded behind them.

Alarms went off in Lizhu’s mind, and she immediately grabbed Pei Zhaoye’s arm and shook it:

“Someone’s coming, someone’s coming!”

Pei Zhaoye, however, did not move.

“What are you panicking for? Just from the sound, it’s obviously Danzhu’s footsteps.”

…He could tell that too?

Lizhu calmed down, listened again, and said, “Seems like there’s also Chang Jun’s footsteps.”

Since washing these things had to be kept out of sight, Pei Zhaoye had found a slope covered in tangled dead vines. At this moment, he and Lizhu didn’t need to deliberately hide—the two newcomers hadn’t discovered them.

So late at night, why weren’t those two in the camp enjoying meat and noise? What were they doing out here?

Whatever it was, Lizhu had no desire to pry into others’ privacy.

She was about to leave, but Pei Zhaoye pulled her back:

“Shh—if you don’t want to listen, cover your ears. Don’t go out and disturb their mood.”

Lizhu felt that what he said made sense. She had just covered her own ears when she saw Pei Zhaoye waiting with great interest to eavesdrop, so she instead reached out to cover his ears.

“You’re not allowed to listen either!”

“……”

Danzhu, storming out in anger, kicked a cypress tree by the creek. Snow crashed down with a thud onto Chang Jun, who had followed behind.

“What the—!”

Danzhu glared fiercely:

“How do I not look like a woman! I’m a proper lady, alright! To actually ask me whether I’m male or female, really makes me want to dig out those useless eyeballs of theirs… Chang Jun! What’s wrong with you? You’re way too careless!”

When Danzhu yanked him out of the snow pile, Chang Jun’s nose tip was red from the cold.

“Your strength is really… forget it.”

Only then did Danzhu come to her senses. She squatted in front of him, the corners of her eyes lowering:

“You’re just like them, right? You think I don’t look like a woman either?”

“…Do you want to hear the truth or the lie?”

Danzhu’s face sank. She turned to leave, but someone suddenly grabbed her arm.

A bowman who could draw a six-stone bow wouldn’t be pulled back easily. She stopped because she was willing to be kept.

The creek murmured, the moonlight shone bright, and Chang Jun said softly:

“You don’t resemble an ordinary woman, and I don’t resemble an ordinary man. But you still think I’m fine, tell me not to listen to others’ gossip—so when it’s your turn, can’t you think it through too?”

Danzhu was stunned for a moment. He lifted his head.

“What man or woman—on the battlefield, there’s no difference between male and female, only victory or defeat. You don’t need to care how I see you. You just need to know—there aren’t many women who can draw a six-stone bow… such a fine Zheng Danzhu, there’s only one under heaven.”

Danzhu’s eyes shone bright. “Say it again!”

Chang Jun raised his arm to cover his flushed face.

“Didn’t you already hear it!”

“I didn’t hear clearly! Say it again so I can listen! Hurry, hurry!”

“…I’m leaving.”

The two sets of footsteps came hastily, and went hastily.

Though Lizhu hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, Danzhu’s voice was truly too loud, and Chang Jun’s voice tonight was, for once, full of vigor—so the two of them still heard everything clearly.

After asking, Lizhu finally learned that these past few days Danzhu had been receiving quite a bit of gossip from the Yanshan Army.

He said, “…Back then, for Danzhu to gain a foothold in Hongye Stronghold, she first disguised herself as a man. Only after standing firm did she stop pretending. At that time, she was young, willing to act and endure for a while. But now—she’s been the third leader of Hongye Stronghold for several years, followed and respected by many—how could she still be willing to play the coward?”

Lizhu understood. “No wonder she was unwilling to come to Yanshan at first.”

Having once endured the hardship of establishing herself among men, she knew exactly what awaited her, and thus didn’t wish to suffer it again.

“But she’s so strong—surely she could be a great general. How could she be afraid?”

Pei Zhaoye glanced at her.

“She doesn’t think that way. She feels that being a mountain bandit is already quite impressive enough… Sometimes, people don’t necessarily understand themselves.”

Lizhu nodded in agreement.

“She really doesn’t understand herself. There are few people as strong as her. No matter how I train in this life, I could never have the strength of even one of her arms. She’s that capable, how could she think she’s not?”

“Indeed… how could she think she’s not?”

Pei Zhaoye repeated with a faint smile.

They stepped out from behind the tangle of vines. To avoid drawing others’ attention, the two deliberately returned to camp one before the other, from different directions.

The whole-sheep feast was in full swing; someone in the Yanshan Army was singing a local tune.

Wu Yan had already selected ten strong men. Tonight’s entertainment at the banquet would be the third contest between the two armies.

When Pei Zhaoye arrived late, the first person he named was Danzhu.

Danzhu froze.

Even some among the Hongye troops hurried to say:

“Gen… General, the Third Commander is skilled with the bow, not with grappling. Perhaps it’s better to choose another…”

By the bonfire, Lizhu also glanced at the ten men Wu Yan had chosen.

If they were ordinary strong men, Lizhu would not fear Danzhu losing, but these ten men were robust from years of labor and training.

Perhaps not on par with prodigies like Wu Yan and Pei Zhaoye, but among men they were also one-in-a-hundred fierce characters.

Lizhu hesitated for a moment: “What they say makes sense, if it’s a contest it should compare strengths, why compare one’s weakness to another’s strength……”

“Nonsense.”

Pei Zhaoye interrupted in a flat voice.

Lizhu and Chang Jun, Xuan Ying and the others all widened their eyes in disbelief.

What did he say to the Princess?

Pei Zhaoye raised his eyes: “Which person to choose, I have my own plan, the Princess even wants to meddle in this, could it be you want to favor the Yanshan Army?”

Lizhu: “……”

Someone from the Yanshan Army said: “The Princess is afraid you’ll lose, she’s kindly reminding you!”

“Can’t you understand bad words or good words!”

Wu Yan frowned: “Leader Pei, you shouldn’t speak to the Princess in that tone.”

“Princess forgive me.”

Pei Zhaoye’s tone was lax, and he did not sincerely salute Lizhu with a hand gesture: 

“This concerns the victory or defeat of this contest, today the Hongye Army has already lost one round, it’s better to let me decide the selection of people, so there won’t be any grievances.”

Wu Yan understood.

So he was unhappy because today he had delayed the contest while wiping out the remaining Yanshan band, was judged to have lost, and vented at the Princess.

Wu Yan said to Lizhu: “Princess let him be, so arrogant and presumptuous, today our Yanshan Army will kill his sharpness for the Princess!”

“Good! Kill his sharpness!”

Many voices of agreement from the Yanshan Army.

They had assumed the Hongye Army was the loyal force of Princess Qinghe and that the Yanshan Army would be subordinate.

Unexpectedly this Pei Zhaoye not only could treat the Princess’s beauty as nothing, but dared to throw a face at the Princess, truly wolfish ambition, wildly insolent!

Lizhu blinked and merely smiled in response.

As soon as Pei Zhaoye turned, he met Gu Bing’an’s slightly contemptuous gaze.

Was that necessary? To put on such an act.

Usually don’t say he’d throw a face at the Princess, the Princess slaps a mosquito and he’d want to catch it with his face.

Pei Zhaoye: “Look more and I’ll send you up to get beaten too.”