Chapter 52: He Is My Husband

The surrounding sounds were a chaotic mix: wounded soldiers groaned in agony, while others wept aloud in the bitter relief of having survived.

They were alive—they were still alive!

Qin Lang’s voice cut through the clamor, carrying all the way up to the city gate tower.

Down in the streets, the thoroughly exhausted soldiers of the Shen family army were scattered about, some lying down, others sitting. Suddenly seeing a figure galloping fiercely toward them on horseback, they instantly tensed as if facing a formidable enemy.

"I am here."

Shen Ruojin turned to face the interior of the city, watching as the rider reined in his horse through the dim, nascent light of dawn, halting a few dozen paces away.

Looking up at Shen Ruojin on the city tower, the heart Qin Lang had been holding so anxiously in his throat finally settled back into his chest.

Covered in blood and having torn away his human-skin mask, he bore no resemblance to the carefree and joyful young Prince Qin of the capital; instead, he looked like a god of slaughter who had just stepped out of a execution ground.

The moment he laid eyes on Shen Ruojin, the fierce, murderous aura surrounding Qin Lang receded, replaced by a smile of profound relief. "Shen Ruojin, dawn has come."

Seeing that he could still manage a smile amidst such a scene, the taut, strained strings of Shen Ruojin's heart inexplicably loosened a little.

She put away the military tally she had been gripping tightly all this while, and said in a raspy voice, "Yes, the snow has stopped, too."

Dawn had broken, and the soldiers who had fought bitterly through the wind and snow could finally go home.

Qin Lang flipped down from his saddle and walked briskly toward the city tower.

Behind him came dozens of carriages, from which dozens of physicians stepped down, carrying their medicine chests. The covert guards pulled off the black cloth veils covering their faces and began lifting out whole crates of wound medicine, followed by cartloads of food, which they immediately started distributing:

"Make way! Everyone make way! The physicians are here!"

"Brothers, you must be starving, right? Come and get some steamed buns!"

"Anyone needing hemostatic ointment, come this way!"

The exhausted and starving soldiers of the Shen family army instantly lit up with hope, though a few commanders remained on their guard.

Wei Qingshan, in particular, stepped forward immediately to stop them, shouting, "This person’s origins are unknown, and we don't know if he is friend or foe! How can we just eat the food he brought and use whatever he hands out?"

The soldiers of the Shen family army, who had just reached out to take the buns and the wound ointment, froze in their tracks.

The truth was, they were utterly starved.
Their wounds were hurting terribly, too.

For someone to arrive at this very moment with grain and medicine—they were practically living bodhisattvas.
And since they were within the walls of Xizhou City, the soldiers had hardly any capacity left to harbor suspicions. Yet, at the fierce shout of General Wei, the buns they had been pushing toward their mouths suddenly stopped halfway, and the medicine bottles they had uncapped were left hanging, dare not applied to their open wounds.

After all, over the past three years, Xizhou City had become the private domain of Yang Wanxiong. Their grain and military provisions had constantly been withheld by this Protector-General Yang, forcing the aging General Shen to exhaust every possible means just to secure a meager share.

Today, no sooner had the Shen family army retreated back into the city than these physicians, food, and medicines had shown up out of nowhere.

How could this not breed suspicion?

"This fellow looks extremely unfamiliar. I’ve never seen him before. I don’t know his name, nor who he truly is."

General Li gazed at the newcomer with a sharp, piercing stare, wearing an expression that made it clear he intended to get to the bottom of this.

The remaining commanders chimed in with their own questions:

"It’s not that we are ungrateful, but we have truly never laid eyes on this young master. May we ask... who on earth are you?"

"And acting in such a manner, what is your purpose?"

Faced with the interrogation from all sides, Qin Lang didn’t even break his stride, walking straight toward Shen Ruojin. "They say they don't know if I am friend or foe."

Shen Ruojin descended the city tower, meeting him halfway.
Before she could even speak, Qin Lang continued, "They’re asking what my purpose is."

Shen Ruojin thought to herself that Young Prince Qin was playing the good Samaritan here, yet getting quite unfairly wronged in the process.
Pouring out both money and effort, only to be treated by the soldiers as someone with ulterior motives—it truly was a bit unjust to him.

As she was weighing her words, struggling with how to explain Qin Lang’s identity to Uncle Wei and the others, Qin Lang took another two steps forward, standing side by side with her on the very same stair, and raised his voice slightly. "I must ask my wife to tell them."

"What did you just call the Tenth Miss? W-Wife?"

Wei Qingshan was standing closest, and the moment those words registered, he was struck dumb with shock.

The rest of the Shen family army, having just survived the jaws of death, were equally thunderstruck upon hearing this.
Previously, they had only known that the Tenth Miss had been sent back to the capital by General General Shen to await marriage, having been betrothed to someone.

Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that, in the midst of a life-or-death battle, the Tenth Miss would appear in the Western Frontier, bringing along—bringing along someone like this.

Shen Ruojin had originally been hesitating over whether it was appropriate to openly reveal the young prince’s true identity right now, and whether it might bring trouble upon the Prince of Zhenbei and incur the Emperor’s suspicion.

Since Qin Lang had already broken the ice, she decided to roll with it.

"He is..." Shen Ruojin weighed her options repeatedly before nodding and saying, "He is my husband."

Having received the definitive confirmation, Qin Lang gave a slight nod to Wei Qingshan and the others. "Though I am lacking in talent, I am indeed Shen Shi's husband, and the newest son-in-law of the Shen family."

"S-Son-in-law..."

General Li stuttered so badly he could barely get the words out.

He and Wei Qingshan, along with a few others, had followed General Shen for many years. After the young generals had all passed away, the old general had refused to let the Tenth Miss stay in the Western Frontier, insisting that if she was to be married off, married off she would be. But hadn't the old general said that the man betrothed to her was a mere scholar? Rumor had it he was even a provincial imperial examination graduate—the heavily scholarly, bookish sort.

Since when had they heard that the son-in-law knew martial arts, let alone possessed such staggering wealth?

Just look at these physicians, this massive stockpile of wound medicine, and all this food—how could any ordinary wealthy household pull off something of this scale?

The commanders and every single soldier of the Shen family army were completely bewildered.

Shen Ruojin told them, "Eat what you are given, use what is provided. There is no need to worry about the supplies being problematic."

The only thing she needed to ponder was: having incurred such a monumental debt of gratitude to Qin Lang, how was she ever going to repay him in the future?

A brief silence hung over the surroundings.
Then, a soldier asked in a hushed voice, "So... these buns are safe to eat, right?"

"Safe! Of course they're safe! These were sent by our son-in-law!"

"Are there enough buns today? I can eat thirty in one sitting!"

"Hand me a bottle of that hemostatic ointment!"

"Doctor! Where are the doctors? I can still be saved, hurry and help me!"

The soldiers began to wolf down the buns voraciously. They no longer hesitated to use the medicine, looking upon Qin Lang, his covert guards, and the physicians as if they were long-lost family.

Family members who provided food, drink, and saved their lives all at once.

One soldier swallowed two large meat-filled buns in a desperate rush, and even before he had finished chewing, he gave a hearty thumbs-up. "As expected of the husband chosen by our Tenth Miss! What a magnificent stroke of generosity!"

On her wedding day, Shen Ruojin had simply thought that marrying into the Prince of Zhenbei’s estate came with plenty of perks, which was why she had changed course at the eleventh hour.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that Qin Lang... would turn out to be such a wonderful person.

"Uhm... Son-in-law," Wei Qingshan said, looking rather awkward as the first person to voice doubts. "I had no intention of offending you. It’s just that in the army, no matter is too small, and since the old general hasn't woken up yet, I had to be extra cautious."

"That is only right."

Qin Lang was exceptionally easygoing at the moment.
These men were the uncles who had watched Shen Ruojin grow up. If they hadn't been cautious, he would have had to introduce himself as Shen Ruojin's husband entirely on his own accord.

How else would he have ever heard Shen Ruojin tell someone, "He is my husband"?

Far from questioning him, the commanders of the Shen family army had essentially helped him publicly claim his status.

Instead of holding a grudge against Wei Qingshan, Qin Lang immediately asked him, "Where is my grandfather right now?"