This was the princess's voice. The secret guard hesitated for a moment, and the raised sword paused in mid-air. Zhou Beichen looked at the little girl who dismounted from the horse and ran towards him from a distance, his brows tightly furrowed, and it was obvious that he was angry.
The shadow guard turned his gaze towards Zhou Beichen, only to see Zhou Beichen wave his hand and the secret guard put down his sword. Zhou Zhaonuan breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably. Without waiting for Zhou Beichen to speak, she quickly ran to him, just like when she was a child, raising her big eyes and looking at him with hope.
"Dad, I've heard of Pei An before. He's famously loyal, foolishly loyal. Dad, although he's a bit dumb, he's a good general after all. Good generals are rare. If you can find a way to recruit him, wouldn't it be more valuable than killing him?"
Zhou Zhaonuan talked a lot without stopping. Zhou Beichen held his forehead helplessly, feeling a severe headache.
He pointed at Zhou Zhaonuan, wanting to ask her clearly why she didn't take his imperial edict seriously, but then he thought, he had already asked this question for countless years, so why should he ask it again.
After all, his daughter was truly thinking about him.
"Look at what you're saying. If I could recruit him, why would I let him be killed? Aren't you just talking nonsense?"
Zhou Zhaonuan: “…”
She was so surprised by Zhou Beichen's tone that she almost vomited blood. She lowered her head and muttered softly.
"Then Daddy, you can't be disrespectful. Your daughter is clearly thinking about you sincerely, but you are being sarcastic to her."
Zhou Beichen was about to curse, no, he wanted to hit someone, but he didn't have any convenient tools around him, so in the end, he could only glare at someone.
"You're the only one in the world who dares to act like this in front of me. By the way, Nuannuan, have you done everything I asked you to do?"
At this moment, Zhou Zhaonuan became serious, his body straightened up, "Your Majesty, I report to you, your Majesty. I have done everything you asked me to do. I am just waiting for your Majesty to return and take charge of the situation."
Zhou Beichen glanced at her sideways, "Okay, why are you pretending? By the way, since you want to recruit Pei An, I will only give you three days. If you can't do it, I will have to kill him with all my heart."
Zhou Zhaonuan agreed with this point very much. Their Zhou family must never do such a thing as raising a tiger to cause trouble.
Because of Zhou Beichen's sudden return, the people in the city and Ye Chouxiu and others were very happy. With Zhou Beichen's presence and the capture of the Yuan Dynasty's king, the Guo Dynasty took five or six months to annex the entire Yuan Dynasty. The territory of the Guo Dynasty expanded again, and in many places, they didn't even have to spend any effort, which made Zhou Beichen feel very relieved.
Since ancient times, a general's success is built on the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers, and no emperor's hands are clean. On the day when Zhou Beichen and his party returned to the court, the sky looked particularly high and blue, and the breeze blew by, as if it could take away all the souls.
Zhou Beichen ordered his men to carry the cenotaphs of all the dead soldiers, and the huge procession marched towards the capital.
As for Pei An, no one knew what Zhou Zhaonuan said that day, but he, who had always been blindly loyal, suddenly turned against her. He felt that the monarch he had been loyal to for more than ten years was a selfish waste who did not love the people and only cared about himself. He got drunk in pain, and the next day, he ran to Zhou Beichen like a madman, begging the emperor of the Guochao Dynasty to take him in.
Zhou Beichen had this idea in mind and did not make things difficult for him. Since then, the country has had another extremely outstanding, brave and good at fighting general.
However, during this period, Zhou Beichen always felt that Pei An seemed to be trying to do something to his daughter.
For example, when Zhou Zhaonuan was tired from practicing martial arts, he would always be the first to offer her a sip of hot tea. Even during the later battles, Zhou Zhaonuan's unyielding character led her to the battlefield many times. During this period, Pei An stayed by Zhou Zhaonuan's side countless times, and it was unknown how many dangers he had avoided for her.
Gradually, an unwritten rumor spread in the military camp. As an old father, Zhou Beichen had always wanted to find time to inquire about this rumor, but he was probably too busy. Today happened to be a rare day of leisure. Sitting in the same carriage with his daughter, Zhou Beichen felt both relieved and sad as he watched her become more mature and stable after these few months of hardship.
He reached out and gently patted Zhou Zhaonuan's shoulder, sighing with emotion, "My daughter has grown up. She is no longer the little girl who only knew how to cry when she was little."
Zhou Zhaonuan shuddered all over and was about to retort when she heard Zhou Beichen's tired voice. At the same time, a pair of warm hands touched her head.
"My daughter has grown up, and I am old. It's time to tell your mother what I said back then: when I reach a certain age, I should retire and enjoy a peaceful life."
Zhou Zhaonuan's eyes felt sore when she heard this. She rubbed her nose, snuggled into Zhou Beichen's arms as if no one was around, and spoke softly.
"Look, Daddy, what nonsense are you talking about? You're old? Daddy is only in his thirties, not even forty. You're in your prime, yet you dare to go into the enemy camp alone. How dare you say you're old?"
Zhou Beichen: “…”
This damn girl, why did she expose his shortcomings again? He gritted his teeth and wanted to beat her up.
"How dare you talk to me, you little bastard?"
He frowned, and anyone would tremble with fear. However, Zhou Zhaonuan had been scared by him since she was a child, so she was not afraid at all. Instead, she stuck out her tongue and retorted to Zhou Beichen.
"Daddy, I'm speaking to you as your daughter. Have you forgotten that you once told me that you only wanted me to be your daughter, not your princess? I've kept that in my heart for so many years."
Zhou Zhaonuan's heartfelt words completely extinguished the slight anger that had ignited in Zhou Beichen.
He was just about to say you've done a good job when he heard another voice that made him furious again, "Besides, Dad, you're really not old. The reason you say you're old is that you just want to retire and enjoy a peaceful life with Mother. Anyway, this country has been conquered, and my brother has been handling the government affairs very well in the past few months since you were away. There haven't been any major problems for you, so you can rest assured."
Zhou Beichen: “…”
He looked at Zhou Zhaonuan calmly, paused for a moment, and nodded in agreement.
"That's right, Nuannuan is right. I'll go back and wait a few months. If your brother can really be happy, I'll abdicate. As for you, we'll talk about it after your brother succeeds to the throne."
"By the way, Nuannuan, you're already fourteen. In a few days, you'll be coming of age. When the time comes, your father will give you a big birthday present, okay?"
Zhou Beichen spoke with a questioning tone, but Zhou Zhaonuan understood that what her father said was true, and it was possible that she didn't even have the chance to refuse.
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