Taking the wine bag, Ning Que swallowed a mouthful, and suddenly frowned - it's amazing! His heart was beating faster, and Ning Que saw the elder sitting by the bonfire, propping up his tired body, standing up, and walking towards him. Before he could bow reverently, or fold his palms reverently, or even kneel down to show respect and inquiry, as he had done as a child, a faint voice suddenly caught his attention.

"Sit."

Ning Que turned his head and looked at the maid with a glowing face illuminated by the firelight, and let out a soft sigh in his heart. Ning Que saluted her respectfully and sat down not too close or far from her.

He insists, at odds with what others say about the princess, that she's a fool. Well, whatever he thinks of her, she is far superior to him, like a shining star in the sky than a toad in a rice field. Therefore, he still needs to be mindful of his demeanor and be respectful.

The reason is very simple, that is, she is Li Yu, the fourth princess of the Tang Dynasty, and she is by no means an ordinary maid.

Looking at Ning Que's young and simple face, Li Yu couldn't see anything special, except for some spots on his cheeks and dimples when he laughed, maybe a few times.

It was the bravery of this ordinary soldier in battle that made her feel like she was watching a ferocious tiger jump out of the bushes in search of prey. For some reason, as soon as she knew that Ning Que was by her side, a sense of calm came over her, although she was still afraid to remember the assassination not long ago.

"Maybe it's this fearless 'tiger' that's guarding me," she thought.

The problem was that she didn't like the lad at all, according to her observations since she pretended to be a maid. She gave up her disguise and found that she still couldn't like the little guy's demeanor.

To her consternation, she felt that what Ning Que did for her was just pretending, not out of her heart, and even felt that he was often laughing at her behind her back. You have to admit that a woman's instincts are sometimes her most powerful weapon – whether it's a rural housewife or a sullen royalty in the yard.

The most noble princess of the Tang Dynasty had every reason to be angry as long as she thought that someone was laughing at her. However, now the princess felt a sense of comfort, security, and protection and sat by the campfire with him.

She enjoyed this feeling, but she was a little dissatisfied that Ning Que had caused this emotion. She felt a little embarrassed and deliberately adjusted her tone, becoming a little cold and insensitive.

"The assassination just now, it seems that you want to save me?"

Li Yu thought to himself: "Anyway, it wasn't me in the carriage at that time, and your heart to save the princess is no bigger than your ambition to win glory for yourself."

"Ever since you were in Wei City, I knew you were a real princess."

Ning Que explained to her seriously: "Since the maid is a real princess, the one in the carriage should be someone else. This small maneuver may be helpful when luring enemies, but it is just a shoddy trick for the observer.

Frowning, Li Yu didn't ask him how he could recognize her true identity. After the fight, she slowly made a good impression of him, mainly because of the security he gave her.

She suddenly asked coldly, "You said that you learned the skill of killing people in the army, but you are only about fifteen years old now. When you enlisted, you were nothing more than a child. How can the army recruit you?

Ning Que planned to make up something to fool her, and thought to himself: "You married to the distant grassland at the age of sixteen, why can't I enlist in the army at that age?" At this time, Sangsang quietly walked over and sat beside him.

Looking at Sang Sang sitting next to him and the fire dancing beside him, Ning Que suddenly softened and said, "You must already know that I met Sang Sang on the road. At that time we were very young and somehow lost in Minshan. We met an old hunter because we were dying of thirst.

He looked up, saw the silhouette of the princess, and continued: "The old hunter is not a saint, nor a master. He saved us, but it doesn't prove anything. Anyway, he taught me how to hunt. Later, he died. Sangsang and I make a living from what I hunt in the mountains.

Although a very simple and brief account of his childhood is given, a vivid picture flashes before the princess's eyes. A ten-year-old boy carries a five-year-old girl on his back and searches the mountains full of wild beasts and dangers. He carried a small boxwood bow, and the girl had a bucket of arrows.

They may not find anything for days, or they may be chased by a leopard and fall off the mountain. They may be excited about a dead rabbit, or they may look at the lights of a small village from a distance and walk away in silence.

Now Li Yu felt that Ning Que was not as terrible as before, and asked, "It's dangerous to live in the mountains, why don't you go to the local council?" Our allowance for orphans is generous and equitable.

Ning Que lowered his head, picked up a piece of burnt wood, and said in a soft tone: "It's easier to live in a place with few people.

Such a simple reason exposes the hardships they encountered. Li Yu stared at the two of them wordlessly, and suddenly asked, "What, how did the old hunter die?"

Ning Que raised his head and replied calmly, "I killed him with a knife."

As for why he did this, he did not say much and would not explain it to this princess, who would never understand how vile and dark life was for people like them, and probably never explained it to anyone. He gently stroked Sangsang's little head and held her tightly in his arms.

A chubby and cute young man raised his head from the arms of Princess Li Yu. He glanced to the side curiously, and then buried his head in Li Yu's arms, just like Sang Sang sitting next to Lin Que. His face rubbed casually against the princess, leaving snot on her clothes.

Li Yu took out a handkerchief and wiped his nose a little awkwardly, without any displeased expression. Then she looked back at Ning Que and said indifferently: "After arriving in Chang'an, how about serving me?" I can assure you of a wonderful prospect.

Ning Que had already figured out the identity of the little boy as a member of the savage tribe in his heart, but he never expected that the princess would be so partial to her stepson. And, when he saw His Highness wiping the little boy's nose, there was a subtle change in his attitude towards her. As expected, he was slow to answer, his mind preoccupied with the thoughts. He paused for a moment before replying, "Your Highness, after arriving in Chang'an, I will still have to take the college entrance exam.

Different people perceive in different ways and therefore have different understandings. This sentence can be seen as Ning Que's regret that he failed to serve the princess, or it can be regarded as his euphemistic refusal, with a little confidence: "Your Highness doesn't have to worry about my future." As long as I am accepted into the college, I can earn my prospects.

"Are you sure you can take the college entrance exam smoothly and even pass it successfully?" Li Yu was stunned and said: "Although we in the Tang Dynasty want talented officials, the word 'want' is not what you usually understand. If gifted men can find opportunities to give full play to their abilities as you think, then Liu Scholar of the previous dynasty would not be so resentful of wasting his life in a brothel.

Ning Que looked at her coquettish face and replied seriously, "I know what you mean, so I beg Your Highness to wipe away those unnecessary obstacles for me." I don't want to lose my chance to get into the college because of my poverty.

Li Yu also looked at him, but with undisguised suspicion. She was silent for a long time, wondering what made the young soldier so calmly and directly refuse her invitation.

After all, she was the emperor's favorite princess and was respected by the people of the whole country. Therefore, Ning Que, a humble soldier, was already a great luck to be able to keep such a close distance from her. If it was the other soldiers of the border city, despite the fact that they were eligible for the entrance exams to the academy, no one could escape the moved, grateful tears, kneeling down to worship her invitation.

Then she broke the long silence and said nonchalantly, "I promise I will, because I owe it to you."

After saying this, she lost interest in chatting with Ning Que. She just hugged the little boy tightly and stared blankly at the campfire, tears gradually moistening her eyes. At this moment, Lu Qingchen was still meditating cross-legged around the bonfire to recover his strength, while the bodyguards on the opposite side had already fallen into a deep sleep. Night falls deep in the forest, and the birds chirp a few times, occasionally stirred by the twinkling stars.

Unexpectedly, Ning Que caught a glimpse of her watery eyes, followed her line of sight, and saw that she was looking at the scene of piles of bodyguards and the corpses of steppe barbarians through the campfire.

Thinking of her wiping the little boy's nose and watching her lament the death of her bodyguard, Ning Que's impression of this princess changed a little. He thought silently, "Even if she's an idiot, she's a humane idiot."

Sang Sang had already fallen asleep on the ground, leaving only Li Yu and Ning Que still awake by the bonfire. The two continued to sit there without saying a word, when suddenly the little boy struggled out of the princess's arms, rubbed his eyes, and asked her to tell him a story because he couldn't sleep, which made Li Yu very embarrassed. The stories she had heard in the palace when she was a child had long since escaped from her mind, and the romantic stories she liked when she was a child were not suitable for such children.

The boy refused to look at his stepmother, but did not cause trouble, in order to vent his grievances, and looked pitiful. Ning Que just grinned at the embarrassed princess and coughed lightly.

"Golden wheat, and shiny green oats... One by one, the eggs cracked, but nothing happened to the largest eggs...... Mother Duck watched her big, ugly baby paddling happily in the water and said proudly, "Look, she's not a nasty turkey, she's my child."