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

After Qin An spoke, the study fell silent for a moment.

Yuwen Hua put down his teacup, sighed, and spoke with a hint of the predicament typical of officials.

"General Qin, it's not that I don't want to help you, but as you know, almost all 50,000 troops were wiped out in this rebellion. When that happens, the impeachment memorials in the court will be like snowflakes. This matter will be difficult to handle."

Qin An knew, of course, that what Yuwen Hua said was just an excuse.

Previously, Yuwen Zhi led his troops to attack Ligang Village, but suffered an even more crushing defeat, and was captured alive by the rebels.

They even used Yuwen Zhi as a hostage to capture Zhongcheng Xinyang City.

But after Yuwen Zhi returned to the capital, he was perfectly fine, eating and drinking as usual, completely unaffected.

Of course, Qin An also knew that he couldn't compare to Yuwen Zhi, after all, the other party was Yuwen Hua's son.

He didn't refute anything, he just lowered his head even further.

"I know this matter is difficult, but I have no other choice. No one but the Prime Minister can save my five thousand soldiers. I beg the Prime Minister to have mercy."

Yuwen Hua remained silent for a while, as if weighing his options or hesitating.

After a long silence, he suddenly changed the subject: "General Qin, I've heard you have some dealings with the Li family?"

Qin An was startled.

He instantly realized that the situation at the front lines could not be kept from Yuwen Hua at all.

He must have heard about the help he received from Li Zheng.

This suggests that she suspects herself of having some kind of collusion with the Li family.

Fortunately, Qin An had anticipated this situation.

His face remained expressionless as he raised his head, his gaze calm.

"I dare not deceive the Prime Minister. On the way to escort Young Master Yuwen back to the capital, I happened to save the Li siblings. The Li family owes me a favor because of this. This time, the Li family is repaying this favor by resting in Anyang City."

He paused, then added, "The Li family did try to win me over, but it was Li Zhaoning, a woman, who stepped forward. How could I possibly agree?"

Yuwen Hua's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, then he slowly nodded.

He had previously sent people to investigate this matter, and what they said basically matched what Qin An had said.

After all, Yuwen Zhi had previously set his sights on Li Zhaoning and had even conducted a large-scale investigation into her.

Yuwen Hua naturally received the news as well.

It was precisely because they knew that Li Zhaoning was a daughter of the Li family that the matter was dropped.

However, since Qin An took the initiative to confess, he actually appeared quite open and honest.

But his relationship with the Li family still made him somewhat uneasy.

"General Qin, get up." Yuwen Hua finally spoke, his tone more gentle than before. "Since you are willing to serve the Yuwen family, I will not make things difficult for you. I will handle the matter of the defeat at the front. Someone will go to Anyang City to bring back the five thousand surviving soldiers to the capital."

Qin An stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister."

"As for you," Yuwen Hua turned his gaze to Yuwen Rong beside him, "you'll follow Rong'er from now on. You have some martial arts skills, so you can learn and observe more by his side."

Clearly, he was still a little uneasy about Qin An, so he simply arranged for him to be placed next to Yuwen Rong.

In his view, even if Qin An had some ulterior motives, he couldn't cause any trouble in front of Yuwen Rong, a true warrior capable of defeating ten thousand men.

In this way, he could both accept Qin An, a barely usable talent, and repay Qin An's kindness to Yuwen Zhi, letting people know that his Yuwen family also knew how to repay kindness.

Yuwen Rong, who had been silent all along, stood up and walked to Qin An.

He was also very tall and imposing, standing there like a mountain.

His gaze swept over Qin An without any emotion, and he simply nodded, acknowledging the man.

Qin An cupped his hands in greeting again: "This humble general will definitely follow General Yuwen and learn diligently in the future."

Yuwen Rong didn't say much, but patted his shoulder hard.

Yuwen Zhi sat in the corner, watching this scene with a cryptic smile on his lips, but ultimately said nothing.

Yuwen Hua waved his hand: "Alright, that's enough for today. General Qin, you've been traveling for days, go back and rest. Once things are settled in the court, someone will inform you."

"This humble general takes his leave."

Qin An left the study, only turning around when he reached the doorway.

……

When I stepped out of the Yuwen Mansion, the rain had stopped. The night wind blew, and my soaked clothes clung to my body, chilling me to the bone.

But he didn't care about any of that. He mounted his horse and rode off toward the Qin residence.

With Yuwen Hua's promise, the brothers' future was finally secured.

With this matter resolved, the heavy weight that had been pressing on his heart for so many days finally lifted.

The gates of the Qin residence were tightly shut, and the lanterns at the entrance swayed in the night wind, casting a dim light.

Qin An dismounted and pushed open the door.

The courtyard was quiet, and warm yellow candlelight shone through the windows of the main house.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, the curtain of the main room was lifted.

Li Qingwan stood at the door, holding an oil lamp in her hand.

The light illuminated her face, which first showed disbelief and stunned silence, then surprise, and finally heartache.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her eyes reddened first.

"How come you..." Li Qingwan quickly stepped forward and reached out to take his hand, only to find that his hand was ice cold, his armor was covered in water stains, his face was bloodless, and his lips were frozen white.

Dan Bing peeked out from behind her and, seeing Qin An's appearance, her pupils suddenly contracted. She turned around and shouted towards the side room, "Jin Ping! Boil water! Quickly!"

Qin An wanted to say something, but Li Qingwan pulled him into the house.

She pressed him down into a chair and frantically began to remove his wet nail polish.

The leather buckles on her armor were so tight and stiff from being soaked in the rain that she couldn't undo them after trying twice, leaving red marks on the buckles with her fingers.

Dan Bing also came over to help, and with all four hands working together, they finally managed to remove the chainmail that was covered in rain and dust.

Jin Ping quickly brought hot water and poured it into the bathtub, filling the room with steam.

Li Qingwan pushed Qin An into the bathtub. The water temperature was just right, and the heat seeped into his bones through his skin. Qin An leaned against the tub wall, closed his eyes, and let out a long breath.

He hasn't taken a shower for several days.

Dan Bing took a cloth and carefully wiped his back.

Li Qingwan sat by the tub and fed him spoonful by spoonful of hot soup.

Her gaze swept over the new scars on his body, and the spoon clinked softly against the rim of the bowl.

"The front lines..." Li Qingwan's voice trembled slightly, "What's going on?"

Clearly, Qin An's sudden return at this moment made them realize something.

I was too concerned about Qin An before and didn't have time to ask more questions.

Now, I can no longer suppress my curiosity.

Qin An took a sip of the hot soup and made no attempt to hide anything.

He started from Xinyang City, then talked about the siege of Heishan City, Zhang Xu's death in the rearguard battle, his own breakout with the remaining troops, his desperate fight in front of the Wang family's defense line, the cities along the way that refused to accept them, and Li Zheng's help.

Finally, he recounted his experiences at the Yuwen family.

"The Yuwen family has agreed to help." Qin An's voice was calm, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him. "The brothers will be fine."

Dan Bing's hand froze in mid-air, and water droplets from the towel dripped into the bathtub, making a soft sound.

Li Qingwan bit her lower lip and remained silent.

They could easily imagine what these experiences meant to Qin An.

Li Qingwan put down the soup bowl, picked up a cloth, and gently wiped the old wound on his chest. Her fingertips brushed over the still red scar, her movements as light as if she were wiping a fragile piece of porcelain.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

She knew the wound didn't hurt anymore, but she still asked.

Qin An shook his head.

He leaned against the bathtub, watching the two busy women in front of him.

Li Qingwan's eyes were red, and Shan Bing's lips were pressed tightly together.

They didn't ask him if he was tired or how much he had suffered outside; they just used hot water to warm him up and hot soup to soothe his stomach.

They told themselves, in their own way, that they were home.

All the exhaustion that had been suppressed on the battlefield, all the humiliation that had been endured in front of the Yuwen Mansion, and all the nerves that had been stretched taut for days, suddenly relaxed at this moment.

Although his body had relaxed, a fire was burning inside him.

That fire had been suppressed for too long on the battlefield, and for too long in front of the Yuwen Mansion.

The gentle warmth and hot soup poured over it did not extinguish the fire; instead, it burned even brighter.

He needs to vent.

Li Qingwan was splashed with water as she stood up from the bathtub in such a hurry.

Before she could speak, he pulled her over.

He grabbed Shan Bing with his other hand, and the two of them fell into his arms at the same time.

Qin An's movements were rough, with an almost savage force.

As he pressed Li Qingwan down onto the bed, the bed groaned under the weight.

Dan Bing was embraced from behind by him, feeling the deep heartbeat coming from his chest, which was fast and like a war drum.

There were no sweet words, no intimate whispers.

His kiss landed on Li Qingwan's neck, so hard it felt like he was biting, while his hands gripped Shan Bing's waist, his knuckles sinking into her soft flesh.

Li Qingwan groaned, but instead of pushing him away, she reached out and put her arms around his back, her fingers gently tracing the scars on his back as if stroking an uneven map.

Dan Bing hugged his waist from behind, pressed her face against the longest knife scar on his back, and her lips moved silently.

They're back, finally back.

Jin Ping carried in a pot of freshly boiled water. When she saw the scene on the couch, she paused for a moment, and a faint blush rose on her face.

She remained silent, simply waiting to be summoned by Qin An at any moment.

At this moment, Qin An no longer cared about anything else; his long-suppressed emotions finally broke free.

The two noticed his unusual behavior but didn't say anything.

He simply allowed Qin An to vent his anger in his own way.

After some time, the rain started to fall again outside.

Qin An lay on the couch, with Li Qingwan on his left and Shan Bing on his right. Their breathing gradually calmed down.

Li Qingwan's fingers were still resting on his chest, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the newly added arrow wound on his collarbone.

Dan Bing curled up beside him, holding his arm with one hand, as if afraid he would suddenly leave again.