After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

After more than a month of close cooperation between the tribes and Federation government forces, the bandit suppression campaign was finally drawing to a close.

With the Qubi tribe taking the lead, other tribes in Mount Zhixing joined the allied forces. This operation could be said to have thoroughly eradicated the bandit problem in the region.

Those Huta members hiding in the deep mountains and dense forests were found and captured in batches by the allied forces.

The few stragglers who weren’t caught could no longer pose a significant threat.

As the battle neared its end, the assessment for the Empress’s trainee guard members also concluded.

Shen Han naturally became the top performer, far surpassing everyone else.

Moreover, her important contributions to this mission would be separately reported back to the Fourth District base, awaiting recognition and rewards.

Among the 30 selected official guard members, Ning Xi and Ma Haoyu also performed well.

It was said that after these people returned to the base, the Empress would personally award them medals.

In the days before the guard team’s departure, Shen Han made a special trip to the Qubi tribe to say farewell.

She left her phone number with the High Priest, sincerely hoping that one day the Qubi people could visit the Fourth District city.

“If you come, you can call me then. I’ll take you to eat delicious food.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Shen Han left the tribe.

In the evening.

Su Mu sat sideways on a thick wool blanket, resting her head lightly against her mother’s leg, her eyes fixed on a pot of hot soup in front of her, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong? My Su Mu seems deep in thought today?”

Hearing her mother’s inquiry, Su Mu asked gloomily: “Mother, do you think a Beta can be with an Alpha?”

Su Mu’s mother stirred the soup in the pot while gently stroking her child’s hair, smiling as she said: “The Alpha you’re talking about, you mean Shen Han, right?”

Feeling her daughter’s body suddenly tense, she continued soothingly: “No need to be shy. Anyone who encounters such a radiant Alpha would like them.”

At this point, Su Mu’s mother sighed lightly: “But that child is a soaring eagle in the sky. She doesn’t belong on the ground, so my Su Mu needn’t feel dejected. Even if you were an Omega, you couldn’t have her.”

Hearing her mother’s last words, Su Mu’s nose stung, and she was almost on the verge of tears.

She knew her mother was trying to comfort her, but for some reason, it felt like her mother had stabbed her heart.

After a long silence, Su Mu spoke again: “Mother, then what kind of Omega would be worthy of an Alpha like Shen Han?”

Su Mu’s mother poked at the fire with a wooden stick, thought for a moment, then said: “Probably an Omega like a phoenix.”

……

The day before the guard team was to leave the military camp.

In the afternoon, a group on horseback suddenly arrived outside the camp.

Seeing that the newcomers were all wearing Qubi tribal totem attire, the sentries stood down.

Then they became curious.

Twelve people came from the Qubi tribe, eleven of whom wore black and red warrior outfits.

The leader was a woman in a dress. She was quite tall and carried herself with the boldness characteristic of prairie people.

She wore a colorful dress, her braids neat and shiny. Sitting atop her horse, behind her in the distance were snow-capped peaks.

The majestic and beautiful nature bestowed a unique charm upon the woman on horseback.

It was a wild and free attraction. Her appearance might not be considered beautiful, but at this moment, all the soldiers at the camp entrance couldn’t take their eyes off her.

At this time, the woman on horseback began to speak loudly.

“We are from the Qubi tribe. We’ve come to see Shen Han. Please let us meet her.”

As her words fell, the eleven tribal warriors behind her also shouted in unison.

They expressed their desire to see Shen Han with their sincerity and enthusiasm.

The guard soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Who is Shen Han?”

“These tribal people are so dressed up just to see one person?”

“Looking at the condition of their horses, it seems they’ve ridden for a day and a night.”

“……”

Before long, news of the Qubi tribe’s arrival reached Instructor Liu’s ears through layers of reporting.

He walked to the training camp where Shen Han and others were, with a stern face.

“Shen Han! We’re leaving tomorrow, and you’re still causing trouble for me!”

Shen Han, who was practicing disassembling a gun, turned her head in surprise: “I haven’t done anything! I’ve been in the camp these past two days.”

Ning Xi and Ma Haoyu nodded vigorously beside her, testifying that their boss wasn’t lying.

Instructor Liu folded his arms, snorting: “Now the Qubi tribe warriors are at the camp gate clamoring to see you. They’re disrupting the sentries’ duties. Go deal with it quickly, and don’t cause any more problems before we leave.”

Hearing this, Shen Han put down her work, curiously following Instructor Liu towards the camp exit.

The other guard team members, seeing this, secretly followed.

This group walking through the camp aroused the curiosity of even more soldiers.

So, by the time Shen Han and Instructor Liu reached the camp gate, a large crowd had gathered not far behind them.

Normally, such a situation would not be allowed.

But since there had been basically no missions recently, and given the grand gesture of the Qubi tribespeople, the officers turned a blind eye and didn’t disperse the soldiers who had come to watch the excitement.

Moreover, they also squeezed into the crowd, curious to see what would happen with the Alpha walking towards the Qubi people.

Shen Han walked forward alone, soon reaching Su Mu and her group.

By now, the twelve Qubi tribespeople had dismounted.

Eleven warriors stood in a row, chests puffed out, while Su Mu stood at the front, blinking as she gazed at Shen Han.

Shen Han looked at the transformed Qubi princess before her with surprise.

She thought to herself: A person’s aura really does depend on their attire!

If she had met her dressed like this the first time, she wouldn’t have blurted out “little brother” and swollen her face with frozen soil.

“Why have you come?” Shen Han’s gaze swept over the faces of all twelve.

She noticed Ashi and another young tribesman she had fought alongside were among them.

They had both become warriors in the tribe now.

Su Mu spoke first: “We know you’re leaving tomorrow. We’ve come to see you off.”

Hearing this, Shen Han felt a bit embarrassed.

After exchanging pleasantries, she was also asked for her phone number by each of the eleven warriors.

When the throng of soldiers behind saw Shen Han take out paper and pen, write something, and hand it to each of the eleven warriors,

They even speculated whether Shen Han was writing IOUs for them.

At this moment, Shen Han really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Wasn’t one person getting the phone number enough? Why did each of them need their own copy, making it feel like an autograph session?

What she didn’t know was that the eleven Qubi tribal warriors before her were also feeling very awkward.

Because this was all done on Princess Su Mu’s orders.

At the time, the little princess had been particularly serious when giving this order.

“What’s wrong with asking for more? What if we accidentally lose it?”

One of the warriors had said quietly: “The High Priest also has Shen Han’s phone number. He definitely won’t lose it.”

After he said this, Su Mu was stunned for a moment, then raised her fist and beat that warrior.

The other warriors suspected in their hearts that the little princess must have forgotten the High Priest also had Shen Han’s number, and now being reminded, she was beating people out of embarrassment.

All partings must come to an end.

After signing eleven slips of paper with her phone number, Shen Han stood chatting with them for a while longer before preparing to return to the camp.

“Wait a moment.” Su Mu called out to stop her.

Just as Shen Han turned around, a large package was stuffed into her arms.

She held the heavy cloth bundle and asked: “What’s this?”

Su Mu smiled brightly and said: “A gift for you! These are the best Huangluozhi from our tribe. I’ve packed them carefully in boxes, so don’t worry about them getting crushed.”

Shen Han weighed it and guessed the gift must be quite valuable.

However, before she could return the bundle, Ashi had already spoken very seriously: “Shen Han, you must accept it. It’s a Qubi tribal custom. If a gift is returned, it means you don’t acknowledge our friendship. It’s like what you call ‘cutting ties.'”

After saying this, Ashi secretly glanced at Su Mu. Seeing her slight nod, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

These things were all prepared by Su Mu. If they couldn’t be given, he would definitely be beaten by her.

Hearing Ashi say this, Shen Han really couldn’t refuse.

After thanking them again, she turned and walked towards the camp.

Just as she reached the camp gate, a woman’s song suddenly rang out behind her.

It was Su Mu singing in the Qubi tribal language.

Her vocal range was broad, her voice as pure as a snow-capped mountain.

The clear and ancient song echoed across the entire grassland where the military camp was located.

Like water from a sacred mountain, it washed over everyone’s soul.

Although the Federation soldiers couldn’t understand Su Mu’s lyrics, it didn’t prevent everyone from feeling their blood stirring in their chests.

This was the charm of the song. It didn’t need to be understood; its pure infectiousness and the clean, majestic prairie scene it painted were already unfolding in everyone’s hearts.

……

When the guard team left the camp to return, a group of Alphas locked their gaze on the large cloth bundle beside Shen Han.

Yesterday, Instructor Liu had found Shen Han to ask about some things, and they had returned late, so the mysterious bundle had never been opened.

Now that they had left the camp and had nothing to do during the ride, the Alpha comrades began urging Shen Han to open the bundle and take a look.

Shen Han was curious herself, so she decided to do an “unboxing” in front of everyone.

Two layers of soft cloth were carefully unwrapped, revealing a pile of boxes of various sizes to everyone’s view.

Shen Han opened some of the boxes to look.

Some contained fresh Huangluozhi, some had well-preserved dried Huangluo slices, and others had finely ground Huangluo powder.

The quality was impeccable, something priceless in the city.

Seeing this, the Alpha comrades instantly felt sour.

They silently slapped themselves, regretting why they had asked Shen Han to open the bundle and look at the gift!

Shen Han was also a bit stunned.

She turned her head to look at Ma Haoyu beside her: “If these things were converted to cash, how much would it be worth?”

Ma Haoyu calculated mentally and gave a conservative estimate: “Probably about 10 million or more.”

Shen Han: “!!!”

The Alpha comrades: “……”

Please, don’t say any more!