In his hazy sleep, Chen Da felt as if he were floating on white clouds, his whole body radiating golden light.
There were many people around him just like him, constantly whispering among themselves.
They seem to be talking about some kind of deification or divine positions.
Many people are congratulating themselves on becoming the ruler of the underworld, as if they were the Great Emperor of Fengdu in the Northern Underworld, an incredibly powerful official.
Then he heard Li Chang'an's voice again, which sounded like he was bestowing an imperial edict upon Xiong Er, calling him something like Giant Spirit God.
But he could only hear intermittent sounds and couldn't see where these people were at all.
When Chen Da finally opened his eyes, it was already broad daylight.
He quickly got up, hurriedly put on his armor, and went out of the camp.
The blinding sunlight made him squint.
What came into view was a vast, empty camp.
The tanks on the beach have already driven away, leaving only the soldiers from Lingnan busy at the camp.
He was about to ask the Lingnan soldiers what the situation was when he heard a rough voice coming from the other side.
"Old Chen, you're awake!"
Cheng Hu walked over with a grin, his bright white teeth particularly dazzling in the sunlight.
He was holding a plate with a bowl of white porridge and a bowl of dark Chinese medicine on it.
"I had just finished brewing the medicine and was about to wake you up to drink it when you woke up."
Chen Da took the plate and asked.
"Where is the prince?"
"The prince has already taken Xiong Er and the others and set off by boat, leaving me to stay and take care of you."
"This island is where we hold prisoners of war, and it will also be a supply point for our navy in the future."
“This morning, Xiong Er came to wake you up, but he couldn’t wake you up no matter what he did. When he lifted the blanket, he saw that you were covered in sweat and muttering to yourself. It almost scared him to death.”
"Later, the military doctor came and said that you had excessive internal heat and had caught a cold."
"I've prescribed you some traditional Chinese medicine; you should get some rest."
Cheng Hu sat in the tent and told Chen Da what had happened.
"You didn't see it, but when the prince heard you were sick, he rushed over without even putting on his shoes, afraid that something might have happened to you."
"That silly Xiong Er kept saying you were being paralyzed by a ghost."
"He doesn't even realize that with such a high-ranking prince around, what little brat would dare to come to our camp and seduce you?"
Upon hearing this not-so-funny joke, Chen Da shook his head and drank the bowl of Chinese medicine in one gulp.
"Thank you for your help, Brother Cheng. I'm sorry to have troubled you."
"Hey, brothers, why are you spouting such nonsense?"
"Here, drink this bowl of plain porridge. I also had the kitchen make some old hen soup. I'll bring it to you in a bit."
"That old hen was originally meant for the prince to drink, but since you're sick, we've left it for you."
Upon hearing this, Chen Da paused for a moment, then looked at Cheng Hu and asked.
"General Cheng, what do you think of the Prince?"
He had always felt a mixture of fear and respect for Cheng Hu.
After all, when I was a city-guarding soldier, he was already the commander of the Xuanwu Camp.
Although they are now on equal footing, he still fears this fierce general who has fought his way up on the battlefield.
In Chen Da's mind, he was only able to become a general because he was lucky.
Being able to be on friendly terms with Cheng Hu now is purely by luck.
Deep down, Chen Da still felt somewhat inferior; he always felt that he was still just a gatekeeper in Lingnan City.
Cheng Hu looked at him, scratched his head, and asked, "Why are you asking this?"
"I'm just curious. In Lingnan City, you are the commander of the Xuanwu Camp, an elite force on the battlefield. But under the Prince, you can only manage logistics and cannot go to the battlefield to fight the enemy."
"Don't you feel uncomfortable? Don't your soldiers feel resentful?"
"Feeling unwell? Feeling stifled?"
Cheng Hu looked at the smiling Lingnan soldiers outside the tent, then at his own brand-new armor and fell into deep thought.
"Brother, I feel like you're quite ill. Why don't you sleep some more and get some rest?"
Hearing Cheng Hu's answer, Chen Da gave a wry smile and said, "I'm not overthinking, I just wanted to ask you."
"Do you feel wronged working for the prince?"
"Wronged?"
"Is it unfair to work for the prince?"
Looking at the white porridge in his bowl, Cheng Hu said, "We receive our military pay every day, eat big fish and meat, and even have three meals of rice every day. How could we feel aggrieved?"
"And what's wrong with us doing logistics?"
"We don't have to fight on the battlefield or risk our lives. We just do simple, rough work every day, like cleaning up the corpses on the battlefield, and we get paid for it. What's wrong with this kind of life?"
Thinking about the good life he had lived with Li Chang'an, Cheng Hu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
“In the past, we fought to the death with our brothers against the Liao people, risking our lives to fight, and all we could earn was a bowl of bean rice.”
"When there is no war, we can't even get enough to eat. Our military pay is only one or two taels of silver, and we often don't even receive it."
"Now that I'm following the prince, I eat rice three times a day and am served plenty of fish and meat every meal. What's there to complain about?"
"This morning we had braised pork with white steamed buns again. The prince specifically instructed that the braised pork should be caramelized with sugar."
"You ask me if I feel wronged by this treatment?"
"Back when we were fighting, having a piece of flatbread to eat was a real blessing."
"Back then, we often went to fight the Liao people on an empty stomach. When our soldiers died in battle, their families could only receive a few taels of silver as compensation."
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