Chapter 1354 Her Wish Was Finally Granted
Chu Yi and Chu Qi helped him back to his bedroom, Chu Jiu following them. After helping him wash his face and feet, she tucked him into bed.
Zhao Qian was her savior.
She could never forget the events that had happened back when she was nine.
Following the conviction and beheading of her father, her home was raided and confiscated. The men were exiled, while the women were taken into the Royal Academy as servants.
Her ill mother struggled to raise her until she turned nine.
When her mother could no longer work, the matron of the Royal Academy tried to sell her to a brothel in exchange for money.
She remembered being dragged out into the snow. Her mother, despite her illness, ran out to stop her from being taken away but ended up being beaten up.
She lunged at her captors like a maniac, only to be battered even more viciously.
Just when she thought she was going to die, Zhao Qian happened to pass by. He rescued her and gave her and her mother a place to stay.
Unfortunately, her mother was already beyond cure, and the severe beating only worsened her condition. Eventually, she passed away before spring, leaving Chu Jiu alone and helpless.
Later on, when she encountered Zhao Qian again, she begged him to let her stay and serve him to repay him for his kindness.
Zhao Qian had already given her enough money to live a good life, but having lost her whole family, she was all alone, and it scared her. Zhao Qian seemed like a kind person, so she wanted to stay with him and serve him – also for the sake of repaying him.
At first, Zhao Qian had not planned to keep her around.
However, the Emperor\'s covert guard squad needed new members at that time. Zhao Qian discerned fortitude in her blood, and since she was all alone, he asked if she was willing to join the squad, though he made it clear that being a covert guard was a dangerous task.
Back then, all she wanted was to hold on to that bit of warmth Zhao Qian offered, so without thinking, she replied, "I\'m not scared, and I\'m capable of enduring hardship."
Seeing how adamant she was, Zhao Qian accepted her into the Emperor\'s covert guard squad.
However, qualifying as a covert guard was no easy feat.
Only one out of ten could survive. Everyone else was an enemy, and only by defeating them could she enter the next round.
The road to becoming a covert guard was brutal and bloody.
After staining her hands with blood and rising from piles of corpses with her life hanging by a thread again and again, she finally became the Emperor\'s only female covert guard.
Being a covert guard was tough, but if not for Zhao Qian, she would have ended up in some hellhole, living a life worse than death. In fact, she might have already been dead.
Although Zhao Qian had never voiced his affection for the past many years, he had always been kind to her, and she would remember that forever.
Her father had been convicted and beheaded not long after her birth, but she knew that he loved her very much. Sadly, he was gone before she could spend enough time with him.
This had always been one of her regrets.
Therefore, when Zhao Qian had appeared and rescued her, she had immediately felt a sense of respect and attachment toward him.
She had already thought of Zhao Qian as her father long ago and had always wanted to become his goddaughter, but she had been too embarrassed to suggest it.
Today, her wish was finally granted.
She was no longer an orphan, she had a father now.
She swore to herself that she would take good care of him from then on.
Lu Tingchen was not in a hurry to leave. He remained by Chu Jiu\'s side, and his heart ached for her when he glimpsed the tears in her eyes.
Recently, he had managed to learn more about her past.
Therefore, he was just as grateful to Zhao Qian.
Without Zhao Qian, Chu Jiu would never have become the person she was today, and he would never have met her either.
"From now on, I\'ll help you take care of Zhao Qian as well," he promised.
He and Zhao Qian had known each other as friends for a long time, so he could not bring himself to call him his godfather. He was more at ease calling him by his name.
Chu Jiu understood that and did not force him.
"Thank you." She nodded, turned, and held his hand.
…
Since Chu Jiu was going to marry Lu Tingchen soon, she could no longer remain by Lu Liangwei\'s side as her guard, hence Long Yang wanted to choose a new guard to protect her. However, there were no women among the covert guards, and training a new one would take too much time.
After hearing about it, Ling Lihua assigned a female assassin named Zhan Qing from the House of Swallow Snow to protect Lu Liangwei.
After many trials, Zhan Qing officially assumed Chu Jiu\'s position as Lu Liangwei\'s personal female guard. From then on, she would be responsible for Lu Liangwei\'s safety.
Unlike Chu Jiu, Zhan Qing was a spirited person. Moreover, she knew a lot of anecdotes after having spent a long time in the martial world, and she would tell them to Lu Liangwei to relieve her boredom. Lu Liangwei was very pleased with her.