The next morning, General Li led the army from Shengjing to Suzhou to suppress the rebellion.
The marching troops were winding and connected, with flags covering the sky, majestic and awe-inspiring. No one noticed that one of the carriages was carrying the most respected imperial preceptor of the emperor.
Xiang Chen was dressed in black, with a long sword at his waist, riding a black horse and following closely on the right side of the carriage.
As the carriage was moving, it suddenly jolted violently. A muffled groan came from inside the carriage. Xiang Chen immediately tightened the reins and dismounted. “Master?”
He opened the curtain and saw the pale-faced master curled up on the bench, with reddish fingertips tightly clasping the armrests. He looked at him with long, dense eyelashes, “No problem.”
Xiang Chen was stunned for a moment but soon came back to his senses, opened the package, took out the fox fur, and carefully placed it behind his master’s waist.
Shen Qingzhuo smiled: “I couldn’t tell ah, Xiang Chen, you are so considerate.”
Xiang Chen said nothing, lowered his eyes, and accidentally glimpsed the layers of red marks through the slightly open collar, covering the snow-white skin, which looked weird but beautiful.
Suddenly, the sound from last night echoed in his ears, and his expressionless face suddenly turned red.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingzhuo glanced at him, suddenly realized something, and quickly raised his hand to grab his collar.
Xiang Chen stepped back suddenly, and his head hit the top of the carriage with a ‘bang’. He didn’t cry out in pain and quickly retreated. “Master, call me if you need anything.”
Seeing his reaction, Shen Qingzhuo was a little amused, but the scene of last night involuntarily appeared in his mind.
When he woke up, he thought he had fallen into another absurd dream until he found marks all over his body in the bronze mirror.
The wolf cub kissed him from head to toe as if he wanted to leave a mark on him—
No, it’s from bottom to top…
“Ah!” Lord Shen cried out in his heart, raised his hand to cover his hot cheeks, and tried to drive those images out of his mind.
It’s really terrible, where did his little disciple learn this from?
***
After traveling day and night, sleeping in the open air, and with the weather gradually warming up, the army finally approached the border of Suzhou.
Along the way, they encountered several waves of bandits, but they did not dare to act rashly in the face of the well-trained elite army.
After entering Suzhou, Shen Qingzhuo opened the curtain of the carriage, and the first thing that came into his sight was a large number of disaster victims.
There had been two years of drought, and the crops had failed. The people had already become skinny from hunger, and both the elderly and children could only lie on the roadside waiting to die.
Faced with the army coming from Shengjing, the victims did not even look at them. They could not even save their lives, so what was the use of more soldiers?
At this time, a loud cry caught Lord Shen’s attention.
“Mother! Mother, wake up ah! Mother, waahhhh… ” A thin and pale little girl was kneeling on the roadside, her black hands vigorously shaking the emaciated woman on the ground, crying uncontrollably.
Shen Qingzhuo’s heart sank, as if he couldn’t bear to watch any longer, so he lowered the curtain and sat back.
The carriage continued to move forward, but the childish cry behind him continued to linger, and even the iron-blooded soldiers couldn’t help but turn their heads.
After a while, Shen Qingzhuo opened the curtain again. “Xiang Chen.”
Xiang Chen tightened the reins. “What does Master needs?”
“Bring that little girl here.” Shen Qingzhuo sighed and reminded, “Bring some food to coax her, don’t force her.”
Xiang Chen replied, “Yes, Master.”
Xue Shihang stopped nearby on his horse. “My Lord, the number of victims is extremely large, you can’t save them all.”
“I understand.” Shen Qingzhuo replied calmly, “But now that they’re in front of us, we can save as many as we can.”
The army set up camp, and Shen Qingzhuo followed General Li into the prefectural government office of Suzhou.
The prefectural government office was quite grand, which was totally inconsistent with the tragic scene of starving people outside the city. Lord Shen’s face was slightly gloomy, but he held back and said nothing.
After the guard reported, Luo Cheng, the governor of Suzhou, immediately came forward and said, “I’m sorry to have Lord Li wait for a long time! My Lord really came to the rescue on time ah!”
Li Xinwu glanced at him with a sharp gaze and went straight to the point: “No need to exchange pleasantries, what is the current situation in Suzhou?”
The fat and big-eared Governor Luo smiled awkwardly, “My Lord is right! Sit down first!”
Luo Cheng led Lord Li to sit down. At this time, he noticed that there was a frail, handsome man next to him and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Who is this?”
Shen Qingzhuo smiled slightly: “My last surname is Shen, and I am a military advisor.”
Luo Cheng suddenly realized and quickly said, “Lord Shen, please sit down too!”
Then, the governor’s subordinate official, Tong Pan, told Lord Li about the current war situation. The rebels had captured Tianmen Mountain, the pass of Suzhou.
Tianmen Mountain is strategically located, with abundant water resources. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The rebels used Tianmen Mountain as their base camp and continuously attacked the garrison, causing heavy casualties to the garrison in Suzhou. In addition, due to the lack of food and grain, they would sooner or later be completely counterattacked by the rebels.
Shen Qingzhuo asked, “Suzhou is suffering from a severe drought. Where do the rebels get food and grain?”
“This…” Tong Pan glanced at Lord Shen and replied cautiously, “The rebels’ food was all looted.”
Shen Qingzhuo stopped asking questions, which was considered as agreeing with his statement.
It was getting late, and General Li decided to rest for one night and lead his troops to meet with the commander of the Suzhou army tomorrow.
Soon someone arranged accommodation for them. Shen Qingzhuo sat on a chair and sipped hot tea. Suddenly he asked, “Xiang Chen, where is that little girl?”
Xiang Chen frowned imperceptibly. “She is still outside.”
“What is Lord Shen going to do with her?” Xue Shihang asked, “You can’t keep her with you forever, right?”
“Bring her in to have a hot meal first, and then make plans later.” Shen Qingzhuo sighed, “There are so many of us, and we don’t lack food for a child.”
Xiang Chen could only respond, “Yes, Master.”
The little girl changed into clean clothes and came in with a dry biscuit in her hand, which was gnawed until her lips were covered with biscuit crumbs.
Shen Qingzhuo waved his hand and tried to speak softly: “Come here.”
Perhaps it was because Lord Shen was handsome or because of the gentle aura he exuded, the little girl hesitated for a moment and then ran towards him.
Shen Qingzhuo looked at the tiny little girl, reached out, and carried her to the chair. “What’s your name?”
“Bao Bao.” The little girl looked at him with a pair of big, round eyes, innocently patting her skinny belly, “Full from eating[mfn]This Baobao means full, full after eating.[/mfn].”
Shen Qingzhuo felt a pang in his heart and touched her messy braid. “From today on, Bao Bao will be full at every meal.”
Bao Bao was visibly happy, and then hesitated a little and whispered, “Mother…”
She was always very hungry. Occasionally, her mother would feed her something, but she was never full.
The young girl could not understand what true death was. She stayed among the dead every day, and no one collected the bodies. She only knew that the old lady who was still talking to her yesterday was motionless the next day.
“Your mother went to a faraway place, a place where she can also eat well.” Shen Qingzhuo forced a smile and lied, “Don’t worry, Bao Bao.”
Bao Bao nodded vigorously, “Mother went to find Father!”
Shen Qingzhuo’s heart moved, and he asked tentatively, “Where did Bao Bao’s father go?”
“Beat the bad guys!” Bao Bao raised her little hand, “Father beat the bad guys!”
Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyes and looked at Xue Shihang, “Today outside the city, most of the disaster victims we saw were old, weak, sick, and disabled, without a single young man.”
“That’s right.” Xue Shihang sat up straight and said in a serious tone, “This means that the young men were either captured by the garrison and sent to serve in the army, or they voluntarily joined the rebels.”
Shen Qingzhuo seemed to be thinking about something, and slowly touched Bao Bao’s full head, “With old people above and young children below[mfn]To have to take care of both one’s aging parents and one’s children.[/mfn], who would be willing to be a thief unless they had no other choice?”
***
After eating a rare hot meal, Shen Qingzhuo coaxed Bao Bao to sleep and then returned to his room.
After several days of long journey, he was already exhausted both physically and mentally. At this moment, he just wanted to lie down on the soft bed and have a deep sleep.
But he had been enduring his obsessive-compulsive disorder all the way, and now that there was finally hot water, he still insisted on taking a shower and washing himself first.
Xiang Chen brought a large bucket of hot water and added cool water to the bathtub. He suddenly said, “Master, you really like to pick people up.”
“What?” Shen Qingzhuo reacted and deliberately joked, “I didn’t pick you up. You came to me on your own and insisted on not leaving.”
With a quick smile on his face, Xiang Chen continued to add water without saying a word. “Master, it’s done.”
“Alright, you can go out now.” Lord Shen stood up lazily. “I’ll call you if I need anything.”
After the door was closed, Shen Qingzhuo took off his clothes, shoes, and socks.
Until his ankles were exposed, he suddenly stopped.
Since waking up that night, a golden anklet has been tied around his protruding ankle. The workmanship is exquisite, the dangling gold leaves are dotted with small water jades, and the surface is embossed with elegant and mysterious dark patterns.
He had to admit that this gold chain was extremely beautiful. If it wasn’t worn on his feet, it would probably be more pleasing to the eye.
Shen Qingzhuo leaned over and fiddled with the gold leaves with his fingertips.
His little disciple had used some unknown method to fasten the anklet firmly on his ankle. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find the joint and could only gradually get used to its existence.
When he returned to the capital, he would definitely teach his rebellious disciple a lesson.
Shen Qingzhuo stepped into the bathtub, immersed in the warm water, and could not help but let out a comfortable sigh.
The fatigue from running around for days was relieved, and his beautiful peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly. He casually thought, When did his little disciple secretly put on the chain that night?
After a while, somehow, the scene under the lamp that night appeared in front of his eyes. The young man’s muscular back muscles bulged, and his phoenix eyes looked up at him slightly and asked him vaguely…
A familiar warmth surged up from the ankles. Shen Qingzhuo took a deep breath. His red fingers moved slightly in the water and unconsciously followed the water flow to the clavicle.
The snow-white skin was as smooth as before, but the hot touch remained. His fingertips gently stroked the reddish shoulders and neck, and what he remembered was the warmth of another pair of big hands.
In a daze, he heard a low, hoarse voice. Shen Qingzhuo seemed to be bewitched, and his trembling fingers dipped into the warm water…
That’s not right!
He suddenly woke up and realized what he had just done. His breath was choked, and the violent heartbeat that followed almost choked him.
With wet fingers grasping the edge of the barrel, Shen Qingzhuo used so much force that his knuckles turned slightly white. He took deep breaths continuously, trying to calm his heartbeat and heat.
The next moment, he loosened his fingers in a frustrated manner, letting himself slowly sink into the warm water.
Before he left, what had his little disciple done to him…
The author has something to say:
The Master: It seems a little bad…
The Wolf Cub: Absence is better than presence, that’s the effect we want!
How could our pure-hearted and innocent master endure this, right?
T/N: Wait duh :3 I just noticed ch82 was posted yesterday ahhhhhhhhhh, it was supposed to be scheduled for today… I set the wrong date, sorry for the messy update, so ill post this ch81 now and ch83 in the evening as schedule, very sorry TT
![Who Are You Calling A Canary? [Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250108211651_200_280.jpg "Who Are You Calling A Canary? [Transmigration]")
