They even kept the broken wooden plaques, sanded them smooth, saying, "Qianluo used them for practice, so we have to keep them."
They looked even closer than blood sisters.
Are you angry? Of course I'm angry!
Lying in my military tent at night, thinking of Su Jinyun's smiling yet calculating demeanor, I could grip the hilt of my sword "Broken Snow" until my knuckles turned white.
Even the tiger's mouth was sore from the friction, and the red tassel on the sword was all torn and messy, just like my chaotic heart.
It's not that I didn't struggle. When she investigated the corruption case at the Salt and Iron Bureau, I brought out the military registers overnight, and dug them out from the founding of the country to the present. They were piled up higher than me.
His fingertips smelled musty from the ledgers, ink smudges were stuck in his nails, his eyes were bloodshot and even the corners of his eyes were bloodshot, as he helped find oversights in the money transactions.
Even the details such as "A certain merchant bought ten catties of iron for five taels of silver, which is one mace higher than the market price, and the shopkeeper's signature is different from last month's" are marked out, for fear of missing a single detail.
She was researching water management plans for the Zhuohe River, while I braved a blizzard to measure the water level on the riverbank. The snow was up to my knees, and it took me ages to take each step.
My boots were filled with ice, and my toes were so cold they were numb. I didn't even utter a sound.
I just wanted to calculate the thickness of the silt, the speed of the water flow, and the slope of the embankment more accurately, so that I could save her some trouble, let her stay up two fewer nights, and not be so tired that she falls asleep at her desk again.
I even saw her squatting by the wall of the Left Prime Minister's residence feeding the lame raccoon cat; her fingertips were covered in dust and cat hair.
I deliberately walked three streets to the cloth shop to buy a fine cotton handkerchief, and even had the shopkeeper embroider a small magnolia on the corner of the handkerchief.
It was even smaller than what she had carved, with stitches as fine as gossamer threads, so fine that even the ends of the threads were hidden from view.
But just as they reached the base of the wall, they saw Su Jinyun "coincidentally" come out from inside, holding a softer brocade handkerchief in her hand.
It was snow-white and carried a faint orchid fragrance, her usual incense.
Su Jinyun smiled and wiped Qianluo's hands very gently, as if touching fragile porcelain, even wiping between her fingers.
He whispered in her ear, "General Mu is clumsy and rough. The edges of the handkerchief aren't smoothed out. Don't let it scratch Qianluo's delicate hands. It would hurt so much if she got a small cut."
She understood Qianluo's thoughts perfectly: knowing that she was afraid of trouble, she took over all the tasks of checking accounts, organizing documents, and even arranged the account books neatly by date and marked the important points.
Knowing that she loved studying weapons, he prepared carving knives, wood, and fine sandpaper even better than he had prepared for her.
Even the whetstones were divided into two types: coarse and fine. The sharpened knives were wrapped in brocade.
She even remembered exactly how hot the tea was, which she didn't like to drink. She wanted it to be warm enough so that it wouldn't burn her tongue when she drank it and would warm her throat when she held it in her mouth.
Each time tea is served, the cup is first touched to the rim with the lips to test the temperature; if it's too hot, it's blown on; if it's too cold, it's replaced.
With my straightforward personality, all I can say is, "It's cold, put on some clothes" and "Don't stay up too late, it's bad for your health."
They can't even say something as gentle as, "I'll hold the wood for you while you're making it, so your hands don't get tired."
Not to mention someone like Su Jinyun, who understands her thoughts perfectly; how could she possibly be her match?
No matter how angry he was, he didn't dare to do anything to Su Jinyun. Tianxuan had just quelled the rebellion of Xuanyuan, and there were still many corrupt officials left in the court that hadn't been cleaned up.
The old accounts of the Salt and Iron Bureau haven't been sorted out yet, and local taxes and the resettlement of displaced people all need to be sorted out. Even the inventory of the granaries in various prefectures needs to be overseen by Su Jinyun.
In a time when everything was in ruins and needed to be rebuilt, she, as the Right Chancellor, held up half the sky. Even the Emperor had to give her some leeway and always asked for her opinion on matters.
Qianluo carries the pain of being tortured when her undercover work was exposed in her past life. In this life, she has to investigate corruption, manage military affairs, and also worry about the people's basic needs.
I always dream about my past life at night, and when I wake up, I sit at my desk in a daze.
Su Jinyun was the only one who could sit beside her, listen to her mumble in her sleep, cover her with a blanket, and pretend not to know anything after dawn.
She was the only one who could shield her from the storms behind her back. When she offended people by investigating corruption, Su Jinyun helped her protect her from both open and hidden attacks.
When she was struggling to manage the floods, she lacked skilled craftsmen, so Su Jinyun arranged for workers to be transferred from Jiangnan overnight.
I am the daughter of General Mu, the General Who Guards the West. After my parents died in battle at Yanmen Pass, all I remembered was one sentence: "Protecting this land is more important than anything else."
The idea that "defending the country and ensuring its safety is more important than one's own life" is ingrained in my very being.
At that time, Tianxuan really couldn't do without Su Jinyun. I couldn't ruin the peace and stability of the country because of my own selfishness.
If the land my parents risked their lives to protect were to be devastated again—then I would become a sinner against the Mu family.
On the day of their wedding, after I returned home, I locked myself in my study and drank from the afternoon until late at night.
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