Chapter 509: Patience, A Different Lesson This Time (IF Route)

Ji Qingwu paid no mind to whether General Zhenbei had been turned into a pincushion by the poison needles.

As Aunt Zhang fell to the ground, Ji Qingwu straightened up, panting softly, her eyes fixed on the man mounted on Mo Ju a few meters away.

He had yet to lower his bow, and the killing intent in his eyes was thick and unwavering.

He drew his bow with the grace of a deity plucking a flower, but loosed his arrow with the finality of Yama reaping a soul.

Ji Qingwu suddenly understood why some called General Dingbei the Jade-faced Yama.

If he had worn such an expression the first time she met him, she would have been so terrified her heart would have pounded, and she’d have run and hid.

‘But now, all Ji Qingwu wanted was…’

‘All she wanted was…’

Ji Qingwu trotted over and stood beneath the tall horse.

She tilted her head up to look at him, her voice filled with unconcealed delight. “General, you’re back!”

Zhao Mingyan lowered his gaze, something stirring in the depths of his eyes. He gave a low grunt of acknowledgment, then swung himself off his horse and tossed his horse whip to the adjutant behind him.

Ji Qingwu trailed after him like a little tail, sticking closely to Zhao Mingyan’s back.

Seeing this, Wei Ting said no more about fetching the artwork and tactfully stepped aside.

「Inside the tent.」

The two had not seen each other in two months.

Ji Qingwu’s eyes seemed to have a mind of their own, locked on the man before her.

Just looking at his face, he seemed a little thinner, his complexion darker. His jawline was as sharp and defined as a wind-carved cliff in the Gobi, accentuating the stark lines of his bone structure.

But his physique seemed more powerfully built.

How did Ji Qingwu know?

Because she stood dazedly to one side, her gaze fixed on him as he deftly unfastened his battle robe and armor. He stripped them off quickly, soon left in nothing but a plain silk under-robe.

Even through the layer of cloth, the powerful muscles of his back were visible.

Zhao Mingyan turned, and through his sweat-soaked under-robe, the hard ridges of his abdomen were clearly visible.

Ji Qingwu’s face grew hot, and she fanned herself with her hand.

Zhao Mingyan said, “Seen enough?”

Ji Qingwu bit her lip and said nothing, her eyes sparkling.

‘Just now, that washerwoman fell right at her feet. I wonder if she was frightened.’

Zhao Mingyan softened his voice. “Were you frightened just now?”

Ji Qingwu shook her head.

‘I’ve seen plenty of dead bodies on my way here, and I’ve even had people die in my arms. I’m not afraid.’

Zhao Mingyan explained uncharacteristically, “She was a spy from Xijin. I deliberately kept her in the camp. She deserved to die.”

Ji Qingwu nodded and said seriously, “If she didn’t die, our people and our soldiers would have.”

A hint of admiration appeared in Zhao Mingyan’s eyes. “Precisely.”

Just then, Li Yuzong’s voice came from outside the tent. “Princely Heir, the hot water is ready. You may go bathe.”

He untied the sash of his under-robe, and glancing down, he saw she was still standing there. “Is there something else?” he asked.

Ji Qingwu said, a little shyly, “I’d like you to teach me, General.”

Remembering what he had “taught” her last time, Zhao Mingyan raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want me to teach you?”

Ji Qingwu clenched her fists, took two steps forward, and looked at him expectantly. “No one can teach me better than you, General.”

Although Zhao Mingyan savored her look of adoration, he still rebuked her.

“Nonsense.”

‘Fifty-four days apart, and feelings just appear out of thin air? Has she truly developed an affection for me?’

Zhao Mingyan’s expression turned cold.

“How is it nonsense?” Ji Qingwu said, frustrated. “If the General won’t teach me, I’ll just find someone else. I’ll learn it eventually.”

Zhao Mingyan’s gaze turned icy. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

Ji Qingwu’s arms dropped to her sides. “If the General is unwilling, then forget it,” she said, dejected.

Her heart aching from his rebuke and cold glare, Ji Qingwu turned to walk away.

‘But as I reached the entrance, I remembered my mission. We’ve already lost two months. This is no time to be throwing a tantrum.’

Ji Qingwu stopped abruptly at the tent flap and whipped her head around, only to meet his gaze, which was fixed upon her.

The corners of her lips curled higher and higher.

Because his eyes held not a trace of coldness, but instead a hint of regret and longing. Although Zhao Mingyan quickly averted his gaze, Ji Qingwu had already caught it.

She hurried back and grabbed his arm.

“Teach me, General.”

Her soft, fragrant body pressed against him, her bright eyes curved into a smile. Zhao Mingyan’s throat bobbed.

“How do you want me to teach you?”

Ji Qingwu beamed. “However the General wants to teach, I can take it. I can endure hardship, and I’m not afraid of getting tired.”

‘Endure hardship and not afraid of getting tired? That doesn’t sound quite right.’ Zhao Mingyan’s brow furrowed slightly. “What is it you want to learn?”

“Horsemanship and archery, of course.”

After Ji Qingwu answered, she saw him shoot her a look of resignation.

She blinked once, then again, and only then did she realize they had both misunderstood each other.

Ji Qingwu genuinely wanted to learn horsemanship and archery. She shook his arm and said softly, “Last time, it was the General who didn’t want to teach *that*. How would I dare bring it up again? I’ll never mention it again.”

“I want to learn something else now. When you have time, General, teach me horsemanship and archery. Alright?”

Zhao Mingyan said, “No.”

He refused so bluntly that the air caught in Ji Qingwu’s chest.

He was saying no to this and refusing that. Forgetting all about her mission, she moved to pull her arm away and leave.

But he grabbed her wrist, pulled her back, and enclosed her hand in his palm.

Ji Qingwu tried to suppress her anger. “What in the world do you want!”

He saw that she was furious but only dared to show a fraction of it, and the sight of her bottling it up made him raise an eyebrow and let out a low chuckle.

“Don’t be impatient. This time, we’ll start with a different lesson.”

As he lowered his head to hers, cupping her face with the rough pads of his thumbs and brushing past her earlobe, Ji Qingwu’s mind was still wondering, ‘What is he going to teach…?’

By the time her lips were captured, Ji Qingwu’s mind went completely blank. All she could hear were the sounds the two of them were making.

He was an excellent teacher, meticulous in his instruction.

He was like a surging tide under the moonlight—at times gentle and lingering, a cascade of silver light, but at others, fierce, pulling her down into the abyssal depths.

He guided her hand to his waist. It was only when her fingertips brushed against a scabbed-over wound that she came back to her senses and shoved him away.

Zhao Mingyan stared at her with dark eyes, like a traveler in the desert who has just had half a sip of water, his entire being thrumming with a desperate need for more.

Ji Qingwu stumbled outside in a daze. He didn’t stop her.

She stepped outside the tent. The wind lifted the loose strands of hair at her temples, and her head began to clear a little.

Ji Qingwu clutched her chest and crouched down. Her heart was still pounding violently, a sign that she, too, had been lost in the moment.

‘This was what I wanted, so why did I push him away…?’

Ji Qingwu bit her lip in frustration. ‘It was because I realized he was hurt. I was worried.’

She slowly stood up and returned to her own tent.

「Half an hour later.」

Zhao Mingyan walked out of the washroom wearing only his trousers, water droplets still rolling down his broad shoulders.

His steps faltered, and a flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes.

Because Ji Qingwu had appeared in his tent again, holding a large medicine box.

“General, I’m back.”

Seeing her sweet smile, Zhao Mingyan said coldly, “Now that you’re here, you won’t be leaving.”