Women disguised as men went to the battlefield and the emperor bowed down in submission.

Chu Xiao stood on the city wall, his eyes filled with worry, gazing at the departing army.

Lin Ruoshui lay in a luxurious carriage drawn by eight horses. The carriage was as big as a room and had all kinds of daily necessities, all of which were exquisite and luxurious.

Examples include a floor paved with large pieces of warm jade, drawer handles made of pearls from the East China Sea, a black iron basin for storing ice in summer and charcoal in winter, and even more extravagantly, a chamber pot with luminous pearls of the same size inlaid on its edge.

The sable fur beneath Lin Ruoshui was worth a fortune in the Chishui Kingdom, and the water she drank from was made by a top sculptor in the form of a dragon-patterned luminous cup set. All her other possessions were priceless treasures.

All of this was orchestrated by Chu Xiao and Xuan Yuan Yu. Although they were going to the front lines, they couldn't let Lin Ruoshui suffer, so everything she used had to be the best.

Lin Ruoshui shifted and lay down on Xuan Yuanyu's lap. She said, "We're going to the front lines, but using this luxurious carriage feels like we're going on a trip."

"My women must use the best!" Xuanyuan Yu said.

"My brother said the same thing before he left—'My sister must use the best.' You two really have a tacit understanding."

Xuanyuan Yu retorted defiantly, "I am the man who loves you the most."

Lin Ruoshui yawned and said, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Xuanyuan Yu said, "You don't believe me?"

Just as Lin Ruoshui was about to answer, the carriage came to a sudden stop. Imagine the amount of inertia involved in stopping a carriage pulled by eight horses at the same time.

Lin Ruoshui instinctively hugged Xuan Yuanyu's waist, bumping directly into his stomach.

Lin Ruoshui seemed to have practiced a turtle-like retraction technique, immediately tucking her head into her clothes.

Xuanyuan Yu pulled her head out and placed it back in the same spot.

His face flushed red as he said, "Help me, and name your terms!"

Lin Ruoshui shook her head and covered her mouth, indicating that she did not want to help.

A glint flashed in Xuanyuan Yu's eyes, and he said, "Then I'll help you?"

"This is inside a carriage, are you crazy!" Lin Ruoshui said, her face flushed.

He said, "Actually, I've been insane for a long time, but I didn't want to scare you."

"Why did you go mad?" Lin Ruoshui asked.

"From the moment I met you, I felt like I had gone mad, mad for you."

"You are my elixir of life. Only you can make me feel like a normal person again. I dare not imagine losing you." Xuan Yuan Yu's eyes burned with passion; he seemed to be caught in the whirlpool of love, unable to extricate himself.

Lin Ruoshui turned her head to look at the roof of the carriage, not daring to look into those deep eyes again.

Seeing the conflicted expression on the woman's face as she rested her head on his lap, Xuanyuan Yu burst into laughter, saying, "You wretched woman, don't feel pressured, because this is just the beginning. Your pressure will only increase later. I will become even more insane, insanely wanting you, insanely loving you, and insanely possessing everything about you, including your body and all your love..."

"Love me? Do you really love me?" Lin Ruoshui and Xuan Yuanyu looked into each other's eyes.

Xuanyuan Yu said, "I don't understand what love is, but I can go crazy for you, be obsessed with you, and even die for you without hesitation?"

Tears welled up in Lin Ruoshui's eyes. Xuan Yuan Yu picked her up, sat her on his lap, wiped away her tears with his tongue, and then swallowed the tears that he couldn't understand.

"You damned woman, don't cry. I only want to see you smile."

Xuan Yuan Yu's confession was simple, passionate, and sincere, and Lin Ruo Shui was truly moved. However, she didn't know if she loved Xuan Yuan Yu.

"I'm sure what you're saying is true, that you love me, but I don't know if I love you back," Lin Ruoshui said to Xuan Yuanyu, her eyes sparkling.

"Haven't we already tested whether you love me or not?" Xuanyuan said.

"When?"

"Last time in the artificial hill, you proved with your actions that you have feelings for me." Xuan Yuan Yu's eyes were filled with reminiscence, and a slight mischievous smile played on his lips.

Lin Ruoshui recalled the shameless things Xuan Yuan Yu had done to her in the artificial hill. She was both ashamed and angry, and she rammed her head hard against Xuan Yuan Yu's head.

After the accident, she felt incredibly stupid, as if her skull was about to shatter.

Xuanyuan Yu gently rubbed her swollen forehead, unable to stop laughing.

After the two had finished arguing, Xuanyuan Yu said, "Let's begin..."

Lin Ruoshui wailed.

……

After ten days of travel, they had left the capital city. Lin Ruoshui hadn't breathed any fresh air on the road. There was no heavy industrial pollution, no nuclear waste pollution, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, no pollution of any kind. The pure air and water nourished her lungs. She breathed in greedily and drank large gulps of mountain spring water.

Lin Ruoshui blended into nature, as if an elf had returned home. Xuan Yuan Yu, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, admired the beauty and scenery, feeling extremely happy and content.

She ran over with a handful of water and said to Xuanyuan Yu, "Your Highness, please try it, this water is sweet!"

Xuanyuan Yu lowered his head and drank all the water from her palm. Finally, he licked the remaining water from her palm with his tongue and replied, "It's really sweet."

Lin Ruoshui's palm felt a tingling sensation as his tongue licked it.

Her face flushed, and Xuan Yuan Yu grabbed her hand, just as he was beginning to have an idea.

Suddenly, Xuanyuan Yu grabbed Lin Ruoshui and flew up. Sharp arrows grazed past them, and a group of bandits came down from the mountain and surrounded the two.

Lin Ruoshui looked at the bandits with sympathetic eyes, counting that there were more than two hundred of them.

If the elite Xuanyuan Army soldiers cooking at the foot of the mountain discovered these two hundred or so people, who knows what would happen to them.

"Boss, this chick is gorgeous!" a sly-eyed man said to a burly man.

"Damn, she's beautiful! I've never seen a woman like her in my life. Look at that skin, it'd be dripping wet if you touched it." The burly man grinned from ear to ear as if he'd struck gold.

A rough female voice rang out: "Brother, that woman is for you, this man is mine!"

Lin Ruoshui took one look and realized that the brother and sister were obviously family, without even needing a DNA test; they were both burly and identical.

Xuanyuan Yu and Lin Ruoshui looked at each other. Lin Ruoshui's eyes shone as she smiled and said, "Xuanyuan Yu, your darling has arrived. This woman should be able to handle you. She definitely won't die. Look at her figure; she's a perfect match for your second brother."

Xuanyuan Yu was both amused and exasperated, feeling that Lin Ruoshui seemed even more shameless than the bandits.

Lin Ruoshui said, "Why don't you go with her and see if she can survive after you've done it to her?"

Lin Ruoshui, oblivious to her own mortality, spoke in front of Xuan Yuan Yu.

Xuanyuan Yu felt like he couldn't catch his breath. He hugged Lin Ruoshui tightly around the waist and said, "I want to drink water tonight." Before Lin Ruoshui could understand what he meant, Xuanyuan Yu made his move.

He leaped forward and grabbed the leader by the throat. He was so fast that no one could see it clearly. Somehow, the leader was captured.

"Brother, let's talk this out. We're just here to see the scenery. It's fate that we met. Please don't make a move." The burly man with the throat being grabbed spoke softly to coax Xuan Yuan Yu.

At this moment, Lin Ruoshui was admiring Xuan Yuan Yu's height. She thought to herself, "Xuan Yuan Yu's body proportions are perfect. Standing next to such a burly man, he doesn't seem weak at all. Looking at him, he seems to be even taller than that man, at least 185 cm. He's really perfect, tsk tsk tsk."

Unexpectedly, a flock of birds flew in from the sky, of all kinds. The flock of birds blotted out the sun, as if they were being controlled by someone. In an instant, they flew vertically downwards and attacked Xuanyuan Yu.

Seeing the situation was dire, Lin Ruoshui drew her dagger and rushed to Xuan Yuan Yu's side, using the dagger to fend off the flock of birds attacking him. Lin Ruoshui and Xuan Yuan Yu's bodyguards also appeared and engaged the birds in battle.

There were simply too many birds, so Xuanyuan Yu had no choice but to release the burly man, protecting Lin Ruoshui while fending off the bird attacks.

More and more birds flew in from all directions. After Xuanyuan Jun noticed this, he rushed up the mountain to rescue Xuanyuan Yu and Lin Ruoshui.

The battle between humans and birds began. The guards and soldiers of the Xuanyuan Army kept swinging their long swords. Small birds were killed on the spot, while large birds were decapitated or had their wings broken off.

The birds' mournful cries terribly scared away all the wild animals nearby. They seemed unafraid, charging forward relentlessly, pecking at anyone they encountered.

Lin Ruoshui was shocked by the flock of birds that were attacking people so frantically. She had never thought that cute birds could have such a strong attack power.

She brandished the dagger, feeling a slight pain in her heart. She squinted, searching around for who was controlling the flock of birds.

Finally, she discovered that it was that burly woman. Lin Ruoshui and Xuan Yuanyu stood back to back. Under Xuan Yuanyu's cover, Lin Ruoshui approached the woman. With one hand, she used a dagger to slash the woman's neck, and with the other hand, she pulled the whistle out of the woman's mouth.