Chapter 672: Nothing to Lose
[V6C202 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Even though the scene was rather odd, Qianye still took the assignment letter and looked it over.
This was a genuine assignment letter. The patterns on the specialized paper were characteristic to the military department’s documents, and the seal therein contained its own origin array that could be easily discerned by experts of any level.
He would’ve believed the document to be entirely genuine had he not seen the lady fill it out right in front of him.
“This… this appointment order.”
“What? Could it be fake?” Ji Tianqing asked with a puzzled expression, almost as though she had no idea how it had appeared.
Qianye truly did not know what to reply.
From a certain perspective, the papers were real and immediately effective. However, Qianye simply couldn’t think of them as genuine.
The annoyance was stuck in his chest without anywhere to vent. This felt even worse than being blasted by Zhao Yuying’s cannon.
Qianye did learn a few things after mingling with Song Zining for a long time. “This… I often need to switch battlefields during fights. My aide-de-camp needs to be stronger and someone of a higher rank. I’ll accept if the military department has a better-suited candidate.”
These words were rather artistic. Asking the military to dispatch a new person over sounded simple, but the entire process was quite convoluted and required numerous layers of inspections. Moreover, certain people would definitely poke their noses into such personnel changes. In this manner, Ji Tianqing wouldn’t be able to conclude this matter in one month no matter how influential she was. And a month later, she probably wouldn’t even know where Qianye had run off to.
This was the secret art of delaying—dragging things out until things naturally became unfeasible.
Just as Qianye was secretly praising himself, he saw Ji Tianqing reveal a mocking smile. “So, it turns out that you want someone of a higher rank. That’s easy!”
With a flip of her hand, a handful of military rank insignias appeared miraculously on her palm. Then, she asked, “How about a lieutenant colonel? Colonel? Or would you rather have a brigadier general or major general?”
With every rank she mentioned, she would fish out the corresponding insignia, going all the way up to a major general. This was Qianye’s rank at the moment. A lieutenant general insignia then appeared in her hand, which she dangled in front of his eyes.
Qianye smiled ruefully. “Am I supposed to be your aide instead?”
“I’ll be the aide. Just tell me which rank you want me at, speak quickly!”
Qianye finally understood that this calamity was hardly avertable. He smiled wryly and said, “Just stick to major. Put away those... things.”
“That’s it? Make way then!” Ji Tianqing pushed Qianye aside with a satisfied expression and walked into the courtyard.
A surprised Qianye followed her as she toured all the rooms here. He watched as the lady picked a room adjacent to his own and tossed her backpack onto the bed. “I’ll be staying here.”
“Eh… live?”
“Of course, your personal aide has to live with you. Why else would it be called personal?” Ji Tianqing said matter-of-factly.
“This… it’s not quite appropriate.” Qianye looked rather miserable. He had a feeling things were wrong on so many levels.
“How so?”
Qianye’s mind was in chaos. He tried his best to sort out his thoughts and said, “For one, I don’t know your origins.”
“You don’t need to. It’s enough that I know about you.”
Such a tyrannical answer choked Qianye half-dead. Yet, he was still struggling. “Tianqing, look, you must be from an influential family. Staying with me like this will harm your reputation.”
“Ho! You’re afraid that I won’t be able to marry?”
“No...”
Qianye hadn’t even finished speaking when Ji Tianqing slapped his shoulder and said, “Rest assured, it won’t affect me. Even if I can’t marry anymore, I still have you, right?”
Qianye stood dazed for a while before saying, “Sorry, I’m already taken.”
Ji Tianqing looked at him with a spurious smile. “You had to think for a long time.”
Qianye was about to go mad. “No! I…”
“Enough, there’s no need to explain. I totally understand!” The lady waved her hand stylishly and brought an end to this topic.
Qianye wanted to explain but didn’t know what to say. He was startled not because of her words, but because of her pat on the shoulder. To his surprise, he had been caught off-guard and was actually struck.
Ji Tianqing’s background was mysterious, to say the least, with no way to make sure if she was friend or foe. That was why he had kept his guard up this entire time. Yet this lady had managed to slap him on the shoulder under such circumstances—this wasn’t normal at all.
Qianye thought back to that move and gradually discovered the profundity within. Her move resembled nature itself and was blended into the heaven and earth. It felt like a falling leaf landing on his body, something that would fall off naturally. Neither his origin power nor blood core showed any signs of reaction because they couldn’t sense any threat or enmity.
The truth, however, couldn’t be further away. That palm could’ve transformed into a devastating killing move before landing on his body. The ability to perform a rapid shift in power wasn’t rare among experts at this level; even Qianye himself could do it.
If Ji Tianqing had harbored malicious intentions, she could’ve heavily injured Qianye with that move just now. It wasn’t because her origin power cultivation was profound, but because that palm was simply too mysterious and subtle. It was an entire level above Li Kuanglan’s swift blade and Qianye’s Nirvanic Rend or even his Sweeping Calm.
Qianye felt a serious headache after seeing that Ji Tianqing had settled in on her own and began sorting out her luggage. He then discovered yet another problem: where did that backpack come from?
Moments later, Qianye gave up his futile struggle and watched resignedly as the lady set up her room. What’s odd was that she kept moving her luggage in and out, going so far as to walk around the courtyard while carrying her quilt. She had exhibited an increasing number of peculiar behaviors since their first meeting, but the former had a feeling she wasn’t a senseless person—all her actions definitely had meaning to them. Hence, that which he couldn’t understand, Qianye could only pretend he didn’t see.
The sanguineous sun was about to set at this moment, dying Indomitable with a layer of golden red.
Such beautiful scenery, however, did little to improve the mood of certain people. Two figures were standing on a distant kinetic tower, their clothes fluttering in the wind.
Just as before, it was the maid, Kong Xuan, who was extremely gloomy. She said through gritted teeth, “She’s actually not out yet! Don’t tell me she’s going to freeload dinner there? Must she really take advantage even for food?”
Li Kuanglan simply stood there and watched in complete silence. The distance was significant, but with their strength, they could see even a small ant crawling through the courtyard.
She had seen most of what Ji Tianqing had been doing, but the indistinct parts almost seemed as though she had vanished from sight.
The duo knew that the woman was demonstrating her power—she was sending a message that they would only be able to see what she wanted them to see.
The scarlet of Twilight filled the sky as the silhouettes of two giant celestial bodies began taking shape in the sky. It was dinner time.
But dinner hadn’t even begun when Kong Xuan became furious. Even her voice was trembling as she said, “What’s she doing?! She’s actually carrying a quilt around! Don’t tell me she’s going to stay there?”
“She’s sorting out her room,” Li Kuanglan replied calmly.
“Does she need to come out into the courtyard for that?”
“She’s doing it for us to see.”
“Who’s interested in watching her tidy up her room!” Kong Xuan said spitefully. Then she realized what was going on and cried out, “Her room? She’s really going to stay there!? That slut!!!”
“Your words mean disrespect to the elder prince, it’ll be bad if others hear it. Speak of it no more.” Li Kuanglan’s voice was as cold as ice.
“Fine, I won’t say it anymore. But how could the elder prince raise such a cheap person!? How can you be so calm after seeing her so arrogant?” Kong Xuan was stomping about in anger.
Li Kuanglan gazed toward the distant Ji Tianqing who had come out into the courtyard and was waving at them. “This matter is unrelated to us, and there’s no need for us to pay attention, either, since there are people who’ll obstruct her. Don’t forget that Zhao Fourth is here. We don’t have the power to stir up trouble in his domain right now. This matter will surely reach his ears.”
Kong Xuan sighed. “Zhao Fourth? His reaction might not be what you expect.”
A somewhat startled Li Kuanglan replied, “Ji Tianqing is acting so unbridled. With how much the fourth young noble favors Qianye, how can he not interfere? If he appears, no one short of the elder prince can force him to give way.”
Kong Xuan grabbed Li Kuanglan hatefully and tugged firmly at her belt. “You must’ve gone dumb from practicing the sword so much.”
“What did I say wrong?” Li Kuanglan was baffled.
Indomitable was constructed entirely by the Zhao clan. Naturally, nothing in the city would escape their eyes. By the time Ji Tianqing finished tidying up her room, the matter had already arrived on Zhao Jundu’s desk in the form of a report.
However, it wasn’t because the Zhao clan’s efficiency was so miraculous. Rather, Ji Tianqing had taken nearly an hour to finish everything, repeatedly airing out all the pillows, quilt, and blankets in the courtyard.
Zhao Jundu spent an entire five minutes on the report, reading it over and over again. Song Zining, who was sitting just across from him, spent the five minutes observing the former’s expression.
Song Zining asked immediately after Zhao Jundu put the report down, “What do you think?”
Zhao Jundu smiled indifferently. “It’s fine to eat the meat that’s been delivered to one’s door.”
“What?” Song Zining felt that he had misheard.
Then, Zhao Jundu added, “Even if something happens, the one suffering a loss isn’t Qianye.”
“What about morals?” Song Zining wanted to say this but swallowed the words back down. He knew he might get a taste of the Omniscient Seal again if he said something wrong. Even so, he couldn’t help but mock, “Even someone like you can become a heavenly monarch?”
Zhao Jundu smiled. “Why not? Your comprehension of the great dao is lacking!”
The sun had finally set over the western horizon, and dinner delivery was already on its way. It was at this time that a motorcade rushed quickly through the streets and arrived before Qianye’s gates.
The convoy was made up entirely of magnificent looking off-road vehicles. Only the nobility could form such a motorcade on the floating continent.
A somewhat chubby middle-aged man walked down from among the vehicles. He was accompanied by several attendants and had the look of faint arrogance characteristic to those who had been in power for a long time. “We come in the name of Count Peacegranter, to seek a meeting with General Qianye. It’s like this, our master has a single daughter who’s just turned sixteen this year, a lady of great upbringing, beauty, and rank-three in origin cultivation. Tomorrow night is a wonderful time for a dinner banquet if the general has time for it. This subordinate has prepared everything, and the young miss will also attend.”
“Ah!?” The matter was so sudden, and the middle-aged man had spoken very clearly. It was just that Qianye couldn’t understand why such a thing would happen to him. Usually, it was Wei Potian or Song Zining who would encounter them.
Thinking that Qianye didn’t quite understand, the middle-aged man said with a smile, “Now that I’ve seen you today, I feel that young miss and the general are a good match. You don’t need to be in a rush, either. Wait until tomorrow night, and you’ll find a wonderful fate.”
“Can you repeat that?” Ji Tianqing somehow appeared from behind Qianye with a cold smile.