Chapter 135: A Jest

Hua looked up at the sky disdainfully, then cast a scornful glance at her. "The sun is already up. Damn it, Kaiming, don't leave just yet. I still have something to ask you."

"Speak."

"I heard that Xuan took it upon himself to let the important prisoner of the Western Palace go free, and as a result, he was punished with the staff. Is that true?"

At the mention of this, she fell silent for a moment and gently nodded. "Yes."

Chunhua smacked her forehead and cried out, "Good heavens, has Xuan lost his mind? Why on earth would he go and release an enemy general for no reason? That was a high-profile prisoner!"

Kaiming lowered her voice. "It wasn't Xuan's fault. I ordered him to let him go."

Chunhua's eyes widened in disbelief. "What did you say? You told Xuan to release him?!"

"That's right." Kaiming looked up at her, her expression indifferent. "Xuan is my personal guard. When I tell him to do something, naturally, he has to do it."

"You, you, you!" Chunhua's sturdy hands reached out from across the fire pit, grabbing Kaiming by the collar and shouting, "Xuan has always treated you with loyalty and devotion! You woman—what on earth have you done? How could you look Xuan in the eye after this?!"

Xiaca and Qiuju hastily grabbed Chunhua's arms, urging anxiously, "Boss, don't get so worked up! There must be some misunderstanding here. Maybe it was just a ruse used by the General..."

Kaiming calmly replied, "There is no ruse. I owed Zhaoming a favor, which is why I let him go."

Chunhua's voice grew even louder. Even if the guards outside heard, none of them dared to approach again.

"Spit out everything you just swallowed, right now!" Chunhua holstered furiously, raising her hand to strike Kaiming across the face.

Kaiming didn't struggle, letting herself be grabbed, and simply stared back at her. "Chunhua, one day, when you sit in the General's position, you will understand that some things must be done whether you want to or not; and some people must be saved whether you want to or not! Don't worry, I will recommend you to Dai Yuheng for the position of commander!"

Chunhua froze, her arm raised high, lingering in the air without coming down. The duo who had been holding Chunhua's arms and legs stared in shock at Kaiming. The four of them remained locked in that rigid posture.

Kaiming smiled again, breaking the stalemate. "Your Xuan has already been moved to the General's tent. Whenever you have time, you are welcome to come see him."

"Kaiming..." Chunhua was even more bewildered, staring blankly at her, utterly speechless.

Kaiming patted the hand gripping her collar, and Chunhua released her grip automatically, as if touched by a jolt of electricity. Kaiming smiled at her, picked up her wooden staff, and strode away.

Walking up to the discarded tree stump, she raised her staff, but completely lost the heart to practice. With a sigh, she lowered the weapon and turned back toward her own felt tent.

Xuan was lying prone on the couch, half-asleep. Seeing her enter, he opened his eyes. "You're only back now? The porridge is already cold."

She gave a muffled acknowledgment and said, "I've already eaten." Tossing the staff aside, she sat down on the edge of the couch and examined his wounds. "Are you feeling any better?"

Xuan smiled faintly. "Xiao Ke helped me change the bandages; it's much better. My injuries aren't a big deal, but being forced to lie on my stomach all day is driving me crazy with boredom."

"Bored, are you?" Kaiming smiled ambiguously. "Shall I have someone come keep you company and cure your boredom?"

Xuan raised an eyebrow, not understanding what she meant.

Outside the tent came a rustling sound, followed by a guard's stern shout: "Halt! Who goes there? What are you sneaking around for?!"

A deliberately lowered female voice urged frantically, "Hush! Quiet down, you'll wake the Deputy General! We're leaving right now, right now!"

Kaiming heard the voice and laughed. "Speak of the devil, and she appears."

Amidst Xuan's puzzled gaze, she stood up and called out toward the tent flap, "Let them in!"

The guard acknowledged, then shouted loudly, "You're cleared to enter. Move!"

After a moment, the trio shuffled into the tent, pushing and shoving one another with sheepish expressions.

Xuan looked in astonishment at the imposing figure leading the female soldiers: "Chunhua?"

Hearing Xuan call her name, Chunhua awkwardly scratched her head, then broke into a silly grin at Kaiming.

Kaiming gave her a light knock on the head. "Have you lost your mind just from seeing Xuan? Come over here!"

Chunhua self-consciously sat down on a stool far away from the couch, chuckling awkwardly. "I can just sit right here."

The duo quickly stationed themselves behind her. "Us too, standing here is just fine."

Kaiming shot Xuan a mischievous smile. Xuan understood immediately and smiled, "It's rare for you all to remember me. I thank you all."

Kaiming deliberately chimed in, "Chunhua has been fretting endlessly over you. Just a moment ago, she almost raised her fists against her superior on your account."

Xuan let out an inquiring hum and turned his gaze to her. "Is that true?"

Chunhua hadn't expected Kaiming to bring this up in front of Xuan. Her face flushed a brilliant crimson, and she frantically waved her hands. "There's no such thing! The General remembers wrong. I was merely sparring with the General in martial arts! Xiaca and Qiuju can both testify!" With that, she forcefully elbowed the two behind her in the thighs. The two suppressed a groan, not daring to show pain, and nodded frantically in agreement.

"Yes, yes, we both saw it! The General is magnanimous and would never take such trifles to heart."

"Indeed, indeed."

Chunhua forced an oily smile, then glared fiercely at Kaiming, as if warning her not to talk too much in front of Xuan unless she wanted to see what was coming to her.

Kaiming lowered her gaze with a faint smile and said to Chunhua, "Perhaps there's been a misunderstanding. I was the one who let him go with my own hands; it has nothing to do with the Deputy General."

Xiaca and Qiuju exchanged bewildered glances. What was going on here? One claimed she ordered her personal guard to release the prisoner, while the other insisted it had nothing to do with the General—both were desperately covering for each other!

Xuan looked at Chunhua with profound affection. "I hope this matter won't affect the bond between General Kaiming and you sisters. After all, you are all good sisters who braved hardships together with the General."

Chunhua felt her heart flutter under that gaze, a surge of emotion washing over her as she stammered incoherently, "Th-that's only natural! We, we're good sisters, after all—how could we ever blame her? Haha! Let's never speak of this again! It's none of our damn business..."

Before she could finish, she was pinched hard in the back by the duo, jolting her back to her senses. She realized she had slipped up right in front of Xuan. That realization made her even more mortified, her face and neck burning red as she stood there with her mouth open, gasping for air without being able to complete another sentence.

Seeing this clearly, Kaiming seized the opportune moment to cup her hands toward the three of them. "Then from now on, I must ask the sisters to take good care of us."

Chunhua and the others could only laugh awkwardly. "Not at all, not at all. We should be relying on General Kaiming's care."

"Haha, haha!"

After a few more pleasantries, the three took their leave and departed. Kaiming instructed the guards that whenever Chunhua and her companions arrived, they were to be granted entry at any time.

Hearing this, Chunhua felt her spirits soar once more, and she showered them with endless thanks.

Xuan watched her return and smiled. "What play were you putting on just now?"

Kaiming returned his smile. "Didn't we talk about being good sisters? This way, it satisfies her wishes while also curing your boredom."

Xuan tilted his head to look at her. "Kaiming, aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid of what?" she asked curiously.

"You know Chunhua is strong as an ox and harbors romantic notions toward your husband. What if you aren't around and she decides to do something to me? In my condition, wouldn't I just be a fish on a cutting board?"

Kaiming burst into laughter. "I know Chunhua well enough—she's all talk and no bite. But, if she truly couldn't restrain herself and wanted to do something to you..." She stroked her chin, eyeing Xuan up and down with a chuckle, "You'll just have to swallow your grievances and let her be on top."

"What do you mean, let her be on top?!" Xuan exclaimed, half-embarrassed and half-vexed, grinding his teeth. "Is that something a wife should say? Your own husband is about to be ridden like a horse, and you're still laughing?"

"Ridden like a horse?" She cradled a book, using it to hide the lower half of her face as she giggled softly. "I never imagined my husband could possess such a humorous side."

"You still remember that I'm your husband!" He angrily pounded on the edge of the bed, then suddenly winced and cried out, "Ouch! So painful! Moving too much just now tore the wound open."

Kaiming just looked on from the side, skeptical. "Are you for real?"

"It hurts like hell! Aren't you going to come take a look? What if it splits open?" His tone was a mix of panic and annoyance.

Hearing how severe it sounded, Kaiming didn't dare to neglect him. Hastily tossing the book aside, she covered the distance in three strides, leaning down immediately to check his injury.

At that exact moment, Xuan suddenly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and smiled triumphantly. "Let's see if you dare mock me again!"

Kaiming was both exasperated and amused. "I knew you were faking it."

"Then why did you still come over?"

"With you in that state, what could you possibly do to me?" she asked with a wicked, mischievous grin.

Xuan stared at her resentfully. "True, I can't do anything to you. You're right." He dropped her hand, lazily resting his cheek against the pillow. "Go on, bring me paper and brush."

Kaiming let out a pitiful moan. "More handwriting practice?"

Only then did Xuan feel the sweet satisfaction of revenge, humming, "Didn't you call me your teacher? Hurry up and practice, or this teacher of yours will give you a severe scolding!"

"Fine." She rolled her eyes and obediently complied. If she had known Xuan would pull out the teacher-student card, she wouldn't have teased him in the first place. Without the teasing, she might have at least gotten away with slacking off for half the day. Learning to write was far more difficult than practicing martial arts, especially for someone like her who could never sit still for long.

Two hours passed peacefully amidst Xuan's nagging and pages filled with squiggly earthworm-like characters. Xuan kept chattering until he fell asleep himself, at which point Kaiming let out a heavy sigh of relief. This man's nagging was truly deadly.

Biting the end of her brush, she stared blankly out of the tent, suddenly overcome by a surreal illusion. The garrison camp was far too quiet—so quiet that she almost forgot about the existence of war and the constant threat to her life. Was Ji's army still attacking the Western Palace at this very moment? Or had they already breached the city walls and closed in on the imperial palace?

Zhaoming... the thought of Zhaoming brought a sharp pain to her heart. Such a tiny child, perishing out in the wilderness—was his body buried somewhere in the fields, or simply tossed into a pile of corpses? There were no answers left; all the answers had been taken away by Ji. Unless she asked him directly.

She drew a deep breath. Yes, when Ji returned, she would demand Zhaoming's remains no matter what. Even if it was just the last thing she could do for this younger brother, even if it was just to seek redemption.

"Deputy General!" A few footsteps sounded outside the tent, and Xiao Ke's voice pierced through the fabric. "Someone from the Central Palace is here, Deputy General!"