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 welled up inside him.

“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 according to 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 in front of him was a soldier in leather armor.

Just as he was about to ask something, a splitting headache suddenly struck, and a massive influx of information flooded his mind. 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, didn't exist in history at all.

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

Qin Hu had been spoiled by his parents since he was a child. He didn't like to study, didn't like to practice martial arts, and only cared about playing, eating, drinking, and being a tyrant in the capital.

When he grew up, his family wanted him to settle down, so they arranged a marriage for him. The woman was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Chen, named Chen Ruoli, a well-known and virtuous young lady.

This Qin Hu was extremely vicious to others, but he was particularly obedient to this beautiful fiancée, treating her like a treasure.

But the problem arose with this childhood sweetheart, Miss Chen.

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

But later, Qin Hu drank too much and passed out. When he woke up, he was already in the inner guard's prison. He was told that he had drunkenly harassed the princess, intending to commit improper acts.

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

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

The imperial decree soon came down. Considering Qin Hu's ancestors' merits, he was spared the death penalty but could not escape punishment. He was exiled to Youzhou to serve in the army, retaining his title to observe his future performance.

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

After these things passed 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 a political marriage. Both families wanted to become stronger and bigger, but the later Qin Hu, apart from being a playboy, was almost useless. It could be said that he had completely disgraced the Marquis of Champion's mansion.

It should be known that the Marquises of Champion throughout the generations were all heroic figures, who had unparalleled influence in the military. But in this generation, there was 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 when the old Marquis died, the Duke of Chen turned ruthless and staged a scene of breaking off the engagement at the mourning hall.

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

Thus, a disaster descended!

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

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

As expected, entering the halls of power was like entering a deep sea. There were really many people who wanted him dead.

“Qin An, do you think we can find a place to get out of the wind?”

Under the bright moonlight, the rough north wind, with its piercing whistle, swept across the empty wilderness, causing the few torches to flicker. It was as if countless flying knives were cutting the skin.

“It won’t do, Young Marquis. We'll be punished by military law.”

Qin Hu and Qin An huddled against the wind, ran out of the camp, and ran forward through the thick snow.

The weak Qin An was accidentally overturned by the wind.

Two sentries who were changing shifts saw them come out, smiled at each other, scooped up two handfuls of snow, and extinguished the bonfire for warmth, then crawled into the tent.

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

This was a very small camp, with about twenty tents, surrounded by horse-drawn carriages. The outer perimeter didn't even have chevaux-de-frise or deer antlers arranged. The surrounding terrain was flat and there were no defenses. It was clear that they didn't plan to be stationed there 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 troops this time was the Yu Dynasty's long-time enemy on the border, the Liaodong Kingdom.

“Cough, cough, Young Marquis, do you think we can return alive?” Qin An curled up on the snow, 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 hadn't finished him off in the court, so they were using underhanded methods and hitting him with clubs in the military camp, trying to kill him.

But Qin Hu was definitely not someone who would sit still and wait for death. It was obvious that he had been framed, and he couldn't let it go.

Life was an endless struggle for survival. Just wait, not only would he survive, but he would also kill his way back to the capital and settle accounts with them.

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

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

Qin An was only 16 years old this year. He was Qin Hu's personal servant, very thin and weak, and already unable to withstand the torture. He looked like he only had one breath left.

Actually, Qin Hu wasn't doing much better. These days, the vanguard camp had been marching 30 *li* (approximately 10 miles) every day, and the work they did was opening roads through mountains, building bridges over water, chopping firewood, making fires, digging ditches, carrying water, and building camps.

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

They would definitely do the most tiring work, eat the worst food, suffer the most beatings, and endure the most anger…

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 methods.

Saving his life wasn't actually difficult. The simplest method was bribery. As the saying goes, money can move the 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 didn't have any money.

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

That was the current leader of the vanguard camp.