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A few days later, facing the muzzles of the disciplinary squad’s rifles, Lin Yu would surely recall that afternoon when she had prayed for the old man and the fallen.
For now, however, she merely gazed with sleepy eyes at the figures who had burst into her tent, her mind vaguely wondering why the mess hall soldiers were delivering food in black uniforms, and why, standing beside Nangong, they resembled the damned Messengers of Death themselves, appearing at her bedside.
As it turned out, they were indeed harbingers of doom.
The one leading them unfurled a slip of paper before Lin Yu, his voice devoid of emotion as he read: “In accordance with Article 9, Chapter 4 of the Imperial Army Management Regulations, Private Lin Yu is hereby officially arrested and taken into custody.”
‘. . . Hm?’
Still groggy from sleep, Lin Yu failed to grasp the true meaning of those words; she rubbed her eyes, preparing to stretch and rise, but the hand she had just extended was instantly seized by two of the black-clad disciplinary officers.
“– Lin Yu, though I don’t know what you’ve done, I promise I’ll find someone to get you out of this. . .”
“Silence! Speak to her again, and you’ll be arrested as well.”
Nangong had barely uttered a few sentences before she was sternly rebuked into silence by the disciplinary squad; her usual high standing proved utterly useless against these black-uniformed figures.
‘. . . Huh? So, what’s happening now. . .’
“You are under arrest for suspected treason,” the disciplinary squad soldier stated coldly, tucking the slip of paper back into his breast pocket.
‘Wait! How could I have committed treason without even knowing it?’
Lin Yu found herself utterly unable to accept this wholly unexpected turn of events.
As a medic, she had imagined countless possible ways she might die: forced to become a concubine and choosing suicide, succumbing to an infection from an accidental surgical cut, or even being obliterated by a new long-range artillery shell developed by the Lanfers.
Yet, she had never once conceived of being imprisoned as a traitor, only to die unjustly in a cell.
How could she, a plain, scrawny, utterly unremarkable medic, possibly be associated with the grave charge of ‘treason’?
Furthermore, what act of treason could she, working within a medical tent, possibly commit? Secretly drugging all the wounded to slow their recovery?
“Gentlemen, surely there’s been some misunderstanding here! I’m just a simple medic; how could I be implicated in treason. . .”
Ever since Nangong had led her out of the trenches, Lin Yu’s daily life had settled into a semblance of peace.
She no longer had to fear for her own life, only to focus on whether she could keep the wounded alive.
For a time, she had believed this tranquil state would endure, never imagining that after such a brief respite, fate would begin to test her resolve with such intensity.
The disciplinary squad’s words were utterly merciless: “We are not responsible for interrogations. Save your statements for the officer in charge of the investigation.”
Immediately after, with a sharp ‘click,’ handcuffs were snapped onto Lin Yu’s wrists.
It wasn’t until she ‘happily received her silver bracelets’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘xǐ tí yín shǒu zhuó,’ humorously referring to handcuffs.) that Lin Yu truly understood they weren’t jesting; she had indeed been arrested for this baseless accusation.
“Hey! You—you can’t do this! I’ve served the Empire, I’ve bled for His Majesty! I demand to see the Lieutenant Colonel! I demand to see the Lieutenant Colonel!”
Even as she melodramatically pleaded, Lin Yu was simultaneously attempting to break free from the disciplinary squad’s grip.
Alas, a fifteen-year-old girl’s strength was too meager; her resistance was suppressed to an almost imperceptible level—her attempts to resist arrest were entirely unnoticed by her escorts.
Realizing she was being pushed toward an unknown destination, Lin Yu ceased her futile shouting, instead turning her thoughts to a potential way out of this predicament.
Nangong would surely inform the Lieutenant Colonel of her arrest; as the highest-ranking officer here, he ought to be able to intervene in the case and offer some assistance.
‘In the meantime, I absolutely must not confess, and I must not be coerced into a false confession. . .’
Lin Yu secretly bolstered her spirits, determined that such an undeserved calamity would never break her. She would hold out until she was completely cleared, then turn around and drag her accusers before a military tribunal.
The question then arose: whom had she truly offended or provoked to be saddled with such a monumental accusation, one severe enough to wipe out an entire lineage (TL Note: A phrase, ‘jiǔ zú xiāo xiāo lè,’ humorously or grimly referring to the ancient punishment of executing the entire nine familial generations of a criminal.)?
This was a question worth pondering, for she had never done anything wrong in her daily life, nor had she caused trouble for anyone. No one should harbor such a deep-seated grudge against her as to target her with such a serious charge.
Yet, the undeniable truth, impervious to any fantasy, was that she was being escorted to a detention facility, having been reported for colluding with foreign powers and selling out her country.
If she were to forcefully identify such a person, the only individuals she had ever clashed with were. . .
Only those senior medics.
Could she have threatened their positions? And had her recent ‘excuses’ to spend time alone with the Lieutenant Colonel made them view her as a potential romantic rival they wished to eliminate?
That seemed unlikely. All four of them shared peacefully; there was no reason for them to harbor animosity solely towards her. Moreover, she had explicitly stated her disinterest in the Lieutenant Colonel, and they hadn’t shown any signs of rejection towards her. By no stretch of imagination should such a charge be leveled against her.
Even if she were to assume the worst, that she was truly guilty of treason, those close to her would hardly escape investigation. They would have no need to resort to such a method.
‘Think again, think again.’
She was led to a small, dark solitary confinement cell, where she sat blankly on the cold floor, her mind ceaselessly sifting through her recent actions, searching for anything that might have incited such hatred.
The answer was ‘nothing.’
She believed she had fulfilled all her duties as a medic; while not claiming perfection, she had at least earned her pay with a clear conscience.
Nor had she, like the protagonists of transmigration novels from her previous life, gone around stirring up trouble or feigning weakness to ambush stronger opponents. Instead, she had quietly spent her time outside of work on walks and reading.
Lin Yu was certain that in this life, she had made no enemies.
Yet, she had been accused of treason, and from the looks of it, the evidence was substantial; otherwise, they wouldn’t have come for her first thing in the morning, only to throw her into such a dark, desolate, godforsaken place.
“So, whom did I truly offend or provoke. . .”
Having scoured through all her memories from before and after becoming a medic, Lin Yu still couldn’t fathom why she had fallen to such a plight.
Injustice solidified into despair, and despair began to crowd out hope.
Now, she could only pray that the Lieutenant Colonel would display his might and rescue her from this place, hoping that a glimmer of a clue might emerge from the pervasive gloom.
Suddenly, the quartermaster’s face inexplicably surfaced in her mind, along with that fleeting, dangerous glint in his eyes.
‘Him? Impossible. I merely hadn’t paid him much attention before; that’s hardly reason enough to pin such a grave accusation on me. . .’
As she continued to follow the thread of the quartermaster in her thoughts, Lin Yu’s bewildered gaze gradually cleared.
‘Could it be—that no one actually framed me?’
Like a light bulb connecting to its power source, like a river overflowing its banks, Lin Yu’s thoughts surged forth in an instant, numerous conjectures running in parallel through her mind.
‘I have no enemies, nor have I consciously committed any act of treason.’
‘Could it be that some of my past actions, in the eyes of an unknowing observer, appeared exactly like those of a traitor?’
Once the idea surfaced, it became unstoppable. Her past actions were sifted through one by one, until her thoughts finally settled on the moment she had paused before the large pit.
The petite medic had lamented the unpredictability of life to the fallen soldiers, then offered a brief prayer for them, followed by three seconds of silent mourning.
Meanwhile, the quartermaster, who spent his days drinking, had silently observed all of this from behind the medic, then inquired about the meaning of her actions.
“‘Praying, why?'”
The medic had replied thus, and the quartermaster had simply shaken his head and departed.
‘What kind of people ‘pray’?’
Everything suddenly made sense: Diacla people did not pray.
Perhaps they had specific rituals for bidding farewell to the dead, but they certainly did not have the custom of making the sign of the cross to mourn the departed.
She had inadvertently brought a habit from her previous life into this one, and the quartermaster, having witnessed it all, had immediately grown suspicious.
The Lanfers on the opposing side must have had similar customs, which led him to directly assume Lin Yu was a Lanfers spy and report her.
‘So, his previous attempts to strike up conversation and get close were all to extract information? And that time he sought out the Lieutenant Colonel to “report the situation”. . . was he preparing to report me directly to the Lieutenant Colonel himself?’
‘Then, seeing me with the Lieutenant Colonel, he concluded I was under his protection, and turned to report me to an even higher-ranking officer. . . Damn it, if that’s the case, the Lieutenant Colonel might not be able to get me out!’
Lin Yu was seized by panic.
Upon closer reflection, her actions were indeed highly detrimental to her innocence.
She was ostensibly a simple village girl from the mountains, yet she could read and write proficiently, understood battlefield first aid, and, not to mention, possessed Lanfers language skills, which she had demonstrated to the Lieutenant Colonel.
Even a judge most favorably inclined towards her would find it difficult not to suspect her of being a spy!
‘I’m doomed!’