The woman standing next to Liu Ke in armor frowned with displeasure and dared not speak further.

Ye Qichi glanced at the woman.

Liu Ke hastily pleaded, "Xiao Chun is still young and doesn’t fully understand how things work. She was saved by the General at the roadside during a battle. To repay the General’s kindness, she followed him. Since she grew up performing acrobatics and knows some basic combat skills, the General kept her in the military camp. Please, Princess, do not take offense."

"I can understand loyalty to one’s master," Ye Qichi said with a faint smile.

Of course, she wouldn’t actively offend the person closest to Bai Mowan either.

"This is the Princess’s room," Liu Ke introduced. "I have already arranged for hot water to be prepared. The Princess has traveled a long and arduous journey. You can take a bath, change your attire, and rest for a while. It would be inappropriate for me to disturb you further, so I will take my leave now."

"Alright, thank you for your efforts," Ye Qichi replied politely.

Liu Ke was a little stunned.

She hadn’t expected the Prince’s consort to be so easy to talk to.

She seemed to be more approachable than she had thought.

Liu Ke had assumed that the Prince’s consort didn’t care much for her General, and by extension, didn’t care for them either.

It must be an act.

The General specifically instructed them not to upset the Prince’s consort.

It must be because he knows this woman is no simple character.

Without showing her thoughts, Liu Ke respectfully said, "The General has specifically ordered me to take good care of the Prince’s consort. If the Prince’s consort has any requests, I will do my utmost to satisfy them."

"Alright, I’ll call for you if I need anything. You can go on with your tasks," Ye Qichi responded.

"Yes," Liu Ke said, bowing.

She then left with her people.

After leaving the courtyard,

Xiao Chun started to complain, "The Prince’s consort really has quite the presence, bringing so many people with her to the military camp. More than the Prince’s own guards."

She must have noticed the ten Assassins, including Xie Ruotong, closely following Ye Qichi.

"It seems that most of them are women," Zhang Mei, who was next to Xiao Chun, added. "They must be the servant girls and maids who previously served the Prince’s consort."

"They’re all just for show, bringing them to the military camp just adds to the chaos!" Xiao Chun said with dissatisfaction.

She didn’t have a good impression of Ye Qichi at all.

The thought of their General rearranging his living arrangements to accommodate the Prince’s consort in the military camp made them uneasy.

Even when on the move, decorum cannot be completely abandoned.

But the military camp is full of rough men.

How could the General stay with these fellows?

"The General has given his commands, so stop your complaining," Liu Ke called out to them. "The General has asked us to take good care of the Prince’s consort, so we shall comply."

"Does that mean we even have to protect the Prince’s consort during a battle?"

"That’s what the General means," Liu Ke affirmed.

"And what about her servants? Do we have to protect them too?" Xiao Chun frowned disdainfully, clearly displeased.

"I heard that those nobles and officials can abuse their own servants however they wish, even to death, but no one else is allowed to touch them. If we don’t take good care of her servants, will we also be beheaded?" Zhang Mei asked.

Zhang Mei and Xiao Chun were sold to a large variety troupe as children and later wandered homeless due to the chaos of war, nearly starving to death on the streets before being rescued by Bai Mowan and taken to the military camp. They had never traveled far or seen much of the world; their knowledge of nobles and officials was based solely on rumors.

"Really?" Xiao Chun gawked, not believing it.

"Yes, it’s true," Liu Ke confirmed. "So we must not only avoid offending the Prince’s consort but also cannot touch anyone by her side."

Xiao Chun and Zhang Mei were both clearly dissatisfied.

But due to Liu Ke’s insistence, they reluctantly agreed.

...

In the courtyard,

Ye Qichi had taken a bath.

Although she knew that the courtyard was vacated by Bai Mowan, she accepted it as natural.

After all, Bai Mowan now needed to make a good impression in front of Xiao Jinxing, and she should at least give her that opportunity.

And indeed, after the long day’s journey, she felt like her bones were about to fall apart.

"Ruotong, aren’t you tired?" asked Ye Qichi.

Looking at Xie Ruotong who was still energetic, polishing her Treasure Sword.

"Not really," Xie Ruotong replied.

In the past, she had endured even harsher conditions for the sake of assassination.

This isn’t really anything.

"What about the others?"

"I’ve told them to find a place to stay at will," Xie Ruotong said. "Don’t worry, they are all very tactful and won’t affect the army’s battle operations. And they only follow your orders. Without your command, they would never act on their own."

Ye Qichi nodded.

She naturally didn’t doubt that.

It’s just that she felt it was indeed hard on them to follow her to a place like this.

"You should go and rest too, I’ll take a nap," Ye Qichi said.

"Yes."

Xie Ruotong withdrew.

Then she closed the door to Ye Qichi’s room.

She walked out.

"Xiang Qin," a man called her.

Xie Ruotong turned her head, looking at Lin Qianyu.

Lin Qianyu was one of the only two men among the Ten Extremes Sect assassins.

She had never thought that Lin Qianyu would actually come back.

To return to her side, to loyally serve Ye Qichi.

She always thought he would roam the world freely, no longer subject to any constraints.

After all, back then.

Lin Qianyu was controlled too abnormally by Duan Yazi.

"Call me Xie Ruotong," Xie Ruotong said.

Despite having experienced many heartbreaking things.

She is after all the young lady of Duke Mansion.

She is, after all, her grandmother’s granddaughter, Xie Ruotong.

"In my eyes, you will always be Xiang Qin," Lin Qianyu insisted.

Xie Ruotong shrugged her shoulders.

It’s just a name.

It’s not that important, really.

"Why didn’t you go to rest?" Xie Ruotong asked.

"Waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Xie Ruotong frowned.

"I wanted to ask, weren’t you back at Duke Mansion, married to Song Yanqing? How come you’re back by Princess Ye Qichi’s side again?" Lin Qianyu asked.

Xie Ruotong pursed her lips.

When she had found them, she hadn’t explained any of her past to anyone.

She said, "That’s not important."

She also didn’t want to tell Lin Qianyu what had happened to her.

"Can I take it that you are now a free person?" Lin Qianyu asked directly.

"Qianyu," Xie Ruotong called him.

"I’m not asking you to promise me anything now," Lin Qianyu looked at Xie Ruotong. "I just feel that since we’ve gained our freedom, we should live more for ourselves."

Xie Ruotong bit her lip.

But at this moment, she also felt somewhat powerless to refute.

"I’ll go first, you rest well," Lin Qianyu didn’t say much more.

It seemed he did not want to make Xie Ruotong feel awkward, and he left directly.

Xie Ruotong watched Lin Qianyu’s retreating figure.

In truth, she was well aware of Lin Qianyu’s feelings.

She knew it since their time at Ten Extremes Sect.

But back then, everyone was fighting for survival on the edge of the sword, not daring to think about romance at all.

Survival was their only thought.