The art of military formation depends on talent.
Gao Yuexing, with her combined lifetimes spanning over twenty years, was old enough to be Li Fuxiang’s godmother. Yet, staring at these lines of text, she still felt clueless. She recognized every character on the page, but when arranged into sentences, they might as well have been in an alien script.
Scratching her forehead awkwardly, Gao Yuexing averted her gaze in embarrassment.
Suddenly, a wave of anxiety swept over her.
Li Fuxiang was deeply interested in military strategy, while she understood nothing about it. In the future, wouldn’t their conversations be like a chicken talking to a duck?
Li Fuxiang simply crumpled the paper he had written on, tore it into shreds, and threw it into the water jar under the window. Then, he prepared to lead her down the mountain. The sky in the distance still held a sliver of light, but the mountain paths were treacherous, and they needed to leave before nightfall.
Gao Yuexing tightened her cloak around herself. Turning her head, she noticed that Li Fuxiang wasn’t wearing his clothing properly. Without hesitation, she yanked him over and pulled his hood onto his head, leaving only a thin portion of his sharp face exposed.
Ding Wenfu drove a carriage to escort the two children down the mountain. Before leaving, Li Fuxiang tucked a book, Records of Jiangdong Travels, into his arms.
He really likes books, doesn’t he?
Gao Yuexing thought for a moment and also selected a medical book from the vast collection of the palace library: General Treatise on the Causes and Manifestations of Diseases. This book was about 90% new, transcribed by later generations and stored in the library. It seemed that it hadn’t been read much before.
Li Fuxiang noticed her taking a book as well and curiously leaned over to take a look. Gao Yuexing handed the book to him, and he flipped through a couple of pages casually.
However, just as Gao Yuexing struggled with military books, Li Fuxiang found the convoluted medical text completely incomprehensible. Annoyed, he handed the book back.
As the carriage reached the mountainside, the sky had completely darkened. Gao Yuexing was just about to light a lamp when the carriage suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Unprepared, she was flung backward, her head hitting the carriage wall. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel the expected pain. Instead, it seemed like she had struck something else—something soft, albeit a bit lumpy.
Perplexed, Gao Yuexing turned her head.
Li Fuxiang silently lowered his arm, wrinkling his nose as he rubbed his fingers.
Gao Yuexing was startled and quickly grabbed his hand to help rub it.
Huddled in a small corner of the carriage, they paid no attention to what was happening outside until Ding Wenfu’s slightly flustered voice broke the silence: “Your Highness? Why are you here alone?”
Gao Yuexing’s ears twitched.
The Crown Prince?
Li Fuqian.
When it came to the Crown Prince, Gao Yuexing’s mind conjured up a few details. She remembered that in her past life, the Emperor’s intended heir to the throne had been him. The Crown Prince, being the Emperor’s eldest son, had been raised as the heir apparent since childhood. He had lived up to expectations—virtuous and magnanimous.
But the events that followed were lamentable… Just a step away from ascending as Crown Prince, Li Fuqian was suddenly implicated in a major corruption and bribery case. The evidence was irrefutable, leaving no room for defense. After being imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, he confessed to all his crimes without denial. A lifetime of virtue was destroyed in an instant, and he lost the chance to become Crown Prince in a single moment of folly.
But that was no ordinary corruption case.
At the time, six cities south of the Yangtze River were struck by floods. Natural disasters inevitably brought epidemics. Homes and farmland were destroyed, leaving refugees wandering homeless, starving, and afflicted by disease. The death toll was staggering.
Li Fuqian embezzled the relief grain and medicinal herbs allocated by the court for the six flood-stricken cities.
Even execution wouldn’t be enough to quell the people’s wrath.
In Gao Yuexing’s memory, she had only met Li Fuqian a few times, but judging by his appearance, he didn’t seem like a selfish or greedy person.
From outside the carriage, Li Fuqian said, “I’m not alone. My fifth brother is injured, and the person in the carriage… could it be my brother… Fuxiang?”
The issue of Li Fuxiang’s rank within the family remained a taboo subject, making addressing him extremely awkward.
Gao Yuexing pushed open the carriage door. “Your Highness, what happened?”
Li Fuqian stepped aside. Behind him, lying in the grass, was a child. Ding Wenfu stepped forward to check the situation. “It’s the Fifth Prince. There’s a wound on his thigh that looks like it was caused by a beast’s bite.”
Startled, Gao Yuexing turned to glance at Li Fuxiang and said, “Quick, bring him up here so I can take a look.”
Ding Wenfu lifted the child onto his shoulders and placed him inside the carriage.
Gao Yuexing moved closer to the lamp. The Fifth Prince’s entire lower body was soaked in blood, a horrifying sight. His face and lips were pale, drained of all color. Although he was unconscious, his teeth chattered lightly, likely due to excessive blood loss.
As Gao Yuexing tore open his clothing, she asked, “Your Highness, what happened?”
Ding Wenfu used strips of cloth to wrap the Fifth Prince’s wound. Gao Yuexing saw the tender flesh, deeply gouged with tooth marks, exposing the bone beneath.
Holding up the lamp, Li Fuqian explained, “About an hour ago, while I was scattering offerings at the foot of the mountain, a servant from my fifth brother’s side came running down in a panic. He bumped into me and said his master had been bitten by a wolfhound. The servant went back to the camp to find a carriage, so I came up to check.”
Ding Wenfu immediately asked, “How could there be wolfhounds on the road to the palace?”
The mountain housed the Emperor’s palace. On this path, let alone wolfhounds, even wild cats would have been cleared out to avoid disturbing the Emperor.
Not daring to delay, Ding Wenfu finished bandaging the wound and then drove the carriage quickly down the mountain. On the way, they encountered guards heading up to escort people. Ding Wenfu sent one guard ahead to report to the Emperor.
The injured prince was directly taken to Consort Xu’s tent.
Consort Xu wrung a handkerchief as she stayed by the bedside.
Gao Yuexing and Li Fuxiang sat silently outside. At this moment, no one would care what two children said or did.
Li Fuxiang suddenly spoke, “Blood.”
His words startled Gao Yuexing, who hadn’t caught what he said. She looked at him questioningly. “What?”
In a low voice, Li Fuxiang repeated, “So much blood.”
He always spoke softly, as if afraid of startling someone, like the faint mewing of a kitten.
Gao Yuexing asked, “Are you afraid of blood?”
Li Fuxiang shook his head. “Will he die?”
Gao Yuexing shook her head. “I don’t think so. His bleeding has already stopped.”
Li Fuxiang fell silent.
The two children crouched quietly outside.
The Emperor arrived in a hurry. Before entering the tent, he saw the two small figures sitting silently outside. Ding Wenfu stood nearby, watching helplessly.
The Emperor paused in his steps and walked over, pinching Li Fuxiang’s cheek. “What’s wrong? Are you scared?”
Li Fuxiang nodded, admitting it readily.
The Emperor looked at his most beloved son, feeling both love and heartache. He sighed and motioned for Ding Wenfu to carry the child back to his tent.
Gao Yuexing and Li Fuxiang shared the same tent. Huddled by the brazier, they leaned against each other for warmth. Before long, they heard the chaotic sound of horse hooves galloping out of the camp.
Ding Wenfu lifted the tent flap and brought in their evening meal.
Taking the opportunity, Gao Yuexing asked, “Is there any news from Consort Xu? How is the Fifth Prince?”
Ding Wenfu replied, “His Majesty has ordered people to search the mountain for the wolfhound that bit him. They’re to kill it and bring back its fresh brain to apply to the Fifth Prince’s wound.”
If they managed to find the wolfhound, the Fifth Prince would likely be fine. But the Xiaoshan range stretched for hundreds of miles—how could it be so easy to locate?
A normal dog bite wouldn’t necessarily be fatal, but if it came from a rabid dog, the outcome might be very different.
Li Fuxiang reached for Gao Yuexing’s hand and said, “I will protect you.”
Gao Yuexing laughed softly, amused. “Clearly, you’re the one who’s scared. Why do you insist on dragging me into it? I’m not afraid at all!”
Ignoring her teasing, Li Fuxiang tightened his grip on her fingers. “You must live.”
Gao Yuexing smiled faintly. “I will.”
Li Fuxiang emphasized again, with even more force, “You must live!”
Gao Yuexing opened her mouth to respond, but suddenly, a vision of the poisoned arrow piercing her abdomen in her past life flashed before her eyes. Her smile froze.
She must live.
This was not a statement to be taken as a joke. She could not allow herself to repeat the exact same life trajectory as before.
She absolutely could not die in such a senseless and unclear way again.
The abbot at Qingliang Temple had hinted that it was all a dream. But no matter how much she thought about it, Gao Yuexing could not bring herself to believe it.
Those vivid experiences, that overwhelming love and hate, and that heart-wrenching pain—how could it all have been a mere dream?
She preferred to see it as a life she had truly lived, an inescapable part of her destined existence.
Gao Yuexing stared blankly, then flipped her hand over to grasp his. “I will live. Don’t worry. We’ll both live well!”
That night, the camp finally quieted down. Gao Yuexing, unable to fall asleep, rose and stepped outside. The night sky above was a galaxy of stars surging like a tidal wave. Gao Yuexing held her head in her hands.
In the life she had experienced before, history books never recorded the existence of someone named Li Fuyou.
No one knew his name, his identity, when he was born, or where he had died.
Even the title of “Fifth Prince” had belonged to Li Fuxiang.
Would he die?
At daybreak the next morning, Zheng Yan held up a phoenix-tailed kite outside the tent, calling for Gao Yuexing to come out and play.
The sons of the Zheng family had grown thoroughly tired of their lazy and unmotivated cousin. By contrast, they much preferred the lively and cheerful Second Miss of the Gao family. Unfortunately, this Miss Gao seemed intent on staying by that sickly “kitten’s” side and showed little interest in mingling with them. The Zheng boys had no choice but to muster all their patience to win her attention.
Gao Yuexing hadn’t slept well the previous night. After finishing her morning routine, she turned to Li Fuxiang upon hearing the commotion and asked, “Flying kites—are you coming?”
Li Fuxiang shook his head, declining.
His intense curiosity was only piqued by things he encountered for the first time. Once he had seen or played with something, he would lose interest and never care for it again.
Gao Yuexing had just come to understand this peculiar trait of his.
They had been husband and wife once, yet Gao Yuexing felt as if her understanding of him was only just beginning.
Taking the kite from Zheng Yan, Gao Yuexing realized she had long outgrown the age for playing with such things. In her heart, she thought it would be much better to soak in a hot spring, sip tea, or admire flowers than to run around sweating profusely.
Yet, she also believed children’s lives should be lively and full of joy—especially at their age.
Absentmindedly, she extended the kite string, and the phoenix-tailed kite soared high into the sky. Li Fuxiang sat in front of the tent, flipping through his copy of Records of Jiangdong Travels. Occasionally, he glanced up to watch her.
He didn’t enjoy playing himself, but he loved watching Gao Yuexing play.
Even without looking back, Gao Yuexing could distinctly feel the two eyes following her every move. She couldn’t help but sense that something about Li Fuxiang was different from before, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
Time seemed to pass faster than she had imagined.
Many changes happened so abruptly that there was no chance to savor them gradually. By the time she realized it, everything had already shifted dramatically.
Raising her hand to shield her eyes from the blazing sunlight, Gao Yuexing watched as the kite string grew taut. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed the Fifth Prince, Li Fuyou, sitting on a wicker chair outside Consort Xu’s tent.
He was mirroring her actions, staring at the kite soaring higher and higher in the sky. He held the same posture for a long, long time, motionless, as if trying to imprint the sight of that solitary kite into his eyes.