When Alana met Daren again, after a brief eye - contact, they quickly averted their gazes.
Daren wasn't worried at all. In fact, he silently sneered at Alana.
Alana, however, was extremely nervous, fearing that the other party would expose his previous schemes.
Thankfully, Daren didn't say much.
...
Chu Qing and Wei Ying were sitting in the tent, sipping tea leisurely, one cup each.
The overwhelming sounds of fighting outside seemed to have nothing to do with them.
Indeed... it didn't matter much.
Chu Qing said slowly, "Are you really confident not to deploy the Black Cloud Army and instead hide them in the Kaze Mountains?"
"I can't watch over him all the time. He has to face things on his own. All my energy is focused on you, Qingqing, and our unborn child." Wei Ying gently placed his teacup aside and replied to Chu Qing seriously.
Chu Qing's hand froze while sipping tea, and her face flushed.
She really couldn't get used to this young man's sudden outpouring of love words lately.
It seemed that since her outburst last time, Wei Ying had been particularly mindful and kept saying such things to her.
Humph! Was she a naive young girl just in the throes of first love?
Humph! She seemed to really... be one.
Chu Qing coughed lightly to hide her embarrassment and continued, "Are you sure you don't need to set up an ambush? What if Wumushan's or Aqitu's people sense something is wrong and turn around to flee?"
"Wumushan's people won't run. Because... the leader of Wumushan won't sense anything. As for Aqitu, there's a chance he might notice. But... I've already reminded Bateer to correspond with Aqitu's wife. If she sincerely wants to cooperate with us, then she will surely bring back the leader of Aqitu, who tries to flee halfway." After saying this, Wei Ying smiled.
Chu Qing raised an eyebrow and said, "You seem to be quite concerned about this leader's wife?"
It wasn't out of jealousy. She just wanted to ask simply.
She really had no other intentions.
Really.
Chu Qing silently comforted herself.
Seeing Chu Qing's awkward expression, Wei Ying let out a soft laugh, and another love - filled line blurted out without hesitation.
Before Chu Qing could react, they heard footsteps outside the tent.
Then, a group of people walked in with solemn expressions, breaking the increasingly intimate atmosphere between the two.
Chu Qing was naturally relieved.
Wei Ying, however, cast a cold look at the people who had entered.
Bateer originally wanted to grin and report his heroic deeds, but when he looked up and caught Wei Ying's cold stare.
Um...
Did they come at a bad time?
Chu Qing, with a smile in her eyes, sat upright and spoke first, "You're back?"
Seeing that Chu Qing looked in a good mood, Bateer finally felt at ease and introduced to Wei Ying and Chu Qing the people who had come in with him one by one.
Only then did Chu Qing know the identities of these people.
Daren, the leader of Baharnao, was much as she had expected. At first glance, one could tell he was a man of strong emotions.
As for Alana, the leader of Aqitu, Chu Qing just glanced at him casually and then turned her attention to the valiant woman beside him, Gerile.
This leader's wife was also much as she had imagined.
It's just that in person, she seemed more cold and fierce.
Chu Qing knew that the more someone seemed unapproachable, the easier it was for them to give their true feelings when really getting in touch.
Chu Qing had an idea in mind. She stood up and said with a smile, "All the leaders, please have a good talk with my prince. I'll take this lady out for a stroll."
After saying that, Chu Qing had already walked up to Gerile.
Seeing this, Gerile nodded without showing any emotion on her face. Then she glanced at Alana and turned around to follow Chu Qing out.
After walking out of the tent, Chu Qing led Gerile to the Ritu River. Then she said with a faint smile, "The rivers in your grassland have a unique charm."
Gerile turned her head to look at Chu Qing, who was smiling gently, and said calmly, "The Princess of Ning is different from what I imagined."
"Oh? In what... way is she different?" Chu Qing raised her eyebrows and was genuinely a bit curious.
"I thought the Princess of Ning would be a beautiful but useless vase." Gerile's tone remained flat.
"Um..." Chu Qing suddenly didn't know how to respond and could only wait for her to continue.
Sure enough, seeing Chu Qing's surprised expression, Gerile continued, "Now I think that although the Princess of Ning is beautiful, she's not a vase. To be honest, I thought all women from the Central Plains were delicate and affected, as fragile as flowers. But now seeing the Princess of Ning, I find she's different from them."
Chu Qing smiled and asked, "How... different?"
"You're like this Ritu River."
"Huh?"
"On the surface, it looks calm, beautiful, and gentle. But actually, there are hidden undercurrents, capable of killing invisibly." Saying this, Gerile looked up at Chu Qing.
There was no emotion in her eyes.
It didn't seem like... she was flattering at all.
But Chu Qing inexplicably felt that she was.
A woman's intuition is very accurate.
"Then... thank you for your compliment, madam." Chu Qing flashed a smile.
Gerile replied indifferently, "It's not a compliment. I'm just describing the impression the Princess of Ning gives me. Also... if possible, you can call me by my name, Gerile. I don't like the title'madam'. It makes me feel like I'm just an appendage."
After hearing this, Chu Qing finally put away her somewhat casual attitude and said, "Mad... Gerile, you're also very special."
"Thank you for the compliment." Before Chu Qing could finish, Gerile interrupted her.
Chu Qing's eyebrows twitched. She didn't know how to continue the conversation.
With Gerile's personality, if she were in the imperial palace, she definitely wouldn't be favored by the emperor. Of course, except for some particularly annoying emperors.
The two fell silent and walked along the river for a while. When Chu Qing felt a bit tired, she proposed to go back.
On the way back, Chu Qing casually glanced and caught sight of a figure in the crowd.
The figure... looked somewhat familiar.
Chu Qing's reaction was naturally noticed by Gerile. When Gerile followed her gaze, she raised an eyebrow.
"That's a woman the leader just brought back. She's also from the Great Yan. Do you want to go over and talk to her? Maybe you two know each other."
Gerile's words were truly innocent.
But Chu Qing narrowed her eyes meaningfully and said slowly, "Sure. Maybe she's an old friend I haven't seen for a long time?"
Humph!
Finally, she had caught Xu Xin.
It seemed that the two of them hadn't met face - to - face since Xu Xin was exiled.
The first time was when Xu Xin went to the Great Yan in disguise.
The second time was in Chuanzhou City when she herself was in disguise.
It had been so long since they had a proper confrontation...
Strangely enough, she started to get excited.