Chapter 1 Where Am I?

“Young Marquis, please get up quickly. It’s our turn to patrol.”

“Where am I?”

Qin Hu sat up groggily, feeling a chill all over his body. The wind was howling outside, and a strange feeling crept into his heart.

“Oh, Young Marquis, why are you so confused? We’re in the military camp. It’s our shift to stand guard. If we don’t get up, we’ll be punished by military law. Even the old Marquis can’t protect you now.”

“What?”

Qin Hu opened his eyes and saw that he was in a tent, and standing before him was a soldier in leather armor.

Just as he was about to ask something, a splitting headache struck him, and a massive influx of information flooded his brain. A few seconds later, he realized he had transmigrated.

He had gone from being a modern special forces soldier to a Young Marquis also named Qin Hu, the leader of the seven most notorious young masters in the capital!

And this era, called the Great Yu Dynasty, simply did not exist in history.

Qin Hu’s ancestors were among the four dukes and twenty-eight marquises who founded the Great Yu Dynasty. Three months ago, his father passed away from illness, and Qin Hu inherited the title, becoming the new Champion Marquis.

Qin Hu had been spoiled by his parents since he was a child. He disliked reading and practicing martial arts, preferring to play, eat, drink, and be merry, running rampant in the capital.

When he grew up, his family wanted him to settle down, so they arranged a marriage. The bride was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Chen, named Chen Ruoli, a virtuous and talented lady from a prominent family.

This Qin Hu was extremely vicious to everyone else, but he was exceptionally obedient to his beautiful fiancée, treating her like a treasure.

But the trouble precisely arose from this childhood sweetheart, Miss Chen.

According to Qin Hu’s memory, that day he accompanied his fiancée to the palace to pay respects to the current Princess Chang’an. The princess and Chen Ruoli had been close friends since childhood, so she arranged a banquet.

But later, Qin Hu drank himself into oblivion. When he woke up, he was already in the inner guard’s prison. He was told that he had drunkenly molested the princess, intending to commit inappropriate acts.

Even more bizarrely, Chen Ruoli actually submitted a memorial impeaching her fiancé, Qin Hu, for seventy-two illegal acts, each with solid evidence.

Qin Hu felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He couldn’t believe his ears...

The imperial decree soon came down. In consideration of Qin Hu’s ancestors’ merits, the death penalty was waived, but he could not escape punishment. He was exiled to Youzhou to serve in the military, retaining his title to observe his future conduct.

But after arriving in Youzhou, he was quickly assigned to the front line—to serve at the vanguard camp.

After these events flashed through Qin Hu’s mind, he basically understood that this was a trap.

Because the Duke of Chen had long wanted to break off the engagement with him.

The Qin family and the Chen family were originally in a political marriage. Both families wanted to become stronger and bigger, but the later Qin Hu, apart from being a纨绔 (wan ku, playboy), was almost useless. It could be said that he had completely disgraced the Champion Marquis’s Mansion.

You should know that generations of Champion Marquises had been heroic figures with unparalleled influence in the military, but in this generation, there was actually a good-for-nothing who had never even been on the battlefield.

When the old Marquis was alive, the Duke of Chen still gave him face, but after the old Marquis died, the Duke of Chen turned ruthless and even staged a scene of breaking off the engagement at the mourning hall.

But Qin Hu deeply loved Chen Ruoli and stubbornly refused to agree, while Chen Ruoli had long been disgusted with this villain.

Thus, a disaster descended!

As for Princess Chang’an, it was even simpler. She was the cousin of Qin Hu’s cousin. As long as Qin Hu died, the vast fortune of the Champion Marquis’s Mansion would naturally fall entirely into the hands of this cousin.

These forces, each taking what they needed, colluded with each other and quickly united...

As expected, entering a noble family's gate is like entering a deep sea. There were indeed many people who wanted him dead.

“Qin An, do you think we can find a place to take shelter from the wind?”

Under the bright moonlight, the harsh north wind carried a piercing whistle, sweeping across the empty wilderness, causing the torches to flicker on and off, and cutting people’s skin like countless flying knives.

“It’s not possible, Young Marquis. We’ll be punished by military law.”

Qin Hu and Qin An, with their heads and necks hunched, ran out of the camp against the wind, stepping forward on the thick snow.

The weak Qin An was accidentally blown over by the wind.

Two sentries who were changing shifts saw them come out, exchanged sinister smiles, and scooped up two handfuls of snow to extinguish the warming bonfire, then crawled into the tent.

Damn it, even the soldiers have been bribed. They want to freeze me to death!

This was a very small camp, with about twenty tents, surrounded by wagons. There were no chevaux-de-frise or antlers arranged on the outside, and the surrounding terrain was flat and indefensible. It was clear that they didn't plan to stay for long.

According to Qin Hu's memories from his previous life, about two hundred people were stationed here. They were the vanguard camp of Li Qin, the General Conquering the North of the Yu Dynasty.

And the target of Li Qin's 20,000-strong army this time was the Yu Dynasty's long-time enemy on the border, the Kingdom of Liaodong.

“Cough, cough, Young Marquis, do you think we can return alive?” Qin An curled up on the snow-covered ground, his lips and face were blue, and he spoke weakly, as if he could die at any moment.

Qin Hu sighed in his heart. Qin An was purely implicated by him. If things continued to develop like this, they would definitely die.

Those who wanted him dead couldn't kill him in the court, so they resorted to underhanded methods and sneak attacks in the military camp, trying to kill him.

But Qin Hu was definitely not one to sit still and wait for death. This was clearly a frame-up, and he couldn't let it go.

Life is an endless struggle for survival. Just wait, I will not only survive, but I will also kill my way back to the capital and settle accounts with you.

“Qin An, when we left, how many silver notes did we bring?”

“There are no silver notes anymore. I only have twenty taels of silver on me. The imperial decree stated that we were being exiled to the army, and our family property was sealed.”

Qin An was only 16 years old this year. He was Qin Hu’s personal page. He was very thin and weak, and he had already been exhausted. He looked like he was on his last breath.

Actually, Qin Hu wasn’t much better. These days, the vanguard camp had been marching 30 *li* (Chinese mile, about 0.5km) every day. Their job was to open roads through mountains, build bridges over water, chop firewood, make fires, dig ditches, carry water, and build camps.

And what would be the situation for these two delicate guys to be with hundreds of rough soldiers every day?

They definitely had to do the hardest work, eat the worst food, endure the most beatings, and suffer the greatest grievances...

Qin Hu estimated that his predecessor might have been tortured to death.

It could be considered that he deserved it.

But he had to bear this suffering now. If he couldn’t bear it, he would also die.

“Give it to me.”

Qin Hu had made up his mind. He had to find a way to save Qin An’s life first, and then think of other ways.

In fact, saving his life was not difficult. The easiest way was to bribe. As the saying goes, money can move gods. Although this method was primitive, it always worked.

But in this situation, it was impossible for him to bribe high-ranking officials, because no one dared to get involved with him. Besides, he had no money.

So, he thought of one person in his mind, Centurion Li Xiaokun.

That is, the current leader of the vanguard camp.