The generals felt that Qin Chu's actions were inappropriate, but the soldiers on guard around them were thrilled.
Qin Chu remained as cold and indifferent as a dead man. He had once used this demeanor to drive most of the cabinet crazy, and dealing with this group of people now was more than enough for him.
"You! Qin Chu, how can someone like you be fit to be a general?" Captain Zhang pointed at Qin Chu, his fingers trembling with anger.
Hearing this, Qin Chu glanced at him and said, "I don't know how I became a general. The Emperor appointed me as a general, so I am one."
Captain Zhang was completely speechless, looking like he was about to faint. The other generals kept their eyes downcast, but in their hearts they were thinking, "Where did the Emperor find this rascal? He's a first-rate fighter, and damn it, he's so difficult to deal with."
Just as the general standing to the side was about to say something to lighten the mood, Qin Chu stood up and walked towards Captain Zhang.
He didn't make a move, but said, "You put a general's hat on my head, so I have to be magnanimous? Even if I take off my rank, I'm still a soldier who fights with my life."
"I'm fighting on the front lines, risking my life, and you're tearing down my house and driving my brother away. If this continues, who will feel safe fighting on the front lines?"
These words made the soldiers beside them lower their heads and clench their teeth. If it were them, who wouldn't feel disheartened?
The general, who was about to offer some advice, also fell silent.
Qin Chu glanced around the room and continued, "Besides, you know I'm a general. I'm a general and you're a captain, and you dare to lift my tent. What about other ordinary soldiers?"
Zhang Xiaowei's actions were unreasonable to begin with, and Qin Chu pointed it out so incisively that he had no reason to deny it.
Qin Chu sat back down, his tone still extremely cold: "You committed insubordination by tearing down my tent, the tent of a general, that's one thing; I led troops into battle and risked my life on the front lines. Before the battle situation even came back, you assumed I was doomed and tore down my tent, disrupting the morale of the army, that's another. It's perfectly justifiable for me to give you fifty strokes of the cane according to military regulations."
No one in the room could refute it.
No one expected that General Qin, whom the emperor had sent over, seemed to be a man of few words, but when he did speak, every word he uttered was perfectly in line with military regulations, leaving no room for criticism.
But Captain Zhang couldn't hold back any longer. Fifty strokes of the cane were no human being to endure. He wasn't one of those thick-skinned soldiers. How could he survive fifty strokes?
Captain Zhang immediately revealed his trump card, pointing at Qin Chu and cursing, "I did this because you violated military regulations beforehand. You're clearly a lad, yet you infiltrated the army. Who would believe that a lad like you could win a battle?"
Qin Chu, however, showed no sign of being offended. He calmly said, "Oh, even if I am a 'brother,' there are military regulations to punish me. Who do you think you are to dare to overstep those regulations?"
Captain Zhang became anxious. He pointed out that Qin Chu was a bastard and thought he could get the support of other generals, but unexpectedly, no one spoke up for him.
He immediately said, "You're just a young master, not Qin Chu. Your surname is Zhou, and you're the young master of the Zhou family..."
Before he could finish speaking, he heard a stern voice: "Shut up!"
It was the general who spoke. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting! Drag him out and give him fifty strokes of the cane!"
Captain Zhang was dumbfounded. His family had connections with the General, which was why he dared to swagger around the military camp so openly. Who would have thought that the General would not help him at all?
"General, have you forgotten? I showed you the notice!" Captain Zhang immediately pleaded for mercy, but the general waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to pull him away.
None of the other generals spoke up, feeling that it was really disgusting for Captain Zhang to bring up the matter of the boy at this moment.
What did he mean? If Qin Chu was a "brother," then all these grown men were less than a "brother"? No one wanted to delve into this fact.
Zhang Xiaowei's screams echoed into the room, but Qin Chu remained calm.
He knew in his heart that whether he was a prince or not was no longer important at this point. Even if he was, the general would only cover it up for the sake of victory in the upcoming battle.
While Captain Zhang was still being punished, the other generals gradually stood up, wanting to leave, but Qin Chu remained unmoved, and they were not in a position to move either.
Someone called out to Qin Chu, "It's breakfast time now, and the drill ground needs to be used for training. General Qin, won't you go and take a look?"
Qin Chu sat steadily in his seat and said succinctly, "I'll count them here so I don't miss any."
The general and his officers, who had never heard such blunt truths before, were speechless.
Damn it, he's a top-notch fighter, he punishes people with reason and evidence, and he's so petty. Who would dare to offend someone like that?
News of Qin Chu's punishment of Captain Zhang spread quickly throughout the military camp, along with Qin Chu's words, which naturally further enhanced his prestige among the lower-ranking soldiers.
Qin Rui even went to watch the scene of Captain Zhang being punished.
Qin Rui didn't feel any sense of satisfaction; in his opinion, the punishment was too lenient.
Having witnessed countless schemes and suffered greatly in the palace since childhood, he didn't consider fifty strokes of the cane anything. In his eyes, this man had ruined his and Qin Chu's family and shouldn't be alive.
However, since the punishment was imposed by Qin Chu, Qin Rui was naturally willing to accept it, and was even quite happy about it.
That evening, he grinned and pressed Qin Chu, "Brother, did you punish that captain because of me?"
Qin Chu patted his head, telling him not to get carried away.
But Qin Rui wasn't entirely wrong. Although it wasn't entirely for Qin Rui's sake, Qin Rui did play a significant role.
After settling in Cangqing Prefecture, Qin Rui's life became stable again.
He woke up with Qin Chu in the morning and went to the training ground. He had grown very tall during this time; he used to look like a six or seven-year-old child, and no one would believe he was ten. But now he was close to the normal height of a ten-year-old boy.
Although it's rare for someone to join the army at the age of ten in this world, it's not unheard of. So Qin Chu didn't make any special arrangements and simply threw Qin Rui onto the training ground, letting him train the same way everyone else did.
When he had free time, Qin Rui would go to the kitchen to find out the latest news.
When he wasn't with Qin Chu, he was always greedy. He wanted to be with Qin Chu forever, preferably not for a single second. He wanted Qin Chu to mind his own business and not worry about anything else.
He even thought, wouldn't it be great if everyone else in the world died, leaving only him and Qin Chu...?
He was like a penniless man who had finally obtained a treasure, constantly worrying about losing it.
However, in this peaceful life, Qin Rui gradually discovered that as long as Qin Chu did not leave and as long as he could see Qin Chu reliably every day, the greed in his heart would gradually subside.
He enjoyed watching Qin Chu instruct the soldiers on the training ground and wholeheartedly supported everything Qin Chu did. Even under Qin Chu's influence, he would calm down, live his life methodically, do his job well, and communicate normally with those around him.
Qin Rui didn't quite understand the reason. He felt that his brother was like a medicine for him. As long as he was with Qin Chu, he was normal; away from Qin Chu, he was a madman without reason.
But Qin Rui still has some worries these days.
He had burned off the red birthmark on his palm, but he was afraid Qin Chu would find out, so he carefully kept it a secret from her.
But ever since he burned off that birthmark, his body seemed to have broken free of some shackles and began to grow rapidly. He grew so fast that he not only had to change his clothes more often, but his legs also often cramped at night, sometimes waking him from his coma and waking Qin Chu up.
That was the first time Qin Rui began to consider whether he should move to a side room to sleep.
But he was still reluctant to leave, so he stayed with Qin Chu.
But Qin Rui soon regretted it.
One night, he woke up again because of leg pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Qin Chu had woken up at some point and was sitting next to him, looking at him, with his left hand in his hand.
Qin Rui instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but couldn't manage it.
He immediately looked at Qin Chu with an embarrassed expression.
"What's with the birthmark?" Qin Chu asked.
He stared at Qin Rui expressionlessly. The child had grown rapidly during this period, and his hands had grown along with his height, no longer looking as tiny as before.
But they're still kids, and they can easily get into trouble if they're not careful.
Qin Rui hid it carefully, and Qin Chu wouldn't specifically check his birthmark, so she didn't notice that Qin Rui's birthmark had disappeared during this time.
Qin Rui's leg was still hurting, so Qin Chu asked Noah to check Qin Rui's physical condition. When he saw that the word "brother" on Qin Rui's data had turned gray, he realized something was wrong.
"I accidentally burned myself while tending the fire." Qin Rui winked at Qin Chu twice, feigning pitifulness. "It hurt so much when I got burned."
"You call it an accident when you burned the bone?" Qin Chu pointed to his scar and bluntly exposed him, "Did you accidentally burn yourself, or were you just too reluctant to burn too lightly?"
Qin Rui: "..."
He knew he couldn't hide it from Qin Chu.
Carefully withdrawing his hand, Qin Rui observed Qin Chu's expression and, after confirming that his brother was only a little angry and not furious, went over and hugged Qin Chu, saying coquettishly, "Actually, it doesn't hurt. I was just lying to you."
Qin Chu glanced at him with downcast eyes: "Oh, so you're not lying to me now?"
Qin Rui: "..." This is a bit tricky.
He tried a different approach to coax Qin Chu: "Brother, I'm fine now, there's nothing seriously wrong with me, and I've even grown taller. So brother, please don't be angry, okay?"
Qin Chu was still angry and ignored him.
He couldn't help but wonder if he had been too decisive when he removed the birthmark and then dismissed it so casually afterward, which had influenced Qin Rui to think that it was okay to remove the birthmark casually.
Seeing that Qin Chu remained unmoved, Qin Rui, without any instruction, began to "appease him with emotion."
He lowered his head and rubbed the scar on his palm, saying in a low voice, "I don't want to be a boy at all. I'm thin and small, and I get bullied. I often think that if I weren't a boy, maybe they wouldn't bully me like this, and maybe my father would like me."
Qin Chu was taken aback, but his expression softened slightly.
Qin Rui lowered his head and continued, "Later I heard that they wanted to send me to a marriage alliance. I didn't want to go at all, and I was terrified. I thought, if I weren't a boy, I wouldn't have been sent away, and I wouldn't have been a burden to you, brother..."
After he finished speaking, he leaned over and hugged Qin Chu again. This time, Qin Chu did not refuse. Instead, she reached out and patted his head.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Qin Rui, nestled in Qin Chu's arms, secretly curled the corners of his mouth.
He had long since stopped being hurt by other people's attitudes, and he didn't expect any love or care from anyone other than Qin Chu. As for the father he mentioned, he had never even met him.
He had wanted to discard these tragic past events for a long time, but it was good to occasionally bring them up to stop Qin Chu from getting angry.
Qin Rui hugged Qin Chu, thinking to himself that he was such a bad kid.
He only cared whether Qin Chusheng was angry, and he no longer felt anything about what he had said.
But suddenly, he heard Qin Chu's cold voice descend from above, carrying a barely perceptible hint of gentleness.
He said, "It's not your fault."
Qin Rui couldn't help but look up at Qin Chu.
Qin Chu also looked down at him.
Although Qin Chu had always felt that the character setting of this guy was wrong, and he also had a subconscious aversion when he learned that he had transmigrated into this gender, he did not want Qin Rui to judge himself based on other people's words, or even to change himself by hurting himself.
He stroked the child's head and said, "There is nothing wrong with gender, whether it is a girl, a boy, or a lad. You were born this gender, which may not meet other people's expectations, but it is not your original sin."
"Perhaps some people will use your gender to criticize you and expect you to become something else, but that is their fault. Perhaps society as a whole will restrict you and mistreat you for this reason, but that still does not mean that being a boy or your birth is a mistake, and you do not need to punish yourself for other people's mistakes, let alone hurt yourself."
Qin Chu looked at the child in front of him who was listening attentively and asked, "Did you understand?"
Qin Rui unconsciously grabbed Qin Chu's collar.
He hadn't expected that the few words he'd casually uttered as a ploy would be taken so seriously by Qin Chu. Yet, he was still moved. His fingers tugged at Qin Chu's clothes, and as if struck by a thought, he instinctively asked, "Was my birth... not wrong?"
What if his birth caused the deaths of others? What if it caused the deaths of his closest relatives?
Don't overthink it, it's not your fault.
Qin Chu patted Qin Rui on the back and pulled the blanket up higher to make sure he wasn't cold.
He was so gentle, and even though this gentleness was hidden beneath his cold exterior, it still made Qin Rui's heart skip a beat.
Without realizing it, Qin Rui grabbed Qin Chu's hand and held it tightly.