Personnel Affairs

Zichuan Xiu was aghast when he saw Zichuan Ning's mode of transportation. "Oh no, this is... this is...!"

"Oh, it's called a car... more precisely, a sedan! A Mercedes-Benz made in Germany, with imported original components, a powerful engine, and an incredibly smooth ride. The advertisement says that even at a speed of 120 li per hour, not a single drop would spill from a full cup of water..."

"I'm not talking about that—people were driving Mercedes-Benz in an era when cavalry charged with sabers? The timeline is way too messed up. The readers will complain."

"A beautiful woman deserves a famous car. The author likes it! If the readers complain—threaten them with no updates for a month! Let's see if they dare!"

Inside the car, Zichuan Xiu watched the glittering lights and bustling prosperity of the city passing by. It seemed like a completely different world from the Far East, and he was suddenly filled with emotion: We fought to the death to protect this peace and happiness.

Roger and the others were behind them. Only he and Zichuan Ning were in the car, with Zichuan Ning driving in the front.

"After all these years, have you been well?"

Zichuan Xiu sighed inwardly. Six years—while other children enjoyed six carefree years of youth, he had spent them on the battlefield. So much suffering, so much sorrow—he had watched his closest comrades be torn apart alive and devoured by the Demon Race. Their screams woke him from nightmares through countless nights. He had hidden in fetid mud ponds swarming with water bugs for an entire day and night, not daring to move as he evaded the Demon Race's pursuit. He had been surrounded until his food and ammunition ran out, forced to cut flesh from corpses to stave off hunger. Not to mention the dozens of injuries that had left him crying soundlessly in pain at midnight... How could he explain such crushing hardships to a girl whose greatest worry in life was the pimples on her face?

Zichuan Xiu nodded and said mildly, "Not bad. The food was just terrible."

Changing the subject, he asked, "How is the family doing these days?"

"Great. Under President Commander Yang Minghua's brilliant leadership, we've been advancing at full speed toward hell."

"Oh? How did that happen?"

"He's greedy for glory. He launched three consecutive campaigns against the Liufeng Family—and every time, Liufeng Shuang beat them so badly they came crawling back with their tails between their legs. The Council of Elders summoned him to explain himself, but he put on an act of being a loyal yet wronged servant and gave a righteous speech..."

Imitating Yang Minghua's tone, Zichuan Ning said, "'I must destroy the Liufeng Family—if that is wrong, then let me be wrong! I will not evade admitting my mistakes, nor will I regret them!'" In the end, he thoroughly fooled the Council of Elders and got it approved.

Without changing expression, Zichuan Xiu said, "A very forceful speech. Remove the first sentence, and the rest sounds rather like an unmarried woman confessing her love for a married man."

Zichuan Ning laughed so hard she nearly crashed the car.

"Our President Commander truly is a man of extraordinary talent and grand schemes... What's the situation on Liufeng's side? We've suffered defeat after defeat, yet they haven't come to return the favor? That doesn't sound like Liufeng Shuang's style."

"You don't know, Brother. Liufeng Xishan is sick and nearly dead. His three sons each command troops and are waiting to seize the family head's seat. Liufeng Shuang is his daughter and has no inheritance rights, but they all fear her. They removed her from the decision-making center and sent her to Xibing Castle as a frontline commander."

"Our President Commander has no sense of public decency—when the Liufeng Family is busy making mistakes, why should we disturb them? If we want to destroy Liufeng, we can wait until they finish fighting among themselves and have some free time before going over."

"Not at all! Our President Commander isn't thinking about destroying Liufeng. He must be overjoyed by the appearance of an enemy like Liufeng Shuang!"

"How so?"

"Before, whenever he disliked someone and wanted to dismiss them, he still had to work hard to find some excuse, like 'corruption' or 'dereliction of duty'... But now it's easy. All he has to do is pat them on the shoulder and say, 'Take Xibing City for me!' That unlucky fellow is finished—no one has ever gotten the better of Liufeng Shuang. Over the past half year, the commanders of the Border Defense Army have changed one after another like a revolving lantern. Every one of them was dismissed after losing to Liufeng Shuang, and all of them were on bad terms with Yang Minghua. Tell me, doesn't he just love Liufeng Shuang to death?"

"I see... Sterling is all right, isn't he? He's the most opposed to this."

"Yang Minghua dearly wanted Sterling to go have a proper 'talk' with Liufeng Shuang, and Brother Sterling also wanted a head-on decisive battle with her—they say they encountered each other during the second campaign, but neither won. But my uncle Zichuan Canxing absolutely refused. He transferred Sterling into the Imperial Guard as Deputy Commander, leaving him with no chance to take the field."

Zichuan Xiu thought, Everyone says Zichuan Canxing is mediocre and incompetent, but that was an exceptionally wise decision.

"And your uncle—the Chief Commander—just lets Yang Minghua run wild?"

"He's practically got senile dementia—I'm convinced of it!" Zichuan Ning was full of anger whenever this came up. "I warned him several times to be wary of Yang Minghua. But by the next day, he would..."

Imitating Zichuan Canxing's feeble, aged manner, Zichuan Ning said, "This matter, ah, go have Yang Minghua handle it. Huh? What did you say? I can't hear you, speak louder... Oh, I'm not feeling well today. I'm old. I should retire early, that's the proper thing. I'm almost done for!"

Her imitation was perfect, making Zichuan Xiu burst out laughing. Still, he thought, things might not be as simple as Zichuan Ning believed. He still remembered how sharp and vigorous Zichuan Canxing had been when he first became Chief Commander six years ago. There was no reason six years should have turned him into such a timid, spineless wreck.

"From now on, don't say things like that to him anymore." Whether Zichuan Canxing was truly foolish or merely pretending, if those words reached Yang Minghua's ears, Zichuan Ning would be in trouble.

"Mm." Zichuan Ning nodded obediently and said softly, "It's wonderful that you're back. If I leave everything to you, I can finally rest easy."

A wave of tenderness rose in Zichuan Xiu's heart. Zichuan Ning was only sixteen, yet she had already shown a maturity far beyond her years—it was clear how much pressure a lonely girl had endured while growing up in an environment surrounded by hostility. He too said softly, "Don't worry."

For a moment, neither spoke... A warm tenderness suddenly filled the car, and they no longer deliberately kept each other at a distance.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you something very important!" Zichuan Xiu suddenly remembered. "You're only sixteen. How did you get a driver's license?"

"A driver's license? Oh, the author says he doesn't like those things, so they don't exist in our book."

"...Then you're driving without a license?! Pull over and let me out! I don't want to die yet!"

"Don't panic. Let me find the brake lever... Where did it go? Is this it?..." Zichuan Ning pulled it...

"It's going faster! That's the accelerator—help! So you really can't drive!"

"How could that be? I obviously know how... Could it be that damned author said he didn't like brake levers either?..."