Yue Congyun twisted around. Her back was sticky and soaked through with blood, and it felt awful.

She looked at Lei An and snapped, "Why did you stab me so many times just now?"

Lei An looked the picture of innocence. He jabbed the dagger at his own stomach a few times. "See? Give it a light poke and the blade slides back into the handle. I tried a dozen-odd times and couldn't burst the blood bag on your back.

In the end I had to sneak my fingers onto the blade and pinch it to burst the thing."

Ning Chen had prepared both things ahead of time.

Yue Congyun rolled her eyes and turned to Ning Chen. "My lord prince, can I go back and take a bath first?"

The blood bag was chicken blood in a fish bladder, and it reeked. She was about to throw up.

Ning Chen nodded. "Be careful. Don't let anyone see you."

That evening, Ning Chen brought food and water to Qu Shao's tent.

Wu Tiezhu stood guard at the entrance.

"Master Qu, may I come in?"

Ning Chen asked from outside the tent.

Qu Shao's voice came from inside. "Please, come in!"

Ning Chen carried the food box and the wine into the tent.

Qu Shao's eyes lit up when he saw who it was. "General Long, please, sit!"

"You haven't had dinner yet, have you? I brought some food and wine. How about a couple of drinks?"

Qu Shao nodded eagerly.

Ning Chen took the dishes out of the food box and poured two cups of wine.

"Here, Master Qu. To you!"

"After you, General Long!"

They clinked cups and drained them.

As Ning Chen topped up the cups, Qu Shao said, "General Long, General Yuan's attitude toward me today was very strange. Do you know why?"

Ning Chen finished pouring, set down the wine pot and smiled. "This is your first time trying to win someone over, isn't it, Master Qu?"

Qu Shao paused, then shook his head. He'd turned quite a few men in his time.

Ning Chen said,…