For three days after the wedding, Ning Chen barely left the room.

He finally showed his face on the morning of the fourth day.

Ning Chen gently pounded the small of his back... It was true after all: you could work an ox to death, but you'd never wear out a field.

Just then, Yuan Long arrived.

"Greetings, my lord prince!"

Ning Chen said, "No need for formalities. You were looking for this prince?"

Yuan Long bowed respectfully. "My lord prince, the fifty thousand troops set out this morning for the southern frontier passes."

Ning Chen grunted. That had been settled long ago!

Yuan Long saw him rubbing his lower back and asked worriedly, "My lord prince, is your back all right?"

Good grief. Three days without leaving the room—my lord prince really is in great shape... Yuan Long thought to himself.

Ning Chen hurriedly dropped his hand. "It's fine. Of course it's fine!"

A man's damnable will to win. At a moment like this, there was no way he was admitting his back hurt.

"My lord prince is too important to be careless. You have to look after yourself!"

Ning Chen glared at him, then suddenly teased, "Yuan Long, how old are you this year?"

"Thirty-six."

Ning Chen said, "You're this old and you still haven't married?"

Yuan Long looked baffled. "What's so good about getting married? Women are too much trouble. I'm happier with the soldiers."

Ning Chen: "..."

"You're not into men, are you?"

Yuan Long shook his head hurriedly. "No, no... My lord prince, this officer has been to the courtesans' quarter too."

Ning Chen was left utterly speechless.

"Oh, right. Pick out two hundred men and come with me to Chongzhou tomorrow."

Yuan Long blinked. "Chongzhou? Are two hundred enough? Shouldn't we bring more?"

Ning Chen laughed. "We're not going to war this time. We're going to get Brother Xie a wife."

"Huh?"

"Huh what? First thing tomorrow, bring your men to the city lord's residence."

"Yes!"

The next day, early morning.

Yuan Long led a hundred men of the Ning'an Army to the city…