Chapter 30 Please Stay a Moment

Chapter 30: Please Stay a Moment, Mr. Jiang

"Mr. Jiang, I'm glad you've given me the last question. I'm a reporter from the Capital Evening News. Now that you've been elected, you support Commander Gu Liancheng's military expansion plan. I'd like to ask, do you really have intentions to start a war? If war does break out, what impact will it have on the people of the capital?"

"Reporter, that's two questions." Jiang Huaiyan smiled, deflecting it without much force.

The reporter's attempt to pry more information out of him was bluntly exposed, and he smiled awkwardly.

"...But I suppose I can answer it." Jiang Huaiyan casually came to his rescue again.

"First, regarding war, the military expansion plan has no direct connection to war. Strategic deterrence is also a means to avoid war. If the day truly comes when we must face war, stopping war with war and seeking peace through war wouldn't be a bad way to protect everyone."

Jiang Huaiyan followed his usual pattern—first saying something firm to put the reporter on edge, then stepping back to give his original, somewhat vague answer that wasn't quite satisfactory to the media.

The media didn't get the answer they wanted, but they couldn't keep pressing Jiang Huaiyan, so they had to leave disappointed.

No sooner had the reporters left than a subordinate of Gu Zhen approached him.

"Mr. Jiang, please stay a moment."

With just one glance, Jiang Huaiyan recognized him as Gu Zhen's adjutant. His memory was fairly good; as long as he had met someone once, he could remember their name and identity.

"What is it, Adjutant Chen? Does Major General Gu need something from me?" Jiang Huaiyan asked, glancing at him.

"Congratulations on your election as Council President. If you have time now, could you come to Major General Gu's office?" Chen Yueming offered a brief compliment. "Major General Gu would like to see you."

Whether it was business or personal matters, Jiang Huaiyan instinctively knew that nothing good would come from Gu Zhen summoning him.

After what happened a few days ago, how could Gu Zhen just let it go?

A young master like Gu Zhen, who had been praised since childhood for simply dressing himself and using chopsticks—if he could swallow that humiliation, he wouldn't be Gu Zhen.

For the sake of military expansion, he hadn't stirred up trouble during the midterm elections. That meant he would surely cause trouble somewhere else.

"Alright, to his office, then? Adjutant Chen, please take me there now."

The Imperial Command Center wasn't far from the Council. Chen Yueming escorted Jiang Huaiyan to the door, claimed he had other work to do, and left.

Although the two were engaged, their mutual discord was no secret among their subordinates. Their conversations were always laced with verbal sparring, and naturally, no subordinate wanted to stick around to watch the spectacle.

Gu Zhen's office faced south, airy and bright. When Jiang Huaiyan pushed the door open, Gu Zhen sat in his seat without even standing up to greet him.

"Major General Gu called me here—are you congratulating me on being elected Council President?" Jiang Huaiyan smiled faintly, unbothered by Gu Zhen's rudeness. "But right now, we rise and fall together. My election as Council President also makes things easier for you."

"Now that the midterm elections for the Council are over, your military expansion plan is practically a done deal, isn't it?"

"Council President." Gu Zhen smiled ambiguously, staring at him, enunciating each word as if savoring them.

"What's the matter?" Jiang Huaiyan countered.

"If it weren't for the news of the riot in the central square of the capital, the headlines right now would be about the Council President's murky background."

Jiang Huaiyan pulled out a chair and sat down, looking untroubled by Gu Zhen's words.

"Is your background so spotless, Major General Gu?" Jiang Huaiyan asked. "If it weren't for your alpha father's scandalous behavior getting him kicked out of the family, why would Grandpa Gu go to such lengths to target Xiao Zhu, trying so hard to drive him out and break you two up?"

Gu Zhen chuckled but said nothing, simply turning the computer screen around for Jiang Huaiyan to see.

The screen showed the largest and most authoritative news site of the Imperial Capital University, with other trending articles pushed to the side.

The headline, of course, was about the Council's midterm elections—Jiang Huaiyan had been elected Council President with more than two-thirds of the votes, and in an interview, he stated his full support for the Gu family's military expansion plan.

Below that, there were some fluff pieces from media outlets invested by the Jiang family, praising him as young and accomplished, a guest professor at Imperial Capital University, with brilliant political achievements.

Jiang Huaiyan scrolled down and landed on a sour article about how he and Gu Zhen were a perfect match, a union of equals. He casually turned the screen back. "Did you want me to see this, Major General?"

Gu Zhen had always hated such sycophantic media, and as expected, he was provoked, his face twisting as if he had eaten a fly.

He irritably clicked the mouse a couple of times and found the article buried in the corner for Jiang Huaiyan to see.

Jiang Huaiyan skimmed it quickly, scrolling straight to the bottom to read the public comments.

There were only a few comments, saying the media outlet had a vivid imagination—one picture and the rest was pure fabrication. Probably some political opponent who lost the election had bought water soldiers.

Politicians in the empire generally had a bad reputation. Jiang Huaiyan, aside from everything else, at least appeared equally cold to both nobles and commoners.

"Hiring assassins? Quite the imagination." Jiang Huaiyan read out the most-liked comment, which had over a hundred likes. His tone was detached, as if discussing something trivial. "If Jiang Huaiyan really had the resistance army under his control, why doesn't he make them pay the empire tens of millions of silver coins a year?"

"And they're pinning Jiang Zhuoxi's death on me?" Jiang Huaiyan found it somewhat amusing and glanced at Gu Zhen. "Did I bribe the resistance army to take the fall for me?"

"Gu Zhen, are you saying that getting cuckolded by you isn't worth using that trump card to threaten me? Or maybe you still need me and can't let me fall completely, so you're just trying to smear me? What benefit would killing Jiang Zhuoxi bring me? He was a pro-war faction member, just like you and me."

"And the timing isn't great either. Releasing this baseless stuff now—people may not be smart, but they're not fools. Everyone will just think it's the work of my political opponents."

"Are you clean enough to withstand an investigation?" Gu Zhen said coldly. "You did take leave that day. What were you doing? I don't believe you were completely innocent and did nothing. If you have nothing to hide, let them investigate."

"The smell of pheromones was to cover up the scent of blood, wasn't it? You harbored the murderer in your home and tried to pass him off as a lover to fool me."

Jiang Huaiyan knew Gu Zhen was trying to trap him into confessing. The thought of how furious and enraged Gu Zhen would be when he found out that the person in his room that day was Zhu Shinian made Jiang Huaiyan want to laugh in his face.

But now wasn't the time. Provoking Gu Zhen now wouldn't do Zhu Shinian or himself any good.

Gu Zhen naturally didn't care whether Jiang Zhuoxi was dead or alive. Right now, he was just trying to cause trouble for Jiang Huaiyan to make up for failing to vent his anger on him the day Zhu Shinian's heat hit.

At this critical juncture, having problems at work would be a real headache.

The empire's military and police systems were integrated, and the Jiang family didn't have that much influence there. If Gu Zhen was willing to sacrifice a bit of the Gu family's reputation, he could have Jiang Huaiyan brought into the police station, then have him bailed out using the Gu family's influence. In others' eyes, Jiang Huaiyan would then have to live under Gu Zhen's thumb.

Probably better to suffer a bit of physical pain.

"Gu Zhen, sometimes people shouldn't just focus on getting back at others. They should work on improving themselves and find their own problems," Jiang Huaiyan said without any visible urgency. "Take you, for example. Why did someone manage to cuckold you? Flies don't land on eggs without cracks."

"Is it because you're getting old? Not gentle enough? Or not good enough in bed?"

The moment Jiang Huaiyan finished speaking, the office fell silent. Even the hum of the central air conditioning sounded jarring.

Gu Zhen didn't react immediately. The expression on his face was almost calm, but his eyes gradually turned cold.

The next second, Gu Zhen stood up, grabbed Jiang Huaiyan by the collar, and yanked him straight out of the chair.

Jiang Huaiyan hit the edge of the desk, his breath catching. Before he could say anything, he felt the terrifying force of an S-grade alpha's pheromones gushing out.

The entire office was filled with the scent of Gu Zhen's cypress wood pheromones. Jiang Huaiyan wanted to cough, but he knew that coughing would only make him inhale more pheromones.

On the battlefield, an S-grade alpha's pheromones had once been used as a supplementary weapon. But later, since every side in a war had S-grade alphas, releasing pheromones merely exhausted everyone without any point, so the practice was tacitly abandoned.

Perhaps because Jiang Huaiyan had known another S-grade alpha with such a good-natured and gentlemanly personality that he had never done anything so classless, Jiang Huaiyan had forgotten how dangerous these people actually were.

Jiang Huaiyan grunted, tasting a hint of blood on his tongue.

"Just a reminder," Gu Zhen said in a low voice, "Don't treat Zhu Shinian as a pawn you can casually use to provoke me."

"Done venting, Major General Gu?"

Gu Zhen let go of Jiang Huaiyan's collar and stepped back, as if he had made a judgment and acted on it.

"Jiang Huaiyan, you don't actually like Zhu Shinian. You're just jealous that I was born without having to fight or scheme, without stealing someone else's identity like you do, without pulling all sorts of tricks. You just want to provoke me and make me unhappy."

"I've known him for six years, been together for four. It's true we have some conflicts now, and he does have some resentment toward me, but do you really think Zhu Shinian can be easily taken away by you?"

"Alright, that's enough. Fine, you win. I'm upset. You're a C-level alpha—you're not feeling great either, are you? We're even. I don't want to stay in this lousy capital anyway. In a few days, I'll take Zhu Shinian away from here to the Ninth District."

The Ninth District is located in the northern border of the Empire. It's already the season when auroras can be seen. Many young couples choose to go to the registry in the Ninth District to get married.

Jiang Huaiyan steadied himself along the edge of the table, raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes dark.

Gu Zhen didn't even look at him again.

"Chen Yueming," Gu Zhen spoke, his voice already completely restored to calm.

A response came almost immediately from outside the door: "Major General."

"Call the private doctor in," Gu Zhen ordered. "Do a check-up on Council President Jiang."

He paused, then added, "Take the internal route. Don't let anyone know."

Chen Yueming was visibly taken aback, but still answered immediately: "Yes."

Gu Zhen turned and went back to his seat, sitting down again as if nothing had happened.

He raised his hand to adjust his cuff, his tone cold and clear.

"What happened today ends here."

"In official matters, I don't want us both to get hurt."

"As for other things," he looked up at Jiang Huaiyan, his eyes icy, "you'd better not provoke me again."

Jiang Huaiyan leaned against the desk, his breathing still unsteady, but slowly straightened up as if he wanted to say something more.

"Get out." Gu Zhen cut him off.

Jiang Huaiyan said nothing more. He straightened his rumpled collar, sat back in his chair, swiveled his chair to face the window, turning his back to Gu Zhen.

The private doctor came quickly and examined Jiang Huaiyan's injuries. Jiang Huaiyan was not terribly hurt, but for someone of their refined upbringing, such injuries were still shocking.

The private doctor, of course, didn't ask or say much. After the examination, he prescribed medicine for Jiang Huaiyan and politely took his leave from the two.

Jiang Huaiyan followed closely behind him out the door. At the entrance, he even offered that he had driven himself and asked if the doctor wanted to leave together.

The private doctor was the Gu family's private doctor. Even an idiot could tell that Jiang Huaiyan and Gu Zhen had definitely had some conflict. Of course, he dared not get into Jiang Huaiyan's car at a time like this.

However, although Council President Jiang was also from an aristocratic family, his speech and manner were indeed more polite and casual compared to Young Master Gu and others like him. It was hard not to feel some sympathy for him.

The young master... indeed was not a very good partner. The colonel who often stayed at the Gu estate probably thought so too.

Not wanting to leave at the same time as Jiang Huaiyan and risk being photographed, Gu Zhen sat alone in the office for a while. By the time he left the command center, it was already pitch dark.

The capital's night lights were beautiful—colorful neon, sparkling.

The city was actually quite nice, but he had been too busy with work these past few years to ever take a proper walk with Zhu Shinian like ordinary couples.

He sat in the car, his coat still on, collar open, but his breathing never fully settled.

Gu Zhen was eager to see Zhu Shinian. He urgently needed to confirm that Zhu Shinian was at home, safe and quiet, missing him just as much as he missed Zhu Shinian.

"Let's go back," he said to the driver.

"Back to Mr. Zhu's place?" the driver asked.

The word 'home' seemed to have become bound to Zhu Shinian. Only where Zhu Shinian was was home. Only Zhu Shinian's sixty-square-meter bachelor apartment—with absolutely no luxury or comfort—was his home.

Even his driver knew that.

Only Zhu Shinian was a fool who knew nothing. He complained that Zhu Shinian's place was shabby and his bed too small—but that was only because he saw it as home.

He had done many things wrong, had made Zhu Shinian suffer a little grievance, but he truly loved Zhu Shinian, truly wanted to spend the rest of his life with him.

At this hour, the capital was bumper-to-bumper. By the time he finally arrived at Zhu Shinian's doorstep, the car had barely stopped before Gu Zhen was out the door, practically storming into the building.

The room was dead quiet. The lights were off, the curtains drawn. There was no trace of pheromones.

And no sign of Zhu Shinian.

Gu Zhen was a bit stunned. He didn't know where Zhu Shinian could be at this hour. He anxiously pulled out his phone and called.

He felt a little better when Zhu Shinian picked up quickly.

"Where did you go alone? You haven't even gone into heat yet. Why go so far?"

"...Just wanted to get out for a bit," there was a strong wind noise on Zhu Shinian's end, his voice muffled. The city wouldn't have wind like that—he must be in the northern suburbs, "Just wandered here."

Normally, Gu Zhen would have started scolding him. But considering how much he had wronged him lately, and how Zhu Shinian wasn't the willful type, he couldn't bring himself to get angry.

"Where are you? Send me your pin," Gu Zhen took a deep breath. "I'll come get you."

Zhu Shinian did not refuse. He quickly sent a pin. Gu Zhen took a look—it was a cemetery in the northern suburbs.

Zhu Shinian was a man of few words. When he was upset or lost, he would go there, sit by his family's graves, and talk to them.

When he got there, Zhu Shinian was already waiting at the cemetery entrance. The wind was strong, flapping his trench coat like a gray, dusty leaf.

When the wind hit him, he instinctively hunched his shoulders—whether from cold or just feeling unwell, it was hard to tell.

Gu Zhen took two more steps, then stopped in his tracks.

On the gland at the back of Zhu Shinian's neck, there was no suppressant patch. Instead, there was fresh medical gauze, neatly applied, clearly just changed.

Medical gauze like that is only used after a mark has been washed off.

"Are you out of your mind?" Gu Zhen almost couldn't control himself and raised his voice at him.

"Do you have any idea how much damage washing a mark does to your body? Do you hate me that much? So eager to wash off the mark, so eager to have nothing to do with me?"

Zhu Shinian was even paler than usual. He opened his mouth, but didn't answer right away.

No mark anymore, Zhu Shinian wanted to say. Just like before, when we were together—no other alpha's mark, no other alpha's scent.

In fact, when Gu Zhen marked him that day, he had already wanted to say that he could go wash off Jiang Huaiyan's mark.

"You wash it off once," but Gu Zhen was the first to grit out through his teeth, "and I'll mark you once. How many times do you think your body can be marked by me?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the air seemed to be abruptly sucked out of the space, and Gu Zhen himself froze.

Zhu Shinian, however, didn't immediately retort.

After a moment, he slowly raised his hand, pulling the collar at the side of his neck down a little—the movement was light, but there was no hesitation.

The collar was pulled aside, and he tilted his head slightly, revealing the clean line of his neck. The medical gauze on his gland was fully exposed under the streetlight at the cemetery entrance.

"Then please mark me," Zhu Shinian said.

Author's note: