Shi Shen immediately threw Xu Huang onto the shore then began to walk alongside the stream since he had no intention of staying together with Xu Huang.

He was not worried that Xu Huang would die out here because this place was easy to find so he would get rescued sooner or later.

The cliff was not that high since Shi Shen deliberately chose this location to fall into the water.

He figured that if Xu Huang alone went missing, Zheng Zhi would not come to search for him so he decided to get lost with him since the task didn’t really require for Zheng Zhi to search for Xu Huang.

On the other hand, He Tian had always thought that Shi Shen would somehow convince Zheng Zhi to search for Xu Huang so he was shocked to see that Shi Shen actually put himself in the trouble just like this.

‘’You…! Aren’t you afraid that they will get suspicious to why you didn’t get a heart attack and die?’’

Shi Shen indifferently answered,’’This body was cured by the Godly Doctor.’’

Meaning even if he appeared to be fine, no one would suspect a thing.

Suddenly, a droplet of water dropped on Shi Shen’s face causing him to lightly glanced at the sky. He then walked for some distance to rest in a nearby cave.

After done starting the fire, he shut his eyes to rest waiting for Zheng Zhi to come.

He believed that that man will be the first to find him and it won’t be long either.

He Tian was speechless with him.

Not only did he not pretend to be sick he even pick a place to shelter from the rain, was he not worried that others might suspect him?

Anyway, it was no use in talking to him so He Tian turned his focus to Xu Huang who was still unconscious on the shore.

He was slightly worried that Xu Huang might get washed away by the current.

On the other side, Zheng Zhi didn't go into the forest instead he went to the bottom of the cliff.

He knew the geography of this place quite well so if the horse really went into that direction it was highly possible that he might fell off the cliff.

Zheng Zhi didn't want to think of this possibility because falling that high into the water with Gu Rong’s condition would undoubtedly cause him to have a fatal heart attack.

He could only wish that Xiao would manage to rescue him before that happened.

A short while later rain slowly poured down causing Zheng Zhi to curse under his breath then urged the horse to go even faster.

To his terror, after a short ride, he finally saw a figure dressed in black attire slept along the shore.

It was none other than Xu Huang.

Zheng Zhi didn't even slow down and immediately went past him.

He tried to calm himself down but the erratic heartbeat betrayed his own thought. He consoled himself that it was fine but his heart only grew heavier and heavier every second passed.

Panic were filled in his eyes.

For the first time, he actually lost his composure as a General.

He couldn't think straight at all.

Truthfully speaking, Zheng Zhi did not know why he is feeling this way toward that person either.

There was this feeling that he should keep a close eye on him so that he wouldn’t lose him.

He had a hunch that he was the person whom he has been looking for all this time.

Zheng Zhi's state of mind was in a mess that he immediately got off his horse and was about to jump into the water when a faint voice was suddenly heard behind him.

“You want to die?”

Zheng Zhi abruptly paused then he immediately turned around to see a slender figure stood not far away from him under the tree.

Due to the rain, Zheng Zhi could not see quite well but he knew who it is.

“Follow me.”

Shi Shen said this then turned around to walk back into the cave.

Therefore, Zheng Zhi dazedly followed after him into the cave then saw a bonfire being lit in the there.

It looked like he didn't experience any hardships at all….

He didn't know how he should express his current mood. A lot of questions flooded into his mind but he chose to say nothing to the other person.

He only snapped back once he heard that familiar voice spoke to him.

“I want to ask you something.”

Zheng Zhi sluggishly lifted his face to look at him only to see a slightly different Gu Rong.

Normally, he had a kind of innocent and naive face but at this moment he felt like the person in front of him was cold and indifferent, he also felt a bit intimidating.

Zheng Zhi hasn't had the chance to ask whether he was okay or not when an emotionless voice suddenly sounded.

“Nian Qichen.”

Shi Shen decided to directly throw out this name in order to catch him off guard while carefully observing his face but besides confusion, he saw nothing.

Therefore, he put down another name,”Lin Yue.”

The reaction was the same. Zheng Zhi just slightly knitted his brows together at these foreign names. He couldn't help but ask,”Who are they?”

To his response, Shi Shen didn't reply instead he slowly added another name.

“Shi Shen.”

Zheng Zhi was momentarily stunned with this name even though he was sure that he had never heard this name before.

Zheng Zhi deeply frowned, he lightly muttered,”Who?”

Seeing his confusion, Shi Shen slightly lowered his eyes to hide the glint in his eyes. When Shi Shen lifted his face up once again he has already resumed his usual looks.

He softly said,”Nothing, they are just characters in the book. Anyway, why are you here?”

“What do you mean why? I'm here because of you!”

Shi Shen continued to ask,“Why?”

Zheng Zhi was perplexed with his question since isn't that obvious?

But he somehow figured out once he heard his next sentence.

“Xu Huang was there, right? Shouldn't you help him first?”

“You saved him?”

The other person paused a bit, he hugged his knees then stared blankly at the fire.

“Mm. I'm not as weak as everyone think I am.”

“You are fully recovered?”

Zheng Zhi instantly asked him, there was a hint of excitement in his voice since their marriage was being delayed due to this reason.

Even though Zheng Zhi saw that his fiance appeared to be fine recently he still decided to wait for another while to see whether he was alright or not before marry him into his family.

However, to his disappointment, Shi Shen's next sentence immediately distinguish his hope,”No. You have already known that my illness cannot be cured. If it’s not for my parents, I will have already given up on living.” Till this part Shi Shen abruptly stopped then he turned to look at the man with a hint of desperation in his eyes clearly visible,“That's why…Can you disappear from my life?”

“It was hard to move on from you….I have always been waiting for you to come but you didn't. I waste my time thinking of excuses to why you didn't come to see me for all those years. That time when I went to see you at the barracks...was actually to confirm that you weren't really interested in me so that I could let you go.”

“So....Why did you suddenly appear before me when I decided to give up on you?”

At this moment, tears were threatened to fall from his beautiful limpid eyes, Zheng Zhi wanted to console him but found himself could not speak even a single word back.

“Zheng Zhi, what do you want from me? Do you take me for a fool? Discard and pick up whenever you feel lik-”

“The person I love is the current you.”

Zheng Zhi's serious voice quickly cut in as he unblinkingly stared at the young man before him.

“Why?”

Hearing this question, Zheng Zhi suddenly went silent but in the end, he lightly said,’’You are different.’’

Shi Shen slightly narrowed his eyes at this answer, he was about to get some more information from him when suddenly his eyes shifted to the entrance of the cave.

Zheng Zhi also discovered that another person was here in which he immediately took a protective stance in front of Shi Shen while resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Xu Huang staggered in when he saw that the person inside was Zheng Zhi, his eyes immediately lit up.

He happily called out,’’Zhi!’’

Zheng Zhi coldly said,’’Who are you to call my name?’’

Xu Huang’s smile instantly froze at his question and the atmosphere turned a bit awkward until a pleasant voice suddenly rang out.

‘’Xu Huang, you are okay!’’

Since Zheng Zhi blocked his line of sight, Xu Huang didn’t notice that the prince was also here causing his mood to immediately sink.

Seeing that besides his face looking a bit pale, the prince seemed to be fine making Xu Huang couldn’t help but curse his luck in surviving this crisis.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t show his agitated mood in front of Zheng Zhi so he masked his expression into a happy one and quickly made his way toward Shi Shen to sit near him.

However, he hasn’t arrived close to Shi Shen yet when Zheng Zhi indifferently said,’’Stay away from him.’’

Due to this, Xu Huang resentfully settled down a bit far away from them.

In any case, he didn’t understand as to why Prince Chun was still fine despite facing this danger so he deliberately said,’’Your Highness, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?’’

Shi Shen gratefully smiled at him,’’I’m fine. Thanks for asking.’’

Xu Huang seemed to be feeling relieved at his answer thus he added,’’ Last time, you suddenly fall sick to the point of inviting Doctor Wu over so I was worried to death once I woke up!’’

Xu Huang actually wanted to sow discord between the two by letting Zheng Zhi suspected him to why he is okay despite having a heart defect.

The answer was likely that the prince actually faked his illness lying to everyone for all this time.

He didn’t care whether his illness was real or not. As long as others saw Prince Chun as a two-faced bitch, he was already satisfied with this.

‘’Good thing that I was looked after by Doctor Wu so my condition has improved a lot these days.’’

With this statement, Xu Huang had no way to refute him since Wu Qi’s medical skill was well known to everyone so no one would even suspect him if he said that he could revive the dead back to life!

Xu Huang lightly bit his lips in frustration. Right then an idea suddenly emerged in his head so in the next second he turned to look at Zheng Zhi who was staring coldly at him for all this time.

He quickly adapted into a bashful expression then softly spoke,’’Actually, I have been meaning to say this but didn’t have the chance to. Thank you for saving me last time! Surely, you will let me repay your kindness, right?’’

Zheng Zhi instantly replied without any hesitation,‘’Then do me a favor and stay away from us.’’

Xu Huang,’’......’’

He obviously didn’t expect this answer so, for the time being, he didn’t know how to react to this.

Seeing his awkward face Shi Shen decided to help him out.

He talked to Zheng Zhi in a disapproving tone,’’How can you say something like this to a Ger? Please act more like a gentleman.’’

Zheng Zhi slightly pursed his lips once he heard this. His eyes that looked at Xu Huang became even colder.

Nothing good will happen whenever this idiot is involved.

Nonetheless, Zheng Zhi still spat out one word to satisfy his fiance,’’Speak.’’

In return, Xu Huang gulped down his saliva in difficulty under his scary gaze and managed to say,’’I will go to your house and make dinner for your family since Aunt and Uncle really like my cooking. They said that they want to eat my cooking every day ah!’’

It had to be mentioned that the foods in Great Wu Dynasty were not that great since this field hasn’t been developed yet that’s why in the story Xu Huang could walk with his head up high just by being a skilled chef.

Even royalties lined up to make a reservation at his restaurant even Gu Shao had been there several times.

Knowing how great his culinary skill was, Gu Shao didn’t mind the fact that Xu Huang used to be a concubine’s son and let his outstanding son continued to be with him. He thought that Xu Huang could become his imperial chef making foods for him to eat every day.

This was a peaceful era so people focused more on satisfying their lifestyles than anything else even the Emperor was the same.

However, Zheng Zhi who has never been interested in this sort of thing immediately rejected his offer,’’No need to.’’

Xu Huang has already prepared himself to get rejected by him so he immediately turned to look at Shi Shen with pleading eyes.

In return, Shi Shen seemed to be hesitating for a bit then ultimately said,’’Xu Huang, how about you come to my estate then?’’

Xu Huang happily agreed since obviously, Zheng Zhi will be there as well so he got to see him anyway.

He didn’t care about his bad reputation in the Prince Gu Estate since all he cared was how to get close to this God of war.

Humph, I don't believe that I, Xu Huang cannot make you break up with this hateful prince!

****

The author has something to say:

I have been wondering which one do you hate more:

Yan Ming or Xu Huang?