With All Due Respect, I Am Not Gay!

Xiao Yue was speechless. How long what? How long were they married? Xiao Yue did not even want to count!

"It's not like what Brother Wang is thinking," she said, a little aggrieved. "There's nothing between us."

"Oh stop pretending," Caretaker Wang could not wait to hear about the juicy bits anymore. "We all know how often you two meet and talk. Xiao Yue, no need to be shy. During wartimes like this, men do not get much chance to mingle with women. Besides we all live so close to each other. It is almost acceptable if men fall in love with each other. Especially when you go out there and risk your life to protect each other. Ahhhh, is this not what romance is?"

"..."

So Xiao Yue had not been found out. People still thought that she was a young man, Long Zhao Feng's squire. But to think that they would still suspect her of having something going on with Long Zhao Feng... Above all, she was not gay!!!

"I-I don't like men!" she blurted out without thinking. She was actually a girl. If she said that she disliked men... did it not mean that she liked women? Xiao Yue would love to smash her head against a block of tofu.

Caretaker Wang sighed.

"Really Xiao Ya, there is no reason to be this shy. If Wu Chao Guang hears about this, will he not be devastated?"

"..."

'Excuse me?'

"Why Wu Chao Guang?"

Caretaker Wang tilted his head to the side.

"Well, is it not Wu Chao Guang?"

"B-Brother Wang, you...!!!"

Accusing her of being homosexual was one thing, but actually dragging Wu Chao Guang into the whole misunderstanding? Xiao Yue was mortified.

"Don't drag Wu Chao Guang into this," Xiao Yue said. "He is not into men!"

Caretaker Wang laughed.

"Hahahaha Xiao Ya, maybe I am mistaken about you, but Wu Chao Guang really is into men."

"... What?"

Caretaker Wang cheerfully continued with his chit-chat. Apparently, he was very interested in other people's romance. Or was it more romance between men?

"Wu Chao Guang had been in the army way before I came. He used to be one of the soldiers, you know! And then one day he was kicked out of his regiment because he confessed his love to an upper-rank official!"

"Upper-rank official? Who?"

"Fufufufu... now you are also curious eh? Well, I am not telling!!!"

Caretaker Wang winked at her mischievously and went on his way to take care of patients who needed him, or so he often said to escape other tasks.

"..."

As if Xiao Yue was dying to know!

Wars took place some distance away from military bases. Before leaving, the troops packed enough stuff to last for the battle period. For this time, Long Zhao Feng estimated that the battle would be over within three days, so the troops only brought enough rations for three days. That being said, they had to come back on the fourth day, if anyone was still alive. When troops came back from the war, casualties and wounded soldiers had to be tended to immediately. Xiao Yue and the hospital staff thus waited anxiously from morning till evening just inside the outer fence. Over at the hospital tent, beds had been prepared for those in need of treatment.

The remaining soldiers at the base were also very restless. No high-rank official was left behind to manage things while Long Zhao Feng was gone, so they had been managing themselves during the three days, only relying on the last instructions their commandants gave before leaving for war.

Even Yu Fen did not know whether she should cook for the whole army or only for those who remained. She spent most of her free time to sit with Xiao Yue near the outer fence.

"Xiao Ya," she called. "I am so worried."

Xiao Yue nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I am also very worried."

Everyone was worried sick but they also could do nothing but wait. Time passed by so slowly that day, the sun barely moved from the sky. The soldier who was in charge to be the lookout on top of the tower was constantly getting stared at from all directions. He knew that everyone was waiting for him to announce something. What would it be? Who would be riding their horses to the base? Would it be General Long's troops, or the soldiers from the Hei Kingdom for a complete takeover?

The sun was about to set. The sky colored itself red-blood, as if confirming their greatest fear. No one was coming back. Everyone died on the battlefield. Just as everyone was painting the most gruesome images in their mind, the lookout suddenly screamed.

"They are back!!! General Long is back!!!"

Everyone jumped up and cheered. They started to hug each other and congratulated each other on the victorious battle. Relief flooded Xiao Yue's heart. She had been feeling uneasy for more than three days.

Now that the troops were coming back, Xiao Yue would love to climb over the pointy fence just to take a look at the approaching groups. It did not even matter if she could not see a single horse or a single rider from all the whirling dust. She just wanted to see something that told her that the troops were indeed coming back.

Was everyone doing alright? How many people did they lose? Did anyone die from the poison? A thousand questions floated in her mind, and no one was there to answer. It was not only her. Everyone was dying to hear about what happened at the battlefield.

When the troops finally arrived almost an hour later, the gate was opened and soldiers rushed out to welcome their exhausted brothers back to the base. There were too many people crowding at the gate, so Xiao Yue could not even see what was going on. She only heard one sentence being repeated over and over again.

"Move away! Move away! General Long is hurt! Make way! Bring him to the hospital!"