An Jiu abruptly sat up, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead.
"Nightmare?" Chu Dingjiang reached out and pulled her close.
An Jiu took a deep breath. "It's been a long time since I dreamed of these things."
Chu Dingjiang didn't ask, merely patting her back gently.
In the dream, she repeatedly killed her father by mistake, repeatedly watched her mother die before her eyes—like an endless cycle—until finally, that man rolled down the car window, flicked away his cigarette butt, and smiled at her.
"I once thought his waiting was my final destination. Never imagined he'd become my true nightmare." An Jiu clung tightly to Chu Dingjiang. "Promise me..."
"Hmm?"
"Never leave me. Always treat me well, just like now."
"Hmm."
"Maybe you don't think you're successful enough, but to me, you're the strongest man in this world. So strong that just seeing you makes me feel nothing can ever drive me to despair."
Chu Dingjiang stroked her hair, his voice slightly hoarse. "Always thought you weren't one for sweet talk. Never expected you to be so deadly at it."
An Jiu laughed. "I meant every word."
"I promise you," Chu Dingjiang said softly. "Sleep now."
They lay back down, An Jiu clinging to him like a sloth.
Half-asleep, she mumbled, "Husband."
This time, An Jiu felt no embarrassment—the term came naturally.
"Hmm." Chu Dingjiang patted her rhythmically, already planning in his heart that it was time to prepare for their wedding.
The next morning.
Mei Tingzhu came looking for An Jiu.
After sitting down, she first spoke of Old Madam's affairs. Seeing An Jiu's indifferent attitude, she shifted the topic to the Mei Clan's resettlement.
"Your army is still short on people, right? Our family can't offer much help in this situation, but after all, several generations have served in the Crane Control Army. If you need anything, just ask," Mei Tingzhu said.
A few days earlier, Chu Dingjiang had analyzed the Mei Clan's development with her. Clearly, they were the ones needing her help, yet they acted as if bestowing a favor. But recalling that she did indeed need personnel, An Jiu followed Chu Dingjiang's script: "We do need people, but I don't want to trouble the clan too much..."
"We're family—no need for such formalities," Mei Tingzhu said. "Until the poison mutation is resolved, we're stuck here anyway. Better to help than stay idle."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony." An Jiu readily accepted her goodwill.
The Mei Clan didn't have many members to begin with. After receiving the list, An Jiu grouped them together, appointing a Mei member as leader. According to Chu Dingjiang's plan, the thousand soldiers would be divided into ten groups of one hundred each, with the Mei Clan existing independently as a scouting unit—something the Mei Clan didn't yet know.
Mei Tingzhu had originally thought that after recruiting new soldiers, An Jiu would need training. Since the Mei Clan consisted mostly of seasoned assassins, they'd be perfect for training recruits, thereby giving the Mei Clan an opportunity to control the entire self-defense army.
Never could Mei Tingzhu have imagined that An Jiu would assign the formidable veterans of the Crane Control Army to scouting duties.
An Jiu spent the morning busy with recruitment and only ate lunch in the afternoon.
"Isn't your division plan too simplistic?" An Jiu mumbled through a mouthful of food, cheeks bulging as she frowned at Chu Dingjiang, who was bent over his desk writing something.Chu Dingjiang didn’t look up. “A thousand people isn’t many, so the internal hierarchy doesn’t need to be overly complex. But simplicity has its drawbacks. The leaders of these ten groups must all be trusted confidants.”
An Jiu held her bowl and moved closer.
Chu Dingjiang calmly put away what he was working on.
“What were you writing?”
Chu Dingjiang wrapped an arm around An Jiu and steered her toward the dining table. She craned her neck and caught a glimpse of a letter peeking out from a stack of books. “A letter?”
“Mhm. I’m writing to ask Sheng Changying if his child has been born yet, and while I’m at it, I’ll have him keep an eye out in the capital for any suitable young ladies for Wei Yuzhi.” Chu Dingjiang pressed her down onto a seat at the table.
An Jiu nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, we should take this seriously. He seemed quite anxious about it.”
Chu Dingjiang raised an eyebrow. “Anxious?”
“Yeah. The first time he met me, he said he wanted to marry me. Clearly, he’s in a hurry.” An Jiu stuffed another large bite of food into her mouth and mumbled, “Oh, and most importantly, she has to be pretty.”
Though Wei Yuzhi was a romantic rival, Chu Dingjiang couldn’t help but shed a tear of sympathy for him. On the other hand, when he thought about it, his own path with An Jiu had been difficult too, but at least she had acknowledged him and was willing to put in the effort to consider him.
Chu Dingjiang suddenly felt that both he and Wei Yuzhi were masochists—so many normal women out there, yet they had to fall for this heartless one!
An Jiu had no idea what he was thinking and continued her own train of thought. “Do you think Wei Yuzhi can sense my emotions?”
“He’s the one who gave his blood, so he probably can’t,” Chu Dingjiang replied.
“Well, since I took his lifeblood, this small price is nothing.” Having said that, An Jiu quickly shoveled the rest of her rice into her mouth, put down her chopsticks, and wiped her mouth haphazardly. “I promised Blood Fiend I’d go to Bianjing with him.”
“To snatch people from Hua Rongjian’s grasp?” Chu Dingjiang silently began clearing the table.
Neither of them was used to having outsiders loitering in their space, so they had never employed servants. An Jiu was the type to finish eating, wipe her mouth, and leave, leaving all the cooking and dishwashing to Chu Dingjiang.
“Where else can we find people on such short notice? Summer’s here, and winter isn’t far behind.” An Jiu spoke with righteous indignation. “Those people were drawn by money and aren’t part of the Bounty Board.”
Winter was the season when the Liao cavalry would come hunting within Song territory.
Chu Dingjiang said, “Though they work for money, the truly capable ones are the Bounty Board’s permanent assassins. If you snatch them away, Hua Rongjian won’t let you off easily.”
Having spent so much time with Mo Sigui, An Jiu had picked up some of his bad habits. She smacked her lips loudly. “Is that so? Then what should we do?”
She didn’t have many friends, and even though there was now a rift between her and Hua Rongjian, deep down, she still cared a little.
“If it were anyone else, I’d just go and take them. But ever since I met Hua Rongjian, he’s always helped me, and in the end, I deceived him for your sake.” An Jiu sighed. “I owe him far more.”
The death of Hua Rongjian’s birth mother could be said to have been orchestrated by Chu Dingjiang. As someone who knew the truth, when Hua Rongjian, lost and helpless, came to confide in her, An Jiu pretended she knew nothing about it—and worse, she had an even closer relationship with Chu Dingjiang.
These were the root causes of the growing distance between her and Hua Rongjian, but she was powerless to change it. Between the two of them, she could only choose one.
“If it were the old you, you wouldn’t have so many reservations, would you?” Chu Dingjiang asked with a faint smile.An Jiu said, "My life was never this complicated!"
Before, her entire existence had been about receiving orders, executing them, and completing missions.
"I remember Misty Villa had quite a few assassins, right?" An Jiu's eyes suddenly brightened. "Can you ask Wei Yuzhi for me if he still has any ties to Misty Villa? If not, I’ll just go and take them by force."
This was also a shortcut. Whether it was Misty Villa, the Crane Control Army, or the Bounty Board, they were essentially the same—assassin organizations with identical habits, namely—obedience.
These assassins were accustomed to submitting to the strong. An Jiu’s idea of "taking them by force" was quite fitting.
"I have some reservations. Don’t act yet—let me think it over." Chu Dingjiang instinctively felt that raiding Misty Villa wasn’t the right move, not because he feared offending anyone, but because of some vague misgivings. He needed to weigh all the pros and cons carefully before letting An Jiu proceed.
An Jiu considered Misty Villa’s complicated background. It was unclear who those assassins currently answered to, so barging in recklessly was indeed unwise.
Since Chu Dingjiang had concerns, she instinctively trusted his judgment and immediately decided to hold off. "Fine, you think it over. I’ll go wander the streets and see if I can find any more promising candidates."
She had already combed through the town’s young men and actually found a few with decent potential.
Even so, for an army meant to have a thousand members, they hadn’t even filled a tenth of the slots yet.
Chu Dingjiang watched her leave, then picked up a bowl and walked to the well to fetch water for washing.
As he scrubbed, his mind began weaving through various matters, threads of thought intertwining like a vast net—connecting, knotting, untangling many convoluted issues. With careful consideration, many things became much clearer.
And right now, his thoughts weren’t just about Misty Villa.
When they stormed the fake headquarters of Misty Villa, they had found numerous Blue Light Crossbows hidden inside.
Ever since their first encounter with the Blue Light Crossbow during the trials, he had been secretly investigating them. However, with few spies in the Liao Kingdom and most of his attention diverted by the upheavals in the Song Dynasty, he still hadn’t uncovered who was behind the production of these weapons.
It was time to have a frank talk with Wei Yuzhi!
Chu Dingjiang set the clean bowl aside, wiped his hands, and turned to leave. (To be continued...)
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