Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

Chu Mengyao turned her head, forcing herself to remain calm as she looked at the leaping flames.

He tried to use the crackling of the campfire to cover up his erratic heartbeat.

"nonsense?"

Meng Hu raised his head.

He grinned, and his laughter rang out loudly in the quiet forest.

"Hahaha, my eyes aren't blind yet!"

"Look at you, you've been holding this bowl of soup for almost half an hour since that kid left!"

He didn't drink a drop, but his eyes were practically glued to the city wall of Zhenbei.

Meng Hu put down the steel knife he was wiping and pointed at her with his chin.

"I've watched you grow up. When have I ever seen you so distracted by any man? Hmm?"

Chu Mengyao felt her cheeks were so hot they could be used to fry pancakes.

She suddenly straightened her back, trying to regain some of her pitiful aura by using her identity as a strategist.

"No! I was just planning for tomorrow!"

"With so many steps and so many variables, I must ensure everything goes perfectly!"

She tried to make her voice sound calm and composed, befitting a strategist who is good at planning and strategizing.

Unfortunately, the slight tremor in her voice betrayed her without mercy.

Meng Hu's laughter grew louder, filled with the teasing tone of an elder seeing a younger person experiencing the first stirrings of love.

"Hahaha! Look, our Yao'er can be shy now!"

"This is truly the first time I've seen someone act like such a delicate young girl!"

"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore."

He picked up the steel knife, weighed it in his hand, and teased Chu Mengyao.

"Lest our Yao'er get angry and refuse to give this old man any work tomorrow, hahaha!"

Chu Mengyao lowered her head even further and whispered her rebuttal towards the campfire.

"I didn't..."

Meng Hu poked at the fire with a charred branch.

Orange-red sparks flew up and quickly disappeared into the deep night.

He remained silent for a long time, so long that Chu Mengyao thought the topic had ended.

When Meng Hu spoke again, his tone became somewhat heavy.

"Yao'er, what do you think of Lin Mo, that kid? What's he like as a person?"

This sudden seriousness stunned Chu Mengyao.

She looked up and met Meng Hu's eyes, which were no longer filled with any mockery.

Lin Mo?

That guy...

Countless chaotic images flashed through her mind in an instant.

He was sitting in the carriage with his legs crossed, spouting nonsense like a scoundrel.

There was that smug, irritating expression on his face when he took out those strange paper tubes and blasted open the boulder.

There was also... the hand that held his waist as the carriage jolted, and the burning heat of that palm.

Chu Mengyao's heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.

She quickly shook off those messy thoughts, cleared her throat, and forced a disdainful smirk onto her lips.

"he?"

"Just a cocky and arrogant guy."

"Always slacking off, never serious."

"His mouth is full of unheard-of fallacies, and... and he's a bit of a scoundrel..."

"In short, he's not a good person!"

Bai Zhi rattled off a long list of shortcomings.

It was as if only in this way could I clear myself of that indescribable, strange feeling in my heart.

Meng Hu listened quietly, without refuting or laughing.

He simply stared at the fire, letting the flames cast flickering light on his weathered face.

After a long while, he slowly spoke, repeating Chu Mengyao's words.

"Yeah, arrogant, shameless."

Meng Hu raised his head, looking at the dark night sky fragmented by the shadows of the trees, his voice becoming somewhat ethereal.

"But that kid is capable and has guts."

"More importantly, he has a sense of justice."

Meng Hu's expression turned serious.

"So... I'm thinking..."

"What are you thinking about?" Chu Mengyao's heart tightened for no reason.

Meng Hu turned his head, his tiger-like eyes shining brightly in the night, locking onto her intently.

"Yao'er, listen to me."

"On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes; anything can happen."

"What if... what if I don't come back tomorrow... there will always be someone to protect you."

"That kid is good. I feel at ease with him by your side."

Clang!

Chu Mengyao accidentally dropped the ceramic bowl in her hand, and it shattered into pieces on the ground.

"Uncle Meng! What nonsense are you spouting!"

"Don't say such unlucky things!"

Chu Mengyao stood up, her chest heaving violently, and her eyes uncontrollably reddened.

"Everything is going according to plan. You'll be fine, and neither will we!"

He looked nothing like the composed strategist he once was; he was clearly just a little girl afraid of losing her loved ones.

Meng Hu was taken aback by Chu Mengyao's fierce reaction.

Then, he smiled with relief, his voice filled with satisfaction.

"Yes, yes, I misspoke. It'll be alright."

"Haha! Look at me, getting old just makes me more sentimental!"

……

The next day, early in the morning.

The bed was a complete mess.

That flowing, ethereal dress that burned like a flame in people's hearts last night.

At this moment, it was carelessly tossed at the foot of the bed, like a withered rose.

Bai Zhi is still fast asleep.

Her long eyelashes cast two small shadows in the morning light, and her cheeks still bore a trace of lingering flush.

Perhaps she was dreaming about something, because she frowned slightly, then stretched out in the soft bedding.

With this stretch, a long, shapely jade-like leg emerged from under the silk quilt.

Her legs were straight and snow-white, and the exquisite gold rings on her ankles shimmered with tiny lights in the dim light.

She wanted to take it off last night, but Lin Mo said it would be more romantic that way...

Bai Zhi turned over, her arm instinctively reaching towards her side.

empty.

My fingertips touched a cold mattress.

Ok?

Bai Zhi's movements stopped.

She instinctively groped around a couple more times, confirming that the spot that had been incredibly hot last night was empty.

A hint of doubt pulled her from her slumber, and she slowly opened her eyes, which were still slightly moist.

The first thing I saw was the empty bed beside me.

The man who had kept her up for most of the night had vanished without a trace.

gone?

Bai Zhi rubbed her eyes and sat up, her body aching.

The brocade quilt slipped off her smooth shoulders, revealing large expanses of snow-white skin and her beautifully shaped collarbones.

She shifted slightly, feeling a slight tingling or numbness in her lower back.

But the burning, stinging pain from yesterday has completely disappeared.

She glanced down instinctively and saw that the skin on her waist was as smooth as ever, without a trace of being ravaged.

This medicine... is really potent.