Lu Qinyi sighed, his head held in one hand while the fingers of his other restlessly drummed on the table. He truly didn’t like this waiting game, he didn’t have any patience for it. Yang Xun sat nearby, leaning back on his arms. He glanced over at Lu Qinyi, looking somewhat amused as he could easily guess at what was troubling him. Zhao Mei studied the papers laid out before her, lost in her own world of thoughts. The quiet night the three were sharing, and Lu Qinyi’s restless waiting, were brought to an end by a soldier wearing the dark robes of Division Two silently slipping into the room. He didn’t say a word as he politely bowed his head to his general, presenting a folded letter and a small black bag.
“Finally,” Lu Qinyi murmured happily, tucking the little bag away as he skimmed the letter. A small smile formed on his face as he folded the letter and returned it. “Good work. Continue monitoring.”
The soldier nodded in response, promptly coating his fingers with a light powder he kept stored on him. With the corner of the letter between his fingers, he clicked his fingers, instantly setting the paper alight. The flames burned through the paper unnaturally quick, leaving nothing but a tiny dusting of ash behind. With that complete, he left as quietly as he came.
Both Yang Xun and Zhao Mei’s gazes followed Lu Qinyi as he walked over to the map pinned up on the back of the tent, marked with various coloured pins. His finger dragged across its surface until he found the area he had previously used for his troops, a clearing surrounded by forest and backed by mountain. “He has situated his main forces here. He also has forces situated here and here.” His finger moved to indicate each of the locations on the map. “It’s likely he has more in different locations we haven’t been able to find.”
Zhao Mei hummed thoughtfully at the familiar location. “He intends to wait out the last of the winter storms.”
“That’s a logical decision to make. We still fare better in winter than his men would and it’s nearly time for the change in season anyway,” Yang Xun concluded.
Lu Qinyi nodded in agreement. “It also gives him the chance to organize his forces again after his absence.” Lu Qinyi walked back over to the two, looking down at the papers spread out before Zhao Mei. “I’d like to test the strength of his forces without overly exerting our own before we follow through with this plan,” he tapped one of the papers as he spoke.
Zhao Mei glanced at the paper then nodded. “Alright. It’s best to wait for him to leave that location before we engage them, otherwise he might become suspicious and I want to hold onto our advantage for a bit longer.”
“That makes sense, we don’t want him to be any more cautious than he already is, but that means…” Lu Qinyi sat down again with a slump, frowning slightly.
“More waiting.” Yang Xun finished for him, lightly patting him on the back to comfort him.
Lu Qinyi sighed again. “I’ll die of boredom long before this war ends,” he muttered discontently.
—
Fei Li stood by the table, leaning over to peer at the map laid across its surface. He lifted a hand and slid one of the markers that sat on top to a different position as he ran through another scenario in his head. Although winter had passed and the cold was no longer biting, it was still enough for Fei Li to leave a cloak draped over his shoulders. His gaze flicked over to the front of the tent at the sound of the fabric lifting. He glanced back to the map below him once he saw it was Xi Ming, the only one he permitted to enter his tent without having to ask. Xi Ming walked over to stand across from him and saluted respectfully. “General Fei.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“We’ll attack it,” Fei Li finally decided, moving one of the markers to the spot. “Prepare fire arrows.”
“Yes, General.” At this point Xi Ming hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Fei Li’s brows furrowed slightly. After waiting a moment, Xi Ming still didn’t find his voice so he finally asked, “Is that all Lieutenant?”
“Ah, well, not exactly…”
“What’s the point of naming you lieutenant if you won’t say anything to me?” Fei Li asked but there was nothing sharp or reprimanding to his tone, only intending to push Xi Ming into finally voicing what was on his mind.
Xi Ming hid his hands behind his back to hide the nervous fidgeting of his fingers. He took a breath, meeting Fei Li’s gaze. “I just wanted to know… If I could get you some tea?”
Fei Li raised an eyebrow. He had named Xi Ming lieutenant so the other could provide him support and advice, to lead soldiers for him. He hadn’t expected him to also try to provide companionship. However, now that he thought about it, after all these years of maintaining a distance between them, now that he was willing to let Xi Ming a little closer of course the other would try for more. “I’m capable of getting tea for myself.”
“I.. I know, of course you can…”
Just as Xi Ming was about to apologize and take it back, Fei Li unexpectedly nodded before looking back at the map beneath him. “Tea would be good.”
Xi Ming’s mouth fell open slightly before he hurriedly threw out a “Yes sir!”, quickly leaving the tent.
While Xi Ming was boiling the water another soldier entered the tent that served as a kitchen. “Xi Ming, you’re back,” he greeted cheerily, however he quickly corrected this to “Lieutenant Xi” when Xi Ming shot him a look.
Xi Ming nodded. “Tian Jun. I am. How are things here?”
“They’re well, nothing notable. How did it go out there?”
“The South are good fighters as always. Since this was only a smaller group and not their entire force we were able to defeat them. They turned tail and ran.”
Tian Jun laughed at that. “How fitting for dogs such as themselves.” He then noticed the boiling water and tea leaves Xi Ming was occupied with, as well as the two tea cups laid on the table. “Who are you making tea for?”
“General Fei.”
“You- what?” Tian Jun spluttered in shock. “He named you lieutenant and now he’s allowing you to make tea for him? I wonder if the South truly did do something to him… You don’t think he could be an imposter, do you?”
Xi Ming shot him a glare but before he could say anything, a voice rang out that startled them both and they snapped immediately to attention.
“I let someone make tea for me one time and I already have my men doubting me.”
“G-general!” Tian Jun squeaked out, hurriedly bowing to him. “I’m really sorry, I meant no offense.”
Fei Li waved a hand dismissively, seeming rather unbothered. “It’s fine.”
Xi Ming shot Tian Jun another glare. If Fei Li refused to let Xi Ming make tea for him again, he was going to curse Tian Jun forever. Tian Jun looked back apologetically.
Fei Li leaned lightly against the edge of the table, holding out a hand to accept the teacup Xi Ming offered. He gently blew and sipped at the tea, his gaze flicking to the front of the tent as another soldier entered. He watched passively as the soldier gave his greetings to himself and his lieutenant beside him, whose warm expression had quickly turned cold at the sight of that soldier.
“Lieutenant.” There was a hardness to his tone as he said it, as if that soldier forced the word out. “I’ve completed what you requested.”
“You’re dismissed then,” Xi Ming said shortly, an unpleasant expression on his face. The two exchanged unkind looks but both remained civilized, the soldier saluting properly before leaving.
“You don’t seem to like Captain Ren,” Fei Li commented mildly as he sipped his tea.
Xi Ming rubbed at the back of his neck. “No, I don’t. I won’t let it interfere with my work however,” he reassured.
“Why?” Fei Li asked plainly but Xi Ming understood he wanted an explanation for their mutual dislike.
“He’s one of the soldiers from the time you recruited me. I was able to avoid having much contact with him before but now he’s my subordinate,” Xi Ming stared down at his own tea cup, swirling the liquid inside.
“I see.”
Back when Fei Li was still just a captain and some years before his promotion to general, he had met Xi Ming. The other had joined the army young to support his family and wasn’t taken to kindly. He was regularly bullied and, at times, beaten up by some of the other young soldiers. Fei Li had been passing by the soldier’s living area while attending to business when he had spotted Xi Ming being picked on. He was covered in bruises, fists clenched tightly as he held back from throwing a punch to avoid another beating. Fei Li had walked over, the young soldiers falling deathly quiet as they moved aside for him.
“What’s your name?” He had asked the small boy without expression.
Xi Ming choked on his words for a moment. Even as a captain Fei Li’s reputation was good and his squad was well known for their capability. “Xi-Xi Ming, sir.”
Fei Li had then turned away, commenting to the soldier accompanying him. “Have Xi Ming transferred to my squad,” he ordered without much care before simply leaving with Xi Ming staring wide-eyed after him. Although Fei Li hadn’t paid him much mind after that, Xi Ming hadn’t had trouble after being recruited into the well reputed squad and he had been immensely loyal to Fei Li since.
‘It was no wonder the two had poor relations’, Fei Li thought silently. Captain Ren hadn’t liked Xi Ming from the start and Xi Ming hadn’t forgotten any of the soldiers who had wronged him, even if he didn’t seek revenge on them. Fei Li frowned slightly. There was nothing that could be done, Captain Ren was good at his job otherwise he never would have held the position of captain in the first place.
“Don’t worry about it, General. It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Xi Ming reassured. He then motioned for Tian Jun, who stood by, obediently silent, to leave them alone. “Now about the upcoming attack…”
Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you for being such a lovely supporter Miyori!
I love reading this story and looking forward to how it’ll turn out, thanks for working hard mehasacupcake-sama!
That’s so sweet of you to say, thank you so much! I hope you’ll continue to enjoy it~