QT: The Rescue Of The Miserable Bigshots-Chapter 327 - 10.28

One year later.

When King Ge Lisi of Tuojia was escorted before Jiang Jiamian and Xiao Jinan, the ashen pallor on his face and the despair in his eyes were almost tangible.

He raised his gaze and looked at the lazy, white-robed youth standing before him, someone who did not resemble a general in the slightest. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"Perhaps the worst decision I made a year ago was not having someone poison you."

At that time, he had successfully framed the Jiang family. Jiang Chong had been killed, and Jiang Qingshan had been imprisoned and poisoned by his men, left on the brink of death.

Someone had suggested that since he had already gone that far, he should eliminate all future trouble by poisoning Jiang Jiamian as well, wiping out the Jiang family completely.

If that had been done, no one in Great An would have been able to stop Tuojia from marching south.

But at the time, Ge Lisi had not taken Jiang Jiamian seriously. In his eyes, Jiang Chong and Jiang Qingshan were the real obstacles.

Moreover, given the suspicious nature of the Great An emperor, even if Jiang Jiamian was not immediately executed, he would surely suffer a fate worse than death.

Ge Lisi could simply sit back and watch the drama unfold, amused by the foolishness of Great An’s emperor and curious to see how Jiang Jiamian would be dealt with.

He had even laughed heartily when he heard that Jiang Jiamian had been betrothed to the King of Huainan.

He was not ignorant of Great An’s internal affairs.

Jiang Jiamian was a major obstacle for the King of Huainan. Falling into that man’s hands would almost certainly result in a miserable death.

And if Great An were conquered in the future, the King of Huainan would become Tuojia’s greatest enemy, there was no way his affairs could be ignored.

But then, before Ge Lisi could even react, the King of Huainan rebelled.

And Jiang Jiamian was still alive.

More than that, he stood firmly at the King of Huainan’s side.

Ge Lisi panicked briefly, but soon made a decisive judgment. He chose to take advantage of Great An’s internal chaos and move to conquer the Northwest.

In his view, civil strife within Great An would take at least two or three years to settle, unless the King of Huainan proved incompetent and failed early.

This time, however, he had been too slow.

Just as he led the Tuojia army, together with the combined forces of the Gele Kingdom, toward the Northwest Pass, news arrived from Great An.

The King of Huainan had already ascended the throne.

And Jiang Jiamian was his empress.

Even more terrifying, Jiang Qingshan was still alive.

Ge Lisi was no fool. After careful thought, he realized that the new emperor clearly valued these two people. Someone like him, who had once framed the Jiang family, was undoubtedly in grave danger.

In fact, because Xiao Jinan had ascended the throne so swiftly, Ge Lisi did not dare act rashly in the Northwest for the time being.

After all, now that Xiao Jinan was emperor, he had ample time and authority to mobilize troops against Tuojia.

Even so, Ge Lisi was not overly panicked.

He was the King of Tuojia.

No matter how much Xiao Jinan and Jiang Jiamian hated him, what could they truly do?

He ruled a country. Once he retreated to his capital, they would never be able to lay a hand on a foreign king like him.

Yet despite this, Xiao Jinan personally led the expedition, and he brought Jiang Jiamian with him.

Those two god-like men, in just one year, completely overturned Tuojia and breached its capital.

Jiang Jiamian’s white robe fluttered in the cold wind. Hearing Ge Lisi’s words, he sneered and raised the spear in his hand, pointing its tip directly at Ge Lisi’s heart.

"It seems that even at the moment of death, you still don’t know where you went wrong."

Ge Lisi actually dared to claim that his greatest regret was not sending someone to poison him?

Ha.

Leaving aside whether Tuojia’s people had the ability to poison him in the first place, even if Ge Lisi truly regretted it, he still failed to understand his real mistake.

What he should not have done was not failing to poison Jiang Jiamian, but provoking him and the Jiang family in the first place.

Since he had dared to do it back then, he should have the courage to face death now.

"History is written by the victors." Ge Lisi said with a laugh as he looked up. "I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t regret framing the Jiang family."

Jiang Jiamian’s expression darkened. His grip on the spear tightened as his hand slid slowly forward along the shaft. "If you hadn’t offended me, I might have admired your honesty. Unfortunately, I’m not someone who prides himself on objectivity. I have a principle: I treat those who treat me well with kindness, and I repay those who wrong me a hundredfold."

Ge Lisi closed his eyes.

He seemed to understand that resistance was meaningless, and simply allowed Jiang Jiamian to press the spear against his heart.

"However..." Jiang Jiamian added calmly, "Compared to me, there’s someone who wants to kill you with his own hands even more."

Just as Ge Lisi, outwardly calm but drenched in cold sweat, felt the pressure of the spear growing unbearable, the weapon suddenly withdrew.

He opened his eyes to see Jiang Jiamian deftly twirl the spear in his hand before stepping aside. From behind him, another figure emerged.

When Ge Lisi saw that sharp, iron-hard face, his pupils constricted violently.

Jiang Qingshan.

Back then, Jiang Chong and Jiang Qingshan had guarded the routes to the Tuojia and Gele passes respectively, suppressing them again and again. Before Jiang Jiamian’s year-long campaign, these two men had been the nightmares of both nations.

They had finally managed to kill Jiang Chong, yet Jiang Qingshan was still alive!

Jiang Jiamian took another step back, coming to stand beside Xiao Jinan. "Father, do as you see fit. Whether he lives or dies, or suffers a fate worse than death, it makes no difference."

As for the treatment of a prisoner of war like King of Tuojia, Emperor Xiao Jinan naturally had to make his stance clear. "I leave his fate entirely in General Jiang’s hands."

Jiang Qingshan’s eyes were cold as ice. His murderous gaze swept over Ge Lisi, tightly restrained by his captors. He clasped his hands and bowed in gratitude toward Xiao Jinan.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

In this life, Jiang Jiamian, bearing the title of Empress, lived a leisurely and carefree existence after destroying Tuojia and Gele. He could practically be said to have retired.

In the first few years, court officials still relentlessly schemed to persuade Xiao Jinan to establish a harem, take concubines, and ensure the continuation of the imperial bloodline.

Jiang Jiamian had seen such worlds far too many times. How could he not understand their intentions?

Although they spoke of the country’s stability and prosperity, very few were genuinely concerned about the dynasty’s future. Most were driven by their own selfish interests.

However, after Xiao Jinan ruthlessly punished several of the most outspoken officials, the rest gradually quieted down and no longer dared to raise the issue again.

Then, in the fourth year of his reign, Xiao Jinan simply brought back an orphan from who-knew-where, handed him to a wet nurse, and immediately appointed him Crown Prince.

The entire court fell silent.

As for the fate of the so-called female lead, Jiang Jiamian followed it out of mild curiosity.

After hearing that the Yu family had completely surrendered to Xiao Jinan, Yu Miaomiao initially resented Xiao Jinan’s faction for killing the male lead, Chen Tangqing. She demanded revenge and even declared that she would sever ties with the Yu family if they surrendered.

However, this time, when faced with the life-or-death situation of the entire family, her father and three brothers, who had once treated her like a treasure, unexpectedly remained clear-headed after much deliberation.

They refused to indulge her tantrums and forcibly confined her within the Yu residence.

Whether it was due to prolonged confinement suppressing her temperament, or because she gradually regained clarity after calming down, about half a year later, Yu Miaomiao became completely disheartened. Claiming to have seen through the world and her past and present lives, she went to White Hart Nunnery and became a nun.

Faced with such an outcome, Jiang Jiamian could only sigh and completely lost interest in continuing to pay attention to her.

With everything settled and the mission completed, Jiang Jiamian contentedly stepped down from the battlefield as a general and began his life as Empress, enjoying the attentive service of Emperor Xiao Jinan and occasionally teasing the young Crown Prince whenever boredom struck.

The Crown Prince, despite his young age, was almost exactly like him, truly a case of like father, like son. His way of thinking was peculiar, and he gradually grew into a complete little troublemaker.

"Jiamian!" Xiao Jinan said anxiously, staring at the child. Neither the younger nor the older one was reliable. "I made him the Crown Prince! You’ve raised him like this, how will he take over the country in the future? I was thinking that once he proved capable, I’d let him manage state affairs, and then you and I could travel the world together. If you ruin him, we’ll have to train someone else all over again. That’ll take several more years."

Jiang Jiamian glanced at him, casually cracking melon seeds. "What do you mean I ruined him? Let me tell you, your rigid national policies and governing methods aren’t nearly as practical as what I teach him. What I teach are rare insights you won’t find in any rulebook and things you can’t easily learn!"

Xiao Jinan sat down beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist as he tried to reason with him. "Jiamian, but he’s going to be the ruler of a country. Those things still need to be learned properly..."

"Pedantic!"

Jiang Jiamian shut him down with just one word.

"This matter..."

This wasn’t the first time the two had argued, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Even the system couldn’t help but sigh silently.

It seemed that even the most loving couples would inevitably have disagreements when it came to raising children. Even someone like its host, and Xiao Jinan, were no exception.

This time, when Jiang Jiamian returned to the system space, he was still somewhat dazed.

"How did I get back?" He asked.

He vaguely remembered that he, already old, had just been helped to bed by an equally frail Xiao Jinan, intending to take a nap.

How had he opened his eyes again only to find himself back in the system space?

The system wailed loudly, "Host, you died in your sleep."

Jiang Jiamian: "..."

Wasn’t this death a bit too peaceful?

He must have grown complacent after decades of retirement.

Even his death had been so utterly confused.

Sighing, Jiang Jiamian reflected briefly, but only for a moment. Compared to this, he was far more curious about the secrets behind this quick transmigration journey, and about that person...

Since that guy had stopped speaking in the group chat and could no longer be tagged, the only thing Jiang Jiamian could do was continue on to the next world.

After all, waiting idly in the system space would never yield any answers.