The fiercest soldier of the border army

Tang Shun could even feel that Su Shu's breathing was extremely shallow, and her body was as light as a snowflake pressing on his shoulder.

The lingering sunlight streaming into the tent made the woman's figure appear exceptionally alluring.

Through her inner garment, one could see Su Shu's graceful and soft lines from top to bottom, a beauty of extreme symmetry.

It seemed that any more or less would be too little.

"Su Shu," Tang Shun's tone turned serious, "listen to me, I'm in a precarious situation myself."

"Wang Jinda wants my credit, while Wang Xianghong wants my life."

"I can't protect you, and I can't take you away. It's pointless for you to put your life on my shoulders."

"I told you, this is repaying a debt of gratitude, not making a bet." Su Shu shook her head, her eyes as calm as water. "Besides, a virtuous person should be among the wise and virtuous, yet capable of transforming into a dragon or snake."

"You may be a prisoner today, but you may be able to leap up tomorrow."

"Believe me, you are not the one who will die here."

Su Shu's gaze was sincere, as if she had even more confidence than Tang Shun.

"How can I survive?" Tang Shun asked self-deprecatingly. "You overestimate me."

Su Shu hesitated for a moment, then changed the subject, "It's alright, even if you die tomorrow, I will still leave you an heir today."

"Even if everyone forgets you, I want future generations to know that their father was a hero."

"He is not a traitor, not a deserter, not a villain who disobeys orders."

"But it was Tang Shun who guarded the North Gate, beheaded the Right Chief Steward, and saved all the people of the city."

The tent suddenly seemed to grow cold.

Tang Shun's pupils contracted, as if he were seeing the woman in front of him for the first time.

Not that pale-faced, weak woman who was forced into prostitution.

She was not a noblewoman who was driven away and mocked by Tang Shun and fell from her pedestal.

She was a woman who dared to say "leave descendants" even in dire straits.

He suddenly laughed, a very brief and bitter laugh.

"Aren't you afraid to say these things?"

"I'm afraid." She nodded. "I'm afraid you'll die, afraid you'll collapse, but I'm even more afraid that you haven't collapsed yet, but you won't want to get up again."

Tang Shun leaned against the tent and sighed softly, "Before today, I was just trying to survive, to save my soldiers, and to save the people of Xiushui Town."

"Now that they've all survived, I want to give it one last shot and try to ensure that Cheng Fengwei and the others survive too..."

"They've all survived, you should think about yourself too." Su Shu stepped forward. "Accept me, accept this kindness. This isn't charity, nor is it pity."

"It was my own choice. It was the only thing I could do after you risked your life to protect me three times."

Tang Shun closed his eyes.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, his gaze hard as iron. "No."

Why?

"Because I can't let you get involved."

Tang Shun spoke in a low, heavy voice, urging, "You can still stand now because you're not yet bound to me."

"Once you get involved with me, they'll deal with you too, you understand? I'm not just a prisoner, I'm a thorn in their side."

"If you become one of my people, they will be the first to destroy you."

Su Shu smiled softly, then shook her head gently. "Wang Xianghong has tried to frame and harm me time and time again. In his eyes, I've long been on your side."

"Delivering food tonight is itself a signal."

Tang Shun stared intently at Su Shu's captivatingly beautiful face, and for the first time felt that it was the hardest thing to bear the kindness of a beautiful woman.

"It's different." Tang Shun shook his head again. "Now you're an observer, a maid who brings food."

"Nobody really takes you seriously, but if you become my woman, even if it's just for one night, they'll make a big deal out of it."

"They'll say you seduced a disgraced general, that you colluded with the enemy and betrayed your country, that the remnants of the Su family haven't been eliminated and that you're trying to sow discord within the army. Can you withstand that?"

Su Shu's lips moved, but she didn't speak.

"I don't need that kind of fame."

Tang Shun stared at her. "I don't need to live on the belief that a woman gave her body for. If I want to stand up, I will stand up with dignity, not by stepping on anyone's sacrifice, not by relying on anyone's submission."

"But you can't stand up now." She suddenly raised her voice, then immediately lowered it again. "You're locked in this tent, your hands are in chains, and you can't even get out the door."

"What makes you think you can stand up for yourself? What proves your worth? Once they kill you silently, who will remember who you, Tang Shun, are?"

Tang Shun remained silent.

The sound of patrolling footsteps came from outside the tent, approaching from afar and then slowly fading away.

Neither of them turned around nor moved.

"You can leave now." Tang Shun sighed again. "You've come before anyone noticed you coming and going, you've said your piece, and I know your intentions. That's enough."

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe you." Tang Shun nodded emphatically. "That's why I let you go."

Su Shu lowered her head, her fingers slowly tightening, gripping the edge of her undergarment.

The fabric was crumpled from being pinched, but she didn't cry or make a fuss; she just stood there quietly.

Then Su Shu turned around and put on her clothes one by one.

The outer robe is draped over the shoulders and tied around the wrists with sashes; the movements are swift and decisive.

She packed up the food container, tightened the lid, and lifted the basket handle.

As she approached the tent flap, she stopped again, her back to Tang Shun, and said softly, "Do you know what the people in the city are saying about you?"

"They say you're innocent." Su Shu turned her head, her profile illuminated by a sliver of moonlight filtering through the tent.

"They say you built the city, helped them settle down, defended the city, killed the enemy general, and saved their lives, yet you are paraded through the streets as a criminal."

"Just because they don't say it doesn't mean they don't know."

They remained silent because they were afraid.

"But in their hearts, they recognize you; they recognize you as a hero."

Tang Shun paused, his breath catching in his throat.

He sat in the corner, the iron chain lying on the ground, his shadow stretching long all the way to her feet.

"So what if they recognize me?" Tang Shun said in a low voice. "They can't fight for me, they can't seek justice for me, and they can't get me out of this tent."

"But they remember," Su Shu said. "As long as someone remembers, you haven't lost."

After saying that, she lifted the curtain and went out.

The curtains fell, separating the inside from the outside.

It was completely dark inside the tent.

Tang Shun sat with his hands on his knees, the iron chains swaying slightly with his breathing.

He stared at the ground, where there was an old scratch, like a mark someone had made with the tip of a knife before, crooked and illegible.

He didn't bother to identify it.

There is no need to identify it.

He knew what it was like outside.

The military camp was silent; the soldiers dared not gather to talk, and the people stayed in their shacks. Only the night patrolmen walked by with lanterns, their boots clattering on the ground, one sound after another, as if counting the time.

Tang Shun should not have wavered at all.

He was a company commander from Blue Star. He traveled here not because of nepotism, but because of his vision beyond this era and his thirty years of extra experience.

He never sought to be remembered in history.

To this world, he always seemed like an outsider.

But just now, when he heard Su Shu say, "I want to leave you an heir," something stirred in his heart.

It wasn't lust, nor weakness, but a weight never before felt.

This is the real world, full of flesh and blood, and there are indeed people who are willing to jump in and get dirty with him when he falls into the mud.

Footsteps began again outside the tent.

This time it's not cloth shoes.

They are boots.

The hard-soled leather boots made a heavy, rhythmic sound as they stepped on the muddy ground.

Step by step, they approached the tent entrance.

The curtain was suddenly flung open.

A figure stood at the doorway, broad-shouldered and thick-backed, clad in armor and carrying a sword.

Moonlight streamed in from behind him, outlining a dark border. He didn't speak, but first glanced around the tent before his gaze settled on Tang Shun.

Then he laughed.

"Captain Tang, how does it feel to be a prisoner?"

Tang Shun looked up.

Wang Xianghong.