An inexplicable silence hung in the air for a few seconds.
Realizing that the child probably wouldn't understand such a term, Zhongli Ting was just about to change the subject when Ruhuahua spoke up.
"Do men have to sit the month, too?" Ruhuahua asked earnestly, blinking her clear, inquisitive eyes.
"Hhahahahahaha..."
Zhongli Ting's gaze faltered. The next moment, he burst out laughing, his chest heaving and vibrating. Hindered by his injured arm, he reined his laughter in a bit, yet it lost none of its arrogance.
Though she had no idea why Zhongli Ting was suddenly laughing, it was obvious he was laughing at her. Realizing she might have asked a foolish question, Ruhuahua's face flushed stubbornly, and she pestered, "Brother..."
"Alright, alright, Brother isn't laughing anymore," Zhongli Ting said with a light cough, his voice laced with amusement as he struggled to put on a straight face. "As far as Brother knows, men apparently can't give birth, nor do they sit the month."
"Oh." Having been laughed at, Ruhuahua lost much of her curiosity about the subject. She stood up, rinsed the hand towel draped over the wooden basin, and handed it to Zhongli Ting.
"What's this for, Brother?"
Ruhuahua pouted, feeling hard done by. "Brother was sweating so much from laughing..."
Wiping casually, Zhongli Ting balled the towel up and tossed it with pinpoint accuracy back into the wooden basin. Without leaving a trace, he curved the corners of his lips and placated her, "Kiddo, Brother is just hot. It really wasn't because I was laughing at you."
Naturally, a young man's vital energy ran high, and wrapped up in two thick cotton quilts as he was, it would be a miracle if he didn't sweat.
"Go take your quilt back. Brother will melt if I stay bundled up much longer."
"Okay."
After chatting for a bit, the wounded patient Zhongli Ting seemed somewhat exhausted. He sat listlessly on the edge of the couch, propping his forehead with one hand, his eyelids drooping slightly.
Ruhuahua offered earnestly, "Brother, lie down and sleep. I won't laugh at you."
Although Brother hadn't spared her any face when he laughed at her earlier, she had still decided to repay evil with good.
Before Brother Wei left earlier, he had specifically instructed her not to laugh at Brother for staying bedridden in broad daylight.
Hearing this, Zhongli Ting couldn't help muttering, "That silly dog—ah, my tongue slipped. Kiddo, don't go copying that. What did Wei Ling and you talk about?"
"I can't say," Ruhuahua said, blinking starry eyes and looking very mysterious. "Brother Wei said it's a secret between the two of us."
"Fine. I suppose I'm the outsider now." Hearing this, Zhongli Ting clutched his chest with one hand, let out a long sigh, and put on an utterly melancholy expression. "Ah, my heart is broken. I'm going to sleep."
Ruhuahua knelt on the footstool before the couch, her arms resting on the edge, and gently poked Zhongli Ting's back. "Brother..."
Unable to tell whether Zhongli Ting was genuinely upset or not, Ruhuahua panicked and racked her brains to coax him. "Brother, don't be mad. Brother isn't an outsider, you're an insider..."
The veins on Zhongli Ting's forehead twitched merrily.
An insider, my foot...
Wasn't that a humble term a man used for his own wife?
"Brother..."
Zhongli Ting turned over. "...Well, actually, come to think of it, being an outsider isn't so bad."
Ruhuahua blinked, half-understanding.
At first, Zhongli Ting was just playing around with Ruhuahua and feigning sleep, but as sleepiness truly took hold of him later on, he actually drifted off.
Not wanting to disturb Zhongli Ting's rest, Ruhuahua waited until he was asleep before tiptoeing out of the tent with the wooden basin to dump the water. As she turned back, two soldiers quietly intercepted her.
One spoke first: "The General wants to see you."
The other chimed in, "Yes, that's right, the General wants to see you."
Ruhuahua raised her head in confusion and looked at the two of them. "The General?" Who was that again?
Neither of the soldiers offered much explanation. Both stated bluntly, "Let's go."
The two men blocked her path in front and behind, looking very much as if she had no choice in the matter.
Ruhuahua suddenly spotted the wooden basin in her hand. "Um, I... I'll put the basin back first."
As if afraid she would run off, the soldier on one side took the wooden basin from her and set it right by the thick tent flap.
With no other way out, Ruhuahua could only trudge along behind them toward the council hall, her head hanging in dejection.
The council hall in the military camp required looping all the way around, passing right through the training grounds along the way.
The training ground was a vast open space where clusters of troops drilled, maneuvering in formations, brandishing sabers, and loosing arrows. Every single one of them was high-spirited and looking magnificent.
The cold wind chilled her cheeks. Ruhuahua reached up to rub her face, wondering involuntarily:
What is Brother like on the training ground?
Lost in a whirl of wild thoughts all the way, the soldier walking in front suddenly stopped. "We've arrived."
That soldier stepped forward to exchange a few words with the guards stationed on either side of the tent flap, watched the guard go in to announce their arrival, and then turned back to signal for Ruhuahua to enter.
Ruhuahua pointed at herself and asked, "Me, go in by myself?"
The soldier nodded, looking stern. "Go on."
Ruhuahua pressed her lips together and cautiously stepped inside.
This tent was enormous. Hanging on the far right was a set of battle armor with a black base and gold trim, polished to a dazzling sheen. Next to it stood a massive desk piled high with books and document scrolls. In the middle of the tent sat a large tactical sand table—used for studying terrain, enemy intelligence, battle plans, coordinating operations, conducting tactical drills, examining battle case studies, and summarizing combat experience.
Strange.
Ruhuahua blinked in confusion. She had no recollection of ever seeing such an object, yet almost instinctively, she knew how this massive thing was used.
Perhaps because this was common knowledge?
Ruhuahua remained dazed for a moment, then tilted her head slightly and caught sight of Wei Ling's legendary biological father—Old General Wei.
In truth, Old General Wei didn't look old at all; he appeared to be barely in his early thirties. He wore black archery cuffs, and between his brows, one could faintly trace the same heroic vigor seen in Wei Ling. Yet unlike Wei Ling, who always wore a smile, General Wei wore a stern, terrifyingly frosty expression that compelled one to treat him with utmost respect.
Ruhuahua shrank back in fright.
This person looked especially fierce.
With a rigid, expressionless face, General Wei walked over.
The sense of oppression was so overwhelming that Ruhuahua instinctively backed away in trepidation.
"Step back any further and you'll hit the sand table," General Wei said, coming to a halt. "You're the child Ting'er picked up?"
Ruhuahua stopped as well, and upon hearing this, she nodded honestly. "It seems that way."
She remembered nothing at all, but according to what Brother had said, she was indeed picked up from a mountain ditch.
General Wei asked again, "You don't remember your family? Nor do you know who you are?"
Ruhuahua nodded, looking deeply aggrieved.
Why did this person keep poking at her sore spots?
General Wei pointed to a chair. "Sit."
Not daring to delay for even a second, Ruhuahua obediently sat down, adopting a rigidly proper posture with her hands clasped in front of her.
Military campaigns valued speed, ruthlessness, and precision, so General Wei loathed beating around the bush and went straight to the point. "Child, do you want to stay in the military camp?"
Ruhuahua immediately lifted her head and nodded briskly. "I do!"
General Wei stated, "Ting'er mentioned your situation to me before, and I've thought it over carefully. The military rations come from the blood, sweat, and toil of ordinary folk, so the army does not feed idlers. If you wish to stay, you must possess a specialized skill."
Ruhuahua rubbed her palms together eagerly. "I can do anything, I can learn, I can endure hardship!"
General Wei suddenly asked, "What about becoming a soldier?"
Ruhuahua's eyes widened in shock.
A soldier?
General Wei stepped closer, unconsciously piling the pressure on her. "With Zhongrong and Zhourao locked in endless warfare, under certain special circumstances, outstanding soldiers can defeat a hundred foes single-handedly—especially unexpected female soldiers. If you're willing, I can have someone take you under their wing so you can stay in the camp. I guarantee you'll want for neither food nor clothing, and you'll receive military pay every month."