Border Soldier: My fiancée snatched credit and broke off the engagement, so I promptly became a marq

That night, the lights in the Military Merit Hall were not turned off.

The brazier was burning brightly, and the firewood was crackling.

Old Chai lay on a door panel, his back padded with a thick cloth, unable to sleep due to the pain, yet still unable to stop talking.

"Lame Three, carry him slowly."

"My hearing isn't impaired."

The lame man ignored him.

He stood in front of the three lists, a wooden stick resting against his leg, his voice measured and deliberate.

"In the defense of the South Gate, Chen Mu led five men from the cook battalion, using oil, ash, and firewood carts to repel the Black Wolf Guards, and the gate was not breached."

A dozen or so soldiers from the cookhouse followed along.

Some people are literate.

Some people don't recognize it.

Those who can't read listen to the sounds, repeatedly bombarding their brains with them.

Stone reads the loudest, and when his shoulder hurts, he grits his teeth.

Ma Liu read the phrase the fastest, often mispronouncing "seven sets of iron claws" as "seven claws of iron claws," for which he was hit on the instep three times with a wooden stick by Que San.

"Are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated?"

Ma Liu jumped while holding his feet.

"I just know it by heart."

"Familiar my ass." Old Chai cursed, lying on the door panel. "If you eat another one of the 'secondary' letters, and they give you one less, I'll lock you up in the warehouse too."

The cookhouse was bustling with laughter.

The laughter was not loud.

But it was a bit more crowded than during the day.

Chen Mu sat at the door without interrupting.

He wanted them to carry it themselves.

The accounts aren't settled solely in his possession.

Lin Qinghe sat beside Lao Chai, changing his dressing. She moved gently, but Lao Chai still gasped in pain.

"Dr. Lin, did you smuggle a knife into this medicine?"

Lin Qinghe said coldly, "If you're complaining about the pain, then stop being so stubborn next time."

Old Chai grinned.

"If I don't stick to my guns, they'll write that Corporal Chen is a privately appointed military officer."

Lin Qinghe paused for a moment.

She didn't say anything more, but simply wrapped the strip of cloth more securely.

Lu Shuangyi stood by the window, listening to the sound of horses' hooves outside.

Han Wenshan's personal guards were still patrolling the fort at night.

It's not a patrol.

It's about keeping an eye on people.

Outside the Hall of Military Merit, someone walks by every incense stick's time, their boots stomping through the snow and making a deliberately loud sound.

Anato was tied up in a corner, half of her iron mask removed, leaving only her eyes exposed.

She frowned as she listened to the cooks reciting the list.

"You Han people are really strange."

Ma Liu immediately retorted, "Don't you barbarians remember things?"

Anado chuckled.

"We hold grudges."

Old Chai lay there groaning.

"That's about right."

Anato looked at Chen Mu.

"They hit your people, and you just make them carry them?"

Chen Mu said, "Memorize it first."

"and then?"

Chen Mu looked at the fire in the brazier.

"Pay it back."

Anato's smile faded slightly.

She suddenly realized that the most frightening thing about this Han man wasn't when he was holding a knife.

That was when he swallowed his anger.

In the middle of the night, there was a sudden commotion outside.

Zhou Tie pushed the door open and came in.

"Han Wenshan's men have arrived."

Lu Shuangyi immediately pressed her hand on the knife.

Outside the gate, a dozen guards carried seals and wooden boxes, followed by two White Wolf Pass clerks.

Han Zhao stood at the front, a cold smile on his face.

"By order of Deputy General Han, the Hall of Military Merit is temporarily sealed."

The stone jumped up.

"Why should I?"

Han Zhao didn't even look at him.

"Until the review is completed, all military merit registers, supporting evidence lists, and privately copied copies shall be sealed and impounded. No further investigation is permitted without order."

Old Chai tried to get up, but the pain made him lie back down.

"You steal Iron Claws during the day and shut down the rankings at night. Are you going to shut down my pants too tomorrow?"

Ma Liu whispered, "Forget about the pants, they smell bad."

One of the cooks couldn't help but laugh again.

Han Zhao's face darkened.

"presumptuous."

The guards stepped forward to affix the seal.

Lu Shuangyi stood in front of the three lists.

"Who made that decision?"

Han Zhao took out a document.

"Deputy General Han."

Ji Yunzhou stood up from the desk.

"The reviewing official is in the fortress, and the sealing of the Military Merit Hall requires the reviewing official's seal."

Han Zhao sneered.

"Lord Ji, Vice General Han said that you copied three lists of documents privately last night, which already raises suspicion of biased evidence."

Ji Yunzhou's face turned pale.

That's a very hurtful statement.

I'm not insulting him.

They changed him from someone who audited the accounts to someone involved in the accounting.

As long as Ji Yunzhou is suspected of biased evidence, his writings will be questioned.

Han Zhao pointed.

"seal up."

The imperial guards bypassed Lu Shuangyi and headed straight for the wooden banner.

Zhou Tie's knife extended half an inch.

Chen Mu raised his hand and pressed it down.

"Let them seal it off."

Everyone in the room looked at him.

Stone got anxious.

"Corporal Chen!"

Chen Mu looked at Han Zhao.

"Seal it."

A hint of smugness appeared in Han Zhao's eyes.

The guards affixed seals to the three notices and put the supplementary register on the table into a wooden box.

Su Wan sat in the corner, holding a small cloth bag.

Inside were a few pages of the roster she had copied last night.

Han Zhao's gaze swept over.

"Miss Su."

Su Wan's fingers tightened.

Han Zhao said, "Give me what you're holding too."

Su Wan's face turned pale.

The firelight shone on the back of her hand, where the burns from before had not yet healed.

She looked up at Chen Mu.

Chen Mu did not look at her.

He only said one sentence: "Hand it over."

Su Wan was stunned.

Then, she lowered her head and handed over the cloth bag.

Han Zhao took it, opened it, glanced at it, and smiled.

"Old feelings are hard to sever, so I keep copying."

Su Wan's face turned even paler.

Lin Qinghe's eyes turned cold.

Chen Mu finally looked up.

"Captain Han."

Han Zhao looked at him.

Chen Mu said, "She deserves to be listed on the honor roll for her merit in protecting the book."

"You can humiliate her with her past, fine."

"But if you say her certificate doesn't count, write that statement on the sealing slip as well."

Han Zhao's smile slowly faded.

Chen Mu said: "Han Zhao believes that Su Wan, who was protecting the register, is unreliable because she was once engaged to Chen Mu."

Su Wan suddenly looked up.

The room fell silent for a moment.

That's a harsh statement.

I'm not speaking up for Su Wan.

It is to put Han Zhao's humiliation into black and white.

Han Zhao certainly wouldn't dare to write it.

He can make a sarcastic remark, but he can't let that remark become evidence.

Han Zhao snorted coldly and threw the cloth bag into the wooden box.

"Seal them all off."

The wooden crate was lifted.

The three lists were blocked.

The supplementary register was collected.

The Hall of Military Merits was suddenly empty.

The men of the cooking camp looked at the three wooden planks sealed with tape, as if they were seeing their own doors nailed shut.

Before leaving, Han Zhao looked at Chen Mu.

"Without paper and without notebooks, let's see how you'll keep track of things."

He led his men out of the Military Merit Hall.

Su Wan stood still, her hand still suspended in mid-air.

In the cloth bag she had just handed over were several pages of text she had copied until the wee hours of the morning. The handwriting wasn't very good, and there were a few places where the medicine had seeped through, but not a single name was missing from any of the pages.

She looked down at her empty hands, but didn't cry.

Lin Qinghe glanced at her, wanting to say something, but in the end only handed her a roll of dry cloth.

Su Wan caught it, her voice very low.

"I remember."

Chen Mu then looked at her.

Su Wan's fingertips turned white.

"The cook battalion suffered three dead, five seriously wounded, and seven slightly wounded. Old Chai was flogged twelve times."

This is not a plea for mercy.

It's to make up for the outstanding debt.

Chen Mu nodded.

"Then you memorize it too."

Once the door was closed, only the sound of fire remained inside.

Stone's eyes were red-rimmed.

"Sergeant Chen, are we just going to let them take it?"

Chen Mu did not answer.

He looked at the lame man.

"back."

The lame man stood up, leaning on a wooden stick.

The seal was right behind him.

He doesn't look at the rankings.

Close your eyes.

"In the defense of the south gate, Chen Mu is leading a five-man cook battalion..."

The voice was a little hoarse at first.

They quickly stabilized.

Stone followed.

Mazda 6 followed.

Old Chai lay on the door panel, his voice hoarse as he followed.

One by one.

The voices of a dozen or so cooks from the kitchen battalion echoed in the Hall of Merit.

There is no paper.

There is no booklet.

But every single line of the account comes out of their mouths again.

As Lu Shuangyi watched this scene, a hint of warmth finally appeared in her eyes.

Ji Yunzhou slowly sat down, his hands still trembling.

He used to think that military discipline was a seal, an order, or a document in an official office.

He only realized tonight that military discipline could also be lines of names recited by these peasants.

Chen Mu listened to it the first time before speaking.

"Memorize it again."

There were no complaints from the cooks.

They recited it again.

Outside the door, the guards stood in the wind, their faces turning blank as they listened.

They had thought that sealing the room with paper would make it quiet.

But the sound kept coming out.

It was passed down to the corridor.

It was passed to the snow outside the Military Merit Hall.

The message was delivered to the courtyard where Han Wenshan was temporarily staying.

Han Wenshan stood inside the window, listening to the entire story without any expression on his face.

Han Zhao whispered, "Uncle, should we...?"

"Shut up."

Han Zhao immediately lowered his head.

Han Wenshan looked in the direction of the Military Merit Hall.

He is not afraid of paper.

Paper can be used for sealing.

The wooden boards can be disassembled.

But if someone starts memorizing it, then things will get complicated.

What's more troublesome is that Chen Mu isn't the only one carrying the tent tonight.

He reached out and closed the window.

"Go check Lin Qinghe's medicine box."

Han Zhao was taken aback.

Han Wenshan said calmly, "Chen Mu wouldn't leave the real accounts solely in the hands of the cooks."

"The military doctor next to him was too quiet."

Han Zhao's eyes lit up.

"clear."

Outside the window, the third rehearsal of the military training camp had just begun inside the training hall.

Two figures were already quietly approaching on the snow beside the medical tent.