Lying upon her bed, Lady Lian stared at the ceiling as early morning light spilled gently into her chambers. The air still carried traces of last night's storm, and the memory of that brief yet intense encounter lingered heavily in her mind.
The icy steadiness in that slave's eyes throughout the entire ordeal—his calm, unwavering gaze even as he claimed absolute victory over a stronger opponent—refused to leave her thoughts. What she had witnessed was not the struggle of a desperate man.
It was the bearing of a hero.
Even when she offered to send a physician to tend to his wounds, he had merely said, "Do not trouble yourself over a few scratches."
"How can a hero be a slave…" she murmured softly.
Her slender hand slid beneath the sheets, gliding past the folds of her garment and slipping beneath her underclothes. At the faintest touch, she felt the damp heat awaiting her fingers.
"Just thinking of you does this to me… How much more thrilling would it be to have you between my thighs…"
Her breath turned shallow. One hand wandered upward, teasing the sensitive peaks of her chest, while the other moved slowly, deliberately, against the soaked fabric. Her hips began to sway, keeping rhythm with her wandering fingers.
Her legs parted gradually, unfolding like petals at dawn. Her head tilted back as she pushed aside the barrier of cloth and let a finger slip inside herself. It moved faster, deeper, drawing soft gasps from her parted lips.
She pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle the sounds threatening to escape. The maids lingered outside her quarters. She could not allow her hunger to betray her.
She tossed upon the sheets, legs lifted and spread, her body writhing in restrained abandon as her fingers worked relentlessly.
And while she whispered Si's name into the quiet room, muffling her moans against her palm, Yan Cheng stood guard outside her chamber doors, his eyes burning with murderous intent.
He longed to storm out and challenge Si once more, to reclaim the honor that had been stripped from him. Yet Lady Lian had rebuked the thought immediately. A public duel would invite questions. Questions would lead back to her.
He was forbidden from touching Si—unless he could do so without implicating her.
But how?
Yan Cheng would trade anything for another chance. To clear his disgrace. To regain his honor. To secure his lady once more. If he lost her favor now, he would likely be conscripted and sent to the front lines against Jinshan under the Bi family banner.
Lady Lian's affection was the only shield standing between him and the mass graves Si so casually tended. He could not allow that fate.
Suddenly, a thought flickered across his darkened mind. Si had said he would soon join the military. If ever needed, Lady Lian could find him there. Yan Cheng had acquaintances within the army—strong men. Men who tolerated him only because of the benefits they extracted from Lady Lian through him.
"Big brothers… It is time you repay my kindness," he muttered with a quiet, malicious giggle.
Meanwhile, in an abandoned storage room within the Bi family estate, Si sat as still as stone while Bao carefully cleaned his wounds with a damp cloth Lady Lian had left behind.
Bao still struggled to process everything that had happened the night before. Si, however, showed no inclination to discuss it—not with his body lined in cuts and streaked in drying blood.
"You are fortunate the wounds are shallow. You must never involve yourself with that man again."
Bao's chest burned with anger as he examined the injuries Si had sustained protecting him. Though the cuts were superficial, they were numerous. They would scar.
Then a different thought crept into his mind.
Weren't scars symbols of valor? Proof of courage? A silent testimony etched into flesh? Stories of bravery were admirable—but scars carved upon the body were undeniable.
His anger faded.
Envy replaced it.
"Do not show these to any woman before I have some of my own," Bao said with rare seriousness. "We are sworn brothers. We must find our wives and marry on the same day. Do you understand?"
Si could no longer restrain himself. Laughter burst from him, rich and unguarded.
Bao truly was the only man who could worry about such absurdities in the midst of danger. Had this fool stood beside him through the past two centuries, perhaps those long years would not have felt so hollow.
Bao, in turn, felt a surge of relief seeing Si laugh. It had been six months since that strange change, and this was the first time he had heard genuine mirth from him.
After the laughter subsided, Bao finally voiced the concern weighing on him.
"You know Yan Cheng will not let this go."
Yan Cheng was infamous for cruelty toward slaves—especially when he believed someone had offended Lady Lian. The venom in his words the previous night revealed how deeply he despised their kind. Now that he had been humiliated by one, he would not rest easily.
"He will be dead soon. Do not concern yourself with it," Si replied with a casual shrug.
There were few in this world capable of threatening him.
Yan Cheng was not among them.
If the fool sought him through schemes, that would simply hasten his own demise. And even if he did nothing, Si would eventually seek him out.
Like Yan Cheng, he believed the other needed to die. The difference lay in purpose. Yan Cheng desired his death out of wounded pride. Si required Yan Cheng's death to serve a greater end. Either way, the stagnant days were over.
In one week, he would apply to join the Bi family military. And on that day, his true life would begin.
Si closed his eyes, releasing a slow, measured breath. Though his outward temperament remained composed, a fierce current of excitement surged beneath the surface. The mere thought of setting foot upon the battlefield once more stirred something primal within him. For a true general, there was no greater calling, no deeper hunger than the clash of armies and the roar of war. And now, at long last, he stood on the threshold of making that desire a reality.