Those two gentle words broke down Zhao Shu’s inner defenses. She felt like a hedgehog with all its quills plucked out, feeling both painful and helpless.

She didn’t know what to do. She looked at Xie Jin with bewildered and confused eyes, like a puppy that was abandoned in the rainy night and couldn’t find its home.

At this moment, Qin Zhi moved slightly, Xie Jin’s eyes turned cold, and he raised his hand to chop at his neck.

Qin Zhi fell face down on the yellow sand. Xie Jin gently took the knife from Zhao Shu’s hand.

I had been holding the knife handle stiffly due to long periods of tension, and suddenly the knife handle slipped out of my hand. The cool wind blew on my sticky palm, and I was not used to it for a moment.

Her fingers moved slightly, and a warm palm suddenly covered her palm. The moment her hands were clasped, Zhao Shu’s heart trembled violently.

She looked at him with bloodshot eyes, and Xie Jin was so heartbroken at that moment.

Xie Jin raised his hand and covered Zhao Shu’s eyes, blocking her sight, and said hoarsely: “Don’t look at me like that, I can’t stand it.”

Zhao Shu was very obedient now. She nodded obediently: “Okay.”

The eyelashes brushed against Xie Jin’s palm again and again, causing an itchy feeling.

Xie Jin removed his hand from her face and let it hang at his side without leaving a trace.

He held her hand and carefully walked around the corpses lying on the ground. Although he tried his best to avoid places with many corpses, his feet were still soaked in blood.

Qin Zhi was captured and Hu’s army was defeated.

All the surviving soldiers of Hu Jun were taken to the dungeon in Shangjing. Originally, Qin Zhi should have been sent to the dungeon as well, but Qin Su insisted on taking him to the palace despite the opposition of the ministers.

Before leaving, Lin Shuo withdrew his gaze from the three people under the city wall and said calmly: “Lord Zhao, you have raised this girl well.”

After saying this, he followed His Majesty.

Zhao Yao stared deeply at Zhao Shu. Seeing this, Xie Jingrong patted his shoulder gently and sighed, “Let’s go.”

Qin Zhi woke up to the familiar smell of sandalwood. He lay on the ground with his hands tied behind his back. His eyes had been staring at the ground in front of him since they were open.

I don’t know how long it took, but there was a slight “creak” sound and the door was pushed open from the outside.

The creaking sound was heard again, and the room was as quiet as before.

A bright yellow robe appeared in the peripheral vision, surrounded by a faint mist, and the figure bowed three times respectfully toward the front.

Looking up, I saw tablets one after another.

Qin Su inserted the incense into the incense burner, turned around and looked at Qin Zhi on the ground and said, “Do you have anything to say?”

The man on the ground didn’t say anything for a while. Just when everyone thought he wouldn’t say anything, he opened his mouth and said, “What did you say?”

“You said I was not as good as you, that I was a traitor, or that I was not worthy of standing in your Qin family’s ancestral hall.”

Qin Su looked down at him, his voice slow and calm: “If you think so, then you really have no right to set foot here again.”

Qin Zhi looked at him dimly: “Yes, I am not qualified. You are not the first one to say this. Father has said it, the ministers have said it, and the people of the world have said it too!”

Qin Su frowned: “You are really hopeless.”

Qin Zhi smiled somewhat sarcastically: “Have you ever saved me?”

“The winner takes all, the loser takes all. If you lose, you lose. You can kill me or chop me up, please do as you please!”

Qin Su sighed when he heard this: “Come here, help the Second Prince to kneel on the futon. No one is allowed to let him get up without my order.”

Two soldiers came in, roughly dragged Qin Zhi up from the ground, and pressed his shoulders to make him kneel on the mat.

Qin Zhi suddenly became emotional and resisted violently, his eyes reddened and he screamed in a low voice: “Why do you want me to kneel? I won’t kneel, I won’t kneel.”

Qin Su walked towards the Golden Palace, and the ministers were still waiting for him.

“Your Majesty is here!”

Everyone turned around and knelt down to pay homage to Qin Su: “Long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty!”

Qin Su walked to the throne and sat down, looking at the people below calmly: “Everyone, please stand up.”

As soon as everyone stood up, You Hong stood up impatiently and said, “Your Majesty, Qin Zhi has ulterior motives. If we keep him here, it will only bring disaster!”

Qin Su was silent. At this time, He Yong also stood up and said, “Your Majesty, if you don’t kill him, wouldn’t it chill the hearts of those brave soldiers who went to the capital to defend their country and the people?”

“Your Majesty, those thousands of soldiers must not have died in vain!”

Some of the ministers were moved.

“Your Majesty, those orphans and widows who are waiting for their sons and their kings to return are watching us!”

“Your Majesty, almost every household in Shangjing City hangs white silk, and the silk is almost always stained with the blood of their loved ones!”

“His Majesty.”

Everyone said something different, but they all meant the same thing, which was to ask him to execute Qin Zhi.

Qin Su’s expression was calm, and he suddenly asked, “Minister Lin, what do you think?”

Lin Shuo is a thousand-year-old fox, so he speaks without leaking any water, and does not offend both sides: “On the one hand, Qin Zhi is guilty, and his crime is so obvious that no one can cover it up. On the other hand, he is your majesty’s younger brother, and a descendant of the royal family in Shangjing City. Executing him can comfort the people, and not executing him can save the face of the royal family. It’s a difficult problem.”

Li Cheng laughed suddenly: “It turns out that the one who died was not your son, so Lord Lin doesn’t mind the pain in his waist when he stands and talks.”

His son is gone, and his wife goes to the kitchen in a trance to cook braised pig’s trotters. When asked what she is cooking pig’s trotters for, she just keeps saying that she is bringing them to the house for her son to eat.
But his son was gone, and there was no one to eat the pig’s trotter. He and his wife stayed in his son’s room in silence, waiting for the pig’s trotter to go cold and then hot, hot and then cold, over and over again, with no end.

If possible, he would not force his son to lose weight. He would let his son eat whatever he wanted and he would eat with him when he was free. It didn’t matter that his son was not as good as his colleagues’ sons. Anyway, his father would earn some money for him to spend as long as his son came back.

As long as his son comes back.

Li Cheng used to think that his friend’s tactfulness was just a smart move to protect himself, but now, looking at his ambiguous attitude, he couldn’t help but feel cold in his heart.

Lin Shuo just glanced at Li Cheng and didn’t argue with him about this matter.

Li Cheng stood up and knelt down: “Your Majesty, someone should give an explanation to those who died! The Hu people’s crimes are unforgivable,” he knocked his head on the ground, “Qin Zhi’s crimes are also unforgivable!”

Qin Su frowned slightly, and finally said: “Tomorrow at noon, Qin Zhi will be executed at the entrance of the city!”

“Your Majesty is wise and holy. Long live Your Majesty!”

Li Cheng tried to force a smile, but he just couldn’t bring it out no matter how hard he tried.

As people started to leave, Li Chengcai supported himself with his weak body and got up from the ground.

He stood in the hall for a while, and only walked out after most people had left.

But I didn’t expect that when I walked out of the palace, I saw Lin Shuo, who should have left.

Li Cheng didn’t say anything. He just looked at him silently and walked out.

Looking at his back, Lin Shuo said, “Now that the war has subsided, when are you and sister-in-law going to hold Yanrong’s funeral?”

Li Cheng paused for a moment before speaking, “No more.”

Lin Shuo frowned, as if puzzled: “Why?”

Li Cheng: “No reason, I just feel that if I don’t do it, my wife and I can still deceive ourselves into thinking that Yanrong is not dead, he just went on a long journey.”

Lin Shuo understood his feelings, but he disagreed: “I understand how you feel now, but Yanrong’s matter still needs to be done.”

Seeing that he was unmoved, Lin Shuo could only continue to frown and said, “Can you really bear to let Yanrong die in the depths?”

Hearing the words “the soul has no place to return to”, Li Cheng’s shoulders trembled. After an unknown amount of time, he replied in a hoarse voice: “I will discuss this with my wife when I get back.”

Lin Shuo wanted to say something else, but Li Cheng didn’t give him the chance and walked away with big strides.

You Hong walked over carefully and tried to comfort Lin Shuo: “Master Lin, don’t take it to heart. Master Li has always been like this.”

Lin Shuo withdrew his gaze from Li Cheng, with displeasure hidden deep in his eyes: “Master You, have you finished your work?”

You Hong’s heart trembled, and he quickly said with a flattering smile: “I am just about to deal with it.”

Seeing that he was still standing there, Lin Shuo frowned slightly. You Hong’s hands trembled and he said repeatedly: “I will leave now, I will leave now.”

The people walked down the stairs without stopping, fearing that if they slowed down even a little, they would upset the people behind them.

Xie Jin took Zhao Shu all the way back to Xie’s house. Zhou Huijie sat in the living room holding Xie Baoer, feeling restless and looking out all the time. Xie Baoer was small and looked at her mother curiously. Finally, she also followed her mother’s example and kept looking out with her little head.

Xie Baoer was a small girl with sharp eyes. The moment she saw Sister Shu being led by her brother, her whole body became excited and she shouted that she wanted to go downstairs to find Zhao Shu.

Zhou Huijie also saw them and wanted to take Xie Baoer upstairs, but when she saw the expressions on her son and Shuer’s faces, she stopped where she was.

Xie Baoer looked at her mother anxiously, and struggled to get off the ground, but Zhou Huijie’s hands were too strong. Little Baoer struggled for a long time but failed to break free, and her face turned red.

Zhou Huijie watched the two of them leave hand in hand, and perfunctorily stroked Xie Baoer’s head.

Xie Baoer was so annoyed that she looked at her mother with a red face.

You can’t appease her without ten candies, huh!

Xie Jin led Zhao Shu to his yard, sat her down, then turned around and told the servants to bring a pot of hot tea.

The hot tea had been warming on the stove. When Xie Jin asked for it, the servants immediately and swiftly brought it up.

Xie Jin poured a cup of tea for Zhao Shu. The girl opposite her didn’t even look at her and directly picked up the steaming tea and put it into her mouth.

Xie Jin immediately reached out and snatched the hot tea from her hand. Zhao Shu finally raised her head, but her eyes were still full of confusion.

Xie Jin sighed and handed the cup back to her: “It’s hot.”

Zhao Shu looked at the steaming tea and smiled sheepishly.

Looking at the girl’s flushed face, he said gently: “Your Majesty has always been fair, what you worry about will not happen.”

Zhao Shu lowered her eyebrows and looked at the hot tea in front of her. In the smoke, she hummed softly. Xie Jin raised his eyebrows and looked at her, with a subtle teasing in his gentle words: “The war is over. It’s time to talk about our business after a while.”

Zhao Shu didn’t react at first, but seeing the ambiguous look on his face, her mind exploded, and she dodged with a slightly red face: “What’s going on between us?”

Xie Jin didn’t explain clearly, just looked at her with a half-smile.

Zhao Shu could hold it in at first, but after a while, her face became thinner and she said angrily, “Who promised you?”

Xie Jin became serious at this time, and put his hand on the back of her hand. Zhao Shu was startled and twitched, but did not twitch. In addition to being embarrassed and annoyed, she only heard him say in a gentle voice: “Zhao Shu, I like you. I want you to be my wife, and we will be together through life and death, and love each other forever.”

Zhao Shu’s shy heart was miraculously calmed down by his words. Just as she was still immersed in the warm and swollen mood, she heard him say, “What about you?”

Zhao Shu frowned and looked at her clasped hands in front of her. Seeing her calm appearance, Xie Jin’s throat rolled slightly and his eyes were fixed on her tightly.

After a while, Zhao Shu raised her head, her eyes and eyebrows filled with a smile as gorgeous as mountain flowers: “Me too.”

“Brother Jin, I have been secretly keeping you in my heart since I was young, and it has been years. I have dreamed countless times that you introduced me to others as just your distant sister. Every time I would wake up from the dream and could not fall asleep again,” she smiled and looked at him, “Fortunately, this was just a dream. When I woke up, I did not hear those heartbreaking words.”

While Zhao Shu was talking, Xie Jin stroked the back of her hand with her thumb, and when she finished speaking, she said slowly, “No.”

“Ok?”

Xie Jin’s eyes were filled with a gentle smile: “I said, the scene in your dream will never appear.”

There was a hint of temptation in his eyes, and he coaxed her softly, “In your future dreams, the only ones you’ll see are us in red robes, with red candles burning until dawn.”

“There will only be moments when we are in love and have children around us.”

“.There will only be moments when I love you.”

The room was so quiet that one could hear each other’s heartbeats. The girl’s cheeks were flushed at this moment, so intoxicating.

Xie Jin stared at Zhao Shu steadily, with a seductive look in the corners of his eyes. He whispered, “Shu’er, come here.”

Zhao Shu’s heart was beating irregularly, she felt dizzy, heat continued to spread on her face, her behavior was no longer controlled by her brain, and she walked straight towards Xie Jin.

Xie Jin looked up and Zhao Shu looked down. The moment they looked at each other, their hearts skipped a beat. The next moment, the world was spinning, and Zhao Shu was already sitting in Xie Jin’s arms.

Xie Jin’s warm breath blew on Zhao Shu’s face. His body was very hot and his breathing was slightly rapid. Perhaps because they were close, Zhao Shu’s breathing also became a little faster.

Xie Jin’s dim eyes were fixed on Zhao Shu’s face. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, “Shu’er, hug me.”

Zhao Shu was now completely unable to think, she just did whatever he said.

The slender arms obediently hooked around Xie Jin’s neck, and as the arms moved forward, the distance between the two of them couldn’t help but get closer.

The wing of her nose was lightly touched, and Zhao Shu wanted to step back a little uncomfortably, but she forgot that she was sitting on Xie Jin’s lap now, so even if she wanted to step back, where could she go?

She moved slightly, and Xie Jin immediately put his hand on her back and said in a hoarse voice: “Don’t move!”

Zhao Shu saw the forbearance that flashed across his eyes and dared not move.

Xie Jin saw the fear in her eyes, chuckled, and pressed her towards him with the hand that was stroking her back. He put his lips to her red ears and whispered, “She’s a good girl.”

Zhao Shu thought that after he said this, his lips would move away from her ear, but unexpectedly, his lips did not leave but lightly touched her earlobe.

The warm breath hit my ears, feeling itchy and hot.

The itch became more and more intense, and Zhao Shu couldn’t help but rub her ear with her shoulder to relieve the itch.

But this movement brought the lips that were still beside his ear to his neck, and both of them paused.

Zhao Shu didn’t dare to move at all. She nervously called out to Xie Jin, “Cousin Jin.”

The man didn’t respond immediately. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, “Hmm?”

Zhao Shu swallowed her saliva: “Brother Jin, my neck is a little itchy, can you move your face away?”

He spoke in a halting and hesitant manner.

Xie Jin didn’t say anything. After a moment, he hummed.

Although he agreed to Zhao Shu’s request verbally, he did not move at all.

Zhao Shu blushed: “Jin, cousin Jin” she hissed unexpectedly.

Xie Jin’s face left her neck, but the process of leaving was a little dazed. At that moment, she felt something warm lightly touching her neck, not heavy but hard to ignore.

Zhao Shu stared at him blankly. Xie Jin chuckled, his voice very hoarse: “Are you scared?”

Zhao Shu didn’t say anything, still staring at him blankly.

Xie Jin was amused by her reaction, his eyes dimmed, and he covered her cheek with his lips while she was stunned, and said softly with a frown: “What can we do if you are so timid? There will be more scary things in the future.”

Zhao Shu suddenly stepped back, not knowing whether it was because of the burning temperature on her cheek or because of his words.

But this withdrawal gave Xie Jin an opportunity. He quickly pressed his hand on the back of her head, and in an instant, their warm lips touched, causing tremors.

Zhao Shu closed her lips tightly due to nervousness. After Xie Jin tried for a long time but it was useless, he coaxed her in a low voice: “Be good, open your mouth.”

Zhao Shu looked at the spring in the corner of his eyes and opened her mouth as if possessed by a ghost.

Her breathing was chaotic and Zhao Shu’s hands were tightly holding the clothes on Xie Jin’s back.

Xie Jin’s hand unconsciously wandered on Zhao Shu’s back, but perhaps there was still a trace of rationality in his mind, so his hand was only wandering on her back.

The two of them separated breathlessly. Xie Jin’s lips were stained with Zhao Shu’s lip balm, which was bright red and extremely tempting.

Under the absurdity, both of their clothes were a little wrinkled, and they hugged each other lightly, breathing quietly, and listening to each other’s heartbeats quietly.

“I really want to marry you home right away.” Xie Jin’s voice was unusually hoarse.

Zhao Shu’s cheeks flushed and she buried her head in his neck embarrassedly.

The two calmed their heartbeats and throbbings. Xie Jin’s fingertips rubbed Zhao Shu’s waist from time to time. After everything returned to normal, the two did not separate immediately, but slowly enjoyed this warm moment.

There was a clean and sharp scent on Xie Jin. Zhao Shu smelled it with longing and rubbed his neck inconspicuously.

Xie Jinwu chuckled, pulled down the hand that was around his neck, put it in his palm and twisted it gently: “Like it? Here you go.”

The words were ambiguous and I didn’t know what exactly he meant by “you”.

Is it the refreshing smell on him, or
Zhao Shu’s face turned red, and she buried her head in his neck without saying a word.

Seeing her shy look, Xie Jin inadvertently revealed a hint of confusion at the corner of his eyes. He put his lips close to Zhao Shu’s ear and whispered, “I’ll give it all to you, okay?”

Zhao Shu still buried her head in his neck obediently and said nothing. Xie Jin didn’t expect her to answer at first, and wanted to raise his hand to tuck the loose hair around her ears behind her.

But just as her hand was raised to mid-air, the delicate ostrich-like girl uttered a muffled sound.

Xie Jin was stunned, her hands suspended in mid-air. For a long time, waves of heat and ecstasy kept surging in her body. The hand that wanted to twist her hair went straight to her earlobe, and she coaxed in a suppressed voice: “Be good, what did you just say? Say it again?”

The air was silent. After a while, Zhao Shu spoke again, and this time her voice was much clearer than before: “Yeah.”

When Xie Jin heard her affirmative answer, he rubbed her earlobe unconsciously with his fingers, and looked at her with a smile in his eyes: “Shu’er, I will be yours from now on. You must take good care of me and don’t bully me.”

Zhao Shu leaned on his shoulder and nodded seriously: “Okay, I will definitely not bully you.”

“you promise.”

“I promise.”

“If you bully me once, you will love me a little more. If you bully me twice, you will love me so much that you can’t leave me.”

Zhao Shu couldn’t help but smile a little: “Okay, I love you so much that I can’t live without you.”

After that, they both laughed out loud. Zhao Shu raised her head and their eyes met, her eyes full of spring.

The smile gradually faded, and their gazes were filled with desire and forbearance. The two got closer and closer, but just as they were about to touch, a loud “bang” was heard from behind.

Zhao Shu shuddered and reflexively buried her face in Xie Jin’s arms.

Xie Jin held Zhao Shu’s head and protected her in his arms, looking towards the door with a frown.

Xie Baoer had been waiting outside for Sister Shuer to come out of her brother’s room, but she waited and waited and Sister Shuer never showed up. She wanted to go to her brother’s room to find Sister Shuer, but her mother wouldn’t let her. She could only wait and wait.

She ate several pieces of snacks, drank several cups of tea, went to the toilet several times, and did many things. She didn’t know how many things she did, but it was just a lot of things. She did so many things but her sister Shu’er still didn’t come out. So when her mother went out, she secretly ran over. She wanted to find her sister Shu’er.

The moment the door was opened, Xie Baoer looked at her brother angrily. At this moment, she felt that her brother was extremely bad. Not only had he monopolized Sister Shuer for such a long time, but now he was hiding Sister Shu from her. Humph, what a bad guy!
When Zhou Huijie learned that her younger daughter had sneaked into her son’s backyard, she hurriedly chased after her, hoping to catch Xie Baoer’s little fat carrot to avoid revenge from her brother in the future.

Unfortunately, she was still a step too late. When she was about to catch Little Radish Head, he had already kicked open her brother’s door, which was not closed very tightly, with his chubby feet.

Zhou Huijie stared at the scene in front of her with eyes wide open, wishing she had never appeared. She knew that most boys would be a little indecent in front of the girl they liked, but, but she didn’t expect that her son was so shameless that he would take advantage of the girl in broad daylight!
Although her son Meng Lang’s behavior embarrassed her, she still remembered the purpose of her coming here. She hurried forward and wanted to grab Xie Baoer and leave, but she was still a step too late.

Xie Baoer came here just to find sister Shuer, so how could she be caught by her so easily? Her little body slipped out like a slippery loach, and she ran to Xie Jin, looking up at her unscrupulous brother with her little head tilted.

“Brother, where did you hide Sister Shu’er!” The little brows were full of disapproval and accusation.

Xie Baoer was still young and would never have imagined that the woman sitting in her brother’s arms was her sister Shuer whom she had been thinking about.

Zhao Shu was originally pretending to be dead in Xie Jin’s arms, but now when she heard Xie Baoer kicking the door in aggressively just to find her, she shrank in Xie Jin’s arms like a quail, not daring to move.

(End of this chapter)