Drop of Cinnabar in the Heart (1)  

Dark clouds covered the blood red setting sun. The strong, viscous smell of blood permeated the deadly battlefield. The accumulation of corpses appeared ferocious and terrifying, and the strong sense of death made it nearly impossible to breathe.

A young and tall figure looked at the gloomy sky. His gaze was bleak and lonely. The steed under him snorted loudly, and then lowered its head and continued to gnaw on the weeds on the ground. He slowly lowered his head and looked at the black foal with a touch of warmth in his eyes——she was the one who gave him this horse!

“General, what are you thinking about? Are you...thinking about my future sister-in-law?” The person teasing him was his deputy, Dafu. They had been together since they were new recruits and had known each other for nearly ten years.

They had experienced life-threatening situations together and could give their backs to one another. So, in private, the two often tease each other as amusement.

Upon hearing his words, Zhao Han just smiled and didn’t say anything. Sun Dafu, on the other hand, continued, “General, don’t be shy ah! This is a good thing! Look, I’m three years older than you and my son is already five years old. Yesterday, I received a letter from my wife, saying that she had hired a teacher for him. You, on the other hand, don’t even have a wife yet. People often say, ‘get married and start a career’. Getting married first won’t delay you from making accomplishments and becoming successful ah! It’s no wonder that the General’s Estate kept sending you letters, urging you to go back. Does the old general want great-grandchildren?”

That’s right ah! In a blink of an eye, he was almost thirty years old. He hid in the army again and again to evade his family’s urges for him to get married. This time, he finally couldn’t avoid it! His family had arranged a marriage for him. The other party was also a descendant of a military family. It was said that she had a straightforward personality and looked pretty and kind.

Looking back on the past few years, in order to avoid his family’s urges for him to get married, he had transferred from the Tanggu Garrison, which was closer to the capital, to the bitterly cold and remote northwestern borders. He hadn’t returned to the capital for many years.

His parents did everything that they could to force him to get married. His mother pretended to be ill many times to trick him to return from the borders. When he hurried back to the capital, he was indeed greeted by his cheerful mother, who had a ruddy complexion and was holding a thick pile of portraits of noble misses in the capital.

In order to make him agree to take a look, his mother, who was such a gentle and demure noblewoman, forced herself to use the tricks of crying, screaming, and threatening to kill herself...

Seeing that he was so dead set on not getting married, his mother had even privately asked if he had any unmentionable illnesses. Or perhaps...he didn’t like women?

Who said he didn’t like women? It was only that the person he liked had already become another person’s wife...

The image of that small fishing village with a faint fishy scent floating in the air and the sounds of waves appeared in his mind again. A thin figure came out from the dilapidated house that looked as if it was about to collapse. She smiled sweetly at him and she cheerly called him, “Older Brother Han”...

If, at that time, his grandfather and father didn’t accept the title bestowed by the imperial court, they would still be ordinary hunters in a small fishing village. If so, wouldn’t he be able to appear in front of her every day, teach her how to set traps, and take her hunting? Wouldn’t he be able to secretly help her sell the game that they caught and save up the money bit by bit?

Wouldn’t they be able to quietly avoid the villagers and secretly roast pheasants, or wild hares, with her special seasonings, eating happily together? Moreover, wouldn’t they be able to take this as their little secret that he could keep for her?

If he hadn’t left, wouldn’t he have been able to stand by her side during the most difficult time of her life? Wouldn’t he be able to share the burden with her and support her?

If he didn’t leave, wouldn’t he be able to light a lamp for her when she came home late?

If he never left, wouldn’t he be able to help her carry a heavy basket when she was tired?

If he had stayed by her side, would he have been the one who married her?

But, what-ifs were just what-ifs...

She had long become another’s wife and mother. As for him, he could only look in the distance from afar——reminiscing about her...

“Hey, I heard...Future Sister-in-law had been to the battlefields with her father and older brothers. She has quite a fiery temper and often whips people in the capital. Can you subdue her?” Sun Dafu nudged him with his arm and made a face at him in amusement.

Zhao Han’s thoughts were interrupted by him. He glanced at him with his deep black eyes, gently tugged the reins, and rode towards the camp.

“Hey, it’s just a joke! You aren’t angry, right?” Sun Dafu hurriedly urged his horse forward and comforted, “Maybe it’s just a rumor? Future Sister-in-law came from a prestigious family, so how could she be like the rumors? Besides, with your martial arts skills, there’s no way that you can’t subdue a little lass.”

Zhao Han forcefully squeezed his horse’s belly. The fine stead, like an arrow shot out from the bow, galloped on the vast grassland. Sun Dafu wanted to chase after him, but his horse was far inferior compared with the general’s. He could only watch as the figure of his back gradually disappeared from his line of sight.

Sun Dafu mumbled, “It’s so good to have a younger sister who can raise horses ah! Although she’s not blood-related, she’s even more generous than a biological sister would be. Knowing that Han’zi was transferred to the northwest, she gifted him with a fine stead. That’s a precious horse that could travel a thousand li in a single day. It can’t even be bought with money! Ay forget it. I’m not going to be envious anymore. Even if it can be bought, I can’t afford it!”

“What ‘younger sister who can raise horses’? The general’s younger sister is a horsekeeper? It can’t be, right? Isn’t the general’s grandfather a famous general from the former dynasty? Why would he accept a girl who raises horses as his younger sister?” A hairy head appeared next to him. It turned out to be the general’s personal guard, who liked to gossip the most!

Sun Dafu pushed his head away and said, “Go away! Your younger sister is a horsekeeper! Don’t let Imperial Prince Xu hear what you said. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that your head would stay on your neck!”

As soon as the guard heard ‘Prince Xu’, he immediately retracted his head——that person was a lethal weapon and demon ah! Even if there were dozens of him tied together, he still couldn’t afford to offend him ah!

‘But...weren’t we talking about the general’s younger sister? What does that have to do with Imperial Prince Xu? Deputy General, don’t leave me hanging. Can’t you just say everything directly?’

Prince Xu’s Estate, Capital

With his short legs, a chubby, little round figure charged towards Princess Consort Xu’s arms, like a cannonball.

Unfortunately, he failed to do so. When he was about to enter his mother’s fragrant embrace, he got intercepted halfway by a firm hand.

Little Baozi blinked his pair of phoenix eyes as he stared at a pair of eyes that looked exactly like his own. He called out softly, “Lord Father——” Then he stretched out his chubby, little arms to Yu Xiaocao, who was beside them.

Compared to his lord father, whose whole body was hard and firm, he preferred his fragrant and soft lady mother.

Zhu Junyang pinched his son’s chubby face and said with a gentle voice, “Haven’t I told you many times? Your younger sister is in your lady mother’s tummy, so you can’t charge into her arms anymore. Your lady mother can’t hold you now because your younger sister will get squashed.”