The young man held her wrist; the firelight reflected in his eyes, his expression obscure. 

He answered beside the point: “Why did you stand in front of me just now? Weren’t you afraid of dying?” 

Lin Suisui sullenly withdrew her hand: “Don’t you feel sorry for yourself? You lost your mother when you were young, and I don’t have any relatives here. We’re in the same boat.” 

The young man narrowed his eyes, his dark, deep pupils revealing no emotion: “How do you know I lost my mother when I was young?” 

Great, she’d said the wrong thing again. 

Lin Suisui mumbled in a low voice: “It’s written in the book, otherwise, who would have time to think about you?” 

“What did you say?” 

Lin Suisui came to her senses and nervously said, “I said you talked in your sleep last night, do you believe that?” 

Seeming to anticipate that she wouldn’t tell the truth, Pei Zhiheng, disappointed, released her hand and walked directly towards the wooden house. 

“Hey, you really aren’t going to eat it?” Lin Suisui shouted at his back. 

“Fine, I’ll eat it myself.” She said, taking a large bite of the almost burnt chicken. 

In the middle of the night, the inside and outside of the house were unusually quiet, only the rustling sound of someone tossing and turning on the haystack could be heard. 

This battle came suddenly; Donglin was undoubtedly at a disadvantage, having lost two cities. The situation was dire; if they fought again, it would only add to the casualties. But if they surrendered… 

The young man turned over again, his gaze falling on the sleeping girl’s face. 

She could actually sleep soundly in the wilderness; she really had no worries. Pei Zhiheng stared at her for a while, unconsciously tugging at the corner of his mouth. He got up, stepped out into the moonlight, and gently pushed open the door, afraid of waking the sleeping person. 

Lin Suisui had just been racking her brains on how to help this lovesick fool. This small wooden house certainly couldn’t be lived in for long, and what would they do after they left? 

Since Pei Zhiheng in the original story was killed by Yin Manlin, didn’t that mean that as long as she prevented them from meeting, Pei Zhiheng wouldn’t fall in love with the female lead, wouldn’t marry her, and wouldn’t follow the old path? 

Thinking this, Lin Suisui’s mood finally brightened. She had been busy catching chickens and making fires all day, and she had been exhausted, so she unknowingly fell asleep. 

Lin Suisui was awakened by the sunlight. She rubbed her eyes to wake herself up and found that the person on the haystack was gone. 

His injuries weren’t fully healed yet; he wouldn’t have gone back to war, would he? 

She wanted to go out and look for him, maybe she could even find some work. But her stomach started rumbling, so she went back and grabbed a basket. 

Whatever, it’s better to be alive than to starve to death; filling her stomach was more important. 

The morning sun was warm; she didn’t have to worry about getting sunburnt. Lin Suisui stretched luxuriously in the sunshine, her nose filled with the scent of various flowers, plants, and fruits. If it weren’t for the damned mission, she would have happily gone back to sleep. 

“Reporting to the host, the mission target is less than ten meters away, nine meters, seven meters… The male lead is approaching.” 

“Huh?” Lin Suisui’s hand, reaching for the fruit, paused. She looked down. The young man, dressed in white, stood under a tree, his black and white eyes fixed on her. 

Two wild fruits fell from her basket. Lin Suisui instinctively reached out to catch them, but her foot slipped, and she tumbled down. 

“Ah…” 

Pei Zhiheng put down the person who had screamed with her eyes closed, saying, “It’s alright, don’t shout.” 

Lin Suisui saw that she had accidentally wrinkled his clothes when she caught him, so she quickly smoothed out the wrinkles. Seeing him looking at the fruit in her arms, she hesitated, then, with a pained expression, offered them: 

“Here, they’re all yours.” 

After waiting for a while without a response, Lin Suisui opened one eye and saw that he had already walked away. 

“Fine, I’ll eat them myself.” She muttered a few words and hurriedly chased after him, asking, “Where did you go? Didn’t I tell you that your injuries aren’t healed yet, you can’t run around!” 

Pei Zhiheng ignored her and walked on. 

Judging by his appearance, he certainly hadn’t gone to war. What was he doing? Going for a walk? 

Lin Suisui followed him back to the small wooden house and saw a group of people standing in front of the house from afar. 

“Greetings, Your Highness.” The leader bowed respectfully to Pei Zhiheng. 

Lin Suisui carefully examined him. He looked like a young general; upon closer inspection of his dust-stained face, he was more refined than the other soldiers around him. 

She was wondering who this character was in the novel when Pei Zhiheng suddenly pulled her behind him, smiling coldly at the man: 

“I’ve long admired General Yin’s reputation. Today, upon seeing…” he paused deliberately, his smile becoming more sarcastic, “it’s just so-so.” 

Lin Suisui’s pupils constricted slightly—wasn’t Yin Manlin supposed to meet Pei Zhiheng only after he married into the family? Why was it so early? Could it be that Donglin had already lost the war? 

Unfazed by his words, Yin Manlin still had a standard polite smile: “The soldiers of Donglin sacrificed countless lives at the front lines, yet the prince enjoys his leisure here. It’s truly eye-opening.” 

A soldier presented a yellow paper; Yin Manlin glanced at him and read: “The two countries have been at war for over a year. Now that Donglin has lost, the Prince of Donglin should marry into Beiping as a sign of peace.” 

After reading, she asked again: “Pei Zhiheng, will you go willingly, or do I need to have you arrested?” 

Seeing that he didn’t react, Yin Manlin waved her hand, signaling the soldiers to move. 

“Oh no.” Lin Suisui, drawing strength from somewhere, stood in front of Pei Zhiheng, pointed the fruit knife at Yin Manlin, and tried to suppress her fear: “Don’t touch him! If you injure the prince, can you afford the consequences?” 

Before she could finish, she was pushed away from behind. The young man’s cold voice came: “Get out of the way, mind your own business.” 

Lin Suisui: ?? 

Pei Zhiheng didn’t know why he was uncontrollably walking towards Yin Manlin. He only felt a voice in his head telling him that he had to do this, otherwise, he would violate something. 

She was stunned, watching Pei Zhiheng’s hands being cuffed, then being pushed away by several soldiers.