Chapter 2

On the surface, I tried to appear calm, but inside I was still afraid. I feared the Centurion might be rough-tempered and short-fused, and that we would not even be able to talk about ordinary family matters. Even though the First Madam was still willing to look after me, I worried that married life would be difficult.

But Qi Ye was clearly even more nervous than I was. He was so young that he couldn’t hide any of his feelings. His hands, callused from years of holding a saber, were obviously trying not to use any strength, yet they still rubbed my wrist red.

Qi Ye panicked and tried to let go, but I turned my hand and held his instead. I pulled him down onto the bed. The whole day of wedding rites had drained me.

“My birthday is in the third month. I won’t turn sixteen for another two months.”

As we made conversation in fits and starts, Qi Ye’s stiff shoulders and back finally relaxed a little.

“So you’re still so young.”

Seeing how pale I was, he softened his voice.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t do anything else tonight. Just sleep in peace. I promise I won’t disturb you.”

I tried moving a little closer into his arms.

“I’m cold. Could you hold me while we sleep tonight, dear?”

The cold had left me with an ailment from my days in the woodshed. Ever since then, whenever I caught a chill, my hands and feet turned icy. The young man’s chest was firm and warm; leaning against him felt better than a brazier.

After a little while, I opened my eyes again and looked up at him.

“Your heart is beating so fast and hard that I can hear it. I can’t fall asleep. Dear, what’s wrong?”

He had just promised not to disturb me, and in the blink of an eye, I had caught him doing just that.

Qi Ye grew even more flustered. He moved his lips for a long time before managing to defend himself.

“I’m not making noise on purpose. I was just thinking about a few things.”

I turned to look at him. My drowsiness had vanished, and I couldn’t help asking more.

“You were quiet just now. What were you thinking about?”

Qi Ye was startled by my sudden movement and hurriedly looked away.

“My family was poor, and my parents died young. I never imagined I’d get married one day.”

“I had no family connections. To make it to where I am now through my own effort—there are plenty of men in the army who envy me for becoming a Centurion.”

His eyes swept over the old, dim table, chairs, and beams in the room.

“The court even rewarded me with silver. It let me buy a little house like this in the capital. I always thought I was lucky to have a life this good.”

I rested my head on his shoulder and earnestly murmured my agreement.

“That’s right. My husband is truly capable.”

I wasn’t just saying it to comfort him. I really thought so.

“But now I suddenly feel that I still want a little more.”

Moonlight slipped in through the window. Against the simple little house, my pale face looked especially out of place.

At last, Qi Ye stopped avoiding my gaze. His dark eyes rested intently on my brows and eyes. The wild beating of his heart gradually settled, but his arm held me more tightly—and more warmly.

Qi Ye lowered his voice.

“A Thousand-Man Commander, a Ten-Thousand-Man Commander—even a great general who commands the army.”

“From now on, I want to strive for those things, too.”

5.

Just after the wedding, the court issued a transfer order to the frontier.

I traveled with Qi Ye to the borderlands.

The carriage jolted along the road. My body was tired, but my spirits were much better than they had been at the Jiang residence.

Qi Ye rode outside, but before long he kept leaning toward the carriage window to check on me.

The soldiers traveling with us exchanged glances and teased him.

“You’ve only just married. You can’t bear to be apart from your wife already? Brother Qi, get in the carriage and keep her company. I’ll lead your horse for you.”

Qi Ye didn’t hesitate. He immediately climbed into the carriage.

Along the way, he warmed my hands for me and told me a few amusing stories about the army.

When we arrived at the border town, he first kept watch over the medicine as it was boiled, then personally watched me finish the tonic.

After that, he crouched in front of me and pressed his cheek against my palm.

Qi Ye’s voice was full of concern.

“How have your hands stayed so cold after so many days of care? I’ll ask another physician to examine you.”

His cheek tickled against my palm, and I couldn’t help smiling.

“There’s no need. I already feel much better than before.”

Perhaps it was because my heart had finally relaxed.

Once I was free of the circumstances that had kept me anxious every day, unable to eat or sleep well, I truly regained some strength—even though my clothes and food were much worse than before.

My health improved day by day.

Qi Ye was still worried. He tucked a hand warmer into my arms and reminded me again and again not to miss a single dose of medicine.

I finally gave him a gentle push.

“All right, I’ve remembered everything. Don’t you still have to report to the barracks, husband? If you keep putting it off, you’ll be late.”

His warm palm rested against my cheek. Qi Ye looked down at me.

“It’s all right. I don’t have to report today. The superior we had before was suddenly transferred, and a new one has been assigned to us.”

“He was transferred from the capital and won’t arrive until tomorrow, so the barracks said we could report in then.”

He thought for a moment, then added, “I hear the new superior is surnamed Xie. He comes from a powerful family, probably even the imperial clan. Someone said they heard his attendants call him ‘Young Lord.’”

When I didn’t answer for a long time, Qi Ye gently tried to reassure me.

“Don’t worry. Noblemen’s sons often come to the army to earn military merit. Most of them only care about themselves. They won’t deliberately make life difficult for little soldiers like us.”

Among the imperial relatives in the capital, there was indeed a Xie family.

I forced a smile and finally asked, “The Young Lord Xie you mentioned…”

“Is he Xie Heng of the Xie family?”

6.

“I think that was the name. How have you heard of him?”

“There’s only one Young Lord Xie in the capital. I used to be a maid in the Jiang household, so of course I heard people mention him.”

When I married, my father had said that the whole matter brought shame on the family.

The Jiang family changed my household registration, making me the daughter of a steward. I left the house with only the status of a close maid to the young lady.

The marriage had been arranged too quickly. Only people inside the Jiang residence knew the truth.

No—that probably meant people at the Xie residence knew, too.

When my identity as a false heiress had been revealed, the Xie family had immediately wanted to dissolve the engagement.

If Xie Heng himself had not intervened, the engagement would have been canceled long ago.

But his parents had always looked down on me and kept looking for an opportunity to break it off.

Eight out of every ten letters of repudiation sent to the Jiang residence had been at their instigation.

Yet every time one was sent, Xie Heng would have someone retrieve it. He absolutely refused to let the engagement be dissolved.

Because of that, I once thought Xie Heng had feelings for me.

If he didn’t care about me at all, why would he keep opposing his parents and help me hold on to the engagement?

The mistreatment in the residence never stopped. Later, some people even stopped bringing me food.

I grew so hungry that my vision went dark in waves. I had no choice but to sneak out of the woodshed to find something to eat.

By chance, I overheard Xie Heng joking with a close friend.

His friend asked him, “With your influence, you could have taken the letter back as soon as it left your residence. Why insist on having it delivered to the Jiang family? Why keep frightening Miss Jiang?”

Xie Heng set down the game piece in his hand without even looking up.

“Can’t you see? Lately, Jiang Lingyi has been much more obedient.”

“She no longer wears those bright, eye-catching clothes, and she doesn’t dare go out in heavy makeup. She’s even stopped getting involved with the young noblemen in the capital.”

“She’s finally realized how low her status is. Who can she hope to marry above her station now, other than me?”

His friend couldn’t bear it anymore and tried to talk him out of it.

“Miss Jiang is already sensitive. After her background was exposed, she suffered a terrible blow. If you keep frightening her now, be careful that she really falls ill and decides she doesn’t want this marriage anymore.”

“What could happen to her? She grew up surrounded by silk and fine food. She can’t bear the hardships of a woodshed. To get out of it, what sort of humiliation hasn’t she endured to please me?”

“Besides, I only agreed to marry her. I never said I’d make her my principal wife. With her status now, it wouldn’t even be an insult to take her as a concubine.”

Xie Heng seemed to recall something amusing, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

“You got one thing right. She has no family status or standing left. All she has is the betrothal contract I granted her.”

“No one in the Jiang residence protects her. She’s suspicious by nature, and every time a letter breaking off the engagement arrives, she falls ill for days.”

Xie Heng’s gaze turned lewd, his tone growing suggestive.

“But haven’t you noticed? A woman is most beautiful with a hint of illness.”

“Jiang Lingyi was already pretty. Even when she’s sick, her face pale and her waist slender, she has an even more delicate charm that makes people want to pity her.”

“Every time she comes to me and pleads in a soft voice, my blood stirs. I have to keep her in front of me and look at her until I’m satisfied.”

I can no longer remember how I made it back that day.

I only remember sitting alone in the woodshed for a long time after I returned.

Later, the First Madam suggested finding me another match.

It came partly from her reluctance to let go of the mother-daughter affection we had once shared, and partly because the Xie family had been urging her from behind the scenes.

While Xie Heng was away from the capital on military business, both families hurried to marry me off.

The one thing I never expected was that even after fleeing to the distant borderlands, I would still run into him.

Fortunately, to avoid trouble, the Xie family would probably keep hiding the news from Xie Heng.

As long as I didn’t meet him here and let him discover my real identity, I could wait until he earned enough military merit to leave the frontier and return to the capital.

We would be a thousand miles apart, and our lives would never cross again.

7.

The frontier town was remote, but its market streets were lively.

Qi Ye had to report to the military camp every day.

Since the weather outside was bitterly cold and Xie Heng was in the barracks, I decided to stay in my room all day and not go out.

Most people living nearby were soldiers’ families. After seeing each other for a while, we gradually became familiar.

Seeing how weak I was, Qi Ye spent money to hire a woman to help me with the laundry and cooking. Her husband was also in the army, and she often chatted with me while she worked.

“I hear from my husband that the new Young Lord Xie is noble, but he doesn’t put on airs with the soldiers under him.”

She noticed the gold bracelet on my wrist and looked at it with envy.

“The commanders hold a competition every year. Your husband comes first every time. No one can match his skill.”

“I heard Young Lord Xie noticed him as soon as he arrived at the camp. He hasn’t just praised him in public several times; he also transferred him to his side and plans to train him as a trusted aide.”

“That bracelet you’re wearing—wasn’t it a reward from Young Lord Xie a few days ago?”

“Your husband is so generous to you. Whenever he gets something good, he brings it home first.”

My wrist suddenly felt hot. I stared at the bracelet, unsure whether to keep it on or take it off.

When Qi Ye returned that afternoon, I hesitated for a long while before cautiously asking him,

“That gold bracelet you’re wearing—is it a reward from Young Lord Xie?”