Unconsciously, she reached out and stroked her long black hair, rubbing and kneading it, making her smooth black curls into a mess, just like her thoughts.
Something in my heart broke through the many barriers, like a tender sprout finally basking in the sunlight, its joy so great that even the unfolding green leaves couldn't help but tremble.
The results are in.
Any creature that goes against its instincts will not have a good end. Chaoge had always known this saying, but her reason was too defiant. The dignity shaped by more than ten years of education made her stubbornly refuse to bend her spine, even if she admitted defeat in her heart.
So he laughed freely and asked her, "You think you can fool me for a lifetime with just a few words?"
Qin Muge laughed too, his heart softening completely at her appearance.
His eyes were overflowing with tenderness; he leaned forward, pulled her into his arms, tightened his embrace, and kissed her ear. His voice was strangely husky, revealing an undisguised joy and laughter:
"I love you."
We lost.
That's a really harsh statement.
All the "I like you" I said to myself couldn't compare to her words.
Chaoge seemed to see the dam built by reason in her heart being instantly breached by the flood surging from her heart. The warm current flowed from her heart into her limbs and bones, joyfully coursing to every corner of her body.
"I've accepted your proposal." The smile on her lips was impossible to hide. Chaoge comforted herself in her heart, thinking that Qin Muge had pursued her first, and she had only reluctantly agreed.
It wasn't her who pursued Qin Muge.
He whispered these words in his heart, trying to salvage the utterly defeated situation.
She said that on purpose, Chaoge, don't be so easily fooled.
A voice inside her wanted to bring her to her senses.
But she said she loved me.
The voice fell silent.
Yes, no matter how rational you are, no matter how much you refuse to forgive, in the end you will still fall for the "I love you" from the person you like.
Chapter 100: The First Move of Daily Dog Torture
Zecheng.
The Yan family was about to welcome a very important guest, so much so that even the retired old master Yan, who had spent his days strolling in the park and tending to his flowers and plants, had to return to the mansion late in the afternoon, cancel some of his plans, and wait for the housekeeper to report to him. Standing next to him was an old woman with equally gray hair, dressed in brand-new clothes, her smiling face radiant, her wrinkles filled with joy.
Occasionally, he would whisper something to his wife beside him. The old man's expression remained serious, but he would listen attentively when she spoke, his brows furrowed, looking quite fierce. Yet, the old woman's smile never faded.
To be honest, the old master of the Yan family really couldn't figure out this General Qin.
Since he chose the wrong side during that royal coup decades ago, nearly perishing along with the Yan family, and handed the Yan family over to Yan Chen, he has almost completely withdrawn from worldly affairs.
My impression of that general is still based on her methods back then. At the tender age of adulthood, she perfectly exploited the internal conflicts of the powerful family and her royal status to firmly grasp the power of the entire empire.
And this handshake lasted for many years, her reputation soared, and within a century, no one in the Red Cloud Galaxy could shake her position.
It's just that the Juecheng Federation has emerged.
But he still felt that she was someone favored by the God of War. Even when facing powerful external enemies, her performance was just as he had expected. In just a short time, she had given the P4 Nebula a new leader.
He had heard about her relationship with the younger generation in the family before, which was the only reason that Old Master Yan could guess was why she came to Zecheng today.
Meanwhile, the person he was so concerned about was leisurely playing with his lover in the hotel, completely oblivious to the trouble his arrival would cause.
The hotel's single rooms have been upgraded to top-floor suites, which are very spacious, with two or three separate rooms. Chaoge and she each occupied one room to handle official business.
"Ritter has decided to cooperate with Ouyang Haoze. This is the latest news from over there." With a thought, Yao Chen's slightly blue screen appeared in front of Chaoge, while he himself extracted the useful parts from the massive daily flow of information from the Crystalless Empire.
Chaoge responded and looked at the message displayed above—it was about Zhou Jue again.
Almost every event that happened in the empire since Qin Muge arrived has her shadow behind it. With a slight frown, Chaoge continued reading.
Another name came into view: Li Wanfang.
Just when she thought the information was different from what she had learned before, the story that appeared before her eyes refreshed her memory once again, and her brows furrowed more and more tightly.
"Request video access with Ritter." Chaoge said to Yaochen, her hands clasped on her knees.
If Rhett's location cannot receive the message, he will naturally die.
The face that appeared on the screen surprised Chaoge slightly. She sat up straight and a glint of light appeared in her eyes: "I didn't expect it to really be you. You've been hiding it well."
"You flatter me, you surprised me just as much." The little dog perched on the other person's shoulder barked at the screen, as if greeting Chaoge.
"Let's skip the small talk. How credible is the information you provided? I don't even know Zhou Jue's whereabouts so clearly within the Empire. I don't recall her ever leaving the country." Chaoge had no intention of arguing with him and went straight to the heart of the matter.
The man chuckled softly, disdainfully ignoring Chaoge's question.
Chaoge shrugged. His attitude was exactly what she expected, after all, the last time they met, she was just a prisoner.
"You're only cooperating with me because of Qinghe; perhaps you two are more compatible. Let's leave that aside for now. I'll remember that I owe you a favor."
The man seemed surprised by Chaoge's response, raising an eyebrow in astonishment. He re-examined her, his gentle face bearing a warm smile, and finally replied, "I hope it will come in handy someday."
"Request a video call connection with Yan Chen." As soon as one video call ended, Chao Ge immediately moved on to the next one, her mind constantly processing the information she had just received, quickly considering the next steps.
On the other side.
Compared to the hectic pace of Chaoge, Qin Muge seemed methodical and organized, smoothly distributing daily tasks and holding a military meeting before leaning back in his chair, chin in hand, to think about his own affairs.
"Suspend the Third Fleet's mission against Yin Yang Ji," she told Min Kaiyang.
Half an hour later.
Yao Chen reported the latest developments of the Empire to Chao Ge, especially emphasizing Ling Tianji's matter, including Qin Muge's new orders to the Third Fleet.
"He once asked the Yan family for help, but Yan Chen didn't help, right? I must have really made him hate me." Mentioning Ling Tianji, Chao Ge rubbed her nose, wondering how things were going with Ying and the others.
"Luo Qinghe should still be over there. Tell Ying and the others that if the situation gets bad, we should cooperate with her." After thinking for a moment, Chaoge gave an order that even surprised herself.
Surprise flashed in Yaochen's grape-like eyes. He relayed her words verbatim, and after a long while, he said to Chaoge, "I now realize that you have grown a lot."
"No need for such subtlety. You mean I didn't think before I acted?" Chao Ge rolled her eyes at him, yawned, and got up to walk towards the washroom.
Yao Chen was left behind to handle some follow-up issues.
The water from the showerhead cascaded down, and Chaoge reached out to turn the water flow up considerably. The warm water poured over her head and then down her skin, washing away all her fatigue.
Her deep brown eyes seemed to brighten even more from the rushing water, revealing a complex mix of emotions. Some of her troubled issues were clearly beyond what a bath could resolve. She had initially intended to stay in the tub longer, but then decided that since she had no clue what to do, she shouldn't waste the water.
He reached out and unscrewed the showerhead, then reached for a towel on the shelf next to him to dry himself off, only to find nothing there.
Then I realized I'd forgotten to bring any clothes with me.
[Yaochen, I remember you have a shrinking storage space. Send me a set of clothes from there.]
Waiting in the bathroom with water dripping from her body for clothes to be delivered was definitely not a pleasant experience. After simply wrapping herself in a bath towel, Chaoge heard a knock on the bathroom door.
Without turning her head, she said "Go in," then took a short towel with one hand to dry her hair and handed it to the door behind her with the other.
Feeling a cool breeze against her back, Chaoge shrank back and looked back, thinking that Yaochen shouldn't do something so pointless—
The newcomer's eyes held a faint smile, tinged with a hint of mockery as he looked her over. That gaze made Chaoge feel as if she were standing naked in front of him, especially when the other person was dressed in a neat military uniform.
"Give me the clothes, thank you." Chaoge held out her hand, too lazy to ask how she ended up there.
Qin Muge didn't cause much trouble this time. He handed her the clothes, then... took a few steps back and stood there without moving.
Chaoge: ...I knew it.
Holding the clothes, he calmly looked at her and asked, "Aren't you going out?"
The general did not answer the question, and remained motionless, showing her through his actions that he was not leaving.
With a cold laugh, Chao Ge turned and twisted the doorknob beside her, grabbed her clothes and walked towards the room, leaving behind the words, "Then you can stay here."
Qin Muge reached out and tucked the hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear. Looking at the open bathroom door beside her, she shook her head with a wry smile, a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
It's much harder to see her get angry now than before.
However, it also aroused her desire more than before.
A few minutes later.
After finishing her business, Chaoge lazily leaned back on the sofa and watched the news. Too lazy to connect to the virtual world, she used the hotel's own smart system's extra-large playback screen to watch it.
On the coffee table in front of her was a stack of fruit, which looked like yellow-skinned fruit. It needed to be peeled, the flesh was very sweet, and there were no seeds to spit out, but Chaoge only ate one and then gave up.
The exchange meeting between the three major families is about to begin, and what surprised her most was that she actually saw a familiar face among the candidates for the Ling family branch.
It was the same face 'Ling Ge' that I used when I was disguising myself.
The camera only panned across the scene briefly, but Chaoge was no longer paying attention to the subsequent news content.
Someone sat down next to her, very close. Even though Chaoge was in a daze, she knew who it was. A moment later, a peeled fruit was placed near her lips.
She glanced at the person sideways, then opened her mouth and ate without ceremony. The juice from peeling the fruit slid down her slender fingers and onto her palm. Chaoge subconsciously stuck out her tongue and licked the excess juice.
So sweet.
Fruit peeled by others always tastes better.
Qin Muge's eyes darkened suddenly. Looking at his fingers that were holding the fruit, he recalled the scene from earlier. He rubbed his fingertips together, took out a wet wipe from the side, and began to slowly wipe his hands.
After finishing one, Chaoge turned to look at her and blinked.
Why did the service end so soon after it started?
Feeling her gaze, Qin Muge smiled and asked her, "Want more?"
After thinking it over, Chaoge decided that rather than getting her hands dirty peeling the skin herself, she might as well be shameless this once. She nodded.
Qin Muge then picked another fruit from the bunch in the fruit plate and slowly continued peeling it.
Then he held the fruit to Chaoge's lips, but just as she opened her mouth, he suddenly withdrew his hand and moved the fruit away from her lips: "I want to eat it too."
Chaoge: ...Then eat it! What are you kidding me for!
Speechless at her actions, but having anticipated it, Chaoge sat up straight and reached for the fruit plate on the table. Just as she was about to reach it, the sweet-tasting fruit from before was suddenly stuffed into her mouth.
The next moment, her face was cupped and turned around, and soft lips pressed against hers.
Losing her balance, she had to reach out and hold onto the edge of the table. The consequence of maintaining her posture was that the other person's tongue invaded her mouth, and the fruit she had just tasted between her lips and teeth was snatched away by the nimble tongue.
When she was released, Chaoge took a deep breath and looked at the smile on the other person's face, feeling an urge to punch them.