Qin Chu continued reading the letter, and upon hearing this, merely lifted his eyelids to glance at him: "Yes, I know. Not only did they arrest someone, they also used torture."
Qin Rui: "..."
"Tsk, the whistleblower ran away so fast." He straightened up, a little annoyed, and scratched his hair, making his already messy hair stand up even more.
"You're not allowed to abandon the people I've arranged for you in the future." Qin Chu folded the letter after reading it and put it aside, having lost count of how many times he had reminded Qin Rui of this issue.
The boy seemed unaware of Qin Chu's intentions and even laughed and said, "Brother, I'm all grown up now, I don't need anyone to protect me."
Qin Chu coldly and ruthlessly exposed him: "You think it's to protect you? It's to keep an eye on you."
Qin Rui's face fell, and she reached out to tug at Qin Chu's sleeve, pouting like she did when they were children: "Brother, why are you like this... Don't you believe me?"
However, the effect of a ten-year-old dwarf and a fifteen-year-old tall and strong teenager when they try to act cute is completely different.
The former might make Qin Chu feel a little sorry for him, while the latter only made Qin Chu's hands itch.
"So you want to take a walk around the training ground?" Qin Chu raised an eyebrow at him.
Qin Rui: "..."
Forget it, he doesn't want to get beaten up yet.
"Copy the book I gave you last time tonight."
"yes……"
The boy responded with a drawn-out voice, and as noon approached, he quickly ran out to the kitchen to fetch food.
Watching Qin Rui leave, Qin Chu couldn't help but sigh.
Ever since Qin Chu noticed that Qin Rui looked a bit crooked, he kept a close eye on the kid, trying his best to straighten him out.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard Qin Chu tried over the past five years, Qin Rui still went astray in some ways.
Qin Chu deeply felt the difficulties of raising cubs and couldn't help but sigh to Noah again.
Noah tossed Qin Chu a chat log: "Sir, this is the third time this month that you've brought up similar issues with me."
Qin Chu was momentarily speechless, but stopped dwelling on the matter.
Noah happened to send over the data report for the year. Qin Chu looked at it for a while and said, "The Xiongnu situation has been basically resolved. Apart from the alien tribes in the northwest, they are all minor troubles. We have also completed most of the second mission line."
"Overall, both of your missions have progressed quite smoothly," Noah said.
Based on the several worlds he had traveled through, the word "smooth" immediately made Qin Chu think of a certain troublemaker.
After Ti Rong's death, Qin and Chu were always on guard against the emergence of another one.
But to his surprise, the man seemed to be truly dead and never appeared again.
This person isn't a player, yet they can appear and exist using several identities. Qin Chu had previously discussed this with Noah and only identified the most likely scenario.
That is, in order to avoid being recognized by him, this person severed his own consciousness before entering the world.
This behavior is extremely risky; Qin Chu only tried it a few times during training, and there could be side effects if not handled carefully. Therefore, being able to separate two consciousnesses is already very difficult, and the possibility of having other consciousness entities is unlikely.
But for some reason, Qin Chu always felt that things weren't that simple.
In recent years, he even had the feeling that the person was always secretly following him, like a shadow, yet he could never catch him.
Considering that both Lin Xiang and Ti Rong wanted to kill Qin Rui, Qin Chu didn't want to let it affect his mission this time, so he said to Noah, "Keep a close eye on things at night. If Qin Rui is in danger, wake me up immediately."
But this time Noah did not agree immediately, and instead remained strangely silent for a while.
Just when Qin Chu thought he had lost connection, Noah suddenly asked, "Sir, have you considered another possibility?"
"What's possible?" Qin Chu raised an eyebrow.
Noah didn't give an answer immediately, but instead listed several conditions: "Based on the conditions you provided, sir, the person is always nearby, like a shadow. In addition, there's your method of identifying that Crown Prince—that he's exceptionally deserving of a beating. And the Crown Prince's consistent behavior is extremely bad."
"Considering all these points, don't you think there's someone who's highly suspicious?"
"Who?" Qin Chu frowned and quickly went through everyone he knew, from each general to his soldiers.
Noah, seeing that Qin Chu had considered so many people but had overlooked the most important one, couldn't help but remind him with exasperation: "Of course it's Qin Rui!"
Upon hearing this name, Qin Chu was startled and paused.
The room was quiet, with only Qin Chu sitting upright. The melodious chirping of birds drifted in from outside the window.
But in Qin Chu's mind, Noah could not hear Qin Chu's reply for a long time.
Noah couldn't help but sigh.
He knew that Qin Chu valued Qin Rui too much, and now that he was suddenly facing reality, he would definitely feel a great shock, and might even be heartbroken and in pain.
As an artificial intelligence, Noah felt nothing about this, but he could calculate the emotional fluctuations of normal humans.
Just as Noah was regretting that pointing out this problem now might be too abrupt, he suddenly heard Qin Chu sigh very clearly.
Noah immediately regretted it even more, thinking about how to comfort Qin Chu.
Qin Chu spoke up: "As expected of you."
Hearing this, although he still felt some regret, Noah subconsciously tried to straighten his chest.
He really did a great job this time! He actually uncovered such a well-hidden undercover agent!
Noah was about to burst into smugness when he heard Qin Chu say quietly:
"I thought I knew your unreliability well enough, but I didn't expect you to come up with such an unreliable answer."
Noah: "Of course... Wait, what did you say??"
Qin Chu scoffed coldly, stood up, and walked out: "How could Qin Rui be like that?"
"Where am I unreliable!" Nuoyuan retorted angrily. "Why is Qin Rui impossible! Look at my records, he's the person you've beaten up the most in the last two years!"
"I was teaching the child." Qin Chu's voice was calm, clearly showing no doubt whatsoever, either in his words or in his heart. "You don't think that beating Qin Rui is the same as beating anyone else, do you?"
Noah clearly hadn't expected that after he'd been holding back for so long and finally managed to speak up, he would receive such an answer!
This five-year-old AI was furious, wishing it could materialize and grab Qin Chu by the shoulders, shaking him and yelling, "Wake up!"
Qin Chu was also speechless at his idiocy: "Have you forgotten what Qin Rui used to be like? He's always been by my side; it's impossible to replace him halfway through. Besides, how could Qin Rui be the same as him?"
That was the boy he raised. He was well-behaved and obedient when he was young. Although he looked a little crooked, it didn't matter much.
To say that Qin Rui and Ti Rong are the same person...
Qin Chu immediately wore a speechless expression.
Forgive his incompetence, but Qin Chu simply couldn't imagine Ti Rong opening his arms to him with a sweet expression and saying, "Brother, hug me."
Just thinking about this scene made Qin Chu feel like his worldview was about to shatter.
"No way! Think about it, haven't you been wanting to beat up Qin Rui lately?" Noah almost fainted from anger, but he was still determined to give it one last try.
Unexpectedly, Qin Chu's tone became even calmer: "Isn't it normal for kids to need discipline during their rebellious phase? I need to be disciplined right now too."
Noah: ...
Noah: No, I need to try to hold it in.
...
Unable to hold it in any longer, Noah unleashed a screaming attack: "Aaaaaaah!"
Qin Chu: "..."
Qin Chu thought this artificial intelligence had gone mad.
He stared at Noah for a while as if he were an idiot, then offered a friendly suggestion: "Why don't you send it back to the factory for a checkup?"
Noah made a face as if he were about to vomit his soul.
Qin Rui walked over carrying a food box. Qin Chu ignored Noah and sat down to eat lunch with the boy.
He genuinely believed that Noah was talking nonsense.
Qin Rui was the least likely candidate in Qin Chu's mind, especially since Prime Minister Lin and Ti Rong were both trying to kill him. Given that man's unreliable personality, if he were to actually target Qin Rui with weapons, Qin Chu might think it was all an act.
However, both Ti Rong and Lin Xiang were secretive when they targeted Qin Rui, but their murderous intent was undeniable, which is why Qin Chu was able to make a judgment.
"Brother, the kitchen cooked the pigeons today."
Qin Rui caught the pigeons and delivered them.
From childhood to adolescence, Qin Rui put exceptional care into Qin Chu's meals, never relying on others to prepare them.
He was not comfortable entrusting Qin Chu's safety to anyone.
Qin Rui placed the dishes and porridge on the table and then tested each one for poison.
When he tried one of the dishes, the handsome young man's expression suddenly changed, and he clutched his neck and collapsed.
Qin Chu glanced at him calmly, then picked up her chopsticks and started eating: "If you don't get up, you can skip lunch and go straight to the training ground this afternoon."
The boy then got up with a grin and sat down opposite Qin Chu.
He then complained, seemingly seriously, "Sigh... my brother doesn't care about me anymore. The first time, he didn't care about anything else and just carried me to find the army doctor."
Qin Chu lifted her eyelids and gave him a cool look: "Do you think I'm stupid, or are you stupid?"
“Of course I’m the stupid one,” the boy replied smoothly. “How could my brother be stupid? My brother is the best.”
As he said this, Qin Rui's lips curled into a smile, and his upturned peach blossom eyes gave him an inexplicably wicked yet alluring charm.
Qin Chu, who was picking up food with his chopsticks, paused. He stared at the smile on Qin Rui's face and remembered what Noah had just said.
Qin Chu now understood why Noah had doubts.
When he was a child, there was nothing particularly remarkable about him; he just seemed to have delicate features. But as he grew up, his facial features became both handsome and rugged.
But he was also mischievous, and when he smiled with that face, he actually had a similar feel to that unreliable guy.
Seeing that Qin Chu was staring at him, Qin Rui's smile widened a little more.
He really enjoyed Qin Chu looking at him so intently, and couldn't help but tease him, "Brother, you keep looking at me like that, do you have a crush on me?"
Such laughter, paired with such words...
Before Qin Chu could even begin to suspect Qin Rui, his body reacted instinctively and snapped the chopsticks in two.
The sound wasn't quiet.
Qin Rui, who had just been joking around, immediately stopped laughing and stood up to check on Qin Chu's hand: "What's wrong? Why are you holding chopsticks like that? What if you prick your hand?"