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Conversation
“Ning, I love you!”
After dinner, while reading the recently received letters, ZiChuan Xiu spoke thoughtfully to ZiChuan Ning, who sat on the opposite side of the table sipping tea.
Splat! Bai Chuan’s tea cup shattered on the ground and Luo Jie coughed loudly; a big chunk of cake was stuck in his throat and he was unable to breathe. Chang Chuan stared as his mouth dropped open wide enough to fit a handful of eggs; he didn’t even notice when Luo Jie snatched his wallet…
ZiChuan Ning could only feel her heartbeat quickening with shortness of breath, and her cheeks burned bright red…but it was with the flame of joy. All this time, everything she had hoped and ached to hear from her beloved…would today be the day it would happen?
“I love you!” ZiChuan Xiu spoke solemnly: “So erm… Can you lend me some money? Damn those bastards at the High Command! It was obviously Di Lin’s fault; why are they sending the bloody bill for the broken furniture to me?! My salary from last month was used to cover that stupid bill at the Heaven’s Dream restaurant…that reminds me; I will get you back, Bai Chuan! Hey, Ning, where are you going?! I haven’t finished yet, wait!”
“Damn it, teenagers these days; how can she leave halfway during my confession? Nobody appreciates true love anymore!”
ZiChuan Xiu sighed in defeat, turning towards Bai Chuan, and spoke thoughtfully: “Bai Chuan, I love you…”
Smack! Suddenly, countless stars appeared before ZiChuan Xiu’s eyes, but they were all coin-shaped!
…
Servants came to deliver the message; Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard – Stirling, was coming to visit.
ZiChuan Xiu couldn’t have been happier as he dashed out of the room.
Stirling was twenty-three at the time; the brightest period of one’s youth. Everything about him was filled with energy. He was of medium height, had an avid short haircut, light brown skin and a pair of sharp eyes. He was a rather dashing young man…but unlike ZiChuan Xiu’s fragile, spoiled unruliness or Di Lin’s arrogant and frosty aloofness, Stirling was more of a righteous and masculine man; he had the kind of straightforward handsomeness that was befitting of a soldier. He was dignified, outspoken, genuine, and passionate.
Historians would later refer to him as the “‘Model Soldier during the Golden Age.” His contemporary friend, ZiChuan Xiu, would describe him as: “Stirling was born to be a soldier!”
ZiChuan Ning had also made a comparison of the three young Heroes of the House: “Stirling was like a ferocious tiger and a natural leader; Di Lin was like a cobra, cold, cruel, and aloof; ZiChuan Xiu was…hard to describe, I can only compare him to a nasty slug…”
…
In order to have some privacy, the two met in the garden.
“I heard you went to the High Command today. Who did you talk to?”
ZiChuan Xiu explained everything that happened earlier that day in detail and Stirling listened closely to every word, before finally exhaling sympathetically: “Di Lin has a tough road ahead! His situation is the most dangerous; he must be under a lot of pressure right now.”
“But the information he provided has proven invaluable. What are you going to do about the two spies in your midst?”
“I will keep an eye out for now…getting rid of them right away is like telling Yang Ming Hua that Di Lin is on our side!”
“Brother, I have always wondered; if everyone knew that Yang Ming Hua couldn’t be trusted, then why didn’t Headmaster ZiChuan Shen Xing call back the Far Eastern Army and take care of him? Could he really be…as they say?” ZiChuan Xiu swallowed back the word “incompetent.”
“Nobody knows what ZiChuan Shen Xing is really like.” Stirling sighed in defeat: “I’m one of his most trusted confidants, but even so I can’t tell what he is thinking half of the time…but he is definitely not incompetent. Aren’t there many who thought you to be stupid, spoiled, and incompetent as well?
ZiChuan Xiu smirked as he thought of Luo Jie, Bai Chuan, and Chang Chuan.
“As to recalling large forces to deal with Yang Ming Hua, that plan is simply unrealistic. In order to contend with the Central Army made of seventeen hundred thousand strong soldiers, we have to recall at least two hundred thousand soldiers from the Far Eastern Army, a hundred thousand from the Border Army, and eighty thousand from the Black Banner Army. It is impossible to camouflage such large military operation from Yang Ming Hua’s eyes and ears. It would only force him to show his hand. If that happened, we would all be f*cked.”
ZiChuan Xiu smiled bitterly: “And so, we are in a stalemate!”
“Exactly, neither side dares to openly declare war on the other, so we are resorting to a form of cold war.” Stirling continued: “Di Lin’s advice rings true; you need to be careful. There have been many incidents recently in the dark corners of our Capital City – Di Du. Almost every morning, the garbage collectors find a dead body lying somewhere. Many powerful and influential figures ended up that way. Just last week, one of my Deputy Banner Masters was dragged away after getting drunk in a bar. We found his body three days later floating in the city moat.”
“What did you…?” ZiChuan Xiu knew his friend all too well; Stirling would never let something like that slide.
“Well, nothing…but two days ago, I heard that Commander Lei Xun’s stepson, Banner Master Lei Xiao Yun was found dead in his mistress’ home. The City Guards (Di Du’s security force) thought it was a robbery and are looking for the killer amongst the unemployed and the local gangsters. How unfortunate!”
“Haha.” ZiChuan Xiu laughed wholeheartedly. This serious kind of humor from Stirling could always get a few kicks out of him.
…
“So, Xiu, what are you going to do now?”
“Well, since it is getting so dangerous…the honest, timid and cowardly ZiChuan Xiu can only find a place to hide until the two giants fight it out. I will come back when they are done and shake the hands with the victor.”
“Timid and cowardly? Who are you referring to?”
The two eyed each other and laughed.
“Come with me, Xiu! We will serve the Headmaster together.”
“Stirling, I remember when we were still children. You, me and Di Lin had all made a vow to the former Headmaster – ZiChuan Yuan Xing, to serve Lady ZiChuan Ning. Have you forgotten?”
“I remember. But given our current circumstances, we can only protect Lady Ning by helping Headmaster – ZiChuan Shen Xing against Yang Ming Hua. Am I wrong?”
ZiChuan Xiu hesitated.
“I know you are still holding a grudge against the Headmaster for what happened six years ago. But back then, he had only just became the Headmaster, and everything was under Yang Ming Hua’s control. He had no choice but to side with Yang Ming Hua against you! He told me many times afterwards that he regretted what happened, that he shouldn’t have done what he did. He was sincere; please forgive him.”
“Besides, we now all have a common enemy, Yang Ming Hua. No matter what you do, Yang Ming Hua will not spare you. The only way out is together!”
ZiChuan Xiu smiled: “Let me think about it. I heard you and Banner Master Li Qing are getting married?”
Stirling smiled back, he had always known ZiChuan Xiu’s signature move – whenever ZiChuan Xiu didn’t like the topic of the conversation, he would always begin with “Let me think about it,” and then come up with all kinds of unrelated topics to derail the conversation!
Stirling didn’t press him further: “That is right. We are planning to hold the ceremony after everything is finished.”
“I brought a whole bunch of goblins back from the Far East, how about I send her a pair or two?”
“That would be great! She had always wanted a goblin servant, but the market price went up to thirty thousand a head. Clearly it is more profitable being on the front line!”
“What are you talking about? In the entire House of ZiChuan, only the uniform of the Imperial Army is laced with gold…you are not fooling anyone! Very well, so that counts as your wedding present!”
“No way! That counts as extra, wedding present not included. Don’t you dare skip out on me!”
…
“Everything is such a mess. I really hope that House Liu Feng doesn’t come and stir the pot right now.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. They don’t have time for us right now! Their Headmaster – Liu Feng Xi Shan is on his deathbed. They are doing pretty much the same thing we are; struggling for power. Liu Feng Xi Shan’s three sons are all incompetent, which is the reason for his indecision. He can’t seem to decide on whom to give his seat to, since each one of them looks worse than the other two.”
“Thank the gods that Liu Feng Shuang is a girl and has no succession rights, or else we would be in big trouble.”
“Indeed. But I heard Liu Feng Xi Shan has recently given her the title of ‘The Guardian!'”
“What does that mean?”
“That means even though Liu Feng Xi Shan is not happy with any of his sons, it doesn’t matter who succeeds; as long as they have Liu Feng Shuang’s support, House Liu Feng will not fall.”
“What an effort. I heard you faced Liu Feng Shuang’s force during the second invasion. How did that go?”
Recalling, Stirling exhaled deeply: “Liu Feng Shuang is the real deal!”
“We had Liu Feng Ming’s and Liu Feng Qing’s almost two hundred thousand men surrounded…Their lines were beginning to crumble; just a bit more and they would have been annihilated, but then Liu Feng Shuang’s forces appeared. She didn’t raise her banner; her numbers were less than eight thousand and were all Calvary as well.”
“Fang Jing, Ming Hui, Yang Li (The former Border Army Commander) and I were four officers on the frontline, and none of us took those eight thousand riders seriously. Fang Jing only sent three infantry formations to thwart their attack and it was a sound strategy. Nobody expected her to crush the three infantry formations in less than ten minutes; her unit was simply too well organized! She broke through another infantry division of Yang Li soon after, and then all the way through our encirclement.”
“By the time we realized something was amiss and tried to organize a counter-offensive, it was already too late! By then the white banner with red letters was already raised high – ‘Liu Feng Shuang’. The moment the two hundred thousand encircled soldiers of Liu Feng Army saw her banner, the roar of ‘Hail! Commander Shuang has arrived; we are saved! Kill the ZiChuan Dogs!’ erupted and shook the earth. After a full day of battle, they should have been exhausted and distraught, but when Liu Feng Shuang arrived, it was as if they were possessed. Their warcries shattered our confidence…and Liu Feng Shuang, a meek little girl, unafraid of rain of arrows, stripped down to her waist and stood firmly beneath her banner. She let the entire battlefield watch her swinging her sabre shouting: “Soldiers of House Liu Feng, are you afraid when a woman is not? Muster your courage and attack!” You just have to respect that kind of gallantry. Her personal guards were crazy as well, shielding her from the incoming arrows with their bare body. When one fell, another one took his place…
“So the army of House Liu Feng came at us like mad men. That snake Ming Hui hastily retreated the moment he saw Liu Feng Shuang’s banner; Yang Li gave the order to hold the lines in the midst of chaos and as a result, his forces suffered heavy casualties and soon crumbled. Luckily me and Fang Jing secured our backlines together. We had to fend her off constantly during the retreat and she kept chasing us for several hundred miles until Ming Hui’s Border Army joined us at the border. Only then did she give up.”
Stirling expressed a sense of pride: “But I can say with certainty that my unit is not inferior to hers; despite her relentless attacks, my unit could always hold their ground, while the other units all crumbled under the pressure! She chased us almost a thousand miles, but she still couldn’t break my lines! During the last skirmish, I even gained the upper hand!”
He turned towards ZiChuan Xiu: “Hey! Why…why the hell…are you asleep?!”
“Blah blah! So bloody boring, who wouldn’t fall asleep?!”
…
Entering the Guest Hall, the view left Stirling stunned.
“Assassin?” ZiChuan Xiu reacted behind him and quickened his steps. Readying himself for battle, he dashed into the Guest Hall!
All he saw was Bai Chuan, Luo Jie, and Chang Chuan, the three clowns sitting on the couch and shamelessly enjoying Lady Ning’s hospitality.
“What is the problem?” ZiChuan Xiu followed Stirling’s gaze, and noticed the fourth person. Even though she sat on the soft couch, her posture was straight and dignified. She was not interested at all in the rich and well-prepared meal spread across the table.
It was the Demon Princess – Ka Dan.
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