At this very moment,
a woman who was preparing dinner for her husband suddenly received a message from her younger brother.
The moment she saw the message,
she rushed at once into her husband's study.
"Darling. It's a message from my brother. He says something's happened with your nephew. He begs you to step in, without fail," the woman said very anxiously.
The man frowned the moment he heard about that nephew of his.
"Can that boy not go a single day without making trouble for us; does he get bored otherwise? That business before, I found a way to keep it quiet and had people handle it. How long has it been, and he's stirred up something new already! I said it before: once that business was settled, if that boy of your family's got into any more trouble, I wouldn't be involved! Let it go however it goes."
Hearing her husband say this,
the woman at once pointed at her round belly and said, "You heartless man, how can you be so cold? That's my only brother, my only nephew. If anything really happens to him, I'm telling you, I won't go on living. And then this child of your family's in my belly need not think of living either!"
Hearing his wife hold the child in her womb over him,
the man at once felt a splitting headache.
He did not know what was wrong with himself; in everything else, things went smoothly for him.
But he had fallen for this wife of his, and loved her dearly.
Before, trading on his fondness for her, she had had him do plenty of things for that brother of hers.
That her brother could become deputy city lord, and had hope of becoming city lord in the future, was all thanks to his own efforts behind the scenes.
Had he not stepped in, could her brother have got where he was now?
And now that there was a child, she went further still and threatened him with the child.
Years ago, when he served as an official under the Dax Empire's rule, a punishment had left his body injured; he was told he could hardly father a child.
At the time he had not thought much of it: no children, then no children.
But who could have imagined that the Dax Empire would be wiped out, he would be kept on by the Fierce Dragon civilization, and with his excellent abilities at work he would become Secretary-General of the Governor's Office?
His career had gone smoothly in every way.
And his wife had actually become pregnant too.
A child come by with such luck, he treasured greatly.
With his few wage credits he had obtained the right of residence in this very fine suite.
In daily life too, he tried every means to satisfy his wife's wishes.
So ordinarily he went along with her unreasonable demands as far as he could.
To be honest, in anything to do with herself, she never actually made any demands.
Even this home had not been her idea; on the contrary, she had felt for him, and thought there was no need to move to so nice a place.
The fifty- or sixty-square-meter flat they had before was enough.
Only in matters of her brother and nephew was she extremely stubborn.
"All right, all right. I'll go find out first what's actually happened. If I can help, of course I'll help. But if I can't, there's nothing I can do," he said helplessly.
"You have to help! All my life, it's been my brother who looked after me. Without my brother, there'd be no me today!" the woman said unshakably.
The man nodded helplessly.
Then he tried to contact that planet's Executor.
Calling in his own standing, he ought still to be able to reach him.
But to his surprise, that planetary Executor, who had sat down to eat and drink with him before, could not be reached right now.
"Strange; how can I not reach him?"
The man was puzzled.
And just at this moment,
another communication came in,
from the system governor.
This was his rotation off-duty time, and yet she was contacting him at just this time.
It had to be something very important.
He answered at once.
The governor's video image appeared on the other side.
This was a woman,
from the Fierce Dragon civilization; she was said to be a native of the Fierce Dragon civilization, and of very high standing.
She served as governor of this system, but in fact, apart from establishing order at the very start,
the running of the system afterward she had handed over entirely to the deputy governors under her.
Everyone could see that this governor sent down by the Fierce Dragon civilization held the post in name only.
Once the system was running in good order in the future, most likely the real power would be handed to the deputy governors under her.
So everyone worked very hard.
That this lady governor was contacting him at this juncture meant there had to be something special.
"Lady Governor, is there something you're contacting me about?" the man said respectfully.
"That brother-in-law of yours has contacted you, hasn't he," the woman on the other side said.
Hearing this, the man was startled.
His wife had told him this news barely a few minutes ago, and now the governor knew already.
And it had even reached the governor.
That meant this matter was out of the ordinary.
"Yes."
"Your abilities at work I actually rather appreciate. I've had it in mind to groom you as a candidate for future deputy governor. The systems the Fierce Dragon civilization governs in the future won't just be these few now. I don't want you to throw away your prospects over certain things. I hope you understand clearly," the governor said in an even tone.
The man swallowed; the governor was giving him a warning.
And most likely it was because of the matter his brother-in-law had stirred up just now.
But just what kind of matter could make the governor speak to him in person?
"Lady Governor. Then may I ask one thing: who exactly has my brother-in-law provoked this time? Might I… might I plead for him? He is, after all, my wife's brother; he's my wife's only family in this world," the man could not help asking.
The governor glanced at him: "That question can be answered for you. But the price is that you'll stay in your present position for three more years."
One question, for three years without promotion.
The man swallowed.
Don't underestimate those three years.
In this present period of the Fierce Dragon civilization's rapid development,
everyone was straining every nerve to climb; the positions were all there, and whoever grabbed one first got it.
After that, to rise by promotion would take several times the time and effort it took now!
Three years…
"If I don't ask, I won't be able to rest. Please answer, Lady Governor," the man said, clenching his fists.
A minute later,
the man walked out of his study.
Seeing his wife outside anxiously trying to reach her brother,
he sat down on the sofa, utterly lost.
In the past, whenever his work was done and he had a little time, he would go and hug his wife and murmur sweet nothings.
But now he was in no mood at all.
Seeing her husband come out, his wife came over at once.
"Have you sorted it out? Why can I still not reach my brother?"
The man looked at his wife, then at her rounded belly.
"What if I said I can't handle this?"
At these words, his wife's face changed.
She at once grabbed her husband's arm and said, "How can you possibly not handle it? You're the governor's favorite now, the Secretary-General. In the future you might even become a deputy governor. Someone like you, what can't you smooth over? I think it's that you don't want to do it, you're afraid of dirtying your hands!"
Hearing his wife's somewhat unreasonable words,
he could not help roaring, "I'm the system Secretary-General now, the governor's favorite. But do you know who your brother and that precious nephew of yours have provoked! Do you really think this position of mine lets us do whatever we like here, above the law! I told you before that nephew of yours, with his temper, would stir up big trouble sooner or later. You and your brother just wouldn't believe it. Well, now it's all too late. I'll say just one thing to you now. Your brother's business, I can't take care of. And I'd advise you not to get involved either."
"What do you mean! Do you believe I won't…" His wife pointed at her belly without thinking.
"I believe it. If it were anything else, even if you wanted my life, I could give it to you. But this one thing I can't handle. If you think our child matters less than your brother and nephew, then let's divorce. I'll leave with nothing; everything here now will be yours. As for the child, if you want to keep it, fine; if you don't… then end it."
Hearing this, his wife was greatly startled.
She looked at her husband in disbelief.
She knew very well how much her husband loved her.
At home and out in the world, he gave in to her in everything.
Even in front of his superiors, he would protect her.
Once at a banquet, everyone had brought their families.
His superior had made her drink.
It was he who had stood in front of her, with no regard at all for his superior's face, and drunk three bottles in a row by way of apology.
That night, when he got home, he had vomited until he hardly looked human.
A man like that: she could not believe he would one day not want her, let alone have another woman out there.
She slumped onto the sofa.
"You… can you tell me… what's actually going on?"
At this moment she calmed down.
Perhaps her husband's resolute attitude had thrown a bucket of cold water over her, and her confused mind had calmed down all at once.
"Your brother and your nephew have provoked someone they shouldn't have," the man said, his head lowered.
"Provoked someone they shouldn't have? The system Executor? Or someone from the Governor's Office? Which deputy governor? Or the governor? Then how about we pay some money; if it comes to it, we'll go to their door and apologize. I'm not asking for anything else, only to spare my brother's and my nephew's lives!" The woman was still trying to fight for them.
The man gave a self-mocking laugh.
"If it were someone of that level, I could still use my connections; I could still go up shamelessly and plead for them. But that brother of yours, and that precious nephew, had to provoke the person with the highest standing and power here."
Hearing this, the woman felt as if struck by thunder.
The person with the highest standing and power?
That could only be one person:
the Emperor of the Fierce Dragon civilization!
"His Majesty Fierce Dragon? How can that be!" The woman was greatly startled, unwilling to believe it.
How could her brother and nephew possibly have provoked someone of that level?
"Could it be someone impersonating him, or some misunderstanding in all this!" The woman still clung to a thread of hope.
The man said scornfully, "A misunderstanding? Do you know who told me this? The Lady Governor. I traded three years frozen in my post for hearing it from her own mouth."
This news struck her mind once more.
Three years frozen in his post: she knew very well how much that mattered.
Three years was not long.
But three years from now, those positions would long since have people sitting in them.
She knew too that what her husband had pursued all his life was, on one hand, the happiness of their whole family, and on the other, to bring glory to his ancestors.
For his family had once been a great clan, before the Dax Empire civilization appeared.
But with the Dax Empire civilization's sudden rise, everything had been lost.
Before his father passed away, his greatest hope had been to see their clan's hopes kindled once again.
"What I should say and what I shouldn't, I've told you all of it. Do as you see fit. If you still want to go on living this life, then go on. If you don't want to, it's as I said just now." With that, the man stood up and walked toward his study.
At this moment he seemed to have aged a great deal.
The woman wanted to pull her husband back, but for the first time her husband shook off her hand.
Looking at the closed study door,
she slumped to the floor.
She knew that now it was time for her to decide.
On one side were her husband, her unborn child and a happy family.
On the other side were her only blood relations in this world, her brother, and her nephew.
Remembering how, when they were small, her brother had looked after her, found food for her, fought others to protect her,
she could not help weeping bitterly.
She held her belly, her eyes vacant.
It was as if she stood at a crossroads, having to decide her future.
In the end she opened her chat window with her brother and typed a few lines.
After hesitating a moment, she pressed send.
The act of pressing send seemed to use up all her strength.
She slumped onto the sofa and sat in a daze for a long time.
The moment she came to herself, she went to the study door and knocked.
"It's time to eat."
The study door was pushed open.
The man looked at his wife standing in the doorway.
He knew his wife had already made her decision.
He opened his mouth, but before he could speak,
his wife cut him off.
She said, "You go sit down first; I'll heat up the food."
With that, she went into the kitchen
and heated up once more the dishes that had gone cold.
The man sat at the dining table, watching the reheated dishes set out on the table again, one after another.
These dishes were all ones he loved to eat.
The two of them sat down.
The man picked up his chopsticks and ate a few mouthfuls, then looked at his wife, and still could not help asking, "Your decision is…"
"I've already told my brother that I can't help him with this. From now on, I won't help him with things like this again. If he lives, I'll give him enough money for his family to live on. If… if… he's gone, if there are still bodies, may I be allowed to bring those bodies back and find somewhere to bury them? After all… they're my brother and my nephew."
The man did not refuse this request.
He nodded and said, "I'll find a way to keep track of this matter."
"Mm."
"Let's eat."