Winning the male lead

Le Tian wandered around the training grounds, listening at every corner, but couldn’t find a live “performance.” He immediately felt downcast.
“Zhao Xin’s too mean!”

System: “Military discipline is strict. He wasn’t wrong to stop it.”

Le Tian: “Interrupting people’s good time — that’s begging for a lightning strike.”

System: “…” So that’s what he’s mad about…

Le Tian squatted by a wall, pitifully muttering, “Mama…”

The system suddenly had a very bad feeling and immediately warned, “Your mother is dead.”

That brutal comeback made Le Tian choke. He hesitantly tried, “…Stepmom?”

System: “…What are you trying to do? Just say it.”

Le Tian: “I want a replay of the scene just now, please~”

System: “…”

Le Tian: “I don’t believe the number one system in the universe doesn’t have a playback function.”

System: “I don’t.”

Le Tian: “Yes, you do.”

System: “…How about we watch Dumbo again?”

When Zhao Xin arrived, this is what he saw — a bright, beautiful youth squatting by the wall, delicate chin resting on his knees, head tilted slightly, eyes glistening with unshed tears sliding down his pale cheeks, looking utterly heartbroken.

Le Tian: “Boohoo… No matter how many times I watch it, I’m always so touched. I wish I had that kind of motherly love too.”

System (gently): “Your mother is already dead, remember?”

Seeing Le Tian like this, Zhao Xin’s anger instantly melted. He walked over softly and whispered, “Didn’t you say you never cry?”

Le Tian quickly looked up. Seeing it was Zhao Xin, he wiped his eyes and stubbornly said, “Who’s crying? Your eyesight must be bad.” He looked like a wounded little animal, and Zhao Xin’s heart softened at once.

“Must’ve been my mistake,” Zhao Xin said, gently patting his soft hair. “Hungry?”

Le Tian’s stomach growled right on cue.

Zhao Xin smiled and extended his hand. “Come on, I’ll take you to eat.”

Le Tian hesitated, then slowly placed his hand into his. Zhao Xin’s palm was calloused from years of sword training — holding it felt steady and secure.

Zhao Xin, feeling Le Tian’s smaller hand in his, was struck again by the thought that he was still just a child. Why couldn’t he be more patient with him?

Hand in hand, the two of them walked peacefully together.

Along the way, Le Tian used his free hand to pluck wildflowers and grass, tucking them into Zhao Xin’s belt. Zhao Xin didn’t stop him — he even said, “The food here is rough. If you don’t like it, eat a little now and have more later back at the manor.”

Le Tian gave him a sideways glance, clearly unimpressed. “Do I look like a three-year-old to you?”

Zhao Xin chuckled. “Not that old — otherwise why would you keep acting up?”

“You win, you win, you’re always right,” Le Tian rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, “You’re the one acting up.”

Zhao Xin couldn’t help but laugh, and they made their way back to his private courtyard at the training camp, where Zhao Yuancheng had already prepared a meal. Seeing Zhao Xin calmly holding Le Tian’s hand, with none of the anger he had when he left earlier, Zhao Yuancheng smiled knowingly. So Miss Yun really is the general’s true love — even her brother can handle him.

“General, there’s Dongpo pork today,” he said with a grin.

Le Tian (curious): “You like meat, bro-in-law?” He always thought Zhao Xin looked like the kind of refined guy who only ate tofu and greens.

Zhao Xin: “How else would I have strength for battle?” He guided Le Tian to sit.

Zhao Yuancheng chimed in, “General, I found the two men you asked for.”

Zhao Xin tensed immediately, giving Zhao Yuancheng a look. “Leave us.” He glanced at Le Tian, who was already happily eating, and relaxed a little.

To Zhao Xin’s surprise, Le Tian wasn’t picky at all — he ate with genuine enjoyment.
“Is this a special meal? The food’s not bad,” Le Tian said.

Zhao Xin gave him a piece of lean meat. “Same food as the soldiers.”

“Then you’re a good general,” Le Tian said offhandedly.

Zhao Xin paused, then smiled warmly. Mischievous as Le Tian was, he still knew right from wrong.

Zhao Xin ate quickly. He was finished long before Le Tian, who was still poking at his rice grain by grain. He stood, “Take your time, I have something to—”

“Hold it,” Le Tian interrupted.

“Where are you going?” he asked, eyes narrowed, chopsticks poking into his bowl. He tapped his nose knowingly, “You’re going to punish those poor lovebirds, aren’t you?”

Zhao Xin: “…”

“They’re not lovebirds, just two men acting on lust,” Zhao Xin frowned.

Le Tian blinked. Wait — not only is bro-in-law straight, he’s homophobic too?

With a bang, Le Tian slapped the table and widened his eyes. “You’re not allowed to go!”

“Didn’t you just say you’re not a child? Why act like one?” Zhao Xin frowned, trying to leave.

Le Tian used the same old trick — throwing his arms around Zhao Xin’s waist, declaring loudly, “If you dare go, I’ll climb into your bed tonight!”

Zhao Xin sighed and patted his arm. “Be good. I won’t be too hard on them.”

“I don’t believe you — unless I go with you.”

So that’s how Le Tian ended up tagging along.

Sun Liu and Fang Dexin knelt trembling before Zhao Xin, heads down, not daring to look up. Though he was a scholarly general, Zhao Xin was known for his strict discipline. They knew they were in deep trouble and didn’t dare utter a word.

Le Tian sat beside Zhao Xin and leaned over, whispering behind his hand, “Bro-in-law, which one do you think is the bottom?”

Zhao Xin’s eyebrows were so tightly furrowed they looked like a knotted rope.

Le Tian had cried and made a scene to come along, even threatening to make Zhao Xin’s life miserable if he didn’t — and Zhao Xin knew he could do it, so here they were.

“What would a child know?” Zhao Xin couldn’t help saying.

Le Tian immediately shot him a glare, dropped his hand, and shouted, “You’re older, you know more, fine — then YOU tell me: who’s the bottom?!”

At that moment, the entire room went dead silent. Zhao Yuancheng looked at them in utter disbelief, thinking, Surely the general’s going to blow up now?

With his own aide staring at him like that, Zhao Xin had no choice but to swallow his anger.
“Didn’t you promise not to cause trouble?” he asked Le Tian.

“Then why do you keep saying I’m a child?” Le Tian huffed, clearly offended.
“I’m a grown man! I can’t take this kind of insult!”

Zhao Xin felt another wave of helplessness. He softened his voice, “Alright, alright, let’s drop it.”

Zhao Yuancheng’s eyes were about to pop out of his head. Miss Yun must have been some kind of celestial being — even after death, her face is powerful enough to let her brother boss around the general!

Le Tian snorted, then turned to the two men kneeling below. “Hey, you two — which one of you is the bottom?”

The two glanced at each other nervously, then looked up to see a stunningly pretty young man sitting beside Zhao Xin, who wore a surprisingly tolerant expression. Suddenly, they felt a glimmer of hope.

On the left, Sun Liu blushed and said, “I… I would willingly be Dexin’s wife.” That was basically a confession.

Le Tian beamed, lifting a smug eyebrow at Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin had a headache just hearing all this. He snapped at the two, “This is a military camp! You’re both men — and you dare commit such indecent acts and still try to defend yourselves?”

Fang Dexin kowtowed loudly, tears welling in the eyes of this hardened soldier.
“General! It’s true that we broke military law. You can punish us however you see fit. But I swear to you — we’ve sworn ourselves to each other. We’re both orphans, with no family. We bowed to Heaven and Earth. That’s as good as marriage! You call it indecent — we can’t agree to that!”

Sun Liu sobbed beside him, “Fang, with you, I have no regrets in this life.” The two clung to each other, crying their hearts out.

Le Tian: …Damn. That’s straight out of a tragic romance.

Even Zhao Xin hadn’t expected this backstory. He was momentarily at a loss.

“Bro-in-law,” Le Tian tugged at his arm, “Just let them go, alright?”

Zhao Xin glanced at him, face stern. “There must be discipline in the army.”

“Then… fine, fine — just fine them,” Le Tian suggested.

“This isn’t a matter of silver,” Zhao Xin replied.

Seeing that he wouldn’t budge, Le Tian raised an eyebrow — clearly about to make a scene again. Zhao Xin sensed danger and quickly relented.
“…Let me think it over some more.”

Le Tian calmed down, leaned in to his ear, and whispered a whole bunch, ending with a lifted brow: “Wanna bet?”

Zhao Xin looked at the two men still huddled together, then back at Le Tian. “Alright.”

Zhao Yuancheng watched them whispering and muttering and had no idea what was going on.

Then Le Tian stood up, cleared his throat, and addressed the two kneeling men.
“Bro-in-law has given it a lot of thought. You two did commit a serious crime, but you also have your own reasons. So — here’s the deal. He can only spare one of your lives. The other… will be beaten to death. You may decide amongst yourselves who lives.”

Sun Liu and Fang Dexin froze in place.

Zhao Xin, meanwhile, observed them with a calm, unreadable face.

Fang Dexin looked stunned. But Sun Liu quickly wiped away his tears and calmly said,
“Please execute me, General.”

No sooner had he spoken than Fang Dexin snapped out of it, kneeling forward a step.
“No — please, execute me!”

“Fang, you’re not like me,” Sun Liu said with a sad smile. “I’m a nobody. You still have a future. Don’t fight me on this. We’ve had three good years together  that’s enough for me.”

Zhao Xin suddenly felt like he was sitting on needles. Three years?! They’ve been married under my nose for three years?!

“What future is there without you!” Fang Dexin knelt again and slammed his head to the ground.
“General, please let us be together!”

Then, chaos — Fang Dexin suddenly leapt up and tried to grab Zhao Yuancheng’s sword to kill himself. The whole hall was thrown into disarray.

“Enough!” Zhao Xin roared, his face dark as iron.
“Take them away — we’ll deal with this later!”

The two men, thinking they were being dragged to their deaths, cried out in despair.
“Xiao Liu! I love you!”
“Fangt! Let’s be spouses again in our next life!”
The wailing made Zhao Xin want to sprint out of the room immediately.

Le Tian, however, was thrilled. “Bro-in-law, I win!”

They’d made a bet: if Le Tian could prove the two were in love and not just fooling around, Zhao Xin would go easy on them.

Zhao Xin glanced at Le Tian’s delighted face. “How were you so sure?”

“Men loving men isn’t strange,” Le Tian replied with a grin. Then he leaned in close and whispered in Zhao Xin’s ear,
“After all, I’m planning to give you a son or two.”

Zhao Xin flushed red from his ears all the way to the top of his head.
“Stop talking nonsense. You know I’m not letting you go.”

“Then I’ll say it even more. Gotta say it while I can,” Le Tian said breezily.

Zhao Xin looked completely defeated. Le Tian stood up and stretched,
“I’m still hungry. Going to get more food. Don’t go back on your word while I’m eating — a gentleman’s promise is worth a thousand gold, remember?”

“Go ahead. I won’t,” Zhao Xin replied.

As soon as Le Tian left, Zhao Yuancheng came up and tried to whisper a suggestion,
“General, like I told you before — kids like this need a beating, or they’ll never learn.”

Zhao Xin gave him a cold side-eye and was just about to respond when he suddenly stopped, then motioned with his eyes.

Zhao Yuancheng, confused, turned around — only to see Le Tian standing behind him, eyes glinting coldly.
“Oh? You told my brother-in-law to beat me?”

Zhao Yuancheng immediately broke into a cold sweat. “Y-Young Marquis…”

Le Tian lunged at him.
“I’ll beat you!”

Zhao Yuancheng jumped around the room. “General! Save me!”

Zhao Xin simply shook his head and slipped away.
I can’t even save myself. You’re on your own, buddy.

Watching his general walk away, Zhao Yuancheng nearly wept.
“Miss Yun… what kind of divine fairy were you?!”