After Being Abducted by the General Chapter 32

Chapter 32

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Upon seeing Yuan Li spurt out water, Chu Hechao immediately added with a hint of cunning, “I have already ordered the county magistrate of Shanggu County to gather and transport food to the battlefield.”

Yuan Li wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and looked at Chu Hechao pensively. “General…”

Chu Hechao remained silent, patiently waiting for the scolding.

Yuan Li stared at him for a while before asking, “How long will it take for the food to arrive?”

“One month,” Chu Hechao answered quickly this time, then earnestly looked at Yuan Li, “Sister-in-law, you only need to provide me with half a month’s worth of provisions to last until the new supplies arrive.”

Half a month was easily manageable for Yuan Li.

When it came to the important matter of military provisions, Chu Hechao had a keen sense of judgment. He remembered every bit of food Yuan Li had accumulated along the way, as well as how much had been transported to the northern frontier. It was precisely because he knew all of this that he had the confidence to use provisions to pave the way, knowing that Yuan Li would take care of the military funding in the rear.

If someone were to ask Chu Hechao how he felt about using provisions to surrender to the enemy for the first time in his life, he would have one word: refreshing!

Yuan Li silently watched Chu Hechao and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Chu Hechao first informed him that there was only half a month’s worth of food remaining, preparing Yuan Li for the worst. Then, he swiftly changed the tone, saying that Yuan Li only needed to provide half a month’s provisions. This approach would only make people feel relieved, thinking that half a month’s provisions were already scarce, and they would gladly agree and breathe a sigh of relief.

Clever move, Chu Ciyue.

Half a month’s worth of provisions was indeed within Yuan Li’s budget. However, Yuan Li deliberately teased them, intentionally showing a difficult expression with a worried frown on his forehead. “Half a month… General, this…”

He sighed lightly, displaying his exhaustion. “Never mind, I’ll think of a solution.”

Yuan Li stood up, bid farewell to the others, and then left the camp with Liu Jixin and Wu Kai, their steps heavy.

Yang Zhongfa and He Lang were stunned by his performance for a moment, then immediately turned to look at Chu Hechao, feeling a bit uneasy. “General, did we go too far with this matter, considering Young Master Yuan’s reaction?”

Chu Hechao pursed his lips tightly and suddenly stood up, striding out quickly.

Yuan Li hadn’t walked far when a figure with a strong presence appeared beside him. Yuan Li looked slightly surprised and said, “General, why did you come over?”

“Sister-in-law,” Chu Hechao whispered, “Did I make things difficult for you?”

He bent his back slightly and lowered his voice, adopting a respectful and pleading posture. Yuan Li was more responsive to soft approaches than hard ones, and with Chu Hechao asking in this manner, he found it hard to continue teasing.

What Chu Hechao did was the right thing, and it wasn’t really wasting food. Yuan Li smiled at him and said, “It wasn’t that much of a difficulty. General, you did an excellent job in dealing with the situation and capturing the White Rice Gang without using any troops. I am also pleased with the outcome. However, next time, if you have such a decision, please inform me in advance.”

Chu Hechao nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll follow your instructions, Sister-in-law.”

“What do you mean by ‘follow my instructions’?” Yuan Li couldn’t help but cry and laugh in his heart. It’s clear that you’re just trying to act obedient after the fact.

Seeing Yuan Li’s furrowed brow relax, Chu Hechao couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. But as soon as he noticed that he had relaxed, Chu Hechao’s face stiffened and he became expressionless again.

He had never been afraid of Chu Mingfeng, so why should he be afraid of Yuan Li getting angry?

Yuan Li wiped the sweat off his forehead. “General, with the weather being so hot, is there enough water in the army?”

“It’s enough. We had heavy rain a few days ago, so there’s even more water now,” Chu Hechao replied absentmindedly. “Zhuolu County is downstream of the Sanggan River, and it has Banquan and Xuanyuan Lake inside. If Sister-in-law is interested, you can take some people and go for a walk in Zhuolu County. Banquan and Xuanyuan Lake are quite interesting.”

Liu Jixin behind him exclaimed excitedly, “But isn’t the water in Banquan as dark as ink, but clear and translucent when scooped up?”

Chu Hechao nodded.

Yuan Li listened thoughtfully.

Are the water resources in Zhuolu County really that abundant?

Yuan Li’s mind turned, and he instantly understood why Chu Hechao was so eager to use food as a lure to make the White Rice Gang surrender. With abundant water resources in the county and the increasingly hot weather, the army was severely lacking in water. Once the White Rice Gang realized this, they would rely on the water resources to instantly reverse the advantage.

Zhuolu County itself was a transitional area from the forest to the plains, suitable for grazing and shallow farming. If the White Rice Gang were given the opportunity to catch their breath, it would probably take at least half a year or even a year to capture Zhuolu County.

Chu Hechao couldn’t afford to waste time.

Fortunately, the White Rice Gang didn’t have a long-term vision and didn’t realize the importance of the water source. They simply opened the city gates, conveniently providing water for Chu Hechao and his group.

Yuan Li laughed heartily, “General, the timing of bringing out the food was just right.”

Chu Hechao raised an eyebrow. He had only mentioned the presence of water in the city, and Yuan Li could already guess the purpose of him bringing out the food?

“Now that there is enough water, we weary travelers can also take a bath,” Yuan Li said with a smile.

“Of course,” Chu Hechao replied, “there are also spring pools in Zhuolu County for you to bathe in.”

Spring pools? Yuan Li instantly became eager. He always enjoyed the feeling of being close to water. Just hearing Chu Hechao’s words made him start to yearn for it, planning to take Liu Jixin and the others to soak in the spring pools in Zhuolu County later.

Chu Hechao added, “Hot water for bathing has also been prepared in the army.”

That was really thoughtful.

Yuan Li felt a bit embarrassed by Chu Hechao’s thoughtfulness.

As the group walked near a watchtower, a convoy transporting medicinal herbs passed by and accidentally bumped into the watchtower. Yuan Li was about to praise Chu Hechao, but then he noticed Chu Hechao’s sudden change in expression. Without hesitation, Chu Hechao swiftly pulled Yuan Li into his arms and swiftly turned their bodies around.

The watchtower, already leaning slightly due to heavy rain a few days ago, instantly collapsed when it was hit. Flags and wooden blocks from above came crashing down on Chu Hechao’s back. Chu Hechao pressed Yuan Li’s head tightly against his chest, his arms tense and as solid as rocks. Yuan Li felt as if the hand on his head was made of iron, weighing a thousand pounds, making his neck sore and his nose sore from the pressure against Chu Hechao’s chest muscles.

“Don’t move,” the man growled impatiently in a low voice.

Yuan Li didn’t move, his nostrils filled with Chu Hechao’s scent, and his lower back ached from the pressure. Liu Jixin behind them exclaimed in surprise, followed by a relieved exclamation of narrowly escaping death, “That almost hit me…”

Soon, the collapse stopped.

Chu Hechao silently released Yuan Li, not bothering to check his own injuries, and immediately turned his head to look at the fallen watchtower. The top of the watchtower had been completely lifted off, and his expression turned cold as he said in a low voice, “Bring someone here.”

Several soldiers who had been hiding quickly got up and ran to Chu Hechao.

“Take down and rebuild this tower,” Chu Hechao’s anger pressed down, his imposing presence intimidating. “Summon the lieutenant responsible for building this watchtower to me, and give him twenty lashes in accordance with military law, publicly!”

The soldiers trembled in fear. “Yes.”

After giving the order, Yuan Li rubbed his nose and hurriedly asked, “General, are you alright?”

Chu Hechao’s mood was extremely sour at the moment. He replied stiffly, “I’m fine.”

Yuan Li didn’t believe it and frowned as he walked behind Chu Hechao. Many of the fallen wooden blocks were sharp, and Chu Hechao’s clothes on his back had several cuts. Because the color of the clothes was dark, it was difficult to tell if there was any bleeding, but being hit by so many objects must have been painful. In a slightly firm tone, Yuan Li said, “General, please come with me to the tent and let me have a look at your back.”

Chu Hechao furrowed his brows in annoyance. “I said I’m fine—”

He caught a glimpse of Yuan Li’s worried expression, his nose slightly red, and couldn’t bring himself to say the rest of his words. Chu Hechao took a deep breath and suppressed his anger, whispering, “Sister-in-law, don’t worry, it’s just a minor injury.”

Yuan Li pursed his lips, his black and white eyes silently watching him without speaking, exuding a silent stubbornness.

Chu Hechao and Yuan Li locked eyes for a long time, and in the end, Chu Hechao surrendered. Coldly instructing the soldiers to “go find someone,” he obediently followed Yuan Li to his tent.

Yuan Li asked Wu Kai to fetch medicine and had Chu Hechao remove his robe.

After Chu Hechao took off his robe, Liu Jixin leaned over to Yuan Li and both looked at Chu Hechao’s back. Liu Jixin couldn’t help but gasp, “General, the wounds on your back are truly terrifying.”

It was pitch black!

Yuan Li: “…”

He looked at Liu Jixin with a speechless expression and brought a basin of water to dampen a towel. He gently wiped Chu Hechao’s back, and the black marks were immediately wiped away a bit.

“Mr. Liu, this dye is from the general’s clothes getting damp from sweat and sticking to his body.”

Liu Jixin’s face turned red, feeling too embarrassed to stay any longer. He found an excuse and quickly left the tent.

Yuan Li shook his head and motioned for Chu Hechao to sit down. He placed his hand on Chu Hechao’s shoulder to steady himself and bent over, carefully searching for the wounds among the discolored dye on Chu Hechao’s back, gradually wiping away the dye.

As he continued searching, Yuan Li couldn’t help but say, “General, can’t you wear better clothes?”

Chu Hechao lazily replied, “Little brother doesn’t have money, so if I want to wear better clothes, I can only rely on my sister-in-law’s support.”

Yuan Li muttered, “You really resemble a poor relative who comes to borrow money.”

Chu Hechao’s ears twitched sensitively. “Borrow money? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” Yuan Li coughed, “General, I don’t believe you don’t have a few sets of good clothes.”

Chu Hechao smiled and didn’t argue with him further.

Once they finished wiping away the dirt, Yuan Li breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Chu Hechao had thick skin. Although his clothes were torn, there were only a few shallow scratches, and there wasn’t much blood.

However, even though it wasn’t apparent now, being hit by heavy objects could result in subcutaneous bruising once the reaction set in.

Yuan Li was concerned about internal injuries and gently pressed on Chu Hechao’s back muscles, asking, “Does it hurt here?”

“What about here? Do you feel anything?”

As soon as Yuan Li’s hand touched Chu Hechao, Chu Hechao’s back tensed up completely. It was only after Yuan Li said several sentences to relax him that Chu Hechao slowly relaxed his body.

Yuan Li asked in a professional manner, but Chu Hechao always shook his head slowly. Yuan Li felt that he was being somewhat dismissive and asked skeptically, “Doesn’t it hurt anywhere?”

Chu Hechao raised an eyebrow. “Does my sister-in-law want me to hurt?”

Yuan Li remained silent for a moment. “Chu Hechao, you didn’t tell me the truth.”

Chu Hechao smirked, a somewhat insincere smile on his face. “Then how should I say it? Sister-in-law, you teach me. Tell me what to say, and I’ll say it. Is that okay?”

Yuan Li turned around and squatted on the ground, washing the towel. He said, “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

Chu Hechao: “…”

He turned his head to look at the figure squatting on the ground. Yuan Li’s refusal to engage in conversation was evident from his posture. The young man’s tied-up hair fell over his shoulders, his clothes were disheveled, and his hair was messy. Chu Hechao suddenly realized that since a while ago, he hadn’t mentioned anything about himself. It was all about him being busy for Chu Hechao.

Chu Hechao resisted and endured, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. He called out, “Sister-in-law?”

Yuan Li ignored him, and only the sound of the dripping towel could be heard.

Chu Hechao felt as if insects and ants were gnawing at him all over, making him extremely uncomfortable. He could sense restlessness and frustration in his bones.

His fingers involuntarily started tapping on his thigh, and his gaze flickered towards Yuan Li’s back. Eventually, he fixed his eyes on Yuan Li’s silhouette without moving.

His gaze was intense, but Yuan Li seemed unaffected.

A bothersome silence passed for about a minute.

“Sister-in-law,” Chu Hechao spoke again.

Seeing that Yuan Li still didn’t respond, Chu Hechao took a deep breath and quietly admitted, “My back does hurt.”

Chu Hechao had never complained of pain to anyone before.

And no one had ever wanted to hear him say it.

At that moment, the general who had never complained about his injuries or pain felt his ears burning hot.

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