Hearing this, the corner of Hua's mouth twitched slightly.
"I just understand him better than most. Instead of being evasive and making him suspicious, it's better to bring it up proactively, dispel his doubts, and use the information gap to keep hiding it for a bit longer."
That was someone who could look at a bowl of thin porridge and let his thoughts drift all the way to the edge of the universe.
Hua could only go along with the guardian's train of thought the whole time, saying things he liked to hear, things he wanted to hear.
For example, killing an Aeon. And for example, Marty.
He had already mentioned Daiyang, and it was obvious that the next thing he was going to ask about was Marty. If she avoided the topic again, wouldn't that just be a case of "the more you explain, the more suspicious you look"?
The chief strategist was still uneasy. "Why don't you do another psychological evaluation?"
Hua let out a deep sigh.
"Even Lord Imbibitor Lunae, whom he specifically pointed out as having problems, didn't test as having any issues. What problems could I possibly have?"
Chief Strategist, "...If he thinks there's a problem, then there really is a problem."
Hua didn't take this to heart.
Growing up, she saw Aeons every few days. After she grew up, her guardian pushed her into a high position. What kind of scenes hadn't she seen?
After the guardian left together with Akivili, when Hua was unsure about certain matters and went to ask him for advice, she got a single reply.
[Zero: Busy. Message me again when the Aeons are attacking the Xianzhou.]
———
The next day, when the guardian was no longer busy, he answered Hua's questions.
Having a guardian like that… Hua felt that no matter how outrageous something was, she could accept it calmly.
Considering that for thousands of years the Xianzhou had never interfered in the internal affairs of the Vidyadhara, Hua did not forcibly require all Dragon Sovereigns to suspend duties and rest.
With three Emanators stationed on the Luofu, whether Lord Imbibitor Lunae went to the battlefield or not, nothing would happen to him.
Of course, the one with the greatest destructive power was still her own guardian, who at the slightest provocation wanted to kill an Aeon for fun.
Compared to that Lord Imbibitor Lunae, who seemed highly problematic yet had no flaws that could be pinpointed, the guardian was clearly the one who needed closer attention.
That said, Hua wasn't unconcerned about this Dragon Sovereign who had contributed so much to the Xianzhou.
Unlike her guardian, she couldn't go without sleep.
Hua only focused her energy on official duties, and in her spare time paid some attention to the generals of the various Xianzhou.
She wouldn't, like her guardian, concern herself with every little detail or dote on all her subordinates.
What Hua could do was instruct each Xianzhou to pay more attention to the Cloud Knights and the Dragon Sovereigns before battle, and then have her subordinates assign more healers to accompany them to the front lines.
Anyone who developed psychological issues after battle would be directly suspended from duty and sent to the Alchemy Commission for treatment.
Thinking about it, Hua guessed that part of her guardian's terrible mental state was due to never receiving psychological counseling after battles.
If in this lifetime he had been a Cloud Knight, Hua could have justifiably sent him to the Alchemy Commission for treatment.
But he'd been sick for thousands of years now. Even if they brought in the most experienced psychologists in the entire star sea, it probably wouldn't help much.
The guardian had an extremely rigorous and irrefutable logic system. Once he started chatting with them, there was a high chance he'd end up giving that psychologist a mental illness instead.
Hua reined in her thoughts and said calmly, "Oh, and about the Cangcheng incident, if it really can't be investigated any further, then change direction and investigate the jade communicators and the neutron guns."
The jade communicators carried by Xianzhou people could monitor their physical condition at all times.
Neutron guns, on the other hand, were weapons that had been sealed away for a long time.
The chief strategist hesitated. "You're suspecting..."
Before he could finish speaking, the jade communicator on the table chimed.
Hua casually picked it up and glanced at the message she'd received.
It was a promotional advertisement from the Interastral Peace Corporation, looking no different from the messages she usually received.
If it hadn't been an ad for a birthday cake, she might not have kept reading.
Hua fell into thought, and a completely baseless guess suddenly arose in her mind.
She tapped on the jade communicator and, for the first time, replied to a mass-sent advertisement.
[When he was here, he celebrated my birthday with me]
Very quickly, Hua received a reply.
[Sorry]
She lowered her eyes and stared at the message containing only those two words.
After the guardian passed away, the "Reignbow Arbiter" came to the Xianzhou at the first possible moment and informed Hua and the chief strategist of the matter.
Considering how special the timing of the guardian's death was, she and the chief strategist decided to conceal it.
They hid it from everyone without encountering any resistance.
During that time, she and the Xianzhou generals could still receive messages from the guardian.
Hua had originally thought that this was because the guardian had deliberately left behind contingencies, which was why everything went so smoothly. But today, she began to feel suspicious. Now it seemed… it might not necessarily have been the guardian's doing.
She withdrew her gaze and looked at the chief strategist.
"I remember he once told me that Marty was a simple and kind person."
The chief strategist had spent a long time with the former marshal and was already used to the other party's overly jumpy way of thinking. Now that his immediate superior had changed to Hua, interacting with her made the chief strategist feel very relaxed.
If being with the former superior was hell, then working with Hua was like being in heaven.
Facing Hua's seemingly out-of-the-blue question, the chief strategist quickly reacted and replied, "Marty can't hide things. Whatever he's thinking, others can tell at a glance."
"Rather than simple, he's more like slow, so slow that he can't sense the malice of the people around him. Because of that, he even made time to personally select colleagues for Marty… As for kindness, that part is true."
Hua couldn't help but sigh. "This is really… surprising. As expected of someone he took a liking to."
If the truth was as she suspected… then she didn't need to worry too much about the guardian's mental state.
Whether Marty was still alive or not, no matter what contingencies he had left behind…
Even separated by time and life and death, Hua's goal and his had always been the same.
Thinking this, Hua pulled herself back to the present, glanced at the time on the jade communicator, and stood up decisively.
She was not like her guardian. When it was time to get off work, it was time to get off work.
Unfortunately, that person would probably be pulling an all-nighter today.
'At this hour… he was probably reading psychology books, right? Maybe he hadn't even finished the first one yet?'
With a hint of schadenfreude, Hua thought this to herself.
———
Just as Hua had expected, after receiving the document, Zero skimmed through it at lightning speed, then left the courtyard with a decanter and a wine glass, went to the study, and started looking for books.
Zero had an extremely clear understanding of himself. He couldn't truly put himself in someone else's shoes.
To avoid making an incorrect judgment about any sentence in the document, he decided to pick out a few psychology books and read them before looking at the document again.
Zero casually picked up a book. After reading each chapter, he would take a few sips of wine.
When he flipped to the chapter on love, he originally wanted to skip it, but then he thought of Jingliu's actions that always went beyond his expectations, so he could only grit his teeth and keep reading.
The book said that liking and loving were different emotions. The difference was that love involved attachment, altruism, and intimacy.
There were many forms of love, such as love at first sight and love that grew over time. Among them, there was a type of person who had an extremely strong sense of possession over their lover and would always suspect their lover of being with someone else.
Zero realized something.
He was different from other people. He didn't worry at all about Jingliu being with anyone else.
For example, Dan Feng. Or Yingxing. Zero didn't care in the slightest.
The current him might not be the marshal anymore, but that didn't mean he didn't have a brain.
Zero understood Jingliu's character, as well as the character of those two. There was no way they would do anything that crossed the line.
Thinking about it, trying to make him imitate a normal person would be asking too much of him.
He decisively skipped this chapter and continued reading, until he had finished all the wine in the decanter, yet still hadn't finished the book.
Zero flipped to the last page and looked at the word count, 1.3 million words.
Zero, "..."
'How long was this supposed to take to finish?!'
He put down the book and decided to take a shower to relax.
After showering, Zero changed into a bathrobe, towel on his head, picked up the jade communicator on the table, and checked the time, four in the morning.
At this hour, Jingliu might already be up, getting ready to start sword practice?
As expected, Jingliu was awake and took the initiative to send him a message, asking whether he had time to meet today.
Zero didn't think too much about it and casually replied, then ordered some takeout.
If Lan really had any humanity, He wouldn't be looking for him on a workday.
Zero had stayed up all night, and once it was time to go to work, he still had to head to the Divination Commission.
He let out a deep sigh, wiping his hair as he waited for the takeout.
When the time came, Zero got up, walked through the courtyard, and went to the door. What he saw wasn't the delivery person, but Jingliu.
Jingliu was holding the takeout, looking Zero up and down. Her tone made it impossible to tell whether she was pleased or displeased.
"You stayed up all night?"
"And you were drinking?"
"And you took a shower after drinking?"
Zero, "..."
No, he'd already showered. How could Jingliu still tell?