“I am beautiful and young. I am unmarried. I can read and write, and I play the musical instrument and play chess. I can ride and shoot as well as men. I can say I am good at both the pen and sword!” Ou Qinglan stared at the lake not far away and whispered, “There are few men with my talent, not to mention women… What’s more, I love you so dearly!”

“So why do you reject me? What does your ideal wife look like? Tell me. I can do it.”

Qiu Jinglan smiled, “Miss Ou, if it is not our destiny to get together, you can’t force me to accept you. Besides, you don’t have to wrong yourself. There exist lots of excellent guys who expect to be your destiny, I guess.”

“I don’t believe that you want to marry an ugly, old, married, illiterate, clueless, and weak wife.” Ou Qinglan ignored his interruption and still looked at the lake, carefully continuing. “Qizheng told me that you attracted many young women in the past, all of whom were beautiful and talented. Although I have only seen Penglai Yue and Hua Shenshen, I am not worse than them. Why are they allowed to be in a relationship with you? And why do you reject me?”

“Though they are sincere to you, I am the only one who came from the distance to find you. What’s wrong with me that you’re avoiding me just like getting rid of a snake?”

She looked at Qiu Jinglan, “I had thought about it for a long period. And finally, I figured out the reason. It is because I am Jingbo’s daughter. Because I am the girl who my fourth uncle treated me like his own daughter. Because I am the pearl of the Northern Army. You doubt that the reason why I like you is that I am instigated by my uncle, my father, or my brother!”

Qiu Jinglan frowned and then he smiled, “I am curious, indeed. Even though your ancestral home is in Beijiang and your family tradition is influenced by Beijiang’s folk customs, Miss Ou is a woman after all! In the beginning, when you left Jing City, Jingbo’s Mansion still could excuse that they were negligent. But later, the Eighth Young Master Jiang Yadan caught up with you and he decided to follow you, which was incredible… Do you think that under Chunfu Princess’s cover, it will be taken for granted?”

“If my sister dared to do so, I would give up everything and bring her home to punish her according to the family law!”

He looked calmly at Ou Qinglan. “You can say it was because your father and brother were so furious that they left you alone, which can prove that you are not crucial to them. If so, I will gain little advantages after marrying you.”

“When Jiang Yadan led people to catch up with us, do you believe that he didn’t want to send me back to Jing City?” The night wind was cold before the snow melted. Ou Qinglan was wearing only a thin coat. She just stood at the bank of the lake for a few moments while she was feeling so cold. However, at that moment, her heart was broken as well. She managed to contain herself and said in a quavering voice, “It was I who fought with all my strength against a dozen of his security guards and told him that if he insisted on sending me back to Jing City, I would still come to Shazhou alone when the escorts were negligent on the way! Qizheng also said she would rather go with me. At least we had some company. Otherwise, something terrible might happen. That was why he said yes!”

“And I don’t think you should compare Ningyi with me. Ningyi doesn’t like Yashuang as much as I like you!” Ou Qinglan said calmly, “And you should not doubt my father and my brother. My father is far away in Beijiang, which is beyond my reach! My brother’s martial arts are not nearly as good as mine and so I don’t care about his opinion! He can’t do anything to me even if he comes!”

“You can’t judge that my father and brother do not love me because they did not prevent me from coming to you at the expense of my fame. It is wrong! If they didn’t love me, they would have kicked me out a long time ago!”

Ou Qinglan took a deep breath and looked at the self-possessed Qiu Jinglan. “As for doing this under their orders… In that year, when Empress Dowager was still the empress, I went to the Ruan Family with Ningyi on the Her Majesty’s birthday. It was the first time that I met you… Back then, who could expect that you would be running the Western Army? Why would my father and brother frame you when you were still a kid?”

“At the very least…”

“Even if I get close to you under their orders, are you afraid?”

Her provocations did not influence Qiu Jinglan. He said calmly, “Why not? I’m too busy with military affairs now. And I’m not married! If I marry a wife who is always against me, I will have much more to worry about. Indeed, Miss Han is not as good as you, but at least such a typical gentlewoman’s manner and her grandfather’s support will make me feel a lot easier, won’t it?”

“Her appearance is very ordinary and she is not outstanding. What can she help you except taking care of your daily life?” Ou Qinglan lowered her head to blink away the tears on her eyelashes and said thoughtfully, “But I can accompany you to defend the enemy border, and I can plan the piano and the panpipe with you. I don’t know much about politics, but I can learn it! And I’m willing to learn it for you. Miss Han isn’t good enough. Even if she doesn’t want to be bad, who knows if she won’t do bad things with good intentions?”

“So, you will not do the same, will you?”

“But my family is better off!” Ou Qinglan pursed her lips, “She and her family can only rely on you. My family and I can help each other with you. So, whoever sets you up will set her up even more! But anyone who does anything to you needs to worry about me! You think my family is not powerful enough to touch you. You don’t marry me. How do you know what we have?”

Qiu Jinglan laughed, “Well, Miss Ou, you are indeed a noble lady! But have you thought that your family is so good that I may not be able to bear it? You also know those several ridiculous years when I had mistresses all over the country! If I marry Miss Han and I ask them to be my mistresses in my house, I think Miss Han will most likely agree with me. And she can’t refuse me. But will you refuse, Miss Ou?”

His smile was elegant but malicious, “If you agree, I will stop talking about the marriage with the Han Family. Tomorrow I will ask my subordinates to send the hairpin, which my grandmother gave me, to you as a token of affection!”

“…” Ou Qinglan’s expression became rigid instantly.

The night wind moaned as the moon was dark and the stars were thin. In the dead silence of the bank of the lake, she seemed to hear her own heartbreaking.

She fell in love with him at first sight on Her Majesty’s birthday. Her heart was full of longing as she kept waiting for him. She took the courage to put aside the fame to find him and came from the distance to meet him. Her inward panic and despair when she was insulted by Kuang Qingwu, the difficulty she handled after escaping, the surprise when she saw him, the decisiveness when she was about to kill Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing…

Those memories flashed in her mind. For the man in front of her, she poured out all her strength and radiance!

Before she met him, she didn’t expect that she could do so.

Even if she heard about his proposal to Miss Han and Jiang Qizheng tried to persuade her to let him go, she still believed that she had a chance. She thought that she could touch him with her talents, appearance, and sincerity. She felt she was able to open the door to true love.

However, what about now?

He finally made a promise to her. But the price was to share with other women.

“You are cruel enough to drive me to despair!” Ou Qinglan stared at Qiu Jinglan.

In the moonlight, he looked so gentle as if he was in her dream.

He stood there quietly and deliberately. His eyesight was flat and distant. His heart seemed to be at peace.

“If I refuse him, I will never make it, probably.” The thought was stopped over and over again and then it appeared over and over again. “He is so cruel after all. He just wants me to give up!”

“Or should I agree right now?” She had an inspired thought, “After we get married, nobody will have the chance to share with me!”

She turned to look at Qiu Jinglan again. The night wind blew, his clothes flying as if he was ready to take the wind away. This was the man she had risked everything to pursue and her courage and strength were inexhaustible when she just thought of him!

So, if she could be with him, even if she acted shamelessly for once, did it matter?

Her heart began to warm.

Qiu Jinglan looked at her when she was gazing at him. He smiled, “Miss Ou, can you agree?” At that moment, he was giddy and indifferent. But his tone was gentle as if they were in love, and the wind seemed to be warmed by his words.

Ou Qinglan gazed at him greedily. She was hesitant. She was wondering that she should follow her heart to refuse or lie to realize her intention.

A few moments later, she said in a low and choked but decisive voice, “No. I refuse!”

“Aunt Zhuang, your sister’s mother-in-law, taught me when I was a little kid that a couple should be a unit. If so, why can there exist those mistresses? I will not promise you to have mistresses. I want to be your wife who will be close and intimate to you. Not just the general steward of your lovers!”

She couldn’t lie to him, even if she had to pay the price of losing him!

Qiu Jinglan said cozily, “So if we don’t get married, you will benefit. Do you think such a dissolute guy like me will be willing to have a lover the whole life?”

“But you don’t even have a mistress now!” Ou Qinglan blinked over and over again to stop her tears. The ground in front of her was already wet. But the tear stains remained on her face. “Before I appeared, you fell in love with nobody! After I showed up, you wanted to be together with them. Why? Do you want to take them as excuses to refuse me?”

Qiu Jinglan smiled, “I wish I could marry a lady from a noble family. But I can’t stop myself from going to the brothel. So, I cannot give them any promise. Otherwise, their families will not marry me.”

“You should have asked them to marry you before I appeared!” Ou Qinglan sobbed for a while. And then she said calmly, “When you want to marry a lady from a noble family, you can drive those mistresses away to show your sincerity. So, what you said are excuses! No matter how you will think, I want to be your wife. And I will never allow my husband to have any mistress!”

“And then I have no choice but to make a concession!” Qiu Jinglan sighed, “But Miss Ou, why do you think I will agree with you? When I had no fame or official rank, I was still loose. Now I am paramount and powerful and it is more reasonable for me to enjoy the romance… Now you want me to give it up for you. Don’t you think you push me too hard?”

Ou Qinglan bit her lip hard. She didn’t stop until the smell of blood appeared. She said slowly and clearly, “I am willing to die for you. I am willing to do everything for you except help you get mistresses. Maybe you will not marry me because of that. If so, I will be so sad. And I may never get married anymore!”

“But I still can’t accept that you have any mistresses!”

“I can’t share you with anyone else!”

She gazed at the guy several meters away from her with a pair of misty eyes. He was so handsome and elegant that he looked like a guest from the moon. But his indifference was also like the moon in this night. So, did she lose him forever?

…After a while, just as Ou Qinglan was about to turn around and leave, suddenly her shoulder fell and the robe with a man’s breath and body temperature wrapped her abruptly.

“Tomorrow, I will ask Ruan Yi to send you the hairpin.” Not far away, Qiu Jinglan smiled with peace. But there was no deliberate estrangement in his voice. “It is said that the hairpin was given to my mother by my grandmother. When I left my home, it was too late for me to bring it. My sister shared hers with me later.”

When he saw Ou Qinglan gazing at him, he smiled, “Are you surprised?”

Ou Qinglan nodded simple-mindedly.

“It is late. I want to go home. If you cannot figure out…” Qiu Jinglan showed a faint smile to her, “Why don’t you ask Chunfu Princess? She is so smart that she must be able to know what I mean!”

…After Qiu Jinglan’s figure disappeared from the other side of the serpentine bridge, Ou Qinglan was just waking from a dream. She jumped ecstatically and then held the robe tightly. She bore not to let it slide to the ground, “Oh my god! God! God!”

“He unexpectedly…”

“I know I can move him!”

“No, no. Wait! What does he mean? What is it? I don’t understand… He said I could ask Qizheng!”

“Yes. Qizheng! Where is she? I want to meet her right now!”

She twirled her pomegranate-red skirt as beautiful flowers seemed to open one after another on the corridor, which even couldn’t be covered by the night. She ran to Jiang Qizheng’s place. “Qizheng! Qizheng! Wake up! Don’t sleep anymore! I have something urgent to ask you!”