# Chapter 13: Nothing More Painful
影杉 led 简慧 to the pavilion in the center of the pool. 简慧 curtsied to 蔚阳, who quickly said, "Aunt, please don't stand on ceremony. Come, sit down."
常进禄's wife, 书琴, and his concubine, 雷芝益, were already seated in the pavilion. Both smiled and greeted 简慧.
简慧 sat down, and 书琴 asked, "Sister 简慧, is 甜妞儿 at 陆通's place again?"
简慧 answered with a hum, "Yes." But her face was full of worry.
蔚阳 was puzzled, when 芝益 beat her to it and asked, "Sister 简慧, why do you look so worried?"
简慧 hesitated for a moment, then said, "Lady 陆 asked me to inquire about 曲甜's wishes. If she agrees, the Lu family will send someone to propose marriage. But 曲甜 absolutely refuses, and she won't say what she actually wants! Her father and I are so anxious right now."
"Young 陆 the Prime Minister is cultured and elegant. What's not to like?" 芝益 lightly fanned herself and said, "甜妞儿 is His Majesty's cousin. With such an honored status, why would she be willing to go to the Lu family as a concubine?"
书琴's expression shifted slightly, but she said nothing.
芝益 noticed and quickly took 书琴's hand, smiling. "Sister 简慧, look at me—marrying into the 常 family, I'm not doing so badly, am I? Sister 书琴 hasn't wronged me at all. The two of us sisters get along quite harmoniously. Being a concubine isn't so terrible either, don't you think? Right, sister 书琴?"
书琴 relaxed her expression. 蔚阳 chuckled, "Sister 芝益 is eloquent and insightful. How could sister 书琴 not treat you well?"
书琴 glanced at 芝益 with a smile, then turned to 简慧 and said, "Lady 陆 treats 甜妞儿 very well too. I think your daughter has someone else in her heart, which is why she doesn't want to marry 陆通."
简慧's face grew even grimmer.
芝益 asked, "Sister 简慧, are you afraid 甜妞儿 might be just like my younger sister and the Qi family's girl—obsessed and ruining their lives?"
蔚阳 knew 芝益 was 雷 the Prime Minister's eldest daughter. She had a younger sister, 芝源, but for some reason, at such a young age, she had gone mad and was locked away in the depths of the Lei family estate, unable to see anyone. But the Qi family's girl was lively and adorable. Why was 芝益 comparing her to a madwoman? With this in mind, 蔚阳 asked, "Is there something wrong with 敏儿?"
芝益 said, "She quarrels with her father and brother every day over some 魏寺虎. How could she possibly be alright?"
蔚阳 laughed in spite of herself. "Sister 芝益, she's not wrong either. I think General 魏 is young and handsome. 敏儿 has excellent taste!"
芝益 and 书琴 exchanged a strange look. 蔚阳 continued, "And I promised her that I'd speak to Old General 齐 on her behalf in the future, to help them be together."
简慧's face turned pale. "Your Majesty, 敏儿 is a good child. Please don't harm her. If you try to be a matchmaker, the result would be... it would be..."
"Would be the same as my sister," 芝益 interjected. "She suddenly went mad for no reason."
蔚阳 was startled. "That General 魏 looks so honest and sincere. How could he destroy 敏儿?"
简慧 snorted. "Your Majesty, there isn't a single good person in the威震 Army. A year ago, 魏寺虎 was just a foot soldier in General 常's camp. After General 夏 took him into the威震 Army, he immediately promoted him to vice-commander. What kind of person do you think that makes him?"
蔚阳 found it quite amusing. "Doesn't that even more show that General 魏 is outstanding and has a promising future? General 夏's early promotion of him to this position just shows that General 夏 has foresight."
简慧 was stunned. Sensing that 蔚阳 was deliberately defending 满城, she fell silent. 芝益 spoke up instead, "Your Majesty, what do you think of General 成?"
"This... isn't General 成 a famous kind soul?"
"Hmph! He certainly is a kind soul!" 芝益 coldly laughed. "It's because of him that my sister ended up like this."
书琴, who had been silent all along, frowned and gently rebuked, "芝益, how can you blame 忠善? 忠善 originally wanted to protect 芝源. He just didn't expect things to get worse."
芝益 pouted but said nothing more.
蔚阳 pressed, "Sister 书琴, what exactly happened?"
书琴 said bitterly, "Back then, Prime Minister 雷 also refused to let 芝源 and 忠善 associate. 芝源 cried and went to beg the Princess Consort. The Princess Consort, moved by compassion, personally interceded with Prime Minister 雷. Prime Minister 雷,顾忌 the Princess Consort's face, had no choice but to agree. But 忠善 not only didn't go to propose marriage, he dodged and evaded. Then one day, something happened, and 芝源 went mad..."
The more 蔚阳 heard, the more confused she became. Just as she was about to ask further, she heard 芝益 grind out through clenched teeth, "What else could have happened? Most likely—"
"芝益!" 书琴 cut her off. "Don't speak carelessly. If it reaches General 夏's ears, 进禄 will have a hard time too."
蔚阳 felt a strange anger rising in her chest. What does this have to do with 满城?
Then she heard 简慧 sigh heavily. "I heard from 曲学说, it seems my silly daughter knows 成忠善 isn't a good person, but she's still infatuated with him."
Both 芝益 and 书琴's expressions changed. 芝益 said, "Sister 简慧, if 甜妞儿 really feels this way, it's terrible. General 夏 won't let her off."
"What... what are you all talking about?" 蔚阳 impatiently interrupted. "General 成 being fickle and heartless—what does that have to do with General 夏?"
The three women exchanged glances. After a moment, 芝益's expression turned诡异的, and she lowered her voice. "Your Majesty, I thought only the申 family was still kept in the dark in this city. No wonder—you've just arrived at 圆辽, of course you don't know anything. That 成忠善... his relationship with General 夏... they don't hide it at all."
蔚阳 stared, not understanding.
简慧 leaned close to 蔚阳's ear and whispered a few words.
蔚阳 felt a buzzing in her brain, her vision went dark, and she nearly cried out.好不容易正过神来，却是全身抖得不能自制.
满城, how many secrets do you have! You... who exactly are you!
书琴 thought 蔚阳 was simply shocked, so she quickly took her icy hand and gently said, "忠善 is a good man, it's just that he can't escape General 夏's clutches..."
"How... how is that possible!" 蔚阳's voice had changed completely.
"How is it impossible?" 芝益 rolled her eyes. "The entire 威震 Army knows that General 夏 won't even listen to His Majesty, but he only listens to 成忠善. In the city, 成忠善 lives at the仲碧 residence every day. His 护国将军 mansion is practically for show. And when they're out on campaigns, they're inseparable. I heard from 进禄 that in the past year, they've become especially brazen—they basically sleep in the same tent..."
蔚阳's face grew paler and paler. She finally understood why, every time she saw 满城 with that 成忠善, she always felt a strange sensation. 满城's gaze when looking at 成忠善 was so tender! So tender that 蔚阳 felt jealous!
蔚阳's heartbreak far outweighed her shock. She bit her lower lip hard to hold back the tears in her eyes. Then she saw 简慧 could no longer hold back, and tears fell. "My 曲学 now doesn't come home at all. He's made a secret pledge with someone from the entertainment world—fine, birds of a feather flock together. But there are also rumors in the city that he's addicted to men, just like 成忠善. Our family's reputation is ruined! And if 曲甜 has an accident too, what will I do!"
书琴 held 简慧's hand and kept trying to comfort her. 蔚阳 heard nothing, feeling dizzy and dazed, nearly suffocating.
She didn't know how long she endured before the guests finally left. 蔚阳 returned to her room, walked up to the pavilion like someone in a dream, stood silently at the window looking toward the仲碧 residence for a moment, and finally, like a flood breaking through, she collapsed at the table and wept uncontrollably.
---
In a dense forest area of 游莲 Mountain, crystal-clear stream water gurgled along. In the deep green water, crimson ripples spread outward.
After a moment, the person standing in the shallow part of the stream grew agitated. He dove deep, swam to the bottom, and embraced 满城, then surfaced.
"满城, how long are you going to hold your breath underwater!" 忠善 brushed the wet hair from his face and gently said, "You're already clean."
"You're lying. I can still smell blood."
"Liar, that blood smell is from me."
"You're lying, I can smell it's in my hair..."
忠善 didn't let him finish. He pressed close and kissed his pale lips.
满城 stopped struggling. He closed his eyes and gently stroked 忠善's face, momentarily lost in bliss.
The lush trees blocked the scorching summer sun. The forest was unusually cool. 满城 lay face-down on the grass, contentedly resting his head on 忠善's lap with his eyes closed.
忠善 occasionally scooped up water and poured it over his back, frowning. "Why do you get heat rash so early this year? I've told you not to scratch. Look at all those blood marks—do they hurt?"
"They hurt! They're itchy and painful! The armor is too heavy and not breathable. Can I not wear armor on the battlefield?"
"Of course not." 忠善's eyes were full of心疼. He scooped up water again and poured it over his back, gently patting the blood marks. "But we're going back soon, so you don't have to wear it anymore... Hopefully we won't have any more campaigns before summer ends..."
"..."
"满城, let's go back to camp and put some medicine on you..."
"..."
"满城?"
"..."
"满城, are you asleep?"
忠善 stopped calling him and didn't dare change position, afraid of waking the person resting on his lap.
For a long, long while, in the silent forest, one person murmured quietly to himself: "满城, if he loved you, how could he bear to let you suffer?"