The things cleaned tonight had not yet been dealt with, and could not be put to use.

Fortunately, in these past few days, Pei Zhaoye had gotten used to it. He could still endure it, and only focused on making Lizhu relaxed and happy.

Afterward, he helped her clean up properly, lifted the quilt, got onto the bed, and scooped the still softly panting princess into his arms, preparing to sleep.

“…Are we going to sleep now?”

Pei Zhaoye closed his eyes: “We can not sleep, if the princess wants to go another round.”

“…”

So familiar a conversation.

Lizhu suddenly felt that this sentence would appear many times in the future as well.

“It’s not me,” she was pressed tightly against him, the heat between them entirely unhidden, “it’s you… don’t you… need to…?”

To be honest, it was poking against her a little, and not easy to ignore even if she wanted to.

Pei Zhaoye opened his eyes.

From his angle, her black hair was tousled and fluffy, her eyes carried a faint misty moisture, clear like a small animal’s.

“Today in front of Wu Yan and the others, I was so rude to the princess. Why didn’t the princess get angry?”

He had thought for sure that she would come to settle accounts with him tonight.

Lizhu thought he said something silly, glared at him:

“Although it was a bit uncomfortable… if we’re talking about being rude, aren’t you ruder at night? And I’ve never seen you ask why I’m not angry then.”

“Would you get angry?”

Pei Zhaoye recalled in mock seriousness, “I remember just now, the princess was clearly feeling so good that even her toes curled up—”

Lizhu covered his mouth at once.

Before three breaths had passed in anger, the thin fury in her eyes quickly faded again. She looked away and asked:

“Then do you actually want to or not…”

He smiled and asked in return: “Want what?”

Lizhu looked at him, her gaze so sincere it could burn.

“You’re good to me. I also want you to be happy.”

“…”

After quite a while, Pei Zhaoye finally found his voice: “Do you know? Sometimes when you talk, it really makes one want to kiss your mouth until it’s swollen.”

Lizhu covered her mouth in horror.

So vicious!

Truly repaying kindness with enmity!

“Sleep.”

He tucked the quilt around her. “At the princess’s age, you can still grow taller. If you sleep so little, you really won’t grow anymore.”

Seeing that he had no such intention, Lizhu relaxed, rubbing against his chest.

“Mm-hmm, we still have to go out tomorrow, need to conserve strength and energy!”

Pei Zhaoye closed his eyes.

Indeed… conserving strength and energy.

When she woke the next morning, the person beside her pillow had already left.

But the charcoal in the brazier had been tended by someone, burning strong and bright, so that when Lizhu got up, she did not shiver from the cold.

Lizhu sat on the bed and touched the place where he had lain.

…What a pity he couldn’t always stay with her until dawn.

If he could, it would feel even more like returning to the time when he was still alive in his previous life.

Lizhu cheerfully called someone in to help her wash and dress.

When she came out from the central army tent, Pei Zhaoye and Wu Yan were counting men—no more, no less, ten each—to accompany Lizhu to Suinan Commandery for the final round of competition.

However, though it was called a competition, after the Yanshan Army learned that the young master Xue Er had once offended Lizhu, everyone’s faces were filled with righteous indignation.

One man, gripping the hatchet in his hand, said: “Princess, don’t worry, we’ll definitely hang his head in the most conspicuous place!”

Lizhu: “…Not just the head. If you must hang him, then please hang the body along with it.”

That man turned his head to look at Pei Zhaoye.

Not just the head?

Then why, when he had said it just now, did his expression look exactly like someone talking about killing?

Seeing Pei Zhaoye dusting his sword with talc to polish it, she bent down and said:

“Want an orange? There are only a few left from the basket we bought on the road.”

Pei Zhaoye lifted his eyelids, meeting her bright smiling face, and thought she really wasn’t suited for pretending—flaws everywhere.

He lowered his head, his tone indifferent:

“Thank you, Princess, I don’t like oranges.”

Lizhu’s smile froze.

Ah, right—she almost forgot, in front of others, she and Pei Zhaoye couldn’t act too close.

“—I like them!”

At once, someone from the Yanshan Army chimed in, “Don’t mind people with their eyes growing on top of their heads. We like oranges—if the princess wishes to bestow them, bestow them upon us!”

Not to mention a noble princess—even if it were an ordinary girl, being coldly rejected like that would make anyone watching instinctively feel protective toward her.

“Alright.”

Lizhu smiled as she divided the oranges among them.

Wu Yan respectfully accepted a few orange segments from Lizhu’s hand, his gaze sweeping toward Pei Zhaoye with a hint of disapproval.

There was a younger sister in his family, about the same age as the princess. Since childhood, Wu Yan had always chased after and beaten up the brats who bullied his sister, naturally carrying a sense of responsibility to protect young girls.

All the more so when the princess was no ordinary girl—how could she be insulted by the unworthy.

He said in a low voice: “Pei Zhaoye may have some skill, but the princess shouldn’t tolerate him too much. Otherwise, sooner or later, he’ll climb onto the princess’s head.”

Lizhu looked toward the man sheathing his sword.

It was unclear what his subordinate was reporting to him; he stood with both hands on his hips, head slightly lowered as he listened. His side profile showed broad shoulders and a slim waist—even in such a relaxed stance, there was still the pressure of a fierce tiger gathering strength.

Lizhu turned her eyes away, the tips of her ears slightly warm.

…Whether he could climb onto her head, she didn’t know, but that he loved to crawl under her skirts was certainly true.

She smiled at Wu Yan and said:

“With Captain Wu and the Yanshan Army here, I doubt he can overturn the heavens. Remember to bring the sizes you registered in your ledgers before we leave. This trip to Sui’nan, we’ll also have new winter clothes and shoes made for the Yanshan Army.”

Wu Yan’s gaze flickered; he wanted to say something, but being clumsy with words and unable to flatter, he could only bow his head and say:

“The princess’s grace is boundless. The Yanshan Army can only repay with our lives.”

“—General.”

A subordinate who was speaking with Pei Zhaoye gestured with his mouth.

“Those few from the Yanshan Army, weren’t they quite arrogant a few days ago? Now they’re getting closer to the princess than you are. What’s going on? Back in Yiling, didn’t you still have face in front of the princess?”

“That’s right, General, you’d better work harder, or else whenever there’s something good, it’ll all go to those Yanshan men first.”

Carrying an account book as he passed by, Gu Bing’an said leisurely:

“Don’t worry. Our general’s skills aren’t all on the surface…”

Pei Zhaoye lifted his eyes.

Gu Bing’an immediately quickened his pace and walked off.

The troops assembled and set out. Lizhu, wearing a white veiled hat, sat inside the carriage with Chang Junxuan and Ying.

At the front of the procession rode Pei Zhaoye and Wu Yan, each leading ten men, one on the left and one on the right, escorting the carriage—a scene befitting the dignified outing of a noble lady.

After swaying along for most of the day, they finally saw the boundary stele of Sui’nan Commandery.

Now the Yanshan Army had one loss and two wins, holding the advantage. Yet for some reason, watching the young bandit chief’s calm, unhurried demeanor all along the way, Wu Yan felt a faint unease in his heart.

The Yanshan Army was merely a band of common folk who had risen up with hoes and kitchen knives; there were barely a few among them who could read or understand military orders.

Although the Hongye Stronghold were also only mountain bandits, their leader was a salt smuggler from Hezhou.

At such a young age, to be able to move easily between officials and commoners, taking advantage of both sides—such smooth and skillful means, how could ordinary people like them ever learn that?

To gain a foothold by the side of Princess Qinghe, all they could rely on was loyalty and diligence.

So, upon arriving at the post station to rest, Wu Yan said to the ten men of the Yanshan Army:

“…As the princess instructed, by tomorrow evening—one day’s time is the limit—the first priority is not to expose the refugee army’s identity. The second is to capture that Young Master Xue Er, Xue Huaifang, strip him bare and show him to the crowd, to vent the princess’s anger. Do you all understand?”

“Understood!”

Pei Zhaoye leaned against the railing on the second floor of the post station, watching as that group left in a rush.

Lizhu was preparing to go into the city with Chang Jun and Xuan Ying to make some purchases. Seeing Pei Zhaoye not in a hurry to leave, she was a little puzzled:

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll get ahead of you?”

Pei Zhaoye turned around, his lower back pressing against the railing: “I finally got those eyesores out of the way—of course I’m going shopping with the princess…”

“No.”

Lizhu refused firmly:

“The Xue family’s fort isn’t a place just anyone can enter or leave freely. The Yanshan Army knows that, that’s why they’re going all out. If you underestimate the enemy, maybe next time there won’t be a General Pei anymore—it’ll have to be General Wu…”

Before she finished speaking, Lizhu’s chin was caught by Pei Zhaoye’s palm; he pinched her cheek.

He said word by word: “What’s given to me is mine. And you still want to take it back? Dream on.”

Lizhu smiled and said: “Then that depends on your performance, General Pei.”

Pei Zhaoye gave a cold snort.

“Borrow Gu Bing’an for you, and lend me your little eunuch.”

Lizhu asked in confusion: “What do you want with Chang Jun?”

“That’s not for you to worry about. Just borrowing him for a bit—he won’t lift a finger, so it won’t count as breaking the rules.”

Pei Zhaoye’s long arm hooked around Chang Jun’s neck and pulled him close—the man was half a head shorter.

Chang Jun looked at him with special wariness.

What did he mean by ‘borrowing for a bit’?

It definitely didn’t sound like anything good.

The group split into three parties. After Pei Zhaoye and his men left, Lizhu also went out with Gu Bing’an and Xuan Ying.

Yedu was the most prosperous city in Suinan, facing north toward the Divine Maiden Tower, and it traded frequently with the eleven northern provinces. It was rich in leather and iron, but lacked finely crafted handicrafts.

So when Lizhu brought her most beloved golden hairpin with dangling ornaments to a jewelry shop, the shopkeeper’s eyes immediately lit up, though he quickly restrained himself and hurriedly asked Lizhu:

“I wonder what price the young lady intends to ask for this golden hairpin?”

Seeing that familiar golden hairpin, Gu Bing’an’s gaze flickered slightly.

Behind the white veiled hat, Lizhu said: “A woman of the inner chambers doesn’t know the market outside. The shopkeeper may name a price as he sees fit.”

The shopkeeper’s cheeks creased into a smile. “You’ve come to the right place. In all of Yedu, our jewelry shop has the best business and the most generous prices—one hundred gold!”

Lizhu took back the golden hairpin and turned to leave.

“Eh, eh, eh—young lady, if you think it’s too little, we can still discuss it!”

Lizhu shook her head.

“You’re not sincere. There are plenty of shops in Yedu. I only trade with shopkeepers who are sincere in buying my things.”

“A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding—how could I not be sincere? Please, young lady, have a seat. Quickly, serve tea for the young lady—”

The shopkeeper bent courteously, full of flattery.

“Seeing that the young lady is a straightforward person, then… three… five hundred! Five hundred gold, will that do? I really can’t add any more!”

Seeing the young lady about to turn and leave again, he hurriedly called out his bottom price.

From beneath the white veiled hat extended a hand holding the golden hairpin. Her voice was sweet and carried a faint smile:

“In a hurry to use money, I must trouble the shopkeeper to fetch five hundred gold right now.”

The shopkeeper gave an awkward smile and nodded.

If not for the fact that the third young lady of the Xue family had been buying up jewelry all over the city these past few days, he wouldn’t have bothered to keep his patience haggling with this young lady!

After the others had left, Gu Bing’an finally spoke:

“The military funds—weren’t they already allocated from the Hongye Stronghold’s account? Why does the princess still…”

Even her most beloved golden hairpin, she was pawning to fund the Yanshan Army. If the general found out, wouldn’t he be eaten up with jealousy?

But Lizhu only smiled and turned the golden hairpin in her hand.