The General Said She Would Not Take a Wife

Chapter 5: Enduring Humiliation

This old soldier's name was Chen Er. He came from a hooligan background, skilled in underhanded tricks, which is why, after two years in the army, he had only managed to rise to the rank of squad leader. He harbored deep jealousy towards Lin Aoxue, who was favored by the commander as soon as she arrived.

The last time he tried to create trouble for Lin Aoxue, he thought he would face punishment and had been worried for several days. However, to his surprise, Lin Aoxue had disappeared without a trace, and he was instead promoted to a section leader. With this boost, his ego swelled, and he almost lost all sense of caution.

Now that Lin Aoxue had returned and was assigned to his team, Chen Er believed she had surely offended the general. If even the general didn't favor her, he would have free rein to do as he pleased.

Having spent two years in the army, Chen Er naturally knew the other squad leader assigned to his unit, Beichen Ji, the young master from the general's family.

In his mind, this was his chance to rise. As long as he took good care of Beichen Ji and befriended him, how could he not be promoted and get rich?

Thus, from the moment Chen Er received his orders, he began to flatter Beichen Ji while simultaneously suppressing Lin Aoxue.

Whenever there were tasks to be done, all the credit went to Beichen Ji, while Lin Aoxue worked hard, yet was constantly criticized by Chen Er, who would seize every opportunity to berate her.

His actions were shameless, and after each incident, he would go to Beichen Ji to claim credit. Life was easy, and he relished it.

As winter approached, the days grew colder, and the nights darker.

Every day before nightfall, Chen Er would order Lin Aoxue to take five of her soldiers to stand guard. They would be on watch all night until dawn, only to be replaced by Beichen Ji's men.

Not only did this go on every day, but when the new winter coats arrived, the ones assigned to Lin Aoxue were damp and offered no warmth. Her soldiers suffered from frostbite, but they dared not speak out.

At first, Lin Aoxue's soldiers had high hopes for her, believing she would stand up for them. After all, she had been promoted to squad leader directly by the commander and was highly respected among the new recruits.

However, Lin Aoxue made no move against Chen Er's deliberate bullying. She didn't even show any outward anger, which confused and frustrated her soldiers.

They were disappointed by her silence and gradually became disheartened.

One of them secretly made a deal with Chen Er, and his treatment immediately improved. The others, seeing the benefits, no longer took Lin Aoxue's orders seriously and even disregarded her when it came to standing guard shifts.

Lin Aoxue, however, turned a blind eye to all this. She knew these soldiers were just trying to please Chen Er by making things difficult for her, but they didn't dare break the rules of military discipline. She allowed them to slack off.

But there was one who was different.

One evening, when it was time to change shifts, Lin Aoxue went to the sentry post to inspect. She saw that one of the new recruits, Lu Sheng, was already in position, waiting for her.

She remembered that his name was Lu Sheng, and his family was originally from Xingbei. This autumn, the barbarian cavalry had trampled over his fields and killed his entire family of six. However, he had escaped death because he had gone to the market to sell newly harvested grain, missing the massacre.