Chapter 39 

Ning Yuan waited outside the house until he heard the soft sounds of breathing from inside. He then gently opened the door and entered.

The house was dark, so he could only make his way using the faint candlelight near the door, moving quietly toward Xu Lianqiao.

For the first time, he truly felt like a thief.

As expected, this girl started speaking sharply.

“If you can’t take care of the child properly, then keep going.”

You could tell from her curled toes that she was cold, and she wasn’t worried about possibly getting sick tomorrow.

Ning Yuan’s hand hesitated when it brushed against Xu Lianqiao’s hair, his fingers trembling slightly. He then carefully lifted her by the waist.

The warmth in his hands spread as they touched her soft waist.

The girl in his arms seemed to stir, letting out a soft hum and snuggling against his chest, like a rabbit.

Ning Yuan couldn’t help but breathe harder, his warm breath brushing the top of Xu Lianqiao’s head, causing her to feel an itch. She turned her head and buried it into his chest.

She was really pushing him.

Fighting back his own feelings, Ning Yuan gently carried Xu Lianqiao to his room, placed her on the bed, and tucked her in with a thick quilt to make sure she didn’t catch a cold.

Xu Lianqiao lifted the quilt, and Ning Yuan helped her adjust her hands, nudged her toes back, and then covered her up again.

After doing this several times, Ning Yuan couldn’t help but enjoy it.

When the door opened, Xu Lianqiao was still somewhat aware, but her mind was hazy. It felt like something had happened, but her head felt dizzy, and her eyelids were heavy.

She tried to open her eyes, but her body refused to move.

She was just too tired; she’d never been this exhausted in her life.

Eventually, she fell asleep fully, feeling drained.

Besides…

She knew nothing would happen with Brother Ning around, so she felt safe and at ease.

Then, she felt a comforting warmth from the side—just the right temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. She was feeling a bit cold, and the warmth made her want to be closer. Without realizing it, she slowly moved closer.

In her sleepy state, she heard some faint words, especially a few scattered phrases.

He said “find something” and “come here,” but before she could listen further, she drifted back into a deep sleep.

_

Xu Lianqiao had a dream in which she had a home.

In the dream, there were three people in the family, and she also had a cat. The sun was shining lazily in the yard, so she sat there holding the cat while watching a big one and a little one play around.

Days like this felt so good.

When would she be able to live such a life?

When she woke up, she heard noises from afar.

Xu Lianqiao remembered that she was in the inn now, and some noise, big or small, was normal.

Even so, she remained in a daze, unable to get up.

But… it smelled so good.

The rich aroma of rice made Xu Lianqiao’s stomach growl with hunger.

Should she continue to sleep, or should she wake up and see what delicious food awaited her?

It was frustrating.

“Ah Qiao, Ah Qiao.”

Brother Ning’s soft voice sounded in her ears, and Xu Lianqiao mumbled, “Hmm,” unenthusiastically.

“I’m just going to sleep for a little longer,” she said, her voice fading.

She sounded pitiful.

Normally, Ning Yuan would have let Xu Lianqiao sleep, but he had to leave soon and was worried about leaving her alone in the room.

She had been sleeping so deeply that she didn’t even realize she had been taken away.

“I can’t let you sleep any longer; it’s already noon.”

“Oh.” Xu Lianqiao responded casually, as if she was half-listening.

“Today, we have braised prawns. Don’t you want to eat them?”

“…” Prawns… that sounded tempting.

“There’s also hot red bean soup…” Ning Yuan knew her well.

At first, the food alone was enough to confuse her, but then he said something else.

Xu Lianqiao was sleepy, but not so much that she had forgotten the words she had spoken the day before.

“You were eavesdropping!” she said, feeling a little upset.

Her drowsiness disappeared immediately.

Xu Lianqiao sat up suddenly, blinking with sleepy eyes, her vision still blurry.

“Ah Qiao wasn’t whispering, so how could I be eavesdropping?”

It wasn’t his fault he had such good hearing.

Seeing his innocent face made Xu Lianqiao’s cheeks flush.

It was embarrassing. She had spoken in a soft voice while talking to the child, and although it might be fine for kids, it felt strange for someone like Brother Ning to hear it.

“That’s your fault!” she said, trying to recover from the awkwardness.

“Did you hear everything?” Xu Lianqiao started recalling what she had said.

It was over. She had slept too much and couldn’t remember all the details.

Ning Yuan didn’t hide anything and nodded.

Xu Lianqiao felt even more embarrassed.

“You…” she started to say, but then she looked at his innocent expression and quickly glanced down at her own clothes.

Thankfully…

“How could you just enter girl’s room?” she asked, feeling a bit of embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, Ah Qiao.”

Xu Lianqiao had expected a playful exchange, but she didn’t expect Ning Yuan to admit his mistake so quickly.

Ning Yuan swore that he wasn’t usually such a careless person, but recent circumstances had caused a lot of inconvenience. He had carried Ah Qiao back to the room last night and hadn’t changed her clothes afterward.

“I was careless and didn’t notice. I won’t do it again, Ah Qiao.”

“Ah Qiao, I don’t usually interact with women. If I’ve done something wrong, please let me know, and I won’t do it again.”

Ning Yuan stood by the bedside, speaking seriously, and Xu Lianqiao could sense a hint of panic in his voice.

“I…” Xu Lianqiao hesitated, not actually angry, just a little upset at waking up.

After thinking it over, she realized it wasn’t such a big deal.

“General.”

The atmosphere between them was interrupted.

There have been a lot of things happening recently.

“General Li Ming has arrived outside the city.”

Li Ming. Xu Lianqiao remembered that Ning Yuan had told her this was Lin Rou’s husband. To control Lin Rou, some people had taken her father and daughter, hoping to force Li Ming into cooperating by separating them.

Ning Yuan had told her that, during this time, Li Ming and his daughter would need to be protected.

“Okay, I understand.”

After replying to his subordinate, Ning Yuan explained to Xu Lianqiao: “Ah Qiao, I’m going to send the father and daughter to a safe place. You stay here alone. I was worried, so I woke you up.”

It seemed that Ning Yuan was trying to explain himself.

Now, it was Xu Lianqiao’s turn to feel embarrassed.

“Yeah.”

She could only respond quietly.

Xu Lianqiao thought about whether to say something to Ning Yuan, but with so many things on her mind, she didn’t know what to say.

To avoid drawing attention, the two of them carried the child and pretended to be a family of three walking outside the city. Xu Lianqiao couldn’t remember how many times she stole a glance at Ning Yuan.

He was indeed a general, and he noticed everything. Every time she looked at him, he would look back.

Xu Lianqiao had to look away every time.

Oh, she was being too self-conscious.

She wasn’t usually like this.

Why had she become so shy and reserved around Brother Ning?

“You’re tired; let me carry you.”

After saying that, Ning Yuan reached for the little girl in Xu Lianqiao’s arms.

But the moment he touched her arm, the little girl started crying.

Xu Lianqiao had no choice but to hold her herself.

Luckily, the crying wasn’t too loud.

“Ah, this little kid.”

“It’s okay, Brother Ning. It’s only two miles away.”

Fortunately, the inn they stayed in was close to the city gates.

But perhaps, this was all part of Brother Ning’s plan.

_

Xu Lianqiao and Ning Yuan finally arrived outside the city. From a distance, she noticed three figures standing at the foot of the mountain, arranged like the shape of a concave character (凹). The person in the middle wore plain brown linen clothes, which stood out from the black-clothed figures beside him.

That must be Li Ming, she thought.

As Xu Lianqiao and Ning Yuan slowly approached, the little girl in Xu’s arms tightened her grip on her shoulders. It was odd since the child had never been so clingy before. However, since this was the girl’s father, Xu Lianqiao knew she had to return her.

Overhead, a flock of birds flew across the sky.

As they drew closer, Ning Yuan abruptly stopped and positioned himself protectively in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Lianqiao asked, confused.

In moments, Ning Yuan’s cautious expression turned alert. Sure enough, the sound of horse hooves echoed from the mountain. Soon, another group of people appeared, surrounding them. What had been a simple encounter had now escalated into a tense confrontation.

Xu Lianqiao’s breath caught in her throat, and she dared not make a sound. The girl in her arms began crying loudly. Forcing herself to remain calm, Xu Lianqiao realized this was no ordinary meeting—it was an ambush.

As the two groups began fighting fiercely, Ning Yuan kept Xu Lianqiao behind him. She couldn’t see much of the battle, but the crack of weapons clashing and grunts of combat suggested the fight was intense.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Li Ming trying to flee.

“Brother Ning!” she shouted.

Ning Yuan also noticed and muttered, “Coward,” under his breath before taking down another assassin. The battle raged on, the child Xu Lianqiao held still crying and now kicking her. A sharp pain in her abdomen made her instinctively release the girl.

The nimble child darted away, her little legs moving quickly. Before Xu Lianqiao could react, she was already some distance away. Xu glanced at the fleeing child and then at Ning Yuan, who was still fighting. Annoying as the child was, Xu Lianqiao couldn’t leave her alone. She reluctantly ran after the girl.

However, it wasn’t long before the child tripped and fell. After all, she was only three years old and unsteady on her feet. Just as Xu Lianqiao reached the girl, a flash of cold steel appeared—a knife aimed at the child. Without thinking, Xu Lianqiao threw herself between the blade and the girl.

This would hurt, she thought. It wasn’t even her child—why did she care so much? She had never raised a child in her life, so where did this maternal instinct come from?