The Wife is First

Ch41 - Xiao Hei

The army camp at night was very quiet, and the soldiers on patrol wouldn’t say more than a sentence, so the racket of the three generals in the middle tent playing the “finger guessing game” was particularly distinct. All three of them had fought with Jing Shao against the Xiongnu. They were used to the wild and unrestrained life in the desert. Even now, in the outskirts of the capital, they didn’t know how to exercise restraint. Jing Shao would have to discipline them a bit. He shook his head and walked slowly into the distance.

The attack on the southwest fiefdom was now happening three years earlier than the one in his previous life, and the advantages he possessed were very obvious. General Zheng Dong, who was always butting heads with him, had been sent to the eldest prince as reinforcement. Imperial Father also hadn’t sent anyone else to take control, so Jing Shao could do a lot of things. It was just that right now, there was a plethora of things to deal with, and he didn’t know where to start.

“Neigh ~” Xiao Hei, who was currently chewing fodder in the stable, saw his master, and raised his head to say hello.

Jing Shao snapped out of his thoughts. Unexpectedly, he had unconsciously walked to the stables. He stood in front of Xiao Hei’s manger and rubbed that big black head, which soon blended in with the dark surroundings.

Xiao Hei shook his head discontentedly, moved to the side, and continued eating grass.

It was bad enough that his Wang Fei had thrown him out of the tent – how could even his own horse disdain him? Jing Shao grabbed Xiao Hei’s ear and said, “You’re not allowed to eat anymore. Benwang doesn’t have a place to sleep, yet you’re still in the mood to have an extra meal!”

Xiao Hei looked up, chewing the grass and leaves in his mouth, and stared at his master with big black eyes. Because Xiao Hei was the Wang Ye’s favorite horse, the caretaker would prepare fresh grass for him alone every day, which was far better than the hay which all the other horses ate.

Used to Jing Shao pulling on his ears from time to time, Xiao Hei continued to chew loudly.

Jing Shao and Xiao Hei looked at each other for a long time, but Jing Shao couldn’t win a staring contest against a pair of horse eyes, and could only give up. Sitting on the wooden fence and gripping a wooden pillar, Jing Shao picked up a piece of grass and stuck it in his mouth. The grass stem was slightly bitter, with only the white part being slightly sweet; he didn’t know why Xiao Hei ate the grass so happily.

“Xiao Hei, I’ll find a wife for you after this battle is over.” Jing Shao looked up at the bright moon in the sky. The moon in the countryside seemed particularly cold and clear. He had never enjoyed the moon so leisurely in his past life – every day, he was thinking about the strategic placement of soldiers, army training, martial arts training and seizing the throne. He had lived to only 30 years of age, but had still been so tired. It truly wasn’t worth it. He fed Xiao Hei the grass in his hand. “Do you want a stallion or a mare?”

“Neigh ～” Xiao Hei looked at the lone strand of grass in his master’s hand, snorted hot air on it, turned around, and went to sleep in the shed.

Jing Shao, who was thoroughly ignored by his mount, had to leave the stable and sneak back to the imperial tent. The person on the bed lay on his side, with one hand hanging out from under the brocade quilt. His sleeping posture was excellent; it seemed that he had changed position after Jing Shao left.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“En…” The man in his arms gave a light groan, which startled Jing Shao. He paused for a moment, and seeing that Mu Hanzhang hadn’t woken up, he carefully tucked in the corner of the quilt for him, then buried his face in his Wang Fei’s neck contentedly. Taking a deep breath of Jun Qing’s faint fragrance, Jing Shao rubbed against him lightly and closed his eyes in satisfaction.

Jing Shao’s body was in good health. It seemed that he was able to fall asleep as soon as he lay on the bed, so he didn’t see the lips of the person in his arms curl up.

Mu Hanzhang woke up early the next morning since he had slept for a long time the day before. The sun was shining on the white tent, and the decorative designs on it could be clearly seen. After a moment’s hesitation, he remembered that he was no longer in the Royal Palace, but in the army camp. The person next to him was still sleeping soundly, snoring contentedly. The hot air blew on his neck, causing several strands of hair to brush against it, which was somewhat itchy.

Mu Hanzhang moved, turning to face Jing Shao and look at his sleeping face. Originally, he thought it would be months or even years before he came back. It was a lie to say that he wouldn’t have felt sad. He had even made plans already. If Jing Shao didn’t come back for a few years, Mu Hanzhang himself would go somewhere near the battlefield to do business. He didn’t expect this guy to have already planned things out.

He poked Jing Shao’s tall nose with a slender finger. Mu Hanzhang’s eyes couldn’t help curving. He wasn’t angry with Jing Shao for his bad little trick; he had already long gotten over it. It was just that he wasn’t used to such a trait.

Jing Shao felt something itchy on his nose and opened his eyes groggily. Seeing a jade-like finger, he opened his mouth and bit it, licking its smooth pad.

Mu Hanzhang retracted his hand and quietly watched as Jing Shao’s eyes opened completely.

“Haha, Jun Qing, you’re awake.” Jing Shao selectively forgot being punished to sleep with some other smelly and stubborn general. He inched closer to his Wang Fei and kissed him on his soft lips. “It’s still early. I’ll go to the army training. I’ll accompany you for breakfast after the morning exercise is done.”

Jing Shao didn’t wait for the person in his arms to question him; he jumped up to put on a moon-white training outfit, washed his face, and ran out.

Mu Hanzhang sat up slowly and looked at Jing Shao, who looked like he was fleeing. He couldn’t help chuckling.

He couldn’t sleep anymore either, so Mu Hanzhang got up and put on his clothes. There was a delicate wooden chest in the imperial tent which had been unloaded from the carriage yesterday. Most of the things inside were his clothes and other common items – it seemed that Jing Shao had truly started preparing for this quite a while ago.

“Gongzi is awake.” Yun Song came in to deliver tea. Seeing that Mu Hanzhang was neatly dressed, he quickly brought water over for the Wang Fei to wash his face and rinse his mouth. The Wang Fei’s identity couldn’t be revealed outside. He wasn’t actually a military man, so Yun Song couldn’t call him Jun Shi, and instead called him Gongzi.

“You also came along on the campaign?” Mu Hanzhang took the cloth towel from Yun Song and wiped his face. Normally, a small boy servant like Yun Song couldn’t be taken out of the palace.

“This servant will only be staying in the camp for half a month to run errands for Wang Ye and Gongzi. Once the army is ready to set out, I will go back to the palace.” Yun Song smiled and said, “Yun Zhu was so noisy yesterday, wanting to come along, but Wang Ye wouldn’t let him come.”

“Are you familiar with the army camp?” Mu Hanzhang nodded slightly and took a sip from the tea cup.

“This army camp houses Wang Ye’s personal soldiers. This servant has been here several times,” Yun Song replied honestly.

Hearing these words, Mu Hanzhang frowned slightly and raised his hand to lift the curtain. The smell of soil in the morning hit his nostrils, rousing his spirits. “Since that’s the case, you can accompany me on a stroll around the camp.”

At this time, almost all the soldiers went to the training ground for practice; only some of the soldiers from the part-time barracks were on duty. The fire in the iron basins had already been put out, wisps of smoke curling up from them.

According to Yun Song, there were more than five thousand people in this camp, all of whom belonged to Jing Shao’s military forces. Normally, they weren’t stationed here, but in Qixian, which was a hundred miles away. Jing Shao had cultivated these people into an elite force against the Xiongnu. When he returned from the northwest, he unleashed his military might. The emperor had shown him particular favor, and in addition to the five thousand people, bestowed a large area of Qixian to Cheng Wang alone.

Speaking of Qixian, Mu Hanzhang remembered that Jing Shao was going to exchange one hundred mu of good farmland with him for that wasteland. The servants who went to see the land said that it was very fertile and that the village was truly good. There were soldiers helping to cultivate it, and it turned out that it was near Jing Shao’s army camp.

“Brother Wang, why is the porridge getting thinner and thinner?” Two soldiers huffed and puffed as they carried a big cask before putting it on the ground in the middle of the four barracks.

“Aren’t there steamed buns as well? It’s good that we have porridge to eat at all.” The man called Brother Wang Er carried a big basket of steamed buns and put it beside the cask.

Mu Hanzhang curiously went over for a look. The three people eyed him strangely and exchanged glances. Word had spread in the barracks last night that the Wang Ye had brought a very good-looking military advisor with him, and they had also slept together. Needless to say, this had to be the person.

“Jun Shi is up so early.” When Wang Er saw Wang Ye’s personal boy servant following Mu Hanzhang, he couldn’t pretend not to see the latter, so he opened his mouth and gave a greeting.

Mu Hanzhang nodded slightly and asked in a warm voice, “Is this what breakfast is like every day? Why don’t you have other dishes?” Right now, he was just the military advisor who had been appointed verbally by Jing Shao; that was to say, a so-called military advisor who had somehow climbed his way up. He was considered merely a strategist and had no official position, so he couldn’t put on too many airs with these soldiers.

“Hey, if we can eat until we’re full, that’s enough. What soldier would pay any attention to wanting other dishes?” The two little soldiers behind Wang Er exchanged looks. “I still have to carry the meal over later. Jun Shi can take a stroll by himself for now.”

The soldiers that had been carrying the cask wanted to say something, but in front of a clean and tidy military advisor, they felt somewhat embarrassed. Wiping their hands on their aprons, they followed Wang Er in running away, disappearing in an instant.

“Brother Wang Er, the military advisor is so good-looking; is it really as they say? That he’s the Wang Ye’s concu-“

“Shh… Don’t talk nonsense in broad daylight. ” Wang Er quickly covered the little soldier’s mouth.

When Mu Hanzhang returned to the imperial tent, Jing Shao had taken a bath and was currently waiting for him at the dining table. The Wang Ye’s breakfast wasn’t much richer than that of the ordinary soldiers: just an extra plate of stir-fried vegetables and a plate of peanuts.

Only after seeing Mu Hanzhang frown slightly did Jing Shao realize that Jun Qing might not be used to eating like this. He said a little guiltily, “The days in the army camp are more bitter. If you don’t like eating this, I’ll have the chef from the palace come with us…”

“Eating the same thing as the other soldiers is what we should be doing.” Mu Hanzhang sat down at the dinner table and picked up his bowl. “I’m just surprised. The Ministry of Revenue didn’t shortchange you any silver this time; why is the camp still so destitute?”

“Silver?” Jing Shao took a bite of a steamed bun. “There are so many people in the army; no matter how much silver there is, it still isn’t enough.”

Afraid that Jing Shao would bite his tongue when he spoke while eating, Mu Hanzhang pursed his lips and said nothing more, but in his heart, he felt that he had to check the army accounts in the next couple of days. The immediate issue was that the soldiers and officers weren’t eating well, but if someone greedy was embezzling army funds, there would be trouble when the main army forces set out and the Ministry of Revenue sent someone to manage the accounts.

“Wang Ye! Wang Ye, something’s happened! ” A soldier suddenly ran to the front of the tent and shouted loudly, “Xiao Hei seems to have gotten ill!”