Suddenly, someone patted Qin Yu on the back from behind.
The touch startled her so badly that her legs gave out, and she dropped straight to her knees, sitting on the ground like a startled duck.
“What’s wrong?” Luo Shangyu’s puzzled voice came from behind her.
“I… I…” Qin Yu could barely get the words out.
“Haha, sorry.” Luo Shangyu gave an awkward laugh, “I just didn’t know your name, so I had to call you that. So… what is your name?”
“My name?” Qin Yu’s mind raced.
‘I definitely can’t use my real name, or I’ll be exposed. I have to use a fake one.’
“I’m called Yu Xi,” Qin Yu said in a low voice.
“Yu as in feather, Xi as in tide.”
“It’s a nice name,” Luo Shangyu nodded.
“Yu Xi, don’t you think the rope on your hands should be exchanged for something… more suitable?”
Qin Yu nervously looked at the object in Luo Shangyu’s hand.
It was a set of enchanted steel manacles and a collar connected by a thin chain—far more professional than hemp rope, and far harder to escape.
Seeing the clearly high-grade restraint gear meant for important prisoners, dread flooded Qin Yu’s heart.
Still, she forced a cutesy, pleading smile onto her face.
“General… isn’t this… a bit too heavy? I’m just a maid… I’m not worthy of something like this, am I?”
“A maid?” Luo Shangyu crouched down, meeting Qin Yu’s eyes at the same level.
A trace of playful teasing shimmered deep in her emerald-green gaze, “Would Qin Yu bring a maid along—and dress her in such… distinctive clothing—on a stealth assault mission?”
Luo Shangyu’s tone was gentle, almost like chatting with an old friend, yet the mockery in her words stabbed like needles.
Qin Yu’s heart sank hard, ‘Had Luo Shangyu already figured it out?’
At this point, playing dumb was the only option.
Qin Yu lowered her eyes, avoiding the piercing stare that seemed to see straight into her soul.
Luo Shangyu gazed at the trembling girl kneeling on the ground and felt extremely satisfied with her own words.
She knew she had seized Qin Yu’s weak point.
A wicked thrill at toying with someone else surged through her chest.
She asked no more questions.
Instead, she personally fastened the new manacles and collar onto Qin Yu.
The cold metal collar pressed against delicate skin with a crisp, terrifying click.
The heavy restraint around her neck declared that Qin Yu’s freedom was completely gone.
“Come on, I’ll take you to where you’ll rest.” Luo Shangyu tugged the chain attached to the collar.
“To… the prisoner-of-war camp?” Qin Yu asked softly, voice trembling with fear.
She knew the camp was full of male soldiers.
Luo Shangyu paused mid-step and glanced back at her.
The girl stood there in an utterly out-of-place maid outfit, weighed down by heavy restraints, her ocean-blue eyes brimming with unease and dread.
After several seconds of silence, Luo Shangyu gave the chain a light pull and said, “Follow me.”
‘That direction… is toward Luo Shangyu’s central army headquarters!’
An ominous premonition instantly enveloped Qin Yu.
Luo Shangyu’s personal command tent was spacious and luxurious.
It contained not only an office and a meeting room for military discussions, but also a dedicated bedroom.
A large, soft bed sat squarely in the center.
“There’s only one bed?” Qin Yu asked.
Immediately afterward she regretted it.
‘I’m just a captive—what right do I have to complain?’
“What, you dislike my bed?”
“N-no, that’s not it…” Qin Yu hurriedly shook her head, cheeks faintly pink.
“I just… didn’t expect the general would let me sleep here.”
“Would you rather squeeze onto a communal bunk with the soldiers in the POW camp?” Luo Shangyu raised an eyebrow.
“In your current appearance, that place wouldn’t be safe for you.”
Qin Yu fell silent.
Indeed—that was exactly what she feared.
Given her present looks and supposed identity, Luo Shangyu’s arrangement was, in a twisted way, a form of protection.
Yet this “protection” from Luo Shangyu only made her emotions more tangled.
‘Never thought the person who understands what I’m feeling right now best… would be my own enemy.’
A bitter helplessness rose in Qin Yu’s heart.
“Hurry and take a bath. I still need to wash afterward,” Luo Shangyu said, pushing Qin Yu toward the bathroom.
“The body wash is on the shelf over there, and the washcloths are beside it.”
Qin Yu nodded.
She watched Luo Shangyu close the door and leave.
Inside the bathroom, a large wooden tub serving as a bathtub was already filled with hot water at the perfect temperature.
Qin Yu shed her clothes and sank into the warm water.
Exhaustion and tension seemed to melt away into it.
She gazed at the blurred reflection of her face and the long white hair floating in the water, still overwhelmed by an intense sense of unreality.
Right now her body was slender and soft, skin smooth and fair—completely different from the male physique she had known for sixteen years.
‘Too much of that potion… most likely there’s no going back…’
The grim reality left Qin Yu mentally drained.
Everything that happened today surged back into her mind once more.
Her father the emperor lay critically ill, the political situation was unstable, she had been forced into a gender swap and then captured.
It all felt like a bizarre nightmare—yet it was undeniably real.
The restraints on her body felt noticeably heavy.
Even though Luo Shangyu had given her the bathroom, she had not removed the shackles.
With these bonds, escape had become a luxury.
Qin Yu had no choice but to consider other ways to return to the Chengji Empire.
Right now, the only things she could possibly use were her current body… and the fake identity she had fabricated.
‘Accept it. Make use of it.’ Qin Yu told herself.
Luo Shangyu didn’t seem to have any intention of killing her; she even appeared to harbor a certain special interest.
Perhaps hidden within that interest lay the very opportunity she needed to escape.
After finishing her bath, Qin Yu put on the clean cotton nightgown Luo Shangyu had left in the bathroom and carefully hid the pendant inside her clothes.
Though the nightgown was simple in design and a little oversized, it was extremely comfortable.
It still carried the faint, distinctive fragrance that belonged to Luo Shangyu.
Seeing Qin Yu dressed in her own loose nightgown—the fabric hanging loosely on the smaller frame—Luo Shangyu couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle at the comical sight.
“You go ahead and get into bed. I’ll go wash up,” Luo Shangyu said.
As she watched Luo Shangyu walk into the bathroom, Qin Yu took the pendant out from beneath her clothes.
It had been pressing uncomfortably against her skin.
She slipped it under the pillow and thought, ‘I hope Luo Shangyu doesn’t find it…’
In the unfamiliar environment, Qin Yu was too nervous to fall asleep.
She lay in bed with her eyes closed.
The bed was soft, and the scent clinging to the quilt was somewhat similar to the one on the nightgown.
‘I’m actually lying in the enemy general’s bed?’ The absurdity of it struck her, leaving her torn between laughter and tears.
She didn’t know how much time passed before the bathroom door opened and Luo Shangyu’s footsteps approached.
The next moment, a rush of cool air slipped under the covers—Luo Shangyu had lifted the quilt and slid in.
There was only one quilt.
Though both the quilt and bed were large, the two of them could still clearly feel each other’s body heat.
Luo Shangyu had just finished bathing; her skin was still warm.
That radiant heat made Qin Yu’s breathing grow uneven.
In the darkness, Qin Yu sensed Luo Shangyu turn over to face her.
Warm breath gently brushed across her cheek.
“Asleep?” Luo Shangyu’s voice was soft, yet perfectly clear in the quiet night.
“Mhm,” Qin Yu answered.
“Hehe~” A very faint, delighted chuckle escaped the other woman, the warm airflow tickling Qin Yu’s face.
Only then did Qin Yu realize she had just made such a basic mistake…