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

It was already well past midnight when Qin An arrived.

Logically speaking, the two of them should have gone to sleep.

But as soon as he reached the window, he heard Cai Zhen's voice, low but still full of energy, coming from inside.

"Sister, stop pretending to be asleep. Tell me, will Father come to our place tonight?"

"No," Cai Yan's voice was even softer, tinged with sleepiness. "Stop thinking about unnecessary things and go to sleep."

"I can't sleep." Cai Zhen turned over in bed, paused for a moment, and then said, "Actually, it's not that I necessarily want him to do anything, it's just that I feel like he hasn't had a proper conversation with us since he came back."

"He's a general, and he has a lot of family matters to attend to. He can't be running around with us all day," Cai Yan said. "If you want to talk, find a time tomorrow."

"Tomorrow will be another day," Cai Zhen muttered softly. "When Mother wakes up, she'll be looking for him, then the two aunts will be looking for him, then Sister Tong will be looking for him too. Who knows when it will be our turn?"

Qin An paused outside the window, his heart softening for no apparent reason.

He stood there for a moment, then raised his hand and gently tapped twice on the window frame.

The room fell silent instantly.

"Who?" Cai Yan's voice immediately became alert.

"It's me," Qin An said in a low voice. "If you're still awake, open the door."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a loud "thump" was heard from inside, as if someone had jumped off the bed, followed by Cai Zhen's hurried footsteps.

The door creaked open, and Cai Zhen, wearing an outer garment and barefoot, stood in the doorway with bright, sparkling eyes.

"Father! What brings you here!"

"I came to see you." Qin An reached out and tucked the hair that was falling over her face behind her ear, then glanced at her bare feet. "Go put your shoes on first."

Cai Zhen responded, turned around and ran back, casually slipped on a pair of shoes, and then pulled Qin An by the sleeve to drag him into the house.

Cai Yan had already sat up, hurriedly put on an overcoat, and stood somewhat awkwardly by the bed: "Father, is there something you need to do so late?"

"It's nothing." Qin An sat down at the table. "I just suddenly wanted to talk to you guys."

Upon hearing this, Cai Zhen immediately perked up, pulled up a stool and sat down next to Qin An, rested her chin on the table, and looked up at him: "Then it's settled, you're not leaving tonight."

"Go to sleep." Cai Yan came up, poured Qin An a glass of warm water, and then said to Cai Zhen, "Father has been busy all night, how could he stay up with you?"

Cai Zhen's eyes brightened even more, and she moved her stool closer to Qin An: "What did Father think about us when he was fighting outside?"

"I want to know if you've been behaving well at home." Qin An took a sip of water. "Have you made your mother angry? Have you been eating properly?"

Cai Zhen scoffed, "What's there to think about? I've been good every day, and my mother has praised me a lot."

"If your sister said this, I might believe it a little, but you?" Qin An glanced at her, clearly not quite believing her.

Cai Zhen immediately became a little anxious: "Really, I even learned needlework from my mother before, and she praised me for embroidering very well."

Seeing her so confident expression, Qin An was genuinely a little doubtful: "Really?"

He knew that Yang Yuyan spared no effort in raising her two daughters.

Although it is known that Cai Zhen's talent lies in martial arts, it does not mean that she should not learn other things.

It's not surprising at all that Yang Yuyan could teach Cai Zhen needlework.

Seeing that Qin An was indeed somewhat intimidated by Cai Zhen, Cai Yan covered her mouth and chuckled, "Mother only said you studied diligently, not that your embroidery was good. Don't flatter yourself!"

Seeing her sister undermine her at this moment, Cai Zhen turned around and glared at her, "I did study very hard, but..."

Before she could finish speaking, Qin An stopped her.

Hearing that even Yang Yuyan praised Cai Zhen for her diligent study, a gratified smile appeared on his lips. He patted Cai Zhen's head and said with a smile, "Talent is talent, and attitude is attitude. As long as you study diligently, that is worthy of praise."

Hearing Qin An's praise, Cai Zhen's face immediately lit up with a smile. She then eagerly pulled out her own work, "Father, look... actually, it's not bad!"

Qin An picked it up and examined it carefully, nodding in agreement, "It is indeed good, but these two ducks are a bit too fat. There is room for improvement in the future."

Upon hearing this, Cai Yan finally couldn't help but burst out laughing: "This is a pair of mandarin ducks. This is already her best work."

"Uh..." Qin An was momentarily at a loss for words.

Looking at them from the left and right, they are indeed two wild ducks.

Seeing that Cai Yan kept undermining her, Cai Zhen instantly became a little embarrassed and angry.

"In this respect, I really can't compare to my older sister. She got a pair of mandarin duck handkerchiefs that she embroidered so beautifully. She would sleep with them on every night, and as a result, they ended up fading and pilling."

As she spoke, she pulled out Cai Yan's works.

Qin An also took a careful look.

It must be admitted that in this respect, Cai Yan is indeed much more talented than her younger sister.

The pair of mandarin ducks on the handkerchief are so lifelike that they can be considered works of art.

But just as he was looking at it intently, Cai Zhen suddenly placed the handkerchief in front of Qin An, "Father, smell it, isn't it well-marinated?"

Now it was Cai Yan's turn to break down her defenses, and she immediately tried to snatch back the handkerchief.

But when it came to fighting, Cai Yan was no match for her younger sister and was quickly subdued.

After pinning Cai Yan down, Cai Zhen said arrogantly, "Don't think that just because you're my older sister, I can take on ten of you."

But soon, she experienced what it meant for joy to turn to sorrow.

Cai Zhen was never serious about the two sisters' playful fight, so she didn't actually crush Cai Yan to death.

Having broken through Cai Yan's defenses, Ke Shi no longer cared about martial ethics and directly launched a backhand attack.

"Ah~" Cai Zhen cried out in pain, and immediately retaliated with even greater force.

"You dare to fight back? I'm going to strip you naked today!"

The two instantly started wrestling on the bed, completely disregarding Qin An's presence and trying to embarrass him.

Qin An watched the sisters fight from the sidelines, but made no attempt to stop them.

It's perfectly normal for sisters who grew up together to bicker and fight.

But soon, he felt a little guilty and didn't know where to look.

He had to admit that the two girls had indeed grown up.

The two women had completely ignored Qin An's presence.

Although Cai Yan was no match for Cai Zhen, she had a tenacity that was beyond the reach of ordinary people, despite her gentle and refined appearance.

Even when she was completely at a disadvantage, she did not give in or beg for mercy. Even if it meant losing 10,000 of her own, she was determined to kill 800 of her enemies.

As a result, Cai Zhen was also pinched and felt pain.

"Hey, you dare pinch me? I'm going to beat you up today!"

She was clearly a little out of control, and was about to slap Cai Yan in her groin.

"Father, help me!" Cai Yan cried out in fright.

After Cai Yan spoke up, Qin An stopped sitting idly by.

With a cheerful smile, he held Cai Zhen's hands, and Cai Yan took the opportunity to get up.

"This is outrageous!" Cai Yan looked down at her current situation and immediately became a little anxious.

"You're really getting more and more disrespectful," she said, ignoring her own embarrassment, and smacked Cai Zhen on the bottom. "Today I'm going to teach you a lesson about respect and hierarchy!"

Although Cai Yan hit her hard, the tough Cai Zhen didn't feel any pain, and just turned her head to look at Qin An.

"Father, you're being unfair! You're actually helping my sister bully me!"

Cai Zhen didn't take it to heart that her sister had hit her; she was completely used to it.

To her, her sister's little bit of strength was nothing more than a tickle.

However, Qin An's favoritism towards Cai Yan saddened her somewhat.

Looking at Cai Zhen, whose face was red from the beating, Qin An felt a little embarrassed. It did seem like he was being a bit biased.

But Qin An still had no intention of letting go.

There's nothing we can do about it.

After all, of the two girls, Cai Yan was always the more worry-free, while Cai Zhen was incredibly mischievous.

Furthermore, given the significant difference in their fighting abilities, if they were to compete fairly, Cai Zhen could easily defeat Cai Yan with one hand.

In order to treat everyone equally, Qin An had no choice but to make amends, "Give way to your sister for now. Tomorrow morning, your father will train with you alone to check on your progress over this period of time."

Upon hearing what Qin An said, Cai Zhen was immediately delighted.

Instead of caring about being beaten, he shook his head and stuck out his buttocks, saying, "Sister, then hurry up and beat him. After you're done, I still need to talk to Father."

Faced with such provocation, how could Cai Yan tolerate it?

He immediately struck Cai Zhen hard, the sound of blows echoing continuously.

In order to calm her sister down quickly, Cai Zhen kept making strange noises, even though she was usually quite calm.

Qin An was amused and laughed.

The pent-up frustration that had been building up between my brows for days has actually dissipated quite a bit.

……

Cai Zhen was clearly determined to have a long talk with Qin An, a late-night chat by candlelight.

After they finished playing around, the two sisters nestled on either side of Qin An and chatted with him.

After taking another look at the two sisters' needlework, Qin An couldn't help but ask a question out of curiosity, seeing the mandarin ducks they had each embroidered.

"Is this all your mother arranges for you to learn?"

Speaking of this, Cai Zhen was full of resentment. "It's not just that. I have to learn everything, from reading and accounting to needlework and even cooking."

"Father, could you please talk to Mother and let me learn horseback riding and archery from Aunt Shan Bing, and practice martial arts?"

As Cai Zhen spoke, she hugged Qin An's arm and began to act coquettishly.

Her persistent pleading and cajoling immediately made Qin An feel a little uncomfortable!