Shadow Love (Yu Jin Chang An)

Li Shuang pulled out the large banner, along with the severed head, and tossed them both to the soldier beside her. The soldier shuddered as he caught them. "Take them away," Li Shuang ordered. "Burn that scribbled mess of a military banner. Hang the head on the city wall—that's where it belongs."

The soldier acknowledged and hurried off.

Li Shuang glanced back in the direction the soldier had gone. The dangling head swayed with his steps. From the gaunt, emaciated face, it was clear this was no Western Rong general—likely just a wounded soldier or a camp slave. As they had suspected, the Western Rong had grabbed someone at random to impersonate a commander, probably hoping to lure the enemy out.

Yet, no one could have anticipated that the enemy they lured would come as desired—but not be captured as planned. Not even...

Li Shuang gazed into the distance. The Western Rong army had already retreated, and the distant flames had died down, though thick smoke still billowed across the dimly lit sky.

Strictly speaking, the Western Rong army had been repelled by a single man. Such an absurdity was beyond imagination—even now, after it had happened, Li Shuang found it hard to believe.

"Everyone, gather in the tent," she called. The officers filed in one by one. Once they were seated, Li Shuang spoke. "With the deaths of two generals and last night's fire, the Western Rong have withdrawn. But we all know their true strength remains intact. Winter has only just begun—we cannot let our guard down."

With the city governor of Lucheng, Li Zhangyi, dead, Li Shuang stationed the Changfeng Battalion directly within the city walls, ordering its soldiers to defend alongside Lucheng's original garrison. After settling the city's affairs, she turned to the scribe and instructed him to draft a report on Lucheng's situation to be swiftly delivered to the capital.

The scribe hesitated. "General... should we include the matter of the black-armored man in the report?"

Silence fell over the tent. Every officer knew the truth: aside from Li Zhangyi's earlier blunder of closing the city gates, forcing the Changfeng Battalion into an unexpected skirmish with the Western Rong, their retreat had cost the battalion almost no effort. It was all due to the terrifying prowess of that lone black-armored warrior.

But... reporting this would humiliate the Changfeng Battalion. How could an entire army be overshadowed by a single mysterious outsider?

Li Shuang didn't hesitate. "Report it. There's nothing to hide."

With that, matters were settled for the time being. The officers left the tent, and the scribe presented a few documents for Li Shuang's approval before bowing and departing. Once the tent was empty, Li Shuang glanced outside—the sky was already bright.

The sunlight was piercing; it seemed today would be an unseasonably clear winter day. Li Shuang stood and stretched, her gaze finally settling on the bloodstains left by the severed head on the tent floor. Suddenly, she recalled the blood that had dripped beside her the night before, just as she was about to leave the city wall.

Perhaps that was when the banner and head had been brought to her tent. The blood then and now must have been from the same head. That black-armored man in the Western Rong camp... surely he had escaped unscathed... right?

At this thought, Li Shuang's eyes sharpened. She strode out of the tent and headed straight for the personal guard camp.Outside the personal guard camp, Ji Ran, clad in military attire, was sternly reprimanding a child with a hardened expression: "Didn't I tell you not to wander off? Speak up, where were you last night?"

Jin An appeared as frail as a chick that could be crushed with one hand before the burly Ji Ran. Though by now, no one in the Changfeng Battalion would still think that way...

Li Shuang had initially intended to stand by with folded arms, watching Jin An get scolded. Yet when she was still a dozen steps away, Jin An—as if his entire body were covered in eyes—suddenly turned his head and fixed his gaze directly on Li Shuang.

The hollow, numb eyes he had when facing Ji Ran instantly lit up.

His stare was so intense and fervent that even Ji Ran, who had been sternly lecturing him, turned his head in surprise. Ji Ran paused, then saluted: "General." Li Shuang nodded in acknowledgment and walked over with an amused expression. Without any hesitation, she patted Jin An's head: "Where were you last night? Off delivering messages to that black-armored man you're mysteriously connected with again?"

From what had been observed so far, the black-armored man didn't seem to harbor any ill intentions toward the Changfeng Battalion—his designs were solely focused on her.

Truth be told, Li Shuang had a fairly high tolerance for matters that didn't involve state affairs or military strategies. It was just that this black-armored man... expressed his intentions in an exceedingly peculiar manner.

And his motives were bizarre—sudden, overly intense, and accompanied by inexplicable actions that left one utterly... bewildered.

Jin An looked up at her, remaining silent for the moment. His silence drew Li Shuang's attention to his face, and she immediately frowned: "Are you sick?" She crouched down, cupping Jin An's small face in her hands. His lips were pale, while his cheeks were flushed and burning, as if he had a fever.

"A cold?"

A child falling ill in the northern frontier was no small matter. Li Shuang momentarily set aside her other questions and turned to instruct Ji Ran: "Fetch the military physician." As she spoke, she scooped Jin An up, carrying him effortlessly onto her shoulder.

Jin An naturally draped his arms over her back, his small hands looping around her shoulders to cling tightly to her neck. His slightly feverish cheek pressed against her chest, nestling into the hollow of her neck...

So comfortable.

Unconsciously, Jin An nuzzled his cheek against the warmth of Li Shuang's skin where it met her neck.

The warmth of her, the touch of skin against skin—it was so comforting.

Li Shuang remained oblivious, assuming the child was merely acting clingy in his weakened state. She carried him into the personal guard camp, using one hand to lift the tent flap. Inside, a dozen or so beds were arranged. Though her personal guards were among the cleanest in the camp, the tent was still thick with the unavoidable stench of sweat and the stuffiness of crowded quarters.

At that moment, a few guards happened to be removing their heavy battle armor, half-naked...

The guards froze, caught off guard by Li Shuang's unannounced entrance as she pushed aside the tent flap.

Li Shuang cleared her throat: "Keep dressing." She calmly let the flap fall back and carried Jin An out, returning to her own tent. After setting Jin An down on her bed, she tried to stand, only to find him clinging stubbornly to her neck.

She gently tugged: "Be good, lie down properly. The physician will be here soon to check on you."

"You won't leave?"

Li Shuang chuckled softly: "I won't leave."Jin An reluctantly let go of his grip. While waiting for the medic, Li Shuang studied Jin An's face for a long while before finally asking, "Do you remember anything about your parents? Your features don't look entirely like those from beyond the frontier. Could your mother... possibly have been from the Central Plains?"

Jin An shook his head. "I don't know."

"Alright."

Just as this brief exchange ended, Ji Ran arrived with the medic. Li Shuang stepped aside and shared her thoughts: "It might be typhoid fever. We left the city in such a hurry earlier—do we still have any typhoid medicine in camp?"

The medic took Jin An's pulse and frowned. "Hmm... This doesn't seem like simple typhoid. There's extreme weakness and internal heat. It's more like a fever caused by serious injury."

"Injury?" Li Shuang turned to Jin An with a slight frown. "Where did you go last night?"

But Jin An had already closed his eyes, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, offering no reply.

The medic removed Jin An's clothing to examine him, yet strangely found no visible wounds—except for the flame-like mark on his chest, which had grown more vividly red. There were no other abnormalities.

The medic was puzzled. "Not a single injury... How odd..."

"Let's prepare some fever-reducing medicine first. If we don't have the herbs in camp, I'll send someone to buy them from the city."

After the medic left, Li Shuang instructed Ji Ran to purchase and prepare the medicine. She fed it to Jin An, handled some miscellaneous tasks, then settled by his bedside, eventually dozing off from exhaustion.

The past few days had drained Li Shuang completely. Now that the Western Rong had retreated and her mind was at ease, she slept deeply even in such an uncomfortable position.

By midnight, when the man on the bed stretched his limbs from under the blanket, she remained unaware.

The clear night after the sunny day was exceptionally bright, with moonlight almost penetrating the tent. Li Shuang slept so soundly that she didn't notice strands of hair brushing against her lips.

The man's strong body quietly pushed aside the covers, his bare chest adorned with intricate crimson flame patterns that extended to the corners of his eyes. He leaned over, gazing tenderly at Li Shuang's sleeping face, his eyes softer than the moonlight.

Gently brushing the hair from her lips, he pressed his own against hers in a featherlight kiss.

So happy. His eyes shimmered with gentle ripples of joy. Touching Li Shuang made his heart tremble with delight. Even if it was just secretly, stealthily—once, twice, again and again...

Jin An couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

He was so happy, so happy it almost made him shiver.

He longed to ask Li Shuang—was she happy too? Was she pleased with his gift? Even though fetching that head yesterday had nearly cost him half his life, it didn't matter.

His body could recover quickly. Even if it didn't, it wouldn't matter.

Look—he'd solved such a troublesome problem for her. That's why she could sleep so peacefully now.

He nuzzled lightly against her lips, but soon these fleeting touches no longer satisfied him. With careful movements, Jin An gathered Li Shuang into his arms, effortlessly lifting her onto the bed. He tucked her under the covers with him, then wrapped himself around her from behind.In this position, her chest was against his hand, while her entire back fit perfectly against his chest.

It made Jin An feel as though she had become the most precious piece of flesh hidden in his embrace, the softest part of him, completely and securely protected by him—no one could harm her.

He took a deep breath and sighed softly. This is so good.

How he wished he could hold her like this every night as she fell asleep. Even if the cost was losing half his life each day.