As the storage pouch flew toward him, Li Yan , who had been just about to pull Zhao Min away, revealed a strange smile. His movements hitched, and he came to a stop.
The mouth of the storage pouch gaped open, wisps of a treasure's aura drifting out. Clearly, the gray-robed elder feared Li Yan wouldn't trust him and had deliberately released some of the aura.
A glint flashed in Li Yan's eyes. With a slight turn, he was already facing the green-robed guest.
As a smile spread across Li Yan's face, the green-robed guest's expression changed instantly.
"Attack!"
Li Yan hissed to Zhao Min , his body already blurring into an afterimage as he shot toward the green-robed guest!
Zhao Min's aura erupted as well, and she lunged forward with equal speed.
"Little Marquis, you have to get up! It's our turn to patrol."
"Where... where am I?"
Qin Hu sat up, dazed. He felt a bone-deep chill, and the howl of a fierce wind raged outside the... tent. A wave of confusion washed over him.
"My lord! How can you be confused? We're in the military camp! It's our watch! If we don't get up, we'll be punished by military law! The Old Marquis can't protect you anymore!"
"What?"
Qin Hu's eyes snapped open. He was in a simple tent, and standing before him was a young soldier in worn leather armor.
Just as he opened his mouth to ask another question, a splitting headache wracked his mind. A massive stream of information flooded his brain, and seconds later, he understood.
He had transmigrated.
He, a modern special forces soldier, had crossed over into the body of another young man, also named Qin Hu. This Qin Hu was a "Little Marquis" and, infamously, the leader of the capital's "Seven Great Scoundrels."
And this era, called the Great Yu Dynasty, did not exist in any history he knew.
His ancestor was one of the Great Yu Dynasty's founding Four Dukes and Twenty-Eight Marquises. Three months ago, his father had passed away from illness, and this Qin Hu had inherited the title, becoming the new Champion Marquis.
The original Qin Hu had been spoiled rotten by his parents. He loathed studying and had no interest in martial arts. His only pursuits were carousing and entertainment, and he ran amok through the capital with impunity.
When he came of age, his family, desperate for him to settle down, arranged a marriage. The bride-to-be was the eldest daughter of Duke Chen's household, a young woman named Chen Ruoli. She was the very image of a high-born lady: graceful, beautiful, and possessing a sharp intellect.
While this Qin Hu was a vicious tyrant to everyone else, he was utterly infatuated with his beautiful fiancée, obeying her every whim and treating her like a precious treasure.
But the disaster, as it happened, stemmed from this very childhood sweetheart, the young lady Chen.
According to the original's memories, that day he had accompanied his fiancée to the palace to pay respects to Princess Chang'an. The princess and Chen Ruoli were childhood friends, so a banquet was arranged.
Later that night, Qin Hu blacked out from drinking. When he awoke, he was in the Imperial Prison, under the custody of the Imperial Guard. He was informed that he had, while drunk, molested the princess and harbored indecent intentions.
What followed was even more bizarre. Chen Ruoli herself submitted a formal memorial to the throne, impeaching her own fiancé, Qin Hu, of seventy-two separate crimes, each one backed by seemingly irrefutable evidence.
At that moment, Qin Hu felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He simply could not believe what he was hearing.
The Imperial Edict came down swiftly. In consideration of his ancestors' contributions, the death penalty was spared, but he could not escape punishment. He was exiled to You Province to serve in the army. His title was retained, but his future conduct would be under observation.
However, upon arriving in You Province, he was immediately assigned to the front lines—to serve at the vanguard tent's disposal.
After these events replayed in his new mind, Qin Hu pieced it together. This was a setup.
Because Duke Chen had long wanted to annul the marriage.
The marriage between the Qin and Chen families had been a political alliance, intended to strengthen both houses. But the Qin Hu of recent years was nothing but a profligate dandy, utterly worthless. He had completely disgraced the reputation of the Champion Marquis's manor.
Every previous Champion Marquis had been a hero, wielding unparalleled influence in the military. Yet this generation had produced a piece of trash who had never once set foot on a battlefield.
While the Old Marquis was alive, Duke Chen had still shown him respect. But the moment the Old Marquis died, Duke Chen turned ruthless, even staging the humiliating scene of demanding an annulment at the mourning hall.
But the original Qin Hu was deeply in love with Chen Ruoli and refused to agree, no matter what. Chen Ruoli, on the other hand, had long been disgusted by the infamous scoundrel.
Thus, this calamity was set in motion.
As for Princess Chang'an, her motive was even simpler. She was the cousin of Qin Hu's own older paternal cousin. If Qin Hu died, the Champion Marquis's vast fortune and holdings would naturally fall into the hands of that very cousin.
These different factions, each with something to gain, had acted in collusion, swiftly uniting to bring him down.
'Truly, "a noble's gate is as deep and perilous as the sea."' There were so many people who wanted him dead.
"Qin An, do you think we could find a place out of this wind?"
Bright moonlight illuminated the land, but the brutal north wind shrieked across the open plains. It battered the few torches, making them flicker violently, and felt like a thousand tiny knives slicing at their exposed skin.
"We can't, Little Marquis! We'll be punished by military law!"
Hunching their shoulders and shrinking against the gale, Qin Hu and Qin An ran from the camp, their feet sinking into the heavy snow.
The frail Qin An wasn't careful for a moment and was knocked flat by the wind.
The two sentries they were replacing saw them coming, shared a sinister smile, and then vindictively tossed two handfuls of snow onto the small warming bonfire, extinguishing it before ducking into their tent.
'Dammit,' Qin Hu thought, 'they've even bought off the common soldiers. They're trying to freeze me to death!'
It was a small camp, only about twenty tents, circled by supply wagons. There were no defensive stakes or caltrops on the perimeter. The surrounding terrain was flat and indefensible. It was clearly a temporary posting.
Based on the original's memories, about two hundred men were stationed here. They were the vanguard battalion for the Great Yu's "General Who Conquers the North," Li Qin.
The target of Li Qin's 20,000-strong army this time was the Great Yu's nemesis on the border, the Liaodong Kingdom.
"Cough... cough... Little Marquis, do you... do you think we'll make it back alive?" Qin An was curled in a ball on the snow, his lips and face blue. His voice was faint, as though he could perish at any second.
Qin Hu sighed inwardly. Qin An was only in this mess because of him. If things continued this way, neither of them would survive.
The people who wanted him dead hadn't finished him in the capital, so they were resorting to underhanded tactics in the military camp, pushing him to his grave.
But this Qin Hu was not the type to sit and wait for death. He had been blatantly framed, and he would not let this go.
'Life is an endless struggle for survival. Just you wait. I will not only survive, I will fight my way back to the capital and settle this score.'
"Qin An, how many silver notes did we bring when we left?"
"No silver notes, my lord. I only have twenty taels of silver. The Imperial Edict said we were exiled, and our family assets were seized."
Qin An was only sixteen. He was Qin Hu's personal book-boy, and his frail body was already breaking down from the torment. He looked like he was on his last breath.
In truth, Qin Hu wasn't much better off. For the past few days, the vanguard battalion had been marching thirty li (TN: A li is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, roughly 500 meters) a day. Their work consisted of clearing roads, building bridges, cutting firewood, digging latrines, and setting up the camp.
And what happened when two soft, pampered young masters were thrown in with several hundred rough-and-tumble army grunts?
They did the most back-breaking labor, ate the worst food, endured the most vicious beatings, and suffered the worst abuse.
Qin Hu figured his predecessor had likely been tormented to death.
He supposed the original had gotten what he deserved.
But now, he was the one who had to bear this suffering. If he couldn't take it, he would die too.
"Give it to me."
Qin Hu had made up his mind. First, he had to find a way to keep Qin An alive. Then, he could figure out the rest.
And surviving wasn't necessarily difficult. The simplest method was bribery. As the saying goes, "money talks." The method was primitive, but it always worked.
In his current situation, however, he couldn't bribe any high-ranking officials; no one would dare associate with him. Besides, he had no money.
So, one person came to his mind: the Centurion, Li Xiaokun.
The man currently in charge of the vanguard battalion.