Chapter 2

I had many dreams that night. Various scenes flashed by one after another—scenes of me practicing martial arts, scenes of me being knocked off my horse in battle. But mostly, it was Ji Wenmu speaking with flying eyebrows and a dancing expression while I listened beside him. Every so often, I would hear the word “Xiaoyue” fall from his lips.

I also recalled the scene of our first meeting. I was hiding in my room, crying secretly, when the window was suddenly thrown open, and a dark shadow darted in. He looked completely dumbfounded when he saw me, and I stared back at him with tear-filled eyes.

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

Aunt Ji came looking through the window, holding a cane. Her ferocious 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 odd behavior, stood up, and looked toward the beams. With an earth-shattering roar, she yelled, “Ji Wenmu, get down here right now!”

Ji Wenmu took a terrible beating that day.

But he didn’t blame me for exposing him. Instead, he lay on his stomach on the bed, propping up his chin, wincing in pain as he told me, “Don’t cry anymore. This young master will cover you. Whoever bullies you, I’ll beat them up.”

I kept that in my heart, thinking of it often, and it gave me a sense of security in that unfamiliar manor.

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

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

Everyone else called her Your Highness or Crown Princess. He was the only one who brazenly called her Xiaoyue.

I asked him, “Is Xiaoyue very pretty?”

He immediately replied, “She’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

Busy gnawing on a chicken drumstick, he didn’t notice my disappointment. I was very average-looking and had run wild in a village for eight years. Naturally, my looks couldn’t compare to someone raised with such pampered nobility.

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 study with him just like Huang Yue did, thinking that if I did, maybe he would mention my name more often when he talked.

Uncle Ji thought I was just playing around and didn’t teach me seriously at first. I don’t even know how I managed to persevere, but as time went on, I actually became Uncle Ji’s prized pupil.

But reading and writing together is probably different from practicing martial arts and fighting wars together. Looking back, the former smells of books and ink, while the latter reeks of sweat and blood. That was the difference between me and Huang Yue.

She was the prettiest girl in Ji Wenmu’s heart, and I was the good brother he’d risk his life for.

Waking up in my own bed after my hangover, the nanny brought me hangover soup, nagging continuously in my ear. My temples throbbed, and several fragmented memories flashed through my mind. Last night, Ji Wenmu seemed to have climbed onto the roof too. My head hurt so much I didn’t want to think about it anymore, nor could I clearly hear what the nanny was saying. After downing the soup, I just blindly agreed to whatever she was blabbering about so I could go back to sleep.

Unexpectedly, a piercing bright light burst from the nanny’s eyes. She agreed emphatically and said, “This old servant will go report to the Madam immediately. The Madam will be so pleased.”

She left quickly, and I forgot all about it. I slept until the sun was high in the sky before my body and brain felt like my own again. I changed into the dress the nanny had prepared for me. Just as I stepped out of the courtyard, I ran into Ji Wenmu. He had probably just returned from the training grounds, his head covered in sweat.

We crossed paths. He froze for a second, then stumbled a step and turned right back around.

I called his name, and he only walked faster.

How strange. I only kicked him once, did he really need to be this petty?

I chased after him, breaking into a run, but in the end, I only managed to catch the corner of his clothes.

The soldiers on the training grounds looked as if they had seen a ghost, making my skin crawl.

A young soldier was pushed forward by the others. I pointed my spear at him single-handedly. He looked bashful. “General Liu, I don’t fight women.”

The vein at my temple throbbed violently. With a sweep of my spear, his belt fell to the ground.

He hurriedly clutched his waistband, and someone pinched my earlobe.

“Minmin! Who told you to come here again? We agreed you’d meet the Vice Minister’s son tomorrow! Go back to your room right now and let the nanny properly teach you how to be a lady!” Aunt Ji stood with one hand on her hip, the other twisting my ear, chattering incessantly beside me until my brain buzzed.

“Wait, Auntie, what meeting?”