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Love and War
“Ah, this is the perfect life of a Commander I have always dreamed of!” ZiChuan Xiu inspected satisfyingly at the luxuriously decorated office. A majestic desk (with expansive wine and porn mags secretly stuffed in the draws), a comfy leather couch and a pretty secretary wearing mini skirt he could shout orders at: “Get me that decade old diary from top of the cabinet!” When she climbed up the ladder, he could raise his chins and enjoy the view in peace… You know, men. There is no need to explain!
And the workload was light… Clearly ZiChuan Xiu, the Deputy Commander was not being taken seriously. Most of his daily work included counting how many chairs and tea cups each regiment had, and where the windows broke in need of repair etc. Even though Station Chief Ge Shan didn’t give ZiChuan Xiu any work of importance, at the very least, she didn’t discriminate and make his life difficult.
ZiChuan Xiu sighed in relief: “This is paradise!”
Suddenly, certain elements unbefitting his paradise appeared in the corner of his eye.
“Luo Jie, Bai Chuan, Chang Chuan. Why are you in my office?”
“Huh, Sir. Did you forget? We are your assistants!”
“That is not what I meant… Don’t you have your own offices, why are you…”
“Forget it, our offices are small and old, and there is no sunlight!”
“My secretary is uglier than the mother of all demons… Sir, have you seen the movie “After midnight” yet? If not, you don’t even need to go to the cinema, just come around at my office and check out my secretary.”
“Also, they don’t even provide drinks!”
“Sir, you know what it is like. We are Banner Masters. Back in the Far East, a Banner Master is a title commanding over thousands of men!”
“But here, we are being treated worse than the refugees!”
……
ZiChuan Xiu felt a little bit sick: “Hold on…. Then why is Lady Ning here as well?”
ZiChuan Ning replied calmly: “Well, I’m here as the heir of House ZiChuan, to inspect the Administrative Office. Is there a problem? Deputy Chief ZiChuan Xiu?”
“Why is Princess Ka Dan with you then?”
“Brother! Now you’re being selfish. How can we leave a little girl alone back at home when we are all outside having fun? She would get lonely. Don’t you feel ashamed? Doesn’t your conscience bother you?”
“But people would talk seeing all of you gathered in my office…”
“Oh, Commander Xiu, you don’t have to worry about that!” With that said, Ka Dan pulled out a sign from her bag saying: “Chief in Conference, please do not disturb.” And hanged it on the door. “You just have to tell them that Deputy Chief has to be in conference seven days a week. Everyone would praise you for your dedication!”
“This is hell!” ZiChuan Xiu howled in despair.
“Xiu, what hell are you talking about?” Stirling suddenly arrived at the doorstep, smiling: “Sorry for barging in on your conference!”
“Welcome!” Everyone quickly stood up and welcomed him, only Ka Dan didn’t move from her chair.
……
Ever since that day they parted ways, Stirling would pay Lady Ning a visit on a daily basis. It was obvious, everyone quickly figured out the reason for Stirling’s frequent visit, which was not because his close friendship with Master Xiu. Besides, the person of interest, Stirling didn’t try to hide his intention either. Whenever he visited Lady Ning’s place, he would scan around like a hawk, till he finds Ka Dan, only then would he calm down as if he just took a weight off his shoulder.
Luo Jie used to lament about it to Bai Chuan: “Look at Sir Stirling. He is like a high-school kid falling in love for the first time… He must have a screw loose somewhere.”
Bai Chuan would then reply: “We all understand the idea. Yet in the end we are all slaves of love, no one can escape it.” And lose in thought…
However, the person of interest number two, Ka Dan did not seem to be affected by Stirling’s affection. If he visited, it was fine, and if he left, that was fine as well. She treated him just like anyone else. She didn’t push him away, nor did she welcome him with open arms.
Stirling was a well-known figure in the Capital City – Di Du. Something like this could easily become a wide spread gossip if not for ZiChuan Xiu’s heavy-handed intervention. He threatened every servant in the house and men under his command: “If you value your lives, then keep your mouth shut!” Even to Lady Ning, he played a card he rarely used before, as her brother, he warned her not to send words to Li Qing. Only then did the gossips stay contained within Lady Ning’s mansion.
……
Trying hard to keep a straight face, everyone watched Stirling drifting into the room. Chang Chuan sitting next to Princess Ka Dan immediately stood up and said: “Sir, here please sit!” Stirling bluntly accepted his invitation and sat down, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Even the usually thick-skinned ZiChuan Xiu had to applaud him for his shamelessness.
“What is everyone talking about?” Even though Stirling said everyone, in his eyes he only saw Ka Dan.
Ka Dan remained silent. ZiChuan Xiu replied for her: “Talking about Di Lin’s war situation in the Far East!” As he handed over the newspaper.
Stirling had already read it before, but he pretended to read it for the first time, muttering “I see” while reading, as though the news was actually interesting. Several minutes later, he asked: “So what is everyone’s opinion on this matter?”
“We all believe, that Di Lin is in danger.” Luo Jie raced to answer, hoping to give his Idol a good impression: “Deep behind enemy lines with no help on the way, now facing a powerful enemy ahead, unable to inch forward.”
“Right, is that your opinion as well, Xiu?” Stirling eyed ZiChuan Xiu. The two shared a look and instantly, they knew what the other one was thinking.
ZiChuan Xiu spoke softly: “Nope. I think at a time like this, Di Lin holds the initiative of the battlefield.”
Stirling concurred: “I agree!”
“Why” Several voices questioned at the same time.
ZiChuan Xiu smiled: “You only see that in front of Di Lin, in the city of Gamara two hundred thousand Demons led by the famous Demon General Yun Qian Xue awaits. With an impregnable fortress in the way, Di Lin has no choice but to attack, and has no choice but to fail. Correct?”
Stirling followed up: “But what if, Di Lin decides to not to attack Gamara, what happens then? What if he turns around and attacks the weaker city of Yi Ka to the southeast? Once he conquers Yi Ka, Di Lin will be able to make contact with Deputy Commander Lei Bang’s border army situated to the southeast, and will no longer have to worry about his supply lines. At the same time he could isolate almost five thousand square kilometres of Demon controlled territories, which they could swallow at their leisure…”
ZiChuan Xiu continued: “If Di Lin does not attack the city of Yi Ka, he could move towards the Guo Sen plains to the northeast. Conquering the Guo Sen plains means cutting off Demon’s supply of magic crystal stones and land dragons, and with the magic crystals and dragons he seized, he could build a large contingent of magic wielding dragon riders of his own, which will make Demon’s life even more difficult.”
Stirling nodded: “Even if Di Lin doesn’t attack Guo Sen either, he could choose to use his number superiority to surround the City of Gamara and wait for Yun Qian Xue’s two hundred thousand Demons to surrender by starving them out.”
A wave of silence later, Bai Chuan questioned: “But all those possibilities hinged on one key element, Di Lin’s army’s supplies has to be able to reach him constantly. If his supply line gets cut off, he cannot possibly fight a prolonged battle. Right now the supply line already stretches thousands of kilometres deep into Demon controlled territories. How can he secure it?”
ZiChuan Xiu and Stirling shared a look, both cracked a wry smile.
Stirling spoke discreetly: “It is a tough problem to solve for someone like you and me, but for Di Lin, it is not a problem at all. Perhaps that is the difference between a capable general and an average one.” His voice was filled with unspeakable bitterness.
ZiChuan Xiu smiled wryly: “It has nothing to do with your ability. It is merely a difference in perspective. You don’t have to apologize for yourself.”
Everyone looked confused, turning their gazes at ZiChuan Xiu and hoping he would explain.
ZiChuan Xiu sighed and spoke only a few words: “Take everything you come across, that solves all the supply problems.”
Everyone suddenly understood: The reason Di Lin could afford a prolonged engagement was because he would send out many raiding parties, to rob everything the towns, cities, villages in the vicinity of everything they have. He would not let his soldiers starve. Which means, if Di Lin could hold out for two months, then Yun Qian Xue stuck inside the City wouldn’t even manage three weeks.
Ka Dan cried out: “Then what about our people? Do they deserve to starve?”
All the officers of House ZiChuan in the room turned away from her, unable to meet her sharp gaze. Only Luo Jie murmured a few words: “Casualty of war…” But nobody heard him.
……
“That felt bloody awful.” When ZiChuan Xiu and Stirling were the only ones left in the room, ZiChuan Xiu lowered his voice: “I lost track, I totally forgot Ka Dan was one of them.”
Stirling sighed.
ZiChuan Xiu continued: “If it was anyone else, I would have had thousand of reasons to refute them. Like the way Demons treated us in the past several hundred years? This isn’t even enough to cover the interest! But when I saw the look in her eyes, I couldn’t say a word…”
Stirling sighed again.
“But really, Di Lin is making a huge mess in the Far East, who is going to clean it up?” ZiChuan Xiu went on: “He just cares about what is convenient for him. Killing all the prisoners like that, who would dare to surrender to us in the future? They would all fight to the death. Besides, killing civilians, robbing them of their livelihood, I just can’t get behind that … Without its people’s support, how would we ever establish ourselves in the Far East?”
Stirling had no words, he could only think of Di Lin’s imperious and courageous voice: “We don’t need the support of those low-lives. We only need their obedience and for them to fear us! In the end, the reason we control the Far East is not because of public elections, but the sword in our hand!”
Stirling didn’t truly agree with Di Lin’s cruel policies in his heart either, but Di Lin was the eldest of the three sworn brothers. ZiChuan Xiu, the youngest could complain if he wanted, but as the middle one, it was not his place.
He sighed yet again.
“Hey, Stirling. Don’t keep sighing like a nagging old hag. Say something.”
“So what is new, I mean here in Di Du.”
“Nothing surprising. Just Yang Ming Hua denying Ming Hui’s Border Army for receiving the latest equipments, and as usual, the new equipments ended up in the hands of Lei Xun’s Central Army. The second thing is that the Station Chief here, Ge Shan had a huge argument with Luo Ming Hai about it, she complained that Yang Ming Hua shouldn’t have violated the regulations. Historically, new equipments are always allocated to the Border Army first. I’m having trouble determining which side that old virgin is on.”
“Oh, really? Looks like I can put some work on her, perhaps I can win her over.”
ZiChuan Xiu frowned at Stirling and gave him a strange look.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Bloody pervert, can’t you just keep it in your pants for once? Even if you really like Ka Dan, you don’t have to be so damn obvious about it. I’m afraid that… I can’t keep it under wraps for much longer!”
Stirling had no words.
“Does Li Qing know?”
“She has doubts. She suspects that I have another woman somewhere. But she doesn’t know who.”
“Ouch. A woman’s instinct is seriously scary! She went through Lady Ning asking me to help her spy on you. I used every trick in the book to reassure her, but next time it won’t be so easy. So what does Ka Dan say?”
“You saw it for yourself. No reaction! She never gave me the chance to be with her alone…”
ZiChuan Xiu cursed: “What a cunning witch! In my opinion, you should just be straight with the Headmaster. If he is ok with it, then no one else can interfere. You won’t have to hide it then either!”
“I will, just not now… Yang Ming Hua would never let any opportunity slip if he could hurt us. In worst case, he could force me to resign. Besides, I don’t want to bother Headmaster with my personal affairs.”
“You are right.”
……
ZiChuan Xiu took a closer look at Stirling’s face. It had lost some weight, leaving his cheekbones more exposed and his eyes deeper in its sockets. He didn’t understand how his friend could suffer so much in the name of love yet was able to pretend as if nothing happened while dealing with all kinds of military assignments and plotting against Yang Ming Hua every day…
He had great sympathy for Stirling, but most importantly, he admired his perseverance. He even thought: “If it was me, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Luckily I’m not as foolish either. What is love? Screw that! There are more than enough pretty ladies walking about in the halls of the Grand Hotel of Di Du. Which one of them is not as pretty as an angel? They only cost three hundred a night, why would you bother with love?”
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