Hidden Shadow – CH 237

Chapter Two-Hundred-Thirty-Seven: The Northern King

An Jiu spilled the water from her teacup, poured herself a new one, and sat down to continue drinking, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.

The woman in blue dared not utter a sound.

A short while later, Chu Dingjiang silently appeared in the room. He saw a strange woman sitting opposite An Jiu, paused slightly, and remained silent.

“Let’s go?” An Jiu asked.

Chu Dingjiang nodded.

The two left one after the other. The woman in blue bit her lip, not calling out to them.

Chu Dingjiang led An Jiu out of Xijin Prefecture before asking, “Did you know that woman?”

“No, but I know she was assassinating a Liao person, so I lent a hand.” An Jiu recalled the man in white. “I just met someone who looks a lot like Gu Jinghong.”

Chu Dingjiang had already arrived when those people barged into An Jiu’s private room. “You mean that Khitan man in white?”

“You saw him too?” An Jiu tilted her head to look at him. “He really does look like him, does he not?”

Chu Dingjiang had never seen Gu Jinghong’s intact face. The only time he had seen him, he was already a skeleton, so he did not know what Gu Jinghong looked like. Therefore, he did not comment, only asking, “Do you know who he is?”

An Jiu looked puzzled.

“He is Yelu Jinglie,” Chu Dingjiang said.

“What about Yelu Jinglie?” An Jiu was curious. Was this person famous?

“The Great King of the Northern Court of Liao,” Chu Dingjiang explained, seeing her confusion.

“The Liao Privy Council and the Great King’s Court were both divided into North and South. The Privy Council was merged into the North and South, but the Great King’s Court remained separate… While the North and South held similar official positions, their responsibilities differed greatly. The Southern Privy Council was equivalent to the Ministry of Personnel in the Song Dynasty, while the Northern Privy Council oversaw the military affairs of the entire Liao Kingdom. The Northern Privy Councilor was the highest-ranking official in the Khitan, usually a member of the royal Yelu clan or the Xiao clan.

Currently, the Liao Privy Council’s responsibilities are similar to those of the Song Dynasty, but the Liao Kingdom has many tribes, and the Great King’s Court primarily manages these tribes.”

The Privy Councilor and the Great King were relatively independent positions, practically unrelated. One was the head of the Privy Council, and the other was the head of the Great King’s Court.

An Jiu vaguely understood. This so-called Great King of the Southern Court was not the royal relative she had imagined; it was an official position. While lineage was important for the leader of the Northern Court, to attain this position at such a young age was truly remarkable! An Jiu muttered to herself, “Are all people who look like that geniuses?

Yelu Jinglie is also in his early twenties, right?” From her brief glance, An Jiu thought he looked young.

Chu Dingjiang was silent for a few moments before telling her, “He’s thirty-four this year.”

“…”

An Jiu did not say anything but patted his shoulder to comfort him.

Others looked like they were in their early twenties at thirty-four, but Chu Dingjiang, at twenty-five, looked like someone’s uncle. How rough must his life be to make him look like that!

Chu Dingjiang changed his mind. “Guess what the relationship is between Gu Jinghong and Yelu Jinglie?”

An Jiu was indeed very interested. “Uncle and nephew? If they are really related, is Gu Jinghong still a good person?”

“Ah Jiu,” Chu Dingjiang patted her head, “There are no absolutely good people in this world, nor are there absolutely bad people.”

Besides, Gu Jinghong, a ruthless killer, was far removed from the word “good person.” In the Konghe Army, what good could there be? Chu Dingjiang, afraid of dampening her enthusiasm, did not say it aloud.

“People in this world can be roughly divided into two types: useful people and useless people.” Chu Dingjiang intended to guide her onto the right path.

An Jiu stopped and stared at him intently.

An Jiu roughly understood what kind of person Chu Dingjiang was. It was not surprising that someone as calculating as he could say such a thing, but she was curious. “Then what use am I to you?”

“Many uses.” Chu Dingjiang smiled slightly, noticing her solemn expression, and took her hand. “So many that you are indispensable.”

The setting sun cast a golden glow, obscuring Chu Dingjiang’s face in a thicket of unkempt beard. He did not look handsome, but looking into his smiling eyes, An Jiu could clearly feel her heart pounding wildly. Strangely, however, this erratic heartbeat did not make her uncomfortable; instead, it brought her a sense of peace.

“Ah Jiu.” Chu Dingjiang, ever perceptive, noticed An Jiu’s subtle change in expression and pressed his advantage. “Once we return to Bianjing and find your mother, we will retire together.”

“Someone with ambitions like you, would you be content with mediocrity?” An Jiu asked, her face full of disbelief.

Chu Dingjiang calmly corrected her. “I have aspirations.”

He paused, then continued, “My ambition, my discontent, all seem to have been left behind a very, very long time ago. Even if I were to accomplish something earth-shattering in the Song Dynasty, it would not be enough to fill that void…”

Without a clan, one was like a drifting, lonely leaf. To this day, Chu Dingjiang’s deepest resentment was being abandoned by his clan. He had a strong sense of clan, a yearning to return to his roots—a feeling An Jiu could never understand, even if she went back a thousand years.

However, when he learned he had been reintegrated into the Hua clan, his first reaction was not joy, but resistance.

He did not need a clan that had abandoned him!

“You are not unwilling,” An Jiu said, “you are just getting old.” Without waiting for Chu Dingjiang’s reply, she continued, “Let’s go together and come back when you want to realize your ambitions.”