Chapter 398: The Pig is Lost

"I think that'll work!"

Just as Li Li Xuewu had finished arranging for the dishes to be served, his mother-in-law grabbed his hand.

"Li Xuewu, your mother just said she wants to trade you to me for Aunt Xiao Ning; we agree to this right now."

"Alright!"

Li Li Xuewu loosely put his arm around his mother-in-law's shoulders and smiled: "As for me..."

"Young Marquis, please get up quickly; it's our turn for patrol."

"Where am I?"

Qin Hu sat up groggily, feeling a chill on his body while a strong wind blew howling outside, instantly filling his heart with strange unease.

"Oh, Young Marquis, how can you be so confused? We are in the military camp. It is our shift to stand guard at this hour; if you don't get up, you'll be punished by military law, and even the Old Marquis cannot protect you now."

"What?"

Qin Hu opened his eyes and saw that he was currently inside a tent, with a small soldier wearing leather armor standing before him.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask something, suddenly a splitting headache struck, and a massive stream of information rushed into his mind; a few seconds later, he knew he had transmigrated.

He had transmigrated from a modern special forces soldier into a Young Marquis also named Qin Hu, the leader of the Seven Evil Young Masters of Jingcheng!

And this era, called the Great Yu Dynasty, simply did not exist in history.

Qin Hu's ancestors were among the Four Dukes and Twenty-Eight Marquises who founded the Great Yu; three months ago, his father passed away, and Qin Hu inherited the title, becoming the new Marquis of Champion.

Qin Hu had been spoiled by his parents since childhood; he loved neither studying nor practicing martial arts, indulging only in play, eating, drinking, and having fun, running rampant through Jingcheng.

When he grew up, his family wanted him to settle down, so they arranged a marriage with the eldest daughter of the Duke of Chen, named Chen Chen Ruoli, a noble young lady who was beautiful on the outside and wise on the inside.

This Qin Hu was vicious and cruel to everyone else, yet toward this flower-like beautiful fiancée, he was obedient in every way, treating her like a precious treasure.

But trouble happened to arise precisely because of this childhood sweetheart, the Eldest Young Lady of the Chen family.

According to Qin Hu's memories, on that day he accompanied his fiancée into the palace to pay respects to the current Princess Chang'an; since the Princess and Chen Chen Ruoli had been close since childhood, she arranged a banquet.

But later, Qin Hu drank until he blacked out, and when he woke up, he was already in the Imperial Prison of the Internal Guard. He was told that while drunk, he had flirted with the Princess and intended to commit improper acts.

Even more bizarrely, what followed was that Chen Chen Ruoli actually submitted a memorial impeaching her fiancé Qin Hu for seventy-two illegal offenses, each and every one supported by evidence.

At that moment, Qin Hu felt as if struck by five thunderbolts, simply unable to believe his own ears...

The imperial edict soon arrived; considering that Qin Hu's ancestors had rendered meritorious service, his capital crime could be pardoned but his living punishment could not be escaped, so he was exiled to Youzhou to serve in the army, retaining his noble title to observe his future conduct.

But after arriving in Youzhou, he was quickly assigned to the front lines—to serve at the vanguard tent.

After these events flashed through Qin Hu's mind, he basically understood; this must have been a trap.

Because the Duke of Chen had long wanted to break off the engagement with him.

The Qin and Chen families were originally a political marriage alliance; both families wanted to grow stronger and larger, but the later Qin Hu was nothing but a prodigal son, almost good for nothing, having completely disgraced the face of the Champion Marquis Manor.

It must be known that every generation of Champion Marquises had been heroic figures with incomparable influence in the military, yet precisely in this generation, a good-for-nothing who had never stepped onto a battlefield appeared.

When the Old Marquis was alive, the Duke of Chen still showed respect; after the Old Marquis died, the Duke of Chen turned heartless and actually staged a scene of breaking off the engagement right in the mourning hall.

But Qin Hu deeply loved Chen Chen Ruoli and refused to agree no matter what, while Chen Chen Ruoli had long become extremely disgusted with this evil young master.

Thus, a disaster descended upon him!

As for Princess Chang'an, it was even simpler; she was the cousin of Qin Hu's older male cousin, so once Qin Hu died, the vast family assets of the Champion Marquis Manor would naturally all fall into the hands of this male cousin.

These several factions, each seeking what they needed, colluded together, and thus rapidly united...

Indeed, once entering a marquis's gate, the sea is deep; there really are many people who want him dead.

"Qin An, shall we find a place to shelter from the wind?"

Under the bright moonlight, the rough north wind carried a piercing whistle, sweeping across the empty plains, blowing the few torches until they flickered on and off, cutting against people's skin like countless flying knives.

"We can't, Young Marquis; we would be punished by military law."

Qin Hu and Qin An, shrinking their heads and huddling their bodies against the wind, ran out from the camp, stepping on thick snow as they rushed forward.

The frail Qin An, not paying attention for a moment, was directly flipped over by the strong wind.

Two sentries changing shifts saw them come out, exchanged sinister smiles, scooped up two handfuls of snow to extinguish the warming bonfire, and then crawled into their tent.

Damn it, even the small soldiers have been bought off; they want to freeze Laozi to death!

This was a very small camp, with about twenty tents, surrounded by carriages; the outer perimeter had not even arranged any chevaux-de-frise or antler barriers, and the nearby terrain was flat with no natural defenses to hold, making it obvious they had no intention of stationing there long-term.

According to Qin Hu's memories from his previous life, about two hundred people were stationed here; they were the vanguard camp of Li Qin, the General Who Conquers the North of the Yu Dynasty.

And the target of Li Qin's twenty-thousand-strong army this time was the Yu Dynasty's sworn enemy on the border, the State of Liaodong.

"Cough, cough, Young Marquis, do you think we can still make it back alive?" Qin An curled his entire body up on the snowy ground, his lips and face blue, speaking with such weakness that he seemed ready to die at any moment.

Qin Hu sighed inwardly; Qin An was purely implicated by him, and if things continued to develop this way, both of them would surely die.

Those who wanted him dead, having failed to kill him in the imperial court, were now playing dirty tricks and striking blunt blows in the military camp, trying to beat him to death.

But Qin Hu was absolutely not someone who would sit waiting for death; this was clearly a case of being framed, and he could not just let it go.

Life itself is an endless struggle for survival; just wait, Laozi will not only survive but will also kill my way back to Jingcheng to settle accounts with you all.

"Qin An, when we left home, how many silver notes did we bring?"

"There are no silver notes left; I only have twenty taels of silver on me. The imperial edict stated that we are exiled as convicts, and our family assets are sealed and confiscated."

Qin An was only sixteen years old this year; he was Qin Hu's personal book attendant, very frail in appearance, already unable to bear the torment, looking as if he had only one breath left.

Actually, Qin Hu was not much better off; in these past few days, the vanguard camp marched thirty li every day, and the work they did was clearing roads when encountering mountains and building bridges when meeting water, chopping firewood and making fires, digging ditches and carrying water, and constructing camps.

And what situation would these two tender-skinned guys face when staying together every day with several hundred burly roughnecks?

Definitely doing the hardest work, eating the worst food, receiving the most vicious beatings, and suffering the greatest humiliation...

Qin Hu estimated that his predecessor had probably been tortured to death.

It could be considered that he deserved his fate.

It's just that this bitterness must now be borne by him; if he cannot bear it, he will also die.

"Give it to me."

Qin Hu had made up his mind; he must first find a way to save Qin An's life, and only then consider other options.

Saving a life was actually not difficult; the simplest method was bribery. As the saying goes, wealth can move even the gods. Although this approach was primitive, it always worked.

But under the current circumstances, he could not possibly bribe high officials, since no one dared to associate with him. Besides, he had no money.

So the person who came to his mind was Li Li Xiaokun, a Centurion.

He was currently the number one leader of the Vanguard Camp. To read the latest chapter content, please download for ad-free reading of the latest chapters.