Regent (3): 

Gu Juntian sat in the carriage, observing the surroundings.

The inner city of Jin’s capital was mostly inhabited by people of power and influence. Their houses were well-built, with courtyards enclosed by stone walls.

At this moment, a household was repairing their house. On this chilly early spring day, some emaciated men in tattered clothing were working with numb expressions.

The original host had stood outside the city for just over two hours in thick clothing and already found it unbearable, yet these men, who barely had enough clothes to cover themselves, had to work the entire day.

If they worked too slowly, they would be whipped.

The lower classes of this era truly weren’t treated as human.

Gu Juntian was in a poor mood, until he turned his head and saw the sullen but silent noble clansmen following behind the carriage—then he felt a little better.

When they set out, those nobles had also wanted to ride in a carriage.

But Gu Juntian refused, telling them that only by walking could they show sincerity.

As for himself… this carriage wasn’t prepared solely for him—it was also for Zhou Qinghao.

After glancing at the nobles, Gu Juntian began looking at the common folk around them.

Closer to the city gates, there were no longer noble estates. Here stood only low wooden shacks.

No—these could hardly be called houses, just makeshift shelters to keep out the wind and rain.

The people living here mostly wore ragged clothes and were gaunt to the bone.

Upon seeing his procession, they immediately knelt and trembled.

When Zhou Qinghao was still around, he would take the original host out of the palace, even taking him beyond the city to watch farmers till the fields.

The original host must have seen the miserable lives of these people, but in his memories, there was no trace of such impressions.

Under the influence of those around him, he only thought that Zhou Qinghao took him to see farmers and eat coarse wheat porridge to humiliate him.

Gu Juntian sighed inwardly.

Zhou Qinghao had actually tried very hard to teach the original host, but by the time they met, the boy was already eleven years old, with a mind of his own.

The original host, spoiled by his mother, couldn’t bear the slightest hardship and looked down on the lower classes.

This era had only just emerged from slavery, and in some places, slavery still existed.

To most of the ruling class, the common people were no different from livestock.

In fact, the lives of the commoners were often seen as less important than those of cattle or horses.

It was a turbulent age.

But precisely because of that, there was much Gu Juntian could do.

When he and his entourage reached the city gate, there was still an hour before Zhou Qinghao would arrive.

Gu Juntian did not hurry to get out. He sat in the carriage, gazing into the distance.

All he could see was a gray haze.

The trees near the capital had all been cut down—not by the people for firewood, but to prevent enemies from using the cover of trees to hide their numbers during an attack.

Only a few roads were paved with stone; outside the city, the roads were all dirt.

Looking toward the end of the muddy road, Gu Juntian thought again of Zhou Qinghao.

He felt Zhou Qinghao was rather “foolish.”

This man commanded Jin’s army and held great power, yet still fell victim to the original host’s schemes.

Gu Juntian admired Zhou Qinghao—he was skilled in both civil and military affairs, a first-class talent.

If the original host had used him well, even if Jin could not unify the world, it could at least enjoy decades of peace.

Unfortunately, the original host had gone astray.

Of course, Zhou Qinghao also had his flaws.

He actually liked such a useless brat!

In the original storyline, the original host realized Zhou Qinghao liked him—the kind of liking a man has for a woman.

This was not the original host’s imagination.

After carefully examining the original host’s memories, Gu Juntian found that Zhou Qinghao truly treated him differently from others.

He harbored feelings of affection for him.

But Zhou Qinghao was a gentleman. When the original host tried to seduce him, he firmly refused.

Refusal did not mean lack of affection—this was clear from the fact that, upon hearing the original host was in trouble, Zhou Qinghao returned to the capital to save him without hesitation.

It had been a trap, and Zhou Qinghao could not have been completely unaware, yet he came anyway.

Moreover, Zhou Qinghao had no interest in women, had no wives or concubines, and at over thirty still had no children…

He must have preferred men.

What Gu Juntian couldn’t understand was why he liked the original host in particular.

Nor could he understand why the original host guarded so much against someone with no heirs.

If Zhou Qinghao rebelled, would he not simply give the throne to the very person he had raised?

Gu Juntian thought about it at length and decided how to deal with Zhou Qinghao.

He had no desire for romance—only to unify the world—so he would not return Zhou Qinghao’s feelings.

But he would give him full trust and the treatment he deserved.

In the future, they could be a harmonious ruler and minister, creating their shared future together.

As for Zhou Qinghao’s preference for men, he would just pretend not to know. Zhou Qinghao was a gentleman and likely would not mention it.

Fighting side by side to conquer the land was far better—love was just a waste of time!

While Gu Juntian was thinking about Zhou Qinghao, Zhou Qinghao was also thinking about Gu Juntian.

Or rather, about the young king in the palace.

After three years apart, he wondered how the boy was doing.

The Zhou family’s ancestral home was in the lands seized by Qi after Jin’s King Wu was defeated.

Their family had never been of high rank, and after losing their lands to Qi, they became utterly destitute.

Zhou Qinghao’s father had no choice but to come to the capital to make a living.

He worked as a retainer for a minor Jin noble, managing his farmland, just enough to scrape by.

Unfortunately, he fell ill and died early.

Zhou Qinghao inherited his father’s work, continuing to manage the farmland for that minor noble.

Such a background was only slightly above the bottom rung of society and looked down upon by the scholar class. Under normal circumstances, he could never have become a high official.

But when he was fifteen, Qi returned the former king to Jin.

That Jin’s king could be decided by Qi was a humiliation to the ruling elite.

When the former king first arrived, no one paid him any attention—his situation was dire.

But Zhou Qinghao saw hope in him.

He took the initiative to approach him, display his talents, and over ten years became the king’s most valued minister.

Before his death, the king entrusted his son to Zhou Qinghao’s care.

The former king had recognized his worth, and Zhou Qinghao was loyal to him—but he also felt guilty.

When the young Jin king was still a child, Zhou Qinghao already had a fondness for him.

He thought it was the affection of an elder toward a junior, or of a minister toward his future sovereign. But as the boy grew, Zhou Qinghao suddenly realized his feelings had changed.

He had developed thoughts he should never have had toward the ruler he had personally raised.

These thoughts were shameful, and at the time, with Jin suffering poor harvests, the only way to feed the people was to seize grain from Qi and Chu. So he chose to leave the capital for war.

Now, having returned victorious, he was about to see that youth again.

Three years had passed, and whatever inappropriate feelings he once had were long gone. This time, he would treat him as an elder should, helping him take the reins of government.

He only hoped the boy would not reject him too much.

Zhou Qinghao knew that the Jin king did not like him.

He was not skilled in manipulation, but he could read people well.

Even so, he still could not bear for that youth to suffer the slightest grievance.