Shadow Love (Yu Jin Chang An)

After lunch in the military camp, the soldiers were resting. Although Li Shuang was concerned that with the winter month approaching and the weather turning cold, the Western Rong tribes might raid the borders of the Great Jin to plunder grain due to their insufficient food stores, such worries remained just that—worries. There was still over a month before the true harsh winter arrived, leaving little to occupy the camp.

With time on her hands, Li Shuang rummaged through a stack of military manuals and pulled out a small storybook.

Raised by her father as if she were a boy, Li Shuang had trained in martial arts and spearplay, surpassing many young noblemen. She retained few feminine habits, except for her love of reading storybooks. Whether it was the romantic tales circulating among the common folk, the idle gossip of dashing scholars, the grudges and vendettas of wandering heroes, or the strange legends of gods and ghosts, she devoured them all without discrimination.

The desolate northern frontier offered little entertainment, so the few storybooks she had brought from the capital were her only solace against loneliness.

Just as Li Shuang was engrossed in reading, her bitten index finger propped up, heavy footsteps approached outside with a "thud, thud."

Without knocking, Luo Teng barged in angrily, lifting the tent flap: "General! I told you we shouldn't have brought that brat back! The moment he woke up, someone came to complain to me!"

Li Shuang cleared her throat subtly, hiding the book under the table before looking up with a serious expression. "What happened?"

"I didn’t go see for myself. I assigned a squad leader to take care of him, and he sent two young soldiers over. They say the kid knocked over the food they brought and beat them up pretty badly. If it were up to me, an ungrateful wretch like that should just be executed. But since you picked him up..."

Li Shuang nodded. "Alright, I’ll go take a look."

When Li Shuang entered the small tent, she was taken aback. The child was bound tightly with ropes, wrapped up like a zongzi and tossed onto the bed, with only his head left free to breathe. The floor was a mess of trampled food, and the soldiers surrounding him still wore wary expressions, hinting at the chaos the child must have caused earlier.

Amused, Li Shuang asked, "What’s all this?"

Only then did the soldiers notice her and hastily make way, saluting.

The moment Li Shuang appeared outside the tent, the child’s gaze had locked onto her. Now, unobstructed, he stared boldly into her eyes, his expression carrying a complexity no ordinary child would display.

With just that one look, Li Shuang could tell this child’s past was anything but simple.

Glancing at the scattered food on the ground, she asked him, "Were you afraid someone poisoned your meal?"

The squad leader scratched his head. "General, the kid seems mute. He wouldn’t say anything earlier—"

"Correct."

The child’s clear, deliberate response was like a slap to the squad leader’s face. The man shot him a glare, gritted his teeth, and stepped back without another word.

Li Shuang, however, chuckled. "If we wanted to kill you, would we need poison? Look at all the blades in this room—any one of them could do the job." As she spoke, she casually drew a soldier’s sword beside her. Before anyone could react, she swung it forward in a broad arc. The sudden, sweeping motion turned the soldiers pale, convinced their grain-conserving general was about to cut the child down.But with a "swish," all the hemp ropes binding the child were cleanly severed by Li Shuang's broadsword—her control over strength and distance was impeccable, not even grazing a single hair on the child.

The broadsword left her hand and smoothly returned to the soldier's sheath.

While the two involved parties remained unharmed, the soldier gripping the sheath broke out in a cold sweat.

The child continued to stare straight at her.

If Li Shuang’s bold and unrestrained moves earlier had been startling, then the child’s reaction—not flinching or even blinking in the face of her powerful strike—was nothing short of terrifying.

Because either he had discerned that Li Shuang wouldn’t kill him, or he simply lacked any sense of fear.

For a child, either possibility was shocking.

Yet this was merely the astonishment of onlookers. Li Shuang simply crouched before him, meeting his gaze evenly, her tone calm. "I don’t know what you’ve been through before, but here, no one owes you anything, and no one wants to harm you. I brought you back out of duty and conscience. Now, since you spilled your lunch, you won’t get any today. Military rations are precious, so as punishment, you won’t have dinner either. In my camp, no one gets special treatment."

With that, Li Shuang turned and walked out. The squad leader hurried after her, and soon her voice could be heard outside: "You grown men, tying up a child like this—aren’t you ashamed of disgracing my Changfeng Battalion?"

The squad leader could only complain, "General, you don’t know how fierce this kid is..."

"Enough. Go patrol the camp."

The voices outside faded. Seeing the child sitting obediently on the bed, the soldiers withdrew as well.

In the now-quiet tent, the child lowered his head and examined the ropes cleanly sliced by the sharp blade. He picked up one strand and clenched it in his hand—this was the rope she had cut. Why did even the severed ropes seem to carry her scent...

So enticing it was enough to make him obsessed.

Li Shuang spent the afternoon drilling troops on the training grounds.

By dusk, she returned to camp. Passing the child’s tent, she hesitated for a moment, debating whether to check on him. After all, she had once been picked up the same way as a child, and it was hard for her not to project her own feelings onto such a child and pay extra attention.

Just as she reached the tent entrance, the flap was abruptly pulled aside.

The child stood barefoot on the ground, staring straight up at her, his eyes filled with nothing but her and the setting sun.

Li Shuang paused, then smiled. "Your perception is quite sharp—you could sense someone outside from inside the tent."

"I sensed it was you," he said.

Her brow arched in amusement as she crouched down. "Oh? How did you sense that? Do you really have a wolf’s nose to pick up scents?"

"Yes. I can smell your scent."

Li Shuang found this increasingly intriguing. "Tell me, what do I smell like?"

"Special..."

A special fragrance of blood.

The child glanced down at her hand, where her index finger was still wrapped in white bandages. The taste of her blood lingered vividly in his mouth. He reached out, lightly touching the back of her hand. The moment his fingertips met her skin, it was as if an electric current surged through him—a tingling numbness, as though something deep inside was squirming, itching, ready to burst forth.When the child touched the back of her hand, Li Shuang didn’t feel offended but rather found it amusing.

"Special? Could it be that you drank my blood while unconscious and now recognize me as your master?" She teased, but the words made the child freeze, staring up at her in stunned silence.

Li Shuang didn’t pay much attention to his momentary daze, focusing instead on his thin, frail hand. A pang of sympathy struck her, reminding her of her own childhood. Moved by compassion, she glanced around before leading him into the tent.

She fished a piece of candy from her sleeve and pressed it into his palm. "Eat it quietly. I gave strict orders not to feed you—if anyone finds out, it’ll make me look bad."

The child took the candy but didn’t eat it. Li Shuang was about to say more when Qin Lan’s voice came from outside: "Has anyone seen the General?"

Li Shuang turned toward the tent entrance, then ruffled the child’s hair.

"Maybe no one explained it to you properly today. This is the Changfeng Garrison of the Great Jin Dynasty, stationed at Lucheng. I’m Li Shuang, the commanding officer here. If you trust me, take your time and think about your background. If you have family, I’ll send you to them. If not, I can arrange for a family in Lucheng to take you in. There’s no rush—just come find me when you’ve made up your mind."

She stood and turned to leave. Almost instinctively, the child reached out to grab the hem of her robe, not wanting her to go. But by then, Li Shuang had already lifted the tent flap, and the slanting rays of the setting sun poured in.

The twilight stung the child’s eyes. His heartbeat faltered for a moment, his body stiffening as his steps halted—just barely missing her robe.

Li Shuang stepped outside and greeted Qin Lan directly. "I’m here. What is it?"

"Young Master Li’s carriage has arrived," Qin Lan replied, quickly leading her away.

The heavy tent flap fell back into place, concealing the child inside. No one saw how, in the dim light of the tent, he clutched his chest and slowly sank to one knee. His breathing grew ragged, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

A fiery red pattern began spreading beneath his collar, creeping up his neck, across his cheek, and finally reaching the corner of his eye.

His body…

Was swelling…

At the entrance of the Changfeng Garrison, a vermilion carriage came to a stop. The young master in fox fur brushed off his servant’s helping hand and hopped down on his own. He took a deep breath.

From a distance, the sound of armored footsteps approached swiftly. The handsome young master looked up, his face instantly brightening with a radiant smile. "Sister!"

He started running toward Li Shuang but barely took two steps before she reached him. She curled her middle finger and flicked his forehead with a crisp, sharp thwack . The boy winced, sucking in a sharp breath as he rubbed his forehead vigorously.

"Sister, you hit harder than before…" he grumbled, but instead of sympathy, he earned a cold snort from Li Shuang.

"I can hit even harder—want to test it?"

Li Ting hastily shook his head. "No, no!" He gazed at her with exaggerated pitifulness. "Sister, I missed you. You haven’t come home in two or three years."Li Shuang had always been more responsive to softness than toughness. Seeing him like this, her anger dissipated, though she still stubbornly retorted, "You're being willful, and the old man indulges you. If anything happens here, don’t expect me to help!"

"I know Sis would never abandon me!" The boy grinned brightly, his eyes crinkling with warmth, momentarily dispelling the chill of the frontier and making it impossible for Li Shuang to stay angry.

"Alright, alright," Qin Lan stepped in to mediate. "General, it's freezing outside. Let’s get the young master settled in the tent first."

Inside the main tent, dinner had already been served. Meals in the military camp were simple—each person had a small table, and they ate quietly for a while before Luo Teng suddenly pushed through the tent flap. "General," he saluted, brushing snow off his clothes as he approached. "That boy you picked up is missing."

Li Shuang frowned. "Missing? How?"

"Not long ago, soldiers passing by his tent heard strange noises. When they went in to check, he was gone. We’ve searched the camp but still haven’t found him."

Li Shuang’s brow furrowed. When Luo Teng had entered, she’d noticed the sky outside was pitch black, with heavy snow still falling. If the child had wandered beyond the camp, he wouldn’t last long in the cold. "Send more men to search outside the camp."

Luo Teng scoffed. "Why bother, General? That kid’s an ungrateful little brat—no use raising him. If he wants to run, let him. Saves us rations. It’s a harsh winter—we can’t afford to feed extra mouths."

"Do your best to find him. If we truly can’t, then so be it."

Luo Teng accepted the order and left.

Li Ting, who had been sitting nearby, finally spoke up. "Sis, you picked up a child recently?"

"Mhm." Li Shuang responded absentmindedly, her thoughts elsewhere. Observing the weather outside, she noted how early the heavy snow had arrived this winter—unusually harsh. While the cities of the Great Jin Dynasty had grain supplies from the south, the Western Rong tribes would struggle more with each drop in temperature.

Poverty bred unrest. If famine struck the Western Rong this year, a major battle was likely imminent...

"Li Ting," Li Shuang said calmly between bites, "You may stay in the northern frontier for one month at most. After that, I’ll send a small escort to take you back to the capital."

Li Ting’s eyes widened instantly. "What?! It took me over half a month to get here, and now you’re only letting me stay a month?!"

"One month is already generous."

Seeing her firm stance, Li Ting grew anxious. "Father said I could stay as long as I wanted! He’s the Grand Marshal of the Empire’s Armies—you have to listen to him!"

"A general in the field may refuse even imperial orders. This is the Changfeng Battalion—I make the rules here." Her tone was unyielding, domineering. She shot him a sidelong glance. "Keep arguing, and I’ll send you back tomorrow."

"Sis, you’re being unreasonable!"

"That’s right. I’m unreasonable. What are you going to do about it?"

"..."

Cornered, Li Ting fell silent. He gritted his teeth. "If I go back, you’re coming with me."

Li Shuang smirked coldly. "Kid, has it been so long since I last beat you that you’ve forgotten your sister’s temper?"

Li Ting gulped, wilting like frostbitten eggplants. His appetite vanished, and he listlessly poked at his rice with his chopsticks.Li Shuang thought he was just acting spoiled like a pampered young master. She didn’t indulge him and continued eating heartily, picking dishes to her satisfaction. To her surprise, after a while, Li Ting called out to her again, “Elder Sister.”

She ignored him.

“You want me to return to the capital because you think the frontier is harsh and dangerous, right?” He paused before continuing, “Do you know that when you were stationed here, Father and I worried about you the same way?”

Unmoved, Li Shuang replied, “Spare me the sentiment. If you’re truly concerned, don’t come here and be a burden. Go home obediently and let the old man arrange a marriage for you. Help him strengthen his connections so he can secure his position as Grand General. The safer he is, the safer I’ll be here.”

Li Ting: “...”

Her words were brutally straightforward. Qin Lan, Li Shuang’s long-time confidant, was also in the tent. He kept his head down, eating in silence like a meditating monk, pretending not to hear.

“You’re not even married, yet you want me to marry!” The emotional appeal failed, and Li Ting grew agitated. “I know why you don’t want to return to the capital—you’re afraid of seeing His Highness the Crown Prince! Because he married someone else, you’ve decided to avoid him forever and never go back!”

At these words, Li Shuang stiffened slightly and fell silent.

Qin Lan set his bowl down with a thud and sternly rebuked, “Young Master, the General commands the Changfeng Camp to defend the Great Jin’s realm. How could you misinterpret her intentions with such words?”

“I...” Li Ting’s lips moved as he glanced cautiously at Li Shuang, realizing he had gone too far, and promptly quieted down.

Just as the atmosphere in the tent grew awkward, Li Shuang suddenly felt a breeze brush against the hair at her temple—someone had let wind in from behind the tent.

Her eyes sharpened, and without a word, she flung her chopsticks backward.

Before anyone could grasp her action, Qin Lan turned and saw that the spot where her chopsticks had landed was a slit in the tent fabric—someone had cut it open from the outside to spy on them.

“Who goes there!” Qin Lan bellowed. Soldiers immediately rushed into the tent, and torches blazed brightly outside. But the intruder had already vanished without a trace.