An Army of Sixty Thousand as the Betrothal Gift

Song Wan rode his warhorse, galloping wildly to the front of the two armies' formations.

Wang Ming hurriedly ordered his soldiers to retreat and form a defensive formation. With shields for protection and long spears resting upon them, they arranged a formation comparable to a turtle's shell.

They were determined to block Song Wan's massive army.

However, this move, which would clearly cause greater casualties to Song Wan's army, only earned a single glance from Song Wan. He made no movement at all.

Moreover, even in that single glance, his eyes were merely scanning the crowd. Upon finding that the person he was looking for was not there, he immediately looked up at the city wall.

Suddenly, his body jolted heavily.

As if struck hard in the chest by a heavy hammer, his face instantly turned pale, yet his eyes burst with a brilliant, dazzling light.

Like the sun and moon, shining across the starry sky.

After so many years, he finally saw this figure once again.

That pomegranate-red palace dress that had haunted his dreams had been replaced by plain clothes, but her fair, exquisite face and the flowing gaze of her eyes remained completely unchanged.

"Jin'er..."

Song Wan muttered to himself. Two streams of clear tears had already rolled down his handsome yet stubborn face, and his body could not help but tremble slightly.

He came from a poor background and had failed to catch Jin'er's eye. He had always belittled himself until he met Ye Fan, who entrusted him with heavy responsibilities to fight in the northern frontiers.

Along the way, he fought fearlessly against death and commanded troops with god-like brilliance. Through countless bloody and mortal battles, he earned his sixty thousand elite troops, finally gaining a bit of courage.

He was just waiting for Ye Fan to find Jin'er for him.

He waited and waited. Time slipped away, and years flew by like a shuttle, yet there was never any result.

He had thought that he and Jin'er were destined to be apart in this life. He never expected that today, so unexpectedly and suddenly, the heavens would drop a surprise right onto his head.

Song Wan suddenly shouted hoarsely.

"Jin'er!"

This shout echoed through the clear sky, shaking the surroundings and leaving his subordinates completely bewildered.

They had previously tried every possible way to present beautiful women to the Commander-in-Chief, only to be reprimanded without hesitation. He had even killed two people over it, leading everyone to believe that the Commander had no interest in women!

But now, this Jin'er he was calling out to...

Why did it sound so deeply affectionate?!

It even carried the tone of an eternal pledge of love?!

"Jin'er..." Seeing that Su Jin did not reply, or perhaps she did but the soldiers on the wall did not echo it loudly enough, Song Wan could not hear clearly.

But still wanting to express his deep longing after their long separation, Song Wan gathered his voice, piercing through the walls of Sifang City: "Jin'er, have you... have you been well these days?"

"Zhang Wei, is he good to you?"

"You are now in Sifang City, is Zhang Wei also in Sifang City?"

On the city wall, Su Jin remained silent.

Below the wall, Wang Ming looked utterly confused.

In that brief moment just now, he had remembered who Song Wan was.

He was the person whose name Zhang Wei had cried out in a breakdown when Wang Ming had followed the Great General into the tent to kill the military advisor, Zhang Wei.

However, it had been a long time, and Zhang Wei had only shouted it once back then, so he had long forgotten the details.

Only now did he finally recall it.

He immediately understood that Su Xiu and Song Wan had an extraordinary relationship, which was why Su Xiu stayed behind—not for the Su residence, but for Song Wan!

He was already surprised in his heart, but upon hearing Song Wan's words, his head instantly filled with question marks.

Zhang Wei?

No, what kind of ancient history is this? That's old news, alright?

Why is he still bringing up Zhang Wei now?

"You are Zhang Wei, aren't you?"

Song Wan swung his long spear, pointing it straight at Wang Ming, and then looked him up and down. "Hmph, with a look like yours, you think you are worthy of Jin'er?"

"After marriage, have you treated her well?"

"If I find out that you have caused her even a sliver of dissatisfaction, I will slaughter your entire family, exterminate your nine generations, and make you beg for life and wish for death!"

Wang Ming: "..."

At this moment, there was no anger in his heart, only sheer disbelief.

He mistook him, Wang Ming, for Zhang Wei?

Wait, so you put on this display of deep affection for Su Jin, but it turns out you don't even know what her original husband, Zhang Wei, looks like?

Are you living under a rock?

He took a deep breath.

Having followed the Great General for a long time, he knew that the more eccentric such people were, the more ridiculously powerful they tended to be. Carefully ordering his soldiers to stay on guard, he finally said, "I am General Wang Ming, a deputy general under Great General Ren Tianye."

"Zhang Wei was merely my former superior."

"He has long since returned to dust!"

"The grass on his grave has already grown three feet high!"

Song Wan was instantly stunned.

Zhang Wei is dead?

Jin'er's husband is dead?

He hurriedly looked up at the city wall, but saw that Su Jin, perhaps finding it inconvenient to speak from there, was already walking down from the wall. He then shifted his gaze back to Wang Ming.

Looking him up and down again, he said, "So you're saying, you are Jin'er's new husband?"

"Hmph, since Zhang Wei is dead, I will no longer pursue the matter with him."

"But, if you treat Jin'er poorly in the slightest, don't blame me, Song Wan, for being ruthless. I will slaughter your entire city and let you know the consequences of bullying Jin'er!"

Wang Ming: "..."

Damn, we really can't get past this, can we?

Just as he was about to speak, Su Jin came stumbling out.

The plain clothes of a clerk she wore could not conceal her stunning beauty. The slight redness at the corners of her eyes made her look both delicate and charming as she shouted loudly, "Song Wan, stop talking nonsense."

"General Wang Ming is my superior."

"There is nothing between him and me."

"Nowadays..." As if touching upon a sorrowful matter, Su Jin's eyes grew redder, making her look even more delicate and alluring. "Nowadays, I am all alone."

Boom!

Song Wan felt as if a clap of thunder had exploded above his head. His body trembled so much that he could barely sit steady on horseback.

Jin'er is all alone?

She is all alone!

Does that mean he...

Finally has a chance?

Has the vast heaven finally stopped treating him so thinly?

Song Wan wanted to open his mouth and pour out his affections.

But it felt as if a knife was stuck in his throat. His mouth was wide open, yet he couldn't utter a single word. His body was instantly drenched in sweat, making him ten thousand times more nervous than when facing a formidable enemy.

He wanted to speak; he wanted to tell Su Jin.

But after trying for a long time, he only cowardly squeezed out a few vague, muffled syllables from his throat, which were impossible to hear clearly.

While others couldn't hear clearly, Su Jin understood his meaning.

But Su Jin shook her head. "Song Wan, for the rest of my life, I only want to use the skills I have learned to seek fame and build a career."

"For myself, and for the Su residence!"

"Love is like a dream or a bubble; to me, it is nothing but a passing cloud."

"I will not look forward to it anymore."

When these words were spoken, the tone was deeply affectionate, instantly clearing Song Wan's meridians—mainly because they landed precisely on the area Song Wan was most proud of.

Suddenly, he became articulate again.

"Jin'er, you want to build a career and achieve greatness?"

"That's easy!"

"I currently have an army of sixty thousand under my command. As long as you nod, I am willing to use these sixty thousand troops as a betrothal gift, riding a tall horse with ten miles of red dowry to marry you!"

...