This was the first time Gu Qingwan saw Beichen Yuan behaving so docile, almost like a large dog seeking affection—so obedient it was hard to believe.

“Qingqing,” he gazed at her intensely, calling her name softly.

Every time Gu Qingwan heard that name, it reminded her of the wild night they shared, making her want to pounce on him again.

“Beichen Yuan, are you trying to seduce me?” Gu Qingwan looked at him, her gaze slowly moving to the open collar of his robe, revealing his chest in a tantalizing manner, which stirred her imagination.

Beichen Yuan’s eyes were deep as he stared at her, not denying his actions. “Just as you think.”

Gu Qingwan cursed him inwardly, but still couldn’t resist grabbing the collar of Beichen Yuan’s robe, pushing him down onto the soft couch.

Beichen Yuan propped himself up with one hand, letting Gu Qingwan lean against his chest, half of her body pressed against his.

Gu Qingwan was always someone who acted rather than hesitated.

Faced with such a blatant attraction, she had no resistance.

She lowered her head and kissed his thin lips.

Beichen Yuan enjoyed her passionate assault, but was desperately wanting more.

She wrapped her arms around his slender waist, almost wanting to melt into him.

A single kiss was enough to make him lose control. Perhaps Gu Qingwan was his destined calamity, a love calamity, but he welcomed it with open arms.

Gu Qingwan’s passion burned hot, but since Beichen Yuan had just recovered from an illness, she dared not go too far, afraid of making things go awry.

After the kiss ended, Beichen Yuan gasped for breath and pulled her tightly into his arms, holding her close.

Gu Qingwan could hear his heart pounding loudly, and for the first time, she felt a hint of soft, feminine affection.

“Qingqing, when the war ends, will you marry me?” Beichen Yuan gazed at her, as if afraid she would refuse.

Gu Qingwan furrowed her brows for a moment but did not answer immediately.

Seeing her hesitation, Beichen Yuan’s face darkened. “Do you truly have feelings for Murong?”

The air instantly thickened with jealousy.

Beichen Yuan’s jealousy came so suddenly, catching her off guard.

Gu Qingwan quickly denied it, “There’s nothing like that.”

Beichen Yuan looked at her with a slightly evasive gaze, his expression darkening like a storm cloud. Gu Qingwan dared not admit that she had once had feelings for Murong Wushuang, but that was only because she admired his face.

After all, who didn’t have an appreciation for beauty? Her fleeting thoughts were only natural.

“You don’t want to marry me?” Beichen Yuan didn’t give Gu Qingwan a chance to avoid the question.

Gu Qingwan clenched her teeth but ultimately did not say the word “refuse.”

“Yes, as long as you dare marry me, I dare marry you,” she replied, knowing the future was uncertain, but living in the present was what they should focus on.

Beichen Yuan cupped her face, making her look into his eyes. “Do you truly want this?”

In response, Gu Qingwan kissed him deeply.

Their relationship quickly heated up as they spent more time together. Murong Wushuang naturally noticed the growing closeness between them.

He was somewhat surprised by their union, for he understood Beichen Yuan’s nature better than anyone.

He never dared to imagine that Beichen Yuan would ever fall for a woman, especially one that Murong himself liked.

Yes, Murong liked Gu Qingwan, but he had always kept his feelings hidden.

One was his best friend, and the other was the woman he liked.

They were together, and Murong should have wished them well, yet his heart felt like it was missing a piece. Perhaps he was destined to be alone in this life.

In Yanzhou City, due to the shockwave from the Thunderous Cannon, Beichen Yuan dared not advance with his attacks.

However, he soon received reports of Beirong’s pillaging of the common people. Several nearby cities had been looted by Beirong’s army.

Those invaders would plunder and flee, and many nearby villages had suffered.

Even in Shakou County, Beirong’s soldiers had burned villages and seized food.

When Gu Qingwan heard about the incident in Shakou County, she rushed back.

Before leaving, she made sure to leave 100,000 stone of grain with Beichen Yuan, in case they ran low on supplies.

After settling matters in Yanzhou, she returned to Dahe Village, while Meng Xingzhou stayed in Yanzhou.

This time, she planned to bring back a batch of weapons and Thunderous Cannons.

Yanzhou City had already run out of Thunderous Cannons.

While they were reinforcing the city walls, they would not be able to withstand another battle.

To protect the people of Yanzhou, they had two options: either evacuate the civilians or continue using the Thunderous Cannons to intimidate Northern Rong.

Otherwise, the repeating crossbows and war carts might not be enough to defend against Beirong’s attack.

When Gu Qingwan returned to Dahe Village, the villagers were still busy making weapons.

Thanks to the timely production of more crossbows, the militia was once again armed with repeating crossbows.

When Northern Rong’s soldiers attempted to raid the village, the militia was able to resist, driving the invaders away and even killing a few.

They captured fifteen warhorses in the process.

“Qingwan, you should have seen it. The Northern Rong soldiers were spotted as soon as they entered the village by the patrols. Now, everyone in the village knows how to use the repeating crossbows, even the eight or nine-year-old kids are handling them like pros.

The Northern Rong soldiers hadn’t even had the chance to start plundering when our people forced them to retreat, killing many of them and capturing fifteen horses. Since you weren’t here, we didn’t know what to do with these horses, so we’ve kept them at the pig farm for now.”

“Qingwan, I killed two Beirong soldiers! They were no match for us.”

“Yeah, they didn’t even make it past the village, I only killed one and it was already over.”

“Those bastards ran too fast, otherwise, we’d have killed them all.”

“Next time, if they come again, be careful, lure them into the village before attacking so they can’t escape.”

“Definitely, next time we’ll catch every last one of them.”

The villagers were all talking excitedly about their confrontation with Northern Rong, their blood boiling with excitement.

Gu Qingwan was very glad she had organized the militia and trained them to use weapons.

Otherwise, when Northern Rong came to burn, kill, and plunder, the villagers might not have had a chance to resist.

The militia Gu Qingwan gathered had been assigned to patrol the villages, protecting them from further harassment by Northern Rong.

Since the villages outside Yanzhou had already been devastated, if Northern Rong wanted to seize food, they would likely target Sushou City.

Shakou County, though not a large town, was the one with the most refugees, and it was the closest to Yanzhou.

Northern Rong would likely focus on it for the next round of plunder.

The key was that Shakou County had the largest agricultural land in Sushou, especially Dahe Village, where nearly all the land belonged to Gu Qingwan.

Right now, the sweet potatoes and potatoes hadn’t been harvested, so the fields were lush with green crops, just like the fields in other nearby villages.

With the militia’s protection, the villages remained safe.

However, the Northern Rong soldiers, unable to find anything else to steal, targeted the crops.

Under the cover of night, they quickly cut down a large amount of sweet potato vines and potato stalks, perhaps mistaking them for edible leaves, so they took them away in the dark.