Actually, it was perfectly normal for brothers and friends to put their arms around each other’s shoulders and embrace. On ordinary days, Qi Changying and Shen Huarong were even more intimate than they were now, practically wishing they could stick to each other every moment. Even so, no one who saw them would think anything was wrong or read too much into it.
Su Li also knew this gesture was very ordinary.
But at this moment, he simply felt uncomfortable all over.
Clearly, Shen Huarong had also kept his arm around him for a long time earlier. But apart from finding the smell of alcohol on him overpowering and thinking he was annoying, Su Li didn’t feel anything else.
But now that Qi Changying had leaned against him, he suddenly felt uncomfortable from head to toe.
It was winter, so why was the air so stuffy and hot?
He has been sitting here quietly the entire time, neither leaving nor moving. So why did his heart suddenly start beating so fast?
How strange.
It must be Qi Changying’s fault.
It was all his fault.
It was his fault for saying something and then leaning over so closely.
He was a great hero, yet he still behaved so improperly, letting others see him in such a drunken state without feeling embarrassed.
“Stop being so self-righteous and imagining things. Just because I say you’re annoying, you think I mean the opposite? You’re really good at finding excuses for yourself. Every word I say is sincere.”
Su Li turned his head to look elsewhere and quietly moved a little farther away from Qi Changying.
“Lord Shen, would you like to have a drink? You made an indispensable contribution to this battle. So don’t even think about escaping this toast!”
Someone called out from nearby. Shen Huarong, who was leaning against Su Li’s shoulder and was almost asleep, came back to life at once. He laughed, shouted “Coming!” at the top of his lungs, then stood up and staggered away.
Su Li was originally squeezed between the two men and could not go anywhere or even move. Now that one side was finally free, he hurriedly shifted to the side. However, he could not move very far, because Qi Changying’s arm was still resting across his shoulders, making it impossible to escape.
“Shen Huarong has gone to drink. Commander, don’t you have to drink too?”
Qi Changying showed no sign of intending to leave, so Su Li could only remind him directly.
Unexpectedly, Qi Changying did not understand his hint at all.
“I’ve already had all the drinks I’m supposed to have. It wasn’t easy to finally get some free time, so I came over here to sit with you, and now you’re trying to drive me away.”
As he spoke, he lowered his eyes to look at Su Li.
“It’s chilly at night, aren’t you cold wearing so little?”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“It has nothing to do with me?” Qi Changying’s eyes curved into a smile.
“I still remember how someone fell ill with a high fever last time and passed out for an entire night. I was exhausted from keeping watch over him all night too, and I even caught his illness. It took me seven or eight days of coughing before I recovered.”
“…!”
Su Li glared at Qi Changying and viciously shook off his arm.
“Who asked you to take care of me? You were the one who insisted on coming over and sticking to me. You deserve it. Even if you cough for seven years instead of seven days, it’ll still be your own fault!”
“All right, all right. It was my fault for not being able to stand seeing someone sick. I deserved it.”
Qi Changying could not help laughing.
He untied the cloak he was wearing and draped it over Su Li.
“I’ve drunk too much wine, and I feel like I’m burning up inside. I can’t stand wearing this anymore. Wear it for a while on my behalf.”
Su Li originally wanted to refuse, but…
Qi Changying’s cloak carried his scent and was warm. Draped over Su Li, it kept out much of the cold.
In the end, Su Li could not bring himself to say anything. He silently lowered his eyes and pulled the cloak a little tighter around himself.
The noise around them continued without pause, just as before. The only difference was that, at the edge of the crowd, the number of people who were sitting quietly as if separated from the scene increased from one to two.
Qi Changying seemed a little sleepy.
After glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, Su Li thought this to himself.
The man’s eyes were half lowered, and he looked rather listless. Occasionally, when the wind passed by, it made the loose strands of hair at his forehead brush across his face.
If he was sleepy, why didn’t he go back and sleep?
As the commander-in-chief, did he have to stay with the soldiers until the drinking session ended?
“Ah Li.”
“What?”
Qi Changying interrupted Su Li’s jumbled thoughts. He looked at Qi Changying and heard him say:
“It’s too noisy here. I want to go somewhere farther away and find a quiet place to sit. Would you like to come with me?”
‘What do you take me for? Do you think I’ll follow you wherever you go?’
‘Am I your servant?’
Although he thought this, Su Li couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud.
He merely stood up before Qi Changying left. Even if they were going somewhere, he would be the one walking ahead.
They left the military camp, leaving behind the swaying, warm glow of the bonfires, and went to a shaded spot far from the crowds.
Su Li found a rock and sat down. Before long, Qi Changying sat beside him.
“Have you really decided not to stay in the capital?”
For some reason, perhaps because the cold wind had cleared his head a little, Qi Changying suddenly picked up their earlier conversation.
“Mm.” Su Li replied:
“What’s so interesting about the capital? The emperor thinks he’s somebody important and even dares to order me around. This time, I followed your Qi army to conquer the north. Next time, I’ll have to follow some Wang army or Li army to conquer the south. He really treats me like his subject and servant. If you people are willing to put up with his temper and suffer under him, that’s your business. I’m not willing to. I wasn’t even born in the capital, so no one can control when I come and go…”
For some reason, after a brief pause, Su Li finally added the last part:
“…No one can make me stay.”
After those words, the air fell silent for a moment.
Su Li didn’t know what kind of response he was waiting for. He only felt as though time had become a little longer, though in reality, only a few breaths had passed.
Then he heard Qi Changying’s voice again.
“That makes sense.”
Qi Changying leaned back, sitting in a relaxed, almost lazy manner. He lifted his face to gaze at the stars and smiled.
“Then I wish that wherever Ah Li goes in the future, everything will go smoothly. May you never meet anyone you dislike or encounter anything that troubles you. May you live in peace, happiness, and good fortune. While being Lord Qiyueban, who cares for the spirits of the dead, don’t forget to also be an ordinary, happy Zhuge Suli.”
“…”
Although these were kind words of blessing, Su Li couldn’t help feeling a tightness in his chest when he heard them.
He felt that these weren’t what he wanted.
But if they weren’t, then what was it he wanted?
‘…So annoying.’
Qi Changying was truly an extremely annoying and detestable person.
Su Li frowned and unconsciously ground his teeth.
He clenched his fingers. After a long while, he finally let out a silent sigh, took something out of his robes, and tossed it to Qi Changying.
“Here.”
Qi Changying didn’t expect Su Li to suddenly give him something.
He was slightly taken aback and subconsciously caught it, but then he felt a stinging pain in his palm, as if It was somewhat sharp.
He lowered his head for a look and discovered that it was a black nail about the size of his palm. It was extremely delicate and beautiful. The upper half was shaped like a snake’s bone, and several thin red threads were tied around the body of the nail. Judging by the knotting technique, they clearly weren’t wrapped around it casually for fun. There was a bit of intricacy to it.
Qi Changying knew Su Li for several years and knew that whenever he had nothing to do, he would stay in his tent and study these strange little objects. They had something to do with spirits and ghosts, but Qi Changying didn’t really understand them, and had never asked about them.
Qi Changying didn’t know why Su Li would suddenly give him this.
He examined the small nail and asked:
“What is this?”
“Just take it since I’m giving it to you. Don’t ask so many questions.”
Su Li didn’t want to explain too much, but after hesitating for a moment, he added:
“You must wear it on you. Wear it every day, every moment. You can’t take it off. Do you hear me?”
Hearing this, Qi Changying looked at Su Li and curved his eyes with a smile. He joked:
“Could this be a luck talisman Ah Li made for me?”
“It’s not…”
Su Li instinctively wanted to deny it, and the words were already at the tip of his tongue. But he frowned and swallowed them back.
“…More or less.”
There was nothing Su Li could do to help the Qi family reclaim the fortune that had been stolen from them, nor could he intervene directly to eliminate this hidden danger.
All he could do was make this magical artifact, inscribe it with incantations to ward off misfortune, and protect their fortune on their behalf. It would guard against those rats lurking in the shadows. That way, the fortune of Qi Changying and his family would no longer be stolen by outsiders, and Qi Changying wouldn’t have to meet the same fate as his father. It could at least be considered a timely way of cutting their losses.
Su Li had examined Qi Boming’s fate and had also used Qi Boming’s fate to sense the fortune of the entire Qi family.
No wonder their family’s fortune had attracted people’s greed. There were some things Su Li could sense even without deliberately calculating them. Qi Changying’s fate in this life was exceptionally good. It wasn’t just the Qi family; to put it on a larger scale, the prosperity of the entire world was closely tied to him. The honors he had received so far were, in fact, only the beginning of his life. He was still far from reaching the peak.
What he could possess in this lifetime went far beyond a commander’s seal or the title of a duke or marquis.
As for how far he would ultimately go, Su Li couldn’t calculate it, nor could he say.
“Remember, you must wear it at all times. You can’t take it off. Do you hear me?”
Afraid that Qi Changying wouldn’t take it seriously, Su Li emphasized it again.
Only after seeing Qi Changying agree and immediately hang the snake-bone nail around his neck, tucking it inside his collar, was he satisfied.
After that, Su Li pursed his lips and looked away.
“Aren’t you afraid this might be some cursed object, and that I’m making you carry it around because I want something from you?”
“You wouldn’t.” Qi Changying answered quite naturally.
Then he smiled.
“Besides, what do I have that you could want?”
“Your life.”
“You want me dead?”
“Not your life, but your fate.”
Su Li raised his eyes again and looked at him calmly.
“Your fate is very good, Qi Changying. So good that if it were laid out in plain sight, everyone under heaven would covet it. You must protect it well. Don’t let anyone else steal it.”
Upon hearing this, Qi Changying seemed to recall something and was slightly taken aback.
Only after a moment, when he had recovered, did he ask:
“Can fate really be stolen?”
“Even if you die and become a ghost, you’ll still have to listen to me and be under my control. So what’s impossible about stealing someone’s fate?”
Su Li’s gaze lowered slightly, moving from Qi Changying’s chin to his Adam’s apple. Instinctively, he wanted to do something to him, to exercise some control over him. But he raised his hand slightly, then lowered it again. In the end, he slowly curled his fingers and did nothing.
“I’ve already given you this thing, so protect your fate. Live properly for me, and make it through this entire life safely. Black snake demon bones are extremely rare. I only had this one, and I’ve given it all to you. If you still die for some inexplicable reason halfway through your life while carrying it, you’ll bring shame to me, Lord Qiyueban. Even if you become a ghost, I absolutely won’t let you off. If that really happens, you’d better watch closely and see how I torment you, making you wish you were dead and suffer a fate worse than death.”
As he spoke, Su Li lowered his voice slightly. If one listened closely, there was even a hint of a threat in it.
“Say, ‘Okay.’”
“…”
Qi Changying seemed not to have expected Su Li to be so serious. He was momentarily stunned before following his wishes and softly replying:
“…Okay.”
Su Li and Qi Changying sat quietly beneath the starry sky for a while. Later, Qi Changying was called away by Shen Huarong. Su Li it boring to sit alone, so he returned to his tent early and left all the revelry outside.
But even after lying down, he couldn’t sleep.
Qi Changying didn’t ask for his cloak back. The thick cloak embroidered with cloud patterns was hanging on the rack, causing Qi Changying’s scent to linger in the air. It was as though a cluster of lilies had been placed inside the tent.
Su Li lay with his eyes open, watching the candlelight flicker inside the tent. Accompanied by the faint, delicate scent of flowers, he remained wide awake.
He stared blankly into space until the noise outside died down and night deepened. The darkness reached its darkest point, then gradually brightened again.
In the end, Su Li still couldn’t fall asleep. Since there was nothing else to do while lying there, and it was already completely bright outside, he climbed out of bed.
Shoumo was still fast asleep, so Su Li washed up and dressed by himself, I intending to go outside and wander around to pass the time. However, just before leaving, he took the cloak from the rack, planning to return it to Qi Changying along the way.
The soldiers drank for most of the night, and none of them had gotten up yet. Apart from the guards stationed around the perimeter, there wasn’t another soul to be seen in the entire camp.
In the empty military camp, Su Li held the cloak and walked straight towards the commander’s tent.
There were no formalities or boundaries between him and Qi Changying. When he arrived at the tent, he didn’t need to announce himself. He could simply lift the curtain and walk in.
But the tent was quiet and empty. Qi Changying wasn’t inside.
Where did tbis person go so early in the morning after drinking so much last night?
He had only come to return the clothes, not to look for anyone. Whether Qi Changying was there or not didn’t matter. What did it have to do with him?
Thinking this, Su Li casually tossed the cloak onto Qi Changying’s bed.
He didn’t intend to stay long. After putting down the cloak, he planned to go outside and wander around to enjoy the breeze. But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from outside the tent.
“Everyone was exhausted last night. Let them sleep properly today. Once it’s around noon, after they’ve all had enough sleep and rested well, they can pack up and prepare to return to the capital. There’s no need to rush.”
“You’re so considerate of your soldiers. Why don’t you spare a thought for me? I drank quite a bit last night too. Instead of letting me rest properly, you dragged me out of bed early this morning to plan the route. You’re really treating me like I’m not even human.”
Shen Huarong spoke in his usual carefree manner. After a pause, his tone became slightly more serious when he spoke again.
“…Oh, there’s something I haven’t had the chance to tell you. I just received some news from the capital. It says that when you return this time, His Majesty intends to arrange a marriage for you.”
Su Li originally intended to walk straight out.
But upon hearing these words, he frowned slightly and stopped in his tracks.
“…Arrange a marriage?” Qi Changying’s tone sounded somewhat surprised.
“That’s right. You’re such a fine young man, yet you haven’t married or gotten engaged. Now you’ve also accomplished great deeds. You should have expected something like this. But as for the person being chosen for you… Guess who it is?”
“Who?”
“Zhuge Yu’s granddaughter, the one with the leg disability.”
“…Miss Qiyu?”
“That’s right, Zhuge Qiyu.” Shen Huarong sighed.
“Your Qi family and the Zhuge family have never gotten along. Now His Majesty wants to marry Zhuge Qiyu to you… I wonder what he’s planning. Besides, even setting aside your family backgrounds, that young lady from the Zhuge family has suffered from a leg disability since childhood. She’ll never be able to stand in this lifetime… Although it’s not very nice to say such things about a young lady, the two of you really are… not very compatible.”
“What does compatibility have to do with anything? We’re all human. Her leg disability is an injustice of fate, not something she chose. Besides, a person’s worth shouldn’t be measured by these things. She only needs to be herself. She doesn’t need to be compatible with anyone.”
“Hey… Wait, why are you already defending her?”
“I’m not defending her. That’s simply what I think, so that’s what I said.”
“So what you’re saying is… you accept this marriage arrangement?”
“His Majesty has arranged the marriage. What else can I do if I don’t accept it? If this is true and His Majesty has already made up his mind, I can’t exactly make the entire Qi family defy the imperial decree with me.”
Qi Changying’s tone was calm, and it was difficult to hear any emotion in it.
“Besides, I’m far away in the northwest right now, and this matter hasn’t even been settled yet. Why should I waste my energy worrying about it so early?”
“That’s true, but it’ll only be a month or two before we return to the capital. It’s not far off. Once we get back and you meet His Majesty, he’ll definitely bring this up. If you’re unwilling, you’ll have to hurry and think of a way to deal with it, right? Otherwise, are you really going to force yourself to marry Zhuge Qiyu? She’s a member of the Zhuge family. Besides, haven’t you always wanted to find someone you love and spend your whole life with, just like your parents did?”
At some point, Su Li had clenched his fingers. His nails dug hard into his palm, pressing in until he felt a sharp pain.
Time seemed to freeze into ice. The period of waiting felt as though a thousand years had passed, and yet it also seemed to last only the blink of an eye.
After that, he finally heard Qi Changying’s voice again.
“If His Majesty has made up his mind to arrange my marriage, all we can do is delay it. As for the person, even if there’s no Miss Zhuge, there’ll be Miss Li or Miss Wang. Whoever His Majesty wants me to marry, I’ll have to marry. What he wants isn’t my marriage. It’s my obedience.”
“If I defy the imperial decree and offend His Majesty right after earning these merits, I’ll be dragging the entire Qi family into a pit of fire. I can’t let everyone start walking on the edge of a blade with me just because of some vague, uncertain wish. My own wishes are the least important thing. What does it matter if I have to sacrifice them?”
“But…”
“Enough. There’s no ‘but,’ Ah Rong. There are many things in this world that cannot go entirely according to one’s wishes. If the person I want to spend my life with has already appeared, then I will certainly fight with everything I have for that person. But since fate hasn’t brought us together yet, and the imperial decree has arrived first… If this matter really cannot be defied or changed, perhaps that’s another kind of predestined fate.”
“In that case, it wouldn’t hurt to obey and give it a try.”
