Volume 1, Chapter 24: It Feels Pretty Good to Have a Wife

After delivering food to Cheng Zhengchu, Yu Yaxuan headed to the office. While Cheng Zhengchu’s health was paramount, her own career was equally vital. She limited her visits to her spare time, and since his fever had finally broken, she could no longer justify extending her three-day leave. After all, what kind of employee takes three days off after working for only one? She had braced herself for harassment from Wang Duorou, but to her surprise, everyone in the office treated her with utmost respect, to the point that she hardly even had to take out the trash.

A moment later, a squad of warriors clad in dark, fitted attire and armed with long blades surged through the courtyard gate—the guards of the North Wind Pavilion, known as the North Wind Guard.

At dawn, Zhan Zhao opened his eyes. A faint ache lingered in his left shoulder, but the numbness, itching, and swelling had vanished. Astonished, he examined the wound and saw that it had already scabbed over; the poison had clearly been neutralized.

"You jerk!" Shen Peiyao, overcome with emotion, stepped forward and shook Shen Cangyuan’s clothes so violently that the pack he carried on his back spilled open. Feng Xiang signaled to Lei and Dian, who stepped forward and forcibly pulled her away.

Brother Mao’s eyes narrowed sharply. He sensed a terrifying aura emanating from the young man. Having risen to power in the Black Triangle, Brother Mao was no ordinary man, yet the pressure radiating from the youth shook him to his core. Intuition told him this young man was no mere nobody. "Who are you?" Brother Mao demanded.

"Who are you, and why are you looking for us?" Ouyang Hao and Gu Wei were no fools; they kept their guard up while questioning the stranger.

To be able to admire the twin lotus flowers with the Prince once more in this lifetime—Shen Wenjiang sighed with deep sentiment.

Zhan Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. He had feared that Ruolan might disagree, which would have put him in a difficult position. Yet, he failed to notice the sharp, fleeting glint in Ruolan’s eyes.

Would a man like Zhan Zhao be a blessing or a curse upon his return to the Song Dynasty? And the law? Bao Zheng offered a bitter smile. The law was meant for ordinary mortals to follow, but at Zhan Zhao’s level, did such constraints even apply? It would be laughable to suggest so.

Mei’er placed her hand on Zhan Zhao’s wrist. "Big Brother doesn't show signs of poisoning or illness, yet his pulse is erratic. Even if he were ill, he has been consuming dragon-fish for the past two days; any affliction should have been purged. How can this be?" she asked, at a complete loss.

Song Ling’er rolled her eyes at Jin Faguang. Talking about throwing around tens of millions or hundreds of millions—this guy only knew how to brag. She wondered how he had swindled people this time, even managing to fool a high-ranking manager.

Once everything was complete, Gu Tianba stepped down from the ritual altar. Standing before it, he traced his hands through the air, inscribing a series of formation runes onto the stone.

"Alright, alright, let’s talk business. Alcohol is strictly forbidden in the army during a major campaign, and I didn't bring any." Xiao Yi shook his head with a wry smile. General Liu and Captain Pan had treated him with great care, but in times of war, things were different. Speaking of the fine wines of Jinyang, Zhao He had sent him a cartload only last month, yet less than a month later, only five jars remained.

Could it all have been a dream? A long, long dream? Perhaps Ye Han had simply been dreaming, and in that dream, he had died, which was why the dream had finally come to an end?

The limitations of one's era—these six words were, in truth, an infuriating yet helpless reality.

"Zhicai’s handling of these affairs is truly admirable; the situation at Yanmen is of critical importance right now," Xiao Yi praised him gladly. Xi Zhicai’s actions were exactly what he had hoped for, and he possessed the authority to keep everyone in line.

Dense, intricate traces of Dao marks intertwined, yet they never coalesced into a figure like the invincible taboo marks of that clan.

Even though Li Fengjue was only their temporary daddy, they couldn't help but adore him. Even if it was only for a short time, they finally knew what it felt like to have a father.

"Big Brother, this was left to me by my mother; please, let me keep it as a memento," a new recruit said to the soldier who was searching him, clutching the ornament at his waist.

After all, he was only six years old and could not, like Gu Yanning, remain calm and unmoved in the face of life and death. Especially as he watched the assassins landing all around them, his eyes welled up, and he nearly burst into tears.