The Empress’ Livestream

Jiang Pengji leaned against the carriage, arms folded to her chest.

Xu Ke felt uncomfortable, not knowing where to place his hands.

“However, that girl is quite silly and also quite obstinate. You know what she chose to stay in Hejian County for, don’t you?”

Xu Ke remained silent out of shyness, having no idea how to respond. He hadn’t known the reason why she chose to stay, but as soon as his langjun had said so, as smart as he was, he instantly understood. Xunmei stayed in Hejian County mostly to take care of his aunt. Xunmei’s character, like her name, was indeed gentle and kind.

“Seems you understand that…” Jiang Pengji slapped him on the shoulder, giggling. “If you like Xunmei, come and ask for my promise. If you don’t like her, you had better make up your mind, so as not to waste that nice girl’s time…”

Xu Ke smiled helplessly. His langjun’s temperament was rather unexpected.

The audience in the streaming room witnessed the whole scene. Many of them had been expecting Jiang Pengji and Xu Ke to get together, so they felt a sharp pain in their hearts.

Streamer, you’re not even a qualified time traveler, okay? Besides, when did Xunmei and Xu Ke hook up?

“I understand.” Xu Ke bowed with hands folded in front of him. His head was low as always, which revealed his slightly red ears.

After a moment of rest, the group of people had been engorged, so they set out once again.

The area surrounding Hejian County was becoming more dangerous, for they had to face not only man-made dangers, but also natural dangers.

The distance between stations was not fixed. Sometimes it would take half a day to march from one station to the next, while other times it would take three or four days. Luckily, the wagons were filled with rice and water, so the group of more than fifty people would not have to ration so strictly.

Marching forwards continuously was very dull. After five or six days, even Xu Ke, who had been weak, was getting used to the bumpy carriage. Although pale as ever, he was better than he had been at the onset of the journey. By comparison, his adaptability was lower than that of Taxue, who was a courtyard girl.

In such circumstances, the live streaming was boring as hell. Seeing the course of the ancient trip with their own eyes, they didn’t envy Jiang Pengji for such a display of splendor. To them, it was a torture.

Bingtang Ningmeng: “I was quite envious at first, but now I have nothing left but heartache. I live on the prairie. I’ve ridden horses before. I know how tiring it is to ride a horse for a long time and I can only imagine how bumpy it is to sit in a carriage… Modern society is better.”

Tianxia Wudi: “You all are staring at the streamer and the carriage. Am I the only one who feels bad for the bodyguards journeying on foot? I counted. Each of them has worn out seven or eight pairs of straw sandals. I saw a man sitting on the ground picking blisters on his feet while he was resting.”

Nide Yida: “The commenter before me, you’ve answered my question. When I came into this streaming room, I was bewildered as to why the guards were carrying a bunch of straw sandals on their shoulders. I wondered if they had woven straw sandals to sell… Now I know. It is just sad.”

Laosiji Lianmeng: “I remember when I was in my senior year of high school. My school organized a hiking activity. The whole grade of students went up and down the hill on their feet for about twenty kilometers and many of them didn’t regain their energy for a week. These guards have traveled far further in the past few days than we did hiking and they have taken turns watching at night. A group of people living in the wilderness… it’s really tough. I know for myself, as long as I have a band card or a cell phone in my hands, and money in my bank account, I can take a trip whenever I wish.”

But in ancient times, that was almost impossible.

“I have already drank all the water in the water pouch. I wonder if there is a water source nearby…” Liu She took a bite of a dry, hard biscuit, getting not even the slightest taste. The water pouch in his hand was empty.

The guards, seemingly relaxed, sat in twos and threes; all of them were alert to their surroundings.

“I’ll send someone to look for water. Father, you should rest in the carriage.” Jiang Pengji took his water pouch and ordered several guards that were in a relatively good state to find clean water.

She was free to refuse if she wished, but due to her experience of surviving in the wild, she was the best fit to go with them. She could find the water faster, while avoiding the dangers that lurked in the woods. No one could ever judge her efficiency.

Each person had several water pouches. If they could fill them all at one time, it might support them until they reached the next station.

Jiang Pengji had a long knife attached to her waist. It was sharp and straight. If she were less beautiful and taller, she would look more handsome. She raised her hand to chop off the bushes around them and cleared a path.

“There’s a stream a half a mile ahead…” Jiang Pengji said resolutely. “It’s not winter yet, so snakes, rats, and ants are all active…”

Before she finished her words, she jerked her wrist and held the black knife backhand. The sword went deep into the trunk behind one of the guards and scared him stiff. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he tried not to move a muscle.

Her breath was a little heavy from too much walking. “It’s a poisonous snake.”

Then all the guards saw that the tip of the knife was stained with blood. A poisonous snake, which blended in with the tree trunk, had a triangular head and brown skin and was nailed to the tree trunk, twitching slowly.

Had it not been for Jiang Pengji’s swift action of killing it with the knife, its wide open teeth might have sunk deep into the guard’s neck.

“Be careful!” Jiang Pengji withdrew the knife. Her expression was cold as always, but she also emitted an indescribable sense of security.

After stumbling for half a mile, they heard the gurgling of a stream, as expected. The guards looked at her in awe and adoration.

“Go and get some water. Hurry up.” Jiang Pengji stood on a boulder beside the stream, the added height making for better surveillance. She did not notice anything unusual.

The guards heard her words, immediately took down the water pouches from their bodies, and squatted down beside the water to fill them.

Sanzhi Songshu lingshi: “The ancient water resources were not polluted. They look so clean.”

Nongfu Shanquan Youdianxuan: “Looking clean doesn’t mean they were really clean. If you drink it straight, it may cause a diarrhea. Who knows how many microbes are in it? It can be infected… It’s safer to boil it before drinking…”

Even without the warning of the audience, Jiang Pengji wouldn’t have been that careless. In fact, every time she fetched water, she had someone put it in the pot and boil it, then put it back in the pouch.

“Langjun!” While she was watching the bullet comments to kill time, one of the guards suddenly ran towards her with a bloody coat in his hands.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Pengji looked at the bloody clothes that had been soaked in water, then grabbed it. It was a cloak of an adult man. It was made of an exquisite texture rather than the coarse cloth that common people used to make clothes. “Where did you find it?” she asked.

The cloak had several sword cuts in it and was splattered with fresh blood. In other words, the owner of the cloak must have been killed not long ago and was not far away!

“Report: the clothes were floating down the river just as we were fetching the water.”

As Jiang Pengji looked at the cloak, her eyes flickered. The atmosphere in the streaming room became eerily silent.

They all hoped that Jiang Pengji would go over and check it out, for she might save a life. But even without looking around, they knew that the owner of the bloody clothes must have encountered banditry, robbery, or an enemy, since the clothes were found in such deep woods.

If Jiang Pengji went to check it out, she might be thrust into the path of danger.

Kindness was a good quality, but it was not good to bring danger to strangers, or to those around you, because of it. That was unwise kindness!

At that moment, Jiang Pengji heard the sound of the System that had been pretending to be deaf and dumb for a long time.

[Cheng Cheng, a friend of Meng Zhan in Cang Prefecture, is now in the midst of an unknown crisis. Please save him in half an hour. Upon completion of the job, you will be rewarded with “Full Breasts”––you will be fair-skinned, have a high lift, and and be enticing while your dress is half-off. In case of failure, you will receive a sixth degree shock penalty! You are requested to consider carefully and carry out the task as soon as possible to prevent the target from dying.]

Another real time, triggering task! Oh, it was a sixth degree shock penalty this time! Jiang Pengji was speechless. System, you’ve been f**king nice to me for several months… Now you come out of nowhere and throw this trouble at me? You’re f**king naughty!

“Langjun, do you need me to go and have a look?” the guard asked in a low voice, for fear that the noise would provoke the bandits.

“No need. You go and keep the others quiet. Don’t be noticed by the bandits. We don’t want to bring ourselves any trouble!”

With a cold expression, Jiang Pengji threw the bloody cloak on the ground and never spared it a second glance. It was obvious by a glance at her reaction what she had decided.

“Yes, at your disposal.”

It was better to deal with less than more. There were only a few who could really save others at their own risk. As the guards in charge of langjun’s safety, they naturally didn’t want any more unnecessary trouble.

Some audience members in the streaming room were very anxious, typing hateful words for Jiang Pengji’s coldness and ruthlessness. Others said that they could understand her decision rationally, but felt disappointed with her emotionally… They wanted to see a streamer of justice, not some selfish and cold-hearted person.

At that moment, the System emitted a sound.

The System gnashed its teeth. “Don’t tell me you’re going to say no again. If you don’t listen to me, you’ll regret it.”

Jiang Pengji sniggered. “I’m not going to do the mission. What can you do about that?”

The System answered, “Level six shock penalty! Are you not afraid to die?”

“Are you going to let me die?” Jiang Pengji asked.

The System choked and said indignantly, “You don’t have to refuse the mission just to piss me off.”

“You’re wrong. I can’t save him just because he’s Meng Zhan’s friend,” Jiang Pengji responded coldly.

System: “…” No, I can’t do this. This host is too hard to deal with! I know that she hates real time tasks, but does she have to oppose what I’m saying so harshly?

After about ten minutes, the guards had filled all the water pouches.

Jiang Pengji said to them, “Let’s go!”

The System kept thwarting her in her mind. “Jiang Pengji, aren’t you trying to save people? The audience is going to throw rotten eggs at you. As a streamer, you should create a positive image. If you don’t save people today, you’ll lose your fans!”

“Shut up!” Jiang Pengji coldly spit out two words, looking very tough and indifferent.

The System was infuriated, yet it was unable to persuade Jiang Pengji. It could only croon in anger.

At that moment, the guards found that their langjun was leading them in another direction. “Langjun… we are going the wrong way. ”

They weren’t headed back.