Chapter 45: Wedding Night, a Powerful Enemy Attacks

Chapter 45: Wedding Night, Powerful Enemy Approaches

Inside the dimly lit hall, the carved lattice windows were thrown wide open, and Xie Jingxing could see the osmanthus trees in the courtyard and the moon hanging above the treetops just by lifting his head.

In such an environment, every subtle sound and movement around him was amplified a hundredfold.

Especially that hand slowly trailing downward.

Just moments ago, that hand had rested on his shoulder, wordlessly urging him to stay calm. He knew exactly how beautiful that hand was.

Ning Xishi's fingertips were trembling, and Xie Jingxing could feel it too—how, with every inch his fingers traveled, the body beneath him tensed instantly.

Ning Xishi looked at Xie Jingxing and happened to meet his gaze. A flicker of panic crossed his face. He initially wanted to look away, but since they'd already come this far, Ning Xishi mustered his courage and held his gaze.

His lips parted, and he finally asked, "May I, General?"

Xie Jingxing's gaze visibly hesitated, and Ning Xishi's breath caught as well.

Just as Ning Xishi was sure Xie Jingxing would refuse, he closed his eyes, his long hair fanning out across the pillow. At the same time, Ning Xishi heard a barely audible "Mm."

It was then that the contents of that blue booklet came flooding back to him. Ning Xishi's icy fingertips were enveloped in warmth, slowly thawing.

Both of them were drenched in sweat. Xie Jingxing, in particular, had never experienced anything like this—even with ample preparation, it was still agonizing.

Yet his pride wouldn't let a single sound escape his lips.

Ning Xishi wasn't doing much better either. He felt like a tiny boat adrift on a great river, with towering waves threatening to crash over him and swallow him whole at any moment.

He instinctively lowered his head, pressing his lips against Xie Jingxing's thin ones to silence him. Xie Jingxing started, nearly crying out, but the sound was quickly swallowed by Ning Xishi's kiss.

It was then that everything fell into place.

At some point, Wang Meng had quietly had people close all the doors and windows, and the old matron had long since vanished. When Ning Xishi woke the following morning, the first thing he heard was Dongshuang's familiar voice.

Though Dongshuang's voice was hushed: "Young Master, happy New Year!"

Realizing what had happened the night before, Ning Xishi quickly glanced beside him. General Xie, who was said to never sleep in, was lying beside him, head tilted slightly, resting against his shoulder, seemingly fast asleep.

The dreamlike scenes from the previous night flashed through Ning Xishi's mind like a lantern show, all ending on Xie Jingxing's slightly pale face.

Dongshuang thought Ning Xishi was about to get up and moved to hand him a warm cloth, but Ning Xishi waved him off, telling him to leave first.

Dongshuang stepped out, and standing outside was Steward Li of the General's residence. Steward Li glanced at Dongshuang, opened his mouth as if to say something, then simply sighed and turned away.

Dongshuang was puzzled. "When we went south to Jiangnan before, our young master and the general shared a carriage just like this, and nobody said a word."

Steward Li thought to himself, *How is that the same?*

But considering Dongshuang was only fifteen, he decided not to explain such things to a child and could only sigh to himself.

By the time the two had gotten themselves together and left the palace, breakfast time had already passed. The day before, Ning Xishi had pushed Xie Jingxing's wheelchair with ease, but today, the moment he touched it, his hands went weak, and he had to let Steward Li take over.

Fortunately, they soon boarded the carriage and made their way back to the General's residence without any trouble.

On any normal day, Ning Xishi would have headed straight to his own courtyard, but after what had happened yesterday, he unconsciously followed behind Steward Li, who was pushing Xie Jingxing, until he ran into Qiu Changyu at the study door and realized where he was.

"Ah?" Ning Xishi looked at Qiu Changyu, then at Xie Jingxing's back. "General, I'll... go back first?"

Qiu Changyu could roughly guess what had happened the night before, and the way he looked at the two of them now was noticeably different.

Then he heard Xie Jingxing's voice: "You go back first."

Before Ning Xishi could respond, Qiu Changyu was already dumbfounded. He raised his hand and pointed at himself. "Me?"

*But I have military dispatches from Chuzhou and Ningzhou to deliver, General!*

Xie Jingxing: "Who else would it be?"

With that, without waiting for Qiu Changyu to react, he said to Ning Xishi behind him, "Push me in."

Ning Xishi quickly stepped forward to push Xie Jingxing's wheelchair, while Steward Li went ahead to open the study doors. None of the doors in the General's residence had thresholds, making it easy to enter.

Once the two were inside, Steward Li closed the door behind them and then persuaded Qiu Changyu to go have a meal up front.

"This... since when did they get so close?" Qiu Changyu hadn't actually come for anything important—he was just after the food at the General's residence. With the steward leading the way, he followed along, but he couldn't help asking.

"You accompanied them to Ningzhou the whole way—surely you know?" The steward shot back.

"We were there on official orders to suppress bandits—nothing else could have happened!"

"Oh, well, the general and Young Master Ning also got married on imperial orders," the steward replied.

Qiu Changyu: "???"

·

This was the first time Ning Xishi had ever set foot in Xie Jingxing's study. He swept his gaze across the room and saw walls lined with bookshelves, every single cubbyhole stuffed with books.

Ning Xishi's eyes glided over them, noticing that books of every kind were present. It was more like a full-fledged library than a study.

Xie Jingxing tilted his head up slightly and said, "These are all books I read often. There's also a library in the southwest corner—if there's anything you'd like to read, feel free to browse."

Ning Xishi had never been interested in books before, but this time he didn't refuse out of habit. Instead, he said, "Alright, thank you, General."

Xie Jingxing looked at Ning Xishi, and the two fell into an awkward silence.

Finally, Xie Jingxing gave in: "Even now, you still call me 'General'?"

When he said this, Ning Xishi could somehow detect a hint of hurt in his voice.

He froze, and then certain images flooded into his mind uncontrollably. Ning Xishi felt his face turn crimson.

His voice was small, but Xie Jingxing heard him clearly: "But calling you by your name would be disrespectful to you, General."

If he could stand right now, Xie Jingxing would have stood before Ning Xishi and stared at him until he changed how he addressed him.

But he was stuck in his wheelchair, and his authority was inevitably diminished somewhat.

Xie Jingxing could only coax him: "You can call me by my courtesy name, Shaoyou."

Ning Xishi pressed his lips together and finally said, "Shaoyou."

Before Xie Jingxing could respond, he added, "But I haven't come of age yet, so I don't have a courtesy name. You'll have to call me by my given name then, General."

"What does your family call you?" Xie Jingxing asked, curious.

"Xi'er, Xishi—those are about the two ways," Ning Xishi recalled. "My father usually calls me by my full name, because I often make him angry, and he threatens to enforce the family discipline."

Speaking of family matters, the atmosphere between them instantly relaxed. Xie Jingxing thought for a moment, about to share something from his own childhood, when there was another knock at the door.

Xie Jingxing's brows furrowed coldly: "What is it?"

"General, urgent report—the Xiongnu invaded the border again five days ago!" Qiu Changyu stepped forward, holding a carrier pigeon and a short letter, his expression grave.

Ning Xishi knew this was not something he should listen to, nodded to Xie Jingxing, and left the room.

At the same time, however, his expression also grew unusually solemn at those brief words.

This was precisely one of the major plot points recorded in that book.

According to the original text, the Xiongnu had been scared into submission by Xie Jingxing. The Chanyu and his favored successors were all dead, leaving the grasslands leaderless. The tribes refused to bow to one another, scattering like loose sand.

Meanwhile, Xie Jingxing had also been severely wounded and could only return to the capital to recover.

Somehow, word leaked out and spread to the grasslands that once Xie Jingxing had recovered, his legs would fully heal.

The tribes immediately sounded the alarm, setting aside their differences to elect a single leader, all to keep harassing the border and force Xie Jingxing to give up his recovery.

Previously, since this plotline didn't involve him, Ning Xishi had never paid much attention to it, nor could he even piece the story together.

That's just how people are—when something doesn't involve them, it's hard to focus and think it through.

Now, with more information in hand, he could piece it all together.

—This was also why Xie Jingxing, despite being the second male lead, ultimately died young.

At the time, Ning Xishi had thought it was all to clear the path for the male lead, the Crown Prince. After all, if Xie Jingxing stayed alive, what would the Crown Prince even do?

Now that this plot had already kicked off, Xie Jingxing would surely ignore his own health and take up arms...

Ning Xishi was lost in thought, not paying attention to where he was going, and bumped into an elderly man with graying hair.

The old man also had an angry look on his face, muttering under his breath: "He truly doesn't care about his own body! If he won't take care of himself, why did he call me here to help him recover? If these legs don't heal and he goes to battle and gets ambushed, he's as good as dead!"

Ning Xishi quickly grabbed the doctor: "Doctor, you said General Xie's leg injury—how many more days until it heals?"

"Just the last half month! And he can't even wait that long!"

Half a month—that crucial half month. Suddenly, Ning Xishi had a very bold idea.

He immediately turned back. From the study, Qiu Changyu's persuasive voice could already be heard: "This is clearly a trap for you! Aren't you a master of strategy? If you fall for this, how will you ever stand tall again?"

"We can't just abandon the border."

"Master Healer said it only takes fifteen days—fifteen days and your legs will heal. Even if we give up some ground for now, we can always fight our way back," Qiu Changyu said.

"The Xiongnu's brutality isn't as simple as you make it sound. If they break through the border and pour into the Central Plains, they'll burn, kill, and loot all the way. These legs of mine are far less important than the lives of the people."

It was at that moment Ning Xishi knocked on the door.

Qiu Changyu sensed that the person outside was not someone familiar and immediately became alert: "Who is it?"

But Xie Jingxing had already recognized the figure and said, "A Xi, come in."

That call of "A Xi" nearly made Ning Xishi stumble. He said, "I overheard your conversation just now—sorry about that. But I have a plan to offer."

Qiu Changyu kept his brows furrowed, likely suspecting Ning Xishi of being a spy sent by the enemy.

Otherwise, how else could news of the general's leg injury have leaked out?

But Xie Jingxing still trusted Ning Xishi wholeheartedly. He even deliberately softened his expression, ignoring the persistent pain behind him, and said, "Go on."

"I'll pretend to be the general, riding at the front leading the troops, while you ride in a carriage disguised as a strategist following behind. How does that sound?"

==========Author's Note:==========

Good night