Rebirth: Marry a General instead of a Prince

The moon was as cool as water. At the time of reunion, one could faintly hear the sound of soldiers gathering together, singing and drinking outside.

Xie Yunsong sat in the tent, his hands gently stroking the zither. His expression was calm, yet revealing a sense of tranquility, the sound of the zither flowed out slowly, and the sound was moving.

Bai Zhiyuan sat opposite him, supporting his cheeks with his hands, watching the handsome man opposite him plucking the strings of the zither.

She was mesmerized by the music. This was her first time listening to Xie Yunsong play the piano.

Life in the military camp was boring, and in order to avoid the soldiers' morale being unstable, Xie Yunsong never played the piano in the camp. The military camp was meant for marching and fighting, not eating, drinking and having fun.

But Xie Yunsong seemed to love and cherish this zither very much. He would personally wipe the zither clean every day and then put it away properly.

As the night deepened, the sounds outside gradually faded away. The night sky was as silent as water, but the sound of the piano did not stop, as if it would continue to float forever in this day when the moon is full and families are reunited.

After a while, Xie Yunsong stopped, looked at Bai Zhiyuan who was listening with fascination, and laughed.

Bai Zhiyuan said: "General Xie, you play the piano so well, but it's a pity that I'm the only one who heard it. You should let everyone listen to your piano."

Xie Yunsong laughed: "I'm not going to Beijing to perform, why do I need everyone to listen to my music?"

Bai Zhiyuan thought about it and agreed, so he said, "Then from now on, you can only play the piano for me."

Xie Yunsong smiled and said, "Okay."

Bai Zhiyuan stood up, sat next to Xie Yunsong, and raised his hand to touch the piano.

Xie Yunsong raised his eyebrows and asked, "Can you play the piano?"

Bai Zhiyuan curled his lips in displeasure and said, "Although I have learned martial arts since I was a child, my father still wanted me to be like the ordinary women in Shangjing, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, so I have learned all of these, but I just didn't learn them very well."

Xie Yunsong curled his lips and smiled, "Then please ask Miss Bai to play a song for me."

Bai Zhiyuan smiled but said nothing.

Then she stretched out her hand and plucked the strings back and forth with her ten fingers. The sound of the piano flowed out from her fingertips like a tide.

Bai Zhiyuan's eyes drooped slightly, and the sound of the piano flowed, like the clear and ethereal sound of a spring dripping from a mountain stream, exquisite and translucent, and then seemed to be mixed with some sadness and unconcealable hatred. In the ups and downs, it seemed as if one saw a woman's tragic life.

Xie Yunsong was puzzled. Bai Zhiyuan's life should be very smooth. Although her parents were not around, she lived the life of a noble lady in Shangjing. Why was her piano music so sad?

Before Xie Yunsong could figure it out, Bai Zhiyuan's piano playing gradually calmed down until she slowly stopped.

Bai Zhiyuan sat there motionless. In her previous life, she loved to wield swords and guns since she was a child, and she didn't like to play the piano. Later, her family fell into poverty and she became the Princess of Yan. She had to appear in front of people frequently, so Qi Zeyi asked her to practice the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, especially the piano. The ladies in the capital love to play the piano at banquets.

Bai Zhiyuan represented the Prince of Yan's Mansion, so naturally she could not be looked down upon. So for a period of time, she started practicing the piano every day when she had free time. Even Qi Zeyi, who was always strict, was surprised at her persistence. Over time, she was able to play the piano fluently.

In this life, since she was reborn, she had never touched the zither. When she played it again just now, it felt like a previous life, as if she had returned to that helpless moment in her previous life.

Maybe it was because I drank a little tonight. The aftereffects of the alcohol started to come up to me. When I played the piano again, the painful memories of my past life came flooding back like a tide.

Bai Zhiyuan raised her eyes, her snow-white and jade-like face was covered with tears, and her eyes, which used to be bright and clear, were empty and lifeless.

Xie Yunsong felt a pain in his heart and took her into his arms. Bai Zhiyuan took advantage of the situation and put her arms around his waist, buried her head in his arms, and vaguely smelled the familiar light fragrance of the other person, and the haze in her heart gradually dissipated.

After a long time, Bai Zhiyuan's body became heavy, and all her strength was on Xie Yunsong. Xie Yunsong picked her up horizontally, put her on the couch, and lit the oil lamp in the tent.

Under the dim light, Bai Zhiyuan had her hair loose and a confused look in her eyes.

Xie Yunsong sat beside her and asked the question in his heart: "Did you remember anything unpleasant today? Why are you so sad?"

Bai Zhiyuan's head was dizzy. Hearing this, he smiled bitterly and said, "Sometimes life is beyond your control. General Xie, if you could live your life over again, what would you most want to change?"

Xie Yunsong was silent for a moment, then said, "I want to save my father the most."

Bai Zhiyuan sobered up after hearing this. She asked softly, "How did Uncle Xie die?"

Xie Yunsong lowered his head and said nothing. Just when Bai Zhiyuan thought he would not say anything, he said, "When the Northern Di invaded that year, my father took Qin Haiyi to the battlefield. During that time, I was sent to Jiangdu. Jiangdu is adjacent to Shangjing. The Northern Di people made a feint to the east and attacked in the west. They sneaked into Jiangdu and slaughtered the people. The governor of Jiangdu could not resist for a while and could only trap himself in the city. The Northern Di people stationed outside the city and harassed from time to time."

"I was in the capital at the time. When the emperor learned about this, he sent me to provide support."

"But I didn't know that when the Northern Di people were harassing Jiangdu, they actually sent a large number of troops to attack the northern border. My father saw that the situation was not good, and he wrote to the emperor for help many times, but the emperor refused to provide assistance to the northern border on the grounds that Jiangdu was in crisis and could not be supported."

"Perhaps it is because of the great military achievements in the Northern Territory in recent years that the Northern Di people came up with such a shady plan. By the time my father found out that Jiangdu was not really in trouble and it was just a conspiracy by the Northern Di people to delay our Dali troops, it was too late. The Northern Di people stationed most of their troops in the Northern Territory, so we were naturally no match for them."

"My father fought hard for three months, but still no reinforcements came from Shangjing, so he couldn't hold on. When I drove the Northern Di people out of Jiangdu and returned to Shangjing, I learned about this and immediately went to the palace to see the emperor. But what did our emperor say? He said that Jiangdu is so close to Shangjing, if Jiangdu falls, the whole Shangjing will be in danger. So we can't send troops to the north to provide support."

"I was isolated and helpless, so I immediately decided to rush to the northern border on my own. The emperor did not allow me to do so, fearing that the northern barbarians would return to Jiangdu again. So I disobeyed his order and led the troops, riding at full speed, working day and night for a month and a half, and finally reached the northern border."

Xie Yunsong said in a sad voice: "When I arrived, the northern border was in ruins. There was not enough food and soldiers. My father was still struggling to hold on. When I arrived, all I saw was his corpse."

Xie Yunsong closed his eyes to hide the deep sadness in his eyes. His voice was trembling: "The last words he left were to tell Song'er to drive the Beidi people out of Dali."

"In the following days, I led everyone to continue to persevere. A few days later, the capital finally sent troops to rescue us, and only then was the northern border saved."

Bai Zhiyuan was shocked for a moment. He didn't expect that there was such a hidden story behind Xie Yu's death.

After a while, she held Xie Yunsong's trembling hand and said, "The royal family is really selfish. For the safety of Shangjing and their own safety, they actually abandoned the northern border. No wonder you rarely returned to Beijing later."

Xie Yunsong calmed down and said, "Yes, since then, I have been extremely disappointed with the royal family, but I must fulfill my father's words before he died. I will definitely recover the northern border. This is our common wish."

Bai Zhiyuan didn't know what else to say to comfort Xie Yunsong. She turned around and hugged Xie Yunsong's waist tightly, buried her head in his chest, and whispered, "It's okay, you still have me."

Xie Yunsong also hugged her back, as if to draw some warmth from her. In his past many dark years, no one had ever said to him, "It's okay, you still have me."

She was a ray of light in his dark times.