Jin Qiu walked out of his tent with a yawn.
At time like this, he felt like he went out for a camping instead of coming to another world. It would be nice if he's just camping. That way, he doesn't even need to think about Ren Zhengsheng or Zhang Ai, the two person that might end his life.
"I told you that even if you're still a princess, you can't just do whatever you want here. Please stop causing trouble for us."
The voice was quite familiar, not to mention, there are a lot of guards gathering in one place, so Jin Qiu can't help but approaching them. He's not even walking that close when he saw Duan Huifang arguing with Zhang Ai. He doesn't know what happen, but he can guess that it's because Zhang Ai tried to do something that is not allowed. The novel said that Zhang Ai is quite a brave and noble princess, but what he saw in front of him now is nothing more than an arrogant princess who think that as long as she said she's a princess, people would bow to her and follow whatever she say. This is why Jin Qiu hates people who are born with silver spoon. Most of them don't know how the world really work and only believe with their own beautiful world.
He could just ignore it. He should just ignore it. But knowing that the one who arguing with Zhang Ai is the person who gives him a warmness of a mother, he can't do that.
"Can anyone tell me what happen?" Jin Qiu asked.
The other guards moved away to give some path for Jin Qiu and at that time, Duan Huifang still looked so displeased. It's kinda new since Duan Huifang always have a motherly expression, especially towards Jin Qiu. "I apologize if this disturbed you, your highness, but I can't stay silent. The guards was preparing the breakfast for everyone, but she just disturbed them by saying that she will prepare the Emperor's breakfast personally. If she put a poison or something like that, the guards would be the one who get blamed."
"I told you that there's no way I would poison my saviour. What do you take me as? How dare you think that I will do something like that?"
Duan Huifang has a point. In this village where everyone is enemy, one can't be more careful. One mistake and everyone here would be branded as traitor and it will end up with death. And although Jin Qiu knew why Zhang Ai want to do something like that, he can't justify her action. He doesn't want to become enemy with Zhang Ai, but the girl just won't give him any choice. He need to make sure she behave for now.
"I know you won't try to poison the Emperor, but you still can't do this." Jin Qiu finally said.
"Why?" Zhang Ai asked. "I heard this troop belonged to you, is that why you ordered them to do whatever you want? You're just afraid that if I try to get close to the Emperor, then he will choose me more than you, right? After all, I heard the Emperor doesn't even care about you. The only worth you have in his eyes is your status as the commander of this troop. Just how desperate you are to keep him away from everyone else? You're pathetic."
Jin Qiu looked at the girl and letting out sigh. He doesn't even know why someone with shitty personality like this became the female lead. This kind of girl should be the villain, right? But again, no matter how bad her personality is, he can't afford to make more trouble.
"Yes. He only looked at me as a tool to control Jin Troop so what? At least I'm not doing some pathetic thing just to get his attention.
"What?"
"I'm talking about your pathetic self that tried to get close to the Emperor." Jin Qiu continued. He doens't look angry or disturbed at all. "I don't care about the people who tried to get close to him. He can fall in love with anyone and anyone can fall in love with him. But here, I'm the commander and I'm responsible for his safety and well being. I'm simply doing what I need to do as the commander, and my troop also the same. You are a princess, so is there really a need for you to grovel for the sake of his love like this?"
Angry with what Jin Qiu said, Zhang Ai took the glass of hot water right beside her and splashed it towards the man. And even though Jin Qiu raised his arm to block the water, some still splashed to his face and caused the skin to turn slightly red. The guards who saw that quickly pulled Zhang Ai away and Duan Huifang quickly checked Jin Qiu. "Bring some cold towel here quickly!" She quickly ordered while checking Jin Qiu's face and arm.
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing. Don't you know that if you don't take care of it properly, you will get some scar?"
"I'm a man, so one or two scars doesn't really matter, I will take-"
"Qiu er."
Jin Qiu knew that if he's trying to talk back again, Duan Huifang would definitely scold him, so he just let the woman do whatever she want. Duan Huifang pressing some cold towel on the skin of his arm and face while slightly blowing on it, just like what one would do towards a child's wound. Unconciously, he started to smile until he saw Ren Zhengsheng walking closer. The smile disappeared from his face.
"What happened here?" Ren Zhengsheng asked.
"Answering Your Majesty." Duan Huifang stopped what she was doing and bowed her head towards the Emperor. "Princess Zhang tried to make some food for you, but since we're concerned about your safety, we stopped her. The commander tried to stop her too but she got angry and splashed boiled water to the commander."
Ren Zhengsheng then looked at Jin Qiu's arm and face.
He holds his hand to the woman. "Give the towel to me, I will help him cool down the burn mark. It's better than nothing. When we're back at the palace, I will have Kang Ying to make some ointment for the skin."
"No need. It's not that bad anyway. And I'm a man, so there's no need to concern yourself about this."
Ren Zhengsheng moved closer to the commander and whispered. "Stop doing this to me. You want me to treat you better so that no one would look down on you, right? Just listen to me and let me do whatever I want. I don't think that's a hard thing to do."
For the first time ever since their first meeting at the hunting forest, Jin Qiu saw that Ren Zhengsheng looked slightly annoyed.
But what could be the reason? It's impossible that the man is angry because he got hurt, so the most possible explanation is because someone trying to harm his tool to control Jin Troop. It caused a tingling feeling inside his heart.
If this the feeling left by the original Jin Qiu, then he really want to get rid of it.
"Your Majesty." Zhang Ai called towards the Emperor while having a pitiful expression. "It's really not like what you think. I just want to move the glass away, but one of the guard shoved me and I accidentaly spilled the water on the Commander." She smoothly spilling the lies while shedding the fake tears. "You need to trust me, Your Majesty. In this place where I have no autorithy, what could I possibly do?"
"Zhang Ai, was it?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" A smile formed on Zhang Ai's face thinking that the Emperor will defend her. But she was wrong. She made a big mistake. All color drained from her face the moment Ren Zhengsheng pointed a sword towards her neck. "Y-Your Majesty..."
"I tried to ignore it since you're a princess even though your kingdom has been destroyed, but you keep getting on my nerves, so this will be my last warning." Ren Zhengsheng started. "First, Jin Qiu is the Commander of this troop as well as my concubine, so I don't like it when someone hurt him. Second, I don't like someone who can only cry here and there, throwing mistake to other people and telling an obvious lies. And lastly, I don't like you, so don't even bother trying to please me because that will be useless."
Each and every word that came out of Ren Zhengsheng's mouth was so clear that Zhang Ai can't say anything back to the man. She still looked quite shocked when the Emperor gave an order for the guards to drag her away. "No, please, Your Majesty!!" She pleads. "You must believe me! It's not like what you think! Your Majesty!!!!"
Her scream and struggle were ignored until none of them can be heard anymore.
Jin Qiu just stood there with an almost similar shocked expression. He was ready to accept for the worse but the Emperor defended him and even dragged the girl who's supposed to become his lover. He's completely shocked that he can't think about anything at the moment.
Duan Huifang patted Jin Qiu's shoulder. It's a relief to see the Emperor defending the commander."Qiu er, I will go to gather some herbs for your burn." Duan Huifang smiled before she brought the other guards to leave the spot.
Now there's only Jin Qiu and Ren Zhengsheng, and the two stared to each other for quite some time. "You put quite a show in front of everyone now." Jin Qiu commented. He was shocked by what Ren Zhengsheng said, but realized that it might be something that the man does as a part of their deal. "She is pretty, and she is a former princess. If she become your Empress, I'm sure people will be happy with it. Why did you treat her that way?"
"What makes you think that I will make her as my Empress? I don't even like her."
Jin Qiu raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Emperor because without hesitation, the man said that he doesn't like the girl while in the novel, the man loved her so much that he would sacrifice everything. The only thing that he could think of is the decision to make a deal with the Emperor. It could be the reason why things changed now. He knows about this world through the novel, but there's no guarantee that everything will be the same like in the novel, especially because he will make different choice from the original.
He will never let himself died so pitifully without any fight.
Ren Zhengsheng took the cold wet towel and holding Jin Qiu's hand almost tenderly while placing the cold towel on the burn mark.
"You are the First Concubine and at the moment, you are helping me to take care the matter at the border. If later you come back with wounds or scars, people will think that I'm abandoning you again, that's why you should let me do this." Said the man while pressing the towel almost slowly.
Jin Qiu stared at the man. "Fine. Do whatever you want. About Jin Family…you go as far as to marry me as your concubine, I'm guessing that you already have plan on how you will destroy them."
"You talked just as if they're not your family." Ren Zhengsheng replied while dipping the towel back into the cold water again. "Did something happen between you and your family? You always said about how you won't hate them no matter what they do to you because they're your one and only family. Even the troop believed that you're too obedient to your father. What makes you change to this extend? You even said that you don't love me anymore. Is that true?"
"Every single person can change. Those who are weak won't always stay weak, and those who are strong will one day become weak."
"So you choose to become strong?"
"Who want to stay weak forever?"
Ren Zhengsheng stared at Jin Qiu and a moment later, he started to laugh.
"Well…it's good for me too." He replied. "It's quite annoying whenever you whine to me about how much you long for my attention."
"Don't worry. Something like that will never happen again."
Ren Zhengsheng was curious. The more he talk to Jin Qiu now, the more he want to know about what exactly the man is thinking, but before he could ask for more, a guard came to him and whispered something to Jin Qiu. Normally, the guards would report to him, the Emperor, first, but Jin Troop doesn't work like that. To them, the only one who can lead them and order them is none other than their Commander, Jin Qiu. Unless the commander tell them to follow someone else, they will never obey anyone other than Jin Qiu even if it's the Emperor.
"Seems like my people captured someone that you will like, Zhengsheng." Jin Qiu said with a smirk on his face.
"Who could it be?"
"The spy working for the bandits. The guards found him wandering around while gathering some information so that their reinforcement can come to make a surprise attack. Even if they can't kill you, they can at least harm you and they will surely gain a name for themselves."
Ren Zhengsheng thought that he has already took care of everything, but who would have thought that the bandits would have a spy. He started to think of the possibility that someone of strong influence is behind the bandits.
He patted Jin Qiu's shoulder. "Let's go to see this spy." He said. "I think there's something more than to what eyes could see and I feel like I need to get some information from this spy. You will accompany me, right?"
"Of course. Let's go see him."
With the lead of the guard from before, Jin Qiu and Ren Zhengsheng walked towards where they kept the spy.
There are around 7 or 10 guards watching around the tied up spy. A man in his mid thirties that looked very arrogant. A typical spy who's always loyal to their master no matter what happen. Jin Qiu could see that whether in this world or in his previous world, every single people are still the same. There are some people who are stupid enough to serve a bad person and ended up destroying themselves for the sake of their master.
Jin Qiu looked around for a moment and saw Duan Huifang paled expression. It's concerning but he choose to keep that for later.
"You're saying that this man is the spy?" Ren Zhengsheng raised an eyebrow.
"That's right, Your Majesty." The guard replied. "We saw him sneaking around and we found a lot of notes inside his clothes."
The spy raised his gaze and looked at Jin Qiu before he started to laugh. "It's you?" He started. "Her Highness said that you will take care of everything within the Empire so we can make any transaction without problem, but what's this? In the end you choose to take the demon's side? Did you betray her?! How dare you betray her when she did everything she can to help you!"
Jin Qiu remained calm. "I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Love really makes you blind… Did you choose to betray her now that you managed to get the demon's attention?! Just so you know, she will never let you go! She will make your live very miserable!"
With how the conversation progressed, Ren Zhengsheng doubt that they will get any useful information from the spy, so he took the sword from one of the guard standing beside him and was about to walk towards the spy. Jin Qiu beat him to it though. And the most interesting part is the anger he never saw on Jin Qiu's face. He knew that expression very well. It's the expression of someone who will kill anyone he hates without second thought. He smiled and gave the sword back to the guard. He wants to see about what Jin Qiu will do.
"Did you say princess? Is it Zhang Ai?" Jin Qiu asked while stared at the spy. He can't help but feeling confused because the novel didn't explain anything about this. It's true that Jin Qiu is just a side character with a tragic end, but even so, there's no mention about a princess from another kingdom working together with Jin Qiu to do something like this. In fact, the novel described Jin Qiu as powerless.
"Zhang Ai?" The spy sneered. "You must be kidding me. That snake girl is not our princess! Our princess is nobler than her!"
"If you think that he's just spouting nonsense, then you should just kill him." Ren Zhengsheng said with a slight smirk on his face. "Unless…you need him for something else?"
Hearing that, Jin Qiu's frowned expression became even more frowned. "It's embarrassing to say but I really want to know about the princess you're talking about. I don't remember a single thing about your princess. Beside… I'm being quite realistic here, Mr. Spy. I'm siding with someone who has enough power. Would I be stupid enough to become his enemy?"
"So you're saying that you acted like this because you don't remember anything?"
It's quite risky to bring this up now, but Jin Qiu has no other choice. If he didn't say anything about the matter, the Emperor might think of him as a traitor and his path would become so thorny. Sorry, but he didn't do all of this to get a thorny path. He wants to proceed everything as smooth as possible.
"Just what kind of lies are you trying to do now?" The spy raised an eyebrow. "Are you so afraid that the Emperor will know about what you did before you become a concubine? I guess a low born will remain a low born no matter what he does. You have talent, but all you did is sucking up to those who are more powerful than you. You bring shame to the title of a commander. I-"
The spy was unable to continue his words.
His head has already separated quite swiftly from the neck so even if the spy wants to say something, he won't be able to do that.
This ruthless and cruel act made the guards who watched them flinched. Seeing someone die is a common thing since they're a warrior. The thing that made them flinch was because the one who killed the spy so ruthlessly is none other than their kind hearted commander, Jin Qiu.
It's because even during the war, Jin Qiu always warned them to not kill others no matter how grave their sins is. The man believes that every criminal will need to pay for their sins while being alive and they followed what the man wished. But now, the very same man who said that words is killing another person without hesitation.
And when they don't know about what they need to say, Jin Qiu turns around and looked at them. "Bury him or burn him, I don't care. Just clean up this place before the children could see it."
"Y-yes!" The guards replied at the same time and watched as Jin Qiu walked away from that place.
"No need to bury this man, just burn him or throw his body in the forest to become the beast food. He deserves that."
With a smirk, Ren Zhengsheng walked away from the guards who looked shocked with his order. Jin Troop is strong, but too soft. That was why he tried to get his hand on the troop, planning to change it, but seeing how Jin Qiu changed now, he felt like he should leave Jin Troop with the man a little bit longer.
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For the whole day after the incident, Jin Qiu always finds a way to avoid Ren Zhengsheng. As a result, the two didn't see each other until the next day, the time when they clean up their camp and getting ready to go back to the capital with the bandits and villagers that still alive. And in order to make sure that the rest of the villagers will follow their punishment, Jin Qiu have some people from Jin Troop to watch until someone from the Imperial Troop arrive to replace them.
There's still the mystery about the princess who moved the bandits from behind, but it's not like staying longer in the village will give them any answer.
The trip back to the palace was quite fast. They reached the palace right when before the sun goes down. Good thing that as soon as they reached the palace, Ren Zhengsheng became busy with the warlords. It gave him time to think through everything that happened at the border.
He felt tired. He felt exhausted. But the most important thing, he felt anxious because of what the enemy's spy said. The original was having some kind of relationship with the enemy's leader. If that's the case, then it would explain as to why Ren Zhengsheng gave the original a cold shoulder.
The novel never explained something like that, but it's not like everything will happen exactly like in the novel. His current relationship with Ren Zhengsheng has already become a prove that the story going to a different path.
While rolling around on the bed, he heard a knock on the door. He thought for a moment before telling the person outside to come inside. It was Pan Zhiqiang. The man didn't look angry or anything likes that, so Jin Qiu started to wonder about why the man suddenly comes here. There's really nothing that they could talk about.
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