Night falls.
After bathing and changing clothes, ng Qianqian lay on the soft bed.
Since becoming pregnant, she feared the heat a bit.
An ice basin was placed inside the room.
"Go to sleep."
Lu Yuan gently held her hand and said.
She nodded, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
She dreamt, dreamt of returning to her childhood.
The Shang Family wasn’t wiped out, the General Mansion was bustling with people, lively beyond compare.
"Little Seven, Little Seven!"
At four years old, she stood in front of the cradle, looking at the adorable little baby.
The baby opened its big, shiny black eyes, one chubby hand grabbing its little foot, putting it in its mouth, munching and chewing.
"Little Seven, you’re so greedy."
She said in a childish voice.
Little Seven: "Wah~"
"Little Nine, why are you still here?"
Second Aunt entered with a smile, took her little hand: "Ti to sleep."
She pointed at the cradle: "I want to sleep with Little Seven."
Second Aunt chuckled: "There’s no room for you."
She jumped up: "There’s room! There’s room! If you don’t believe , Second Aunt, put in!"
Second Aunt couldn’t argue with her, so she picked her up and put her in the cradle.
But, the cradle was really small.
Little Seven was squeezed, stunned, couldn’t even eat his foot.
She pouted: "Alright then."
Second Aunt laughed heartily.
"What is so amusing?"
It was Second Uncle.
A hint of shyness crossed Second Aunt’s face, she pointed at her trying to curl herself into a little ball.
Second Uncle lifted her up: "You’re big enough, still fighting your brother for a place in the cradle to sleep."
She boasted confidently: "Four years old! Clearly still a baby! It’s just that you bought the cradle too small! I’m going to tell Dad to buy a bigger one!"
Second Uncle raised an eyebrow: "Alright, your dad is at the door, go tell him."
"Dad is back?"
Second Uncle imdiately didn’t sll sweet any more.
She jumped to the ground and dashed out.
Dad, dressed in iron armor, stood like a War God under the vast sky.
He wiped the last trace of blood off the iron armor with a cloth, inconspicuously put it away, and embraced the little one rushing towards him tenderly yet powerfully.
"Dad!"
She excitedly kept bouncing up and down.
In Shang Jue’s eyes, filled with red blood veins, appeared endless doting: "Did you miss Dad?"
Without hesitation, she nodded: "Yes! Did Dad win another battle?"
Shang Jue touched her head: "Yes, as long as there’s Little Nine, Dad will never retreat."
"Hehe."
Actually, she didn’t understand.
She just felt that Dad was the best dad in the world.
She didn’t see the complexity flashing in Dad’s eyes nor did she notice the thick blood stain gathering under Dad’s iron armor.
But now, she sees.
She wants to tell Dad, stop fighting.
Stop guarding the city.
"Shang Jue, if you want to save your daughter, exchange the rchant’s Military Book."
Whose voice is this?
Who is threatening Dad?
She’s about to hear it!
She—
In the middle of the dream, she was abruptly awakened by the sound of a wind chi, erratic, seemingly from the distant sky yet lingering near her ear.
She sat up, gasping for breath, still shaken.
Since becoming pregnant, she hadn’t dreamt for a long ti.
Had she really been captured by the Loulan people?
It seems her entanglent with Loulan is deeper than imagined.
She reached to the side of the bed and found Lu Yuan was not there.
Lu Yuan was often away for too long, delayed by many duties, accompanying her to sleep before returning to work was not unusual, so she didn’t mind it much.
The sound of wind chis filled the air.
"This wind chi sound... feels so familiar..."
She frowned slightly, lifting the quilt off the bed.
Opening the door, the sound of wind chis beca clearer, seemingly coming from the southeast.
She dressed loosely, with her long hair falling to her waist, opened the door and walked towards the wind chi sound.
She made her way to the southeastern corner of the Governor Mansion.
The wind chi sound stopped.
She stayed alert to the surrounding movent, not advancing any further.
Thus, she didn’t know how long it was until the sound of wind chis rang again.
Yet, ng Qianqian still refused to continue forward.
She just stood there under the wall of the Governor Mansion, calmly waiting for the person who led her there.
Finally, the other party couldn’t endure any longer and revealed himself.
A white figure leapt onto the wall, against the moonlight, staring unblinkingly at ng Qianqian.
ng Qianqian slightly tilted her head, looking back at him calmly: "So it’s you. Aren’t you supposed to be by the side of the Loulan Queen as her Piano Master, instead sneaking to the Governor Mansion for a clandestine eting with Great Zhou’s Twelve Guards, does the Loulan Queen know what you’re doing?"
"Why assu it’s not the Princess Consort who sent ?"
Yuchenglou countered.
ng Qianqian smiled faintly: "I was bluffing you."
Yuchenglou: "..."
Yuchenglou leapt down, landing in front of ng Qianqian: "I’ve long heard the new Yin Hu Guard is as smart as ice and snow, a master of strategy, eting you now, you truly live up to your reputation."
ng Qianqian said indifferently: "If this counts as being smart as ice and snow, a master of strategy, then truly there aren’t many capable people in Loulan."
Yuchenglou said: "My visit here isn’t about engaging in a war of words with you."
ng Qianqian asked: "Oh? Might I ask, Lord Yu, sneaking around in the middle of the night, have any guidance?"
Yuchenglou said seriously: "Do you know how the Loulan Concubine died?"
ng Qianqian looked deeply at him: "Killed by soone."
Yuchenglou continued: "Do you know who the murderer is?"
ng Qianqian smiled: "You wouldn’t tell it’s the Loulan Queen, would you?"
Yuchenglou walked a few steps, firmly gazing into ng Qianqian’s eyes: "That’s right, it’s her."
ng Qianqian said: "Regardless of the truth in your words, if I recall correctly, you’re one of the Loulan Queen’s people, reporting to in the middle of the night, aren’t you afraid I’ll turn you in?"
"I have my plans, if I can co find you, then I’ve considered all consequences."
"Tell your plan."
"You don’t need to know my plan, you only need to understand that our goals are aligned."
ng Qianqian said nothing.
"I can tell you another thing, back when the Shang Family was destroyed, the Loulan people played no small part, which I’m sure you’re aware of, but there’s sothing you aren’t aware of. Shang Jue’s daughter, Shang Jiu, was captured by the Loulan people, they used this as leverage, wanting to obtain the rchant’s Military Book."
ng Qianqian secretly clenched her fingers.
There was indeed such a matter.
Yuchenglou continued: "Shang Jue took the Military Book to rescue her, though the person was saved, Shang Jue suffered grave internal injuries, otherwise, with Shang Jiu’s abilities, even if she couldn’t stop the Loulan people, she could at least delay until reinforcents arrived."
"Shang Jue was truly pitiful, pierced with thousands of arrows, still protecting a child even at death’s door."
"I saw that child myself."
ng Qianqian asked suspiciously: "You? How old are you even?"
Yuchenglou said: "You don’t need to know how old I am, all I can say is, that child was hidden in a water jar, dyed red by Shang Jue’s blood, none of us found the existence of a child hidden beneath Shang Jue."
ng Qianqian clenched her fists: "What do you want, exactly?"
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