The General's Black Bellied Little Wifey (BL)

Sidetrack Story 🌟

This story is about what happened a year before the prologue.

Xing Chen kicked up a fuss after returning from the temple with his mother. He was tricked into going on a blind date with the Left Minister's eldest son, An Zi Jue.
"No way am I going to marry him. If they dare to force me, I'll castrate him during consummation night."
This was what he wrote on the letter he left in his room before he ran away from home.
The 15 years old Xing Chen disguised himself as a middle aged man, with a fake moustache and a mole under his eye. The first stop he made was at Green Spring Pavilion, to fulfill his sweet tooth, and he took a liking of the tea they served him.
Xing Chen overheard the customers from the next table were discussing about the trading route to Sima Country. Seems like they were merchants, he thought.
"These brothers, are you going to Sima Country? Excuse me for listening in. I'm a travelling musician from the north. The road trip to Sima Country is long and lonely by myself. Do you mind if I join you for company?"
The bearded merchant looked at him and the bag Xing Chen was holding on.
"Sure. I'm called Yun Zhe, a jewellery merchant. This is my business partner, Ah Yong."
Xing Chen cupped his fists together.
"I'm called Xiao Chen. They normally called me Little Master Chen."

They took up a medium sized boat and set sail. Xing Chen stood at the front of the boat with both hands clutching at his waist. He was grinning wide as he lookout to the setting sun.
"Ahh....freedom smells so good."
The merchant chuckled when he heard his words. He was standing right behind him.
"It's not freedom that smells good. It's the stew. Come and have some dinner, Xiao Chen."
"Oh, thanks, brother Yun."
As thanks for the dinner they prepared, Xing Chen played a tune on his guqin. He called it, "Moonlight".

"General Zhe, why are we taking him along? He's clearly a young man in disguise."
"Well, he looks interesting. Send some men back to the capital to check which noble family recently had a runaway young master. I want to know his real identity."
"Yes, General."

They reached Sima Country two days later. Xing Chen thanked them and left to wander around. When he heard of an auction event, he immediately joined for the fun. By coincidence, the two merchants were there too, in a private room.
"General, we've received some news from the capital. None of the young masters were missing, but recently, there are some slight commotions  coming from the Su family. I heard they rejected the marriage proposal from Left Minister's son, An Zi Jue. And the Su family's Su Xing He is dispatched. Looking for a certain young man."
His ears perked up with interest.
"Is he perhaps related to Su family? How interesting....Hmnn....that Xiao Chen also came to the auction?"
The auction began, and one by one, items were auctioned out. Till the last item came out, Xing Chen finally showed some interests for the auction. It was a pair of jadeite stones. It had a slight transparent green shade with seven rainbow glows. A rare item. The man hiding behind the curtains in the private room saw the glittering glow in Xing Chen's eyes when he looked at the auctioned item. He snickered. Xing Chen tried to bid, but due to lack of finance, he lost the bid to a certain merchant sitting in the private room.
That certain merchant, Yun Zhe's real name is Zhe Yun. He stared at the stone in his hand, and decided to gift it to Xing Chen. He went to his room at the inn. Zhe Yun wanted to knock at the door but it was clearly unlocked, so he just pushed it open and walked in.
Zhe Yun heard the noise from behind the partition. He walked over and saw Xing Chen's slender figure in the bath tub. The silky long black hair, the fair and smooth skin, and his youthful face was clean and attractive. The naked image was deeply printed in his mind. Zhe Yun immediately pinched his nose up and left quietly after leaving one of the smaller jadeite stone on the table with a letter. He even made sure the door was closed properly when he left.
When Xing Chen saw the stone, he was surprised with delight. He wanted to thank the person who gifted the stone, but there was no signature on the letter.
The next day Xing Chen left his room, his eyes were met with a pair of familiar eyes. He gulped down his saliva and smiled.
"Elder brother."
"Oh. Did you have fun these few days away from home? To think our country's great general would run away from marriage when he's not even afraid of enemies...Huh? Did you eat your meals? Why are you even more slender than a lady "
Xing Chen looked down at his shoes.
"If mother doesn't force me to practice that soft bone martial art, do you think I would still have retained this kind of body like a woman's stature?"
Su Xing He patted his head.
"Alright. Let's go back to the capital. Mother isn't forcing you to marry anymore."
"Oh. Elder brother, can I inform my friends first? They lived right upstairs."
"Friends? Alright, formalities are important."
Su Xing He nodded. They went to the room and knocked, but no one was there. The innkeeper passed by and told him the merchants had already left for their next destination. Xing Chen then dejectedly left with Su Xing He, back to the capital.

Seven months later...
Su Xing He took Xing Chen to the west market for the lantern festival. Xing Chen wore a light purple female clothing and a veil covering half of his face. He followed Su Xing He from stall to stall to choose a pretty lantern for their sister who couldn't join them that evening.
Across the street, a familiar handsome man in armor stood there while holding his helmet. He was staring at Xing Chen who was happily playing with the lanterns.
"General Zhe, what are you doing here?"
An Zi Jue was standing next to Zhe Yun with his younger sister An Zi Ling beside him. An Zi Jue saw Xing Chen and Su Xing He. Then he saw Zhe Yun staring at Xing Chen. He sighed.
"General Zhe, why are you staring at Second Lady Su?"
"Second Lady Su? You mean that person in purple is Su Xing Chen?"
"Yes. I proposed to Su family for her, but I got rejected seven months ago. Don't you know? The man beside her is Su Xing He, her elder brother."
"Elder brother, can we go make a wish yet?"
"Alright, alright. We're going now. General Zhe, we're going to leave first. Zi Ling says she wants to wish for her most admired General Han."
The two An siblings left, leaving Zhe Yun stunned at the spot.
That is clearly Xiao Chen. How is he the Second Lady Su when he's a male? Zhe Yun thought. He slowly followed them as they walked along the street. Su Xing He walked in front of Xing Chen when they crossed the bridge. There were two hoodlums who suddenly followed up behind Xing Chen, trying to take advantage of him. Zhe Yun saw this and quickly rushed over and took them down. His eyes had a menacing look as he glared at the two hoodlums.
"Don't you dare touch Xing Chen again, or I'll chop off that perverted hands of yours."
Xing Chen and Su Xing He stopped in their tracks when they heard the commotion and turned around to see the General were holding down the two hoodlums. After the hoodlums were taken away by the city guards, Su Xing He took Xing Chen to thank Zhe Yun for the help.
"Xing Chen thanks General Zhe for the help."
"No worry."
Zhe Yun could only squeezed out those words as he was stunned by Xing Chen's familiar voice. He was clearly confirmed by now that this person standing in front of him is definitely Xiao Chen. He felt his heartbeat accelerated when their eyes met. He quickly left with his ears tinted red with shyness.
Zhe Yun had his men investigated thoroughly of Xing Chen's background and found the truth of his gender swapping. And the reason why he left home months ago. When he heard of this, he felt worried. Xing Chen was so attractively beautiful, what if he was taken by others before him? He did not wish to see it, so he spoke up to the Emperor when he went to the palace.
"Hmnn? You finally decided to marry a wife? You need me to help you write an edict so your wife will not be able to run away from marriage? Who is this lady that caught the eye of our General Zhe? Tell this Emperor and I shall grant you your wish."
The Emperor took his cup of tea and drank when he suddenly spurted out after hearing Xing Chen's name. He coughed.
"Are you sure about this? Even if he's a male?"
Zhe Yun seriously nodded in response. And so, Zhe Yun happily waited until the day Xing Chen's finally married into his manor. ♥