Marrying the Crown Prince

"Her?" The lieutenant was somewhat confused. "Who is the general referring to?"

Chen Muchuan glanced at it with disdain, but his silence seemed to say everything.

The lieutenant was startled and quickly searched his memory for the person in question, finally settling on Xi Qiu. "General, are you referring to Miss Xi Qiu?"

"Xi Qiu?"

"Ah, she's the girl who was drying medicinal herbs with Old Zhou just now," the lieutenant explained. "Speaking of which, General, you've seen her before, haven't you? She's the girl we rescued at the border last month when we raided Western Qin. She's the one, General, you've forgotten?"

Hearing the lieutenant's big, thick mouth chattering on and on, Chen Muchuan frowned and said impatiently, "So how did she get in?"

"Oh, this was my arrangement." The lieutenant scratched his head. "What's wrong, General? Is there a problem with her?"

“She’s fine,” Chen Muchuan shook his head, staring intently at him, “but you have a problem.”

"What……"

Before the lieutenant could finish speaking, Chen Muchuan's hand on his shoulder squeezed down hard.

"Oh dear, General!"

Seeing him wince in pain, Chen Muchuan felt a little relieved and finally released his grip with satisfaction.

The lieutenant looked aggrieved. "General, what did I do wrong? I'm not convinced!"

"You disagree?" Chen Muchuan raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, no," the lieutenant quickly changed his tune, "I admit it, I admit it!"

After finishing the small talk, Chen Muchuan got down to business, "Why did you bring that person in?"

"She said she was an orphan with nowhere to go, so they arranged for her to come in," the lieutenant explained.

For a long time, those who had nowhere to go would be arranged to help out in the military camp, whether it was drying herbs or helping in the kitchen...

The lieutenant, realizing something was amiss, stopped joking and asked seriously, "What's wrong, General? Is there something wrong with her? Do you need me?"

He made a neck-slitting gesture.

Chen Muchuan shook his head, "No need, there's no problem."

It turns out she didn't come here on purpose.

Yes, what's wrong with her? The problem is with herself.

He looked up at the top of the tall poplar tree and saw that the lush green leaves were growing vigorously, demonstrating their tenacious vitality.

"Let's go," Chen Muchuan said.

Later, Xi Qiu, who was helping out at the pharmacy, was favored by the military doctor because of her diligence. He often took her out to treat the wounds of soldiers who had suffered minor injuries among the group of men in the military camp.

As a result, Chen Muchuan and Xi Qiu met more often.

To be honest, because of this face, Chen Muchuan felt a strange interest and hostility towards Xi Qiu.

In his view, how could it be that just as he took office, people in the city were arrested? How could it be that just as he was rescuing people, he rescued Xi Qiu? And how could it be that Xi Qiu looked so much like her?

What a coincidence!

After spending some time together, Chen Muchuan had to admit that Xi Qiu was a resolute and courageous woman, like a wild ivy that would desperately take root once it landed.

Therefore, he had nothing to say.

If you were to ask Chen Muchuan when he developed feelings for Xi Qiu, he wouldn't know. He only knew that the first time he couldn't hold back and revealed these feelings was during an assassination attempt.

The assassin failed in his assassination attempt and fled in all directions, but by sheer bad luck, he grabbed Xi Qiu and used him as a scapegoat.

The dagger was held to Xi Qiu's neck, and her skin was instantly slashed open, the bright red blood staining her collar.

"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!" The assassin, like a venomous snake, spoke in a chilling tone, "Take one more step and I'll kill her!"

"Is that so?" Xi Qiu gritted his teeth, suppressing his inner fear. "If you have the guts, kill me right now!"

"Shut up!" the assassin shouted sharply, unconsciously tightening his grip and pushing the dagger down a few more notches.

The blood is flowing even faster!

Seeing that someone was about to die, Chen Muchuan made a gesture, and everyone stopped and surrounded the assassin.

Seeing that his threat had worked, the assassin laughed, "Give me a fast horse!"

"Go and fetch a horse," Chen Muchuan agreed.

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment, "General..."

"Go! Go now!"

"Yes, my subordinate will go right away."

Hearing the sound, the assassin became even more smug. He peeked out a little from behind Xi Qiu, wanting to see if the horse was really coming.

No sooner had he poked his head out than an arrow came hurtling through the air, grazing Xi Qiu's face and piercing the assassin's throat.

As soon as the assassin loosened his grip, Xi Qiu, who was terrified, also lost her balance. Just as she touched the ground, she fell into a warm and firm embrace.

Chen Muchuan looked at Xi Qiu with a stiff expression, as if in pain, yet also as if in joy.

He said, "I've finally saved you."

After that, things proceeded much more smoothly. Chen Muchuan stopped ignoring Xi Qiu, and their relationship quickly warmed up.

"If that's the case, why don't you take Miss Xi Qiu into your household?" Li Changyuan asked, puzzled—is it really good for her to live in the household like this, with such an ambiguous relationship?

"It's fate," the servant sighed, and continued, "The general doesn't want Miss Xiqiu to be a concubine and wants to bring her into the mansion in a grand sedan chair carried by eight men, but Miss Xiqiu's social status is just too low, and the Marquis doesn't agree."

"Therefore, the general made a bet with the marquis, saying that if he could conquer the five cities of Western Qin within five years, he would have to marry Miss Xi Qiu."

"What if we lose?" Li Changyuan asked curiously.

this problem……

The servant snorted unhappily, "My general will not lose!"

Goodness, this answer stumped Li Changyuan.

At this point, Chen Muchuan's study appeared before Li Changyuan and his servant.

The servant bowed and said, "My lord, my general is in the study. I have other matters to attend to, so please forgive my rudeness. I cannot serve you any longer."

"Go ahead, go ahead," Li Changyuan said kindly.

He walked to the door, and the doorman, seeing Li Changyuan arrive, gently knocked on the door.

A clear, cold voice rang out—

"explain."

"General, Lord Zhou Yuan has arrived."

"Well, come in."

Upon hearing this, the servant lifted the curtain and said, "My lord, my general requests your presence."

Li Changyuan walked in and bowed, saying, "Sir."

Chen Muchuan slowly raised his eyes and asked, "Have you seen the person?"

"what?"

The sudden problem caught Li Changyuan completely off guard.

"What?" Chen Muchuan asked calmly, "Didn't you run into her?"

Li Changyuan's mind raced: Could he be talking about his lover? No, what kind of twisted sense of humor is this? Why else would he, an outsider, be asked to talk about a girl? What kind of freak is that?

He was internally ranting, but his face remained impassive, and he asked in a light tone, "Are you referring to Miss Xi Qiu, sir?"

"Mm." Chen Muchuan nodded.

Looks like we've run into each other. No wonder, it's been a month, it was bound to happen...

Thinking of this, Chen Muchuan continued, "What do you think of her?"

This is what I asked...

Li Changyuan silently rolled his eyes and said nonsense, "Miss Xi Qiu is a gentle and virtuous girl. You must not let such a good family down, sir."

"Oh?" Chen Muchuan raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

He was smiling, but for some reason, Li Changyuan felt a chill run down his spine.

It seems... the gentleman is not satisfied with this answer.

So, what exactly did he mean?