Several hours had passed since their arrival at the Governor General's residence. Yunsheng had managed to wash away the road dust, change into a clean uniform, and allow his body at least a little rest. Fatigue still lingered in his muscles, but his mind remained alert—too much gave him no peace.
The stables were drowning in the rays of the setting sun. The smell of hay and horses hung thick in the air. Yunsheng walked inside without looking around—he already knew where to go. His footsteps echoed dully on the compacted earth. His horse started, recognizing its master, snorted quietly, and stamped its hoof. Yunsheng ran his palm along its warm neck.
Footsteps were heard; Yunsheng did not turn around—he recognized them. Houwei stood at the entrance, leaning his shoulder against a post. His face was in shadow, but Yunsheng knew that expression—wary, heavy.
"Checking the horse?" Houwei asked, taking a step forward. "Or preparing to run?"
Yunsheng finally turned. His gaze was direct and cold.
"How many days until the wedding?"
Houwei chuckled briefly, without mirth.
"Mine or yours?"
"You know what I mean."
For a moment, silence hung in the stable. Somewhere deep inside, a stable hand could be heard moving buckets, and horses shifted quietly from foot to foot.
"In five days," Houwei finally said after a short silence. "The Governor General's wedding."
Yunsheng exhaled slowly, as if the number had hit him harder than expected.
"Five…" he repeated hollowly.
"I saw you," Houwei said coldly. "I saw how you disappear at night. Do you think everyone is blind?"
Yunsheng tensed.
"You were following me?"
"Do you even understand what you are getting into? This isn't a simple secret walk or some youthful prank. This is the Governor General. This is his future wife."
"She is not his," Yunsheng blurted out.
"She is almost his," Houwei replied coldly. "And if you continue—you will lose not only your head. You will drag her down with you."
"I cannot stop," he said dully. "You know that."
Houwei stepped closer, almost right up to him.
"That is precisely why I am telling you this now," he said quietly but harshly. "Do not go any further. Leave things as they are. Five days—and it will all be over."
Yunsheng turned sharply.
"Do you really think I can just watch as she is given to him?"
Houwei looked at him for a long time. His gaze expressed incomprehension and exhaustion.
"Why her specifically?" he asked bitterly.
Yunsheng froze for a moment.
"Not now, Houwei."
"Then when?" his friend's voice was restrained, but irritation could be felt beneath it. "As long as I've known you, you've never chased anyone. You kept talking about a special person all the time."
He stepped closer.
"And now she appears. Another man's bride, and you lose your head, ready to derail everything you have."
"You don't know everything."
"So explain," Houwei replied sharply. "Explain it to me, as a friend. Why her?"
The silence dragged on.
Somewhere behind them, straw crunched; a horse shook its head impatiently.
Yunsheng looked away.
"I cannot."
"You cannot?" the man chuckled bitterly.
Yunsheng clenched his jaw.
"If I start talking, you will think I have lost my mind."
Houwei looked at him intently.
"You are already behaving as if you have."
"There are things that cannot be explained with words," he said quietly. "How do you tell someone If you… remember things you shouldn't remember."
Houwei frowned.
"What are you babbling about?"
Yunsheng shook his head.
"Exactly. How can I tell you that I have known her longer than this life? That every look of hers is familiar to me, even if she looks at me like a stranger? That all this life, since birth, I have been striving toward her? And imagine my surprise when the General's bride turned out to be her."
He fell silent abruptly, as if frightened by his own words.
Houwei looked at him for a long time.
"I don't recognize you at all," he shook his head in disbelief, and his gaze became as if he were looking at a stranger, not a friend.
They stood opposite each other, like two people who still called themselves friends but already found themselves on opposite sides of a decision that would change everything.
"I do not expect understanding from you," Yunsheng replied simply. "I do not even ask for help."
"And I don't need your permission to fear for you," Houwei's voice cracked, but he immediately pulled himself together. "I know too well how such stories end."
Yunsheng looked him straight in the eye.
"Then step aside."
"What?"
"If you are not going to stand by me," Yunsheng spoke calmly, almost wearily, "then do not stand in my way."
"It will be safer for Houwei this way."
A heavy silence hung between them. Houwei nodded slowly, as if he had finally understood something for himself.
"So be it," he said hollowly. "I warned you. I won't do it again."
He took a step back, then another, then turned and walked away.
Yunsheng was left alone. The horse snorted quietly, as if sensing its master's tension. Yunsheng gripped the reins so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Five days…" he whispered.
And in that moment, he realized: whatever Houwei's words might be, he would not stop.
Yunsheng was just leaving the stable when he was called out to.
"Commander!"
The man turned. A noticeably agitated servant was hurrying toward him.
"I was looking for you," the servant exhaled, catching up. "The Governor General has ordered you to appear immediately."
Yunsheng tensed almost imperceptibly.
"Now?"
"Yes. Right now."
The servant bowed and, without waiting for an answer, hurried back.
Yunsheng followed him with his gaze.
The conversation with Houwei, the gloomy mood since morning, the sudden summons—everything was piling up too tensely.
The Governor General received him without unnecessary ceremony.
The study was dim: heavy curtains let in only a narrow strip of daylight. Scrolls, an inkstone, a seal lay on the desk—everything neatly arranged.
"Approach," the General uttered, not raising his head.
Yunsheng took a few steps forward and stopped, hands clasped behind his back.
The General took a scroll fastened with a seal from the table and slowly held it out.
"This is a dispatch to Lianshui County. Personally to the garrison commander. Without escort."
Yunsheng accepted the scroll.
"Yes, sir."
"Questions?" the General looked directly at him for the first time.
Yunsheng withstood the gaze.
"When am I to depart?"
The corner of the Governor General's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. Not a smile—rather a shadow of satisfaction.
"Now."
A short pause.
"Take a fresh horse. Your things are already being prepared."
"Yes, my Lord," Yunsheng bowed his head.
The General lowered his gaze to the papers again.
Yunsheng bowed and turned to leave. Only upon stepping into the corridor did he allow himself to exhale. Why now? Why him?
Whatever it was—the order had been given, and there was time before the wedding.
"In five days."
The thought sounded like a verdict.