Li Shuang looked back toward the tent entrance, then turned to pat the child’s head:
“Perhaps no one explained clearly to you today. This is the Changfeng Camp of the Lu City garrison of the Great Jin Dynasty. I am Li Shuang, Commander of the Changfeng Camp. If you trust me, find time to tell me about your background. If you have family or parents, I’ll help you meet them. If not, I can help find a family in Lu City to adopt you. Take your time to think it over, and when you’re ready, come find me.”
Li Shuang stood up and turned to leave the tent. The child almost instinctively reached out to grab her clothes, not wanting her to leave, but Li Shuang had already lifted the tent flap, letting the evening sunlight stream in diagonally.
The twilight hurt the child’s eyes, his heartbeat suddenly skipped, his body stiffened, his steps faltered, and he failed to grab Li Shuang’s clothes.
Li Shuang went out and greeted Qin Lan directly: “I’m here, what is it?”
“The young master’s carriage has arrived,” Qin Lan answered while quickly leading Li Shuang away.
The heavy tent flap fell, concealing the child’s figure inside. No one saw how, in the tent that blocked the sunset light, the child clutched his chest and slowly fell to one knee. His breathing became rapid, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
A red flame pattern began slowly growing from beneath his clothes, climbing up his neck and face until it reached the corner of his eye.
His body…
Was expanding…
At the main entrance of the Changfeng Camp, a vermillion carriage came to a stop. A young master wearing fox fur brushed aside the servant’s helping hand and jumped down from the carriage himself. He took a deep breath.
In the distance, he heard the rapid footsteps of someone in military armor approaching. The beautiful young master looked up, and a bright smile immediately appeared on his face: “Sister.”
He wanted to run to Li Shuang, but before he could take two steps, she reached him first and flicked his forehead with her middle finger. The clear, sharp “thunk” made the youth grimace in pain, drawing in two sharp breaths through his teeth as he rubbed his forehead vigorously:
“Sister, your strength has grown even greater…”
His muttering earned no sympathy from Li Shuang, only a cold snort: “I can hit even harder if you’d like to try?”
Li Ting hurriedly shook his head: “No, no need.” He looked at Li Shuang, putting on a pitiful, wronged expression. “Sister, I missed you. You haven’t been home for two or three years now.”
Li Shuang had always been weak against gentleness rather than force. Seeing him like this, she couldn’t maintain her anger. Still, she tried to sound stern: “You’re willful, and the old man indulges you. If anything happens to you here, I won’t be responsible!”
“I know Sister won’t ignore me!” The youth smiled like sunshine, his eyes curving into crescents, adding three degrees of warmth to the cold frontier and making it impossible for Li Shuang to stay angry.
“Alright, alright.” Qin Lan stepped forward to mediate, “General, it’s cold outside. Let’s have the young master sit in the tent first.”
Once inside the main tent, the evening meal had already been served. The camp meals were simple, each person with a small table. After eating quietly for a while, Luo Teng suddenly lifted the tent flap and entered: “General.” He saluted, brushed the snow off himself, and stepped forward saying, “General, that boy you brought back is gone.”
Li Shuang froze at these words: “Gone? How did he disappear?”
“Just a while ago, soldiers passing by his tent heard strange sounds. When they went in to check, he wasn’t there. Everyone’s been searching the camp for a while now, but there’s still no sign of him.”
Li Shuang frowned. When Luo Teng had lifted the tent flap earlier, she had seen that outside it was completely dark, and heavy snow was falling. For a child to run out of the military camp in such weather, he would surely struggle against the cold. “Send people to search outside the camp.”
Luo Teng pursed his lips: “Why bother searching, General? In my opinion, he’s just an ungrateful wolf cub, impossible to tame. If he wants to run, let him run. It’ll save us rations—the weather’s cold this year, and we don’t have extra grain to feed idle mouths.”
“Search thoroughly. If he truly can’t be found, then let fate decide.”
Luo Teng accepted the order and left.
Li Ting, sitting to the side, asked Li Shuang: “Sister, you recently took in a child?”
“Mm.” Li Shuang responded, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Observing the weather outside, she noted how this year’s winter had brought heavy snow so early, making it exceptionally cold. While the cities within Great Jin had rice supplies from Jiangnan, the Western Xiong would struggle more with each degree the temperature dropped…
Poverty breeds change—with the Western Xiong facing famine this year, a major battle seemed likely…
“Li Ting.” Li Shuang spoke casually while eating, “In the northern frontier, you may stay for one month at most. After that, I’ll dispatch a small squad to escort you back to the capital.”
Upon hearing this, Li Ting’s eyes immediately widened: “Why! I spent half a month just traveling here, and I’ve barely arrived… you’re only letting me stay for a month…”
“Letting you stay for a month is already generous.”
Seeing Li Shuang’s firm attitude, Li Ting grew anxious: “Father said I could stay until I wanted to leave! He’s the Grand Marshal of all military forces—you have to listen to him.”
“A commander in the field may disregard even imperial orders. This is Changfeng Camp, and I make the decisions.” Li Shuang’s tone carried the domineering authority of one used to having the final word. She gave him a sidelong glance, “Talkback again, and I’ll send you home tomorrow.”
“Sister, you’re being unreasonable!”
“Indeed, I am unreasonable. What are you going to do about it?”
“…”
Backed into a corner, Li Ting had nothing left to say. He gritted his teeth, “I’ll go back if sister returns with me.”
Li Shuang’s lips curled into a mocking smile, letting out a cold laugh: “Boy, have you forgotten your sister’s temper after not being beaten for a few years?”
Li Ting swallowed hard and fell silent like a frost-bitten eggplant. He seemed to lose his appetite, merely poking at his rice with his chopsticks.
Li Shuang thought he was just showing his young master’s temper and didn’t coddle him, contentedly eating her meal. But after a while, Li Ting called out again: “Sister.”
Li Shuang ignored him.
“You want me to return to the capital because you think the frontier is harsh and dangerous, right?” He paused before continuing, “Don’t you know that Father and I worry about you the same way when you’re at the frontier?”
Li Shuang remained unmoved: “This talk is useless. If you worry about me, don’t come here to be a burden. Go home properly, let the old man arrange a marriage for you, help him build connections, make his position as General more secure—that would make me safer here.”
Li Ting: “…”
The words were devastatingly direct, and though Qin Lan, Li Shuang’s trusted advisor of many years, was in the tent, he kept his eyes on his food like an old monk, pretending not to hear.
“You’re not even married, yet you want me to marry!” When the emotional appeal failed, Li Ting grew angry, “I know why you don’t want to return to the capital—you’re afraid of seeing Crown Prince Brother! It’s because he married someone else that you’ve decided to avoid him and never return to the capital!”
At these words, Li Shuang’s body slightly stiffened, remaining silent.
Qin Lan set down his bowl with a “thud” and sternly rebuked from the side: “Young Master, the General commands Changfeng Camp to protect the realm. How can you speak such words that misunderstand the General?”
“I…” Li Ting’s mouth moved, glancing carefully at Li Shuang, knowing he had spoken too harshly, and immediately fell silent.
Just as the atmosphere in the tent grew awkward, Li Shuang suddenly felt her hair stir near her ear—wind from outside had blown in from behind.
Li Shuang’s eyes sharpened, and without a word, she threw her chopsticks straight behind her.
Before anyone else had noticed her intent, when Qin Lan looked back, he discovered that where Li Shuang had thrown her chopsticks, someone had somehow cut a slit from the outside, just large enough for someone to peek through.
“What thief dares!” Qin Lan shouted. Soldiers immediately poured into the tent, and torches outside lit up the area brightly, but there was no longer any sign of anyone there.