A row of sparsely planted elm trees stood before the martial arts platform, their leaves not yet fully fallen.

Through the shadows of the trees, Yu Zhiguang vaguely saw Xue Shen sparring with a burly man whose hair and beard reached his shoulders. Autumn had arrived; she needed a padded jacket to stay warm, yet the man was shirtless, his muscular body glistening with sweat. Xue Shen had only removed his outer robe, tying it around his lean waist.

Yu Zhiguang didn’t want to watch, yet she couldn’t help but be curious.

The burly man wielded a heavy broadsword, while Xue Shen fought barehanded. How could he possibly win?

After watching for a while, she noticed that although the man’s movements were powerful and forceful, they lacked finesse. His initial attacks were too aggressive, making it difficult to recover.

Xue Shen skillfully dodged the attacks. Seizing an opening when the man’s sword missed, he kicked his elbow, followed by a swift palm strike. The man cried out in pain, his heavy broadsword flying from his grasp and embedding itself in the wooden floor.

In an instant, the burly man was pinned to the ground.

“Instructor Song, do you concede?”

“Fair enough! I admit defeat.”

Xue Shen’s method of subduing the man was identical to the way Yu Zhiguang had seen him apprehend a mason in the west wing of the library that day.

Yu Zhiguang shifted her foot, kicking a small stone.

Xue Shen turned his head alertly, his gaze piercing through the trees, meeting her eyes. He released the man and walked towards her.

Yu Zhiguang turned and walked away.

She passed a pond with withered lotus leaves, winding along a path.  The footsteps behind her grew closer.  She had forgotten about going to the storeroom with Yuanbao; in her haste, she found herself in an unfamiliar place—the watchtower, which Steward Cao hadn’t shown her during the tour while it was under renovation.

The watchtower was entirely constructed of wood, with winding stairs spiraling upwards to a three-story top pavilion.  Seeing no other path, she lifted her skirt and climbed the stairs from the bottom floor, reaching a shaded area.  Suddenly, she heard Xue Shen’s voice, his emotions restrained: “You’ve been hiding for three days.  Aren’t you done yet?”

Yu Zhiguang stopped, turning to look. Xue Shen stood two steps below her, allowing them to make eye contact. It wasn’t intentional hiding, more like being caught sneaking a peek, causing her mind to go blank and prompting her immediate retreat.

“I wasn’t intentionally hiding from you.”

“You didn’t run away…” Xue Shen’s voice trailed off. His eyes lifted, and before Yu Zhiguang could react, a strong force pulled her arm, and her face slammed against Xue Shen’s chest. The faint sweat from his fight mingled with the scent of soap from his clean undergarment, surprisingly, not unpleasant.

Yu Zhiguang looked up, seeing Xue Shen’s tense arm, the muscles clearly defined from the exertion, supporting a ladder about to fall.

The ladder was leaning precariously at the corner of the stairs.  It was already unstable, and the combined weight of her and Xue Shen caused it to shift and slide.

A wave of fear flashed through Yu Zhiguang’s bright eyes.

The irritation in Xue Shen’s heart subsided, and his voice softened: “You say you weren’t hiding, yet you didn’t pause your steps from the martial arts platform to here.”

“I told you, it wasn’t intentional.” Yu Zhiguang mumbled, stepping back from him, watching Xue Shen effortlessly lift the ladder and place it on the ground.

“Then, General, what did you want to say to me?”

“Did you check the room? If anything needs to be changed, have Wei Xiang help you move it.”

Besides the bamboo chair from the Yu residence, what else did Wei Xiang need to move?

Yu Zhiguang followed Xue Shen back to their courtyard. Before she reached the threshold, Xue Shen went in first, pulling out a set of clothes before going to shower.

Yu Zhiguang entered a few steps later, her gaze lingering.

The previously strangely spacious bedroom had been completely reorganized.

A canopy bed stood beside a low table, with a peony-embroidered carpet underneath.

The dressing table, with a new mirror and stand, had been moved closer to the bed, facing the window. A thin, translucent screen with magpies and spring blossoms was placed in front of the mirror, allowing for convenient use of the sunlight while preventing prying eyes.

The furniture was mostly from the General’s mansion, but the arrangement reflected a familiar meticulousness—the layout of her boudoir in the Yu residence.

The sound of water trickled from the bathroom.

The rough-and-ready general was still washing with cold water in the autumn chill.

Yes, what was I hiding from?

Yu Zhiguang stared at the new screen, stepping into the inner room, retrieving a jar of ointment from where she usually kept her medicine, and waiting outside the bathroom’s carved door.

The sound of water soon stopped.

“Applying ointment?” Xue Shen seemed surprised.

Yu Zhiguang nodded. “I saw that the ladder wasn’t light, and its surface was rough. If it had fallen and you’d caught it, there would have been minor injuries.”

Xue Shen walked to the brighter window. “Let me see.”

His calloused palms, freshly washed and still damp, showed no scratches, not even a single splinter.

Yu Zhiguang froze, unsure whether to put down the ointment jar or not.  She could only ask, “The mason…is he…still alive?”

Xue Shen withdrew his hand. “He was threatened into spying on military secrets. He’s been imprisoned and confessed. Whether he lives or dies depends on the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice.”

“Then why did Uncle Cao say he didn’t see him?”

“He had an identical twin brother who hid in a lumber cart covered with felt. Uncle Cao saw his brother. The mansion was under renovation before the wedding, and they used that time to figure out the patrol shifts and routes.”

Using the bright autumn light, Xue Shen observed the girl’s expression as her confusion turned to understanding.  Now, she could look at him without fear, her thick eyelashes casting delicate shadows over her amber eyes.

“That day, I pretended to go to the military camp, but I didn’t leave the mansion. He discovered the exposure, and his family’s lives were threatened by the mastermind. He swallowed poison on the spot.”

When Yu Zhiguang had seen him, he was forcing the man to spit out the poison pill.