HMHSE - 83

The fighting subsided, and Youzhou city returned to peace, with only the occasional sound of soldiers marching in unison on the streets.

It was just getting dark, and the official residence was brightly lit.

Zirui pushed open the door to the bathing room and looked back at the figure sitting in the Hu chair. Her heart finally felt at ease. “It’s good that Young Mistress is back. You fell asleep at the foot of the city wall when you first entered the city. You must be exhausted.”

“Hmm.” Shen Rong was half-sitting, half-leaning, her black hair loosely tied and slightly drooping.

In fact, she hadn’t expected to be that tired. She had fallen asleep without even realizing it after only saying a few words.

After she came back, she had some hot soup and a hot meal. She had just finished bathing and washing up and was feeling much more comfortable.

“Young Mistress was truly diligent. She even managed to stabilize the mountain during the war.” Zirui came over with a smile to help her, trying to keep the conversation light.

“It was a difficult battle. How can it be my credit? I could only stabilize the earth vein.” Shen Rong got up and went out. She remembered the blood-stained figure when he came back. She looked around once she was outside.

Zirui was sharp and knew what was going on. Just from the scene she had witnessed at the house below the city wall, she knew who Shen Rong was looking for. She curtsied and withdrew.

________________________________________

At the main gate of the official residence, Hu Shi Yi was being supported by Guangyuan, just about to enter.

His shoulder was so swollen that it was misshapen, and his outer garment was half on. He grimaced all the way.

The military camp had not yet recovered after being attacked. His old and new wounds had flared up during the battle, making them quite severe. Zhang Wei had followed Shan Zong’s order and sent him to the official residence to recuperate.

It wasn’t just him who came. There were also a few other people with unkempt hair whom he hadn’t expected.

They were a few of the most severely wounded prisoners. The soldiers from the mountains had brought them in. They had entered the official residence before him, their wounds were bandaged, but the chains on their hands and feet were still dragging.

Hu Shi Yi watched them walk away and whispered to Guangyuan, “Isn’t this amazing? I heard that they actually followed our chief and drove back the enemy! I was right. Those people who came out of the dungeon are like monsters! So many enemy soldiers, and only a few of them got hurt!”

Guangyuan looked around. The corridor was well-lit, so he could see them clearly. As he helped him walk, he whispered, “I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before.”

“What have you seen? You’ve only seen them in the mountains!” Hu Shi Yi retorted.

“I’ve never been deep into the mine...”

As they were talking, they reached the corridor and happened to run into Shan Zong. Hu Shi Yi quickly called out, “Chief!”

Shan Zong had just come out of the bathing room, and he stopped with a dampness about him. He was wearing a clean Hu-style garment, and his belt was casually fastened. He had washed off all the blood, but his face was still cold and stern.

Guangyuan had been worried and deliberately craned his neck to see that his lord did not seem to have suffered any serious injuries. He was relieved.

Hu Shi Yi walked closer, chuckling. “Chief, I heard you got married. Is it to Jin Jiaojiao?”

Shan Zong glanced at him. “Who else would it be?”

Hu Shi Yi smiled awkwardly. He had already guessed it, so he knew it was a foolish question.

Guangyuan, who was supporting him, had his eyes shining and his face full of joy. “Is it true? When did this happen? My lord and the noble lady have already...”

“What noble lady?” Shan Zong interrupted him.

He immediately corrected himself. “Right, right, it’s the madam, the madam!”

A smile finally appeared on Shan Zong’s lips. He suddenly noticed someone in the distance who seemed to be looking this way.

He turned his head and saw the woman’s slender figure flash past, hidden in the light as she walked through the corridor and into the inner courtyard’s main house.

He glanced at Hu Shi Yi and tilted his head. “Aren’t you going to rest and recuperate?”

Guangyuan nudged Hu Shi Yi with his elbow and helped him walk away.

Shen Rong returned to the main house and placed a Zitan wooden box on the table. She carefully put the scrolls inside and stored them away. When she turned her head, she saw Shan Zong walking in.

He casually closed the door with one hand and came to her. “Did you hear that just now?”

Shen Rong glanced at him. “Hmm, I heard.”

Shan Zong lowered his head slightly, looking at her black hair that was tied up like a cloud. “Since I spoke to the heavens and the earth and the mountains back there, I have to own up to it.”

Shen Rong immediately raised her head and arched her brows, wanting to call him cunning. But she remembered that they were at a critical point between life and death. It wasn’t easy for him to come back safe and sound. Her lips moved, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words to his face. She just stared at him.

Shan Zong met her gaze and quirked the corner of his mouth. It was rare for her not to be stubborn at a time like this.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside. A soldier, not too close, reported through the door. “Chief, everyone is settled. Should we put their chains back on?”

Shan Zong’s smile disappeared, and he said in a low voice, “No need. There’s no need to chain them anymore.”

The soldier didn’t say another word and immediately left to carry out the order.

Shen Rong looked at his face. The scenes from the mountain were still vivid in her mind. She naturally knew he was talking about the prisoners.

“You hid it too well,” she said softly, pursing her lips. “Who would have thought that they were your Lulong Army?”

Shan Zong lowered his eyes and let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I wish they weren’t.”

Shen Rong heard his tone, which was light and airy, as if he were talking about a trivial matter, but it felt like a sharp jab to her heart.

She hadn’t thought much of using them for mining in the mountains. But now, she thought back to how they had almost died in the mud. If the last remaining members of the Lulong Army were gone, she wondered how he would have felt.

No wonder he always said they couldn’t escape.

She deliberately turned her head to fiddle with the Zitan wooden box, not looking at his face. “I know it’s a secret and you can’t say much, but I just want to know when the Lulong Army had its accident and why outsiders didn’t hear a single thing about it.”

There was no response. Shan Zong seemed to be silent for a moment, then he let out another laugh. “It was in the six months after you married me.”

Shen Rong couldn’t help but turn her head.

Shan Zong had a subtle smile on his lips as he looked at her. “After the ceremony, I received the transfer order. I took off my wedding clothes and left. I came to Youzhou at that time.”

Shen Rong’s heart was startled. She suddenly remembered many things and seemed to understand something. “And then?”

“And then?” Shan Zong just smiled. “And then you know everything.”

She did understand, but a trace of resentment and unwillingness emerged from the bottom of her heart. “So the divorce back then...”

Shan Zong’s face lowered in the light, then he raised it again and pursed his thin lips. “Hmm, I had to come to Youzhou.”

What was done was done, even if there was a reason for it. Looking back was pointless.

He suddenly remembered something. “I told you to remember to bring the divorce papers when you came back. Did you bring them?”

Shen Rong’s eyes shot up. That bit of resentment and unwillingness suddenly surged out.

Shan Zong looked at her expression. “You didn’t bring them?”

Her expression was neutral. She suddenly walked past him.

When Shan Zong turned around, she was coming from the dressing table, holding something in her hand that she threw at him.

He caught it with one hand.

“Take it,” Shen Rong said coldly.

The day she was leaving to take over for her brother, Zirui had asked her at the Duke of Zhao’s residence if she had thought of the Messenger Shan. She was touching the half-exposed white jade pendant with the character “Chong” on her sleeve and had vehemently denied it.

Afterwards, while packing her luggage, she found this from the bottom of a sealed box.

She had looked at the three words “Divorce Paper” for a long time and finally brought it with her.

Shan Zong looked down, opened it, and after scanning the flamboyant handwriting, he closed it.

“Hmm, it’s indeed my own handwriting.”

Shen Rong looked at him, subconsciously lifting her chin slightly. Her chest rose and fell slightly. Was he going to admire it now?

The next moment, she saw him tear it with a sharp pull, light it with the lamp, and throw it into the small tea stove on the table.

The flames shot up. Her eyes moved as she watched, and she looked at him from the corner of her eye. “What are you doing? What’s the point of burning it?”

Shan Zong looked at her. “At least you’ll know that this will never exist again.”

Shen Rong’s chest was still rising and falling. Thinking about the past, and now knowing the twists and turns, she couldn’t describe the feeling in her heart. She kept her face cold and insisted, “Who asked you for a guarantee? If it happens again, I’ll truly find someone a thousand times better than you to marry.”

Shan Zong’s face darkened slightly, and he leaned in closer. “You won’t find anyone.”

Shen Rong turned her head to avoid him. “I can find one if I want to.”

Shan Zong grabbed her, not letting her hide. “There are many people in this world who are better than me, but as long as I’m here, you can forget about it.”

“Why?”

“Because you are my wife,” Shan Zong said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her against the edge of the table.

Shen Rong’s lips were caught by his fierce kiss. She stumbled to the side of the bed and fell into his arms. His lips had already moved to her neck.

His hands were tightly gripping her waist. She pressed against his newly changed Hu-style garment, against the iron buckle of his belt.

His firm waist pressed against her, and her heart pounded rapidly.

Shan Zong raised his head from her neck. His whole body was tense, and his eyes were a deep, dark abyss. His voice was deep and hoarse. “My wife, I don’t want to hold back anymore.”

A deafening sound seemed to ring in Shen Rong’s ears. The hand on her waist was moving. The belt was undone, and then her body felt lighter.

But the part that was close to him became heavy. That seemingly casual change was hard and erect.

Then came a clang, the sound of his belt buckle being undone.

She reached out her fair arms in a bit of a panic and held his shoulders. In that instant, many scenes flashed before her eyes. She subconsciously said, “This is not what I dreamed of.”

A smile appeared in Shan Zong’s eyes as he kissed her lips repeatedly. “You dreamed of me?”

Shen Rong remembered the hazy dream with candlelight. Her bridal dress was torn, and she could never see the man’s face, only his broad shoulders, his heavy breathing, and his steady gasps. “No, that wasn’t you...”

Shan Zong’s eyes darkened. “Who was it if not me?”

Shen Rong let out a sudden, soft cry. She was picked up by him.

The light veil fell, followed by her skirt and the man’s Hu-style garment, all scattered on the floor, trailing to the foot of the bed.

Her breathing became more and more rapid. Shen Rong was gasping as she was pressed onto the bed. Her hand touched a firm body.

Shan Zong kissed her hard, grabbing her hand and pressing it to his chest.

Her breathing became even more rapid. As her hand moved down, her fingers traced the lines like ravines. The tips of her fingers were burning.

She couldn’t help but let out a low gasp and turned her head. In front of her, she saw a mottled, bruised area. His tattooed arm was propped up beside her, tensing into lines that looked like they were carved.

There was no such terrifying tattoo in her dream.

Suddenly, that mottled patch was on her body. The striking dark blue pattern held a patch of snow-white skin, moving up and down.

She raised her head in distress. The space between them felt like it was ignited, and it burned with a sharp pain.

That intimate closeness between a man and a woman was strange yet explicit. It was like a gentle stream, yet it could also be a fierce, direct torrent that washed over her.

Until that mottled patch was lifted in front of her eyes and stopped.

The man’s body from his arms to his shoulders was taut. His jaw was clenched, and his broad shoulders suddenly sank. Her waist arched. Her eyes widened, her lips parted. She was still for a moment, but made no sound, as if her heart had been heavily struck.

Shan Zong’s heavy breathing was by her ear, brushing against her earlobe, getting heavier and heavier. “Are you scared?”

Shen Rong couldn’t speak. Her hands, not to be outdone, moved and grabbed onto him tightly. She didn’t know where she was grabbing, but she put strength into it.

He grunted heavily, turned her face, and kissed her completely.

She still wouldn’t give in.

Suddenly, it was like a sudden storm.

When Shen Rong’s lips were finally released, her eyes were already hazy. The coiled dragon on his arm seemed to have come alive, its tail swaying and rising, bobbing and sinking.

She didn’t know how long it had been, and it seemed to be moving heavily in her eyes.

Her brows were sometimes tight and sometimes loose, as if she were in boiling water.

She had never thought a man could have such strength. Later, she was picked up by him again.

She couldn’t hear anything around her. Figures intertwined in the dim light.

His mottled arm held her tightly, and he seemed to have endless strength.

Shan Zong was heavy and strong. “Was it me?”

“I don’t know,” she murmured subconsciously. Her voice was immediately shattered by the impact.

Her whole body was in chaos. The dream would occasionally surface, only to be shattered by the reality in front of her.

In reality, his face was there, clear and profound, and fine beads of sweat were dripping from his nose as he pressed it against hers.

Shan Zong swallowed her stifled groan and laughed deeply by her ear. “It could only be me.”