Chapter Ninety-One: The First Day of Training

“Commander, are you finished yet?”

“Commander! ...”

“Kaiming, have you fallen asleep!”

Spring Blossom’s shout cracked through the drill yard like thunder, and the earth itself seemed to tremble. The others stared blankly, not knowing what had happened, and all turned to look this way.

Kaiming jerked awake with a start. Opening her eyes, she saw the women of her own unit standing in horse stance, each glaring at her with unmistakable resentment.

“It’s been two hours, you wretched woman!” Spring Blossom’s legs were shaking from holding the stance so long, yet she did not dare move recklessly; all she could do was vent her fury in a loud cry. “Were you trying to work us to death on purpose?”

Oh. She remembered now. She had not slept well the previous night and had grown drowsy. She had ordered the thirty-sixth squad of women to hold their stances, then leaned against the base of the wall herself and, before she knew it, drifted off.

She hurriedly wiped away the saliva at the corner of her mouth and said to the soldiers, who were angry but too afraid to speak, “Rest where you are.”

With a rustle and a thud, a great many of them collapsed at once.

Looking at the bodies strewn across the yard, and thinking of how she herself had looked when she first joined the unit, she felt a secret surge of delight. So this was how it felt. Who would have thought that I, Kaiming, would see this day? In the past I was always the one being lectured. Now I am the one doing the lecturing.

Seeing Spring Blossom’s unwilling expression, she beckoned. “Come here.”

Spring Blossom looked puzzled.

“Go buy me some breakfast.” Kaiming grinned shamelessly. “Your commander is still hungry.”

“Kaiming, you—”

“That’s an order.” Her face hardened.

Spring Blossom fumed, but had no choice but to obey. She dashed toward the gate. As she passed the unit being trained by Long Dusk, he cast her a suspicious glance. Then, when he saw her racing back in with two large pancakes held high, his whole face instantly darkened.

Spring Blossom deliberately detoured past Long Dusk so he could clearly see what she was carrying. Her expression was openly triumphant. Kaiming, you use your rank to settle old scores? Fine. Let’s see who dies sooner.

After swallowing the two pancakes in a few gulps, Kaiming finally felt her strength return. She wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth and strolled back to her own unit.

“Now line up. Eyes front.”

At her command, the women obediently fell into neat formation.

“Right turn. About-face. Forward turn.”

Like an army instructor in a school drill, she trained the women with exacting care.

After they had turned a dozen times, impatience began to show on everyone’s faces. Spring Blossom could not help saying, “Commander Kaiming, can you only train us to spin in circles? We already drilled these basics enough in the recruit camp!”

A number of others nodded in agreement. Kaiming’s face remained stern. “Spring Blossom, are you the commander, or am I?”

Spring Blossom fell silent at once.

“You refuse to follow orders. Punishment: run twenty laps around the drill yard.” Kaiming pointed at the pair beside her. “Summer Grass, you call the commands. Keep turning!”

Summer Grass had no choice but to comply, while Spring Blossom grudgingly started her punishment run.

Long Dusk watched all this and could not help shaking his head inwardly.

Sitting there and watching them train, he too began to feel sleepy again before long. Summer Grass’s voice had grown hoarse from calling out commands when she came over quietly and asked, “Commander, should we continue?”

“How many turns has it been?”

“More than thirty…”

“Then rest.”

“...Yes.”

Summer Grass did not move, however, and simply stood there with lowered eyes.

“Why are you still here?”

“Commander, it’s time for lunch.”

“Disband. Go eat.”

“Yes!”

Summer Grass hurried off to dismiss the unit, and the women grumblingly returned to the barracks to fetch their bowls and chopsticks.

In the noisy mess hall, the dark-skinned male soldiers watched the women file in and gathered together to whisper among themselves. Spring Blossom came in rubbing her sore legs and kneading her waist, cursing under her breath. The pair that followed behind her carried her bowl with utmost deference, not daring to make a sound.

“That wretched Kaiming. She gets a promotion and thinks she’s something now, daring to treat me like this! Just wait. We’ve got plenty of time, and she’s going to get hers!”

The pair hastily chimed in from the side.

“Boss...”

“What?”

“Kaiming has come in.”

Spring Blossom immediately shut her mouth. It seemed that even among the lowest soldiers, an officer still carried a measure of authority.

Just as she reached the doorway, Long Dusk called Kaiming over and gave her a dark, severe dressing-down. She lowered her head like a child who had done wrong and let him speak at length. Inside, she was aggrieved. How odd. That brat Long Dusk always talked about equality and being on the same level, so why did he always love putting on that stern face and scolding her? Was it true that once one had held authority, one remained an authority forever?

In the recruit camp she had lived under the Grand Marshal’s thumb; after finally turning the tables, she had only ended up with another commander over her head here. It was enough to drive a person mad.

She was listening helplessly when Long Dusk suddenly stopped lecturing on his own. To her surprise, she saw the commander facing the mess hall, his expression shifting to one of both shock and fury.

What disaster had happened now?

She quickly looked that way.

Inside the mess hall, two groups were at daggers drawn, glaring fiercely at one another. At a glance, Kaiming spotted the tallest figure in the crowd and could not help pressing a hand to her forehead helplessly. My heavens. That tower of a woman was none other than Spring Blossom from the thirty-sixth squad, wasn’t it?

That woman could not go anywhere without starting trouble.

Here was how it had begun. Some male soldier, whether by chance or not, had brushed past one of the pair in the middle of the hall. Those three were used to running roughshod over others, so how could they swallow even the slightest loss?

Summer Grass thrust out an arm and, like a chicken by the scruff, grabbed the male soldier who had pushed through. She barked, “You bump into me and think you can just walk away?”

The soldier was no pushover either. He slapped her hand away and snapped, “Yes, I did. What of it?”

At a single disagreement, they were already wrestling in a heap, with the usual flurry of kicking and shouting. Tables overturned, benches went flying. Soldiers were bored to death most days and were the type who loved chaos more than peace; some whistled, others jeered, and the whole place erupted into pandemonium.

Long Dusk looked up and happened to catch the brawl.

Several commanders from the male units had only just stepped into the mess hall and were frozen at the entrance, not understanding what fresh turmoil had erupted.

“Keep your soldiers under control!” Long Dusk glared at Kaiming. “Truly, a commander is exactly like her troops!”

The moment Kaiming heard that, she nearly exploded with anger. She did not care if Long Dusk chewed her out for a mess she herself had made, but this was clearly Spring Blossom’s doing. Why on earth was she being made to bear the blame? Was Long Dusk blind?

Before she could voice her outrage, Long Dusk had already strode into the mess hall.

“What is going on here?”

His sharp roar immediately silenced the chaos across the hall. Kaiming had to admire the force of his voice, like a roll of thunder. Only a commander so stern could suppress a group of unruly soldiers like this.

“Commander, it was her...” one of the male soldiers hurried to complain.

“No, clearly he started it...” Summer Grass retorted without yielding.

“Both of you, shut up!” Long Dusk barked at them. His eyes swept sternly across the gathered crowd. “Whichever unit this is, its own commander will take it back. Any punishment or beating is for the commander to deal with!”

Only then did the people at the doorway come back to themselves. Hearing this, Kaiming could do nothing but drag her three beasts back under the gleeful gazes of the onlookers.

With her appetite ruined, she ignored Spring Blossom and the others for the rest of the afternoon. They were punished to kneel on the ground with branches held high over their heads, suffering miserably.

“Commander Kaiming, have mercy on us! My arms are really sore.”

“Commander, if you keep punishing us like this, we won’t even be able to hold our chopsticks at dinner.”

“You still want dinner?” She stared them down, and the three of them fell silent at once.

Holding a willow switch, Kaiming paced back and forth over the muddy ground where they knelt, tapping now and then to correct their posture. The other women practiced sparring drills nearby with long staves. The recruit camp had all the training courses; she did not need to invent anything herself, only borrow what she could.

“I am punishing you so that you’ll remember this in the future. Don’t be so thick-headed and spend all day picking fights with others just to show off. Do you even know whose ground this is? Is it your little town? Is it the recruit camp?” She paused, then crouched down in front of the three. “This is Long Dusk’s territory. He’s the biggest here. Understand?”

Spring Blossom said unconvinced, “He’s only a little commander. How can he have so much authority? Aren’t all commanders supposed to be equals?”

“Equal your head!” Kaiming tapped her lightly on the crown with the willow switch and lowered her voice. “After watching things these past few days, I’ve figured it out. Long Dusk is the most arrogant man here. Whatever he says, the other commanders do not dare disobey. In truth, he’s practically half a local tyrant.”

Spring Blossom widened her eyes. Kaiming smiled. “When we’re under Long Dusk, we’d better keep our heads down. He hates subordinates who try to stand out.”

The trio looked at her in confusion. Kaiming winked. “If we get the chance, we’ll give him a little trouble.”

Spring Blossom gave a giggle, flashing a pair of prominent front teeth. “Kaiming, you’re actually thinking of scheming against Commander Long Dusk.”

Kaiming smiled. “If that’s how you put it, then you’re refusing to cooperate.”

She stood and raised her voice. “Fine. Kneel here for another three or four hours.”

“Don’t!” Spring Blossom cried out indignantly. “That’s not what we meant. As long as it’s Commander Kaiming’s decision, the three of us will obey unconditionally!”

“Good children.” Kaiming smiled with satisfaction. “All right, get up. Stop kneeling. Save your strength for dealing with Long Dusk.”

Spring Blossom and the others responded and rose, rubbing their numb knees.

While they were groaning in pain, Spring Blossom asked in puzzlement, “Kaiming, Commander Long Dusk has been pretty good to you. Why do you want to mess with him?”

“Well...” She stroked her chin. “I just can’t stand the brat’s arrogant attitude. I want to clip his wings a little. Don’t ask so many questions. When the time comes, do exactly as I tell you!”

Spring Blossom agreed aloud, but her eyes flicked toward the pair beside her and exchanged a glance. Those two had been through countless brawls and were no fools; they could plainly see the defiance in Spring Blossom’s eyes, and both gave a sly nod.

Kaiming, this is the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

By the time the sky had dimmed to dusk and she was worrying about the parasites in her body, Kaiming quietly borrowed a horse and rode back at a gallop to her own little nest.

When she pushed open the door, the lamplight in the inner room was already burning faintly. Thinking of the prince from Northern Palace, her anger flared anew. Deliberately, she slammed the door wide with a hard swing and shouted in a rough voice, “I’m here!” Then she lifted a foot to step inside.

“Wait!”

A voice came from within, but it was too late to stop her foot from falling.