Let Him Be the Moon - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I have always been a woman of my word.

After leaving the palace, I went straight to meet Shen Chao in private.

“The imperial decree will reach Dingyuan Marquis’s Manor tomorrow. In three days, you and I will be married.”

I lay with my head on Shen Chao’s lap and kissed him.

“The wife sings, the husband follows. After we marry, you’ll return to the frontier with me.”

Shen Chao obediently murmured assent.

Under the moonlight, he looked like an immortal descended to earth.

He gazed at me curiously. “Why did you join the army?”

“After all these years, did no one ever discover you were a woman?”

“These past twenty years must have been very hard for you, right?”

Indeed.

The wind and frost of the borderlands were bitter.

Endless stretches of flat sand, cold gleams on iron armor.

So many times, I had wanted to just give up.

But whenever I thought of Shen Changhuai, I couldn’t swallow that resentment.

Besides…

I was not the only woman in the barracks.

Father had no grown son; Mulan had no elder brother.

Some had enlisted in their fathers’ place, while others wished to serve the country with heroic ambition.

With them there, I would have been too ashamed to run away.

So I gritted my teeth and endured, and somehow made a name for myself.

I sighed with emotion. “Who would have thought I was once nothing more than a village woman?”

For some reason, something in that sentence seemed to touch Shen Chao.

He lowered his eyes, his expression melancholy. “My father was ruined by a village woman.”

Hm?

My eyelid twitched.

Shen Chao continued, “My father was once injured in an assassination attempt and married a village woman.”

“After he recovered his memories, because of his status, he had no choice but to abandon her and marry my mother.”

“When he later went back to look for that village girl, he couldn’t find any trace of her. Everyone said she had a fierce temperament and had thrown herself into the Yellow River, leaving no bones behind…”

I listened, stunned.

“My father fainted on the spot. When he woke up, he was like a different man. Every day, he held her portrait and wept…”

“Oh, right. When will you come back with me to meet my father?”

The barrage continued to scroll by.

“I’m dying. The female supporting character is dumbfounded, isn’t she?”

“Sui Cheng is thinking: my ex-husband turned into my father-in-law.”

“For someone as proud and aloof as the male lead, if he finds out the female supporting character toyed with both father and son, won’t he drag her down with him?”

“Definitely. The male lead already despises the female supporting character anyway.”

“Even if the female supporting character has military power, her three hundred thousand troops are far away at the frontier. How can that compare to the male lead’s old-money influence?”

“If the male lead wants to quietly get rid of her…”

I suddenly remembered.

Shen Changhuai had always been unreasonable.

Back then, if he saw me exchange a few extra words with the young man who sold pastries, he would sulk in silence, and I would have to coax him for ages before he stopped.

If he learned I had gotten involved with his own son…

I shuddered. “I think it’s better not to meet your father yet.”

Shen Chao bit his lip. “Why?”

I cupped his face, my gaze deep with affection. “Mainly because I’m afraid you’ll be wronged.”

“Your father and I are around the same age. When we meet, should I call him Brother Shen, or Father-in-law?”

Surely I couldn’t be like I was twenty years ago and sweetly call him my darling, could I?

Shen Chao pondered for a moment and was deeply moved. “You really do think far ahead.”

His eyes reddened slightly. “When I was very young, my mother divorced my father. Since childhood, no one has ever treated me this well…”

Then he began telling me about his family, his past pain and joy, his unwillingness, his struggles, his suffering…

My heart ached terribly for him. “When you were young, it must have been so hard for you.”

“Good boy. It’s all in the past now.”

“Now, then… let me see those legs again.”

…

The imperial decree reached the Dingyuan estate that very night.

The Son of Heaven’s words were golden and final. This matter could only be settled as such.

The barrage was furious and kept cursing me.

“You old hag! Ruthlessly destroying tender grass!”

“Our fair-skinned, beautiful little male lead with boundless prospects has to lower himself to serve a middle-aged geezer…”

“There’s nothing he can do. The male lead still has to worry about his entire clan’s lives. He wouldn’t dare defy the decree.”

“But the male lead is so clever. He’ll definitely find a way to save his son.”

“Boys help boys. Even though the male lead is usually very strict with his son, he still loves him.”

“Chinese fathers and sons are ruler and subject, enemies, love rivals, and brothers…”

“The male lead has already planted men in secret. For his son’s sake, he’s planning to take this damn Grand General’s life.”

A flurry of hurried footsteps came from outside.

My eyes snapped open.

Shen Chao was still sprawled in my arms, propping up his chin as he lowered his head to kiss me. “What’s wrong?”

Just then, the door was suddenly kicked open.

My deputy’s anxious voice crashed into my ears.

“Our general is inside! My lord Marquis, you can’t go in…”

The barrage continued to scroll.

I reacted extremely quickly.

I grabbed the quilt and wrapped Shen Chao up in it.

After all, we were not yet married.

If Shen Changhuai discovered that his son had already been played with by me so early…

Wouldn’t he, as his father, fight me to the death?

My deputy did not disappoint me.

He stood firmly in front of Shen Changhuai, blocking the room’s intimate scene from view.

As the two of them remained locked in a stalemate, I spoke calmly.

“If the Marquis has something to say, say it from outside the door.”

“I have an intimate companion here. It would be improper for the Marquis to enter.”

The night was dim, and no lamp had been lit in the room.

My face was hidden in shadow.

By contrast, the watery moonlight outside fell across Shen Changhuai’s cold yet still beautiful face.

Even the fine lines at the corners of his eyes were illuminated with perfect clarity.

He did not look at me. His gaze landed on the bed, and a trace of disgust flashed across his brows.

“An intimate companion? I wonder, is it a man or a woman?”

The person inside the brocade quilt trembled slightly.

I slipped my hand underneath and stroked Shen Chao’s face without a change in expression. “A boy, naturally.”

“How old?”

“Eighteen.”

“From Qingfeng Pavilion?”

“No. A good family. He follows me willingly.”

Shen Changhuai furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly, as though displeased by my absurdity.

Calmly, he said, “Since the general is to marry my son, you ought to clear out the disreputable people in your chambers.”

“My son comes from a distinguished family. He is upright, proper, disciplined, and clean-living above all.”

“How could such a vulgar, wanton creature be worthy of living under the same roof as my son?”