An Jiu poured out the tea from her cup, refilled it, and sat down to continue drinking as if no one else was present.
The blue-clad woman didn't dare make a sound.
Before long, Chu Dingjiang appeared silently in the room. Seeing an unfamiliar woman sitting across from An Jiu, he paused slightly but said nothing.
"Leaving?" An Jiu asked.
Chu Dingjiang nodded.
The two walked out one after the other. The blue-clad woman bit her lip but didn't call out to stop them.
Only after leading An Jiu out of Xijin Prefecture did Chu Dingjiang ask, "Do you know that woman?"
"No, but I knew she was here to assassinate the Liao people, so I gave her a hand." An Jiu recalled the white-robed man. "I just met someone who looked a lot like Gu Jinghong."
Chu Dingjiang had arrived long before those people barged into An Jiu's private room. "You mean that white-robed Khitan man?"
"You saw him too?" An Jiu tilted her head to look at him. "They really do look alike, don't they?"
Chu Dingjiang had never seen Gu Jinghong's intact face—the only time he had, Gu Jinghong was already skeletal—so he had no idea what Gu Jinghong actually looked like. He didn't comment, only asking, "Do you know who that man is?"
An Jiu's eyes showed curiosity.
"That was Yelü Jinglie," Chu Dingjiang said.
"What about Yelü Jinglie?" An Jiu found it strange. Was this man famous?
"The Northern Chancellor of the Liao Kingdom." Seeing her confusion, Chu Dingjiang explained, "The Liao Kingdom's Privy Council and Chancellor's Court are both divided into northern and southern branches. The Privy Council has merged, but the Chancellor's Court remains split... Though the northern and southern branches share the same titles, their responsibilities differ greatly. The Southern Privy Council is equivalent to the Ministry of Personnel in the Song Dynasty, while the Northern Privy Council oversees all military affairs of the Liao Kingdom. The Northern Privy Councilor is the highest-ranking position among the Khitans, usually held by either the imperial Yelü Clan or the consort Xiao Clan."
"Now, the Privy Council's duties are similar to those in the Song Dynasty, but the Liao Kingdom has many tribes. The Chancellor's Court mainly governs these tribes."
The Privy Councilor and the Chancellor were relatively independent positions, essentially unrelated—one was the head of the Privy Council, the other the head of the Chancellor's Court.
An Jiu vaguely understood. This so-called "Northern Chancellor" wasn't the imperial relative she had imagined but an official position. As the leader of the Northern Court, lineage was certainly important, but for someone so young to hold such a position, he must be a prodigy!
An Jiu couldn't help but wonder—were all geniuses that good-looking?
"Yelü Jinglie is in his twenties too, right?" From that brief glance, An Jiu had thought he looked young.
Chu Dingjiang was silent for a moment before replying, "He's thirty-four this year."
"..." An Jiu said nothing, only reaching up to pat his shoulder in consolation.
Others at thirty-four looked like they were barely twenty, while Chu Dingjiang at twenty-five looked like their uncle. Just how rough had his life been to age him like this?
Chu Dingjiang diverted her attention. "Guess what the relationship between Gu Jinghong and Yelü Jinglie is."
An Jiu was indeed intrigued. "Uncle and nephew? If they're really related, does that mean Gu Jinghong was a good person?"
"A Jiu." Chu Dingjiang patted her head. "There are no absolutely good people in this world, nor absolutely bad ones."
Besides, Gu Jinghong, who had slaughtered countless, had long since lost any claim to the title of "good person." In the Crane Control Army, what goodness could there even be? Not wanting to dampen her enthusiasm, Chu Dingjiang kept that thought to himself."People in this world can generally be divided into two types: the useful and the useless." Chu Dingjiang intended to guide her onto the proper path.
An Jiu stopped in her tracks and stared fixedly at him.
She had a general understanding of what kind of person Chu Dingjiang was. For someone as scheming as him, saying such things was hardly surprising. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder, "Then what use am I to you?"
"Many uses." Noticing her solemn expression, Chu Dingjiang smiled faintly and took her hand. "So many that you’ve become indispensable."
The golden-red hues of the sunset cast shadows over Chu Dingjiang’s face, half-hidden beneath a scruffy beard. He wasn’t handsome, but as An Jiu met his smiling eyes, she distinctly felt her heart pounding erratically. Strangely, though, this chaotic heartbeat didn’t unsettle her—instead, it brought her an inexplicable sense of peace.
"A Jiu." Chu Dingjiang was far too perceptive to miss the subtle shifts in her expression. Seizing the moment, he pressed on, "Once we return to Bianjing and find your mother, let’s retire together."
"A man as ambitious as you would be content with mediocrity?" An Jiu looked at him with disbelief.
Chu Dingjiang corrected her mildly, "It’s called having aspirations."
He paused before continuing, "My aspirations, my regrets—they all seem to belong to a time long, long ago. Even if I were to accomplish earth-shattering deeds in the Great Song, it wouldn’t fill the void of that regret..."
Without a clan, one was but a drifting leaf. To this day, what Chu Dingjiang resented most was being cast aside by his own kin. His strong sense of clan loyalty and his yearning to return to his roots were sentiments An Jiu couldn’t comprehend, even if she went back a thousand years.
Yet, when he learned he had been reborn into the Hua Clan, his first reaction wasn’t joy—it was resistance.
He didn’t need a clan that had abandoned him!
"You’re not regretful," An Jiu said. "You’re just old."
Without waiting for his reply, she added, "Let’s leave together. When the time comes for you to pursue your ambitions, we’ll return." (To be continued...)
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