An Accidental Military Marriage

Lu Cheng stood at the very front, his black eyes sharp, his voice booming like a great bell, piercing the eardrums of every soldier.

"We are soldiers. Under any and all circumstances, obeying discipline is the bounden duty of myself and every single one of you!"

"If you violate discipline, you will be punished. There is no room for leniency or negotiation!"

"Starting tomorrow, the entire camp will have one hour of study at noon and one extra hour of training in the evening. This will last for one month!"

The soldiers of the entire camp answered in unison, "Yes, sir!"

No one dared to say no.

Even "innocent" men like Zhang Jia Ming, who hadn’t been involved in the slightest but were still implicated and punished along with everyone else, didn’t dare to utter a single word of protest.

As soldiers, unity was another duty they had to uphold.

Share the credit for achievements, and share the blame for mistakes!

Looking at everyone, the coldness in Lu Cheng’s eyes softened slightly. "Personally, I am very grateful to you for defending and standing up for my wife. For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I’ll be paying out of my own pocket to treat the entire camp to a meat dinner!"

"Yeah!"

"Camp Commander Lu is amazing!"

All the soldiers cheered and jumped for joy.

The 27 soldiers in the front row who had caused the trouble were especially ecstatic. The dejection was wiped from their faces, replaced by excitement and smiles.

Some even secretly wiped tears from the corners of their eyes.

Lu Cheng’s single sentence of thanks soothed and smoothed over all the guilt, grievance, indignation, and other emotions in their hearts.

Lu Cheng walked into the ranks, randomly selected a soldier, and stared directly into the man’s eyes.

"Do you trust me as your leader?"

"I do!"

Lu Cheng walked forward a few rows, picked out another soldier, and repeated the same question.

The soldiers’ answers, without exception, all expressed one hundred percent loyalty to Lu Cheng.

"Every single one of you is a comrade-in-arms I personally selected! And your sister-in-law is the woman I chose! From now on, just as you trust me and trust the comrades by your side, you will trust your sister-in-law! Do you understand?"

"Understood!!"

...

When Zhong Weiguo got home, food was still on the table, but the bowls and chopsticks had been cleared away.

"Are Xiao Jiang and the others gone?"

"They left a while ago. I had our eldest walk her back to the guesthouse."

Zhong Weiguo nodded. Looking at the food on the table, he said, "Get me a bowl and some chopsticks. I’ll eat a little more."

"The food’s all cold. I’ll heat it up for you."

"Alright."

The food was quickly reheated.

Jiang Wenjuan shooed their three children off to their rooms to sleep, then sat down at the table and asked about what had happened at the base.

When she learned what had caused the disturbance, she didn’t know what to say.

It wasn’t exactly Jiang Moli’s fault; she hadn’t made any fundamental mistake, just inappropriately joked around with her husband.

"And honestly, Xiao Lu... he’s usually such a dependable person, but this time he had to be frivolous and give people something to talk about. But he’s young, after all, and he and Xiao Jiang are newlyweds. A moment of recklessness is understandable."

Her first impression of Jiang Moli had been good, and Lu Cheng was her husband’s most prized subordinate.

With such a major incident breaking out, Jiang Wenjuan subconsciously tried to plead the young couple’s case.

"Docking them half a month’s allowance, isn’t that a little too harsh? Aren’t you worried that Xiao Zhang and Xiao Wang will hold it against Xiao Lu?"

Zhong Weiguo snorted. "If he can’t even handle this little bit of pressure, then this is as far as he goes."

Hearing that her husband was intentionally testing Lu Cheng, Jiang Wenjuan said no more.

「The Zhang Residence.」

When she heard her husband’s allowance was being docked for half a month, Xu Juhua was furious. "On what grounds are they docking your allowance? That little bit of grain a month is barely enough to eat as it is. If they deduct half, how are we supposed to live? Are we supposed to drink the northwest wind?"

Zhang Ziqiang tutted. "Keep your voice down. Don’t let the neighbors hear you and laugh at us."

"What do I have to be afraid of! Some people have such thick skin. They cause such a huge mess, then go on eating and drinking like nothing happened, while we’re the ones who have to suffer!"

Zhang Ziqiang wasn’t happy about it either.

Not only had he been reprimanded for no reason, but he’d also been docked half a month’s allowance. It was a complete disaster that had come out of nowhere.

’That new wife of Lu Cheng’s really is just like the rumors say. She’s a real handful!’

*[Disdain Value +1. 10,000 yuan credited.]*

"I’ll talk to Mom and Dad. We just won’t send them money this month."

Hearing her husband say this, Xu Juhua’s anger subsided considerably.

Zhang Ziqiang was a company commander and a veteran, so his monthly allowance was slightly higher than Lu Cheng’s.

But he had many children—five of them.

The eldest three stayed in their hometown for school, while the fourth and fifth, who weren’t school-aged yet, lived on the base with him and Xu Juhua.

He had to send almost half of his monthly allowance back to his hometown.

Besides his three children’s living expenses and school fees, he also had to subsidize his elderly parents.

They lived a very tight life.

Unlike the resentful Xu Juhua, Liu Xiulan was relatively calm.

It was only half a month’s allowance. They could tighten their belts for a month and it would be over.

She was more concerned about the future.

Rumors of an expansion were spreading day by day. If Lu Cheng missed out on a chance for advancement because of this incident, wouldn’t that give her husband a slightly better chance of being promoted?

Therefore, not only was she not angry about being implicated because of Jiang Moli, she actually hoped Jiang Moli would stir up more trouble and create more chaos to help her husband eliminate Lu Cheng, his "rival."

...

The Disdain Value kept rising.

The System’s mechanical voice started showering Jiang Moli with flattery: *[Host, you’re amazing! You are the most outstanding and capable Host this System has ever encountered. In less than two months, you’re already more than halfway through your mission.]*

"Shut up."

*[Host, you’ve gained over 400 Disdain Value tonight. That’s very good.]*

The System, thinking Jiang Moli was upset that the Disdain Value hadn’t risen enough, offered some positive reassurance.

Jiang Moli gazed at the hazy, tranquil night, which looked like an ink wash painting, and for the first time, felt no joy in the rising Disdain Value.

She couldn’t tell if it was anxiety about the unknown, or something else.

"Why can’t you trace the source of the Disdain Value? Don’t you think your functions are a bit limited?"

This sentence stunned the System into silence.

It had bound with many hosts, but never had a host been as picky and disdainful of it as Jiang Moli.

’It was tempted to give Jiang Moli a Disdain Value point itself.’

*[Host, you’ve changed. Are you falling for that man with the surname Lu?]*

"He has a name. Lu Cheng."

*[Host, as your partner, I must remind you: men will only slow down the speed at which you earn Disdain Value. Many previous hosts failed their missions and were obliterated because they developed feelings for a man.]*

"Stay out of it. I have my own... style."

The System fell into deep thought.

’Style? The host must be talking about a ’sword style,’ right?’

’The first sword thrust after coming ashore is to strike down the one you love.’

’Of course,’ the system thought. ’A host as capable as mine wouldn’t possibly let a mere man affect her mission!’

The sound of a door opening came from behind her, and Jiang Moli turned around.

"Not asleep yet? Were you waiting for me?"

Watching the man approach her with a steady gait, his black eyes holding a hint of a smile, her heart, which had felt empty all evening, seemed to slowly be filled with warmth.

"I’m not tired yet. Is everything at the base settled?"

"Mhm, it’s all resolved."

Lu Cheng stopped half a step in front of her. Resting his arms on either side of her, he encircled her in his embrace.

"Were you worried about me?"

Jiang Moli said, "What do you think?"

"I don’t want to guess. I just want to act."

The moment the words left his mouth, he hooked an arm under her hips, lifted her forcefully, and sat her on his bent arm.