Chapter 497: Why Are You So Good to Me?
Chapter 497: Chapter 497: Why Are You So Good to Me?
Chen Shaobei passed by the soldiers’ bathing area as usual.
They were all hot-blooded young men, so there was no need for privacy when bathing. The area had always been an open-air tent.
But this time, as Chen Shaobei passed, someone came stumbling out, clutching their clothes, and ran right into him.
Jiang Zhi cried out in pain as she hit the hard Iron Armor.
She was already in a panic. Her wet hair was plastered to her face, and when she looked up and saw it was Chen Shaobei, her face turned pale with fright and guilt.
"What are you running from?" His voice was cold.
Just as he spoke, the voices of Wang Er and a group of soldiers sounded from behind Jiang Zhi.
They ran out, bare-chested. "Brother Jiang, what’s the rush? Look at those skinny arms and legs! Let your big brother give you a good scrub. What’s there to be shy about!"
Jiang Zhi gritted her teeth, kept her head down, and bolted.
Wang Er didn’t know what was going on. He saw Chen Shaobei’s tall, backlit figure standing before him, his eyes cool and sharp.
Wang Er asked foolishly, "General, did that Jiang Zhi make you angry again?"
Chen Shaobei pressed his lips together. The Deputy General beside him immediately barked, "You idiot, is that any way to speak to the General? You’re all here, bare-chested and fooling around. Are your military duties finished? Have you completed your weapons training? Your fist training? Or are you all just itching for a beating?"
Wang Er and the others lowered their heads, looking utterly innocent.
They always messed around like this. It was the midday break, and they were only taking a bath. Why was the General so displeased?
Chen Shaobei spoke coldly, "Were you bullying Jiang Zhi again?"
Wang Er felt the question was aimed at him and quickly waved his hands. "This humble subordinate would never! It was just that misunderstanding about Miss Su last time. I’ve already buried the hatchet with Brother Jiang over a jar of fine wine."
"Just now, we were passing the bathing area after training and heard splashing. We came in and found Brother Jiang had snuck off to bathe while we were all busy. Since we were also covered in sweat, we figured we’d all wash up together."
Among the soldiers, this was a perfectly normal thing to do.
So why had Jiang Zhi reacted with such fear and embarrassment, jumping up, grabbing her clothes, and running off?
A soldier behind Wang Er blurted out instinctively, "Jiang Zhi’s legs are so pale. He was probably afraid we’d mock him for being girly."
After all, they had made fun of him for that before.
The man had barely finished speaking when a sharp fist smashed right into his forehead.
The soldier clutched his head and cried out in pain.
The others, struck with a shared sense of dread, looked fearfully at Chen Shaobei, who had thrown the punch.
"G-General?"
"You are comrades-in-arms. On the battlefield, you are sworn brothers. So, do you think it’s a good thing to bully and mock him like this?" Chen Shaobei’s voice was frigid.
Wang Er and the others understood at once.
Jiang Zhi had a reserved personality. Perhaps he couldn’t take their jokes.
"The General’s lesson is well-received! We will be more careful next time."
Chen Shaobei waved his hand and gave a military order: "Each of you will run twenty laps around the barracks and then report back."
They wailed internally but didn’t dare to disobey, respectfully watching Chen Shaobei leave.
Over the next few days, Chen Shaobei found himself unconsciously keeping an eye on Jiang Zhi’s movements.
But she was avoiding not only everyone else, but him as well.
She would stay in the Fire Soldier Camp all day, only daring to return to her own tent to sleep late at night, after it was completely dark.
The mess cooks who knew her said that Jiang Zhi used to help them with their work and joke around.
But she hadn’t come by recently. When they ran into Jiang Zhi on the path, she would only give a brief nod, seeming deeply unsettled.
Chen Shaobei mulled over the information he had gathered, slowly piecing it together.
「Three days later.」
He summoned Jiang Zhi to his study.
Jiang Zhi still kept her head down, but the arrogant, rambunctious energy she used to have was gone.
"What have you been busy with lately?" Chen Shaobei asked.
Jiang Zhi answered truthfully, "Researching cannons."
Chen Shaobei pressed his lips together. "Why aren’t you going to training?"
Jiang Zhi was silent for a moment, then said, "I have been training, but I use the time for the evening meal."
Chen Shaobei’s expression was cool and composed. As a powerful, respected general, his aura of calm authority was palpable.
"I recall telling you before you joined the army that discipline means doing the right thing at the right time. Everyone else goes to the evening meal while you run off to train. Do you really think this army camp is your home?"
Jiang Zhi knew she was in the wrong. She lowered her head silently and didn’t speak.
After a long moment, she seemed to summon her courage.
"General, I want to leave the army camp."
"Why?" Chen Shaobei’s lips thinned. "Surely you’re not leaving just because I reprimanded you a little? You can’t handle that?"
Jiang Zhi’s fists clenched. She lifted her clear, dark eyes to look at him, an unspeakable difficulty reflected in them.
"I... I..." Jiang Zhi took a deep breath and finally confessed. "I am a woman. I believe the General already knows. If I stay any longer and someone finds out, I will not only implicate the General, but I will also damage the reputation of the entire Chen Family Army!"
A woman enlisting in the army... If word got out, it would be a laughingstock.
Besides, there has always been a superstition that having a woman in the ranks brings an army bad luck.
Chen Shaobei was a good person; Jiang Zhi didn’t want to drag him down.
She had thought that after her confession, Chen Shaobei would let her go without fuss.
But Chen Shaobei only watched her with his cold, brown eyes.
"So what if I know you’re a woman?"
Jiang Zhi froze, not understanding.
Chen Shaobei continued, "In your daily training, have I ever treated you differently?"
Jiang Zhi shook her head.
It was true, he hadn’t. If she did something wrong, Chen Shaobei punished her just the same.
"I’ve known you were a woman for a long time. In all these days, have I ever made things difficult for you?"
Jiang Zhi shook her head more vehemently. Far from making things difficult, Chen Shaobei had been constantly looking for ways to promote her.
He helped turn her self-taught fighting style into that of a proper soldier of the court.
Chen Shaobei sneered. "Then why do you want to leave?"
Jiang Zhi bit her lip. "I’m a woman. I’m a stain on this army."
SLAM! Chen Shaobei slammed his hands on the desk and stood up.
His tall figure was silhouetted by the light pouring in from the nearby window.
Jiang Zhi started, then heard him say, "Jiang Zhi, I have never considered you a stain. No one has the right to look down on you for being a woman, because you have long since proven with your own two fists that you are no worse than any man."
"The only one who looks down on you, the only one who thinks you’re a stain, is you."
In that instant, it felt as though his words had struck her very soul. She stared at Chen Shaobei in disbelief, her eyes wide and trembling.
His expression was composed as he sat back down in his chair.
"If a person demeans themselves, if they look down on themselves in their own heart, then it doesn’t matter how much others try to help them. If that’s the kind of person you are, then fine. I’ll grant your request to leave. You can go now."
With that, Chen Shaobei picked up a bamboo military book and began to read, showing no intention of paying her any more attention.
Jiang Zhi stood rooted to the spot for a long time. When her voice sounded again, it was lit with newfound confidence.
"General, I don’t want to leave! I’ll work hard in the future, and I won’t expose my identity and bring you..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Chen Shaobei tossed a key in her direction without looking up.
Jiang Zhi quickly caught it.
"What’s this...?"
"I have a private room at the nearest inn in the city that I keep long-term. I originally used it for temporary rests, but I have no use for it at the moment. From now on, go there whenever you need to bathe. I’ve already paid a year’s worth of silver for it, so you can just use it."
Jiang Zhi was so surprised she didn’t know what to say.
She looked at his lowered eyes, his expression calm and unreadable.
There wasn’t a trace of any other emotion on his face.
’How can he be so good to me?!’
"You may go. I have things to do," Chen Shaobei prompted her.
Jiang Zhi thanked him profusely and, for the first time in her life, practically bowed and scraped as she closed the door behind her.
Once outside, she looked up at the azure sky and the leisurely white clouds. Even the breeze felt fresh and clean!
Since joining the army, bathing had been her biggest problem.
Because she wore a chest binding, she couldn’t bathe with everyone else. She could only wait until they were fast asleep late at night or go during the midday break.
She was always terrified, constantly risking discovery.
Now that she had a private inn room to bathe in, she felt like she could kneel and thank Chen Shaobei for his kindness.
But then, a question popped into Jiang Zhi’s mind. ’Why is he being so good to me?’
She quickly figured it out.
’It must be because of Ningning!’ Jiang Zhi realized.
Chen Shaobei was so close with the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince cared so much for Shen Ningning.
’So, he’s only looking after me for Ningning’s sake.’
Having come to this conclusion, Jiang Zhi felt her heart lighten, and she walked away happily.