On the day Ji Wuyu set off on his expedition, Ruan Qing'an was sitting in his room reading a book when Ruan Changhong knocked on the door. He strode into the room, sat down at the table, and remained silent for a moment.

"Qing'an, he's gone."

"Hmm, judging by the time, we should be out of the capital by now."

Ruan Qing'an didn't react, just kept his head down reading, while Ruan Changhong paused and asked, "What do you plan to do next?"

"His Highness has been sent on a campaign, which means he has been expelled from the power struggle. From now on, I will have to trouble Father with the affairs of the court. We cannot allow anyone to interfere with the border and the army."

Ruan Changhong countered, "Isn't Qing'an worried about His Highness's side?"

Ruan Qing'an shook his head: "No, I just believe that he can do a good job. If he can't, then there's no need for our Yongle Marquis's Mansion to support a good-for-nothing, and he isn't one of them."

Hearing this, Ruan Changhong sighed and stood up: "Alright, I'll handle things at court. Qing'an, what about you?"

"I need to hide for a while."

Ruan Qing'an pondered for a moment. Her current situation was special. If she were to get involved openly, it was hard to guarantee that people wouldn't discover her relationship with Ji Wuyu. She had to be careful.

While the other princes were vying for power and profit, who could have imagined that Ji Wuyu would one day command a million soldiers and march straight towards the capital?

037: [I have a feeling that the quest process in this small world will be very long. Will the male protagonist be able to handle it?]

"If we can withstand it, it will take at least three years, or as little as one year."

As Ruan Qing'an spoke, his leaden eyes gazed out the window as if he could see the chaotic borderlands: "Let's see how long it takes Ji Wuyu to take control of the situation, this future tyrant."

...

It was early winter again, and nearly a year had passed since Ji Wuyu set out on his expedition. The border unrest had been quelled by the iron cavalry, and the territory occupied by Daqing had not only been reclaimed, but had even been pushed back to within thirty miles of Daqing's territory.

For a time, everyone in Daqing who had taken the initiative to send troops was in a state of panic, fearing that Ji Wuyu, who was guarding the border, would give an order to launch a full-scale attack.

With successive victories reported from the front lines, Ji Wuyu's prestige in the court has soared even higher. However, this has not worried the many princes vying for the throne, because Ji Hao is already preparing to directly appoint Ji Wuyu as a general, intending to completely kick him out of the competition for the throne.

Moreover, after Ji Wuyu went on the expedition, he did indeed stabilize the Great Liang. No prince wanted to accept a Great Liang that had been trampled into ruins by iron cavalry.

Therefore, for various reasons, no one dared to harm Ji Wuyu for the time being; everyone was waiting for news from the border. As for this news, the Yongle Marquis's mansion was naturally the first to know it in private.

Green Bamboo pushed open the door and walked in, holding a letter in her hands, while Ruan Qing'an sat by the window, holding a book in her hand.

"Miss, a letter from the border."

"Hmm? Where has Your Highness gone to fight this time?"

Green Bamboo paused: "No, it's not..."

Hearing Green Bamboo's hesitant voice, Ruan Qing'an put down his book and looked at Green Bamboo: "What happened? Why do you look so nervous? Who sent the message?"

“It’s not a battle report, Miss. It’s from a guard that the Marquis sent to the border last year. He’s now a personal guard serving His Highness. He sent it to you in his private capacity.”

Listening to Green Bamboo's cautious tone, Ruan Qing'an felt increasingly uneasy: "Just read it out loud, Green Bamboo."

"Yes, yes, miss."

Green Bamboo was almost trembling, and her voice was also trembling: "When His Highness returned to camp from the battlefield, he was attacked and went missing for two days. After that, he returned to the camp alone, wounded, and..."

"And what?"

"And he brought back a woman named Ah Xiu."

Before Green Bamboo could finish speaking, she knelt down with a thud, burying her face in the ground: "Miss, please calm down, there must be a misunderstanding!"

037: [Holy crap, isn't that the female lead?!]

Ruan Qing'an's fingertips tapped the pages of the book. She raised an eyebrow slightly. In this small world, most of the stories were told from the male protagonist's perspective, and what she saw was all about power struggles. She had almost forgotten that there was also a female protagonist.

Ah Xiu, the female lead, has a very low presence in the original story, and basically follows the route of a gentle yet resilient innocent girl.

Moreover, the script is very traditional, for example: a villainous fiancée in the capital, a male protagonist fighting on the battlefield, and a kind female protagonist who is brought back after being injured.

Ruan Qing'an pondered, her fingertips tapping the table. In the original story, the original owner should have been killed by Ji Wuyu a year ago. Unexpectedly, she is still alive and has still met the female lead, A Xiu.

Most importantly, the script was so clichéd that she was speechless.

Perhaps it was Ruan Qing'an's silence that startled Lüzhu, who quickly said, "Miss, don't worry, this servant will contact the Marquis immediately, and will definitely—"

"No rush, what else did the guard say?"

The fact that a former guard from the Yongle Marquis's residence, who was stationed by Ji Wuyu's side, would specifically send back this message suggests that something else has happened.

Green Bamboo trembled, holding the letter aloud: "Your Highness, Your Highness values ​​that girl named Ah Xiu very much, keeping her by your side without any attempt to hide it from others, it seems..."

"That's all."

"The guard said it felt like we were practically living together."

Before Ruan Qingan could even react, 037 was already furious.

[Oh my god, let's go straight to the front lines! Let's grab our swords and chop the male lead into pieces, make him cheat on us!]

[60 points of affection aren't even as good as the female lead?!]

"That was a life-saving favor."

Ruan Qing'an said with a half-smile, his eyes showing no emotion or reaction: "What's the rush? I'm not in a rush at all."

037: [Aaaaaah, I can't stand this! Damn it!]

"Don't worry, I'll handle it. And—little system, I told you a long time ago, I won't have any rivals in love."

Ruan Qing'an chuckled lightly, her leaden-gray eyes narrowing slightly. She had no interest in competing with others for his affections; either he would choose only her, or... she would simply reject the man altogether.

If Ji Wuyu hesitates and makes choices, and if she is not his only option, then there is always the possibility of being abandoned.

In response, Nguyen Thanh An usually chooses to kick the other person first.

Soon, the news reached Ruan Changhong. Unlike Ruan Qing'an, Ruan Changhong was not calm. He held his knife, as if he wanted to rush to the front line and kill Ji Wuyu.

Several guards held Ruan Changhong tightly, saying, "My lord, my lord, please calm down! You can't just rush out like that, or we'll become suspicious!"

Ruan Changhong was furious and started cursing.

"Damn it, this beast, using the power of my Yongle Marquis's mansion, still dares to betray you!"

"Don't stop me, I'm going to chop him up and feed him to the dogs!"

Seeing the chaos in the courtyard, Ruan Qing'an couldn't help but rub her forehead. She sighed softly, "Father, calm down. No matter what the situation is, we can't give up now."

"...Damn, I really am."

Ruan Changhong cursed, but because it was Ruan Qing'an, he calmed down. However, he was still so angry that he sharpened his knife in the yard—a posture that suggested he was about to take the knife at the male protagonist.

Ruan Qing'an sat down beside him and poured a cup of tea: "I will go to the front line to check on this matter, but only incidentally."

"It's been a year. If all goes well, we can come back to wrap things up. It's impossible to really destroy Daqing. That would only make the capital unstable. The army only has meaning if there is war. Otherwise, we'll lose our bargaining chip."

"Besides, continuing the war now would only deplete the nation's resources."

Hearing Ruan Qing'an's words, Ruan Changhong said irritably, "Qing'an, you've put in so much effort, but he's found a girl!"

"I'll go check it out."

Ruan Qing'an chuckled. She also wanted to see whether her 60 points of affection were more important, or the heroine chosen by the small world.