After some fuss, Lingyao was hungry again. This time, she ate a lot and her spirits returned.
"Good girl, rest a bit more. I'll go to the Emperor's side now. Behave yourself these few days and regain the weight you've lost, understand?"
"Understood," Lingyao replied obediently.
Xiao Shan curved his lips and pinched her cheek. "Such a good girl."
Xiao Shan went out. Qing He stood outside with her back to him, her presence cool and refined, exuding an air of detachment from the world.
Xiao Shan disliked her. Many times, he felt Qing He was competing with him for Xue Niang. He still remembered that long ago, when Xue Niang was sleepwalking, she had said that whoever saved Qing He would be the one she married.
For this servant girl, she would disregard her own happiness, which showed how important she was.
Therefore, after attacking the Tujue, he had requested Qing He's return.
Now he understood. In Xue Niang's heart, no one was more important than him. As for Qing He, it was the affection of growing up together, and the guilt for her acting as a proxy bride.
So, he tolerated her.
On the condition that she would not harm Xue Niang.
Xiao Shan looked at her coldly.
Qing He turned around, ignoring his cold expression, and curtsied respectfully.
"General, may I go in to see the Princess?" Kuaishuge.
This was the first time she had sincerely bowed to him, but Xiao Shan did not care for it.
"General, please believe me, I will never harm the Princess."
"You already have."
He was the first to hurt her, and Qing He was the second. Both were people she cared about, so she couldn't bear it for a moment and fled, hiding herself.
Of course, his wound was deeper.
Qing He clenched her hands and said in a low voice, "The Princess misunderstands. How could I have such thoughts about the General?"
"When I learned in Tujue that the General was alive, do you know how happy I was?"
Happy for what? What did it have to do with you? Xiao Shan remained expressionless.
"You probably don't know, and perhaps she herself doesn't know, that she has long admired the General. It was about five years ago, when you first defeated Tujue and became famous, that the Princess began to pay attention to you."
Xiao Shan's brow twitched, a look of confusion on his face.
"Every day, after finishing her studies, she would play with us servants, appearing carefree. Only I knew that the Princess was indifferent to everything. Only when I brought back news of the General would I see the Princess's eyes light up. If she was happy, I was happy. Every day I went to the Imperial Hospital to study, racking my brains to gather news of the General for her."
"Although you two had never met, the Princess had long yearned for you. She would imagine what you looked like, how majestic you were on the battlefield, and even drew it for me to see. However, the imagined person was naturally more handsome than the General."
Xiao Shan: "..."
"But she was young, and perhaps she herself didn't understand her feelings for the General! She praised the General before the late Emperor, and the Emperor then bestowed upon you the title of Divine Martial General."
His title came from that?
"I still remember when the Princess heard that the General had been assassinated and died, she was so shocked that she dropped the jade goblet in her hand. She didn't speak, nor did she eat. She feigned discomfort and stayed in her palace for the entire day."
"So, when I heard that you were alive, I thought, how happy the Princess would be if she knew!"
"When you specifically asked me to return to Tujue, I was even happier. I could go to Xiangshan Water Pavilion to pick up the Princess and bring her home. She could also meet the Divine Martial General she had never met. No one would force her into a political marriage anymore, because the Divine Martial General had returned, the God of War of Jing Kingdom had returned."
"It's just that I didn't expect the General and the Princess had already met."
"Truly a fated encounter."
"These past few days, I have overstepped. I was just... jealous of the General. Originally, the Princess liked and depended on me the most..."
She had liked him for five years? Xiao Shan looked dazed.
All this time, such a little person in the palace had been paying attention to him, and he hadn't known anything about it.
If he had known, why would he have faked his death and caused her...
You said you died, and you died. If you died, Jing Kingdom's pillar would be gone. Father changed as if he had become another person, saying he didn't want me and discarding me like trash...
He recalled Xue Niang's tearful complaints when she had just regained her memory, and his heart was filled with bitter regret.
Then again, if this hadn't happened, perhaps she would have already married Song Beiting.
Xiao Shan's mind was in a mess. As he walked towards the Imperial Study, he almost bumped into someone.
"Great General Xiao, are you blind!"
Xiao Shan looked at Ashina Tu Lu, who stood before him with a face full of hostility. The man's face was filled with ferocity, as if they had a father-killing feud.
The outcome of the battle was decided. A true man accepted defeat. Weren't they all here for peace talks? Why was he being so petty, unable to accept defeat?
"Heh, who is this? It turns out to be you, you lecherous scoundrel, a coward who bullies women. You're not even worthy of being my opponent!"
"Xiao Shan! You are the lecherous scoundrel! That is my King's consort, and you dare, you dare..." Tu Lu's eyes reddened with hatred. "I will have your Jing Emperor punish you! Otherwise, don't even think about peace talks!"
"Talk or don't talk, it's up to you! If you don't want to talk, then get lost! Don't be an eyesore in my Jing Kingdom."
"You—Xiao Shan! I originally respected you as a man, but you eat from the pot and look at the bowl, finishing it all and then just discarding it! At least she went through a proxy marriage for your goddess, and this is how you treat her?"
"Great Prince, if you can't speak, don't learn the Jing language. Eat what? What am I eating?"
"You ate... you, you took my woman's body and you still dare not admit it?" Tu Lu lowered his voice and growled, "Was she forced by you? She wasn't willing, was she!?"
"Nonsense!" Xiao Shan took a step back, his veins bulging with anger. Seeing a patrol of guards walking by, he directly chased them away. "Get away from here, don't come this way!"
"Yes, General."
Once the guards had left, Xiao Shan pointed at Tu Lu and cursed, "You scoundrel, stop slandering my reputation. I am loyal to only the Goddess. If you dare to speak nonsense again, I'll knock your teeth out, believe it or not!"
"Are you guilty? I'm only asking you, was she willing!"
He can't understand human words.
Xiao Shan threw a punch, and Tu Lu dodged.
Tu Lu was a warrior from the grasslands, and his physique was comparable to Xiao Shan's. For a moment, the two exchanged over ten blows. In the end, Xiao Shan struck his shoulder, the place where he had been injured earlier, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.
"Xiao Shan! Before I went to battle, she was still a virgin. Now she is not. No one in Tujue dared to touch her, except you on the road. Who else could it be?"
What is all this! What kind of mud is being slung at him.
"If there's grass on your head, go find the one who planted it. I only have the Goddess who can touch me. Get lost!"
Tu Lu roared, "I didn't say anything about grass!"