Xue Liulan lay on the bed, bored out of his mind, idly fiddling with the white porcelain bottle on the bedside table. It was the Golden Sore medicine Murong Jin had left for his back.
Murong Jin. He hadn't seen her since he'd woken up five days ago. It was Die Man who attended to him now.
The thought of her name was a sudden, sharp annoyance. "Little Dingzi!" he yelled. "Little Dingzi!"
The young eunuch, who had been dozing on the doorstep, shot to his feet and scurried inside. "Yes, Your Highness! Does it hurt? Should I call for the doctor?"
"Call for what? Aren't the doctors annoying enough already?" Xue Liulan waved a dismissive hand, then a thought struck him. "Come here. Sit."
Little Dingzi perched on the stool at the foot of the bed.
"Why have I never seen any of these doctors before? They're not from the Imperial Hospital."
"It was the princess consort's idea, Your Highness. She hired them from the city." Little Dingzi looked confused. "Oh, and she gave strict orders that no one in the residence is to speak of your condition to outsiders. Even the doctor—Captain He has him detained here. The princess said he can leave when you're fully recovered."
Little Dingzi had been puzzling over it for days. What game was she playing? She had sealed the residence completely, turning away all visitors. House arrest was one thing, but this felt like a prison.
"So, it was Murong Jin's idea?" Xue Liulan murmured. "And sending for Die Man… that was her idea too?"
"It was! I was right there. Your Highness kept calling for Lady Die Man in your fever, so the princess sent me to fetch her."
"And you just went?" Xue Liulan suddenly smacked him on the head. "You idiot."
"But Your Highness, I have to obey the princess's orders," Little Dingzi whined, rubbing his head.
"You don't have to obey all of them," Xue Liulan muttered, burying his face in his pillow. "And now the jealousy has well and truly set in. She hasn't come to see me in days. She's definitely sulking." He should have known when she said she was going back to Wuchuan that he'd pushed her too far.
"Heh, I think Your Highness is mistaken," Little Dingzi said with a grin. "The princess has already left. She went back to Wuchuan. She'll be back after a while."
Xue Liulan's head shot up. "What did you say? She really went back to Wuchuan?"
"Yes, about five days ago. Your Highness… you didn't know?" Little Dingzi froze. Had the princess run away?
"I know now," Xue Liulan said, his brow furrowed. To leave me at a time like this… does she see that I've lost power and is going back to her father to choose a new horse to back? Or… is she planning something for my sake?
His gaze fell on the medicine bottle. He sighed. Murong Jin, what are you thinking?
Whatever she was thinking, she was now on the road to Wuchuan. She reined in her horse and looked at the sky. It looked like snow. They were nearing the frontier.
Dressed in practical traveling clothes, Murong Jin dismounted at a posthouse. As she tied her reins to the railing, a man hurried past, nearly brushing her shoulder. He seemed to be in a frantic rush, so much so that she almost expected to see an enemy with a drawn sword chasing him.
"Hey, traveler," she called out. "You dropped something."
The man spun around, his eyes wary. He took in her attire—not armor, but the clothes of a martial artist. The way she moved, clean and efficient, the way her cloak billowed behind her. She was either from an army camp or the martial world. At the thought of the latter, his expression grew even more tense, a flicker of killing intent in his eyes.
Murong Jin had already picked up the token. She glanced at it, then held it out with a small smile. "I believe this is yours."
The man's face paled when he saw the token in her hand. "Yes. Thank you." He snatched it back, stuffed it hastily into his robes, and hurried away.
Murong Jin watched him go, a thoughtful look on her face. The token belonged to the garrison at Sushen, the fortress on the kingdom's western border. They were supposed to be fighting the Yanyun tribe. What was one of their soldiers doing this far north?
The posthouse was sparsely populated with merchants traveling to and from the frontier.
"Good thing we made it to Wuchuan before the storm hit," one said. "A blizzard this time of year could bury you on the road."
"Indeed," another replied over a cup of hot wine. "Say, I didn't see your caravan. How was the fox fur trade with the Yanyun this year?"
"Don't ask. I was heading toward their territory when the war broke out. Didn't get any furs, and lost a whole shipment of goods I'd bought from the northern raiders."
"You're lucky you made it out with your life! My brother-in-law, I heard he died in the fighting over at Sushen."
"A real tragedy. Who would have thought the Yanyun would attack so suddenly?"
"What of the general defending Sushen?" a new voice asked. The merchants looked up and saw a woman standing by their table. Are there no men left on the frontier, they wondered, that even the women are dressed for war?
Murong Jin met their curious stares with a cold smile. "If Wuchuan can have a female general, can it not have female soldiers?"
"Are you one of Lord Murong's soldiers?" the eldest of the group asked, rising respectfully.
Murong Jin simply returned his bow, neither confirming nor denying. "You mentioned an attack by the Yanyun. What happened?"
"We don't know much," the merchant said. "It was all very sudden. We heard General Xu of Sushen was killed in battle."
"It's true. They were holding the funeral service at the general's residence when I left."
Murong Jin's brow tightened. With General Xu dead, Sushen would be in chaos. Was the man from before a deserter?
She poured herself a cup of hot wine. From the corner of her eye, she saw the man who had dropped the token listening to the conversation, his hand gripping his own cup so tightly his knuckles were white. If he had any courage, why wasn't he dead on the battlefield?
She shook her head. As she was about to rise and question him, a hand gently pressed on her shoulder.
"Patience, Young General," a low voice murmured in her ear.
Her hand instantly clenched into a fist. But if this man could approach her without making a sound, he could take her life just as easily. Now was not the time for rash movements.
"Who are you?" she whispered. The hand lifted from her shoulder, and a man sat down across from her. He was dressed in a fine fox-fur cloak, his bearing noble and elegant.
Murong Jin smiled. "Can I help you, sir?"
"My name is Xue Zhuoran," the man said, a gentle smile in his dark eyes.
The name hit her like a physical blow. Her own smile froze. Xue Zhuoran. If she remembered correctly, that was the name of Xue Liulan's fourth brother. The Fourth Prince, the one who was said to wander the martial world.
"It seems the general knows who I am," he said, raising his cup to her. "Forgive my rudeness in not attending your wedding to my fifth brother."
"Fourth… Brother, you are too kind," she said, raising her own cup. The sons of the dragon were all so different.
"'Fourth Brother'?" he repeated softly. "It seems you and Liulan are not as close as one might think."
"Ah?" She was at a loss for words.
"In all his life, my brother has never called me Fourth Brother unless he was forced to in front of our parents," Xue Zhuoran said. "If you were truly close, you would know that."
Such a sharp mind, she thought. To deduce the truth of her relationship from a single word.
Just then, she saw the soldier rise and head upstairs, still casting nervous glances around him.
"It's no wonder General Xu was defeated, if his soldiers are so cowardly," Xue Zhuoran said with a faint smile. He refilled her cup. "What did you want to ask that man?"
Murong Jin paused. "Nothing important. As a fellow border general, I was simply concerned about the state of the battle."
"Sushen is secure," he said calmly. "The Yanyun will not be returning for some time."
She raised an eyebrow, skeptical. Even if he was the Fourth Prince, how could a leaderless army hold a strategic fortress like Sushen?
He met her gaze, then placed something on the table, sliding it across to her under his palm.
"See for yourself, General."