The Plan Begins!

After seeing Elder Hua off, Lu Chen gently pushed open the door.

Calming incense burned inside. Yun Qingyue lay quietly on the couch, her breathing even and her face serene. The usual chill about her had faded, leaving her with a few traces of fragility.

Lu Chen sat beside the couch and watched her silently for a moment.

He had known this woman when they were both insignificant, fought alongside her through perilous lands, and now she had suffered such a calamity because of him.

The feelings that had once been hazy in his heart seemed, after passing through life and death, to have become clear and heavy.

He reached out, intending to brush aside a stray lock of hair before her forehead, but stopped just as his fingertips were about to touch it. In the end, he merely tucked the blanket around her more carefully.

Now was not the time.

The Northern Frontier had yet to be pacified, powerful enemies surrounded them, and he himself had not yet truly climbed to a height from which he could look down upon the shifting winds and clouds.

The tenderness of love would have to be buried in his heart for now.

He rose, preparing to leave.

"Lu Chen..." A weak yet distinct murmur suddenly came from behind him.

Lu Chen halted and turned back.

Yun Qingyue had somehow opened her eyes. She was quietly watching him, her gaze like water, flickering beneath the dim lamplight with complicated emotions that were hard to discern.

"Did I wake you?" Lu Chen returned to the couch.

Yun Qingyue gently shook her head and struggled to sit up.

Lu Chen hurried over to support her, propping a soft pillow behind her back.

"I feel much better." Leaning against the pillow, Yun Qingyue was still pale,