Chasing Jade (Zhu Yu)

Xie Zheng gave a faint smile and countered, "Who could I tell?"

Fan Changyu thought about it and realized he had a point. After being kicked into the river by her and still struggling to get up, he must have felt quite humiliated.

She shot him a fierce glare and said, "Just don’t tell anyone, no matter what."

After Xie Zheng repeatedly assured her, he handed her the fish. "Here, eat."

She stared at the golden-brown, fragrant fish in his hand and stubbornly declared, "I’m not hungry"—only for her stomach to betray her with a loud growl.

The heat that had just receded from Changyu’s face flared up again.

Suppressing the urge to smirk, Xie Zheng offered her an out. "I grilled too much. I can’t finish it all."

If she kept being stubborn now, she’d only embarrass herself further. Resentfully, Changyu reached out and took the fish, resigning herself. "And you can’t tell anyone about this either."

Xie Zheng held back a laugh and agreed, "Alright."

Out in the wild, without any seasonings, most roasted game smelled enticing but tasted bland or even fishy. Yet the fish Xie Zheng had prepared was not only free of any unpleasant taste but carried a faint tangy and spicy flavor.

After a couple of bites, Changyu asked in confusion, "Did you bring seasonings?"

Xie Zheng picked up the leftover wild berries by the fire and showed them to her. "Some of these are sour, others are pungent."

Changyu muttered under her breath, "Did you taste each one before picking them?"

Xie Zheng, with his sharp hearing, merely curled his lips in amusement before lowering his gaze again to pick bones from his fish. "I enlisted at thirteen, starting as a mere foot soldier in the Vanguard Battalion. Eight years have passed since then. Just like when you came to these mountains, the army didn’t always have food. At our hungriest, roots and tree bark were delicacies. Of course, I’ve tasted wild berries too. The edible ones—I remembered their flavors. The poisonous ones—after watching comrades die from them, I naturally avoided them."

Listening to his past, Changyu found the fish tasteless in her mouth. She looked up at him in a daze.

When she first learned he was the Wu'an Marquis, he had seemed so distant, as if they were from two separate worlds that should never have crossed.

Only now did she realize that behind that title lay not just glory, but hardships few had endured.

She knew firsthand the brutality of war.

Enlisting at thirteen—younger even than Wu Sanjin—he had clawed his way up through the years. The bitterness he must have endured was something only he truly understood.

A complex emotion settled over her heart. Changyu lowered her head and silently picked at the fish bones.

A deboned fish, wrapped in a clean wild banana leaf, was handed to her. Xie Zheng took the one she was holding and said, "Eat this one instead."

Changyu held the neatly sliced banana leaf but hesitated to eat.

Xie Zheng paused in his task and glanced up. "What’s wrong?"

Changyu said, "Yan Zheng—I’d rather call you Yan Zheng. Don’t be so good to me. You’re a noble Marquis, the Unrivaled Hero in the hearts of Great Yin’s people. The one worthy of standing beside you should be a refined lady from a prestigious family. I’m just a crude border-town girl who hasn’t even finished reading the Four Books. I’m not good enough for you."

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes and continued deboning the fish, a faint smile playing on his lips. "But out of all the women in the world, you’re the only one I love."Fan Changyu froze. This was the first time Xie Zheng had ever expressed his feelings to her so directly. Her heart pounded uncontrollably for a few beats before an endless bitterness welled up inside her.

She said, "Don't like me. With your unparalleled military achievements and being enfeoffed as a marquis at a young age, you should marry a wife of equal social standing—live a bright, illustrious life admired by thousands."

Xie Zheng handed her the fish he'd picked clean of bones and replied, "I reached this position through military merit, not people's admiration. Besides, in this world, there are those who respect me and those who despise me. They respect me because I drove back the Northern Barbarians and reclaimed lost territory. They fear me because I've killed countless enemies. Having spent half my life on battlefields to earn this reputation, if I still had to worry about public opinion when choosing a wife, wouldn't that make me the most pathetic Martial Marquis?"

He fixed his gaze on Fan Changyu. "Before meeting you, I did intend to marry a strong-willed girl from an aristocratic family—live together respectfully till old age. If I died in battle, she could raise our children comfortably with the family fortune."

"After meeting you, I stopped thinking about dying on the battlefield. How could I possibly die?"

With a laugh, he lay back, resting his head on his arms as he gazed at the star-studded sky. "After the war ends, I'll request to govern Liaoxi. As long as I keep the barbarians from moving south, the capital's intrigues won't concern me anymore. Then I'll ask the young emperor to grant our marriage—carry you home in a grand procession with gongs and drums, letting the whole world know you've married me."

The youthful vigor and joy on his face made Changyu's chest feel stuffed with damp cotton, the moisture welling up in her eyes.

"You've never seen the sunrise over Mount Yan or the hunting grounds of Huizhou. I'll take you to see them all. Liaoxi is vast—you'll never feel stifled there."

"But you keep rejecting me, afraid our statuses don't match. Yet back when I had nothing, you weren't afraid to be with me." Still staring at the sky, he smiled self-deprecatingly. "We bring nothing into this world and take nothing when we leave—just shackled by empty reputations. What you see as barriers between us are actually meaningless."

"You say I could meet better women, but how do you know you're not the best one for me?"

Changyu opened her mouth but found her throat too painfully dry to speak. Covering her face with her hands, she felt tears escape.

Xie Zheng sat up to wipe her tears. "I didn't say these things to make you cry—just to tell you I love you, not for any other reason but because you're Fan Changyu. Having lost both parents young, with no elders or sisters at home, I didn't initially understand your concerns. After asking others, I came to grasp the implications."

"Regardless of whether you fear gossip or the future, I should handle these matters properly first. I asked my teacher to adopt you—that would be Old Mr. Tao who once taught you reading and wanted to take you as his disciple. He's a renowned scholar who served as Grand Tutor. Even without my request, he's very fond of you. From now on, he'll be your family. Even if you don't marry me, no one would dare slight you with that status."

When saying the last sentence, Xie Zheng lowered his eyes, hiding their redness.

If that day ever came, it would likely be after his death.

Even dead, he'd want her to live well.He couldn't bear to part with her.

The only sun he had ever embraced in this life.

But he loathed becoming someone like his mother, so he wished for her happiness.

As long as she continued to shine her light and warmth upon the world, he wouldn't feel the cold even in hell.

Fan Changyu bit her lip hard, but couldn't suppress a sob. Large teardrops fell uncontrollably: "I'm not as good as you think..."

Xie Zheng gently wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks, saying softly, "You're the kindest and bravest girl I've ever met in my life. Do you think just anyone has the courage to go to battle?"

When he pulled Fan Changyu into his embrace, she buried her face in his shoulder, still unable to stop her quiet sobs.

After her parents' death, she had trudged forward alone with her younger sister. Suddenly, someone had burst into her life, treasuring her at every turn. After initial wariness and defensiveness, she had finally let down her guard. What spread through her then wasn't just joy, but also a bittersweet ache.

Xie Zheng patted her back gently. "I'll help you avenge your parents too."

At the mention of her parents' death, Fan Changyu straightened up, roughly wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "I'll avenge my parents myself."

Remembering how her search through the Jizhou Prefecture archives had yielded no clues, she suddenly looked at Xie Zheng. "Do you know who killed my parents?"

Xie Zheng nodded slowly.

Fan Changyu pressed her lips together. "Who?"

Xie Zheng uttered two words: "Wei Yan."

Fan Changyu froze momentarily, recalling the well-known relationship between him and Wei Yan. "Your uncle?"

Xie Zheng's expression turned cold. "He doesn't deserve that title." Worried his expression might frighten her, he added, "Remember the powerful enemy I once told you about? That's him."

But Fan Changyu looked visibly confused. "Wei Yan is the current prime minister. My father was just a bodyguard. Why would Wei Yan want him dead?"

Xie Zheng studied her for a moment before revealing the truth. "Your father once worked for Wei Yan."

Fan Changyu's eyes widened in shock. Then she remembered what Old Fan had told her when Fan Da died—that her father wasn't originally Fan Erniu, but had been sold as a child. He'd returned over a decade later, continuing to live under that name in Lin'an Town. This made her realize Xie Zheng's words were likely true.

Wei Yan had committed many evil deeds. Had her father been involved in them too?

Her heart clenched painfully at the thought.

Noticing her distraction, Xie Zheng seemed to guess her thoughts. "He Jingyuan, the governor of Jizhou, also worked for Wei Yan but never oppressed the people. That he called your father an old friend suggests they were like-minded."

He Jingyuan was considered the righteous official of all Jizhou. With Xie Zheng's words, Fan Changyu immediately felt somewhat relieved.

"When did you start investigating my parents' case?" she asked.

"After leaving Qingping County," Xie Zheng replied.

The memory of their separation then still brought a pang of guilt to Fan Changyu's heart. Recalling how she'd kicked him in frustration by the river earlier only deepened her remorse. "I won't hit you anymore, and you shouldn't kiss me so casually either."

Xie Zheng paused briefly in tending the fire. "Just don't hit so hard next time."

Fan Changyu blinked in surprise before understanding his implication. The firelight made her flushed face even redder as she glared at him. "I'm being serious here!"Xie Zheng slightly lifted his phoenix-like eyes, the naturally upturned corners exuding a disdainful yet alluring charm. "I'm being serious too. When can I kiss you without getting hit?"

Fan Changyu couldn't hold back and swung the empty banana leaf (that once held grilled fish) at him.

Xie Zheng tilted his head to dodge the leaf, chuckling softly.

Changyu sat hugging her knees by the fire, pouting in annoyance, refusing to speak to him again.