Since Lu Zhuo had assigned Wei Rao the identity of his cousin, it was only natural that he ordered a tent to be set up for her beside his own command tent.
Wei Rao had brought several sets of men's clothing, but they were largely unnecessary, as she would be wearing military armor like the other soldiers while staying in the camp.
After finishing his official duties, Lu Zhuo returned with two sets of armor for Wei Rao. Having practiced martial arts since her youth, Wei Rao was tall and slender. Although the soldiers in the camp were all robust, not every one of them was tall and imposing—some were of similar height to Wei Rao, while others were even shorter. Her only challenges were her fair complexion and strikingly beautiful features, but in other respects, she could easily pass as a new recruit.
Fortunately, her identity as Lu Zhuo's cousin—a pampered young noble from the capital—made her pale skin understandable. After all, Lu Zhuo himself was a "pretty boy." The only feature Wei Rao needed to conceal was the captivating allure of her eyes and brows.
Faced with Lu Zhuo's skepticism, Wei Rao asked him to return to the command tent first. She sat before a mirror and skillfully began her transformation.
Once ready, Wei Rao stepped out of her tent.
The command tent stood right next door. Zhao Song, standing guard outside, gaped in astonishment at the sight of Wei Rao approaching. Even after she walked past him, he remained lost in thought, puzzling over her familiar yet altered face.
Inside the tent, Lu Zhuo looked up at the sound of footsteps.
Wei Rao stood clad in dull gray armor, her dark hair tied simply into a man's topknot. Her face was still pale, but her delicate eyebrows had been thickened, and the upturned corners of her phoenix eyes now drooped slightly downward, diminishing their allure by more than half. Her lips remained rosy, but with the changes to her eyes and brows, their prominence faded—especially once rigorous training began, drying them out and stripping away their vividness.
Lu Zhuo approached Wei Rao, leaning in closely to examine her face. He noticed her eyebrows weren't merely drawn thicker—they had been altered with adhesives. Similarly, the droop at the corners of her eyes wasn't painted on but achieved with some kind of attachment.
Frowning, Lu Zhuo reached out to inspect her work, but Wei Rao pushed his hand away. "Don't touch. This is delicate work. Your clumsiness might hurt me."
Lu Zhuo asked curiously, "Who taught you this?"
Wei Rao smiled. "Naturally, my master."
Her master seemed to know everything. Besides teaching Wei Rao swordsmanship, he had also imparted the art of disguise. Though Wei Rao rarely used these skills, she was now employing just the basics. As for imitating a male voice, she had practiced it back in Jincheng—none of the merchants who dealt with her "cousin" had ever realized she was actually a girl.
Lu Zhuo fell silent for a moment before saying, "No one should suspect you like this. However, military training is far more intense than your usual sword practice..."
Wei Rao gave a faint smile and asked him, "Sword practice feels easy now because I built a solid foundation long ago. How do you think I developed that foundation? How do you think I acquired my combat skills?"
Back then, she had been a frail invalid confined to her bed. Martial arts for strengthening the body weren't some miraculous cure—recovery couldn't be achieved overnight. To improve through martial arts, one had to train relentlessly. Her master was strict; Wei Rao's tears might move her grandmothers to pity, but her master would simply watch her calmly, waiting for her to cry herself out before urging her to continue practicing.The hardship of transforming from a half-crippled person into a master swordsman far surpassed that of an ordinary person becoming one.
Wei Rao usually acted spoiled because she had the privilege to do so and enjoyed indulging in comforts, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t endure hardship.
“The heir has gnawed on hardtack on the battlefield, and I’ve chewed on dry rations in Cloud Mist Mountain. Let’s not underestimate each other,” Wei Rao snorted.
Lu Zhuo chuckled.
He wasn’t doubting her ability to endure hardship; he simply couldn’t bear to see her suffer through rigorous training.
“What you need to learn is how to lead troops, not necessarily to become a soldier yourself,” Lu Zhuo made one last attempt to persuade her.
Wei Rao replied seriously, “But only by having been a soldier can one understand what the troops under one’s command are thinking. And only by knowing their thoughts can one lead them better.”
She looked into Lu Zhuo’s eyes, and he gazed back at her. After a brief moment, Lu Zhuo suddenly leaned down and kissed her.
When she first married him in a Marriage to ward off misfortune, he must have been blind to treat her the way he did.
Once Wei Rao set her mind on something, she would undoubtedly achieve it.
After instructing Lu Zhuo not to seek her out unless necessary, Wei Rao officially became a soldier under General He’s command.
When General He first brought her over, the other soldiers laughed, teasing her fair and delicate appearance. But after General He introduced her identity—the cousin of the commanding general, Lu Zhuo—the soldiers immediately fell silent. Lu Zhuo had made his mark upon arriving at the camp by executing a general to establish authority and later winning over the leading general of the 100,000 troops, earning the soldiers’ deep respect.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Wei Rao maintained a cold and aloof demeanor, speaking sparingly. She refrained from conversing with any of the soldiers around her unless absolutely necessary. During breaks, she sat alone, and during drills, everyone was too busy to bother her. By the end of the day, she had spoken fewer than ten words.
Her fellow soldiers interpreted her aloofness as the arrogance of a noble-born youth who disdained their company.
Most soldiers avoided provoking trouble and offending the commanding general’s cousin, but among a group of spirited young men, there were always a few who were unafraid of stirring things up.
One day, during paired sparring drills, a soldier named Ma Wei deliberately pushed aside Wei Rao’s usual partner and clenched his fists, challenging her to a fight.
Both were armed with wooden swords.
“Young Master He, care for a match?” Ma Wei taunted.
In the military camp, a hundred soldiers formed a unit, and Ma Wei was one of the top three fighters in Wei Rao’s unit—a towering, robust man standing nine feet tall.
Wei Rao smiled faintly and raised her wooden sword.
In arm wrestling, she would certainly be no match for Ma Wei, but with a sword, Wei Rao had never truly shown her full strength.
First move of the Seven Stars Sword technique: Glimmering Shadow.
Combining the swordplay with elusive footwork, the onlookers saw the slender Young Master He nimbly sidestep and appear behind Ma Wei, her wooden sword sweeping horizontally across his side.
With a single strike landed, Wei Rao sheathed her sword and stared impassively at Ma Wei.
Ma Wei stood frozen, his wooden sword still held high.
The surrounding soldiers were equally stunned before snapping back to reality and turning their gazes unanimously toward Wei Rao.
Wei Rao walked directly back to her original sparring partner.
This partner, named A Feng, was slightly shorter than Wei Rao and had been specifically assigned to her by the unit captain as a training companion.Usually, Wei Rao practiced with A Feng using the most basic attack techniques taught in the military camp, never revealing her swordsmanship. As a result, A Feng always approached their sparring sessions with great enthusiasm and seriousness. Now that he had witnessed Wei Rao's true skill, A Feng suddenly realized that this high-born companion had been going easy on him all along.
A Feng blushed, his face turning bright red, and he felt too embarrassed to spar with Wei Rao again.
Wei Rao appreciated A Feng's simple and honest nature. She smiled at him encouragingly and said, "I learned swordsmanship from my master, but that requires years of foundational training. In battlefield combat, the techniques taught in the camp are straightforward and suitable for close-quarters fighting. As long as you practice diligently and master them thoroughly, you will surely make a name for yourself on the battlefield."
She was usually quiet in the squad, so her sudden lengthy speech—especially after defeating Ma Wei in a single move—carried significant weight. Far from looking down on ordinary soldiers, she offered sincere recognition and encouragement. Not only A Feng but also the other soldiers who overheard, including the humbled Ma Wei, felt their confidence restored.
Ma Wei, still unconvinced, challenged Wei Rao to another match, insisting that she use only the camp's swordsmanship techniques.
Wei Rao replied, "You are stronger than me, so naturally I would be at a disadvantage."
Ma Wei swelled with pride, puffing out his chest like a bear as he glanced at his comrades.
The others just scoffed at him: "Have some shame! Who ever heard of setting conditions that only benefit yourself in a duel?"
Ma Wei lunged at the one who mocked him, and the two began wrestling.
Wei Rao watched and smiled.
These passionate men in the military camp weren't particularly malicious—at most, they might challenge someone they disagreed with and settle it through a bout.
After training, Wei Rao returned alone to her tent.
Zhao Song, assigned to her by Lu Zhuo, knew the young mistress's habits and had already prepared water inside. He stood guard outside the tent entrance.
To avoid casting her shadow on the tent walls, Wei Rao never lit a lamp while bathing. She also hadn't asked Zhao Song to prepare a bathtub, opting instead for two buckets of water—one cold, one hot—which she mixed in a basin.
As she was washing, Zhao Song's voice came from outside: "General, please wait. The young master is bathing."
This was per Wei Rao's instructions: even Lu Zhuo was not to enter while she bathed.
Lu Zhuo might have wanted to enter, but doing so would have revealed his improper intentions to Zhao Song. As the heir of the Duke of Yingguo, who prided himself on being a refined gentleman, he would never undermine his own image.
Glancing at the tent, Lu Zhuo nodded calmly and returned to his quarters.
Two quarters of an hour later, Zhao Song came to invite him over.
Lu Zhuo arrived at Wei Rao's tent and instructed Zhao Song, "Bring the meals here. I'll dine with the young master."
Zhao Song replied, "Yes."
Lu Zhuo lifted the tent flap and saw that Wei Rao had changed into comfortable everyday male attire, still wearing her hair in a man's topknot, reading a book on military strategy.
"So my cousin is such an avid reader," Lu Zhuo remarked as he sat on the mat beside her, his calm gaze lingering on her freshly washed face, flushed pink and glowing. After bathing, she never went out again, so she had removed her usual disguise, revealing her naturally delicate and radiant features.
Wei Rao was absorbed in a thrilling part of the book and ignored him.
She had declared her intention to learn military command—serving as a soldier by day and studying strategy books in the evening to master the art of leading troops.Lu Zhuo glanced at the lit lamp in the tent, then at the shadows of the two figures cast upon the tent wall, and could only remain seated, silently watching her.
Zhao Song brought over the meal.
Wei Rao finally set down her book.
Lu Zhuo asked her, "I heard someone provoked you today?"
Wei Rao found it amusing: "Since you've already heard, why ask me?"
Lu Zhuo: "Naturally, I'm concerned about you."
Wei Rao smiled: "With the general as my backing, who would dare bully your cousin?"
Lu Zhuo disliked the term "cousin" immensely—he wanted his princess consort, longed to press her down on the fur-covered bed and listen to her soft panting or scolding whispers in his ear.
When Wei Rao was far away in Ganzhou City, Lu Zhuo didn't dwell on such thoughts, but now that she was here in the military camp, right under his nose, he found it impossible to maintain his composure.
He couldn't openly cause a scene in the camp, so staying overnight in her quarters was out of the question. Even if they extinguished the lamps before acting—what would two cousins be doing together in pitch darkness? It would only make their intentions more obvious.
At noon that day, after drills concluded, just as Wei Rao was about to join A Feng for meal collection, Lu Zhuo sent someone to summon her.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wei Rao had no excuse to disobey her commander cousin's order.
Half an hour later, Wei Rao returned, her cheeks flushed with a faint rosy hue and her eyes filled with fierce irritation.
A Feng, Ma Wei, and other comrades exchanged glances—they all understood. These two cousins must have argued again, and Young Master He clearly got the worse end of it. Just look how furious he'd become!
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