The God of War Who Protects the Nation: Starting with Saving a Mother and Daughter in Distress

Although her body had already made its decision, Shan Bing felt a clear sense of unease: "When we get to the capital... will you hide me away?"

After all, she was the sister of a rebel general. If her identity were exposed, it would likely cause trouble for Qin An.

"Hide?" Qin An raised an eyebrow. "Why should I hide my woman?"

He paused, then his tone became serious: "I have a home in the capital. You can stay there peacefully, read books, grow flowers, and stop overthinking. I'll come back to the capital to find you after I've finished dealing with things here."

Dan Bing looked up at his sharply defined profile, which was particularly clear in the candlelight.

She suddenly remembered the first time she met him. He was wearing silver armor and holding a halberd. He was like a god of war on the battlefield. At that time, she only thought he was a ruthless demon.

But now, this devil is telling her that he will give her a stable home.

"Then...you need to come back quickly." Shan Bing's voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.

Qin An glanced down at her, a rare smile playing on his lips: "Don't worry, she can't escape."

He stood up and draped his cloak over Shan Bing to cover the marks on her body: "We'll set off at dawn, you should get some sleep first."

Dan Bing nodded, curled up in the cloak, smelled the faint scent of blood and Qin An's unique aroma, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

That night, she didn't have any nightmares. In her dream, she saw a bustling scene she had never seen before. Qin An held her hand and walked along the crowded street, where the sunlight was warm and bright.

Qin An gazed at her sleeping profile, his expression complex. He knew that bringing her back to the capital might cause a lot of trouble.

Especially if the Yuwen family knew Shan Bing's identity, they would inevitably take the opportunity to cause trouble.

But he doesn't regret it.

This woman is incredibly demanding, but no matter what, she's already his woman.

As long as she doesn't do anything stupid again, I can tolerate it.

He blew out the candle, sat by the bed, and listened to her breathing until the sky began to lighten.

When the bugle sounded again, Qin An had already finished packing everything.

After Qin An finished getting ready, Shan Bing woke up and quickly put on her personal guard uniform.

Seeing Qin An carrying a halberd on his back, she stood up and handed him the bundle. Her fingertips inadvertently touched the back of his hand, and both of them froze for a moment before quickly looking away.

"Let's go." Qin An was the first to lift the curtain and step out.

Outside the tent, five hundred cavalrymen were already lined up and waiting, each one gleaming in armor and exuding a solemn aura.

Yuwen Zhi was helped by his personal guards to sit in a large carriage. The curtains were tightly closed, and only his occasional groans of pain from the bumpy ride could be heard.

Qin An glanced at the carriage, frowned slightly, and then leaped onto his warhorse.

"Miss Shan, please get in the carriage." Li Jing led over a docile mare, but Qin An waved him off.

"Let her ride in my car."

He pointed to the relatively simple carriage behind him.

That was where he usually stored his weapons; now it had been emptied of clutter and covered with a thick felt mat. Dan Bing paused for a moment, then silently bent down and crawled inside.

Qin An tightened the reins and said in a deep voice, "Let's go!"

The caravan slowly departed the camp, heading east. The wheels chugged over the dirt road with a dull thud. Qin An rode at the head of the procession, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.

When we first left the camp, we could still see the figures of government troops patrolling by the roadside, but after walking only ten miles, the surrounding area gradually became desolate.

The ridges of the fields were overgrown with weeds that reached waist height. In the abandoned village, there were broken walls and ruins, and occasionally you could see white bones scattered on the ground, gnawed beyond recognition by wild dogs.

Sitting in the carriage, Shan Bing lifted a corner of the curtain and gasped at the sight before her.

"How...how did this place become like this?" she murmured to herself, her voice trembling with disbelief.

Qin An heard her words, turned around and glanced back, his tone calm but tinged with heaviness: "The fighting is escalating."

War can turn bustling towns into ruins, fertile fields into wastelands, and living people into withered bones by the roadside.

Dan Bing fell silent. Although she had joined the rebels and experienced the flames of war, she had never imagined that the outside world had devastated to such an extent.

As the procession reached noon, they suddenly heard a commotion ahead.

Qin An raised his hand to signal the group to stop, dismounted, and parted the bushes by the roadside to look.

A group of ragged refugees were seen arguing over something around an overturned carriage. The leader was a gaunt man who was holding a wooden stick and swinging it at a woman holding a child.

"Stop!" Qin An shouted in a deep voice, his voice booming like thunder.

The refugees were startled. When they turned around and saw the cavalrymen dressed in government uniforms, they scattered like birds and beasts.

The man, seemingly desperate, roared with bloodshot eyes, "So what if they're government troops? I'm starving! What's wrong with robbing you a little something?"

Qin An stepped forward and saw some moldy grains scattered on the carriage. The child in the woman's arms was so thin that he was just skin and bones and was crying loudly.

He took a water pouch and a small bag of dry rations from his waist, handed them to the woman, and then looked at the man: "Where is the imperial relief grain?"

The man scoffed, his face full of mockery: "Disaster relief grain? It was already swallowed up by those officials! We common folk can only wait to die!"

Qin An's face darkened.

He knew about the corruption in officialdom, but he never imagined it had reached this level.

He took two bags of dry rations from his personal guard and threw them to the man: "Take your men and leave. Don't rob anymore."

The man hesitated for a moment, looked at the dry rations on the ground, then at Qin An, before finally picking up the rations and hurriedly leaving with the remaining refugees.

"General, let's hurry up and leave, lest we delay our journey," a guard whispered.

Qin An nodded, turned to mount his horse, but heard Yuwen Zhi's angry roar from inside the carriage: "Qin An! What are you doing? They're just lowly commoners, why waste your breath on them? You've delayed my journey, I won't let you get away with this!"

The carriage curtain was suddenly flung open, and Yuwen Zhi poked his head out, his face flushed with anger, and the wound on his thigh seemed to have reopened, oozing blood.

Qin An gave him a cold look: "Lord Yuwen, they are also people of Daxing."

"The common people?" Yuwen Zhi sneered. "Just a bunch of accomplices of rebels! If it weren't for their rebellion, why would the court have to waste military funds to quell it? It would be better if they starved to death!"

Upon hearing this from inside the carriage, Shan Bing clenched her fists.

Although she was the sister of a rebel general, she could not stand such cold-blooded remarks.

Qin An took a deep breath, suppressing his anger: "Sir, your injuries are serious. You should go back to the carriage and rest."

Startled by the coldness in his eyes, Yuwen Zhi shrank back, reluctantly lowered the carriage curtain, and continued to mutter something under his breath.

The procession continued forward, but the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

Sitting in the carriage, listening to the commotion outside, Shan Bing felt a mix of emotions.

She had always thought Qin An was just a brute, but his attitude towards those refugees just now revealed a side of him that she had never seen before.

As evening fell, the group arrived at a post station.

The post station was already dilapidated, with only a few rooms that could barely provide shelter from the wind and rain.

The soldiers were busy starting a fire and cooking, while Qin An stood at the entrance of the post station, gazing blankly at the sunset.

"General, the meal is ready." A personal guard brought over a bowl of brown rice and a small dish of pickled vegetables.

Qin An took it and was about to eat when he saw Shan Bing walk out of the carriage, holding a food box in his hand.

She walked up to Qin An and handed him the food box: "I...I saved some food for you."

Qin An opened it and found several white steamed buns and a small dish of braised meat inside.

She glanced up at Shan Bing; her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes were somewhat evasive.

"Thank you." Qin An took out a steamed bun, handed half of it back to her, and said, "Let's eat together."

Dan Bing paused for a moment, then took the steamed bun and began to eat it in small bites.

The two stood side by side at the entrance of the post station, neither of them speaking, yet there was a strange unspoken understanding between them.

Just then, Yuwen Zhi's voice rang out again: "Qin An! My wound is hurting again! Quickly, get the army doctor here!"

Qin An frowned, stuffed the rest of the steamed bun into his mouth, and said to Shan Bing, "You go in and rest first."

He turned and walked toward Yuwen Zhi's carriage. As soon as he lifted the curtain, he smelled a strong odor of alcohol.

Yuwen Zhi was leaning against the carriage, holding a wine jug in his hand, his face flushed, clearly having drunk quite a bit.

"Why did you drink alcohol?" Qin An's face darkened. "You can't drink alcohol with your wound!"

"What's it to you?" Yuwen Zhi brushed his hand away, drunkenly saying, "I'm happy to do it! What's a little injury? When I get back to the capital, I'll have the imperial physician take a look, and I'll be fine in no time! But you, Qin An, don't think you're so great just because you saved my life. You'll see what happens when we get to the capital!"

Qin An was too lazy to argue with a drunkard, so he turned to the army doctor and said, "Check his wound. If it has reopened, re-bandage it."

After saying that, he turned and left, his disgust for Yuwen Zhi deepening even further.

Back in his room, Shan Bing was sitting at the table, looking at something by the dim candlelight.

Qin An approached and saw that she was holding a tattered map with some place names marked in red.

"What are you looking at?" Qin An asked.

Dan Bing was startled and hurriedly closed the map: "N-nothing."

Qin An picked up the map, unfolded it, and found that it marked the locations of the rebel army's defenses and granaries.

His eyes sharpened instantly: "Is this your brother's map?"

Dan Bing's face paled, and she nodded: "I... I was thinking that maybe I can help you in the future."

Qin An fell silent.

He didn't expect Shan Bing to hand it over voluntarily.

If this map were delivered to Zhang Xu, it would certainly deal a significant blow to the rebels.

"Aren't you afraid I'll use this against your brother?" Qin An asked.

Dan Bing lowered her head, her voice tinged with bitterness: "He has his choices, and I have mine."

Qin An looked at her and suddenly reached out to ruffle her hair: "Keep it for now, you might really need it later."

Dan Bing's body stiffened for a moment, then relaxed, a blush rising on her face.