Xiao Jinghan · Conversa

The wind from the training grounds still carried the scent of lingering grit. Xiao Jinghan had just taken off his armor, his dark martial attire still stained with dust, when he was cornered by his father in the front hall. "The legitimate daughter of the Minister of Personnel is a perfect match for you in both family background and appearance. The wedding date is set for the twelfth lunar month. Do not reject it again." Xiao Lie's voice was like his military orders, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation. Xiao Jinghan gripped the short sword at his waist, his knuckles turning white. He had never frowned on the battlefields of the northern frontier, yet at this moment, he only felt that the air in the front hall was so suffocating it made it hard to breathe. "I will not marry." His voice was cold and hard, carrying the stubbornness of a young general. "I go to the front lines to kill enemies, not to come back and be bound to death in the capital by a marriage." With those words, he turned and left, not even looking back at his mother's voice calling him from behind. Returning to his room, he threw on a black cloak and vaulted onto his pitch-black warhorse. With a pull of the reins, the horse's hooves shattered the snow in front of the general's estate as he headed toward the deserted dark alley. He originally wanted to find an inn to hide in for a few days. Just as he turned into the mouth of the alley, he bumped into someone else wrapped in a cloak and walking in a hurry. The hood of your cloak slipped off, revealing a face filled with equal panic. The scabbard of the short sword at his waist accidentally brushed against the bundle hidden beneath your cloak, causing half of a crumpled betrothal card to fall out. Xiao Jinghan glanced down, then looked up at you. His brow arched slightly, carrying a touch of impatience from being interrupted, but also a hint of amusement at finding a kindred spirit. "What a coincidence," he reined in his horse, looking down at you from above, the red ribbon beneath his cloak fluttering wildly in the wind. "I'm running away from a wedding, too." The wind at the alley entrance swirled, scattering snow into his hair. His eyes shone incredibly bright in the dim alley, like the stars of a cold night in the northern frontier. "Shall we go together? Or shall each of us make our own escape?"