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Edited on January 24, 2020.

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If people would meet Xiao Zhi Zhi for the first time, they wouldn't believe that this elegant, cold man was the renown general who could lead thousands of troops in a bloody battlefield.

The famous military genius, who plans the soldier's formations, and trains the soldiers to always be well-prepared for danger.

The man who's showered with glory and honor to the point where Liu Shan felt that such a person doesn't exist, fell in love with a normal girl.

When Xiao Zhi Zhi first asked him, "Hey, if a maiden is praying for a baby, what does she mean?"

Liu Shan suddenly felt as if there was something stuck in his throat. Those thousands of soldiers behind him seemed to choke too.

They were currently discussing about the bandits of the Chong Zhou province. Who knew that once the general opened his mouth, that sentence would pop out.

Liu Shan felt his blood drain from his face. He didn't know how to answer the general, he just lowered his head, wanting the moment to pass, but this big general was surely waiting for his answer.

"This... let this lowly one carefully think about it." He stuttered.

"Okay. Give me your answer when you've thought it through." Xiao Zhi Zhi said while his hand grabbed a scroll on the table.

"General, haven't we gathered to discuss about the bandits who are causing trouble in the Cong Zhou province?" said Liu Shan with unease.

The Emperor already decreed an imperial edict that in a month, the big general will regain the peace in Cong Zhou and quell the bandits.

If they don't plan to solve the problem now, the consequences will be disastrous.

"Fifty thousand soldiers are enough to push back the bandits of Cong Zhou." Xiao Zhi Zhi nodded his head.

"Fifty thousand? Isn't that too little?"

Liu Shan couldn't understand the general. The rest of the lower-ranked generals also shouted that it's too little.

"Fifty thousand is more than enough, let me handle the rest."

If the general has made a decision, the rest of the lower-ranked generals couldn't say anything more.

The generals, along with Liu Shan, awkwardly withdrew from the conversation and started to discuss what's going on with their big general.

The army is a gathering of rough and burly men, but the general's current mood is a worthy issue to discuss, because quelling the current anger is sometimes more important than planning a distant war.

One of the lower-ranked generals walked near to Liu Shan,

"Military officer Liu, you said our general fell in love with a lady, what family did she come from, and is she willing to bear the general's child?"

Once Liu Shan heard this, he thought about it reasonably and combined his thoughts with the thoughts of his co-workers. He rushed to the general and said,

"General, if a maiden wants to have a child, it means that she wants to continue the man's lineage."

After he spoke, the general's hand crumpled the strategy scroll that he had been reading for half an hour.

"And then?"

"That girl absolutely loves that man deeply, more than anything."

After Liu Shan finished his speech, it didn't make Xiao Zhi happy, instead, his face darkened.

"She's...deeply in love?"

Xiao Zhi Zhi clenched his left hand into a fist, rolled up the scroll, and wrinkled all of its pages.

Liu Shan swallowed his spit in shock, did he make the wrong guess?

"So...Zhu Yu...has someone she's madly in love with?"

Xiao Zhi Zhi's voice was dangerously low.

Liu Shan was dumbfounded. He has never seen the general with that kind of expression.

Anger, resentment, and hesitance... to the point where he looks like a person who drank a pot of vinegar.

He's jealous!

Who was that Zhu Yu that the general was talking about? If that woman is capable of making the general show that kind of face, she is most likely a powerful person.

While he pondered on the identity of the woman, he heard the sound of sand falling. Liu Shan raised his head and saw that the scroll held by Xiao Zhi Zhi moments ago was squeezed into powder.

"....."

———

She's deeply in love with another man?

She wants to bear his child?

Who is that man.

(E/R: A dead man, obviously.)

He demanded an answer. He supressed the unfamiliar anger and resentment in his chest.

Even in his youth, when he was surrounded by enemies three times larger than his troops in the battlefield... When he was betrayed by his own men, he never experienced this kind of anger.

But now, he can't control the anger and resentment inside him. He felt as if his blood was boiling.

Step by step, he walked into the familiar room, and slowly pushed the door open.

While the person on the bed was sleeping soundly, he felt as if something inside him wanted to burst out.

Without him, she can obviously sleep soundly, even though he can't sleep without her. If she doesn't acccompany him, he can't sleep.

Xiao Zhi Zhi sat at the edge of the bed. As he stared at Chu Zhu Yu's sleeping face, he raised his fingers and stroked her cheek.

His cold touch made her moan, and she shook her head to throw the cold feeling off of her skin.

His fingers slowly shifted to the nape of her neck. With him touching her soft nape, he can feel the flow of the blood under her skin.

She's so gentle and soft, if he exerts even a little amount of physical strength, she might no longer exist.

(E/R: Potential yandere sighted!)

"So cold."

Chu Zhu Yu whispered, her eyes still closed. She's a sensitive person so she immediately wakes up when a pair of cold hands touches her.

After blinking a few times, with her eyes not fully opened, Chu Zhu Yu looked at the person standing in front of her.

"Why did you come so late, I thought you wouldn't visit tonight."

Her voice sounded as if she was complaining, but those simple words confused him and made him speechless.

"You... were waiting for me?"

The anger that he wanted to unleash, suddenly changed to a softer feeling. The wrath that he had vanished into thin air.

"Come on, get in bed. The outside is so cold." She patted the empty side of her bed.

Xiao Zhi Zhi lied on the bed and asked her, "Were you waiting for me?"

"Yes, yes, I was waiting for you. I waited till I was drowsy and I unknowingly fell asleep."

"I like to see and hear you wait for me."

He tightly grabbed her wrist, "For now, I won't care who the man is since today you were waiting for me. However, you're not allowed to wait for another man ever again."

"What man?" she asked in confusion.

The wind blowing outside got colder, so she quickly wanted to get into her bed and sleep.

"The man you're madly in love with." He grabbed her even tighter, "You cannot love another man."

He was acting as if all of his possessions were about to be taken away by others, the general was slowly losing his usual calmness.

"Madly in love? I don't... ah!"

She struggled to move his hand away from her wrist, "Aiya, you let me go lah, you're hurting me!"

"Does it hurt?" He pulled her closer to his chest, his actions exuded possessiveness. He soften his hold and gently kissed the back of her hand.

Chu Zhu Yu's face blushed hard.

The current him is radiating a dangerous atmosphere, she felt as if she wasn't safe, so she wanted to run away.

But her strength is nothing compared to his, as he takes her other hand and kissed it again, he deliberately suppressed his deep voice and asked,

"Can you tell me, with whose child do you want to bear?"

Boom!

Chu Zhu Yu's face turned even redder and she lowered her head to his chest even more.

"You... in the middle of the night, how can you come to ask me about this matter?"

"I won't allow it!"

He was suddenly agitated. He let go of her wrist, but he embraced her waist instead. Pulling her into his arms, he declared,

"You're mine. I won't allow you to bear the child of another man or fall in love with another man, I won't allow you to leave me!"

His series of "won't allow" made her feel faint.

Chu Zhu Yu struggled to move her body. She wanted to push down this person in front her, but the person who hugged her was too big, and was almost embedded to her flesh. She's starting to suspect that her waist will break because of him.

"You loosen your arms first, my waist hurt so much lah!" She clenched her fist and beat his shoulder.

Xiao Zhi Zhi didn't move, he just kept on embracing Chu Zhu Yu in his bosom, hoping that she would become his flesh and blood.

"If you continue to act this way, I will never see you again!"

She spoke harshly, she was confused by his unusual behaviour in the middle of the night.

He was stunned. After a while, he slowly loosened his arms, letting her off of his chest, but his hands were still holding her waist,

"Will you really leave me?"

He stared at her, his eyes showing panic, confusion, fear, and anxiety. His expression shocked her.

Chu Zhu Yu felt her heart being squeezed.

The current him was similar to a heavenly fairy who fell to the human world and experienced something very tragic.

She originally wanted to scold him harshly but now she kept all of her grievances in her throat.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

She slowly felt sympathy towards the beautiful man.

"Don't leave me."

At that moment, his voice sounded hoarse. He buried his head in her hair while hugging her as if he was drowning and was desperately grabbing a lifeline.

"You are someone that I found after many years of hardships, and now that I found you, I can't bear to let you go."

She patted his shoulder, "I didn't actually say that I'll leave."

"Don't leave me... I will give you whatever you want."

Well... If she wanted a baby, will he give her one?

"Okay, okay, I won't leave." She cajoles him as if he's a small child.

After hearing Chu Zhu Yu's affirmation, Xiao Zhi Zhi stopped acting impatient.

Just like how he'd normally act, he started to take off his hair cap, remove his outer robe, and lie beside her.

It was a bit unimaginable that her few words could reassure him. His hands still embraced her waist, but this time, he didn't squeeze her.

"Are you tired?" Chu Zhu Yu looked at Xiao Zhi Zhi whose eyes are now half-closed.

"A little." He murmured and closed his eyes. His nose was filled with her scent, which made him feel very comfortable.

"Let's sleep."

Chu Zhu Yu pulled the other half of the blanket to cover Xiao Zhi Zhi's body. She just hopes that after this event, they can sleep peacefully.