Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

At dawn, Luofengpo was shrouded in a thin mist.

Several unidentified birds landed on the branches of the sycamore tree, chirping incessantly.

Gu Xiang woke up very early. Or rather, he hadn't slept well at all that night.

The person in his arms was so light and soft, like a fragile cloud, that he even softened his breathing.

Su Qing was still asleep, curled up in his arms, one hand tightly gripping his clothes, her sleeping posture was restless, and one leg was draped over his waist.

Gu Xiang carefully moved her legs aside, tucked her outer robe in, and then quietly got up.

Last night, that bald bandit leader delivered writing brushes, ink, paper, and a stack of imperial edicts sent urgently from the capital.

Gu Xiang walked to the flat bluestone and unfolded the memorial.

Although they were in the wilderness, the affairs of the Great Zhou Dynasty could not be stopped.

He was the prime minister, bearing the livelihood of countless people on his shoulders.

Gu Xiang ground the ink and picked up his pen to review the notes.

His calligraphy remains the same wild cursive style, with sharp strokes that exude a fierce and decisive aura.

"allow."

"turn down."

"cut."

Each vermilion character written on the memorial determines the fate of countless people thousands of miles away.

As the sun rose higher, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, creating dappled patterns.

Su Qing turned over, reached out and touched the ground beside her, but found nothing.

She suddenly opened her eyes, a hint of panic flashing in them, but that panic dissipated when she saw the figure hunched over a desk writing furiously not far away, turning into a lazy smile.

She didn't say anything, walked barefoot behind Gu Xiang, and peeked at the words he had written.

"Your handwriting is really ugly," Su Qing said disdainfully.

Gu Xiang's hand trembled, and a drop of ink fell onto the memorial, spreading a black stain.

He reluctantly put down his pen, turned around, and frowned as he looked at Su Qing, who was only wearing an undergarment.

"Why aren't you wearing shoes?" Gu Xiang asked, reaching for the boots that were warming by the fire.

Su Qing pressed down on his shoulders, leaned her whole body against his back, rested her chin on his shoulder, and blew into his ear.

"I don't want to wear it," Su Qing said. "It's heavy."

Gu Xiang stiffened, and her ears quickly turned red.

"Stop fooling around." Gu Xiang's voice was a little hoarse. "I'm reviewing memorials."

"What is it that needs approval?" Su Qing reached for the memorial. "The Minister of Revenue is requesting funds to repair the river embankment... That old bastard, he still hasn't finished spitting out all the money he embezzled back then, has he? Reject it, let him pay for it himself."

Gu Xiang chuckled and took the memorial back: "It's already been rejected. He's been told to sell his concubines to raise the money."

Su Qing laughed: "You're even more ruthless than me."

She clung to Gu Xiang like a boneless koala. Gu Xiang wasn't annoyed; he let her hang on, using one hand to protect her from falling while continuing to write with the other.

"Gu Xiang." Su Qing played with his hair, ruffling his neatly tied bun. "I'm bored."

"Then... shall I tell you a story?" Gu Xiang asked as she wrote.

"I won't listen." Su Qing pouted. "I'm sick and tired of hearing your wise sayings."

"So what do you want to do?"

Su Qing's eyes darted around, and her gaze fell on the inkstone beside him.

"I want to write," Su Qing said.

Gu Xiang handed her a pen: "Write."

Su Qing took the pen, but instead of writing on the paper, she turned the pen and poked it directly at Gu Xiang's face.

Gu Xiang didn't dodge, letting the ink-soaked pen tip draw a black mark on his face.

"Hahahaha!" Su Qing laughed so hard she almost fell over. "Gu Huamao!"

Gu Xiang sighed helplessly, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and tried to wipe the ink off his face.

Su Qing pressed his hand down: "Don't wipe it, leave it. It looks impressive."

"Impressive?" Gu Xiang looked at her. "What kind of decorum is it for a prime minister to go to see his subordinates with such a gruesome face?"

"There are no subordinates here," Su Qing said matter-of-factly. "Only bandits."

Just then, the bald bandit leader cautiously approached, carrying a basin of wash water. He looked up and saw the ink stain on Gu Xiang's face, and his hand trembled so much that he almost knocked the basin to the ground.

"Get out." Gu Xiang coldly uttered a single word.

The bald man felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran away as fast as he could.

Su Qing laughed even harder, her whole body trembling.

Looking at her radiant smile, Gu Xiang's heart softened. For the past three years, he had dreamt of her covered in blood; he had never seen her with such a vibrant smile.

"Don't move," Gu Xiang suddenly said.

Su Qing was taken aback: "What?"

Gu Xiang put down his pen, picked up a glass of water, washed his hands, and then picked up an ink stick to grind it carefully on the inkstone.

"I'll draw your eyebrows," Gu Xiang said.

Su Qing raised an eyebrow: "Can you do that? Who drew my eyebrows like caterpillars last time?"

"I've practiced," Gu Xiang said softly. "For the past three years, I've drawn on paper every day. I've drawn thousands of pictures; I should have improved by now."

Su Qing's smile gradually faded, and a hint of tears welled up in her eyes.

She sat up obediently, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes.

Gu Xiang picked up a fine brush, dipped it in ink, held his breath, and held his wrist in the air.

His hands were steady, steady when killing people, steady when reviewing memorials, but now, as he drew eyebrows for his beloved, they trembled slightly.

The pen tip touched Su Qing's brow, cool and ticklish.

Su Qing's eyelashes trembled, but she didn't move.

Gu Xiang drew very slowly, stroke by stroke, as if she wanted to pour all the tenderness of her life into these two eyebrows.

The wind stopped, and the birdsong ceased. It seemed as if only this one patch of blue stone and two people remained in the world.

for a long time.

"Alright." Gu Xiang put down his pen and let out a long sigh.

Su Qing opened her eyes and leaned closer to the basin to look at herself.

Her reflection in the water was exquisite; her eyebrows were perfectly drawn, neither too thick nor too thin, just right, making her fox-like eyes even more alluring.

"It's alright," Su Qing said stubbornly. "It's barely watchable."

Gu Xiang stood behind her, looking at her reflection in the water, his eyes so tender they could melt.

"Su Qing".

"Um?"

Let's get married.

Su Qing paused, turned around and looked at him.

"Didn't we get married?" Su Qing said. "We went through the wedding ceremony in Gujia Village."

"That time doesn't count." Gu Xiang shook his head. "That time you were trying to deceive me, and I couldn't protect you. This time, I want to marry you properly, to announce it to the world, to let everyone in the capital know that you, Su Qing, are my wife, Gu Xiang's wife."

Looking into his earnest eyes, Su Qing felt as if something had struck her heart hard, leaving her with a sour and swollen feeling.

"Fool." Su Qing turned her head away. "I'm a demon now. If you marry a demon and make her the prime minister's wife, aren't you afraid of being roasted to death by those old fogies in the Censorate?"

"I come from the Censorate," Gu Xiang said calmly. "They can't out-argue me. And they're even worse at fighting. Anyone who dares to say a word, I'll shut them up."

Su Qing chuckled.

"Okay." Su Qing reached out, hooked his belt, and pulled him towards her. "Then you'll have to get past me first."

"What level?"

"Serve me well." Su Qing tiptoed and kissed him on the corner of his lips, then pulled away immediately. "If you don't satisfy me, I'll divorce you and go find a gigolo."

Gu Xiang's eyes darkened, and he reached back to hold the back of her head, deepening the kiss.

"You dare," Gu Xiang said vaguely, "In this life and the next, you can only be mine."

The kiss was deep and passionate, filled with the ecstasy of regaining what was lost and the longing that had been suppressed for three years.

Su Qing was breathless from the kiss, her body went limp, and she could only cling tightly to his shoulders.

Just as the two were reluctant to part, a series of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the barrier.

"Report—"

A scout dressed as an imperial guard tumbled off his horse, knelt ten paces outside the screen, and shouted:

"Reporting to Prime Minister Gu! Her Highness the Fifth Princess has reached a point thirty li outside Luofeng Slope and is expected to arrive in half an hour!"

Gu Xiang paused, released Su Qing, and frowned slightly.

"Li Qingge?" Su Qing asked breathlessly, a hint of seductive glint in her eyes. "What's that girl doing here?"

"They probably came to see you." Gu Xiang straightened her disheveled clothes and wiped the water from the corner of her lips with her fingertips. "Li Yu was worried, so she sent her to confirm if you were really alive."

Su Qing snorted, "Perfect timing. I was just wondering who would keep me company."

She gave Gu Xiang a shove: "Go, wash your face. It's embarrassing to see the princess with such a dirty face."

Gu Xiang smiled helplessly and turned to wash his face.

Su Qing watched his retreating figure, touched her eyebrows, and a sweet smile appeared on her lips.

This idiot, his eyebrow-drawing skills have indeed improved quite a bit.

"Jiang Cheng Zi - Inscription on the Painted Eyebrows of Luofeng Slope"

The night rain on the paulownia trees washes away the autumn chill.

The ink marks are thick, and the meaning is hard to quell.

Three years of longing, all captured in the pen.

Don't laugh at powerful ministers who willingly bow down.

Depicting dark colors, painting tenderness.

Red-clad and barefoot, she leans against a high building.

She spoke shyly, her eyes sparkling.

Bright and beautiful, what fear is there of worldly sorrows?

When the day comes that I wear the phoenix coronet and embroidered robe,

Amazing the world, growing old together.