Shocking! The actress was dragged to the regent's bedchamber every night.

Upon hearing this, Su Wuli turned her face back.

Yu Chen raised his hand and pulled the blanket up, tucking the corners of the blanket in as well.

"Don't be afraid," he said reassuringly. "Nothing will happen tonight."

"Mm." Su Wuli nodded.

Yu Chen dimmed the oil lamp a little, then turned and left.

Su Wuli listened as his footsteps grew fainter and fainter.

He lay there alone, staring at the tent roof. There was a shallow crack in the wooden beam, but the oil lamp was too dim to see it.

She stared at it for a long time.

Su Wuli didn't know how much time had passed, but she just couldn't fall asleep no matter what she did.

She pulled the blanket up higher and wrapped herself up tightly.

He turned his head and subconsciously looked in the direction of the tent curtain.

wait.

The candlelight in the main tent was bright.

Several lieutenants sat on either side, their armor still on.

The shoulder armor was splattered with dried blood.

Yu Chen sat in the main seat.

He had already taken off his armor and was only wearing that black cotton robe.

His finger rested on the edge of the map, and a ferry crossing upstream on the river remained unmoved.

Shadow Falcon walked in from outside the tent, stopped in front of the low table, and bowed.

"Your Highness, the casualty report has arrived."

"explain."

"Over a hundred corpses were left behind in Kitahara, and more than forty people were captured."

Shadow Falcon's tone was calm. "On our side, we have twenty dead, twenty-three seriously wounded, and over sixty lightly wounded."

There was a moment of silence inside the tent.

Someone let out a soft breath, as if they had been holding it in for a long time.

"The way the night raid went is unlike Qi Zexun's work."

The adjutant sitting on the left spoke up, his voice rough, "He seems to have come here to die."

Yu Chen's finger paused on the map for a moment.

"He's not here to die," the voice was deep. "He's here to scout ahead."

His fingers moved away from the river crossing and landed on an open area on the west side of the camp.

There was a forest marked there, drawn so densely that it looked like a tangled mess.

"The spies went to search this woods; he's hiding people here."

The lieutenants exchanged glances; some nodded, while others frowned.

"If he's hiding people in the woods, why not bring them all up together?" the adjutant sitting on the right asked.

"Because he wants to test it." Yu Chen withdrew his finger from the map and leaned back in his chair. "To test whether I, the king, will personally chase after him."

His eyes darkened slightly. "Next time, we won't send just this many people."

The tent fell silent again.

…………

The central command tent of the Beiyuan military camp.

The candle burned for most of the night.

Qi Zexun sat behind a low table, his armor already removed.

His fingers were wrapped in bandages.

He held a calligraphy brush in his hand, the tip hovering above the paper without falling.

A sheet of Xuan paper was laid out on the table, and a person was drawn on it.

The eyebrows and eyes were drawn and drawn again, with several layers of ink of varying shades, showing that they had been revised repeatedly.

The person in the painting has hair hanging loosely over their shoulders, with a few strands blowing in the wind and fluttering around their ears.

That face was very white, with a faint pinkish tinge.

Like a freshly peeled egg, or like the first snowflake falling on a winter night.

His lips were beautiful; he carefully drew them over and over again.

He just couldn't draw those eyes well.

The person in the painting is looking down, with their eyelashes drooping and covering most of their pupils.

Qi Zeze only glanced at her.

Just one glance.

The firelight reflected on her face, which was filled with fear and unease, and a sense of devastation that seemed to invite destruction.

He gritted his teeth and put down the brush.

He then picked up the Xuan paper from the table and examined it against the candlelight.

The candlelight shone through the back of the paper, making the ink stains even clearer.

He pressed his finger against the portrait and rubbed it, smearing a small patch of ink.

He put the portrait down, picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and filled in the smudged area.

The guards beside him stood by the tent flap, watching him draw for half an hour.

Finally unable to hold back any longer, he spoke up, "Third Prince, it's getting late."

After speaking, Qi Zexun did not look up, but slowly placed the brush on the inkstone.

Then he picked up the portrait and held it up in front of him.

He looked at the person in the painting, and the person in the painting looked at him.

"Go check."

The guard took a step forward, awaiting further instructions.

"Find out the woman's name, where she's from, how she got into the military camp, and what her relationship is with the Regent."

He paused as he spoke, placed the portrait on the table, and pressed his finger along the edge of the paper. "The more detailed, the better."

"Yes." The guard replied and turned to leave.

Qi Zexun looked down at his fingers, the edges of the bandage curling up.

He pressed it down.

Fear of blood.

"Such a coward, yet he dares to stay in the military camp." A slight smile played on his lips. "Interesting."

Qi Zexun picked up the portrait, put it away, and tucked it into his sleeve.

He sat behind the low table without moving, staring at the flickering candlelight.

He remembered the woman crouching behind the box, curled up in a ball.

He couldn't explain it, but he wanted to see it again.

He twitched his lips, reached into his sleeve, pulled out the portrait, unfolded it, and laid it on the table.

He picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and traced the outline of her eyes again.

After finishing the drawing, I put down the brush and looked into those eyes.

"Almost there."

He muttered to himself. His finger touched the portrait's eyelashes and gently brushed them.

He smudged the ink, put down the portrait, and placed the brush on the inkstone.

The candle was blown out.

It was dark inside the tent, and he sat in the darkness.

He closed his eyes, but that timid little face was still swirling in his mind.

It was so white it practically glowed.

…………

Su Wuli lay there for a long time but still couldn't fall asleep.

With my eyes open, I listened to the sound of the wind outside in the darkness.

Silently counting the sounds in my mind, one, two, three...

When the count got messed up after a dozen or so, we started counting from the beginning again.

Until footsteps approached from afar.

It was very light, as if afraid of startling something.

She quickly closed her eyes.

The curtain was lifted, and footsteps approached the low table from beside the curtain.

The sound of the armor clashing was very soft, followed by the sound of shoulder armor being placed on the table.

The Imperial Armor was removed piece by piece.

The two of them moved deliberately quietly, yet every sound could be heard clearly in the quiet tent.

She listened to those sounds and adjusted her breathing.

Then he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Su Wuli had her back to him, her face buried in the pillow, her hair spread out on the pillow.

He reached out and brushed her hair aside, then lay down.

Su Wuli's eyelashes trembled again. She stretched her hand out from under the covers and placed it on the pillow, pretending to have just been woken up.

She muttered softly, "What time is it?"

"It's still early, go to sleep," Yu Chen replied softly.

"Mmm." She turned over and moved closer to him, resting against his chest.

Yu Chen reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Su Wuli's face was pressed against his neck, and his skin was a little cold from the wind.

She buried her face even deeper into the crook of his neck.

"Can't sleep?" Yu Chen asked.

Upon hearing this, Su Wuli paused, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

I hesitated whether to continue pretending to be asleep.

After a moment, she opened her eyes, a hint of guilt in her voice as if she'd been seen through, and said, "Mm."

She lifted her face from the crook of his neck and looked at his chin.

She then looked away and buried her face in his neck.

Yu Chen asked, "Were you startled?"