Chapter 39: Zhao Feng, I want you!

Immediately following.

They walked directly to the table inside the hall, opened the boxes, and took out some food and a box of wine.

"Time has passed so quickly."

"It's already evening."

Zhao Feng looked at the sky outside; it had already grown dark.

However, looking at the table, he said with some surprise, "Why is there wine today?"

"This was arranged by Marquis Wang Junhou."

"This subordinate takes his leave."

One of them spoke respectfully, and then the two departed.

"Drinking is prohibited in the Main Combat Camp. What is that girl Wang Yan up to?" Zhao Feng looked at the several jars of wine on the table with some bewilderment.

But Zhao Feng did not think much of it.

Strictly speaking, he would not truly become the Commandant of the Main Combat Camp until tomorrow; for now, he was still a sidelined logistics soldier.

"Today's meal is exceptionally sumptuous."

"There is meat and vegetables."

Zhao Feng smiled and picked up the *xie*—what people in later generations would call chopsticks.

Then, he began to eat.

At that moment!

A series of soft footsteps came from outside the hall.

"Walking so slowly? That doesn't sound like you," Zhao Feng teased without even turning his head.

Sure enough.

When the hall doors opened.

Wang Yan walked in slowly, then gently closed the door behind her.

Zhao Feng had stayed in the military camp during this period, and naturally became familiar with Wang Yan; the two of them spent almost every day together.

Their conversation was naturally no longer as awkward as it had been at the beginning.

Wang Yan did not speak, but instead walked toward him step by step.

Zhao Feng turned his head to look, and was instantly stunned.

"You... you... you..."

Even though Zhao Feng had experienced life and death and seen great spectacles, at this moment he stared blankly, unable to recover his senses.

Looking closely!

Today, Wang Yan had shed her military uniform. She no longer bound her hair like a soldier; her three thousand strands of black hair were all draped over her shoulders, held in place by only a single hairpin. Dressed in a black and red long gown, she appeared exceptionally heroic and spirited. Her face, which had previously worn a degree of disguise, had completely transformed, presenting an exquisitely beautiful countenance before Zhao Feng's eyes.

It could be said.

In all his life, even with the memories of his past life, Zhao Feng had never seen such a natural beauty.

She was beautiful to the extreme.

"Even Diaochan of the late Eastern Han would be no match for this," Zhao Feng thought to himself as he gazed upon Wang Yan's breathtaking face.

As Wang Yan walked in, seeing Zhao Feng's stunned expression, a curve rose at the corner of her mouth, and she felt a secret joy in her heart.

She understood.

Zhao Feng was also startled by her beauty.

Amidst Zhao Feng's daze.

Wang Yan walked slowly toward him and knelt before him.

Then, she directly picked up the wine, poured herself a cup, and poured one for Zhao Feng as well.

"What... what are you doing?" Zhao Feng's speech was somewhat stuttered.

Wang Yan's sudden change, returning to her female attire, was truly something Zhao Feng had not expected.

"I am leaving tomorrow," Wang Yan spoke slowly.

Her voice was not like the coarse tone she had previously used for disguise, but was like the song of an oriole—soft and melodious.

"Leaving?" Zhao Feng was surprised. "To where?"

"Home!" Wang Yan said softly.

"You are going home?"

"You aren't staying in the army?" Zhao Feng was shocked, yet he felt an inexplicable sense of reluctance in his heart.

"What can I do in the army?"

"No matter what I do, I cannot change anything."

"I wanted to earn military merit to change things, but military merit is nothing, and I have no opportunity to earn it anyway."

"Even if I truly achieved monumental military merit, it would be useless." A trace of sorrow surfaced on Wang Yan's lovely face.

Hearing this!

Zhao Feng nodded instinctively.

"Drink with me."

"Consider it a farewell."

"And consider it my way of properly thanking you, my savior." Wang Yan forced a smile, lifted her wine cup, and toasted Zhao Feng.

Zhao Feng also picked up his cup, looking at Wang Yan with some uncertainty on how to comfort her.

"Cheers!"

Wang Yan smiled and drained the wine in her cup in one gulp.

Looking at her, she seemed to be smiling, but Zhao Feng could see the bitterness within that smile.

Zhao Feng did not know how to comfort her, so he could only silently drink a cup of wine.

Wang Yan wanted to change her fate, but Zhao Feng had no way to change it, for he did not yet possess the strength to master his own destiny.

And Wang Yan!

The daughter of Wang Jian, a daughter of a general's house—her fate seemed to have been predestined long ago.

How easy could it be to change?

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Eating and drinking."

"This is the last time I will come to see you."

"I know you find me quite loathsome, thinking that a woman can do nothing in the army and cannot prove herself."

"But... today is our last time meeting."

Wang Yan's voice carried a sense of misery, even a hint of a sob.

"Drink."

Zhao Feng said no nonsense; he simply poured the wine and downed a cup in one go.

Then he said slowly, "Girl, who told you that I find you loathsome?"

"To be honest."

"I do not find you loathsome; on the contrary, I admire you greatly."

"A woman."

"In this era, there is almost no room for choice."

"But you dare to struggle against fate, to gamble with it; you have already proven yourself."

"Even if you ultimately fail, you have still proven yourself."

Hearing these words.

Wang Yan stared blankly at Zhao Feng, her voice trembling, "Really?"

"Really!"

Zhao Feng smiled and nodded heavily.

"I... I know you are just comforting me."

"I have done nothing in the army; instead, I have done many wrong things."

"But to be able to hear these words from you, I am very happy."

"Zhao Feng."

"I am truly happy," Wang Yan said, her face filled with emotion.

Then she lifted her wine cup to drink.

Zhao Feng, naturally, would accompany her to the end.

As the two talked and chatted, a hint of intoxication appeared on their faces.

"Do you know? My father is Wang Jian, the Grand General of Great Qin."

"I've known for a long time. Otherwise, why would Li Teng treat you so well?"

"I thought you hadn't noticed. Then, do you know who I am to be married to in the future? My father said there are voices in the imperial court petitioning the King to let me marry Fusu, the eldest prince of Great Qin, Fusu."

"Don't you want to?"

"I don't want to. I don't want to marry into the royal clan. I only want to find someone I truly love and then marry him. I don't want this kind of political marriage, and I certainly don't want to become a pawn."

"But in this era, women have no right to choose. Furthermore, it is very difficult for a woman to find someone she likes; it is almost all through political alliances."

"Before, I hadn't found it; I was simply unwilling to be toyed with by fate. I wanted to change, but now, I have found it! Zhao Feng, I like you! Perhaps we haven't known each other long, but perhaps it is a destiny ordained by heaven. You saved me! Perhaps it is gratitude, or perhaps it is love at first sight! If I could, I truly want to marry you!"

Hearing this.

Zhao Feng was stunned, staring blankly at the exquisite beauty before him. At this moment, his heart seemed to be stirred.

But in the next moment.

Wang Yan stood up slowly, carrying a sense of intoxication, and walked toward Zhao Feng.

"Fate cannot be changed, so I will change myself."

"Zhao Feng, I want you!"