Qin Muge naturally knew where the problem lay and was pondering it in his private office and study within the palace. Min Kaiyang, always the first to receive such information, naturally learned of it at the same time as General Qin.
Sensing Qin Muge's intentions, Min Kaiyang said expressionlessly, "I do not approve of your approach."
On the surface, Qin Muge may appear to be the ruler of the empire, with the empire's system opening its doors wide to her. However, if one were to examine closely who actually holds the empire's power, perhaps Min Kaiyang would be the correct answer.
Qin Muge glanced at him lightly. The desktop in front of him had returned to its deep wood color, unlike the flashing screen and countless documents that used to be displayed. There were more documents to process during wartime than before, and the empire had entered a state of full combat readiness, with interplanetary tourism completely suspended.
Furthermore, with the closure of the M6 satellite planet, the people of Tianzi Star have far fewer entertainment options; after all, times have changed. However, the busier Qin Muge is, the more she shirks her responsibilities. All the data has already been transferred to Min Kaiyang, and unusually, she's not wearing gloves.
Qin Muge's slender fingers intertwined, and the outdoor light shone softly on her from behind through the stained glass, which was tinted with a glassy hue. This did not diminish her goddess-like beauty in the slightest.
In a flash, something occurred to her, and a slight smile curved her lips. Her eyes flickered, and when she opened them again, her bright red eyes were fixed on Min Kaiyang. A few stray hairs obscured half of her eyes, and her emotions were difficult to decipher. She then changed the subject: "Traffic between Tianzi Star and other planets can be suspended."
Min Kaiyang did not respond, his golden eyes still fixed on Qin Muge's, determined to get a response to his question. Qin Muge's lips, like red plum blossoms blooming on a branch in the cold winter, opened silently, revealing pearly teeth: "Kaiyang, protest overruled, objection rejected. I have made my decision. Tianzi Star is not yours to control. If you disagree, you may terminate the contract with me."
The speaker's tone was devoid of emotion, but the listener didn't take it so lightly. The tall, blond man fell silent, then after a while replied, "Is the only connection between the subsidiary planet and the Celestial Star a military passage?"
Min Kaiyang has been following Qin Muge for so long, and he hasn't learned anything except how to change the subject.
Qin Muge nodded slightly and added, "You know the right time."
After giving those words, she stood up, picked up the white military cap that was upside down on the table, and walked towards the military conference hall inside the palace. Her spotless white military uniform and gold buttons fit her figure perfectly.
Min Kaiyang then turned around and followed her into the conference hall without saying a word.
At that time, Chaoge was pondering how to request leave at the Yuandu Military Academy. Due to the wartime state of affairs, the school had canceled all student holidays, especially after the list of students going to the military headquarters for training was announced yesterday. Chaoge should have been busy finishing her schoolwork for the semester, filling out application forms for course completion, and so on.
Even if they didn't apply for this list themselves, they still need to fill out some related reports and forms. Chaoge, however, was too lazy to move at all. Sitting at her desk, she racked her brains over the leave request on the screen, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse to go home.
A knock came at the door.
Chaoge lazily turned her head to look, a single, light word escaping from between her lips: "Enter."
The only person who would come to see her on time every day was Luo Qinghe. After Chaoge learned the principle behind her face-changing ability, she stopped letting her keep changing into her previous appearance.
Thinking of this, a layer of warmth filled Luo Qinghe's eyes. It was all because of a question Chaoge had asked, whether jokingly or genuinely out of curiosity: "Does your face hurt?"
Does it hurt...?
Not long ago, Luo Qinghe had completely lost the ability to feel pain. When she still knew what pain was, few people asked her this question, but now that she had completely lost this ability, some people suddenly cared.
Perhaps this is just a twist of fate.
"What's bothering you? Is there anything I can help you with?" Qinghe always spoke so gently, unlike Qin Muge who spoke in an almost commanding tone without any discussion. Even when she wanted to help, she said it in a completely different way.
Chaoge showed no politeness whatsoever, revealing a relieved expression. Her eyes lit up instantly, and she set the permissions for the AI. The content displayed on the dark blue screen immediately appeared in front of Luo Qinghe. Chaoge solemnly said to Qinghe, "This matter concerns my future! So I'm entrusting it to you, Qinghe! I have faith in you!"
Luo Qinghe stared at the screen for a few seconds, one hand across her chest, the back of her hand supporting her chin, as if studying something. Then she looked up at Chaoge and asked in a very serious tone, "I'm a little curious what makes you think I'm still as easy to fool as before?"
Chaoge was shocked: "What? You've changed? You weren't like this before! Don't you love me anymore?"
Luo Qinghe blushed. How come she hadn't noticed before that Chaoge loved to act?
Teasing Qinghe was far too easy. Half a minute later, Chaoge lay on the desk next to her, idly playing with her fingers, leaving Luo Qinghe deep in thought, staring at the watch.
"You only know how to bully honest people, tsk, I'm ashamed of you." Little Red Riding Hood expressed her contempt for Chaoge in her heart.
【Ha, I'm ashamed of you too. We're both systems, but Qin Muge can do everything except give birth. Look at you, what use are you?】 Chaoge's sarcastic skills are always at their peak, once again making Little Red Riding Hood speechless and almost crashing.
Five minutes later.
When Chaoge saw the reason for her leave on the blue screen that Luo Qinghe had pushed towards her, it clearly stated: "Going home to have a baby." A line of black lines slid down her forehead. She sighed and looked at Luo Qinghe helplessly: "You've become a lot more humorous lately, Qinghe."
"Oh, really?" Luo Qinghe's face showed a hint of joy, her eyes brimming with laughter, pretending that the words were a compliment.
Chaoge: ...Your acting isn't bad either.
Chaoge pushed the screen away, not wanting to see this upsetting matter. Luo Qinghe, however, interrupted with another question: "The list of those selected for military training has been released. Are you—really going?"
"Yes, that's right." Chaoge nodded, planning to come back after her birthday and take the opportunity to go to the front lines to experience the war firsthand, which would also help her get rid of some of her naive ideas.
Luo Qinghe remained silent for a while, then turned her gaze elsewhere and asked in a deliberately casual tone, "Even if it means death, you still want to go?"
Chaoge chuckled, clutching her stomach in disbelief as she looked at her, leaning closer to ask, "Hey, Qinghe, are you serious? You're making me wonder if you really snuck in to see me." Before the other could turn around, Chaoge quickly added, "Going to the battlefield means death, isn't that something everyone knows?"
After Chaoge finished speaking, he was moved by his own greatness. He then dragged the light screen over, casually typed in the most honest reason, "Going back to my hometown for my last birthday," and pressed submit.
"I'm really honest," I shamelessly remarked to Little Red Riding Hood, only to receive a dismissive "Tch."
While she was doing this, Luo Qinghe remained silent. Chaoge knew, of course, that she was only acting this way because she didn't want to deceive herself; because she didn't want to lie, she often remained silent.
Unexpectedly, she suddenly erupted, her face turning cold as she fixed her gaze on Chaoge, her expression filled with uncontrollable anger. She spoke with vehement fury, "Everyone knows! But there's one person who understands the cruelty of the front lines better than anyone else! Yet she just watched you go to your death!"
Chaoge, however, remained inexplicably calm, even taking the time to tease Luo Qinghe about her seriousness, "Hey, I've never seen you angry before, Qinghe, why did you suddenly explode? You scared me, haha."
Luo Qinghe suddenly felt like punching her; how come she never realized how annoying she was before?
...Perhaps it's because we've never interacted on an equal footing before.
To everyone's surprise, Chaoge seemed completely unconcerned about the issue. Under Luo Qinghe's extremely serious gaze, she waved her hand, intending to downplay the matter. "She's not like that, Qinghe. I don't know where your misunderstanding of her came from, but she's the only one in this place who wouldn't harm me."
Luo Qinghe followed her lead with a slight smile and didn't pursue the topic any further.
His gaze fell on the ground in the distance, and he finished his unfinished words in his heart. Yes, she wouldn't harm you, she would only harm me. But how could I tell you that I willingly let herself be manipulated by her?
Hunters place their prey's favorite bait in traps, and the prey, lured in, step into them. In your case, I don't want to be the hunter.
This is the only difference between her and me, and it may also be the difference that determines our fate.
☆ Chapter 49: The Forty-Ninth Evaluation of General Qin
Military headquarters meeting.
Since the outbreak of war between the Red Cloud Galaxy and the P4 Nebula, the state of high alert has led to increasingly frequent meetings within the military. This meeting was also attended by researchers from the Empire's Military Technology Research and Development Department and the Yuandu Research Institute; the civilian personnel's rank insignia were not necessarily lower than those of the three major families.
At today's meeting, Qin Muge directly announced that he would go to the front line to participate in the war. Except for Min Kaiyang, the commander of the Allied Legion, all the members of the personal guard would stay on Tianzixing to await orders.
As soon as the proposal was put forward, Yan Zihe, who should have been the most supportive, was the first to disagree.
This reaction was slightly unexpected by Qin Muge. She looked up in surprise, her red eyes filled with questions as they fell on Yan Zihe. Yan Zihe's appearance was similar to Yan Xi's, only more outstanding.
Yan Zihe seemed startled by her own voice, not to mention the people who were following closely behind the Yan family. Their gazes, some deep and some shallow, fell on her. Yan Zihe blinked quickly and then calmly faced Qin Muge's somewhat surprised look.
Surprised? It's rare for this woman to show emotion at a military meeting. Yan Zihe felt a mix of emotions. Of course, she knew what Qin Muge was surprised about. The appearance of such a rare adversary was a perfect opportunity for other forces to take advantage of Qin Muge's absence on campaign.
Many people think this way.
But Yan Zihe felt that this war was not as simple as they thought. Others could never fathom Qin Muge's thoughts, but based on her years of experience fighting with her, she intuitively felt that this time, for some reason, Qin Muge was not as meticulously calculating as before when it came to the power of the empire, and even showed a hint of retreat, as if she did not care about the development of the empire's power after her expedition.
This filled Yan Zihe with a sense of powerlessness mixed with a pale anger. The powerlessness stemmed from the fact that she had thought she had been fighting this imperial general for half her life, only to realize at this moment that what she thought was a stalemate was nothing more than someone else's whim. As for the pale, powerless anger, it was best not to mention it.
Yan Zihe's decision not to support Qin Muge's decision did not affect the majority of people's vote in favor after weighing the options, including most of the families that support the Yan family.
Ling Tianxuan, dressed in a dark red military uniform, held a matching military cap in her hand, her fingers stroking the brim of the cap. When she heard Qin Muge's arrangements for the personal guard, she was about to speak when Ling Tianshu, sitting next to her, reached out and placed his hand on the back of her hand, while still listening with a serious expression.
"Brother..." Ling Tianxuan bit her lip and pleaded in a low voice that only the two of them could hear.
Ling Tianchu knew exactly what she was thinking, yet he showed no intention of pulling his hand back from the back of her hand.
Ling Tianquan noticed his elder brother's actions, glanced at Tianji beside him indifferently, and only stopped when he was sure that Tianji had no intention of making any moves.
However, what surprised everyone the most was Su Yaoguang, whose loyalty in the guard was second to none. She directly applied to Qin Muge at the military meeting to join the front line.
Basically, in military meetings, the decisions Qin Muge made were unconditionally supported by the personal guard. No one expected that Su Yaoguang would be the first to break this convention. If one had to pick a loyal dog-like figure from the personal guard, Yaoguang would be second to none.
Qin Muge chuckled silently. He had given her quite a few 'surprises' today.
The military meeting was still ongoing, and it was unclear how long it would last. However, time in Chaoge at Yuandu Military Academy wasn't so easily extended into eternity. He managed to sneak out of the school with Qinghe during a break, but—
Chaoge pointed at the small white puppy she was holding: "You came out with me, fine, but why did you bring it along? Are you worried we're not eye-catching enough?"
The little puppy, afraid that she wasn't talking about him, blinked his big, purple grape-like eyes and let out a soft whimper.
These past few days, Qinghe has been completely obedient to Chaoge. Seeing that Chaoge was clearly charmed but still trying to regain her composure, she considerately stuffed the puppy into her bag, leaving a small gap, and smiled warmly at her.
Chaoge: ...I don't know why I suddenly feel sorry for that dog, but I think it's better if I don't say it out loud?
After buying tickets for the spaceship, the two of them played games in the waiting hall. Chaoge lost every single one of the manual competitive games. Seeing the word "game over" on the screen for the umpteenth time, Chaoge was taken aback, but outwardly she just twitched her lips and turned to look at Luo Qinghe speechlessly.
[This is abnormal. If she were really that powerful, she wouldn't have been at the bottom back in Yuandu. Could she be doing this on purpose?] Little Red Riding Hood asked in Chaoge's mind with an air of 'I have discerning eyes'.
[Even you can see the problem, which means Qinghe really wants me to know. But she definitely didn't do it on purpose. Why don't you use your logical thinking module to consider whether she might have participated in any human modification?] If the situation allowed, Chaoge really wanted to roll her eyes at Little Red Riding Hood.
Little Red Riding Hood snorted and arrogantly declared, "I'm not talking to you anymore!"
Luo Qinghe pretended to meet her gaze innocently, then pointed to the time when Chaoge reached out her hand: "Ah, it's time."
Don't you think this topic shift was abrupt?
Chaoge always felt that if Qinghe was hiding something from her, it must be something very important, so she didn't intend to find out until she was mentally prepared. Shouldering their backpacks, Chaoge and Luo Qinghe walked towards the boarding gate, unaware that below their ship's timetable, all the voyages to Planet M1 were listed as canceled.
In Chaoge's view, Qinghe didn't like using these high-tech gadgets, and in some ways, she seemed as rigid as he was. This contrasted sharply with the people around her who were inseparable from their smart devices.
This was Chaoge's first time traveling in space, and his gaze was completely drawn to the cosmos outside the window. Yuandu's scenery lacked the changing seasons, thus missing out on many beautiful sights. But even though Chaoge had experienced spring, summer, autumn, and winter, none of it could compare to the magnificence of the vast universe.
The planetary belts, separated by countless light-years, seemed to be woven with colorful threads, as if wrapped around the body of a beautiful young woman, displaying her slender and soft curves. The beauty of the lines made Chaoge unable to resist reaching out to trace them on the window.
There were also constellations of various shapes, and hundreds of millions of planets filled the endless universe. Chaoge's eyes were filled with this dazzling light, and her eyes, reflecting the starlight, shone with the same dazzling light. She looked at the scenery, and Luo Qinghe looked at her.
Unexpectedly, after staring at her for so long without blinking, Chaoge found herself unconsciously shedding tears.
But she was completely unaware.
The sounds of others' discussions gradually reached their ears, finally bringing Chaoge back to her senses. She felt a coolness on her face, and before she could reach out, Qinghe, sitting opposite her, reached out and touched her face first.
Just as Chaoge instinctively tried to dodge, her attention was diverted by her words: "The military has just issued a new order. Learning from the experience of M6, other planets with fewer inhabitants can relocate to temporary residences on Tianzi Star. After one day, travel between Tianzi Star and its affiliated planets will be limited to the transport of military supplies."
Chaoge was so engrossed in listening that he momentarily forgot Qinghe's hand wiping his face.
The military intends to completely transform the seven subordinate planets into a strategic defense line for the emperor.
Complaints rose and fell. Chaoge and Luo Qinghe hadn't bought first-class tickets, meaning that whatever they said would be heard by everyone around them. Chaoge thought for a moment, then activated the display on her smart device and typed: "Looks like I'll have to go back and think about how to persuade my grandparents to come to Tianzi Star with me." It wasn't that it was difficult; it was just that the thought of her grandparents facing Yan Xi made her feel nauseous.
Luo Qinghe smiled briefly after looking out the window, then glanced out the window herself, bringing up the fact that Chaoge had been so engrossed in the view earlier: "Is the view beautiful?"
Chaoge could tell that she didn't want to exchange opinions with her about the Imperial Palace, so she changed the subject as well, her eyes revealing an indescribable tenderness: "Yes, it's the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen."
Having received her answer, Luo Qinghe turned to look out the window and fell silent.
It was indeed very beautiful, almost dazzling. However, she had already seen this kind of scenery countless times in Si Zhongqi's strategic map when she was in the P4 Nebula. To her, the starry sky was not as beautiful as the smile in Chaoge's eyes.
When Chaoge arrived at M1 after disembarking from the spaceship, she realized that the scenery of M1 was not much different from that of Tianzi Star at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, she discovered that these were all naturally growing plants, emitting a refreshing fragrance that was very pleasant to the senses. This was quite different from the artificial landscapes or holographic projections on Tianzi Star.
Chaoge had already planned the route home, but Little Red Riding Hood, for some unknown reason, suddenly popped up a new task with a "ding": [Fifth Task Unlocked: Complete the task of leaving Tianzi Star with Luo Qinghe. Task Reward: 1000 points. Task Difficulty: Three stars. No points will be deducted for failure, and the system will enter dormant mode and will not be available again.]