Love Lock

Chapter 335 Still...不敢认？

The weather was hot, and the afternoon sun shone obliquely through the window, making it somewhat dazzling.

The window was half-open, and a gentle breeze occasionally blew in, slightly dispelling the stuffiness in the room.

Inside the room, Han Lei and Aunt Li were tidying up gauze and medicine bottles. Suddenly, a soft moan came from the direction of the bed.

The two turned around at the same time and saw that Dongfang Jiming, who had been in a coma for several days, was slowly opening his eyes as his eyelashes trembled.

"Your Highness, look, that person has woken up." Aunt Li said in a low voice, with a hint of joy in her voice.

Han Lei, supporting her large belly, let out a soft sigh of relief, "She's finally awake, otherwise all our efforts these past few days would have been for nothing."

These past few days, despite her heavy body, she had been going back and forth here every day, either checking Dongfang Jiming's pulse and vital signs or changing his dressings and cleaning him. Now that she saw him awake, a weight had finally been lifted from her heart.

She slowly approached the bedside, kicked aside the bright red brocade robe casually tossed aside, and leaned down to ask, "You're awake? How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?"

Dongfang Jiming's eyes slowly moved, and he glanced around the room with a slightly blank expression. His voice was weak and hoarse: "Where...is this?"

"This is Jizhou in the Great Jing Dynasty," Han Lei said calmly. "You fell from the city wall and were seriously injured. You were unconscious for several days and were kept alive only by intravenous nutrition. You only woke up today."

As she spoke, she discreetly took out a pair of stainless steel handcuffs from her spatial storage. With a "click," one end was handcuffed to Dongfang Jiming's ankle, and the other end was locked to the wooden bedpost.

Dongfang Jiming's gaze fell on Han Lei's pretty, sweet yet aloof face, a hint of gratitude flashing in his eyes, and he asked softly, "Was it you... who saved me?"

Han Lei's face was expressionless, and her tone was even a little sharp: "Of course I saved you, otherwise you would have been dead by now."

Li Sao had carefully wiped Dongfang Jiming's face clean, revealing his originally fair skin and rather alluring features.

His appearance might be quite attractive to ordinary women, but Han Lei was unmoved by it.

If Zhao Zun hadn't said that this person was an important enemy officer who might be useful in the future, and hadn't instructed her to do her best to treat him, and if she weren't the only one with such medical skills at the moment, she wouldn't have bothered to go through all that trouble with her inconvenient body.

Dongfang Jiming, unusually, said in a low voice, "Thank you."

He then tried to sit up, supporting his mummy-like body with his elbows, but Han Lei pressed him back down without saying a word.

She turned to Aunt Li and instructed, "Aunt Li, go and bring him some congee and side dishes!"

Aunt Li responded and left.

Dongfang Jiming's gaze remained fixed on Han Lei as he softly inquired, "May I ask... who you are, young lady?"

Facing the enemy, Han Lei still didn't have a friendly expression: "What do you care who I am? Just take good care of yourself. Your life is still useful to the prince. We can talk about it when the prince returns. I'm only responsible for making sure you're not feeling unwell."

Dongfang Jiming gently shook his head: "It's alright."

Seeing that he said that, Han Lei stopped talking.

With one hand supporting her lower back and the other cradling her heavy belly, she turned and walked to the cabinet by the wall, beginning to tidy up the medical instruments scattered on it.

Seeing her distant attitude, Dongfang Jiming frowned slightly, but still asked, "Which prince did you mention earlier, young lady?"

Han Lei seemed not to hear, continuing to tidy up. Then, with her back to Dongfang Jiming, she put the tidied utensils into her spatial storage.

Now that Dongfang Jiming has awakened, these modern first-aid supplies no longer need to be displayed in the open. From now on, we only need to change the dressings on time.

Perhaps because he had been lying down for too long, his body was stiff, and Dongfang Jiming couldn't help but move, trying to turn over. Unexpectedly, this aggravated his wound, causing him to gasp in pain, and beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

He tried to move his foot again, but found that his right ankle was firmly bound by something and he could not move it.

He turned to look at Han Lei's retreating figure and asked in confusion, "What is this? Why are you locking me in the bed?"

Han Lei ignored him, thinking to herself, "If I don't lock you up, do you think I'll just wait for you to escape?"
Just then, Aunt Li came in carrying hot porridge and side dishes. Han Lei glanced at him indifferently, then, supporting her back, walked out with slightly unsteady steps, leaving Dongfang Jiming in Aunt Li's care.

Back in her room, Han Lei dragged her heavy body to bed, relaxed, and slept soundly until dusk.

As dusk settled, the orange glow of the setting sun streamed through the window, casting a warm, inviting light into the room. The summer heat dissipated, and a cool breeze began to blow.

Han Lei slowly woke up, not fully awake yet, and saw a figure standing in front of her bed.

She was startled, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and when she saw the dust-covered silver armor and the gentle, smiling face, her heart was instantly filled with joy.

"Zhao Zun?" Her voice was soft and sweet, as if she had just woken up.

When Zhao Zun saw that she had woken up, his expression softened even more. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gently helped her sit up.

"Did I disturb you? I just arrived and saw you sleeping soundly, so I didn't have the heart to wake you." He moved with great care, as if handling a precious treasure.

Han Lei sat up with his help, naturally leaning into his arms, and looked up to ask, "When did you get back? Is everything alright in Dongguan? Is it okay for you to come back like this?"

Zhao Zun lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her smooth forehead.

His arm encircled her pregnant, fuller body, and he said gently, “Don’t worry. The Eastern Ming Empire is now a nervous wreck; the M16s and light machine guns will keep them trembling for a while. Bastions have already been built at Dongguan, which will make the defenses more solid. Yang Shaojie, the garrison commander of Jizhou, and the deputy commander that the court sent to Da Jiu have also surrendered. Everything has been arranged, and the post-war reconstruction will be overseen by local officials and Yang Shaojie.”

He paused, gently nuzzled Han Lei's head with his chin, his voice filled with undisguised longing.

"I missed you so much that I rushed back. Da Jiu and Marshal Li Jianyong also traveled with me."

As he spoke, he gently placed his large hand on Han Lei's high, protruding belly, feeling the heavy warmth in his palm, and his tone was full of affection: "Is our baby being good? Has it been fussy? You've been traveling with me all this way, it must have been so hard for you."

Han Lei lazily placed her hand on the back of his hand, her face beaming with happiness and satisfaction: "It's not hard work, the child is very sensible."

She snuggled against him affectionately, a hint of coquettishness in her voice, "If you hadn't let me come, who would have gotten you those ammunition and materials to build the bastion? And that Dongming official, who would have helped you rescue him?"

Mentioning the Dongming officials, Zhao Zun suddenly remembered this: "By the way, how is that person now?"

After sending someone to bring the official from the East Gate to Han Lei for treatment, he was busy with many miscellaneous matters such as post-war reconstruction and the incorporation of the army, and had no time to pay attention to it anymore.

“I woke up around noon,” Han Lei replied. “I’ll take you there to see him now.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zun carefully helped her heavy body off the bed, his movements extremely gentle, as if afraid of any mishap, and kept reminding her, "Slow down, watch your step."

Looking at her round belly, Zhao Zun's eyes were filled with the joy of becoming a father and deep heartache for his wife.

The couple held hands and walked slowly towards Dongfang Jiming's room where he was recuperating.

Upon entering the room, a mixture of disinfectant and a faint smell of blood hit him, causing Prince Zhao Zun of Cangzhou to instinctively cover his nose. The inn's room was simply furnished, with a bed, a table, and a few chairs.

On the bed, the Dongming official sat upright, his face still pale, but his eyes, even in his weakened state after the injury, carried an indescribable sharpness and...bewitching charm.

Yes, it's all about seduction.

Every time Zhao Zun saw this face, this word would pop into his mind, and at the same time, the feeling of déjà vu would become stronger.

But thinking about what this person had done in Dongguan, Zhao Zun felt a nameless fire burning in his chest.

Using prisoners as "vanguard" to exhaust the defenders' arrows and stamina, and then performing the "sheep-leading ceremony" to the utmost humiliation, was an act of utterly demoralizing the Jing army. This was the instinctive contempt and anger of battlefield generals towards such treacherous and insidious methods.

Zhao Zun carefully helped Han Lei sit down in the chair, his movements gentle, a stark contrast to his cold and hard demeanor when facing enemies.

After settling his wife in, he turned around and slowly walked to the bedside. His tall figure stretched out in the setting sun, enveloping Dongfang Jiming.

"Since you're awake, that means you're alright." Zhao Zun spoke, his voice steady, revealing little emotion, but his gaze was fixed intently on Dongfang Jiming's excessively exquisite and alluring face. "Tell me, what's your name? What position do you hold in the Dongming Empire?"

Dongfang Jiming had noticed Zhao Zun the moment he entered. The silver armor stained with the dust of battle, and the imposing aura emanating from him, clearly indicated his extraordinary status.

Having become a prisoner, Dongfang Jiming knew that in his current ailing state, he would have little chance of escaping, so his tone became stiff, carrying a defiant air of "what's the use of being capricious?"

He glared at Zhao Zun, his voice hoarse from weakness but still sharp: "I'm not as skilled as you, so I've fallen into your hands. There's nothing to say. Do with me as you please, but don't try to get anything out of me."

Zhao Zun was not angry. He simply leaned forward slightly, his gaze becoming even more intense, as if trying to penetrate Zhao Zun's skin and see into his soul.

"Oh? Do as you please? If you really wanted to die, you would have had countless opportunities to end your own life under the walls of Dongguan City, or at the beginning of your capture. But you survived and were even rescued. This shows that deep down, you did not want to die."

He paused, his tone carrying a calm insight into people's hearts, "Or perhaps, you still have unfinished business, and you're unwilling to die like this?"

Dongfang Jiming's pupils contracted slightly, and he pursed his pale lips, not immediately refuting Zhao Zun's words. Zhao Zun's words had precisely struck at the heart of his desire to live.

He's a human being, and who wouldn't want to live?
Having gone through so much, and finally risen to the position of Grand Commander of the Intelligence Bureau, he didn't want to die so easily.

Seeing that he remained silent, Zhao Zun continued, "You are from the Dongming Intelligence Bureau, and your position is not low, right? Ordinary civil officials do not have the courage and decisiveness to make such a... ruthless decision on the battlefield." He deliberately emphasized the word "ruthless".

Since Zhao Zun had guessed most of it, Dongfang Jiming remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing something. Finally, perhaps knowing that concealing it was pointless, he spoke in a hoarse voice: "Dongfang Jiming. Grand Commander of the Intelligence Division of the Dongming Empire."

Despite having already guessed, a faint hint of surprise still flashed across Zhao Zun's eyes upon hearing the words "Grand Commander".

As far as he knew, the Grand Commander of the Intelligence Bureau was a trusted confidant of the Emperor of the Eastern Ming Empire, a powerful figure in the shadows, holding an extraordinary position. How could he have personally come to the Eastern Pass front lines and ended up in such a predicament?

"So you are the Grand Commander of the East, my apologies." Zhao Zun's tone remained calm, but the topic immediately shifted, becoming sharp as a knife. "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. When two armies clash, each fights for its own lord. If my Great Jing is defeated, I, Zhao Zun, will accept it. But since you Eastern Ming have won and captured my Great Jing's soldiers, why do you turn around and use them as 'vanguard'? Why perform that 'sheep-leading ceremony,' going to such extremes of humiliation? Why would you issue such a heartless and insane order?!"

Finally, Zhao Zun's voice betrayed a barely suppressed anger. Images of soldiers stripped of their armor, ropes around their necks, and driven like livestock flashed through his mind.

When confronted with the questioning, Dongfang Jiming merely sneered, his smile carrying a hint of cruel indifference.

"Warfare is based on deception. Attacking cities is the lowest form of warfare; attacking hearts and minds is the highest. As long as we can win, and maximally damage your morale and break your resistance, does it matter what means we use? History only remembers the victors; who cares about the means?"

He looked up and stared directly at Zhao Zun, his eyes defiant. "Since this is a clash between two nations, do you expect the enemy to talk to you about being upright and righteous?"

These words ignited Zhao Zun's pent-up anger. It was an anger based on a soldier's sense of honor, and also anger at the other party's callous treatment of human life and dignity as mere tools.

Zhao Zun suddenly raised his hand, and his fist, as big as a sandbag, slammed down on Dongfang Jiming's alluring yet hateful face with a sharp whistling sound!

Han Lei, watching from the side, felt a pang of anxiety and instinctively whispered, "Brother Zun!"

However, just before his fist was about to touch his opponent's cheek, Zhao Zun's movements suddenly froze! His fist was frozen in mid-air.

In the blink of an eye, Dongfang Jiming instinctively leaned back slightly, closed his eyes, and turned his head to the side in the face of the sudden attack.

The expression that Dongfang Jiming revealed in that instant suddenly overlapped with a long-forgotten scene in his memory!

A name, a name he thought he had long forgotten in the long river of time, suddenly exploded in his mind like a thunderclap!

He stared intently at Dongfang Jiming's face, especially at those eyes that now held a mixture of shock, anger, and a barely perceptible... hint of grievance.

The doubts in Zhao Zun's heart grew like a snowball. Those similar facial features, that expression revealed under extreme emotion, so different from his usual cold demeanor…

Zhao Zun's eyes flickered violently a few times, filled with disbelief and an almost absurd speculation.

He lowered his fist very slowly, his voice trembling and strained slightly from the sudden discovery.

He asked the name almost word by word, tentatively:
"Luo, Si, Han? You are... Luo Si Han?"

"..."

The moment Zhao Zun uttered those words, the air in the room seemed to freeze instantly.

"What?" Han Lei, who was sitting to the side, exclaimed in surprise.

She looked at her husband in disbelief, then at Dongfang Jiming, whose expression had suddenly changed on the bed.

Who is Luo Sihan?

How could Zhao Zun possibly know this ruthless Dongming official?

Upon hearing the name "Luo Sihan," Dongfang Jiming, who was lying on the bed, visibly trembled.

The name "Luo Sihan" was like a rusty key, which unexpectedly and violently pried open a door deep in his memory.

Blurry fragments of images, bathed in a warm glow, uncontrollably flooded his mind.

The vermilion gate, mottled and worn; the kind yet anxious face; the little girl sweetly calling out "brother"... and the man waving his hand to hit him... In his youth, his features didn't seem as sharp as they are now.

He stood there, his lips slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. The cold wariness in his eyes completely crumbled, but there seemed to be a certain pain he didn't want to talk about.

Zhao Zun stared intently at every reaction on his face, and his previously absurd guess was instantly corroborated.

He took another step closer, almost touching the bedside, his sharp gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the other person's delicate skin and reach the depths of their soul.

His voice was deep and urgent, carrying an unyielding question: "What? Not going to speak? You don't remember? Or... you're afraid to recognize me?!"