Chapter 145: Chang庚's Gossip

Smiling playfully at her, he asked, "What is it?"

"Someone, someone is going to see us..."

"Aren't you my wife? What does it matter if someone sees us?" He smiled mischievously, watching with amusement as a blush crept up her cheeks.

"The people in the estate don't know about this yet..." Under his gaze, her face grew even redder.

"Alright, I was just joking with you." He chuckled softly and released the hand resting on her waist.

Instantly, her whole body relaxed, and even her expression softened. Not daring to meet his eyes, she muttered defensively, "Let's go," and marched ahead, keeping a wide distance between them.

He only smiled and shook his head.

Although she had come to select troops, she had no clear idea what kind of soldiers would be suitable. Letting the horse walk at a leisurely pace, she naturally drifted toward the encampment where her own unit was stationed.

The guards at the camp gate saluted her: "The General has arrived." A young soldier quickly ran forward to take the reins.

Dismounting, she asked casually, "Are the female soldiers of the thirty-sixth squad in the camp?"

"Yes, General. The entire thirty-sixth squad is here."

"Then... where is Commander Changgeng?"

"Commander Changgeng just escorted his mother out. He might be back in a little while."

Kaiming asked in surprise, "Oh? Commander Changgeng's mother is here?"

The soldier smiled and said, "She has been visiting quite frequently lately, General. And she often brings a pretty young lady along with her."

Amused, Kaiming chuckled, "Could it really be that they are arranging a match for Changgeng?"

The soldier beamed even more brightly. "Commander Changgeng's happy event is not far off now."

Laughing and shaking her head, Kaiming walked deeper into the camp.

Xuan quickly caught up with her in a few long strides and lowered his voice. "Kaiming, are you going to see Chunhua?"

"Yes!" She turned her face toward him with a small smile. "I almost forgot, Chunhua is our Brother Xuan's nemesis!"

A trace of annoyance flashed across Xuan's face. "You know very well that she, um, has some feelings for me..."

Seizing the opportunity to retaliate, Kaiming reached out and playfully pinched his fair, smooth cheek. "My poor, handsome husband, you should be happy that a young lady is interested in you..."

Xuan's eyes widened in her grasp, filled with sheer disbelief.

Setting aside the fact that she was being so hands-on and pinching his cheek right here in the open military camp, the sheer audacity of her frivolous words was enough to shock him to his core.

The corners of Kaiming's lips curved upward in a mocking smile. Suddenly, she turned her head and shouted toward the southern part of the camp at the top of her lungs, "Chunhua! Brother Xuan is here! Brother Xuan is here!"

Startled, Xuan didn't even stop to think before swatting her hand away. With a rush of wind, his figure vanished entirely.

Kaiming thought to herself with a sigh of admiration, how long would she have to train before she could reach the level where only the sound of the wind remained and the person was completely gone?

Before her sigh could fade, a sudden commotion arose on the southern side. Thunderous footsteps pounded against the ground, making the earth itself tremble. A roar, louder than the footsteps, pierced the air and hammered directly against her eardrums: "Is Brother Xuan here? Brother Xuan~~!"

As expected, Kaiming spotted that massive figure. With the sun at her back, Chunhua came running toward them, making the mountains shake and the earth quake. A smile bloomed on Kaiming's face as she opened her arms and lunged into the oncoming embrace, crying, "Chunhua!"

Chunhua caught her, but effortlessly swept her aside with a casual heave, tossing her off to one side. Straining her neck to look behind Kaiming, she asked anxiously, "Where is Brother Xuan? Where is Brother Xuan?"

***

Nearly losing her balance from the unexpected toss, Kaiming quickly steadied herself and snapped irritably, "I was just tricking you!"

Chunhua spun around, her eyes wide as copper bells, and strode over with formidable momentum. "Why would you lie about something like that?"

"If I hadn't said that, would you have run out so fast?" Kaiming asked with a cheerful grin, looking Chunhua up and down. "Not bad, you've gotten sturdier."

Chunhua glared at her, her brows knitted in disapproval. "Is that how you compliment a woman? You should say I've gotten prettier or slimmer!"

"Right, right," Kaiming replied vaguely, steering the conversation away. "Chunhua, have you heard about the upcoming campaign at Nangong?"

"I heard," Chunhua hummed with displeasure. "You're commanding again, which means the thirty-sixth squad will probably have to risk their lives for you once more."

"Don't put it like that." Kaiming slapped her shoulder with a grin. "I'm not who I used to be. I promised we'd share in the wealth, and when the time comes, we'll all be promoted and get rich together."

Chunhua rolled her eyes at her. "It'll be a miracle if we don't lose our lives at Nangong."

Kaiming patted her chest in reassurance. "Don't worry, don't worry."

Paying no heed to her guarantees, Chunhua kept her eyes locked on the camp gate, asking stubbornly, "Did Brother Xuan really not come?"

Just as she spoke, two breathless figures burst out from the quarters on the southern side, running toward them while shouting at the top of their lungs:

"Bos~~s~~~~!"

"Gen~~e~~ral~~!"

Even without looking, one could easily guess which two characters these were.

Xiacao and Qiuju ran up, stopped to catch their breath, and saluted, "General! Xiacao and Qiuju reporting for duty!"

Without even turning her head, Chunhua shot back, "Slow as turtles. Were you taking a dump?"

Xiacao wore a smug grin. "We were gossiping with the junior soldiers!"

"Gossip?" Hearing that word, Kaiming found it rather amusing. Ever since she had first introduced the concept in the military camp, it had practically taken the whole place by storm.

Chunhua said with dissatisfaction, "Whose tongue are you wagging about now?"

Qiuju giggled and said, "The central figure this time is someone we all know. It's..."

Xiacao knowingly cut in, "Commander Changgeng!"

Taken aback, Kaiming asked, "What gossip could there possibly be about Changgeng?" Before they could answer, she slapped her own palm and smiled, "Ah, right! Is it about him going on blind dates?"

Xiacao chuckled slyly, "So General Kaiming knows about it too."

Qiuju blinked her eyes. "Would the General like to hear the details?"

Chunhua put her hands on her hips and glared at the two of them. "Isn't it just some pathetic blind date? How could that possibly keep you gossiping for so long!"

Xiacao said ingratiatingly, "You don't know the half of it, Boss! There's actually a sequel to the blind date!"

Kaiming's curiosity was piqued as well. "There's more?"

Qiuju lowered her voice mysteriously. "We heard that Commander Changgeng's mother is extremely fond of this young lady. Using the excuse of visiting the Commander, she's already brought her over several times."

Kaiming smiled slightly. "And what about Changgeng? Is he fond of this young lady as well?"

Qiuju immediately replied, "Needless to say, they've already had several private trysts."

"Private trysts?" Kaiming laughed in spite of herself, unable to picture the stern, unsmiling Changgeng whispering sweet nothing into the ear of some delicate young lady.

Seeing that she was interested, Qiuju grew even more animated. "That young lady is truly peerless in her beauty. Even a stern man like Commander Changgeng couldn't help but be moved when he saw her..."

Chunhua stood with her arms crossed, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Meanwhile, Xiacao, facing the camp gates, caught sight of someone standing behind Kaiming and the others. Her face drained of color, and she frantically began elbowing Qiuju.

Unaware of her actions, Qiuju complained, "Why are you jabbing me for no good reason? The General is listening!"

Xiacao's face grew even paler. Her lips quivered as she squeezed a sentence out through her teeth: "Changgeng... Changgeng is... right behind... the General..."

Qiuju snapped her head up and caught sight of the shadowy figure looming behind Chunhua and Kaiming. Scared out of her wits, she abruptly changed her tune, "General, Boss, we, we still have some unfinished business, we'll take our leave first... excuse us..." Before she even finished speaking, she turned on her heel and bolted.

Realizing something was amiss, Chunhua and Kaiming both whipped their heads around. Standing right behind them was a man in narrow-sleeved archery attire. His brownish face was flushed beet-red from suppressed anger, and his round eyes were wide as he glared at the two of them like a fiend.

Meeting his murderous gaze, a chill shot straight up Chunhua's spine. She blurted out in a rush, "Well, those two women can't handle things without me. Commander, General, I'll just, I'll just withdraw..." Before the words had even faded, she vanished into thin air.

Watching the three women outrun one another, Kaiming—still with her back to Changgeng—felt wave after wave of freezing air wash over her. Panic crept into her heart as she desperately searched her mind for an excuse to escape this icy pressure.

From behind her, Changgeng spoke in a chilling tone, "When the General came to the camp, wasn't it to inspect the troops?"

Kaiming's brows knitted tightly together. Forcing them to smooth out as best as she could, she turned around and flashed him a broad, ingratiating smile. "Yes, indeed, yes, indeed."

Changgeng's face remained dark and flushed, his expression rigid. "Were you looking for this subordinate?"

"I wouldn't dare trouble the Commander," she replied with a guilty smile.

Changgeng let out a cold snort. "Inspecting the troops is the General's prerogative, and as a subordinate, I am naturally bound to give my full cooperation. What talk of trouble is there?" He motioned to her with a wave of his hand. "Let's go. Over that way—it's not convenient to talk here."

"Alright," she had no choice but to comply.

The two of them walked one after the other in complete silence. A gentle autumn breeze swept past, fluttering the stray locks of hair by her temples. As Kaiming tucked her hair behind her ear, she noticed that Changgeng had stopped ahead of her.

Turning around, Changgeng said to her, "Please take a seat, General."

Kaiming glanced around. This was a secluded corner of the training grounds, furnished with a stone table and stools, alongside various training equipment. Remembering her own days of training here, a sudden wave of nostalgia washed over her.

She slowly seated herself on the stone stool. Before Changgeng could speak, she immediately asked, "Does the Commander have any brothers or sisters at home?"

Changgeng was momentarily taken aback. He replied, "Only an elder sister, who is already married."

Kaiming nodded thoughtfully. "That being the case, it is only natural that your aging mother is in such a rush."

Changgeng's face darkened further, and he muttered stiffly, "The General should not listen to the idle gossip in the camp. It is nothing like what the General has heard."

Kaiming smiled faintly. "It doesn't matter what I've heard. What I want to tell the Commander is that for this upcoming Nangong campaign, this General does not intend to have the Commander accompany the expedition."

Never expecting her to say such a thing, Changgeng froze in astonishment. "General, is this decision made because of Changgeng's family?"

"Not entirely," she replied slowly, shaking her head.

"If the officers and men of the Central Palace were all as considerate of their subordinates as the General, I fear the Central Palace would soon be left without a single soldier," Changgeng said coldly. "Or perhaps the General simply does not wish to see Changgeng at all? If that is the case, the General need not have made a special trip to the camp just to deliver the news."

Feeling rather awkward, she lowered her voice and said, "That is not what I meant."

Changgeng raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze with icy detachment. "Then pray tell, what did the General mean?"