Chapter 3: The Rites of Duke Zhou

After the torrential rain had ravaged the landscape, the ground was littered with fallen leaves, broken branches, and landslides, presenting a scene of desolation.

The soldiers guarding the camp, hungry, were moving the drenched grain and forage, clearing supplies, and reestablishing the camp, with no one paying attention to the beautiful female prisoners of war from the enemy nation.

Feng Yun found a sheltered spot from the wind to start a fire for cooking.

She retrieved a cooking pot from the small donkey cart and fished out several plump eggs, cooked them in boiling water, peeled one, ate the egg white, and stuffed the yolk into the mouth of the little clown cat...

The clown cat half-closed its eyes, savoring its treat contentedly.

Ao Qi watched with saliva nearly dripping from his mouth.

How long had it been since he had last eaten an egg? He couldn't remember.

In times of chaos, the days of marching and fighting were hard, often with a meal uncertain and survival from one day to the next in question...

The small donkey cart laden with supplies belonging to Feng Twelve, though strikingly out of place in the military camp, was his most wonderful fantasy at the moment.

Ao Qi walked over, "I want to eat too."

Feng Yun asked with a smile, "Why should I give you any?"

His breath caught in his throat, and under Feng Yun's seemingly teasing gaze, Ao Qi felt his scalp tighten, pointed at the clown cat licking its lips, and his mood turned exceedingly sour.

"It has the surname Ao, and so do I."

"It's a whelp, are you a whelp as well?"

"I... at the tender age of sixteen, not yet having come of age, am naturally a whelp!"

Feng Yun hadn't expected Ao Qi to be so assertive.

She plucked an egg from the bowl and handed it to him.

Ao Qi's eyes lit up, and his taut jawline relaxed, the philtrum under his lower lip curving slightly, revealing the youthful charm of a handsome and proud teenager.

But before the peeled egg could reach his mouth, the air around him suddenly froze.

Countless eyes were staring at him, no one spoke.

Those soldiers with faces weary and clothes soaked were all not very old, with some even appearing emaciated, not fitting the image of the robust soldiers of the Northern Yong army as the rumors suggested.

In a world ravaged by war and chaos, with the realm fragmented and the Emperor frequently replaced, commoners often resorted to the desperation of trading their children for food, and soldiers too regularly faced hunger, leading harsh lives...

The freshly cooked egg exuded an enticing aroma.

Yet Ao Qi could no longer bring himself to eat it.

He dejectedly wrapped the egg and tucked it into his chest.

"It's for the Great General."

A rapid succession of hoofbeats arose from the other side of the mountain.

The fog enveloped the earth, and dots of golden sunlight filtered through.

A towering figure burst out of the misty forest, spurring his horse forward, his solid armor reflecting a dazzling light in the morning sun. Behind him surged the iron cavalry of the Northern Yong army, stretching across the mountains.

"The Great General is back!"

"The Great General returns in triumph!"

Warhorses neighed, and shouts rose like a tidal wave.

The black cape with golden embroidery and the flag marked "Pei" fluttered in the wind, bringing with it a surge of crisp air that pressed in...

In that brief moment, countless images whirled through Feng Yun's mind.

She thought of the three years entangled with Pei Jue...

No one present would believe that their general, who sat high on his warhorse and looked down upon the world with a falcon's cold disdain, was a very different person in private.

In public, he was an iceberg, struggling to utter an extra word. But in private, he was a volcano, exploding like lava when roused, clinging desperately, cursing and railing, and even more so, on cold winter nights, he would warm the bed and then lift her onto his body, rubbing ear against cheek, in unrestrained madness...

General Pei's favoritism could be lethal when aroused.

Feng Yun had seen men of all sorts of handsome and noble appearances.

But she had never seen anyone quite like Pei Jue... with the heart of a beast yet the face of a man.

The tents were not yet tidied, and the twenty beautiful concubines were all exposed to the open air, watching Pei Jue ride into the camp and pass through the ranks of soldiers, bowing down early in reverence.

"Your servant has seen the Great General!"

Her tender voice softly chanting, a delicate waist gracefully curved, jingling with the sway of jewels.

Pei Jue dismounted from his horse with an expressionless face and handed the reins to Ao Qi.

"The Great General is finally back!" Since Pei Jue entered the camp, Ao Qi's admiring gaze had never left his uncle's face.

He was excited, thrilled, yet slightly nervous as he stole a glance at Feng Yun.

"Last night, thanks to the lady of the Feng Family's warning, otherwise—"

All of a sudden, silence fell, and Ao Qi's words got stuck in his throat.

He saw the Great General stop in his tracks.

A gust of mountain wind blew by.

Feng Yun stood in front of a small donkey cart, her hair loosely coiled, her skin porcelain white. Her wide clothing was pressed against her body by the wind, revealing her exquisite curves. Though a prisoner, she wore not a trace of makeup, yet she shone like the bright moon above, surpassing the beauty of both ancient and modern times, truly unparalleled in this world.

The triumphant soldiers were spellbound.

The Feng family's daughter was deserving of the title "peerless beauty."

Under the vast expanse of the sky, in the deathly silence, there was a tumult of seething blood within the calm, a hidden revelry. No one spoke, yet their gazes were in utter disarray, almost wishing to immediately conduct the Ritual of Zhou on behalf of the Great General…

Feng Yun's heart was not as calm as her outward appearance.

Their eyes met.

Past entanglements flashed through her mind like a spinning lantern under the powerful aura of Pei Jue, making it difficult for her to remain impassive.

Fortunately, Pei Jue had no shared memories with her.

Just like the first time they met in her previous life, he had not groomed himself, his beard was unkempt, and there were faint circles under his eyes, the visible signs of exhaustion that made his facial features sharp and intense, his gaze both desirous and fierce…

The difference was, in her past life, Feng Yun had prostrated deeply before him like those beauties, out of fear, hoping for the Great General's pity…

"Ao Qi?" Pei Jue suddenly raised his scabbard, pointing towards the cooking utensils next to the small donkey cart, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

The crowd had an epiphany—so the Great General had stopped not because he was captivated by beauty, but because he saw someone violating military rules.

Ao Qi was startled.

The Beiyong Army, from top to bottom, did not allow personal cooking, including Pei Jue himself.

Ao Qi couldn't explain what had bewitched him to agree to allow the lady of the Feng Family to use the cooking utensils for her private use. Hearing this, he hurriedly stepped forward, clasping his fists in a salute.

"Great General, please allow me to report, this is the grain that the lady of the Feng Family brought from Andu City. There was a flood in the camp and her warning proved to be meritorious. I allowed her to cook some food for herself. It is my fault alone and has nothing to do with others…"

"Why bring rice into the camp?" Pei Jue asked emotionlessly.

Feng Yun smiled faintly, her voice clear and melodious.

"I heard that your troops consume the enemy for sustenance, often relying on human flesh as nourishment. I fear I would not be able to stomach such fare."

The soldiers: …

Some laughed quietly.

Pei Jue's cold glance silenced the soldiers.

"Take them all into custody."

Having spoken these icy words, General Pei turned and walked towards the Central Military Tent without looking back, under the astonished eyes of the soldiers.

"Bang—"

A muffled explosion came from the Central Military Tent.

The agonized howl of Tan Dajin startled the birds atop the tent into flight…

Non-combatant casualties, destroyed provisions, that was a capital offense worthy of beheading.

The crowd sweated for Tan Dajin.

And they also sweated for the petite lady of the Feng Family.

It was clear the Great General had no desire to indulge in her beauty as he kept her under guard as a female captive. Moreover, considering her father Feng Jingteng's actions, she was likely in dire straits.

Alas, the Great General was truly wasting a heavenly gift! No, a beauty.