[I gave up on italicizing p.r.o.nouns all the time this chapter!!!! *rolls on the floor*

Make sure to read on chichilations. Reposts are never allowed.]

“What… did you say? You, said you want to go… to the Northwest?” Rong Jiahui stammered the question out, stupefied and pursed-lipped as she looked at the apologetic face of Zhongli Luo before her.

This person planning on running off to the Northwest this year was bound to come around again. Even though she knew for a long time that Zhongli Luo had goals to accomplish, she still inevitably finds it somewhat hard to bear.

Even if she hardly cared about him in her last life, it still wasn't very easy to watch him go, and always gave a sense that there was head missing off the count at home. That it'll be even more so now is obvious.

Zhongli Luo looked at her dumbstruck appearance, and also found it somewhat hard to bear.

She sighed. “You know I've always wanted to go and see it. My father had once thrown heads and sprinkled blood there. It's just a shame that he didn't do what he'd hoped and die as a soldier wrapped in a horse's hide, instead dying with nearly half a hundred others in his hometown.”

Jiahui stared blankly for a very long time. “But… there isn't anything big happening over in the Northwest now,” she mumbled, “it's just some small-scale things. Can't you wait until after it's not totally peaceful?”

Saying that, Jiahui wanted to pull out her own mouth. Even if someday it genuinely won't be at peace at all, to say that so casually might be interpreted as cursing the place.

Thankfully, Zhongli Luo has long been accustomed to her lack of filter, thinking it only as her being a naive little girl whose words don't stray from taboo. She even smiles, petting Rong Jiahui's head as she explains, “It just so happens that this time, Prince Ning was appointed to the Northwest by the sitting Emperor. Where would I get such an opportunity later on if I didn't go?”

Not going so far away and into a lot of danger is just fine, y'know. Jiahui had stayed indoors all her life and could be described as knowing nothing of these things, but she does know the risk that comes with the blade and spear. If there's too much change in this do-over, what could she do if this person dies in the Northwest? It's so desolate, a bird wouldn't even go there to c.r.a.p.

But, she also knows that while the person beside her might be complying with her in general, he may not allow interjection regarding this matter. Furthermore, his future path is over there. What in the world is she trying to stop him for? Would she be happy with making a talented general be a mediocre wanderer all his life?

If she's thinking of holding the t.i.tle of Madam Marquis then this is only opportunity to exploit!

Her nose ached, and all she could do was unhappily was hammer her fists into Zhongli Luo's shoulders for a time. “Other family's sons would have run out of fear from this, yet here you are, actually rus.h.i.+ng right into it! Aren't you taking yourself a bit too seriously?!”

Zhongli Luo has never had a temper towards her, and knows that this time it's because she's worried about her doesn't want her to leave, so she stands there stupid and allows her to hit her like this.

Jiahui had little strength, and her tiny fists hammering away were like a soft ma.s.sage. After a few hammerings, she suddenly recalled something important.

“Xiao Wenyan's dad?!” Rong Jiahui yelled in surprise.

“What?”

Zhongli Luo stared. She usually doesn't keep her ears out for outside matter. Where would she know what a ‘Xiao Wenyan' is?

Jiahui pouted. So this was the cause of Zhongli Luo and Xiao Wenyan's cursed relations.h.i.+p. Did she pick him out of so many others because of that before? Maybe when Xiao Wenyan was bidding her father farewell, she incidentally caught sight of Zhongli Luo, just one quick glance and she couldn't forget him!

That's all just her fantasizing, but it's still possible. She hurriedly hangs a fawning smile on her face and says to Zhongli Luo, “That Xiao Wenyan is a Nanping Countess of Prince Ning's estate. I'm telling you now, if you meet her one day, stay far away. She's a vile schemer, I'll have you know. She's got a melon seed face, cheekbones sharp enough to cut someone, eyes like big bronze bells, a mole on the corner of her left eye…”

There she goes again. No wonder she's no good with girls; no matter which family a young girl comes from, not a half-sentence of praise comes from her mouth. Zhongli Luo helplessly cuts her off, “With how small of a character I am, how could a Countess take notice of me?”

Jiahui's head hangs down. “That's not what I'm worried about…” She mumbles in a whisper.

She's always felt that Xiao Wenyan had an average appearance, but sometimes even she has to admit that those big, watery eyes mounted on Xiao Wenyan's mediocre face were still pretty attractive. Combined with those soul-stealing eyes her little sister Xiao Wenran had, her little brother's soul had been stolen that previous time. The worst thing is that, upon stealing his soul, they didn't even spare him a glance. Her little brother is nothing more than one part headstrong, one part disobedient, one part study-hating, one part play-loving; where's he lacking? Where's he not more than enough of their match?! Her little brother being so infatuated, he married Prince Ning's concubine-born third daughter, Xiao Wenjing. Thankfully they were a harmonious couple else she probably would have died of anger.

Thinking of that, she mercilessly yanked on Zhongli Luo's sleeve. “I don't care! If you meet those two Countesses later, you have to stay away!”

Zhongli Luo has always been somewhat unable to go against her and has no choice but to promise that. She knows she's irrelevant to a blue-blooded Countess – where would she even come across her? – so it doesn't matter if she promises or not, in any case.

As the promise left her mouth, the temporarily relieved Rong Jiahui can't help but crack a smile. Her extremely sweet appearance beaming like this makes it even more like honey candy, the sweetness reaching the bottom of one's heart. It makes Zhongli Luo's mind sway, diluting some of the sadness of being about to leave.

Jiahui then said, “I'm saying this for your own good! It's not only me that doesn't like them. You're not familiar with the rest of the girls in the estate, of course, but we're all bothered by the sight of her. You can ask my female cousins later on to see if what I said is true or not.”

“What did they do? Are they so unpleasant?”

“They're haughty,” Jiahui recalled. “At the tea and poetry party set up by the women in the women's quarters, in addition to Princesses and other Countesses, they all had the most pompous looks in the whole world towards me and looked down their noses.”

She pointed at her own nose at that.

Regarding the point about her little brother, everyone's young right now and it hasn't happened yet, so she can't bring it up.

Zhongli Luo can't properly stifle her laugh. That's worthy of bitter hatred? Saying those unkind words really won't net her much fondness, though.

She pet Rong Jiahui's head. “If you don't like her then you don't like her, but you can't be unruly. Don't offend other families.”

Is that what she's doing? Jiahui can't help but curse silently. This fool is a fool and really doesn't understand a thing about girls.

The more things like this happen, the more time flies by. It's not even a few days later when Zhongli Luo really is leaving, having not been blowing hot air. Jiahui thought that she wouldn't be so sad, but now that his departure is imminent, she really doesn't want to part with him.

She knows this person will end up carrying the t.i.tle of a sworn-son Marquis on his head and it shouldn't be bad at all. She had made the mistake of never looking at him in her past life, but…

She watched Zhongli Luo currently talking at the entrance with her mom and dad, and sighed…

Zhongli Luo had stayed in this Marquis' residence for close to a year, so Rong Chen and Mrs. Yu are very reluctant to let him go.

Mrs. Yu affectionately stroked his face, imploring him from the bottom of her heart. “I have never been to such a remote place, nor do I know what it's like over there, but I have heard that their troops are very savage and barbaric. If you run into anything, learn from your G.o.dfather; run and run, and if you can't run, just hide behind others, and if you really can't do that, just smear blood all over yourself and play dead.”

Hearing his wife not give him any face, Rong Chen coughed and pulled her aside to talk to Zhongli Luo. “Don't listen to your G.o.dmothers' eight kinds of nonsense. You have to look after your health, and calling the food over there ‘food' would be defiling the word. When you've gotten high enough merit for your work, write a letter back and we'll send you money for a bigger private house… as well as a cook.”

Listening to her mom and dad's nagging, Jiahui couldn't help but put a hand on her forehead afterwards. Her parents are really… one hoping that her family member becomes a deserter, and the other is only concerned about food. Thankfully Zhongli Luo is leaving soon and wouldn't mind this.

Jiahui shook her head, using her elbow to nudge her little brother's side.

“You go talk with him too, and use softer words. Ah, you, ordinarily so compet.i.tive with him in everything when he's never bickered with you, Jiaze…Jia…”

Noticing Jiaze hasn't responded for a long time, she twists her head to look, only to see him with his head bowed and actually seeming a good bit at a loss.

Jiahui patted his head and smiled. “What's wrong, you're sad to see him go too?”

Jiaze shook his head like a rattle-drum in an instant. “No I'm not!”

Who'd believe that. This kid's just a dead duck with a stiff beak.

Jiahui doesn't wait for him to run away, dragging him by his hand to go in front of Zhongli Luo and saying cheerfully, “Brother Zhongli, Jiaze said that he has something to say to you.”

Seeing that their son and daughter have come over and guessing that some children's secret words were in order, Mrs. Yu and Rong Chen – who had been planning on continuing on with their blathering – didn't dare to keep monopolizing the other and left their place to them.

Zhongli Luo looked at the stubborn-looking face of Rong Jiaze before her and couldn't help but be stumped. “Jiaze?”

Jiaze had been nicely standing in the back and feeling sad, and now that he'd been towed over by his own big sister like this, he distressingly didn't know how he should act.

Jiahui obviously wanted to oppose him, as she ended up pus.h.i.+ng him a bit further forwards again, pressing him up against Zhongli Luo's shoulder. “Jiaze said that he doesn't want to see you go either.”

Jiaze immediately went red, turning his head and retorting, “Sis! You're talking nonsense again!”

“Be a good boy. Now you should say, ‘brother, you can go in confidence that I'll be thinking of you'.”

The more Jiaze listened the more distressed he got, blus.h.i.+ng so hard he was about to hemorrhage blood. He shoves away Jiahui's hand in order to run, but as soon as he took his first step, he was grabbed by Zhongli Luo.

The two usually have nothing to say to each other, as Jiaze is glaring at her all day long even when he isn't glaring at her and doesn't give her good looks. Thinking it over, she had no choice but to say dully, “Study hard.”

Jiaze's lips pursed. “You care too much. I'm definitely not going to study. You want to study, then you go and read.”

This kid… Jiahui can't resist pinching his face. “All this time and you're just a bit behaved.”

Jiaze lowers his head and doesn't say a word.

Seeing that he was silent, Zhongli Luo thereupon stopped caring about him, pa.s.sing over him to look at Rong Jiahui, and hesitated. “Are you… not going to nag me a bit?”

Jiahui stared, her nose aching as her tears nearly fell out.

She breathed in through he nose and said, “What could I nag you about? You're older than me, if you want nagging then you can only come nag me.”

Zhongli Luo smiled lightly. “Well then, I'll nag you for a bit. Listen obediently to the Lord and Lady. Listen properly to your teacher's lessons; I'm not going to be able to come help you copy texts for a while, after all. Stay away from ponds, too, because I won't be able to come back and fish you up. You have to keep in touch with your female cousins as well, I know you quite like them…”

In the same manner as if she was listening to her old woman prattle on, Jiahui couldn't help but interrupt. “Okay, that's one after the other, you're really annoying. Still… you, take care of yourself too, so you can come back to me… with mom and dad watching. If you can't come back, write a letter, and if you need anything, say it in that.”

“It's a long way away, and any letter sent will take a long time to reach you. By the time you all send anything back, I probably won't need it anymore.”

What a killjoy. Jiahui narrows her eyes. “Are you writing or what?”

Zhongli Luo has no choice but to nod. “Alright, I'm listening to you. I'll write.”

Saying that, she had a moment of hesitation, but nevertheless took out a small thing from her lapels and held it in the center of her palm.

After doing this, she stealthily took a peek at Jiahui's expression, then stretched her hand out before Jiahui and unhurriedly let it unfurl.

It's just an unremarkable “Billowing Clouds, Hundred Blessings” ornament, but Jiahui recognizes it; is that not the jade ornament Jiaze had s.n.a.t.c.hed earlier on?

Zhongli Luo speaks somewhat unnaturally. “This jade will break into pieces if it's b.u.mped. Do me a favor and keep it with you, alright?”

Jiahui stared at it, and after carefully receiving it, asked her, “With me?”

Zhongli Luo nods. “Yes. When I was one, my mother prayed for the Great Master's [2] light to s.h.i.+ne on me with this jade. I've always had it at my side since childhood.”

Jiahui was astonished. “Ah! The Great Master's light, ah, what if it doesn't protect you because I have it?”

“I've never believed in it,” Zhongli Luo says. “My life is controlled by me, not Heaven. It's just that because it's what my mother prayed for, it's always been precious and important.”

As she said so, Jiahui accepted the jade ornament and made a solemn promise, “Then you can count on me to protect it.”

Zhongli Luo sighed in relief. Now that this matter's been accounted for, she really should get going.

Mrs. Yu is soft-hearted. Having usually regarded him as her own flesh-and-blood child, she's now witnessing that child being disobedient and insisting on going to that d.a.m.ned place to suffer hards.h.i.+ps, and can't help but wipe her rising tears. As Rong Chen gazed at him, he couldn't help but recall his own fondly-smiling, outspoken Big Brother Zhongli. Rong Jiahui watched him depart with a heavy heart, her chest also sour and sore.

At this moment, Rong Jiaze, who had been storing up power for a long time with his head lowered, finally broke through his mental barriers and suddenly raised his head, his face flus.h.i.+ng as he ran and roared at Zhongli Luo, “Big Brother Zhongli! I'm sorry!”

“I shouldn't have laughed at you! I shouldn't have had my friend put spiders on your desk!”

“Don't worry! I promise you! I'll study hard!!!”

He ultimately stopped to gasp for air, then he continued bellowing, “You have to come back soon!!!”

Hearing this little brother's childish roaring, Zhongli Luo's steps slowed, the corners of her mouth subconsciously curving upwards. In the distance, she turned back to him, and waved.

“Alright.”

The author says: I always feel it's kinda awkward, I'll fix it tomorrow! _(:з」∠)_ My little sisters celebrated a birthday today, and I spent time with my friends all day. My s.h.i.+ny, s.h.i.+ny money, ah…

[1] 流雲百福 – Not sure what that means, but I'm wagering a guess that it's white jade with blessings engraved on it.

[2] Another name for Buddha, as he was a teacher.