27 Before the Journey

Diary 9:

It has been a day since Van Kiep left. Although I am quite confident that she won't get bullied by some bastards with how strong she is, that doesn't stop me from worrying about her.

Was my order to send her to my brother wrong? Now I am feeling the inconvenience of not having the internet. If I am still in my world, I can just call her to see how she is doing instead of worrying like this.

I am finally able to empathize somewhat with the wives waiting for their husbands to come home after battles.

Now back to the story:

The next day, I woke up and went outside while my eyes were still closing.

"Look like you had a good sleep," Long Dao said while sitting on the dining table.

"Oh, hi general," I tiredly replied to her.

"Go clean yourself and have breakfast," she told me while taking a sip of her morning tea.

I looked at her for a while and smirked, "Have you eaten breakfast yet?" She ignored my question, only focusing on her tea. "I will be back soon," I smiled.

"Don't need to tell me," she said, avoiding my eye contact.

"Yeah yeah," then I just walked to the bathroom and cleaned myself. When I got back, the food was already on the table. I saw Long Dao was still sitting there enjoying her tea. Only when I came and sat down that she picked up her chopsticks.

As usual, we ate in silence. While eating, I kept looking at Long Dao and remembered the talk yesterday. She seems to have too many mysteries, and for some reason, I want to find out what they are.

After the table was cleaned, out of nowhere, Long Dao put a small bag of money on the table. "This is your salary," she said.

"Really," I immediately jumped out of my seat and ran to her. I quickly picked up the bag and hugged it like my child. "Thanks, general."

Long Dao smiled a bit seeing me that happy. "Today you should go buy some clothes and stuff. You have been wearing my servants' clothes all this time," she said.

"What are you going to do today then?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just stay at home," she answered.

"So… you want to go to the market with me? I am clueless about the price of products here," I tried to get her along. I thought that Long Dao being at home was a signal from the system to me.

"..." she was thinking. "Sure, since staying home will make me tired anyway," she finally agreed and stood up.

"That easy?" I thought to myself. "I thought we would have another argument here before she agreed to go with me. Didn't think it was this easy."

And so we walked around the city market nearby. This one was five times larger than the one in diary 5.

I was surprised at how well Long Dao is at bargaining. My initial goal was to test her before when asking her about the prices of the products because I thought she wouldn't do anything since she is the daughter of the chancellor after all. This made me more interested in Long Dao's past.

In the end, I was able to buy clothes at dirt cheap prices (at least that was what Long Dao told me.)

"You want to eat something? I want to thank you for helping me today," I said after we finished the shopping.

"There is nothing that I want to eat right now," she replied.

"So… she was hinting that I should choose the food?" I thought to myself. "How about this?" I pointed at a random food cart.

"Sure," she answered.

"Bingo!" I was happy inside.

And so we sat down and ate whatever the food was (I don't remember or care about it.) While we were eating, I asked some random questions, "General, how are you so good at bargaining?"

Long Dao looked up at me and said, "Nothing special, it is just that I did it a lot."

"But how does a mistress like you know about commoners' skill like that?" I asked again.

"Din," she called me.

"Yes?" I replied.

"You seem to really be interested in my personal life, aren't you?" Long Dao asked.

"Uhm…" I scratched my head and looked the other way. "Well, since just eating and not having anything to talk about will just make the atmosphere bad. So I just ask random questions to have a conversation. Don't think about it too much," I smile, trying to defend myself.

"I don't think so. You have asked many questions about my past. Why?" Long Dao came back with another attack.

"Damn it, she is so sharp!" I was stuck and didn't know how to respond to her question. Luckily, a helper from nowhere appeared to rescue me.

"General!" a soldier riding on a horse ran furiously at us. I saw his horse almost step on the people walking around. "General!" he said again when he arrived at us and got down from the horse.

"How can you be careless like that! You could have killed someone!" Long Dao stood up and slapped the soldier, but he wasn't surprised at all. I think he already knew she would react like this.

"I am sorry, general, but the chancellor has an important letter for you," He apologized and gave Long Dao a sealed envelope.

"Is that all?" Long Dao got calmer.

"Yes, general. The chancellor told me to give you this urgently," he replied with his head down.

"That still doesn't justify your action," Long Dao said with authority. As expected from a general.

"I am sorry, general," the soldier bowed down 90o.

"Now go to the punishment department and get 20 beatings," Long Dao ordered.

"Yes, general," he finished and went away. This time, his horse went slower.

Long Dao then sat down again and opened the envelope. I stood up and walked behind her to read it as well. This was what was written in the letter:

"Long Dao,

I was thinking and realized that when we suddenly guard the border between Lai and Lan, Lan will notice that we have sensed something from them and they will be more cautious.

So instead, I want you to secretly sneak in Lan and get as much information as you can.

Be hurry,"

End of the letter.

"So the chancellor wants Long Dao to be a spy," I thought. "What are you going to do now?" I asked.

"Didn't you read it? I am going to Lan," she replied calmly. I think I have never seen a Long Dao surprise before. "By the way. Why did you come behind me and read like that? I didn't give you any permission," she glanced at me.

"But you didn't stop me either," that was what I wanted to say. "Haha. Sorry" I smiled weakly. "But uhm… general?" I called her.

"What?"

"Can I go with you?"