Chapter 2

The night was filled with dreams. Various scenes flashed through my mind one by one: me practicing martial arts, me being knocked off a horse during a spar, and mostly Ji Wenmu animatedly talking about something while I listened beside him. Every so often, I would hear the word “Xiaoyue” slip from his mouth.

I also recalled the scene of our first meeting. I was hiding in my room, crying secretly, when the window was suddenly pushed open. A dark figure lunged in. He was dumbfounded when he saw me, and we stared at each other through my teary eyes.

Hearing footsteps outside, he sharply snapped out of it, made a “shh” gesture at me, and then leaped up onto the roof beams.

Aunt Ji, holding a rattan cane, peeked in through the window. Her fierce expression softened slightly when she met my gaze.

She came in and comforted me for a good while, but I couldn’t help constantly glancing up at his hiding spot.

She quickly noticed my strange behavior, stood up, and looked toward the beams. With an earth-shattering roar, she yelled, “Ji Wenmu, get down here right now!”

That day, Ji Wenmu was beaten miserably.

But he didn’t blame me for exposing him. Instead, he lay on his stomach on the bed, propped up his chin, and while grimacing in pain, told me, “Don’t cry anymore. This young master will cover you. Whoever bullies you, this young master will beat them up.”

I kept those words in my heart, thinking of them constantly, which gave me a sense of security in that unfamiliar manor.

Not long after, I learned he had another playmate. He entered the palace almost daily as a study companion. When he returned, he would tell me what happened in the palace, and what he and the Crown Princess named Huang Yue did to make the Grand Tutor stomp his feet in anger.

When we were together, he was usually the one talking and I was the one listening. The name I heard most often was “Xiaoyue.”

Everyone else called her Your Highness, or Crown Princess. Only he blatantly called her Xiaoyue.

I asked him, “Is Xiaoyue very pretty?”

He immediately said, “She is the prettiest girl I have ever seen.”

He was busy eating a chicken drumstick and couldn’t see my disappointment. I was average-looking and had run wild in a village for eight years; naturally, my looks couldn’t compare to a girl raised in golden luxury.

Later, the Grand Tutor suggested separating him and Huang Yue. He stopped being a study companion, and Uncle Ji had him practice martial arts alongside the soldiers.

I wanted to learn alongside him, just like Huang Yue did. I thought that if I did, maybe he would mention my name more often when he spoke.

Uncle Ji thought I was just playing around and didn’t teach me seriously at first. I don’t know how I managed to persist, but over time, I actually became Uncle Ji’s proudest disciple.

But reading and writing together was probably different from practicing martial arts and fighting wars together. The former evoked memories of scholarly fragrance and ink, while the latter was filled with the smell of sweat and blood. That was the difference between me and Huang Yue.

She was the prettiest girl in Ji Wenmu’s heart, whereas I was his life-and-death brother.

Waking up in my own bed after my hangover, the nanny brought me sobering soup, nagging incessantly in my ear. My temples throbbed continuously. Several fragmented memories flashed rapidly through my mind. Last night, Ji Wenmu seemed to have come up to the roof too… My head hurt terribly, so I stopped thinking about it. I hadn’t clearly heard what the nanny was saying either. After downing the sobering soup, I just wanted to go back to sleep and didn’t want to hear her chatter, so I blindly agreed to whatever she said.

As a result, a blinding light suddenly burst from the nanny’s eyes. She agreed heavily and said, “This old servant will go report to Madam right away. Madam will certainly be very happy.”

She left quickly, and I forgot about the matter. I slept until the sun was high in the sky before feeling like my body and brain belonged to me again. I changed into the dress the nanny had prepared. As soon as I stepped out of the courtyard, I ran into Ji Wenmu. He must have just returned from the training grounds, his head covered in sweat.

We locked eyes. He froze, stumbled a step, and turned to walk back.

I called out his name, but he only walked faster.

How strange. I only kicked him once, did he have to be so petty?

I chased after him, breaking into a run, but only managed to catch a corner of his sleeve.

The soldiers on the training grounds also looked like they had seen a ghost, making me feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

One young soldier was pushed forward by the others. I pointed my spear at him single-handedly. He twisted awkwardly. “General Liu, I don’t fight girls.”

My temples twitched violently. With a sweep of my spear, his belt fell to the ground.

He hurriedly clutched his waistband, and at the same time, my earlobe was pinched.

“Min-min! Who told you to come here again? We agreed you’d evaluate the Vice Minister’s son tomorrow. Go back to your room now and have Nanny teach you how to properly act like a girl.” Aunt Ji had one hand on her hip and the other twisting my ear, chattering away right beside me, making my head buzz.

“Wait, Auntie, evaluate what?”