Song Qingshu's breath caught. He did not deny it, merely smiling awkwardly. "It seems nothing can escape your discerning eyes."
Zhao Min snorted. "The former Golden Snake King's wife and Hu Yidao's widow—your tastes are quite comparable to Cao Cao's of the Three Kingdoms era."
Song Qingshu showed no anger at all. "To be compared with Wei Wu, County Princess, you truly think highly of me."
"What is there to think highly of in a mere Wei Wu?" Zhao Min replied blandly. "In his entire life, he only unified the north. He never managed to rule the realm."
Song Qingshu froze, then could not help smiling bitterly. "County Princess, your vision is certainly grand."
Zhao Min instead tilted her head and looked at him with a half-smile. "Could it be that you would be content with merely becoming another Wei Wu?"
Song Qingshu did not answer. Instead, he said, "With your Mongol Empire so powerful in the north now, I'm afraid I couldn't become Wei Wu even if I wanted to."
Zhao Min's expression dimmed. She knew that they were destined to become enemies in the future; she had merely instinctively avoided thinking about it every time before.
Each lost in their own thoughts, neither spoke for the rest of the journey. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the Huan Yi Yuan hideout. Xia Qingqing and Bing Xue'er came out to greet him after hearing the news, but when they saw Zhao Min, both instinctively stopped in their tracks.
Song Qingshu introduced them. "This is Xia Qingqing. You've met before. This is Bing Xue'er. And this is Princess Shaomin of Prince Ruyang's Mansion..."
The three women stared at one another, unsure how to handle the situation. Zhao Min was instead the first to break the silence. "I came