The Empress’s Gigolo

In a government office in Qingzhou.

The office was currently occupied by a group of elite soldiers dressed in green cotton armor.

The heads of the officials that were here originally were hanging in a row outside. At the same time, the dark red ice on the floor was gradually melting under the sunlight.

Su Qing, who was wearing a single layer of clothing, went outside and was awoken by a blast of cold wind.

After breakfast, Su Qing asked the guard casually, “Is Qing Lian still in her room?”

“Yes! She hasn’t left in two days!”

Su Qing raised his eyebrows. In accordance with their plan, Dingzhou, Qingzhou, and Pingzhou were in the middle of rebelling.

Although Great Xia was now at its weakest, it had been a dominant force for hundreds of years. This was something that was ingrained in the minds of its citizens.

Although he had been planning for many years, most of the volunteer soldiers were commoners who found life unbearable.

Those who were well trained were fewer than 10,000.

There were many things to take care of, and they had to take each step carefully.

However, since coming back from Dayao, not only did Qing Lian not share the burden, but she stayed in her room for up to a month. She spent her time reading books that nobody else could understand as well as drawing and writing every day.

Qing Lian seemed to have become a different person after her trip to Dayao.

Did something happen to her there?

After considering for a long time, Su Qing decided to talk to her.

In terms of knowledge and ideas, Qing Lian was a great help. Her lifespan was shorter than an ordinary warrior’s, she was a woman, and she was unlikely to be a threat to him.

He went to her room and knocked on the door.

There was no response.

However, he heard a slight knocking sound from inside.

“Qing Lian!” Su Qing raised his voice.

“Come in!” A pleasant female voice came from the room.

Upon opening the door, Su Qing saw a dishevelled looking Qing Lian sitting at the table and holding a needle. She threw it on the table and then recorded something on a piece of paper.

After that, she took the needle and threw it all over again.

Su Qing felt that she had gone crazy. He had never seen her in such an untidy state with dishevelled hair and a dirty face. When she occasionally turned her head, he could see her bloodshot eyes. It seemed like she hadn’t rested since the day before.

“What are you doing?” Su Qing went forward and asked. He saw a piece of paper on the table that was filled with horizontal lines.

Qing Lian was throwing a silver needle at it repeatedly.

“I’m researching a problem. These horizontal lines are two inches apart and the silver needle is one and a half inches long. What is the probability of the silver needle landing on a line.”

Qing Lian continued her throwing action as she spoke and soon gasped in wonder.

“After trying more than 3,000 times, the result is as mentioned in the book. It’s amazing!”

Su Qing said in a serious tone, “I have something to discuss with you.”

“Wait! I need to write down the remaining results first,” Qing Lian said without raising her head.

After a long while, Qing Lian put down her brush, stretched, leaned back against her chair, and said languidly, “What is the matter?”

“What are you doing every day?” Su Qing stood further away and looked at her.

“You will not understand even if I tell you!” Qing Lian said indolently. She even yawned.

Su Qing knitted his eyebrows even more tightly.

He had already told her once before, but Qing Lian replied the same way, making him upset.

“Important events are starting to happen. Since coming back from Dayao, you have been doing these things every day and totally stopped caring about other things. Qing Lian, don’t forget your agreement with me.” Su Qing pointed at the things on the table with disapproval.

This time, Qing Lian raised her head and looked at him attentively, “Well, do you think what I’m doing is useless?”

“That’s right!” Su Qing suppressed his anger and replied.

Qing Lian stood up from her chair, walked to the window, and stretched out her hand. A cold blue light flashed as a sword appeared in her hand.

She turned to look at Su Qing and said, “I know you have a technique set called [Opening the Rain Gates]. Why not use it against me and see whether I can block it? My back will be facing you!”

“Are you crazy?” Su Qing turned green.

“Whether I’m crazy or not, try it and you will know. Aren’t you trying to find out what I’m doing every day?” Qing Lian crinkled her eyes into crescents and smiled.

Su Qing grew even angrier when he saw her smiling.

How dare a sword slave like her, who depended on a sword and had no other ability, look down on him?

“Wait!” Qing Lian suddenly shouted before continuing, “We better go outside and fight. It would be a shame if these things got damaged.”

This made Su Qing even angrier, but he still restrained himself and retorted, “Fine!”

Although he wasn’t as powerful as Qing Lian, he decided to teach her a lesson if she was going to try to block his move with her back facing him.

The two of them left the room.

Qing Lian stood in the middle of the courtyard, held her sword upside down while facing away from Su Qing, and said, “Start your move.”

“Be careful!” Su Qing warned her.

[Opening the Rain Gates] was one of the three killing techniques from his clan. As the name implied, it was like rain coming from heaven.

Su Qing didn’t appear to carry any weapons, but suddenly, tens of thousands of silver bristles shot out from his hand. It was like a heavy rain heading for Qing Lian.

Even an ant would have trouble finding shelter from this rain, let alone a human.

Silver streaks came from the sword that was held upside down in her right hand. Sounds resembling pearls rattling in a basin and sounds resembling a plucked pipa were ringing out in midair.

When Su Qing saw that Qing Lian wasn’t budging an inch, he turned pale and said with a startled look, “Impossible. How did you do this?”

This was one of the three killing techniques from his clan, and it had defeated countless experts. How was it possible for Qing Lian to counter it when her back was facing him?

With some perspiration on her forehead, Qing Lian sheathed her sword excitedly and said proudly, “I calculated it. This mathematical method is really amazing! Your [Opening the Rain Gates] seems to come directly from the sky, but it follows a sequential path that obeys an underlying rule. As long as I can calculate the probability of the path of every drop, I can counter your move.”

Su Qing listened with bewilderment.

“Obviously, it’s easy to say, but the calculations are troublesome. To calculate the path of the drops based on your angle of attack and your wrist movements is tedious. I know you very well, so I calculated your move beforehand and was able to block it. If other people were to use this move on me, I wouldn’t be able to do the calculations in such a short amount of time.”

Qing Lian softened her tone in order to pacify Su Qing.

Otherwise, the old geezer from his clan would find every way to kill her.

Su Qing’s face was green because he had almost been frightened to death. It was simply terrifying that his move had been blocked by a person facing away from him.

He was dubious of the explanation given by Qing Lian.

He finally let out a long breath after a long time.

“Even so, the most important thing now is the uprising. The previous generation has planned for many years and we have been preparing for so long, not to mention those who put their lives on the line. Do you know what is important?”

In a blink, Qing Lian said cheerfully, “This can easily be done. Send all the information to my room and I will give you a report in three days.”

Three days later, Su Qing received a stack of papers that was filled with data.

The time required for the court to recruit soldiers, the amount of soldiers and rations, the response time of the court, and the dispatching of commanders to various places were reported in terms of percentages based on probability.

Even the number of soldiers needed to attack a route, the time required, and the probability of success were reported in percentages.

Su Qing had only one question after reading everything. How was this possible?

How did she do it?

How realistic were these projections?

At this time, Qing Lian was sleeping soundly in her room. She was rather tired.

In her arms, she was tightly hugging a book titled Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics .

“Well, if he wasn’t claimed by that woman, I would certainly snatch him! Then, all the books would be mine… Hehe!”