Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Chapter 521 – Zhao Wenhao
“Nonsense! Qiu Yan threatened the Office of Military Justice and defied military regulations. What do you mean by reasonable?” the commander of the Flying Mount Battalion said in anger.
It was a slap in their faces that Jiang Chen thought it was reasonable.
The senior officer seemed to be warning Jiang Chen with his gloomy look, telling him not to go astray.
But it seemed that Jiang Chen didn’t understand him. He said, “First of all, Commander Qiu Yan asked for benefits for the sake of her deceased apprentice brothers and sisters. All these people died for the dynasty and had amazing military merits. Even though you refused to satisfy her request, the punishment doesn’t make any sense.”
“She said she wouldn’t fight for the dynasty again if I refused,” said the officer.
“The commander is just grieving. That shouldn’t have been taken seriously. Besides, you refused her coldly first.”
Jiang Chen didn’t give the officer any chance to speak. He continued, “And, according to the regulations regarding military service, soldiers without the flying dragon totem image can quit the army as they wish.”
“Really?”
Staring at Jiang Chen, the officer didn’t believe him immediately.
“Rule 312,” Jiang Chen said calmly.
“Bring me the military regulations book.”
A young officer soon brought him the book of regulations. He turned pale when he saw the item Jiang Chen had just mentioned.
“Second, Qiu Yan only intended to seek justice for the dead soldiers from her battalion.” Jiang Chen went on, “Isn’t that completely reasonable?”
Forced to consider this, the North Mansion Battalion and the Flying Mount Battalion were both unhappy, but the senior officer said, “The North Mansion Battalion and the Flying Mount Battalion didn’t do anything wrong during the retreat.”
“Could you show us any documents regarding an investigation or any evidence?” asked Jiang Chen.
The senior officer was speechless.
Jiang Chen continued, “You don’t have any? What about a testimony from a witness?”
The crowd outside the Office of Military Justice went into an uproar.
“I said they didn’t do anything wrong, so they didn’t do anything wrong!” the officer said furiously.
“You said they didn’t do anything wrong, so they must not have done anything wrong. Who do you think you are?!” Jiang Chen flew into a rage. He shouted, “Four lieutenants and 974 soldiers from the Red Flame Battalion died. That wasn’t worth carrying out an investigation? You just declared this without the support of any evidence or testimony? What do human lives mean to you?!”
Jiang Chen seemed to feel angry enough to vent. He continued, “If you officers keep protecting each other, it will only hurt the soldiers fighting for you. Our lives are worthless for you because we don’t have a totem image, so why on earth should we fight for the dynasty?!”
“Right! Right!”
“The Office of Military Justice is too controlling!”
Outside, the temporary soldiers all flew into a rage. They joined the verbal attack one after another.
This was exactly what Jiang Chen had wanted. His rationality told him that he’d have been better off staying out of this, but he couldn’t.
After seeing Qiu Yan give that speech in a hoarse voice, he felt like he wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t do anything.
The only way path occurred to him was to provoke the crowd to join his anger.
The Third Legion was made up of these temporary soldiers. They had been unhappy with the discrimination from the dynasty’s men for a long time. With Jiang Chen’s prompting, a mutiny could happen.
“How dare you!” The officers in the Officer of Military Justice realized how severe things were. It seemed like they wished they could kill Jiang Chen with their glares.
“How dare I? Did I say anything wrong?” Jiang Chen asked, cool-headed.
The officer said coldly, “Give him 100 lashes for causing a racket in the Office of Military Justice!”
“You!”
Qiu Yan almost lost her temper upon hearing this, but Jiang Chen stopped her. He told her through holy awareness, “Don’t act on impulse. Let me handle it.”
Then he said in a sarcastic tone, “Causing a racket, great! I accept the punishment. And I’m also willing to quit the army.”
“One hundred lashes will kill you,” Qiu Yan said anxiously.
“But at least they won’t punish you when so many people are angry,” Jiang Chen said.
The officer wasn’t joking. A few armored soldiers walked in with iron sticks in their hands. They laid their hands on Jiang Chen’s shoulder with effort.
The commanders of the North Mansion Battalion and the Flying Mount Battalion smiled coldly, as if they were watching a clown.
“Stop.”
Suddenly a man walked into the office, his head raised high and his shoulders thrown back so he looked quite majestic.
His arrival caused a disturbance among the officers. Even the two commanders lowered their heads.
“It’s you?” Jiang Chen was surprised, too. This was the young man that had helped him earlier.
The youngster gave him a look, as if telling him not to worry. He strode up to the senior officer and said in a cold voice, “Who has given you the right to invent a crime?”
“No… nobody.” The officer’s face grew paler. He started to shake.
“And who has turned you into a blind man, seeing no information about what happened to the Red Flame Battalion?” the youngster asked again, unwilling to let it go.
“Eh…” The senior officer was speechless.
“Besides, does this really require an investigation? The North Mansion Battalion and the Flying Mount Battalion didn’t show up where they were supposed to, and that resulted in the Red Flame Battalion’s disaster, making them the cause of the tragedy. It’s a bloody fact.”
The senior officer was sweating.
“Since you did nothing at all, why don’t you go back to selling tofu,” the youngster said.
Jiang Chen was shocked. He hadn’t expected the young man to be so powerful that he could relieve a senior officer of the Office of Military Justice of his post.
“And you two, this isn’t over yet,” the young man said sharply to the commanders of the North Mansion Battalion and the Flying Mount Battalion.
Then he went up to Jiang Chen and Qiu Yan. He said sincerely, “What happened to the Red Flame Battalion will be compensated for soon.”
“Thank you, General Zhao.” Qiu Yan knew who he was and what his name was.
Noticing Jiang Chen’s puzzled look, the youngster smiled. “Zhao Wenhao, corps commander of the Bright Moon Troop.”
Jiang Chen looked as though he had understood something, but then he shook his head confusedly. He had no idea what this identity represented.
He didn’t know until later that the Bright Moon Troop was the most powerful of the middle troops, and Zhao Wenhao was the primary corps commander of the middle troops.
But Jiang Chen knew that it wasn’t because he was a corps commander that he had been able to relieve a senior military officer of his post.
After bidding farewell to Zhao Wenhao, Jiang Chen and Qiuyan went back to the Red Flame Battalion.
“Commander, I’ll do as you wish,” Jiang Chen suddenly said on their way back.
“What wish?”
“Your sibling disciples, your brother, they’ll get what they deserved,” said Jiang Chen.
It took Qiu Yan a while to realize what he meant. She said, “Are you sure?”
She was the battalion commander, while Jiang Chen was her lieutenant. She was supposed to be the one in charge, but Jiang Chen was making a promise to her instead, which put her at a loss.
“I appreciated what you said today,” Qiu Yan said sincerely before Jiang Chen could say anything else.
She had calmed down after releasing her anger and sorrow. She wasn’t as depressed anymore as to look forward to her death.
As Zhao Wenhao had promised, the North Mansion Battalion and the Flying Mount Battalion received heavy punishments for disobeying their commands in war.
The Red Flame Battalion was awarded and compensated for their hard work.
As a result, the depressing atmosphere in the Red Flame Battalion finally disappeared.
Their morale was raised again. Jiang Chen sensed something like hope.
