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nShi Qingzhou led Long Xiaoyuan into his tent.

nNot all those in the troop could sleep in tents during the march at night.

nIn fact, there were only three tents, one for Shi while the other two for two generals who were lower than Shi in the ranking.

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nHaving not seen a marching tent before, Long said while looking around the simple arrangements inside, “Qingzhou, have you slept in this way these days?”

nShi said with a nod, “Yeah.”

nSitting on the bed, Long said, “It’s hard. Do you sleep comfortably on it?”

nShi said with a faint smile, “Yes, it’s fine after you get used to it.”

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n“Getting used to it…” Long said with his heart ached, “Qingzhou, you’ve grown used to it these days?”

nShi said with a smile after glancing at him, “It’s different from at home.”

n“Point taken.” Long sighed and walked up to Shi.

n“I only care about you…”

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nShi fell into silence.

nLong put his arms around Shi’s waist and felt the stiffness of Shi, thus, getting his hearts more ached.

nAfter a long time, Long said, “Qingzhou, let’s sleep.”

nShi said with a nod, “Eh.”

nThey undressed their coat and slept on the bed.

nLong held Shi into his arms, making Shi stiff again.

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nLong buried his face into Shi’s neck, letting Shi turn as stiff as a piece of wood.

nLong gloomily bit Shi’s neck and said, “I’m sorry for not contacting you earlier.”

nShi curled his lips and said lightly, “Your Majesty, you’re over-worried.”

nLong sighed. “If you’re not angry, why do you keep calling me Your Majesty and why is your body stiff when I embrace you? Is this your not angry look?”

nShi lowered his head and said nothing.

n“Alas…” Long sighed again. “Qingzhou, can you share your thoughts with me?”

nShi still kept silent.

nLong held Shi tighter and asked, “Qingzhou, you still don’t trust me?”

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nA trace of dark gleam passed through Shi’s eyes, but Shi didn’t look at Long at that time, so the latter didn’t spot this.

nTrust him? He didn’t trust Long at all. If he had trusted Long, he wouldn’t…

nLong said that it was a misunderstanding, but how could such a word remove his disappointment and unhappiness these days?

nNo, he couldn’t do it.

nThus, he kept silent.

nSeeing this, Long just said instead of forcing Shi, “Never mind, it’s too late. Let’s sleep first and talk about it later.”

n“Eh,” Shi replied and then closed his eyes…

nLong sighed in his heart once again and felt like he received his karma!

nThinking of which, Long gloomily sniffed Shi’s neck and closed his eyes, too.

nHowever, both of them didn’t sleep well this night.

nShi woke up the next morning finding that Long was still sleeping.

nLong had rushed here. Plus, Shi remained estranged from him. Thus, he didn’t fall into sleep until almost daybreak.

nNaturally, Long who was that exhausted couldn’t wake up quickly and didn’t even know when Shi got up.

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nShi got out of bed and stepped outside after wearing his clothes.

nThe troop made up of more than 3,000 people ate breakfast without making any noise.

nShi subconsciously frowned when seeing that Long didn’t wake up after everyone finished breakfast. Subsequently, he bowed his head down and entered his tent.

nLong was still sleeping. Standing beside the bed, Shi had mixed feelings upon seeing the one on the bed.

nLong got dark circles around his eyes. Shi noticed this and slowly lowered his head.

nA few moments later, Shi turned around and walked away.

nHis vice general came over and asked when the tent could be taken down…

nIn fact, the tents of the other generals had been taken down, so when this one was put down, they could march forward.

nShi lightly made an order. “We’ll set out an hour later.”

nThe vice general got stunned. An hour later? Why?

nBut, as a sensible man, the vice general didn’t ask his question out.

nNow that the vice general didn’t ask why, Shi didn’t make an explanation, either. He directly went into his tent and sat on the bed waiting for Long to wake up.

nHe then waited for the whole hour.

nAn hour later when Shi was hesitating whether he should wake Long up, the latter finally opened his eyes…

nThe moment Long opened his eyes, he saw Shi and instinctively gave the latter a bright smile.

nShi was slightly dazed.

nLong sat up and said, “Qingzhou.”

nShi said with a nod, “Your Majesty, you’re awake. We’re about to set out…”

n“Ah, is it that late?” Long got stunned and hurriedly put on his clothes.

nShi ordered breakfast to be served. Long freshened himself up and took several bites.

nShi said involuntarily, “Your Majesty, you don’t need to rush things like this. It’s fine if you’re a little later.”

nLong said with a nod, “No, I’ve delayed you.”

nLong finished breakfast and wore his mask.

nHe usually carried masks with himself when out of the palace just in case.

nWhen Shi stepped outside with Long, those soldiers didn’t know because they stood at attention with their backs against them, but the vice general turned dumbfounded.

nOf course, the vice general hadn’t known that the stranger coming outside with his general was His Majesty.

nEven so, he got stunned, didn’t he?

nWho was able to sleep in his general’s tent?

nAfter all, his general was not only a general but also the empress!

nHe felt that he discovered something big.

nHowever, he knew what he could say and what he couldn’t say.

nTherefore, he instantly lowered his head and pretended that he saw nothing.

nWhen the troop was on the march, Long followed Shi behind.

nHe couldn’t take the carriage back, so he followed Shi behind on a horse.

nThe troop marched on at a slow speed, probably because Shi cared about him.

nEven so, he felt the pain all over his body when the troop took a break, especially his butt. Alright, he was too fragile!

nAt lunch, Shi secretly walked up to Long.

n“Eat full at lunch. Otherwise, you’ll be more powerless.”

n“Oh.” Did Shi discover that he was in bad condition?

nLong said shyly in an undertone, “I seem to have caused trouble for you.”

nRight, he had definitely caused trouble for Shi.

nShi shook his head without saying a word.

nSubsequently, Shi walked away. Long sighed and considered his thoughts too simple.

nHe had thought that he could make peace with his empress on the way back! But, it didn’t go as he expected, did it?

nThis troop was different from that one that took part in taking down the bandits of Mount Yong.

nSerious and decent, it was the real army.

nHow could he take advantage of such a troop to make peace with his empress? It was good that he could follow Shi behind, wasn’t it?

nNo, it should be said like this that it was lucky he could have a horse to ride on!

nAfter all, the majority of the soldiers marched forward on foot.

nUnder those circumstances, he regarded himself as a lucky dog.

nAlmost sunset, the troop stopped outside of the imperial palace.

nThe emissary delegation needed arrangements, so did the troop. Without the demand of His Majesty, the troop couldn’t enter the imperial palace and had to go somewhere it was supposed to be!

nThe Imperial Edict from His Majesty arrived right on the time, because Long had asked Sun Youjing, together with the Left-Prime Minister and the Right-Prime Minister, to welcome Shi back before he was out of the palace.

nAll the ministers were here to welcome His Grace back, which could show how much importance His Majesty attached to His Grace.

nAfter the cordial welcome ceremony, Shi went to the imperial palace.

nThe emissaries of the Northern Barbarians were brought to the post house by the officials of the Ministry of Rites and waited for His Majesty’s Imperial Edict.

nOtherwise, the emissaries couldn’t even enter the imperial palace.

nBack the imperial palace, Shi headed for the Qiankun Palace. Long wasn’t with Shi and entered the imperial palace under the help of the Shadow Guardians. When Shi reached the Qiankun Palace, Long had waited there for Shi.

nLong was the only person there. The group of eunuchs and palace maids were ordered to back down.

nHence, when Shi arrived at the Qiankun Palace and entered the inner room, he only saw Long clad in the army uniform who was smiling at him.

nLong watched Shi’s approaching step by step and suddenly held Shi into his arms.

nShi slightly dropped his eyelids with a stiff body that was much softer than yesterday. Long then gently kissed Shi’s ears.

n“Qingzhou, welcome back.”

nShi slightly closed his eyes.

nHaving embraced Shi for a long time, Long let go of Shi.

n“Qingzhou, you hungry? I’ll go and ask them to prepare dinner.”

nShi said with a nod, “Sure.”

nLong ordered dinner to be prepared after letting Shi go inside to get changed.

nShi not only got changed but also took a quick bath.

nShi showed up in the outer room in less than 15 minutes.

nWith the table full of food, Long sat by the table and waited for Shi.

nLong instantly beckoned Shi after seeing the latter and said, “Qingzhou, you took a bath?”

nShi replied to him with a nod, “Yes.”

n“Come here and sit down. You must be hungry.”

nShi walked over and sat down.

nLong ladled a bowl of broth for Shi. “It’s Old Duck Soup. You should nourish yourself. Look at you, you’re thinner.”

nShi slowly lowered his eyelids…

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