Fish Meat – Chapter 122

by Little Panda

The First Year of Zhao Wu

The Path of Ten Thousand Directions (1)

Wei Tingxu maintained her usual pride, with a pride that carried an irresistible request. How could Zhen Wenjun resist such a version of her? She could only lament that Wei Tingxu was truly too cunning and should not be like this.

“How can I refuse when you’re like this?”

“Then agree.”

“It’s far too dangerous. Retracing the Path of Ten Thousand Directions is full of unknowns. Once we leave the borders of Da Yu, we can’t predict or control what we’ll encounter. It could be even more perilous than the great battle in the Northern Frontier.” Zhen Wenjun stopped looking at Wei Tingxu, avoiding her disappointed eyes. “Don’t say anymore, I won’t agree. Zizhuo, you rest well. In the coming days, I’ll focus on preparing for the journey south. Once everything is ready, I’ll come to you for inspection.”

Zhen Wenjun knew she had to be firm at this moment, leaving quickly was the right thing to do. Looking at Wei Tingxu for even a moment longer would make her heart soften.

Until Zhen Wenjun left, Wei Tingxu didn’t say another word.

To reopen the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, one must first find records of this route from the past. The most crucial thing is to find maps left by ancestors. Once a map is found, the task becomes half as difficult.

Bu Jie had been sent by her to investigate the origins of the Xuan Niao (mythical bird) totem and had been away from Runing for many days. Not knowing where to start, she thought of Ah Xi.

Ah Xi had been to many places and had a good understanding of Da Yu’s topography. Perhaps she could provide some clues about the Path of Ten Thousand Directions.

Zhen Wenjun immediately set off for Ah Xi’s hometown, a small county town on the edge of the former sea border, Liu County.

“The Path of Ten Thousand Directions?” When she found Ah Xi, Ah Xi was sitting at the village entrance, happily eating a bowl of hot soup noodles. She ate while watching two old men play chess, only sparing time to deal with Zhen Wenjun after one side was checkmated. When she heard Zhen Wenjun mention the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, she immediately finished her soup noodles, put down the bowl, and said seriously, “You must not go, you must not go. That is a road leading to the “Gates of Hell” (idiom meaning a very dangerous place).”

“Gates of Hell?” Zhen Wenjun became more curious, “Do you mean the Country of Flowing Fire?”

Ah Xi pulled her into a small alley and whispered, “Why do you think successive emperors over the years haven’t been able to reopen the Path of Ten Thousand Directions? Everyone knows the south is prosperous. Besides the grain that Da Yu currently lacks most, there are spices, jewels, and all kinds of animals and plants never seen before, as well as mechanical contraptions that people in the Central Plains couldn’t even imagine. The silk and porcelain from the Central Plains are especially rare in the various Hu countries in the south and can fetch high prices. You tell me, if we all know this, how could those high officials in the court and the emperors not know? The emperor of the previous dynasty took over fifty years to open the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, sending three envoys to pave the way. What was the result? Only the last one barely managed to open the route. Countless manpower and resources were spent, with millions of corpses lying along the Path of Ten Thousand Directions. In the end, due to the outbreak of war and tight finances, they had to abandon it. The previous dynasty was at its peak and had the financial resources to work on opening the path. What’s the situation in Da Yu now? The common people can’t even eat their fill. How can the Empress agree?”

“The emperor doesn’t need to know. I’ll lead people there myself.”

“You?” Ah Xi thought for a moment and said, “Well, Wenjun, you do have the ability to lead troops, but there are many demons, strange races, and countless bandits and barbarians on the Path of Ten Thousand Directions. I’m afraid even you would find it hard to handle. Not to mention the Country of Flowing Fire. The Country of Flowing Fire is located in the middle of a desert, as hot as an oven during the day and as cold as ice at night. It’s difficult enough to cross the desert and find this country, let alone do business with them. The envoy from the previous dynasty also had a stroke of “dog shit luck” (idiom meaning extremely good luck) to find the Country of Flowing Fire, though I still have doubts about the authenticity of this. Who would build their city in the middle of a desert? Is this king not quite right in the head? Whether the envoy from the previous dynasty really reached the Country of Flowing Fire or just made up some experiences and returned to report, nobody knows. My father and I actually walked the ancient Path of Ten Thousand Directions, wanting to find some ways to make money from this route, but there was no way, we simply couldn’t go on. Wenjun, I advise you to give up early. Without a map of the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, forget about the Country of Flowing Fire, you won’t be able to travel a thousand li south of Da Yu’s border before perishing in the wilderness.”

“Ah Xi, when you walked the Path of Ten Thousand Directions back then, you must have had a map, right?” Zhen Wenjun said, “That’s why I came to find you, wanting you to go with me.”

Ah Xi immediately took three steps back, wanting to distance herself: “Don’t say such nonsense! How could I possibly go with you!”

“So you really do have a map?”

Ah Xi: “…You tricked me!”

Zhen Wenjun laughed, “I didn’t mean to trick you, who knew you’d fall for it so easily.”

Ah Xi turned to leave, but Zhen Wenjun pulled her back: “Don’t go, Ah Xi. Don’t you want to unravel the secrets of the Country of Flowing Fire?”

“I don’t.” Ah Xi turned back and shook her off, firmly saying, “I’m not interested in the secrets of the Country of Flowing Fire at all. If you want to go to your death, go by yourself, don’t drag me into it. I don’t want to know what secrets the Country of Flowing Fire has, it has nothing to do with me!”

Since knowing Ah Xi, Zhen Wenjun had never seen her so angry. Even when the former sea border was conquered, followed by Mengliang’s continuous battles for half a year, with Ah Xi in the midst of it losing a leg, she hadn’t seen her so panicked. Each time she escaped by pretending to be a corpse hiding under a cart, she did so with ease. Ah Xi possessed a quality of “great wisdom appears foolish” (idiom meaning someone who appears simple but is actually very wise). Zhen Wenjun had long discovered this. Ah Xi’s survival in the chaotic war was not just luck, but a kind of effortless mastery.

“Ah Xi, your father wasn’t really a woodcutter, was he?” Zhen Wenjun asked, “When you joined the women’s corps back then, it wasn’t just because the former sea border was conquered. You just wanted to gain military experience, right? Retracing the Path of Ten Thousand Directions wasn’t just about finding ways to make money, you had deeper plans. You and your father aren’t ordinary people.”

After Zhen Wenjun’s words, Ah Xi’s expression actually calmed down.

She watched Ah Xi go back, pick up the bowl from the chessboard, go back to the house and ladle herself another bowl of soup noodles, kneeling behind the small and broken wooden table, quietly eating the soup noodles. Zhen Wenjun knelt opposite her, not urging, just quietly waiting.

Ah Xi ate three bowls in a row, and only when she really couldn’t eat anymore did she put down the bowl and chopsticks. Looking at the sunlight filtering through the window lattice, she said solemnly:

“Our Zhong family ancestors were very famous “zongheng jia” (diplomats/strategists in ancient China). At that time, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, when various powers were rising, besides the many sages who traveled among the states spreading their schools of thought, there were also our Zhong family ancestors who practiced “zongheng” diplomacy, moving between various feudal lords to persuade and offer strategies, forming alliances and maintaining balance. After the previous dynasty unified the Central Plains, our Zhong family declined. The rise of numerous great clans pushed us to the margins. The Zhong family has never recovered since, but my father still hasn’t given up the spirit of the Zhong family. He told me that as descendants of “zongheng jia”, we must travel through mountains and rivers, walk ten thousand miles, only then would we not have lived this life in vain. He yearned for all the mysterious things on the Path of Ten Thousand Directions. In my father’s heart, the Country of Flowing Fire was the most mysterious place, and I was born on the ancient road of the Path of Ten Thousand Directions.”

Zhen Wenjun thought that Ah Xi had some connection with the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, but she didn’t expect the connection to be so deep.

“My father met a woman in the ancient Guxi country, they fell in love and had me. After I was born, people from the Guxi country came to kill us and take my mother back. In their country, all women must marry men within the country and absolutely cannot be with dirty foreigners. Once someone does this, the entire Guxi country will be punished by the spirits, and only the blood of the sinner can wash away everything. At first, my father didn’t know about this and let my mother go back. He waited for her for many days but she didn’t return, so he disguised himself and entered the Guxi country, only to find that my mother had long been dead. Her blood had been drained and her body thrown on the mountain, with vultures gnawing her corpse beyond recognition. My father risked his life to retrieve her body, brought it back to his homeland for burial, and raised me in the former sea border. When I was old enough to understand, he told me about this. This is just a small country on the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, they have no humanity to speak of. There are barbarians like this all over the Path of Ten Thousand Directions.”

“And then?”

“Then?” Ah Xi said coldly, “He went back. Back to the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, wanting to continue forward. Guxi was definitely not his destination, the place he wanted to reach was the Country of Flowing Fire. I once walked a section with him, the various experiences along the way were beyond what normal people could endure. For the sake of moving forward, he didn’t care about my life or death. I couldn’t be bothered to care about him anymore, so I came back on my own.”

Zhen Wenjun understood the hidden meaning in Ah Xi’s words: “So, the Country of Flowing Fire really exists, and it has a great allure, right? Your father must have grasped some information about the Country of Flowing Fire, which is why he was determined to uncover it regardless of the dangers he encountered.” Zhen Wenjun said, also quite excited, “What kind of place is the Country of Flowing Fire? Can it really bring enormous wealth after establishing trade?”

Ah Xi also leaned closer to her, the two stared at each other for a while, and suddenly Ah Xi giggled.

“Under their ground, there are inexhaustible treasures of gold and jewels.”

Zhen Wenjun’s eyes sharpened.

“Do you believe it?” Ah Xi asked Zhen Wenjun with an eerie smile, as if possessed.

Unexpectedly, Zhen Wenjun was even more entranced: “I believe it!”

Ah Xi suddenly stood up, almost overturning the small table.

“I’m not going, and I don’t have a map. If you want to go to your death, go by yourself.” Ah Xi threw down these words and left.

Ah Xi must have thought her words would scare Zhen Wenjun away, but Zhen Wenjun, who had grown up listening to her mother’s bedtime horror stories, had no fear of tales of “extracting tendons and peeling skin” (idiom for extreme torture). Instead, she was excited by Ah Xi’s mention of “inexhaustible treasures”, her skin breaking out in goosebumps.

This is exactly what Zizhuo wanted, the greatest aid to the emperor’s reforms.

This is what Zhen Wenjun was after!

The treasures buried underground that Ah Xi spoke of should be rich mineral resources. Since it’s gold, there might be gold mines and ancient riverbed alluvial layers. No wonder the emperors of the previous dynasty tried every means to open this route. The path leading to the Country of Flowing Fire is a road to wealth!

The more Zhen Wenjun thought about it, the more excited she became. She rushed back to Runing overnight, wanting to tell Wei Tingxu about this directly. But when she reached the door of Wei Tingxu’s bedroom, she stopped in her tracks. Wei Tingxu was the same kind of person as her, she would definitely be excited about this. She had just managed to suppress her desire to go along, and it wouldn’t be smart for Zhen Wenjun to bring this up again herself.

Zhen Wenjun resisted the urge to knock on the door and turned to find Zuo Kunda, asking if he could go with her on the Path of Ten Thousand Directions.

When he heard that Zhen Wenjun actually wanted to conquer the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, Zuo Kunda was quite interested and very much wanted to go. However, he currently held an official position and couldn’t leave Runing at will, which was quite regrettable.

Zuo Kunda’s words reminded Zhen Wenjun of a very serious problem.

If Wei Tingxu didn’t assign people to her and help her request people from Li Yanyi, she could only set out alone. To negotiate business, she would definitely need to bring some samples of Da Yu’s unique products, like silk, porcelain, and tea leaves. She would need several carts of samples, and one person couldn’t possibly keep an eye on everything. She could spend money to hire people to go, but the quality of hired help varies greatly. Whether they could lend a hand was questionable, not to mention if some dangers arose halfway through the journey and everyone scattered and ran away, leaving her at a loss. She could find skilled martial artists, but they wouldn’t be interested in the small amount of money Zhen Wenjun had to offer.

It would be best if Xiaohua could accompany her all the way. Xiaohua was strong, capable, and knew martial arts. Not to mention all that, just having Xiaohua’s imposing figure standing in front of the carts and horses would deter any fool from coming to seek death.

It would actually be reasonable for Xiaohua to accompany her on the mission. If Lingbi were still around, Lingbi could stay in Runing to take care of Wei Tingxu, and Xiaohua would be free to go with her.

Unfortunately…

After much thought, Zhen Wenjun still had to find Wei Tingxu.

Walking back to the door of Wei Tingxu’s study, Zhen Wenjun rehearsed a belly full of words before knocking.

Based on her understanding of Wei Tingxu, Wei Tingxu was someone who considered the big picture. She would definitely help her, recruiting strong men to accompany her south, but she would also definitely not give her a good face, perhaps even digging trenches and valleys waiting to kick her down to vent her anger. All Zhen Wenjun could do was stick out her bottom and let Wei Tingxu kick her as she pleased.

Wei Tingxu opened the door, and surprisingly, Li Yanyi was inside.

“Greetings, Your Majesty!” Zhen Wenjun hurriedly prostrated herself, and Li Yanyi smiled and said:

“Wenjun, quickly rise. I hear you’re about to make another great achievement.”

Zhen Wenjun entered the study, Xiaohua closed the door, leaving only the three of them inside to plot secretly.

Zhen Wenjun told them everything about her conversation with Ah Xi today and her own speculations. Li Yanyi, this poor and frightened emperor, sighed:

“If we could really reopen the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, it would be a great blessing for Da Yu. Wenjun, whoever you want to accompany you, whatever kind of carts and horses you need, just tell me. I will definitely fulfill your requests!”

Zhen Wenjun looked at Wei Tingxu. Under the oil lamp, Wei Tingxu had her long hair tied back simply, wearing thick fur. Beneath her faint smile, Zhen Wenjun couldn’t be sure of her emotions at this moment. She had completely reverted to the Wei Zizhuo that Zhen Wenjun couldn’t fathom.

“Your Majesty’s favor fills Wenjun with gratitude. Your Majesty, I need silk of various styles and qualities, fine porcelain from major kilns, and top-grade tea leaves, fifty carts of each. It would be best to have samples of gold and silver wares, bronze mirrors, and various handicrafts. The silk, porcelain, and tea can be exchanged to cover losses along the way, and if we can earn more, that would be best. The others will open the eyes of the southern barbarians, and if we can sign contracts on the spot, we can produce them in large quantities when I return. Five hundred strong men, a thousand attendants, and I’ll prepare the rest myself.”

Li Yanyi very readily agreed to all of Zhen Wenjun’s requests. In fact, Zhen Wenjun’s requests weren’t excessive at all. She had completely considered Li Yanyi’s position and Da Yu’s current national strength, trying to help the emperor save as much as possible. Otherwise, she would definitely have organized a large merchant caravan and gathered five thousand light cavalry to clear the way.

Before leaving Wei Mansion, Li Yanyi gave Zhen Wenjun a scroll of sheepskin.

“These are clues I had people collect about the Path of Ten Thousand Directions and the Country of Flowing Fire, along with a few fragments of maps, all secrets from the previous dynasty. Now they’re all yours. Wenjun, you are Zizhuo’s right-hand woman, which makes you my confidant. You must be careful on this journey. I await your triumphant return!”

Zhen Wenjun prostrated herself in gratitude. Li Yanyi left under the escort of several women. Zhen Wenjun noticed that these women guarding Li Yanyi moved silently and had stable stances, likely experts.

“Are these the ‘Moon Chasers’?” Zhen Wenjun asked Wei Tingxu.

“Yes, the Moon Chasers have now become the emperor’s imperial guard, replacing the eunuchs of the Yellow Gate. This matter even sparked protests from the court officials, but Her Majesty’s hand was quite ruthless.”

“Oh?”

“Her Majesty brought that presumptuous eunuch who tried to seduce her to the court, making him confess in detail how he attempted to seduce Her Majesty in front of everyone. What could that eunuch do? He had no choice but to say everything he had and hadn’t done, everything Her Majesty wanted him to admit. This left the court officials speechless and extremely embarrassed. That eunuch was executed by “lingchi” (death by a thousand cuts), and the Moon Chasers successfully replaced the eunuchs.”

After hearing this, Zhen Wenjun felt a slight wavering in her heart. It seemed that Li Yanyi, who had now ascended to the throne, was slowly changing, gradually becoming a person who would use vile means to achieve her goals. Or perhaps Zhen Wenjun was overthinking, maybe Li Yanyi had always been this kind of person, and Zhen Wenjun just didn’t understand this generation’s empress.

As soon as Li Yanyi’s imperial carriage disappeared from view, Wei Tingxu was about to speak, but Zhen Wenjun beat her to it:

“I said no, and no means no. You heard what I said earlier, didn’t you, Zizhuo? The dangers of this journey will exceed our expectations. I can’t possibly let you go.”

Wei Tingxu blinked, saying nonchalantly: “Oh, I’m not going. I wanted to tell you, Xiaohua made fish soup tonight. I specially saved you a bowl, go drink it while it’s still hot.” With that, Wei Tingxu returned to her room alone.

Zhen Wenjun went to the kitchen and indeed found a “bowl” bigger than her face on the wooden table. It was even difficult to lift. She suspected this wasn’t a bowl at all, but a basin.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a small bowl, otherwise it really wouldn’t have been enough for her.

Xiaohua’s culinary skills had always been exquisite. Zhen Wenjun had been traveling for several days, not eating or sleeping well, and was also hungry. She quickly finished the fish soup and then took her bathrobe to bathe in the pool.

She really loved this pool, especially in the snowy season, soaking in the extremely hot spring while watching snowflakes fall one by one on her head was the happiest thing.

She loved the Wei family home. Every detail made her love it, there were traces of Wei Tingxu’s childhood here, full of Wei Tingxu’s scent.

Even so, she still wanted to have her own home, a home belonging to her and Wei Tingxu alone. She didn’t know when this wish could be realized.

Perhaps after successfully returning from the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, after Wei Tingxu entered officialdom, with her talents she would surely rise quickly. By then, Her Majesty would probably establish a mansion for her. At that time, she would follow Wei Tingxu, taking care of her and also being her strategist. The two of them would navigate the court together, fighting with various factions. Just thinking about it filled her with joy.

Coming out of the bath pool wearing her bathrobe and returning to her room, she wondered if Wei Tingxu had been taking her medicinal baths on time during these days she wasn’t in the mansion, and who had been giving her cold compress massages on her waist.

Xiaohua?

Thinking about that scene, Zhen Wenjun felt a bit displeased and quickened her steps towards Wei Tingxu’s bedroom. She had only been away for a few days but missed her terribly. There were many things she wanted to tell Wei Tingxu. She didn’t know how long this trip to the Path of Ten Thousand Directions would take, so she had to say everything she needed to say before leaving. Even if Wei Tingxu gave her a cold face or dug a few traps, it didn’t matter. She would face it with a smile and not utter a single complaint.

Unexpectedly, Wei Tingxu was much more magnanimous than she had anticipated.

Not only did she not give her a cold face or dig traps, she even took the initiative to loosen Zhen Wenjun’s bathrobe, making Zhen Wenjun feel overwhelmed with favor.

“No, no, sis…” In her excitement, she almost called her “sister” again, only because she used to call her that so naturally. Zhen Wenjun hurriedly corrected herself, “Zizhuo, I can do it myself. Did you take your medicinal bath today?”

Wei Tingxu nodded and said, “I had Xiaohua prepare the medicinal liquid for me, but I haven’t used the cold compress yet.”

“Perfect, perfect, let me help you.” Zhen Wenjun put her bathrobe back on and went to get the cold compress from the box.

While helping Wei Tingxu with the compress massage, Wei Tingxu meticulously detailed the possible dangers on the road, going over every aspect of eating, dressing, living, using, and traveling. She had never been so wordy before, showing that not letting her come along this time had indeed upset her.

“Zizhuo…” Zhen Wenjun hugged her from behind, “Actually, I don’t want to part with you either, but I must go. This matter concerns our future, Da Yu’s future. We both know how important it is.”

“I understand.” Wei Tingxu had already resigned herself to it. She crossed her arms under her chin, turned her head and rubbed her forehead against the side of Zhen Wenjun’s face, “So I haven’t said anything. I’ll wait for you here in Runing. But you have to promise me one thing.”

“You want to keep Xiaohua here.” Zhen Wenjun knew what she was going to say and quickly said.

“I’ll feel at ease if Xiaohua goes with you. Promise me this, and I’ll shut up and won’t say anything more.”

Wei Tingxu was so straightforward that Zhen Wenjun couldn’t refuse her, not even able to say a “but”.

She had roughly calculated that this southern journey would take at least six months round trip, not counting the time that might be wasted due to various situations.

“I feel like I’m going to miss you to death…” Zhen Wenjun nestled in Wei Tingxu’s arms like a baby, completely unwilling to let go.

Wei Tingxu turned to comfort her: “Half a year will pass in the blink of an eye, we’ll see each other again soon.”

At first, when Wei Tingxu wanted to go along and couldn’t, Zhen Wenjun’s determination to refuse her was firm. Now that Wei Tingxu had accepted the fact that she couldn’t go, Zhen Wenjun instead began to feel concerned and sad.

Tonight, she wanted to thoroughly inhale Wei Tingxu’s fragrance, swallow all her delicious details.

Wei Tingxu was also very cooperative, although now she could feel nothing but pain.

After their first time being intimate, Wei Tingxu and Zhen Wenjun simultaneously discovered the abnormality in Wei Tingxu’s body.

Previously, her leg ailment wasn’t just that her legs had no feeling, she couldn’t move anything below her waist. Now she could barely stand but still couldn’t maintain it for long. What they didn’t expect was that it would affect the sensations in her “xuanpu” (Daoist term for female genitalia) and even her “danxue” (acupoint related to sexual energy).

During their first union, Zhen Wenjun was a bit too excited, and Wei Tingxu’s tears made her forget herself. She had learned quite a bit about the “arts of the bedchamber” from Yue family’s Ah Jiao, the so-called “seduction techniques” were not only for enticement but also for service. Throughout the entire process, Zhen Wenjun was very careful, after all, Wei Tingxu’s body had too many injuries and illnesses, and she couldn’t bear to be too rough. Besides being careful, she also secretly employed many techniques. In her view, Wei Tingxu must have been comfortable, and her tears must have been due to the intensity of emotion. Otherwise, Yue family’s Ah Jiao would be a fraud fishing for compliments.

Wei Tingxu didn’t say anything until they finished, drenched in sweat. Zhen Wenjun, acting coy and spoiled, asked about Wei Tingxu’s feelings, saying if there was anything that needed improvement, she must say it. Wei Tingxu was forced by her questioning and really had no choice but to reveal a result that left Zhen Wenjun dumbfounded.

Apart from pain, she felt nothing. The tears were from enduring the pain.

How could it be, how could it be like this?

Wei Tingxu told her her guess, that it was probably related to her waist and leg injuries. In the wine cellar, Zhen Wenjun only focused on the “red pearl” (clitoris), but Wei Tingxu still felt nothing. In comparison, she seemed to prefer kissing more, even liking Zhen Wenjun’s slightly forceful biting.

So on the night before departure, Zhen Wenjun’s intimacy only lingered on the skin. The next day when Zhen Wenjun was about to set off, Wei Tingxu was still sleeping soundly. Zhen Wenjun couldn’t bear to wake her up, so she left quietly.

Xiaohua had already prepared all the carts and horses. Zhen Wenjun had already inspected all the goods in the long horse train one by one.

She mounted Yunzhong Feixue, cracked her whip loudly, and once again set off on a journey of a thousand mountains and rivers, watching the sunset alone.

The caravan quickly left Runing, moving slowly on the official road. They stopped at dusk outside a small county town to rest temporarily.

Tents were set up, fires were lit for cooking.

Zhen Wenjun watched the soldiers pour a large bag of rice into a big iron pot, stirring it with a huge ladle. A group of people gathered around, throwing in vegetable leaves and minced meat.

Zhen Wenjun watched them laughing and joking, but she had no appetite herself.

Just one day away and she was already full of longing. How would she endure the remaining hundred or more days and nights?

Zhen Wenjun didn’t eat anything and went to sleep early in the tent.

Opening a trade route was different from fighting a war. If it were wartime, even sleeping at night wouldn’t be restful, often dreaming of enemy sneak attacks. Right now, they hadn’t even left Da Yu’s borders, and she didn’t even feel tense yet. Zhen Wenjun looked at the pitch-black canopy of the tent, her arms feeling empty, as if she had lost an important part of her body.

She wondered what Zizhuo was doing at this moment, whether she had eaten well and taken her medicinal bath properly. Would the other servants in the house slack off because the cold compress was too cold and not massage her properly?

She tossed and turned for a long time before falling into a muddled sleep. In her dream, she smelled Wei Tingxu’s fragrance. She reached out to embrace this scent, and surprisingly, she really did embrace someone.

Opening her sore eyes, the first faint light of dawn filtered into the tent, and Zhen Wenjun found that there was an extra person in her arms.

She was startled and almost jumped up. Who was this, sneaking into her tent! They had slept like this all night? If Zizhuo found out about this, it would be terrible!

In the dim tent, Zhen Wenjun was about to push away the person in her arms, but that person snuggled closer, even burrowing into her embrace.

“You, you can’t!” Zhen Wenjun grabbed this person’s shoulders, almost lifting her up.

“It hurts.”

She grabbed without mercy, hurting the person in her arms. Hearing the voice, Zhen Wenjun let out a “Huh?”

“Zizhuo?!”

The person smiling smugly in her arms was none other than Wei Tingxu.