Chapter 12 Snowstorm
"Third Brother, I've finally caught you!"
Qin Hong grinned, showing off his white teeth. Early in the morning, he caught Qin Lie red-handed at the side gate of the Dingbei Prince's Mansion. He said smugly, "That kid Qin Xiaoshan always says you're in the study. He can fool others, but he can't fool me. I knew you sneaked out of the mansion!"
Qin Lie turned his horse around and led him away, asking calmly, "Why are you looking for me instead of training troops in the suburbs?"
Qin Hong immediately deflated: "I came to find you precisely because of troop training. I didn't sleep a wink all night to protect you. Even if something really important happens to you today, you have to come with me to check on things!"
It turned out that Qin Lie had been temporarily ordered to go to Tongzhou, so the task of training new recruits fell to Qin Hong.
Qin Hong usually shouts loudly, but when it comes to actually handling things on his own, even though Qin Lie has taught him a lot, he still feels uncertain. A few days ago, upon hearing that Qin Lie had returned, he rode back for an hour and a half every day after training, only to find him missing for three consecutive days. On the fourth day, he spent the entire night squatting here, his hair covered in frost. He decided to take Qin Lie to the recruit camp.
Qin Lie rode over with him. The new recruits were training. Although their momentum was much weaker than that of the veterans, they still looked very energetic.
Although Qin Hong was unsure, he spoke with pride about the new recruits: "As you said, let them compete every month. Centurion, deputy chiliarch, chiliarch, and other positions—whoever can beat their superior will be replaced. After three consecutive months, none of the top five will be left behind. So they're all really pushing themselves, and they're all training with their hearts set on it."
Qin Lie nodded, quite approving.
Most of the recruits here are new soldiers from Tongzhou and Chongzhou. He had seen some of the soldiers from Tongzhou before; they stood in crooked and disorganized ranks, not even as well as these new recruits. Once these new recruits have trained themselves to a certain standard, it will be time for him to go back and reorganize the local army in Tongzhou.
Qin Hong felt even more proud. Just then, his subordinate came to report that the results of the competition were in. Qin Hong invited Qin Lie to see if there were any promising talents among the winners.
Qin Lie gladly went, but as soon as he arrived, he saw a commotion. A burly, dark-faced man was dragging a thin soldier, and it looked like they were about to fight.
Qin Hong felt deeply embarrassed and shouted to stop them, asking what was going on.
Upon seeing Qin Hong, the dark-faced man released the other man, but was still indignant: "Reporting to the young general, he... he cheated to win against me. This round doesn't count. Let's have another match tomorrow!"
The skinny soldier grinned slyly, "Hey, you think it doesn't count just because you say so? The young general set the rules, and we compete once a month. I'm the centurion now, so if you want to win back, we'll talk about it again in a month!"
That's what he said, but somehow it angered the crowd. A dozen or so people shouted, "Bullshit! You're all from the same hometown and you're rigging the match. When Old Hei used to beat us, he wielded his hammer like a whirlwind, but when he beat you, he ran out of strength after only a few swings and collapsed to the ground. Who would believe there wasn't something fishy going on?! If you're so capable, beat us again and see who's fit to be the centurion!"
The soldier was still laughing: "I let you challenge me earlier, but none of you dared to come. Now that an incense stick has burned out and the competition is over, who has nothing better to do than fight you!"
Another round of angry shouts and boos followed.
Qin Hong was furious and was about to reprimand him when Qin Lie, intrigued, asked the dark-faced man, "You said he cheated, what kind of cheat? Did he drug you?"
The dark-faced man suddenly fell silent, his dark face flushed red, and he became awkward and hesitant.
Seeing another group of people shouting that it was a fake fight, the skinny soldier said, "If he won't say it, I will. I would never dare to drug him. I just invited him to have a drink with a woman last night. It didn't interfere with training, and I didn't do anything wrong. It doesn't count as disobeying military orders."
These recruit camps, which were originally for training local troops, were not very restrictive, and people often went out to fight.
Qin Lie then asked the dark-faced man, "Do you know that there will be a competition today?"
The dark-faced man hung his head dejectedly: "I know."
Qin Lie asked, "So that's an open strategy. Since you were willing to go, it's only right that you lost. Why are you still not convinced now?"
The dark-faced man angrily said, "He invited me to drink with a prostitute, and he clearly took a girl into the house himself, but then he secretly ran away through the window! The girl he found for me was like a vixen, she clung to me all night, and my legs were weak when I came in this morning, how could I possibly beat him!"
The audience burst into laughter, but the laughter was mixed with boos and jeers.
Qin Lie couldn't help but chuckle, and coughed lightly twice with his fist to his lips.
The skinny soldier, far from feeling ashamed, was instead smug: "You know nothing! Warfare is based on deception. The worst strategy is to fight the enemy, the middle strategy is to disrupt their alliances, and the best strategy is to attack their plans. I'm using the best strategy; winning is my skill."
Qin Lie asked curiously, "Have you studied military strategy?"
The thin soldier said solemnly, "My ancestor once served as a general of the previous dynasty, but I am unworthy and have disgraced my ancestors."
There were only three Generals of the Cavalry in the previous dynasty, and one of them had a style of military campaigning that matched this man's. Qin Lie said, "I'll give you a chance. I wonder if you dare to accept it?"
"What opportunity?"
"I will assign two hundred soldiers to your service, and have them set up camp on the mountain. Five days later, your fellow villager will lead five hundred soldiers to attack. If you win, I will appoint you as Deputy Protector-General, a fifth-rank official. If you lose, your fellow villager will be promoted to commander of a thousand men, and you will gain nothing. Do you dare?"
"I dare!" the skinny soldier accepted without hesitation, then hesitated and said, "I'm just afraid that my words carry little weight, and these two hundred soldiers might not listen to me."
"You just pick the men," Qin Lie said with a smile. "Whichever side wins, they will reward each of their soldiers with five taels of silver."
The military camp immediately erupted in cheers, with shouts of "Select me!" echoing throughout.
As Qin Hong emerged from the recruit camp, he was still sighing, "Third Brother, it really has to be you. If it were me, I would have dared to cause trouble in the military camp and given each of them eighty lashes to get rid of them. Where would we find a descendant of a military family?"
Qin Lie said, "You are bold and meticulous, but you don't like to use your brain. Even if I didn't come, you could still find someone suitable in a few days."
Qin Hong disagreed, thinking to himself that with his third brother around, why should he bother to think?
It's not like I'm just bored!
For the past month or so, he'd been up before others and asleep after others, constantly worried and overworked. But with Qin Lie's arrival, he felt a weight lifted from his shoulders and a sense of relief washed over him. No one understood his third brother better than him. Compared to political affairs, the military camp was far more to his liking. Putting aside everything else, at least until the results of that group's attack and defense competition were in, Qin Lie would definitely stay in the military camp, allowing him to comfortably be a hands-off deputy manager.
After inspecting the barracks, weapons, and horses, Qin Lie decided to return to the city.
Qin Hong exclaimed, "What's the rush? Even if you don't want us to stay any longer, we brothers haven't seen each other for over half a month. Shouldn't we at least have a couple of drinks tonight?"
Qin Lie did not answer him, but turned around and mounted his horse.
Just then, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Qin Hong was overjoyed: "Third Brother, look, it's not that I want to keep you here, it's that Heaven wants to keep you here."
Qin Lie sat on his horse, looked up at the sky, and saw dark clouds gathering, a sign of heavy snow. He hesitated for a moment, then gently spurred his horse and rode away, leaving Qin Hong, like a bitter gourd, behind.
The snow in Jizhou was heavy. The snowflakes had just started falling at dusk, and by the time it was 7 PM, they were already high enough to bury a person's shoes.
The howling north wind could be heard outside. Granny Zhao said, "In this kind of weather, the prince consort probably won't come tonight."
The prince consort never informed her of his arrival beforehand; it was only after he had come for several days and nights in a row that Granny Zhao finally spoke up.
After she finished speaking, she saw the princess leaning against the warm couch reading a storybook, looking quite relaxed. She instructed her with a hint of disappointment, "Princess, please remember, if the prince consort comes again, you must mention to him that the prince and princess should come to pay their respects."
It was clearly a princess who was marrying into the family, yet the prince consort could come and go as he pleased. To this day, he hasn't even seen a single elder. Isn't he just like a mistress?
"Understood." Lingyi turned a page and casually replied.
Zhao Mama was helpless. The princess she had accompanied as part of her dowry was timid and prone to tears, yet she was also carefree and kept putting off things that needed to be taken seriously. Then she felt that she, as the head maid, was too incompetent. If she could assert her authority, the prince consort would have to get her permission to see the princess. How could he be allowed to come and go as he pleased?
Pearl chuckled to herself.
I remember when I first came to Jizhou to set up the palace, I thought the princess would have some flowers and plants, but she only wanted the courtyard to be filled with all kinds of trees.
When Pearl asked, the princess replied that she liked trees; once roots were planted, it was home, and there was no need to create trouble for herself.
Pearl understood what the princess said, but recalling the princess's expression when she said those words, she felt inexplicably sad.
As time went on, Yuzhu gradually understood her mistress's temperament and realized that the princess was actually just lazy. She was living comfortably in the princess's residence, but what if she met a prince and princess and wanted to move into the prince's residence as well? Even if she didn't move in, she would inevitably have to deal with unavoidable social obligations.
Pearl herself liked things the way they were now. The princess had a good temper and never scolded the servants. In the huge princess's mansion, apart from Eunuch Li and Granny Zhao vying for the princess's favor, everyone lived comfortably, much happier than before in the palace!
At the end of the Xu hour, Lingyi rubbed her eyes, got up from the warm couch, went to the washroom to rinse her mouth and wash her face, and then sat down in front of the dressing table.
After Yuzhu loosened her hair and combed it back into a bun, she applied a fine layer of pearl powder to her face for skincare. Pearl then laid out the bed. The princess was sensitive to the cold, and since her husband was not home, a warming cloth was needed to be used to clean the bedding. Baozhu lit the incense in the tent and placed the incense burner under the canopy bed, filling the tent with warm fragrance.
As everyone was busy, a man lifted the curtain and entered. He was tall and wore a black fox fur cloak. His hair and eyebrows were white with snow, and tiny ice beads hung on his eyelashes.
Who else could it be but Qin Lie?
Everyone froze in shock. Mingzhu, who was standing by the door, was the first to react and stepped forward to help him take off his cloak. He waved his hand and refused, taking it off himself. The cloak fell to the ground with a "thud," soaked with moisture.
He strode up behind Lingyi and stood there, exuding a chilling aura.
Qin Lie had never liked being served, so all the palace servants retreated silently. Moreover, his expression at this moment was anything but good. Although the reason was unknown, everyone was terrified.
As Zhao Mama cursed herself for being so useless, she closed the door, leaving only the four corner wall lamps and the two people in front of the dressing table inside.
Qin Lie examined the princess in the dressing mirror: her dark blue hair, slender eyebrows, captivating eyes, and rosy lips.
He loved watching her, especially in bed, no matter how much she scolded or begged him, or even covered his eyes, he still wanted to look.
But at this moment, his eyes held only scrutiny and solemnity, without a trace of lust.
Outside, the wind and snow raged, but here, like her, it was always fragrant, soft, and warm, as enchanting as a dream.
Like a young lad, he spent more than two hours traversing the biting wind and snowy night, just to break into this dream.
So absurd, so dangerous.
His gaze lingered on her fair, smooth neck, so delicate, so easily touched with one hand...
Lingyi changed into her nightgown and shivered from the wind that had just blown in. She reached out to hold his hand and exclaimed in surprise, "So cold!"
She didn't let go of his hand, but held it to her cheek and gently rubbed it, as if that would warm it up.
So clumsy, yet so compliant.
Qin Lie's hand unconsciously caressed her skin, as delicate as silk, leaving red marks with the slightest pressure. He liked it that way, so he did it that way, leaving his marks all over her body every time they made love.
Unable to warm his hands, Lingyi asked, "Should we have them make some ginger soup and send it over?"
"No need," Qin Lie said calmly.
He has a better way to keep warm.
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