“Compared to General Lu, my skills are just child’s play, nothing special,” Yu Ning replied politely.

“I thought Miss Xie was dignified and elegant, unskilled in martial arts. I didn’t expect such skill. I’m truly surprised,”

Lu Chengxiao looked up at Yu Ning.  Their eyes met, and his face involuntarily flushed.

He cleared his throat, averting his gaze. Every time he faced her face, as beautiful as a celestial being, he couldn’t look away. But he assumed a woman from a noble family must be delicate. Now, it seemed he was wrong.

“Dignified and elegant…” Yu Ning murmured Lu Chengxiao’s words while sitting on her horse, a slight smile playing on her lips. She then called out to him.

“General Lu, I can accept your praise of my skills, but I wouldn’t dare agree to being called dignified and elegant. Because I might be very far from those words. If General Lu prefers dignified and elegant women, and later finds me to be unreasonable and unruly, what then?”

Lu Chengxiao gazed into her beautiful eyes, slightly dazed. “It… it doesn’t matter. Miss Xie, anything is fine, anything is fine.”

Yu Ning couldn’t help but laugh, thinking that Lu Chengxiao was very innocent in this aspect; his replies were truly interesting.

“Oh~ is that so? Then thank you for your kindness, General Lu. Please bear with me in the future.”

Lu Chengxiao couldn’t keep up with Yu Ning’s blatant words. He could only blush and turn his head, refusing to speak further.

Their voices were low, only the Xie brothers following closely behind could hear them. Even so, Lu Chengxiao couldn’t help but feel nervous and blush.

Yu Ning, however, remained composed, showing no sign of having just teased a man.

As they spoke, a group of soldiers in black armor approached.

The Imperial Guards only served by the Emperor’s side; the identity of the newcomers was self-evident.

Everyone dismounted and bowed.

Yu Ning’s hands couldn’t touch the reins.  She was in a hurry to dismount but had no handhold. Lu Chengxiao, beside her, offered a hand, momentarily forgetting propriety, supporting her arm and helping her down from the horse.

The imperial procession didn’t stop, passing by them as if by chance.

The two groups briefly met, then passed each other.

Yu Ning smiled and thanked Lu Chengxiao, then asked for his help again. “General Lu, would you please help me mount my horse again?”

“Of course.”

Behind them, the people who had already passed stopped and looked back.

Shen Tuo’s expression was calm, but his grip on the reins tightened, veins bulging on his arm.

“Adulterer…”

Wu Ying didn’t hear what the Emperor said and quickly asked, “Your Majesty, I didn’t hear your command clearly. Could you repeat it?”

Shen Tuo glanced at him, sneered, “Go ask Xie Wanyu when she’ll have news about the person she’s looking for. If there’s no progress, she can forget about her job.”

“…Yes.” Wu Ying glanced at the crowd nearby, responding solemnly.

Actually, he didn’t understand. The Emperor had clearly found the person right in front of him, why did he still ask Xie to investigate again?  Why make one Xie family member look for another? What special meaning did this have?

Tsk tsk, the Emperor’s mind is unfathomable.

Yu Ning’s hand was injured, and she was sent back to her tent to see a physician.

Mrs. Huo was heartbroken and wouldn’t let her daughter go out again. She even excused her from the evening banquet, allowing Yu Ning to rest in her tent.

That night, after dinner, Yu Ning took a walk with Xie Yu Hua and Xiao Bao, enjoying the moonlight before returning to their tents to rest.

“External wounds still need medicine?  Physician Xu said the injury wasn’t serious and didn’t need medicine when she bandaged it.” Yu Ning looked at the female physician holding a large bowl of dark medicine, asking with some reluctance, “Do I have to drink this medicine?”

She raised her bandaged hands, helplessly saying, “Physician Xu, look, it’s just an external wound.  I’ve already applied the ointment, so I don’t need to drink the medicine, right?”

The physician’s name was Xu Ruyuan, a female official from the palace specializing in women’s ailments.

Xu Ruyuan’s eyes darted around, but her face held a gentle and kind smile as she pushed the tray forward.

“You need to drink it for a speedy recovery, Miss Xie. Don’t refuse. If Mrs. Huo sees you like this, she’ll be worried.”

“Fine then.” Yu Ning was afraid of worrying her mother.  Once Xu Ruyuan mentioned Mrs. Huo, she had no choice but to obediently drink it.

Xu Ruyuan watched Yu Ning finish the large bowl of medicine. She breathed a sigh of relief, taking the empty bowl and leaving.

Thank goodness, Miss Xie didn’t suspect anything and drank it.

Miss Xie, please don’t blame her. This medicine wasn’t given by her.  Under the Emperor’s authority, she had no choice but to save her own life.

A thin mist hung in the air. Late at night, most of the candles in the tents were extinguished. In the quiet night, only the footsteps of the patrolling guards were audible.

Yu Ning went to bed early after drinking the medicine. The tent had no windows, so moonlight couldn’t enter. She lit a dim candle by her bed and fell asleep in the faint light.

Because the number of attendants was limited, each family brought few maids and servants. Yu Ning only had a fifteen or sixteen-year-old maid, Ningxiang, with her.

Ningxiang was supposed to stay up, but Yu Ning, seeing her young age and the many guards outside, let Ningxiang sleep too.

She needed to be well-rested to serve her the next day.

At midnight, a figure in dark clothes appeared outside an inconspicuous tent.

Wu Ying stood outside the tent like a door god, his expression serious.

Occasionally, guards passed by, but they pretended not to see him. No one dared to ask why General Wu was outside the women’s tent.

Shen Tuo walked closer, his face shrouded in the dim candlelight, revealing a hint of gloom.

He walked to the bed, looking down at the sleeping beauty.