The two opposing sides came to an armistice. The rebel army retreated back to rural areas.

  —


  In the spring of the second year, Pengxin gave birth to a cute, baby girl. This was the first time that Ning Mingjie felt such joy. Alcohol was distributed in the army camps, and Ning Mingjie did quite a bit of celebratory drinking with the soldiers. However, when he went back to their tent, he saw Pengxin crying sorrowfully.

  “What’s wrong?” Ning Mingjie asked in surprise.

  Feeling very upset, Pengxin said, “Don’t the people in Great Song prefer sons? I wasn’t able to give you a son.”


  Ning Mingjie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He picked up the baby and comforted Pengxin, “I like daughters.”


  “Liar.” Pengxin didn’t believe him.

  “Really.” Ning Mingjie resourcefully came up with an answer. “This Ning Clan’s tradition. We value daughters, not sons. If you don’t believe me, look at Marquis Moyu’s household. Isn’t my cousin’s daughter much more favored than his son?”


  Pengxin froze in surprise for a moment. She thought of her past few visit to the marquis’s estate. Ji-

  ‘s daughter had always been carried around and treated like a treasure. Thus, she ended up believing Ning Mingjie’s words that Ning Clan really had such a tradition.

  Original translation is from fuyuneko dot org. If you’re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.

  Pengxin stopped crying. Taking the baby from Ning Mingjie, she pouted and said, “Let’s name her Aixin then.”


  Wrinkling his face, Ning Mingjie thought; this name was really too……

  Lips pressed together, the baby looked as if it was going to cry. Pengxin looked as if she was going to cry too. Ning Mingjie immediately felt this problem was too difficult to solve. He quickly nodded and agreed, “Okay, okay, we’ll call her Aixin.”


  Pengxin was finally satisfied.

  —


  After Pengxin recuperated for a month, she could accompany Ning Mingjie on the battlefield again. It was only with her guarding him in the back that he could focus looking at the front without worries. With her behind him, no one would be able to attack him from behind.

  Pengxin’s martial arts skills were getting better by the day. Her skills had been honed on the battlefield.

  One day, Pengxin finally beat him. She took took advantage of Ning Mingjie being temporarily distracted to beat him in one move.

  “I won!” Pengxin’s eyes widened. She cheered, then she tossed her sword to the side to hang off Ning Mingjie’s body.

  Ning Mingjie couldn’t help laughing. He thought that her relaxed behavior that was unrestraint by propriety was quite cute.

  On the battlefield, they risked their lives together and rescued each other from death a few times. Their lives had already become linked together.

  —


  When they returned to the capital, Pengxin was holding Aixin. When she stepped into the estate, she felt much more confidant than her previous self.

  She no longer needed to learn how to embroider or how to cook. Holding her three-ring sword in the other hand, she watched Luoqi and the other women standing before her and trembling in fear.

  “Madam?”


  Smiling, Pengyue pointed at her young daughter. “This is my daughter. Her name is Aixin.”


  Luoqi furrowed her brow. “How could a name be recklessly chosen? Since she’s the general’s daughter and the daughter of the main wife, her name has to follow the generational naming rule……”


  “Let’s just call her Aixin.” Ning Mingjie came in from behind. As soon as Pengxin saw him, she didn’t care about anything else. Putting her sword and daughter down, she went forward and hugged his arm. Little Aixin also stumbled forward to hug Ning Mingjie’s leg.

  Ning Mingjie dryly coughed, and Pengxin let go of him and properly stood by his side. With the elegant demeanor of the main wife, she said, “General, since you’re back, let’s go eat.”


  Just as Luoqi was about to speak, Ning Mingjie had already nodded his head. “Let’s eating in the main hall. It’s been a long journey back. After eating, you should go rest.”


  “En.” Smiling, Pengxin nodded.

  Luoqi and Xianglan’s expressions didn’t look good. They hadn’t seen the general for three years. During this time, Madam had been alone with the general. How could this be good?

  Gritting her teeth, Xianglan said, “Public opinion is powerful enough to obscure right and wrong. Anything can be grounded down to dust. Who cares about what happened during the past three years? The rest of our life is much longer than three years. Why wouldn’t we be able to win against her eventually?”


  —


  Nuanyu quietly observed Ning Mingjie in the garden.

  He looked the same as before. He was just indifferently sitting there. Nearby, Pengxin was looking at the fruits on a tree. It looked as if she wanted to climb up the tree to pick a few fruits. It clearly looked as if Ning Mingjie hadn’t been paying attention to her, but he stood up, walked over there, and quietly exchanged a few words with Pengxin. Then, he jumped up and picked two fruits that weren’t ripe yet.

  Pengxin laughed. Ning Mingjie curved his lips upwards, then he sat back down near her.

  “He seems different,” Nuanyu quietly said.

  “What did you say?” Xianglan hadn’t been able to clearly hear her.

  Nuanyu pursed her lips, but only silently shook her head.

  Sometimes, a man’s heart could be divided into many pieces. During that time, you could still compete for his affection. Although you couldn’t dredge up his entire heart, you could still get a few fragments.

  However, once that man wholeheartedly love someone, it wasn’t possible to compete anymore. Once that heart was given away to someone else, it wouldn’t be transferred to someone else later.

  Looking at that woman from afar, who was dressed in riding attire, Nuanyu sighed, turned around, and left.

  Luoqi was still discussing with Xianglan on what they should do to counteract the effects of Madam and the general spending three years together.

  —


  In the depths of the inner court, women would always compete for a man’s favor.

  For those women that spent their lives competing and only getting a high status and wealth as a consolation prize, but unable to receive a man’s love, their endings were perhaps the most tragic ones.