Chapter Thirteen: An Impossible Relationship

That person’s icy gaze fixed on her for a long moment. She knelt on the ground, mouth agape, and from a distance, it looked as if she were begging for mercy. The one in the blue robe, who had been rescued, huddled on horseback and cautiously tugged at the edge of his cloak. “Let’s leave, quickly!” he urged.

The man gave a slight nod, his flickering eyes betraying hesitation—perhaps he was debating whether to silence her for good. At that very instant, a deep male voice echoed through the night sky: “Kaiming, Kaiming, are you here?” Kaiming jolted in shock. Su had found her.

The rider finally made up his mind and said coldly, “What you saw tonight must never be spoken of! Otherwise…” He cracked his whip meaningfully. Kaiming shivered, fully understanding the threat in his words.

Before she could respond, the red-maned horse tossed its head and galloped away with impressive might. From around the corner, a motionless black shadow suddenly stirred—a man in black slowly sat up, clutching his chest and steadying himself against the wall, soon disappearing into the darkness.

No sooner had he left than Su arrived. “Kaiming, what happened?” he exclaimed, looking with astonishment at the four scattered corpses. He rushed to support her, almost limp with fright. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine…” she replied weakly, pointing at the corpses. “These… these…”

“You’ve been frightened,” Su said, his tone practiced as he examined the bodies with a grave expression. “Strange…”

“What’s strange?” she asked, rubbing her throat, which felt parched and raw.

“They’re his men,” Su replied.

Kaiming’s curiosity was piqued. Su clearly knew something.

“Why did his men die here?” Su muttered to himself, his eyes falling upon the man in blue. He squatted beside the body. “The others all died from arrows through the throat, but this one… it was excessive blood loss from a blade wound…”

Before he could finish, the corpse suddenly stirred—fingers twitching, eyes rolling, staring fixedly at Su. Su stared back, startled. The corpse’s lips moved incessantly, as if trying to speak. Su boldly leaned in to listen, catching a few broken words.

Once the sentence was uttered, the man in blue’s head lolled to the side; he was dead at last. Su’s face changed dramatically at his words, and he stood frozen for a long while, unable to speak.

Suddenly, the sound of chaotic footsteps echoed from a distance, accompanied by shouts: “Over there!”

Su snapped back to himself, jumped up, and pulled the still-dazed Kaiming to her feet. “Quick, we must go. His men are coming to clean up!”

Naturally, no one answered her.

On the way back, Su didn’t utter a word, and Kaiming had no mind for conversation either—the two walked in silence all the way to the camp. The harrowing events had seemingly made them both forget the earlier embarrassment over the aphrodisiac incident.

They entered the training camp through the back gate and, with tacit understanding, split up. Kaiming headed for the dormitory. Just as she reached the door, Chunhua darted out and blocked her path, grinning mischievously. “Where have you been?”

“Just needed some air, went for a walk,” Kaiming replied listlessly, trying to sidestep her.

Chunhua shifted to block her again, smirking, “But I saw it!”

“Saw what?”

“You sneaked out with Su, and snuck back in. Is there something between you two? Eh?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“How about this: I won’t make a fuss about you and Su, and I won’t tell him you’re married, but,” Chunhua grinned slyly, “you have to let Xuan go to me.”

“All right,” Kaiming replied offhandedly, weary of her pestering.

“Are you serious? Not lying to me?” Chunhua was so delighted she could hardly believe her ears—Kaiming had actually agreed so readily. Kaiming pushed past her and went inside, with Chunhua trailing behind, still chattering: “You better keep your word! Only a scoundrel goes back on their promise!”

“Fine, fine.” Her mind was still reeling from the night’s ordeal; she hadn’t even had time to process it, let alone bother with Chunhua.

Slipping off her shoes, Kaiming flopped onto her back, staring blankly at the ceiling. The red-maned horse, the long cloak, the dying man in blue—these images filled her mind. There would be no sleep for her tonight.

Xiaoqiao, as usual, sat quietly reading by the ever-burning oil lamp. Chunhua and the others fell asleep quickly, and soon the room was filled with thunderous snores. Kaiming frowned—how did these women have such lung capacity?

A cool voice came from across the room: “Don’t get any foolish ideas. Su isn’t someone you can simply have if you want.”

“What do you mean?” Her thoughts interrupted, Kaiming felt a sudden mischievous curiosity. Could Xiaoqiao really know Su’s background?

Xiaoqiao turned a page, eyes fixed on her book. “Don’t you know what kind of status a captain needs to have?”

Kaiming tilted her head, considering. True, even as strong as Chunhua was, she could only be a vice-captain, while Xiaoqiao had been appointed captain purely due to her distinguished background. So, was Su captain because of his family as well?

“Su’s father is a civil official in the Purple Palace, just like my cousin’s father—a man of high rank. He wouldn’t approve of you associating with Su.” Xiaoqiao turned another page and added, “Even friendship is forbidden.”

“That’s just your opinion!” Kaiming huffed. Friends came from all walks of life. How could an important figure in the Purple Palace not have friends from the martial world? Xiaoqiao was just being alarmist.

“I’m saying this for your own good. Take it or leave it.” Xiaoqiao suddenly snapped her book shut, blew out the lamp, and pulled the covers over her head.

Kaiming ground her teeth in frustration. Typical—she’d left Kaiming to stew over these things, while she herself slept soundly. Determined not to let her rest, Kaiming called out, “Woman, I think you have feelings for your cousin. I heard cousins here can marry—are you planning to marry him?”

Xiaoqiao replied sullenly, “Whether I marry him or not, what’s it to you?”

Kaiming snickered, “You may want to marry him, but perhaps he doesn’t want to marry you!”

“You lowly wretch, how dare you speak to me like that!” Xiaoqiao fumed from her side of the room. “If not for our current circumstances, I’d show you what for!”

“All right, enough talking, let’s sleep!” Having achieved her goal, Kaiming quieted down.

Xiaoqiao never expected her to fall silent so quickly after provoking her anger. She lay stunned, unable to settle for a long time. Listening to the endless creaking from the other bed, Kaiming chuckled inwardly—this pampered young lady would probably be sleepless all night. The thought pleased her, and she soon drifted into a deep, sweet sleep.

At dawn, Kaiming had just thrown off her covers when Xiaoqiao rose as well. Dark circles under her eyes betrayed a sleepless night, and Kaiming couldn’t help but smirk. Xiaoqiao, seeing her cheerful expression, glared at her with even greater annoyance.

Kaiming ignored her, dipping a clean cloth into a locally produced, soft-fragrant mineral powder—something like a primitive toothpaste—and scrubbed her teeth before rinsing and splashing her face with cold water. Just as she finished, a delicate hand extended a white jade bottle towards her.

She eyed the owner of the hand—Xiaoqiao, cheeks flushed, her manner coy. “This is a beauty cream, specially made in my household. You can’t buy it anywhere else.”

“For me?” Kaiming asked.

“It’s not free. If you accept it, you have to answer my questions,” she pouted.

Kaiming smiled. “Then I’d rather not. I’m no one’s servant.”

“No one wants you as a servant. You probably wouldn’t even serve well if you tried!” Xiaoqiao huffed, tossing the little jade bottle into Kaiming’s arms. “A gift given is a gift out of hand—I won’t take it back!”

Kaiming smiled wryly. Such a typical young lady’s temper—clearly, those thoughtless words last night had struck a nerve. She opened the bottle curiously—it smelled delightful—but wondered if the temperamental Xiaoqiao might have laced it with something. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided not to use it.

“So fragrant!” Chunhua, now awake, sniffed loudly. “Kaiming, what’s that you have?”

“Beauty cream. Want some?” Kaiming smiled at Chunhua, while Xiaoqiao snapped her head around to glare at her.

“Yes!” Chunhua cried.

No sooner had she spoken than the white jade bottle made a graceful arc through the air, landing on Chunhua’s blanket. Chunhua was overjoyed, caressing and sniffing the bottle.

Xiaoqiao’s stare was murderous. Kaiming smiled and said sweetly, “Since it’s mine, I can do as I please with it, can’t I?”

“You’re something else!” Xiaoqiao snorted through her nose, spun on her heel, and slammed the door behind her.

Chunhua sneered, “Scowling this early in the morning—does she think someone owes her money?”

Kaiming merely smiled. To regift Xiaoqiao’s present in front of her was bound to sting her pride. As for how effective the cream was, Chunhua could be the test subject. Sometimes Kaiming thought herself rather despicable, but with Chunhua’s face, ruined or not, it made little difference, so her conscience was clear.

Was Xiaoqiao truly in love with her cousin? From the look of her, she seemed troubled by feelings indeed.

The female soldiers rose one after another, washed up, dressed, and, once ready, headed out for their morning run—a compulsory routine before breakfast, followed by a full day of training, every minute accounted for, day after day.

Kaiming followed Chunhua out the door, just assuming her running posture when several people blocked her path. “Are you Kaiming, the new recruit from Second Squad?” The men’s uniforms were finely tailored—they were likely senior soldiers.

“What is it?” she asked warily. Who came looking for trouble so early in the morning?

“You’ve been here so long and still don’t know the rules? Answer yes or no!” one of them barked.

Seeing their ill intent, Kaiming straightened up and replied, “Yes, sir!”

“Come with us!” The tone was like that of the police arresting someone—no nonsense.

Kaiming’s spirit faltered. “Where to?”

“Still don’t know the rules? Just come with us!” The classic cop tone.

“Brother, even if I’m to die, shouldn’t I at least know why?” she managed a smile, trying to appease them.

The man’s lips twitched. “The Chief of the Imperial Guards wants to see you.”

A huge question mark appeared above Kaiming’s head. The Chief of the Imperial Guards? At this hour, on an empty stomach—surely he didn’t want to have breakfast with her? Had she done something wrong, offended him somehow? No, how could she have provoked someone of his rank?

She brooded over these thoughts as she reluctantly followed the men. From behind a low wall, a pair of eyes watched her intently, never leaving her for a moment.