Jiang Yanyi found it rather awkward as she stared over there.

To say that there were ghosts causing trouble in front of the courtyard’s owner would likely mean the end of their harmonious relationship with the Duhu Mansion.

Just as she was trying to find a way to shift the topic, Qiu Kui, who was hiding in the kitchen, thought she was so frightened by Feng Shuo’s gloomy demeanor that she couldn’t speak.

Afraid of making Feng Shuo angry, Qiu Kui swallowed and bravely responded, “Next door… they keep dropping pomegranates. It might be haunted!”

Haunted?

Was he a ghost?

Feng Shuo’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot.

Seeing his unpleasant expression, Jiang Yanyi thought he was displeased that their courtyard was being called haunted.

She awkwardly tried to change the subject, “Uh… it might be because the feng shui of the shop I rented is not good.”

After saying that, Jiang Yanyi fell silent.

What was she even talking about?

Feng Shuo realized she had a knack for dissipating his gloom just like that.

He didn’t want to continue the ghost topic any longer.

Grabbing the jar of pickled vegetables, he asked with a face full of disdain, “Where should I move it to?”

In Jiang Yanyi’s view, he was so angry that he didn’t even want to talk, but even so, he still remembered to help her move the jar of pickled vegetables.

This general was quite decent in how he conducted himself.

She quickly led him to the kitchen, saying, “Just move it into the kitchen.”

Underneath the kitchen counter, there were already several jars and containers, all of which were Jiang Yanyi’s creations from these past few days.

There was soy bean paste, fermented soybeans, pickled radish… she had made quite a few.

She had made pickled vegetables that morning and planned to make sweet garlic in the afternoon, which was still soaking in a wooden basin outside.

Tomorrow, she even planned to grind soybeans to make a jar of fermented tofu.

After Feng Shuo placed the jar of pickled vegetables under the counter, Jiang Yanyi hurriedly covered it with a lid to prevent dust from getting in.

She crouched down to push the jar of pickled vegetables, intending to shift it a bit to make space for the sweet garlic she would make.

However, after using all her strength to move it just a little, Jiang Yanyi began to doubt herself.

Feng Shuo had lifted the jar as easily as a bowl; why was it so heavy for her?

Was this the difference in strength between men and women?

She continued to push the jar of pickled vegetables, and this time, it moved easily.

Looking up, she saw Feng Shuo extending a hand to help her push it.

From his elevated perspective, she could vaguely read a hint of “if you need help, just say so” in his expression.

She couldn’t help but think that this general had a bit of a Persian cat’s personality.

With a graceful smile, she said, “Thank you, General.”

Feng Shuo was slightly dazzled by her smile and turned his face away awkwardly.

Just as Jiang Yanyi stood up, she suddenly heard him say, “Be careful.”

She looked up and almost bumped her head on the counter edge.

Fortunately, Feng Shuo reached out just in time to block her.

The counter was a bit low, and Jiang Yanyi had bumped her head on it several times while crouching to place things there in the past few days.

Each time it hurt so much she grimaced, but she still didn’t learn her lesson for the next time.

This time, her head bumped against Feng Shuo’s broad palm, which didn’t hurt.

Their eyes met, and his elongated, phoenix-like eyes drooped slightly, shimmering with an unfathomable light.

She looked up at him, her own autumn-water-like eyes filled with confusion.

The dark sleeves of his robe hung down, and Jiang Yanyi could smell a clean scent of soap.

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere grew somewhat subtly ambiguous.

Jiang Yanyi was the first to come back to her senses.

She thanked him and prepared to stand up, but Feng Shuo pressed down on her shoulder with his other hand.

Jiang Yanyi froze in that position, her expression growing more confused: “General?”

Feng Shuo gazed at her intently, his phoenix eyes deep and unfathomable.

His throat moved, as if he had to muster tremendous courage to ask this question: “What do you think of me?”

Jiang Yanyi felt a bit dazed.

The hand on her shoulder was applying a bit of pressure, and it seemed to have a hint of a bloody smell?

She tilted her head and indeed discovered that there were traces of blood on Feng Shuo’s hand.

She exclaimed, “Your hand is bleeding!”

Had he reopened an old wound while moving the jar of pickled vegetables?

However, Feng Shuo paid no mind to it. With one hand still on her shoulder, his expression bore a hint of obsession as he continued to ask her, “In your view, how am I?”

She couldn’t understand his hint, so it seemed better to ask directly.

Jiang Yanyi was dazed for a moment but finally realized that Feng Shuo’s persistent questioning was likely due to a broken heart, seeking validation.

She quickly said, “I think you’re great, General! You’re talented in both literature and martial arts, courageous and wise, benevolent and virtuous, full of wisdom, brave in battle, and care for your soldiers like your own children…”

She stuttered for a moment, really struggling to come up with more good words, and added, “You’re simply a super good person!”

Feng Shuo had joined the military at fifteen, and the people he interacted with were all rough men.

He had learned about the dynamics between men and women mostly from the crude remarks of the soldiers.

What impressed him the most was when one of his subordinates married a reformed courtesan.

When asked why she married such a rough man, the courtesan shyly replied, “The general is a good person.”

To him, saying someone was a good person meant liking them.

Hearing Jiang Yanyi say he was a super good person, did that not mean she super liked him?

Feng Shuo’s clouded eyes finally sparkled with a glimmer of light, and his ears turned red.

He seemed a bit unsure, asking, “Really?”

Seeing how wounded he was, Jiang Yanyi suddenly felt a bit sympathetic toward this general.

She nodded vigorously, “Really.”

Then, glancing at his hand still resting on her shoulder, she cautiously said, “Um… can I get up now?”

She had been crouching for a while, and her legs were starting to feel numb.

Hearing this, Feng Shuo recoiled as if he had been scalded, withdrawing his hand that had been resting on Jiang Yanyi’s shoulder.

He didn’t look directly into her eyes but often glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, his beautiful gaze filled with light.

Jiang Yanyi stood up, supporting herself on the desk, but her legs were numb, and she staggered a bit, only to be caught by Feng Shuo who held her arm.

He suddenly drew so close that Jiang Yanyi felt particularly uncomfortable and quickly stepped aside: “Thank you.”

Feng Shuo’s ears were gradually turning red, spreading down to his neck.

He coughed lightly: “In the future, there’s no need to thank me.”

Jiang Yanyi found his words a bit strange, but then he added: “If you need to move the pickled vegetable jar, come to me next door.”

Moving a pickled vegetable jar and then running next door to ask this great general for help? Jiang Yanyi, still not feeling sleepy in the daytime, found it hard to entertain such daydreams.

She took Feng Shuo’s words as mere politeness, but when she looked at her shoulder and saw the bloodstains, her brows instinctively knitted together.

The fabric was somewhat thick, and in this time without washing machines, it was quite troublesome to wash a thick piece of clothing by hand.

Feng Shuo noticed and immediately said, “I’ll buy you a new one.”

Jiang Yanyi quickly waved her hands: “No, no, I can wash it and wear it again.”

She glanced at Feng Shuo’s injured hand, which was bloodied and mangled, looking extremely painful.

Realizing that it was a wound caused while helping her move things, a sudden surge of guilt arose within her.

She pointed at Feng Shuo’s hand, hesitating to speak: “How about… I bandage it for you?”

Although this great general wouldn’t likely demand medical expenses from her, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who would take such a “minor injury” lightly.

These ancient people had no idea about the dangers of tetanus.

The shadow tetanus cast on Jiang Yanyi wasn’t from her previous life but from a drama she had earnestly followed in her past life.

In it, the male supporting character was perfect in every way—simply a gentle and dominant figure.

Unfortunately, the scriptwriter killed him off, and his cause of death was an infection from a small wound!

Jiang Yanyi had almost been furious on the spot; he was like a tyrant in the world!

Dying from tetanus?

Was it possible to be more humiliating than that?

Now, seeing the wound on Feng Shuo’s hand, she feared that this great general had also met his end from tetanus in the original book.

After all, this great general never appeared in the original story, only existing in the words of others.

It was only mentioned later in the book that “the Prince of Liaonan died,” but how he died wasn’t recorded, leaving Jiang Yanyi in the dark.

Feng Shuo was completely unaware that he had already been marked for death by tetanus in Jiang Yanyi’s mind; he simply felt that the little cook was concerned about him.

He curled his lips into a smile and said, “Alright.”

The medicinal herbs and bandages had already been bought the day after Jiang Yanyi settled here.

Having the conditions to prepare a “first aid kit” was a habit Jiang Yanyi had developed in her previous life, though back then, she stocked up mostly on cold medicine and digestive tablets.

Jiang Yanyi led Feng Shuo to sit down in the courtyard outside, cleaning his wound, applying some hemostatic powder, and bandaging it as she chattered: “Life is full of disappointments, but as long as we’re alive, everything is still possible.”

She was indirectly comforting him, suggesting that even if he was hurt by the girl he admired, there was no need to mistreat himself like this.

Feng Shuo, however, thought she was referring to his mother.

The Grand Empress Dowager’s illness wasn’t exactly a secret, and remembering her condition made his previously light mood grow heavier.

He said, “It’s painful to have a loved one in the world but not be able to recognize them, isn’t it?”

Jiang Yanyi’s hand froze mid-knot, her heart skipping a beat.

Did he… know her identity?

When did he find out?

Could it be that Lu Linyuan, that little brat, spilled the beans?

Jiang Yanyi’s heart raced like a drum.

She glanced at Feng Shuo and found him calm, seemingly unperturbed by her deception.

Just moments ago, he had kindly helped her move the pickled vegetable jar.

Feeling slightly relieved, she slowly replied, “It is indeed painful, but there’s no other way now. However, I believe there will be light after the darkness.”

“Light after the darkness…” Feng Shuo murmured these four words, then suddenly broke into a loud smile: “What a wonderful phrase!”

Jiang Yanyi felt a chill run down her spine from his laughter.

Just as she was about to explain that she had deceived him out of necessity, Feng Shuo shouted, “Bring me some wine!”

There’s a saying: “When drinking, one should sing; how short is life! Like morning dew, the days are filled with bitterness.”

In the past, when Feng Shuo wanted to drink due to frustration, today, however, he wanted to drink out of joy.

After he shouted, Jiang Yanyi stood frozen in place, stammering, “The small shop… hasn’t prepared any thin wine yet.”

Feeling like she had been caught in a trap, Jiang Yanyi felt like a cat with its neck pinched, finding herself looking timid.

Feng Shuo noticed her change and couldn’t understand where he had frightened the little cook.

After thinking for a moment, he felt that perhaps she was afraid he would indulge in drunken revelry.

He cleared his throat: “It’s fine; I don’t drink often either.”

This conversation was getting increasingly strange.

Jiang Yanyi felt something was off but, overwhelmed by the panic of her identity being exposed, she didn’t dwell on the oddity.

Seeing that Feng Shuo didn’t seem inclined to blame her, she mustered her courage to ask, “You don’t hold it against me?”