Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Xiaoluolan opened her eyes and gazed at the familiar ceiling, silently counting the days until the return of the Snow Eagle. She wondered if her daughter had received her letter. Although it was autumn, she felt that this ancient autumn was much colder than the ones in her time.

She had spent most of her life in Jiangcheng and had never been to the northern regions, only witnessing northern ice sculpture festivals on television, with their snowy landscapes and fluttering snowflakes. She wondered if winter in Youzhou was similar.

She remembered Lord Zhou saying that the northern part of Youzhou was bitterly cold, especially beyond the Great Wall. She hoped the war would end soon so they could return to Langge.

Lost in her thoughts, Xiaoluolan turned over, planning to sleep a bit more. Her long eyelashes fluttered in surprise to find Lord Zhou still there. Usually, he would have left by the time she woke up, which explained the warmth in the bed.

Seeing that Lord Zhou seemed to be sleeping, she reached out to touch his forehead to make sure he was alright. Finding no fever, she relaxed, guessing he must be tired.

Zhou Xu caught her hand and kissed it gently, his eyes lazy and content.

"Don’t you have to be busy today?" Xiaoluolan asked, noticing the slight daylight peeking through the tent's curtain.

"Everything was arranged last night. Old General Shi and my younger brother are handling things outside. Everyone in the mountains won't escape. I took the opportunity to be lazy today and sleep in with my wife," Zhou Xu said, caressing her back through the thin garment.

Xiaoluolan chided him slightly with a frown for his playful tone, thinking it unnecessary for him to accompany her like a child needing someone for sleep.

Zhou Xu chuckled softly, enjoying a rare moment of leisure. "It’s still early, my lady can sleep a bit more."

Xiaoluolan closed her eyes again, but her sleepiness had vanished.

"Can't sleep?" Zhou Xu gently stroked his wife's face, admiring her long, ink-black hair spread across the pillow, her eyelashes fluttering slightly, and her faint fragrance soothing to the soul.

Xiaoluolan, wary of him getting too bold, softly reminded him, "It's already daylight." The sun was rising, and they were in a military camp, which made her feel shy and anxious about the possibility of being seen. Surprisingly, Zhou Xu really behaved and remained calm. Xiaoluolan looked up at him and found him gazing down at her.

In the dim candlelight, Zhou Xu's eyes held a depth of emotion Xiaoluolan couldn't decipher. His usually narrow eyes, stern and cold like a blade when not smiling, often conveyed the authority of someone who could decide life and death. Xiaoluolan had only seen his gentle or unsmiling demeanor a few times, a gaze of a high-ranking figure, cruel and unfeeling.

Yet, when he looked at her, his eyes were filled mostly with warmth.

Zhou Xu held her close, basking in the fragrance that seemed to emanate from her being. The scent was not from any perfume, leading him to sometimes believe it was a natural fragrance of her body.

It reminded him of the poetic description of a woman's beauty – skin as smooth as ice and jade, naturally fragrant, perhaps precisely like this.

In the dimly lit tent, her fair skin seemed to glow, soft and smooth as silk, her eyes slowly brimming with tender emotion.

Xiaoluolan frowned slightly, signaling Zhou Xu to keep his hands in check, her cheeks blushing lightly as she exhaled softly.

Zhou Xu chuckled lowly, burying his face in her neck. The sound of rain outside, pattering on the tent, added a layer of tranquility to the moment.

"What was my lady like before?"

Xiaoluolan's eyes widened slightly, instinctively tensing up.

"I just want to know more about your past life. After all, we've been married for so long. You know everything about me, and I want to understand your past," Zhou Xu said gently, his voice deep and slightly hoarse, as the soft rain outside continued. In their small tent, it felt like a world belonging only to them.

The chill of the autumn rain outside contrasted with the warmth from the small stove in the tent. Xiaoluolan felt comforted and settled by the atmosphere. Closing her eyes, she reminisced about her past life, speaking softly and wistfully.

"Nothing special, really. Qingxue often went away for studies," she began, pausing to glance at Zhou Xu, who showed no particular reaction, so she continued, "She only came home during breaks. Normally, I lived alone."

Zhou Xu, stroking his wife's long hair, paused and asked, "If you were living alone, without servants or attendants, what would you do if you encountered displaced people?"

"The place where I live has security guards who patrol day and night," Xiao Luolan recalled her and her daughter's neighborhood, which was very harmonious. The property management was good, often giving gifts to residents during festivals. Thinking about her previous life and comparing it to the chaos here, it felt like a world apart: "And my place is very safe, unlike here."

Hearing the term 'security', Zhou Xu guessed it must mean guards. Knowing that there were protectors around her home, he felt somewhat relieved, despite knowing he couldn't return to the past. He was puzzled about what place in Da Chu could be so safe.

With unrest outside and continuous disasters and calamities in the past years, only recently had things improved. In Youzhou, many had starved to death in earlier years. He had to resort to taking food from the slightly surplus regions nearby under the guise of visits.

He knew those who disliked his blatant food requisitioning in the early years privately called him Zhou Manzi or You Manzi.

'Barbarian' – a term for those uncouth and rude, but what choice did he have then? When people can't feed themselves, bandits and robbers rise. They easily become local threats. Zhou Xu didn't want to massacre the starving people of Youzhou, so he resorted to seizing food wherever he could, disregarding his dignity. As a man of noble origin, he never had the pretensions of the scholarly class anyway.

Zhou Xu knew his wife had no need to lie about this; she had no reason to. From the moment he first saw her, he knew she was not a commoner. During bad years, commoners and refugees looked almost the same, skin and bones, barely different from a dry corpse.

With her appearance and figure, Zhou Xu could only think she must have been raised by a top-ranking family.

Her skin like snow satin, flawless; her teeth pearly white; her hair thick and black; her face as beautiful as a flower, and a kindness and gentleness that only a life of utmost comfort could nurture, treating others with respect.

Women pursuing education was not unheard of, but it was a privilege of the upper class. As she mentioned, frequent learning required connections. Some scholars were biased, teaching only males. For women, acquiring education was even harder.

Zhou Xu pondered over the famous women of Da Chu but couldn't match any with his daughter's description.

Xiao Luolan's homesickness was stirred. She reminisced about the modern world, her and her daughter's stable and modestly wealthy life. It was uneventful, yet she was utterly content.

"I also had a shop. After finishing work there, I would read some books and then go to the nearby market to buy fruits. Our market had everything, very convenient," Xiao Luolan briefly described her life, seeing Zhou Xu listening attentively like a faithful audience, she shared a bit more about trivial matters.

The sound of rain grew louder. The bed was warm and soft. Early awake, Xiao Luolan talked for a while and gradually fell asleep.

Zhou Xu looked down at his sleeping wife, her cheeks flushed with warmth, appearing extremely delicate and lovely.

After a while, Zhou Xu silently got out of bed, carefully tucked in the blanket, lowered the bed curtain, and quietly finished washing and dressing before stepping out of the tent.

Outside.

There were already many captured members of the Bonulwugu tribe who had attempted to flee. They were tied up together, their mouths stuffed with dirty cloth, kneeling on the ground.

In the drizzling rain, several decapitated heads lay on the muddy ground, with blood flowing into a small ditch alongside the rainwater. Dozens of trembling Sijie tribesmen who had surrendered knelt in the distance.

Seated in a high chair, Zhou Xu listened as Zhou Xuan whispered, "The leader of the Bonulwugu this time was Dodagula, and Dazi led the Sijie tribe. Both were killed last night by Toba Amu. They had a thousand men and had prepared rolling logs for an ambush on Niujiao Mountain."

"All the exits in the mountains are guarded by our men, ensuring no one escapes."

Zhou Xu, caressing the cold, intricately designed handle of his golden whip, hummed in response and then said, "Dodagula was known for his cautious tactics. This afternoon, let the Sijie tribesmen guide our captives to destroy the ambush materials, then create some noise to force the remaining Bonulwugu to come out."

This plan aligned with what was discussed the previous night, and the assembled generals acknowledged their understanding.

"Those captured in the mountains should be executed," Zhou Xu stated. Trained soldiers were different from ordinary people. While he might spare the Sijie tribesmen, he planned to leave no survivors from the Bonulwugu army, eliminating potential threats by not sparing a single life.

"Understood," the generals responded.

Zhou Xu entered the military tent and sat at the head, pondering over the map spread on the table.

Cui Shizi entered, coughed to announce his presence, but seeing no response from his lord, he sat down and poured himself a cup of hot tea.

After a while, Zhou Xu looked up at him and asked, "Wenruo, do you think there is a country in this world where everyone can have enough to eat?"

"A market where everything is available, rice as rich as oil, every household with surplus grain, lychees worth a fortune available everywhere, and rare sea fish still fresh. People living without worries about food and clothing."

Cui Shizi set down his teacup and after a long silence, chuckled, "Please forgive my limited knowledge, my lord."

His smile gradually faded, and he muttered, "Such a country must be a land of immortals."

Merely being able to feed the majority is already considered a glorious era to be remembered through the ages, worthy of being recorded in history and revered by countless generations. Let alone the more fantastical aspects that seem like tales from a distant land.

"Does Your Highness believe such a country exists?" Cui Shizi asked.

Zhou Xu chuckled, "Perhaps it does."

Yet, he knew it was something he could not achieve, even if he were fortunate enough to fulfill his desires in the future. He could never create the kind of prosperous era that his wife came from.

A land of immortals?

Gazing at the blood stains in the distance, Zhou Xu kept his darkest thoughts to himself. Even if it meant defying celestial beings, he was determined to keep her with him.

They were destined to be together, life after life.

Never to be parted.