A Cannon Fodder Who Became The Future Queen - Chapter 26

Shen Zhiyu’s left hand tightly gripped the bow handle. A little while ago, Ji Ping’an had wrapped two or three layers of grayish-brown cloth there, making it more comfortable to hold.

Her arms were held straight, and her elegant shoulder line was on full display, highlighting her slender and tall figure.

Shen Zhiyu’s gaze was still calm and focused ahead. She was so composed, as if nothing could cause the slightest ripple within her.

The arrow was nocked on the taut string. The moment she let go, the arrow would shoot toward its target at an incredibly fast speed.

I had to admit, Shen Zhiyu’s posture for both pulling the bow and shooting the arrow was exceptionally beautiful.

Of course, if the arrow at this very moment wasn’t aimed at me, I would have found it even more beautiful.

A gentle breeze blew by, rustling the leaves and branches. A single ray of sunlight pierced through the dense trees and landed right on the arrow.

The sharp arrowhead reflected a dazzling white light that made it impossible to see anything in front of me. I instinctively closed my eyes.

For a moment, I thought Shen Zhiyu had shot the arrow.

When the blinding light passed and my eyes adjusted, I could slowly see what was happening.

Shen Zhiyu’s hand was still on the arrow, but her eyes now held a hint of amusement, as if she were observing my reaction.

Suisui was standing between us, a little confused, not knowing what was happening.

The fish in the basket was still struggling, turning over with all its might and continuing to flop its tail.

There was no one else by the river. The water gurgled as it flowed from upstream, and occasionally, a bird would chirp. The flowers at our feet bloomed in vibrant colors, full of life.

The only thing was that when we stopped talking, it became a bit too quiet.

I broke the silence. I looked at the arrowhead that occasionally glinted with a cold light. For some reason, the nervousness, fear, surprise, and shock I had felt a moment ago had all disappeared, replaced by a sense of calm.

I shifted my gaze a fraction of an inch to meet Shen Zhiyu’s and asked in a normal tone, “Sister Jiu, did you see some prey?”

When I said this, Suisui blinked and understood what Sister Jiu was doing.

She was trying to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow to hunt, just like her older sister. But she didn’t seem to see any rabbits or other prey.

Suisui no longer looked at us. Her curiosity shifted to finding prey. She began to carefully observe her surroundings, looking for any movement in the grass.

Shen Zhiyu’s hand on the bow handle moved slightly, and she went along with my words. “I’ve been watching for a long time. I did see some prey.”

When Qianyuan had tried to mark her by force, Shen Zhiyu had the thought of killing her—more than once.

When Qianyuan called a doctor for her, when she said she couldn’t let her leave, when she cooked the wild rabbit, when she offered to apply medicine for her…

Even in her dreams, Shen Zhiyu would occasionally think about it.

She had gone from initial anger and powerlessness to slowly calming down and making concrete plans.

Shen Zhiyu had looked at every corner of the room, but there were no lethal weapons. No swords, no knives, not even a slightly large rock that wasn’t piled up by the door.

She had also seriously considered whether to escape in the chaos of a busy county town after killing her, or to leave in the middle of the night to avoid everyone in the village.

Shen Zhiyu had been waiting for the right moment.

And now, the moment she had been waiting for had arrived.

The forest was empty. All she had to do was let go of her finger, and the sharp arrow would shoot out with great force, heading straight for the other person’s head. Flesh and bl00d would splatter, and no one would be able to stop her from leaving.

The prey she had been watching for so long had finally revealed its fatal weakness at this moment.

The system panel in my mind had been shaking frantically for who knows how long. Even its original transparent color was changing.

It was clearly unable to make a sound, but I could feel its urgency, as if it was terrified that Shen Zhiyu would release the arrow.

But I seemed to have no idea of the danger. I ignored the system and only asked the person in front of me, “Have you used a bow and arrow before?”

Had she used a bow and arrow before?

In the time since Shen Zhiyu had woken up, she had not touched a bow and arrow.

But just now, the moment Shen Zhiyu picked up the bow, her muscle memory told her how to pull the bow, nock the arrow, and how to shoot it to cause the most damage to the target. She must have used a bow and arrow before.

She didn’t answer my question. She just looked at me, wondering if I was truly foolish or just pretending.

I spoke as if I were genuinely teaching a beginner. “Separate your feet a little more. You can straighten your left arm a bit more, and relax the shoulder you’re using to pull the bow. The arrow will go much farther.”

Suisui, who had been looking around for a while without finding any prey, also began to listen intently to what I was saying.

She even looked up at the bow and arrow in Shen Zhiyu’s hand, wanting to try it herself.

“Of course, the most important thing is,” I said, still standing firmly in place. I paused for a moment, then said, “Don’t miss the opportunity.”

If you want to hit your prey, you can’t hesitate, because the prey will escape.

And it will fight back.

This was my opportunity. I could take the bow and arrow from her, pressing my elbow hard against her slender neck, and the sharp arrowhead would be aimed at her face instead.

We were both testing each other.

As soon as I finished speaking, Shen Zhiyu released her hand. The arrow on the string shot out, moving very fast, slicing through the air between us like a sharp blade.

Before I could even blink, I felt the arrowhead fly past my ear, and I could clearly hear the sound of it cutting through the air. A single strand of hair floated down from beside my ear.

Thump.

The arrow was shot with great force, firmly embedding itself in the ground. Only the still-shaking fletching gave a reminder of what had just happened.

Suisui quickly ran to the arrow. After pulling it out with all her might, her childlike voice was full of regret. “Sister, there’s nothing on the arrow.”

I hummed in agreement, reaching out to brush the strand of hair from my shoulder.

There was no hint of alarm in my voice, as if the person who had just been inches from death wasn’t me.

“Sister Jiu is shooting a bow for the first time, just like it was my first time catching a fish. There will always be mistakes.”

I said this to Suisui, but my eyes never left Shen Zhiyu. “Isn’t that right?”

“Mhm!” Suisui brought the arrow back. “Sister Jiu will definitely hit something if she tries a few more times.”

I, the prey in question, finally let out a laugh. I thought to myself, I really don’t want to experience a scene this thrilling a second time.

But I still took two steps to stand beside Shen Zhiyu and asked, “Sister Jiu, do you want to try again?”

After the arrow was shot, the tension in Shen Zhiyu’s shoulders finally relaxed. The bow she was holding was lowered and hung by her left side.

Hearing me, she turned her head to look at me. Our eyes met.

My eyes were still as clear and transparent as the flowing water in front of us.

Shen Zhiyu had always thought she understood me, but in that moment, she realized she had never seen through me at all.

She handed the heavy bow and arrow to me and said, “Next time.”

[Target’s favorability +1]

“Okay.” I took the somewhat heavy bow and arrow from her.

The tense atmosphere began to lighten up again. The sun was incredibly warm on our skin, and the river sparkled, reflecting a pale golden light.

After catching the fish, we walked along the river and into the forest, gathering some wild vegetables and mushrooms.

Suisui walked in front. She was very familiar with where wild vegetables grew and found many dense and tender ones.

We gathered a lot of wild vegetables like bracken, turnips, and water celery. The temperature had risen a lot in the last few days, and I even found a flowering wild locust tree on the path.

I stopped and asked, “Suisui, Sister Jiu, have you ever eaten locust flowers?”

Shen Zhiyu’s eyes fell on the tree in front of us. Clusters of small white flowers hung densely on the branches. Up close, there was a faint scent of locust flowers, but the feeling it gave her was very foreign.

As for eating them, that was even more impossible.

Suisui had eaten them when she was hungry, but she had only added some water and wild vegetables to cook them. They didn’t have much flavor.

So she said, “Sister, I don’t think they taste good.”

I raised an eyebrow slightly. “Then wait until I make them for you. They’ll definitely be delicious.”

When I saw the locust flowers, I had already decided what to make, but I didn’t have all the ingredients yet.

“I’ll go to the city to buy a piece of pork another day. Then I’ll make locust flower and water celery buns and steamed locust flowers for you.”

Suisui blinked and asked curiously, “Will we need meat for that?”

Although she didn’t know how I would make them, her intuition told her that they would be very delicious.

It was the same with the rice last time. I had cooked the vegetables and rice together, and the flavor was exceptionally good. Just thinking about it made her mouth water.

“That’s right. Buns with meat will taste even better,” I said, remembering the location of this locust tree. “We won’t pick the flowers today. We’ll come back for fresher ones when we’re ready to eat them.”

As we walked further, we saw a lot of mushrooms growing on the ground.

“Sister, there are so many here, but I don’t know if they’re poisonous.”

Mushrooms were common in the forest, but Suisui rarely picked them.

She had heard that some people in the village had eaten poisonous mushrooms, and not even the doctor could save them.

I squatted down beside her and taught her how to identify them one by one. “You can pick these. They’re very delicious.”

The ones at our feet were common boletes. Their caps were thick. Next to them grew gray tree fungus, hazel mushrooms, and chanterelles. They were all delicious for stir-frying, making soup, or braising with meat.

I was familiar with these mushrooms from my previous life and only picked the ones I could identify. I would ignore any mushrooms I didn’t recognize.

“Edible mushrooms generally have a lighter color. Look, the ones growing here are all white and brownish-gray. If you see any with spots or bright colors like red, green, or blue, don’t pick them.”

“Also, edible mushrooms usually don’t have a smell, but poisonous mushrooms might have a sour or foul odor…”

As I was speaking, I was just trying to entertain the child. Of course, I wouldn’t let her pick mushrooms by herself.

But before I could finish my sentence, I heard Suisui ask curiously, “Sister, is the mushroom Sister Jiu is holding poisonous?”

I looked up and saw Shen Zhiyu holding a mushroom she had just picked.

It had a red cap and a white stem, looking exactly like a typical poisonous mushroom. It was a perfect specimen.

“…”

I said, “Yes.”

Shen Zhiyu said, “…”

She quickly threw the mushroom away, a look of unease on her face.

When she was picking the mushroom, her mind was on me shooting the arrow. She hadn’t listened carefully to how I said to identify poisonous mushrooms.

I couldn’t help but curve my lips into a smile. “So, Suisui, remember, don’t just pick mushrooms to eat. Remember to call me.”

Then I looked at the person next to me and added, “You too, Sister Jiu.”

In fact, Shen Zhiyu worried me even more than Suisui.

When we had picked enough mushrooms, we walked back the way we came.

Perhaps it was because I was with her today, but Suisui was exceptionally happy. She would occasionally look for the mushrooms I had just taught her to recognize, and she seemed much livelier than before.

I walked behind them, with Shen Zhiyu walking beside me. Suisui wasn’t paying much attention to either of us.

I looked at her and asked, “Why didn’t you hit the prey just now?”

A hunter could miss a shot, and I could miss a fish, but a person who could pull a bow and shoot an arrow couldn’t possibly miss a target just two meters away.

“It’s my first time shooting an arrow. It’s normal,” Shen Zhiyu said calmly.

I drew out my words. “Is that so?”

An arrow that could so precisely graze my ear without even touching my skin, only breaking a single strand of hair, was a clear sign of superb archery skills.

“It is,” Shen Zhiyu replied nonchalantly, then looked into my eyes and said, “It’s also possible that I didn’t see the prey.”

Could a person with a terrible character and a drinking problem suddenly learn how to hunt and cook?

Could a person who has always been a bully and hung out with scoundrels not even blink when an arrow is shot at her?

She had thought she understood me well enough, but now she realized that she was the one who was transparent, and I was the one who couldn’t be seen through.

It was in that moment that Shen Zhiyu felt I had a bigger secret.

So when her arrow was about to be shot, she moved her wrist slightly.

The system’s restrictions were very strong. I couldn’t even express my agreement. I could only say, “So, you’re not going to try again?”

I had definitely been gambling just now, gambling that a -25 favorability rating wouldn’t be enough for Shen Zhiyu to kill me, and gambling that all my efforts these past few days hadn’t been for nothing.

Shen Zhiyu said, “That’s not for me to decide.”

I blinked. “Then who decides?”

Shen Zhiyu looked at me, her lips parting as she said, “You.”

If I could maintain my current behavior, she wouldn’t kill me for now.

Of course, it was only “for now.”

If I still had the idea of marking her, or if I were to bully or beat her and Suisui like I did that night, Shen Zhiyu would no longer hesitate.

If she could find an opportunity to kill me the first time, she could find a second one.

I, however, smiled, feeling relieved. “Then both of us should be able to relax.”

I wasn’t the original owner, so I naturally wouldn’t do anything bad to Shen Zhiyu again. Shen Zhiyu could rest assured.

And now that Shen Zhiyu had given me a promise that as long as I behaved myself, she wouldn’t try to kill me, I no longer had to live in fear of someone coming to kill me in the middle of the night.

Shen Zhiyu said, “Let’s hope so.”

I smiled. Only one thought remained in my mind: The next time I go to the county town, I can finally buy a meat cleaver!

I no longer have to tear vegetables with my hands and struggle to chop melons with a spatula!

******

The weather was good, so there were very few people at home in the village. Some went to the fields to check on their crops, while others, like us, gathered mushrooms and wild vegetables.

Some also took apart their winter quilts, took out the cotton, and laid it out to dry. The remaining cloth was stitched together to make a quilt for spring and summer.

My popularity had also gotten a lot better recently. People would greet me on the road nonstop.

We passed a house where a man in his twenties, wearing a long green shirt, was standing outside. He was holding a book and mumbling something to himself.

“To command a nation, one must not rely on the borders of its territories, nor the dangers of mountains and rivers to secure the country, nor the sharpness of weapons to intimidate the world.”

“A person who receives little help will have his own relatives turn against him; a person who receives much help will be followed by the world.” 

“…”

The man’s voice was full of dramatic pauses. When he read the text, his head would sway back and forth. I couldn’t tell what he was reading, but I glanced at the book in his hand.

Unfortunately, the characters were different from the ones in my original world, so I couldn’t tell what the book was called.

My gaze was quite obvious. The man noticed me looking and immediately frowned. “Ji Ping’an? What are you doing at my house again?”

“I’m telling you, as long as I’m here, you will not see my sister.”

I was stunned for a moment before I remembered who the man was.

His name was Qin Chang, and he was the only educated person in Daliu Village. People would come to Qin Chang whenever they needed to write a letter or have one read to them.

He had also passed the county-level examination and was a tongsheng (a certified student).

In the future, as long as he passed the prefectural examination, he would become a xiucai (a scholar). He would not only be exempt from taxes but would also receive a monthly stipend of food and money from the county government.

But before becoming a xiucai, he wouldn’t get any of that, so the Qin family was not rich.

Paper, ink, and inkstones were very expensive in this era. To lessen his family’s burden, Qin Chang would go to the county library to do some copying work whenever he had time.

The original owner of my body had set her sights on Qin Chang’s Kunze sister and would often come to harass her when no one in the Qin family was home, saying vulgar things.

Qin Chang’s sister was timid and afraid of causing trouble for her family, so she never told them. One time, however, Qin Chang returned early from the county library and found out about it.

He gave the original owner a harsh scolding and threatened to report her to the county office. Only then did the original owner restrain herself, but Qin Chang held a deep grudge against her.

Hearing the word “sister,” Shen Zhiyu looked at me with eyes full of questions, “Who is her sister?”

I pursed my lips and said softly to her, “It’s all a misunderstanding!”

Then I looked at Qin Chang and said, “I’m really not here to see your sister. I was just curious about the book you’re reading.”

How could Qin Chang believe me? He snorted, thinking I was just making an excuse.

He had been in the county town for the past few days and had just returned to the village yesterday, where he heard a lot of people talking about me.

Qin Chang detested me, but he was worried that I would come to harass his sister, so he asked a few more questions.

Who knew that when he asked about me, the village aunties would grab him and talk for two hours, from sunrise to sunset?

“That girl from the Ji family has really changed for the better. She can even go up the mountain to hunt now. I heard the village chief even bought wild game from her not long ago.”

“It’s true. I often see her going up the mountain to hunt in the morning.”

“It’s good to have a Kunze in the family. Look at how well that person from the Ji family is doing now with her… “

Qin Chang was full of questions. He finally managed to get a word in and asked, “The Ji Ping’an you’re talking about, is she the one I know?”

When he said this, the aunties all laughed. “Is there any other Ji Ping’an in our village? Of course, it’s her!”

Then they began to tell Qin Chang how I confronted the Zhang family man and protected my sister and Kunze, and their words were full of praise.

Even though Qin Chang had listened for a long time, he still didn’t believe it.

It turns out his disbelief was right. Here I was again, coming to find his sister.

Reading a book? Even if he gave the book to me upside down, this hoodlum wouldn’t be able to read it.

Thinking this, he couldn’t help but say, “If you can read a book, then my pigs can climb trees!”

I felt that what he said was a problem. “Do you have any pigs? And can they climb trees?”

Qin Chang, who hadn’t eaten pork for almost half a year, was left speechless. “…”

She’s still that same hoodlum. Her ability to anger people is top-notch!

Qin Chang wanted to say something, but his skill at arguing was poor. His face turned red from being unable to speak. In the end, he could only say two words: “Hoodlum!”

I almost burst out laughing but still explained to him, “As for what happened before, just think of me as young and ignorant. But I really am not here to find your sister today, and I won’t come looking for her again. You can rest assured.”

I pointed to the basket on my back and then gestured toward my house. “We just went to the river. We’re just passing by on our way home.”

I could understand Qin Chang’s desire to protect his sister, but I wasn’t going to let him slander me for something I didn’t do.

It was then that Qin Chang noticed that I was with two other people.

“Sister, are we going home?” Suisui tugged on my hand.

She could tell that the man in front of her had a bad attitude toward me, and she didn’t like it.

“Let’s go home,” I said, rubbing her head.

“You…”

Qin Chang wanted to say something more, but he could only watch as my back disappeared.

He frowned and squeezed the book in his hand. Could he have really misunderstood?

*****

On the other side.

After we walked out of Qin Chang’s house, Shen Zhiyu looked at me. “Did you bully him?”

My eyes were sincere. “Of course not! Don’t you know what kind of person I am now?”

What the original owner did had nothing to do with me. I felt that I couldn’t possibly admit it.

Shen Zhiyu’s eyes shifted slightly. “I really don’t know.”

I was good at creating favorable conditions for myself. “Then just think of me as a good person.”

Then I asked her curiously, “Do you know what he was reading just now?”

“To command a nation, one must not rely on the borders of its territories, nor the dangers of mountains and rivers to secure the country…”

Shen Zhiyu stopped halfway through and looked at me. “Can you understand it?”

I said very dishonestly, “I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I can understand what you’re saying.”

Now that I knew Shen Zhiyu wouldn’t try to kill me, I became even bolder and just said whatever came to mind.

Shen Zhiyu: “…”

“Then tell me what it means.”

I: “…”

I had only heard a bunch of gibberish. How would I know what it meant?

I coughed and stiffly changed the subject. “Um, if you like reading, why don’t you tell me the name of the book, and I can bring you a copy from the county town another day?”

Shen Zhiyu hadn’t expected me to say anything, so she casually said a book title. Nine Lands.

I noted it down and asked curiously, “What kind of book is it?”

Shen Zhiyu was stunned for a moment. The words she was about to say were left hanging on her lips.

It was a book on military strategy.