Shen Qiu Yang pursed her lips in a smile, "Alright, alright," this little girl, she’s just too thoughtful, how could one not feel heartache for her?
"How do you manage to be so likable?"
Suddenly hugging Dong Huiying, she roughly tousled her hair.
Dong Huiying grimaced, "Stop it, my head hurts, it’s all muddled, if you keep rubbing it I’m going to puke..."
"Tsk," Shen Qiu Yang couldn’t help but chuckle.
Afterward, she held all the jars and bottles given by Dong Huiying, along with a few changes of clothes, and prepared to step out the door.
Despite feeling unwell, Dong Huiying insisted on seeing Shen Qiu Yang off.
As she leaned on the walls to come out of the room, Liang Zhichen saw her, and thus dashed over in a step, gently supporting her arm and helping her to walk forward.
"Why not lie down for a while longer?"
"I wanted to see her off."
Shen Qiu Yang, fully ready to go, said, "Xiao Hui, go back, no need to see me off. I’m grown up enough, it’s not the first time I’m going far away on my own."
Liang Zhichen instinctively looked towards Dong Huiying, his voice naturally low and magnetic. When he said her name, the end of his words lifted in a lazy, seductive manner.
"Cough cough," she covered her mouth and coughed twice, then ’hmm’ed in response.
His expression was tender, "I think ’Treasure’ suits you better."
"Hmm?" She looked at him blankly.
The corners of his mouth curved slightly, "Treasure indeed suits you."
Her eyes widened, and she suddenly felt a bit foolish.
Suddenly she laughed, "Actually, I used to really dislike being called Baobao by you guys."
"Because it always gave me the illusion that I was really someone’s little treasure."
Zhi Chen laughed lightly, "That’s not an illusion."
After Shen Qiu Yang left, Dong Huiying felt weak, and Liang Zhichen persuaded her to return to her room.
She had suffered an attack and seemed to have been through a serious illness; it took several days before she started feeling better gradually.
During this time, to enable her to rest and recuperate in peace, Liang Zhichen not only took care of the daily meals but also began to frequently go into the mountains to capture insects for her. However, he kept the insects hidden, thinking to give them to her after she recovered, afraid that she would be distracted and engrossed by the insects, risking her health out of sheer obsession.
A few days later, a travel-weary Shen Qiu Yang arrived at Anyang Village.
The village was remote, but a few months prior, had welcomed a few hundred people - those people were from Black Wind Camp.
Anyang Village’s geographical location was quite peculiar, defensive as well as offensive, and easily accessible. It enjoyed an advantageous strategic position.
Even though Black Wind Camp, under Liang Zhichen’s leadership, had started to adopt the banner of ’Righteous Bandit’, renouncing wicked deeds, whether they were heroic thieves or common bandits, having the word ’bandit’ attached meant living on the brink.
In recent years, as the Imperial Court sought to raise military funds, it targeted these bandits. Officials and soldiers from all over combined forces to eradicate bandit gangs, with over a dozen hideouts known to have been eliminated so far. When bandits were exterminated, their hoards of riches were repurposed as military pay, used for the daily needs of the army.
Under such a widespread and profitable campaign, the national treasury gradually filled.
"Young man, Chen Xu sent me here. May I ask if Su Lang is around?"
"Chen Xu, what Chen Xu? Do we have such a person here?"