Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Did You Go to Complain?

Duke Qi feared his son would feel crushed, so Duke Qi forced himself to sound upbeat: “It truly would have been improper to grant Senior Fourth Rank from a single battle merit. His Majesty may be waiting until you earn a few more merits, so he can promote you fairly and openly. When that time comes, you can also build authority in the army.”

Qi Shu Xian nodded: “Mm.”

But Qi Shu Xian’s face remained gloomy. Qi Shu Xian felt the matter was not that simple.

Sure enough, the moment Qi Shu Xian reached the residence gate, Qi Shu Xian saw Sheng Zhi Wan stepping down from a carriage, with Ting Lan supporting Sheng Zhi Wan’s arm.

When Qi Shu Xian saw the court dress Sheng Zhi Wan wore, Qi Shu Xian went rigid for an instant. Then Qi Shu Xian’s face sank into darkness.

[So that was it. No wonder.]

No wonder His Majesty meant to grant Qi Shu Xian Senior Fourth Rank Ping Yan General yesterday, yet everything changed after a single night.

Only Junior Fifth Rank Xuan Wei General remained.

What test? What fair and open promotion?

It was clearly because Sheng Zhi Wan went into the Imperial Palace to complain.

The thought made Qi Shu Xian burn.

Qi Shu Xian fought and killed for that merit. For two years, Qi Shu Xian ate and slept with ordinary soldiers, braved ice and snow, endured bitter cold. Yet all of it was ruined by her petty jealousy and narrow spite.

Qi Shu Xian could barely control himself. Qi Shu Xian strode over and yanked Sheng Zhi Wan out of Ting Lan’s hands.

Qi Shu Xian barked, “Sheng Zhi Wan!”

Ting Lan was flung aside without warning. Seeing her master seized by Qi Shu Xian, Ting Lan panicked at once: “Heir Apparent, what are you doing?”

Qi Shu Xian glared at Sheng Zhi Wan, fury making the veins on his forehead jump. The calm composure Qi Shu Xian showed in the palace vanished completely: “Get out of the way!”

Qi Shu Xian stared at Sheng Zhi Wan and demanded, “You went to complain to His Majesty, didn’t you?”

Before Sheng Zhi Wan could answer, Qi Shu Xian kept going as if speaking to himself.

Qi Shu Xian said, “It was just one woman. Why did you have to make things hard for her? Why did you have to push her to death? Did all that talk about how hard women have it only exist so you could look kind in front of others?”

Qi Shu Xian said, “The moment someone touched your interests, you showed no mercy and tried to grind her into the ground!”

Qi Shu Xian said, “On the battlefield, the enemy scout drugged me. When I escaped, she saved me. After I was drugged, I mistook her for you. She was a clean and innocent miss, yet I ruined her for no reason at all. Was it not right that I took responsibility?”

Qi Shu Xian said, “I already said I would never see her again. You even promised Mother. Why did you turn around and go cry to His Majesty? Do you have to see her dead before you feel satisfied?”

Qi Shu Xian’s voice rose higher and sharper with every line.

Qi Shu Xian said, “Sheng Zhi Wan! How did I never realize your heart was this vicious? Just because you were jealous, you wanted an innocent person to die!”

Qi Shu Xian’s words stabbed again and again.

Qi Shu Xian finally came back alive from a battlefield soaked in death, yet Sheng Zhi Wan did not even hold him in her thoughts. That would have been one thing, but she still fought with him over another woman.

The guilt Qi Shu Xian once carried already disappeared while Qi Shu Xian stood in the rain. After that, Qi Shu Xian forced himself to hold back. Even the things Mother and Eldest Sister said, Qi Shu Xian never truly intended to do, all because Qi Shu Xian still remembered their past feelings.

But what about Sheng Zhi Wan?

There was no regret at all.

With only a few words, Sheng Zhi Wan erased all the hardship Qi Shu Xian endured for two years, all the life-and-death struggle on the battlefield.

And Meng Yang, though only a farmer’s daughter, changed his bandages and cared for him after he was hurt. Meng Yang kept watch all night without closing her eyes. Meng Yang said she only wanted to live, and she would never fight Sheng Zhi Wan for anything.

She was already that humble, yet Sheng Zhi Wan still refused to let it go.

Thinking of that, Qi Shu Xian’s handsome face filled with anger and disappointment.

Sheng Zhi Wan quietly stared at the man in front of her, furious to the extreme. Sheng Zhi Wan’s eyes were dark and calm.

So this was how Qi Shu Xian thought of Sheng Zhi Wan?

Ting Lan already cried until her face was wet. Ting Lan wanted desperately to defend her master. Yet just as Ting Lan opened her mouth, Sheng Zhi Wan stopped Ting Lan with a single look.

Sheng Zhi Wan asked, “What kind of madness was that?”

Qi Shu Xian snapped, “Stop pretending!”

Qi Shu Xian said, “Yesterday His Majesty still intended to grant me Senior Fourth Rank Ping Yan General. Because of you, everything is ruined now!”

Sheng Zhi Wan’s gaze shifted.

[In this life, Imperial Father did not grant Qi Shu Xian Senior Fourth Rank? What changed?]

Then Sheng Zhi Wan remembered.

[In my last life, under Huan Zhu’s persuasion, I clenched my teeth and agreed to let Meng Yang enter the residence as a concubine.]

[Not only that, to quiet the rumors outside that were harming Qi Shu Xian, I rushed into the palace early this morning to see Imperial Father.]

[In front of Imperial Father, I praised Qi Shu Xian again and again. I said Qi Shu Xian did not do it on purpose. I said bringing the girl back after ruining her purity showed responsibility. I talked about how Qi Shu Xian turned the tide in the last battle, how dangerous and unpredictable it was.]

[I praised Qi Shu Xian as a man of courage and strategy, with both responsibility and honor.]

[Imperial Father only sighed with a complicated expression and said I had grown up.]

[Then the residence received the good news that Qi Shu Xian became Ping Yan General, and the whole household celebrated.]

Remembering that, Sheng Zhi Wan hated her past self so much she wanted to grab that version of herself and slap her flying.

Qi Shu Xian saw Sheng Zhi Wan stay silent and took it as guilt. Qi Shu Xian’s anger only deepened.

Qi Shu Xian was about to say more when Sheng Zhi Wan lifted her eyes.

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Heir Apparent promised never to take a concubine, yet now Heir Apparent brought someone home and forced me to accept her. That was shameless. Heir Apparent also hid the fact that Miss Meng was already pregnant, then tricked me into agreeing to let Miss Meng enter the residence. That was disgraceful. Someone so shameless and disgraceful did not reflect on himself at all, yet still blamed me for speaking of what Heir Apparent did?”

Sheng Zhi Wan sneered and shook off his hand.

Qi Shu Xian gripped too hard. Sheng Zhi Wan’s forearm was already turning purple-blue. Ting Lan quickly held Sheng Zhi Wan up with trembling hands, tears still in her eyes.