I didn’t dare move any closer, afraid of disturbing this man who looked like an immortal descended to earth.
Xiao Hezhong’s lashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.
He glanced at my hand, which I hadn’t pulled back in time, and looked startled. Then the corners of his eyes curved into a smile. He even dipped his head slightly, bringing the space between his brows closer to my fingertip until it touched.
I sat there, dazed, feeling the warmth pass through my fingertip. My face was calm as still water, but inside, I was already in turmoil.
I sat up, bracing both hands beside him, and leaned closer, boldly studying his face for the first time.
When I leaned closer, a glint flashed in Xiao Hezhong’s eyes. He smiled faintly. “Why are you looking at me as if you’ve never seen me before, Lord Marquis?”
I nodded. “It’s true that I’ve never really looked at you before.”
Xiao Hezhong braced a hand on the low couch and leaned over, shifting into a position that made it easier for me to see him. He raised an eyebrow slightly and asked in confusion, “Why?”
I looked at him and answered seriously, “I was afraid you’d kick me in the face…”
“Lord Marquis, we’ve reached the palace gates. If you don’t go in now, people will say you’re showing disrespect to His Majesty,” the young servant at the door reminded me.
I got up from beside Xiao Hezhong and said, “Wait for me in the carriage. I’ll be right back.”
Xiao Hezhong stayed just as he was, not moving an inch. Amusement lingered in his eyes as he nodded gently in agreement.
After getting what I needed from the old emperor, I couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. I strode toward the palace gates.
Halfway there, I ran into Tống Liễu, the daughter of Chancellor Tống.
I didn’t even look at her as I passed. A faint fragrance drifted by, and she stumbled, falling into my arms.
I caught her instinctively, but Xiao Hezhong’s smiling face suddenly appeared in my mind. So frightened that I simply dropped Tống Liễu to the ground.
Tống Liễu fell to the ground and began to sob.
“Why is Young Lord Ôn so heartless?”
Seeing the tears on her face gave me a terrible headache.
Thinking of Xiao Hezhong waiting for me, I walked right around her and started spouting nonsense.
“I’m blind. I didn’t see a thing. If you want to throw yourself at someone, find somebody with better eyesight.”
With that, I ran off.
By the time I climbed into the carriage, I was panting.
Xiao Hezhong patted my back and asked, puzzled, “Why the rush? Is a wolf chasing you?”
I nodded, then shook my head.
Tống Liễu wasn’t a wolf. She was much scarier than one.
I handed him the document in my hand.
“The old emperor just wrote up this patent of nobility. The ink’s still warm.”
A look of surprise crossed Xiao Hezhong’s eyes. He’d thought that when I said I’d ask for a patent of nobility for him, I was just paying lip service.
“A first-rank patent of nobility. Even if I die in battle on the frontier someday, this title will still keep you safe for the rest of your life.”
Xiao Hezhong gripped the imperial edict tightly, his face stiffening for a moment.
“Lord Marquis, please don’t say things like that.”
I was used to life and death. On the battlefield, death could come in an instant. To me, it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
I sat up straight, feeling there were some things I should tell him. “As long as Đại Đan survives, the Đại Yến frontier will never be at peace. In another month, I’ll lead the troops back to the frontier.”
I’d only returned this time because of the marriage. Now that everything was settled, it was time for me to go back and guard my own post at Bắc Quan.
The wheels rolled over the flagstones, rumbling as they went.
The red agate pendant at Xiao Hezhong’s ear swayed, reflecting a sparkling glimmer of light.
His eyes and brows were gentle as he said softly, “I’ll go with you, Lord Marquis.”
I thought it over. If I left Xiao Hezhong alone in the capital, the Xiao family would probably make things difficult for him behind my back. Besides, if his identity were discovered, no matter how many heads he had, it wouldn’t be enough to save him.
Going to Bắc Quan might be hard on him, but at least he’d be on my home ground. I could keep him alive, and no one would make him angry.
“All right. Come with me. I’ll feel better if I can keep you where I can see you.”
4
By the time I got home, dusk was approaching. Before my father could say a word, I gathered up my robe and headed to the ancestral hall.
The cushion in the center had two deep hollows worn into it from all the years I’d spent kneeling there.
I looked at the spirit tablets on the altar, which had been with me throughout my childhood, and lit three sticks of incense for them.
The first time I knelt in the ancestral hall as a child was because I’d poured ink into the teapot, turning my father’s teeth black for three days.
I was little then and terribly afraid, always worried that ghosts would come to haunt me.
After kneeling there so many times, I stopped being afraid.
I knew that only those who defended their country and fought to the death on the battlefield were worthy of a place on this altar—a whole room filled with loyal souls.
How could they possibly harm me?
They would watch over me and make sure I returned safely from every campaign.
A clean, bamboo-like fragrance drifted past, and a tall, slender figure knelt beside me.
Xiao Hezhong had taken out his hairpin and changed into coarse cloth clothes.
He lit three sticks of incense, then solemnly bowed his head to the ground three times along with me.
I looked at the spirit tablets and spoke softly. “Since my great-great-grandfather’s time, the Ôn family has guarded the Đại Yến royal house for generations.”
I turned to look at Xiao Hezhong’s handsome face. “Do you know what my greatest wish is?”
Xiao Hezhong turned his head toward me, his gaze quiet as still water as he waited for me to continue.
“I want to guard Đại Yến’s frontier all my life. I want the people who live there to be spared the ravages of war.”
A light breeze stirred the spirit banners. The room was utterly silent, yet somehow it felt as if it were roaring.
I watched the pale smoke curling from the incense burner.
“If I can bring Đại Đan under our rule, then the realm will be united, future generations will live in peace, and there will be no more wars for a hundred generations.”
My voice trembled slightly. “Then no more members of the Ôn family will die on the battlefield.”
If another spirit tablet must be added to the altar, then carve my name on it.
“Chiếu Khanh.”
It was the first time Xiao Hezhong had called me by name. Something seemed to pierce my heart, filling it with aching sorrow.
“That day will come. It surely will. We’ll both live to see it.”
His voice was soft and gentle, yet utterly resolute.
I stared at him in a daze and murmured, “I’ve always felt that you… aren’t the same as before.”
Xiao Hezhong smiled faintly. “How am I different?”
I searched through the scant stock of words in my head but couldn’t come up with the right one.
I thought for a long while before finding a fitting way to describe it:
“It feels like, from now on, you won’t kick me in the face anymore.”
Xiao Hezhong chuckled softly. “How could I bear to hurt you, even a little?”
I asked curiously, “Why?”
He looked at me, tenderness filling the depths of his eyes:
“In my eyes, Lord Marquis, you’re not the same as before.”
I repeated his exact words back to him:
“How am I different?”
“Lord Marquis, have you ever heard of reading someone’s face to tell their fortune?”
I hadn’t just heard of it—I’d experienced it myself.
When I was little, my father was carrying me when he met a Daoist priest.
The priest gave my hand a light squeeze, then told my father:
“Your young master has an extraordinary constitution.”
My father cheerfully pulled fifty taels of silver from his robes.
The priest went on, “He’s sure to marry into a good family someday.”
Without a word, my father beat the priest up.
In the end, that fifty taels of silver went to compensate the man.
I blinked. “What, you know how to read faces too?”
I quietly hid my hand behind my back.
He nodded. “When Lord Marquis took my hand and led me out of the Xiao family’s home, I sensed it.”
My heart pounded, and I couldn’t help holding my breath.
“What did you sense?”
His lips parted slightly, a brilliant light appearing in his eyes:
“Lord Marquis has an extraordinary constitution…”
I watched his thin lips move and swallowed.
Xiao Hezhong paused, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth:
“You’re sure to achieve great things.”
I nearly choked on his words. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, and my heart dropped from my throat all the way to the soles of my feet, where it settled as firmly as could be.
Xiao Hezhong wasn’t very skilled at reading faces and telling fortunes.
I knelt until midnight, then fell asleep right there on my knees.
It was nothing difficult. Sometimes, after marching for three days without sleep, I could fall asleep standing up, then wake and start walking again.
But when I opened my eyes early the next morning, I was lying in the bed I hadn’t seen in so long.
I jolted, then felt my clothes and, once I was sure they hadn’t been touched, breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as I sat up, I saw Xiao Hezhong curled up on that low bed.
As if sensing me, the person on the bed slowly opened his eyes.
Xiao Hezhong propped himself halfway up. His long black hair slid into the open front of his robe, and his undershirt hung carelessly on him.
He smiled at me. “Did Lord Marquis sleep well?”
Perhaps he’d only just woken up. His voice was languid, its low, lingering notes curling around my ears and making my face flush.
I immediately burrowed under the covers.
I thought I finally understood what it meant to light the beacon fires and summon the feudal lords.
Just from Xiao Hezhong’s smile a moment ago, he could’ve lit the beacon fires—or set me on fire—and I’d have been perfectly happy.