Chapter 489: How Dare You Molest Me

Chapter 489: Chapter 489: How Dare You Molest Me

Chen Shaobei arrived at the camp for an inspection and to assess the soldiers’ readiness.

Just as he rode up, he saw a group of seven or eight soldiers gathered at the camp entrance.

Chen Shaobei’s brow furrowed. "What do you think you’re doing? Don’t you have work to do?"

At the sound of his stern voice, the soldiers immediately straightened up.

"Greetings, General! Miss Su came seeking help. She accidentally cut her ankle on a thornbush, and it won’t stop bleeding. We were just discussing whether we should take her to the medic’s tent."

Seated high on his horse, Chen Shaobei’s cold gaze swept over the group.

Only then did he see that the person surrounded by the soldiers was none other than Su Zhirou.

She was petite, a full head shorter than the soldiers. She was bent over slightly, holding up the hem of her skirt, her oval face pale and drained of color.

Chen Shaobei glanced down. Blood had indeed seeped through the fabric of her leggings.

"General Chen, I am so sorry to trouble you," she began. "It’s my mother’s birthday soon, and I went up the mountain to pick some bitter lotus, her favorite. I didn’t expect to cut my ankle on an overgrown bush. My maid has already returned to our estate to fetch a carriage, but... it hurts so much I can’t walk."

Chen Shaobei listened to her frail account, his expression unchanging.

He was an upright man and knew that in this situation, his first course of action should be to send Su Zhirou to the camp medic.

Otherwise, judging by the amount of blood, her entire shoe would be soaked red in no time.

The injury looked serious.

However, this was a military camp, which meant the medic was, of course, a man.

Since ancient times, it was unheard of for an unmarried woman to have her ankle seen by a man who wasn’t her husband.

"How long has your maid been gone?"

"She just left a moment ago." As Su Zhirou spoke, she trembled, as if a fresh wave of pain had hit her.

She looked utterly pitiful. The soldiers present were all hot-blooded young men; how could they bear to witness such a scene?

One of them couldn’t help but suggest, "General, why don’t you let me ride into the city and fetch a doctor? It would be better for Miss Su to have it bandaged quickly."

Chen Shaobei shot him a look, and the soldier immediately lowered his head in silence.

Su Zhirou spoke again, her voice now choked with a sob. "It’s alright, General Chen. Please don’t put yourself in a difficult position. I really can’t walk, so I’ll just sit here and wait for my maid and the servants to return for me. It’s just a little blood; I’m sure it’s not serious."

Now that she had said this, Chen Shaobei couldn’t very well just send her away.

"Go get Jiang Zhi."

A few of the soldiers exchanged confused glances.

’Why call for Jiang Zhi now?’

But it was an order from General Chen, so they went at once.

A moment later, Jiang Zhi came running. "Greetings, General. For what reason have you summoned this subordinate?"

Chen Shaobei pointed at Su Zhirou.

"Carry her to the medic’s tent and get some herbs. I recall Princess Funing taught you how to treat simple wounds. You handle this."

Jiang Zhi froze, looking at Su Zhirou. The latter was also clearly stunned; she hadn’t expected General Chen to simply hand her off to someone else!

Chen Shaobei’s brow furrowed. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

Jiang Zhi quickly crouched down. "Miss Su, I’ll carry you."

A dark glint flashed in Su Zhirou’s eyes. "Thank you for your trouble."

She obediently got onto Jiang Zhi’s back.

As they watched the two leave, the soldiers were thoroughly confused.

’Jiang Zhi is the scrawniest person in the whole camp, and from the Fire Soldier Camp, no less. Why would the General have him take Miss Su?’

The soldiers seemed a little disappointed that they had missed their chance to curry favor with Su Zhirou.

Their thoughts were cut short by a cold, sharp rebuke from Chen Shaobei.

"What are you staring at? Have you run out of things to do? Or should I send you all home so you can stare at your own mothers!"

He was rarely this severe, and the soldiers scattered in fright.

Once they were all gone, Chen Shaobei’s gaze drifted into the distance.

Jiang Zhi, with Su Zhirou on her back, quickly rounded a tent and disappeared from sight.

Chen Shaobei had made this arrangement because he knew that with Su Zhirou being a woman, only Jiang Zhi was suitable to care for her. Anyone else would have been inappropriate.

He then turned and headed for the training grounds to inspect the soldiers.

Little did he know that Su Zhirou, on Jiang Zhi’s back, was getting restless.

Once they were a good distance away, she began to struggle.

"Brother Jiang, you can put me down now."

"Don’t move. I can see you’ve lost a lot of blood. General Chen ordered me to take you to the medic’s tent, and we’re almost there."

Su Zhirou shot her an annoyed glance.

’This soldier Jiang is so dense!’

Su Zhirou had endured immense pain to come up with this plan, only to find she couldn’t even get near Chen Shaobei. Instead, he had casually assigned some nobody to look after her.

The more Su Zhirou thought about it, the angrier she became.

The last time, she had been thoroughly frightened by Mo Lingwei. A Crown Prince that unstable could very well commit murder one day.

’He might even die an early death!’

’That’s a huge mess best left for Shen Ningning to fall into!’

And so, Su Zhirou had shifted her sights to Chen Shaobei.

The Chen Family had been loyal subjects for three generations, commanded a powerful army, and held the deep trust of the Emperor.

Most importantly, Chen Shaobei was the only son of his generation, destined to inherit the meritorious legacy of his forefathers.

Furthermore, Chen Shaobei was a childhood friend and confidant of the Crown Prince.

’If she could marry him, would she ever have to worry about wealth and status again?’

Then she would no longer have to play the part of the obedient girl trying to please Princess Shu every day.

Su Zhirou saw that this Jiang Zhi was hopelessly stubborn and wouldn’t put her down.

An idea formed in her mind. She would pretend to fall off Jiang Zhi’s back when he wasn’t paying attention.

Then she could blame Jiang Zhi, claiming he wasn’t really trying to help and had dropped her on purpose.

But unexpectedly, after she swayed just twice, Jiang Zhi’s hands tightened around her waist to steady her.

"Miss Su, be careful! Please don’t move. We’re almost at the medic’s tent." A sheen of sweat had appeared on Jiang Zhi’s forehead.

’This Su Zhirou looks so delicate, but she’s not light at all!’

At Jiang Zhi’s touch, Su Zhirou was filled with disgust. She instantly felt defiled.

"Let go of me at once! Don’t you know that men and women must not touch?"

The more she spoke, the more wronged she felt, and she burst into tears.

"Let me go! How dare you take liberties with me!"

As she spoke, Su Zhirou began hitting Jiang Zhi’s shoulders.

The sudden pain made Jiang Zhi instinctively let go.

"Ouch!" Su Zhirou fell to the ground with a thud, her face contorted in pain. The bleeding from her ankle worsened.

Nearby soldiers heard the commotion and rushed over. They were surprised. "Miss Su, it’s you! Jiang Zhi, what’s wrong with you? The General ordered you to take Miss Su to the medic, how could you just let her fall!"

Su Zhirou cried out tearfully, "I didn’t want his help! Men and women are not to touch! He... he touched my waist! I couldn’t bear the humiliation."

The soldiers were shocked to hear this and immediately turned to glare angrily at Jiang Zhi.

"We always thought you were just a carefree, straightforward guy, but we never imagined you were so filthy and despicable!"

Jiang Zhi grew frantic, pointing at Su Zhirou. "How can you twist the truth like that? I was carrying you, and you insisted on getting down! I was only trying to steady you because I was afraid you’d hurt your ankle again. How can you turn that around and accuse me of being indecent?"

Su Zhirou paid her no mind, only continuing to wail, "I might as well be dead! How can I ever show my face in public again?"

In a fit of righteous anger, the soldiers clenched their fists and advanced on Jiang Zhi.

"Apologize to Miss Su!"