My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Seeing that someone else was echoing his sentiments, Liu Dabiao became even bolder.

Discussing such important figures gave him an indescribable pleasure, greatly satisfying his vanity that had never been acknowledged before.

That surge of energy rose from his chest, making his breathing become heavier, and his mouth involuntarily grinned, revealing half of his teeth, yellowed by smoke, which stood out starkly against his wrinkled face.

Rainwater streamed down his forehead, sliding across the corner of his grinning mouth. He didn't wipe it away, but simply turned his head and moved closer to the crowd.

The mud beneath my feet was soaked with water, and when the soles of my boots sank in, they made a "squeak" sound, bringing out a small clump of yellow mud.

"Look at those people who went out, they're all treating Lin Ye like a god. I just don't believe that Lin Ye can conjure up food out of thin air? Or that he can block the riverbank out of thin air?"

He got more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice grew louder. Several soldiers who hadn't stepped out of the ranks started to laugh along. The laughter wasn't loud, but it sounded particularly jarring against the sound of the rain.

His voice carried a sense of triumphant abandon, as if he were releasing all the fear and frustration that had been building up inside him for days through these few laughs.

Zhao Tiezhu, with his keen senses on the right, immediately heard the laughter coming from that side.

He was kneeling in front of the line, rainwater streaming down the edge of his helmet, forming a small curtain in front of his nose.

But the moment he heard that laughter, his entire back tensed up, like a fully drawn bow.

He suddenly turned halfway around, and with the movement, his soaked armor made a "whoosh" sound, and raindrops were flung out from the gaps in the armor plates, splashing into the air. A few drops hit the wrist guards of the soldiers next to him and then slid down the iron surface.

His icy gaze swept over Liu Dabiao's entire body like a bone-scraping knife.

Liu Dabiao felt uneasy under his gaze.

That gaze seemed to carry a tangible weight, causing Liu Dabiao's neck to involuntarily shrink back, a tingling sensation running down his neck. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he couldn't help but turn his head away from that piercing gaze.

For a moment just now, he felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown onto the ice, with nowhere to hide.

But he quickly straightened his neck, put on a nonchalant look, pursed his lips, and looked away, as if his earlier avoidance had never happened.

It rained harder and harder.

In the distance, leaden-gray clouds churned in the sky, like a pot of thick porridge being constantly stirred. The heavy cloud masses pressed against each other, rolling and tumbling, occasionally cracking open to reveal a deeper, bluish-black hue.

The outline of the city wall in the distance was faintly visible in the rain, like a giant beast lying in the gloom, encompassing the entire training ground within its gaze.

The clouds were so low they almost pressed down on the top of the flagpole at the edge of the training ground. Rain poured down in large swaths, splashing onto the ground and creating a continuous spray.

The muddy ground on the drill ground had been soaked and softened; every step left a dent, which was quickly filled with yellowish-brown muddy water.

The surrounding pine fence was blackened by the rain, and a damp, musty smell seeped from the wood grain.

In the distance, the curtains of several tents were billowing in the wind, flailing helplessly in the rain. Long spears lay haphazardly on weapon racks, their tips gleaming with a cold, dull light in the dim daylight.

The archery targets piled up in the west corner were half-collapsed by the rain, and the straw targets were scattered, soaked in water in circles, like a few large brown flowers that had been soaked and ruined.

The drainage ditch had long since overflowed, and murky water surged out from behind the tents, washing away bits of grass and tattered cloth.

The wind blew in from the east side of the drill ground, carrying raindrops that swept across the face, cold and painful.

Zhao Tiezhu clenched his fist and stood up, his fingernails digging into his palms, leaving a row of crescent-shaped white marks, which were then washed away by the rain.

The movement of standing up wasn't fast, but every inch was filled with force, and the armor emitted a fine metallic scraping sound.

He could have stayed out of it, but those words pierced his heart like nails.

He was a veteran, having fought his way from the northern border, risking his life alongside General Wang Meng. He had witnessed the devastation of fallen cities and the deaths of elderly people and children frozen to death by the roadside in the snow. He knew why he served in the military…

After standing up, Zhao Tiezhu looked away from Liu Dabiao, as if it would be a waste to look at him even once more.

Instead, he glanced around at the soldiers who hadn't stepped forward. Among them were many people he used to be on good terms with, but now their eyes darted around, avoiding his gaze.

Some people had their heads down, some were pretending to organize their weapons, and some hid their faces behind the rain, as if trying to hide themselves in the downpour.

Zhao Tiezhu's lips pressed into a line, his rough, broad hands slowly tightening on the spear, his knuckles covered with calluses and tiny scars—marks left from years of holding the gun.

At this moment, the protruding knuckles turned slightly white from the force of the grip, and the gun barrel creaked as it was squeezed. Rainwater trickled from between the knuckles, forming tiny streams.

The wind distorted his voice, but every word was clearly audible.

"You say disaster relief isn't what soldiers are supposed to do. Fine, then let me ask you, what is the purpose of joining the army?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a stone thrown into water, leaving people stunned. Zhao Tiezhu paused, his gaze sweeping over the bowed heads one by one.

The sharp gaze moved slowly, but each time it swept over someone, that person would unconsciously shrink back, as if lashed by an invisible whip.

"Is it for the paycheck? For a living? Or to stand by and watch the suffering of ordinary people?"

Zhao Tiezhu's voice suddenly rose, but his gaze towards them was not filled with anger, but with a heavy sense of disappointment.

He wasn't usually a talkative person, but these words had been bottled up inside him for a long time, like a flood that had been building up for years. Once it broke through the dam, it was unstoppable.

The rough voice was hoarse and heavy: "We are soldiers of the Great Flame!"

"You eat the grain grown by the people, wear the cloth woven by the people, and now the people are soaking in the water and starving on their rooftops, and you say that's the government's problem? You dare wear this armor?!"

He practically roared the last sentence, his voice piercing the rain, the echo fading in the wind. The words were like a thunderclap, making everyone's eardrums buzz.

Zhao Tiezhu's chest heaved violently. The lining under his armor was already soaked through and clung to his body, each breath carrying a heavy weight.

The coolness of the rain seeped through the armor, but he felt burning hot all over, as if a fire was burning in his chest.

His eyes were also a little red, and rainwater streamed down the lines of his face, making it hard to tell whether it was rain or something else.

The drill ground fell silent.

Only the wind whistling through the gaps in the tents, like something unseen wailing softly, the fine patter of raindrops hitting iron armor, and the restless snorting of warhorses in the distant stables.