The military hospital for the wounded was filled with the faint smell of medicinal herbs and blood.
With a heavy medicine chest weighing on his shoulder, the clerk “Shen An” kept his head lowered and followed silently at the rear of the group.
A short distance ahead, Prince Su, dressed in black military attire, walked side by side with “Military Advisor Su,” who wore a pale blue long robe and a gauze veil hat.
Personal guards surrounded them, maintaining a tight security perimeter.
In recent days, this scene of Prince Su and his military advisor inspecting the camp had become an entirely familiar sight to the soldiers.
To guard against assassins lurking in the shadows, Xiao Yuan and Xia Lanshi had deliberately devised this arrangement.
The covert guard Mu Li would disguise himself as Su Muchen and make a conspicuous appearance in public, while the real Su Muchen would assume the identity of Shen An and disappear into the unremarkable crowd.
As it turned out, Xiao Yuan’s protective network was watertight. So far, not only had no assassin appeared, but not even a suspicious-looking bird had managed to fly over Su Muchen’s head.
At that moment, Mu Li was playing the role of “Military Advisor Su” to perfection. He relayed the military orders Su Muchen had drafted earlier in an orderly manner while keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings, alert for any ambush.
He detected no danger, but he had the persistent feeling that… someone was watching him from behind.
The gaze carried no killing intent, yet there was an inexplicable hint of resentment in it.
Mu Li discreetly checked with the corner of his eye several times, only to discover that the gaze was coming from Shen An behind him.
His scalp prickled.
Could he have imitated something incorrectly and given himself away?
Or had he made a mistake while relaying the orders?
But his master had given no instructions, and he did not dare make any rash moves. All he could do was grit his teeth and keep walking.
At the rear of the group, Su Muchen’s gaze kept drifting uncontrollably toward the two figures walking side by side.
Mu Li’s imitation was remarkably convincing. His gait, the slight angle at which he tilted his head to listen to Xiao Yuan speak—everything was exactly like Su Muchen himself.
And precisely because of that, the inexplicable irritation in Su Muchen’s heart only grew stronger.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yuan, walking beside Mu Li, maintained his usual stern expression and handsome, sharply defined features, as though completely unaware of the undercurrents surging behind him.
Only deep within those dark eyes did an almost imperceptible trace of amusement occasionally flicker.
◆◇◆◇◆
The camp inspection came to an end.
As soon as he returned to the study, Su Muchen plunged straight into the mountain of documents piled before him.
After finishing the paperwork, he opened his laptop and began typing rapidly, his fingers flying across the keyboard. The crisp tapping echoed through the room as he organized the complicated logistics and wounded-soldier data into a coherent system.
Recently, he had devoted almost all his energy to logistics and the resettlement of wounded soldiers.
With the food and supply situation now relatively stable, he had turned his full attention to the most difficult problem: finding proper arrangements for the wounded.
Only after printing and binding the finalized proposal did Su Muchen rub his aching neck. Carrying the stack of papers, still faintly warm from the printer, he walked over to Xiao Yuan’s desk.
Hearing his footsteps, Xiao Yuan raised his head from the mountain of military reports. His gaze fell upon Su Muchen’s slightly tired yet bright eyes.
Seeing the stack of papers in his hands, he understood that this was serious business. He raised a finger and indicated the empty chair beside him.
“Looks like we have quite a bit to discuss. Sit down.”
Su Muchen had just pulled the chair out and was about to sit when Xiao Yuan suddenly said in a low voice, “You’re sitting too far away. How are we supposed to look at the same document together?”
Su Muchen paused, then obediently moved his chair a little closer to Xiao Yuan.
But before he had even settled into the seat, Xiao Yuan stretched out his long arm, gripped the back of the chair with his broad hand, and pulled both Su Muchen and the chair directly to his side. The two chairs ended up pressed tightly together.
Su Muchen’s eyes widened.
Out of the corner of his eye, however, he caught sight of Mu Li, who had been standing in the corner. With remarkable agility, Mu Li had already slipped out of the room, thoughtfully closing the door behind him without leaving the slightest gap.
Suddenly, only the two of them remained in the study, and the atmosphere took on a subtly different quality.
Su Muchen cleared his throat and handed over the documents.
Xiao Yuan accepted them and flipped through the pages quickly. As he read, his expression grew increasingly serious and contemplative.
“Is this the ‘Northern Frontier Military Hospital’ you mentioned a few days ago?”
“Yes.”
Su Muchen had originally considered naming it after the city, but he found “Linbei Military Hospital” awkward to pronounce, so he had simply settled on Northern Frontier Military Hospital.
He pointed to several clauses in the proposal, his tone earnest.
“There are many soldiers in the wounded camp who need long-term care, and some have been left permanently disabled. Keeping them in the camp indefinitely would consume medical supplies and manpower, while leaving no room for newly arriving casualties with severe injuries. But under the old system, if we simply give them compensation and send them home, those who have lost limbs—or those who never had families to return to in the first place—will be left to suffer miserable lives.”
He paused, looking intently at Xiao Yuan.
“I plan to establish this military hospital inside Linbei City. It will have departments for long-term care, rehabilitation, support for disabled soldiers, and vocational training. We need to find a new path forward for soldiers whose bodies have been impaired but who still have something to contribute.”
“Vocational training?” Xiao Yuan raised his eyes.
“Those who have lost fingers and can no longer wield a sword can learn to use an abacus or manage storehouses. Those who have lost their legs can be fitted with suitable wooden supports and mobility aids, then undergo rehabilitation to relearn how to walk. Alternatively, they can take up work that relies on their hands rather than their legs. As for elderly veterans who can no longer fight on the battlefield, their minds contain half a lifetime’s worth of experience fighting the Beidi. We can put them in charge of training new recruits.”
Su Muchen’s voice was gentle, yet filled with conviction.
“In this world, no one should be used up and then discarded. They have shed their blood for the Northern Frontier. The Northern Frontier owes them a place where they can belong.”
Xiao Yuan silently studied the plan on the final page.
Under Dasheng’s longstanding military system, discharged soldiers with permanent disabilities were often treated as nothing more than “useless pieces” in the army.
The old system offered only compensation and repatriation. No one had ever established a complete system connecting medical treatment, rehabilitation, transition to new roles, and reintegration into society.
Su Muchen’s proposal would not only ease the burden on the army’s medical facilities but also rally the loyalty and morale of the entire Northern Frontier army.
Xiao Yuan studied one of the clauses and pondered for a moment before asking, “Can civilians be recruited as well?”
“Yes. The military hospital itself doesn’t need to be staffed entirely by people with military status. Recruiting local residents for routine care would provide them with a livelihood while reducing the burden on the army. Once severely wounded patients are transferred to the hospital, the frontline casualty camps can resume their proper wartime function.”
Taking into account the heavy workload and ongoing construction in Linbei City, Xiao Yuan said, “Linbei City is still in the process of rebuilding itself. We can’t undertake a major construction project at the outset, but we can purchase spacious old residences from private owners and renovate them for temporary use.”
Su Muchen nodded. “That will work. The important thing is that we cannot delay this. We must put it into practice as soon as possible.”
They had little time left. Although the private residences in Linbei City had certain shortcomings, as long as they maintained a few basic standards, the conditions would be no worse than those in the wounded camp outside the city.
Xiao Yuan looked over the proposal and nodded with satisfaction.
“This is well written. I’ve reviewed it, and there are no problems. Approved.”
He placed the documents on his desk.
“Have Mu Li draft the formal paperwork based on this. Go through the official procedures, then get started.”
With the serious business settled and the new system approved, Su Muchen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to stand when he suddenly felt his waist tighten.
Xiao Yuan rose slightly, placed both hands around his waist, and with one firm movement lifted him up and settled him securely on his own solid thigh.
Su Muchen’s breath caught as he was lifted off the ground and lowered again. The tips of his ears turned visibly red in an instant.
When he turned his head, Xiao Yuan’s face was right beside his. Their noses nearly brushed against each other.
Those deep, dark eyes stared directly at him, carrying a hint of amusement and scrutiny.
“Jingyuan, it’s daytime!”
Su Muchen planted both hands against Xiao Yuan’s shoulders and tried to slip off his dangerously warm lap.
Someone could enter the study at any moment.
If anyone saw him in this position, what would become of the authority he had worked so hard to establish as “Military Advisor Su”?
But Xiao Yuan’s arms, wrapped around his waist, were as unyielding as iron. He did not budge.
Xiao Yuan held him around the waist, his voice tinged with laughter.
“The official business is finished. Now it’s time to discuss private matters.”
He tilted his head slightly, his warm breath brushing Su Muchen’s ear.
“Recently, whenever we inspect the camp, I keep feeling as though there’s a gaze behind me that’s about to burn a hole straight through my cloak. Military Advisor Su, since you’ve been following behind us, have you noticed anyone suspicious?”
Su Muchen’s eyes flickered slightly, but he answered as though nothing were amiss.
“…How would I know? I’ve never practiced martial arts.”
Does this man have eyes in the back of his head? he grumbled inwardly.
“You were so close at the time. Surely you saw something?”
Xiao Yuan’s nose brushed lightly against his cheek. His voice dropped, unmistakably teasing.
“Could it be that seeing this prince walking so closely beside that fake military advisor has left my Lord Su feeling rather displeased?”
Having his thoughts exposed, Su Muchen turned his face away in embarrassment and irritation.
“No!”
Xiao Yuan chuckled. He reached out, took hold of Su Muchen’s chin, and gently but firmly turned his face back toward him.
“Really?”
Su Muchen lowered his eyes, his lashes trembling slightly.
He bit his lower lip. His initial embarrassment and annoyance gradually gave way to a sadness he could no longer conceal.
“I’m not the sort of person who can’t understand reason. It’s just…” Su Muchen’s voice grew quieter, tinged with a dry, strained quality. “Watching the two of you walking side by side suddenly made me think…”
“Think of what?”
Xiao Yuan’s smile faded as he sensed the change in Su Muchen’s mood.
“I thought… about what will happen if you really reach that position one day, when you sit upon the throne and rule the world.”
Su Muchen drew a deep breath and finally voiced the words that had been weighing on his heart for so long.
“The emperor of Dasheng will have to establish an empress and fill the imperial harem, producing heirs to continue the bloodline. Even if you don’t want to, the officials at court will force you. To maintain the balance of power, political marriages will eventually become inevitable. And as for me…”
He raised his head, a trace of bitterness in his eyes.
“All I can offer you is a door that may one day close forever. If our relationship becomes public, what will the historians’ pens and the court officials’ condemnation do to the reputation of a wise ruler like you?”
These analyses were painfully rational, yet just as painfully cruel. From the moment he had decided to accept Xiao Yuan’s love, they had been circling through his mind day and night.
He had simply never found the courage to say them aloud.
But he knew perfectly well that this was a problem they would eventually have to face.
He was not afraid of bearing the blame himself. What he feared was that Xiao Yuan might become tainted by a stain he did not deserve because of him.
The study fell briefly silent.
Xiao Yuan gazed at him quietly. A trace of heartache passed through his eyes, soon replaced by a helpless mixture of exasperation and amusement.
He tightened his arms and held Su Muchen firmly against his chest.
“When did I ever say I would marry someone else?”
He had never realized that Su Muchen had been thinking about this all along.
Su Muchen froze.
“But the officials will oppose it, and the imperial clan will put pressure on you…”
“The officials will oppose it. The imperial clan will put pressure on me, and the historians will leave behind their criticisms.”
Xiao Yuan’s voice was perfectly calm.
“I know all of that.”
Su Muchen stared at him, stunned.
“So you…”
“So before they can oppose me, I’ll take care of everything that needs to be done and remove every obstacle that needs to be cleared.”
Xiao Yuan’s gaze was more resolute and piercing than ever.
“If I truly have to sit on the throne, then I’ll make sure I sit firmly upon it. If the political landscape must be balanced, I’ll find a way to balance it myself.”
He lowered his head and looked deeply into Su Muchen’s eyes.
“As for you, you have never been a bargaining chip to be exchanged for political stability.”
“I may not be able to give you the legitimate title of empress…”
Xiao Yuan cupped his face, his thumb gently stroking the corner of his eye.
“But I promise you that there will be no one else in my harem. As for the succession, there are plenty of nephews and younger relatives in the imperial clan. We can choose a clever one and adopt him as our heir. There’s no rule that says the next emperor must carry my blood.”
Giving Su Muchen the title of empress was not necessarily impossible, but Xiao Yuan did not want him to become a target for everyone’s hostility.
Xiao Yuan’s voice was deep and solemn, each word striking Su Muchen’s heart.
“Whether I remain a prince ruling the frontier or end up seated upon that dragon throne, there will always be only one person at my side. You.”
“Mu’an, give me some time. Once the realm is at peace, I promise I will marry you. Wherever I am will be your home.”
The two words marry you struck Su Muchen like a thunderclap.
His mind went blank, and the blush on his ears spread instantly down his neck.
He instinctively raised his voice.
“W-Who said I wanted to marry you?!”
He struggled to escape, but Xiao Yuan held him firmly in his arms.
Xiao Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, a dangerous huskiness creeping into his voice.
“Hmm? You don’t want to?”
“I-I just…”
Su Muchen was so exasperated that he could barely speak. How did this man always manage to steer such a serious conversation in this direction?
He sighed and decided to lay his concerns out plainly.
“I’m just afraid that gossip and malicious rumors will hurt you. You’re supposed to become a great emperor whose name will be remembered through the ages. You shouldn’t have your brilliance overshadowed by a relationship that the world refuses to accept.”
Xiao Yuan laughed softly.
“Mu’an, when you look at the world, you calculate everything too carefully and think too far ahead. But my life belongs to me, and your life belongs to you. Are you really going to compromise your happiness for the sake of people in later generations whose faces you can’t even see?”
Xiao Yuan gazed deeply into his eyes.
“Tell me. When you watched me walking beside someone else this morning, what was the real feeling in your heart?”
Reason and emotion wrestled fiercely within Su Muchen.
Whenever he imagined the future, the thought of standing in the shadows while Xiao Yuan, dressed in imperial robes, walked toward the throne beside another woman made him feel as though a blade were carving into his heart.
He knew perfectly well what his heart was truly crying out for.
“I…” Su Muchen clutched the front of Xiao Yuan’s robe, his voice trembling slightly. “I don’t like it. It just feels as though something is stuck in my chest.”
“That’s more like it.”
Xiao Yuan smiled and kissed his forehead.
“That’s perfectly normal. Do you know that whenever I see you smile at one of the soldiers under your command, I spend half the day feeling as though someone has stabbed me in the heart?”
Su Muchen stared at him in astonishment.
“Huh? Who did I smile at?”
He tried to remember, but genuinely could not think of anyone.
Xiao Yuan did not answer this little confession of jealousy. Instead, he took Su Muchen’s hand and pressed it against his own warm, solid chest, letting him feel the steady, powerful beat of his heart.
“Mu’an, remember this.”
Xiao Yuan’s voice was deep and solemn, almost reverent.
“This heart belongs only to you. From the night I came to knock on that door, covered in blood, you were the one who gave me this life. You were the one who walked this road alongside me. If, at the very end, I reach that lofty position and you aren’t standing beside me… what use would I have for this vast empire?”
No matter how difficult and treacherous the road ahead might be, no matter how great the price, Xiao Yuan could afford to pay it.
But letting go of Su Muchen was absolutely impossible.
Su Muchen’s eyes grew faintly hot.
He had always thought he was the one weighing the pros and cons on Xiao Yuan’s behalf. He had never imagined that this man had long since begun clearing away every thorn in his path, even silently deciding to shoulder the heaviest political costs himself.
Xiao Yuan had simply never said it aloud.
“…I believe you.”
Su Muchen lowered his head and rested his forehead against Xiao Yuan’s shoulder.
“I’ll wait for you.”
But even in his wildest dreams, he had never imagined that as a modern man, he would ultimately find his home in another era—and end up “marrying” a prince.
Thinking of this, he could not resist muttering stubbornly, “Still… I haven’t agreed to marry you yet. Why can’t I be the one who marries you? That’s unfair!”
Xiao Yuan let out a muffled laugh.
He gently stroked the back of Su Muchen’s head, smoothing his hair, and readily replied, “All right. We can take our time and ‘discuss the matter at length.’”
Su Muchen completely failed to detect the suggestive undertone in the phrase discuss the matter at length. His mind was occupied by just one thought: This fellow had agreed far too readily. Was he plotting something again?
He hadn’t somehow tricked him into something else again… had he?
The atmosphere was perfect, their affection at its peak.
Xiao Yuan’s gaze darkened. He gently lifted Su Muchen’s chin with one hand and parted his lips, about to kiss him—
“Knock, knock, knock!”
A terribly ill-timed knock suddenly sounded from outside the door.
Su Muchen instantly reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His entire body jolted, and he hurriedly wriggled free of Xiao Yuan’s embrace.
This time, Xiao Yuan was caught off guard and genuinely failed to stop him.
Su Muchen shot back to his own desk at the fastest speed of his life, snatched up a brush, randomly opened a file, and sat bolt upright. The only thing he could not conceal was the deep red flush on his ears.
Xiao Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the heat smoldering in his eyes. He forced his voice to sound calm.
“…Come in.”
The door opened, and a personal guard entered carrying a stack of new military reports. Without looking at either of them, he quietly placed the reports on Prince Su’s desk and respectfully withdrew.
Seated in his chair, Xiao Yuan looked at the thin-skinned “cat” pretending to be composed while bristling with embarrassment. He sighed silently, his eyes filled with helpless affection.
“You’re holding the document upside down,” Xiao Yuan kindly pointed out.
Su Muchen looked down.
Sure enough, it was upside down.
Since the guard had already left, he simply put the document down, opened his laptop, and pretended to resume working with complete composure.
Xiao Yuan smiled soundlessly.
His gaze then fell upon the proposal for the Northern Frontier Military Hospital on the desk, and his eyes grew thoughtful.
Su Muchen was working hard to find a place for the wounded soldiers of the Northern Frontier to call home. Without realizing it, he was also building immense political goodwill and strengthening the loyalty of the army on behalf of the two of them.
If one day Xiao Yuan truly intended to bring this man to that position and have him stand openly at his side, then these seemingly minor institutional reforms would not be enough.
He first needed the entire Northern Frontier army to grow accustomed to the presence and benevolence of this “Military Advisor Su.”
Then he needed the people of the realm to gradually grow accustomed to—
Su Muchen.
A much more far-reaching plan was slowly taking shape in Xiao Yuan’s mind.
But no matter what the future held, for now he first had to break through the deadly predicament before him.
Only by staying alive and securing absolute power could he truly give Su Muchen a place where he could belong in peace.