Qin Yu’s vision darkened, and her hearing gradually blurred.
Her lungs felt as if they were about to explode from pain. Between moments of fading consciousness, Qin Yu couldn’t help opening her mouth, greedily gasping for air.
The cold stream water instantly flooded her mouth. Just as Qin Yu felt she was about to die there, Chen Yufei grabbed her from behind and pulled her out of the stream.
Qin Yu coughed violently. The feeling of nearly drowning just now was far from pleasant.
“What… what are you doing…” Qin Yu leaned weakly against the rock. Even though the rough stone surface scraped against her delicate skin, causing some pain, she couldn’t care less about it.
“Sorry, I was afraid my soldiers would notice something suspicious, so I hid you.” Chen Yufei patted Qin Yu’s back gently.
“Next time, remember to tell me beforehand…” It took a while before Qin Yu finally coughed out all the water from her trachea.
Her chest had already been feeling somewhat uncomfortable from Chen Yufei’s earlier attack, and now Qin Yu felt even more that her chest burned with pain.
“Thank you for saving my life.” Qin Yu wiped the water stains from the corner of her mouth and tidied her hair, which had been pulled painfully by Chen Yufei.
Even though Chen Yufei had nearly killed her, Qin Yu didn’t dare complain a single word.
The experience just now made her fully understand that Chen Yufei’s troops were nearby. If she so much as disobeyed Chen Yufei, she would be handed over to the soldiers and executed immediately.
Qin Yu couldn’t help feeling bitter. Without her army by her side, she, the Crown Prince, had to humble herself before Chen Yufei.
Still, Qin Yu’s mindset quickly adjusted. ‘Once I get back to my troops, I’ll have my one hundred thousand strong army press down on her. Let’s see what Chen Yufei does then!’
“Done washing?” On the bank, Chen Yufei asked Qin Yu.
“Huh… huh?” Qin Yu was startled, then realized she had been spacing out again for a while. Chen Yufei had already returned to the shore.
She quickly answered, “I’m done.”
After putting on Chen Yufei’s clean clothes, Qin Yu felt her whole body much fresher.
On the riverbank, Chen Yufei had already set up the tent.
“You actually carry something like a tent with you?” Qin Yu was very surprised. Although this tent was just an ordinary one without magic, it was still much better than sleeping out in the forest.
“What else? I was fully prepared for a solo raid to carry out a decapitation strike against you and Luo Shangyu. Of course my preparations were thorough!”
Qin Yu let out a silent laugh. She hadn’t expected Chen Yufei to be so well-prepared and have such an aggressive battle plan.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that. It was already very late. After making a fuss for half the night, Qin Yu felt extremely sleepy.
On top of that, she had led her troops on a surprise raid up a mountain, so her limbs were already somewhat weak and limp.
The earlier cramp had left her limbs throbbing with dull pain.
Qin Yu crawled weakly into the sleeping bag inside the tent. A warm sensation immediately enveloped her.
“Ahh, nice…” Qin Yu stretched her body freely, not bothering to consider her current predicament at all.
“What about your clothes that you washed?” Chen Yufei poked her head into the tent and asked Qin Yu.
“Uh… I didn’t wash them…” Qin Yu answered with a red face. She couldn’t figure out how she had forgotten to do that.
“Sigh…” Chen Yufei let out a sigh, picked up Qin Yu’s clothes by the riverbank, and carefully washed them for her.
“Thank you…” When the sound of water outside the tent finally stopped and Chen Yufei crawled into the tent looking exhausted, Qin Yu quickly thanked her.
Without thinking, it was definitely Chen Yufei who had washed her clothes.
“No need to thank me. I washed your clothes for you and hung them up to dry.” Chen Yufei said.
“What about your clothes?” Qin Yu asked.
“I have spares.”
Qin Yu looked down at Chen Yufei’s clothes she was wearing. They were clean and warm.
“The clothes you washed smell so nice!” Qin Yu sniffed the scent on her clothes and said to Chen Yufei.
“Mm.” Chen Yufei answered flatly. She was putting on a new set of clothes to sleep.
“Is it your scent or the laundry detergent?”
Chen Yufei ignored Qin Yu. She combed her smooth black hair casually.
“Is this…?” Qin Yu picked up a somewhat damp piece of clothing beside her. A strong smell rushed into her nose. The scent was the same as what Chen Yufei wore.
“Damnit! That’s my change of clothes!” Chen Yufei snatched the clothes back from Qin Yu’s hands.
“Hehe…” Qin Yu could only laugh awkwardly to ease the somewhat tense atmosphere.
“Scoot over!” Chen Yufei pushed at Qin Yu, who was inside the sleeping bag.
“Huh?”
“There’s only one sleeping bag. I need to sleep in here too!”
“…” Qin Yu silently curled her body into the corner, leaving space for Chen Yufei.
The sleeping bag was originally designed for one person, so now having two people lying in it was a bit cramped.
Qin Yu pushed at Chen Yufei, who was pressed against her. “Don’t try anything sneaky on me while we sleep!”
“If I wanted to ambush you, would I have waited until now?” Chen Yufei said irritably, and at the same time turned off the tent’s light.
Sleeping in the forest shrouded in night, Qin Yu couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy, but having Chen Yufei beside her gave her great comfort.
…
During the night, Luo Shangyu crawled out of her warm blanket, put on an overcoat, and went to the military camp.
In the camp, there were only the snoring sounds of the soldiers and the sound of the wind passing through.
Luo Shangyu walked around the camp, inspecting every corner. She had to check everything thoroughly before she could feel at ease.
Her and Qin Yu’s strategy this time was to play it steady and secure. They had to be vigilant against Chen Yufei’s raiding party. Because once this stable state was disrupted, she would lose all advantages, Chen Yufei would take control of the situation, and their side would surely lose completely.
Luo Shangyu slowly patrolled and arrived by the camp’s watchtower.
“General!” When the soldiers on night duty saw Luo Shangyu approaching, they all saluted her.
“Mm.” She responded flatly, and at the same time gestured for everyone not to mind her.
At night, the autumn wind was desolate and a bit chilly.
Luo Shangyu gazed into the western woods. She knew that at this moment, Qin Yu was leading her troops deep into enemy territory.
‘I wonder how Qin Yu is doing now…’ Luo Shangyu let out a silent sigh.
She was very worried about Qin Yu, worried that she might be unable to match Chen Yufei and be defeated.
…
Chen Yufei slowly opened her eyes. Outside the tent, the sky was already bright. She felt her whole body hot and restless.
‘What’s going on…’ Chen Yufei looked and saw that Qin Yu had somehow wrapped her arms around her, her head pillowed on Chen Yufei’s chest.
On her chest, the mark of Qin Yu’s drool had not yet dried, mixed with a faint trace of reddish blood.
“Heh, as the Crown Prince, this is really undignified.” Chen Yufei gently pried Qin Yu’s limbs off from around her body and crawled out of the sleeping bag.
The clothes washed last night were already completely dry in the autumn wind. Chen Yufei took down Qin Yu’s clothes and tossed them into the tent.
It was already getting late. Chen Yufei knew she had to speed things up and send Qin Yu back to her camp so that the entire military exercise could continue smoothly.