It could almost have been said that the integration of Lu Qinyi’s company and his soldiers had gone surprisingly well. They had fallen into an unspoken agreement to keep to themselves. Besides comments muttered under breaths and glares shot at one another, it had been relatively peaceful between the two groups during the wait for more intel from Song Lin.
Almost.
Just when Fei Li had started to believe there might not be any incidents after all, Xi Ming rushed in one morning. It had to have been out of control for Xi Ming to need Fei Li himself to intervene, so he immediately discarded his work and followed Xi Ming with such haste his quick strides almost became a run.
From the moment he turned a corner, the chaotic scene began to break apart. The soldiers, who had formed a ring to observe the spectacle, immediately began to scatter back upon seeing their general. As they moved out of the way with equally guilty looks, more of the scene within was exposed. Zhao Mei stood outside of the crowd, leaning back against a post as she observed impassively. She met Fei Li’s gaze but only turned her head back to the centre of the once circle. Inside of which was Yang Xun, who was still standing guard and shoving back soldiers who got too close. Upon Fei Li’s arrival, he looked over his shoulder before looking back at Fei Li and stepping aside. Finally, there was only Lu Qinyi and another soldier marred with dirt and freshly forming bruises.
Lu Qinyi still had the other soldier by the front of his uniform, and the soldier in question had clearly been about to throw another strike when both parties noticed Fei Li. Lu Qinyi released the soldier with a shove, but the other man was only focused on his silent general and lowered his head in repentance and a healthy amount of fear. He was clearly breaking out in a cold sweat as he hastily dropped to his knees in front of Fei Li. Lu Qinyi gazed down at the man with disdain before his eyes slowly moved to Fei Li, holding the same look for him as well. Despite that, he lowered himself to his knees.
“Get up,” Fei Li ordered hastily. His order was met with confusion, but Lu Qinyi was the first to obey it, brushing at the dirt on his knees. The other soldier followed suit, standing up with a slightly hopeful look that this meant he hadn’t committed any offence. Why else would Fei Li tell them to rise from their positions?
The truth was, seeing Lu Qinyi prostrate to him made Fei Li feel deeply uncomfortable and uneasy. Lu Qinyi had once been among the finest talents of his country. He had held a position equal to Fei Li, and much like Fei Li himself, there were few that he had previously had to bow to. Someone so greatly respected and now he was bowing to Fei Li as his lesser. It felt wrong. Not to mention it brought back poor memories of the last time Lu Qinyi had willingly lowered himself to such a position and thrown everything away to beg him. Fei Li didn’t like it. At all.
“What happened?” He asked slowly.
“General Fei, Soldier Lu attacked me unprovoked! He even injured me! See? Right here! He injured my arm!” The soldier rushed to explain while pointing at his arm.
Fei Li’s gaze turned from him to Lu Qinyi, but the other man had his head turned to stare off at the side with a disinterested look.
“Is that true?” Fei Li asked, leaving Lu Qinyi with no choice but to answer since it was directed at him.
He looked at Fei Li with a cold gaze, rubbing at the dirt on his cheek. “Yeah, it’s true.”
Fei Li doubted that. Lu Qinyi was usually with his two companions, and according to them, so long as Lu Qinyi wasn’t left unoccupied he didn’t purposefully stir trouble. Nor was Lu Qinyi even trying to pretend to defend himself, or even that he cared about the situation at all. He was clearly going along with whatever the other soldier said, true or not.
But when Fei Li swept his gaze over the others present, even Yang Xun could only shrug at him. No one else had seen how the fight had started.
“Hold your palm out.” Fei Li showed the gesture he wanted palm out flat as if pressing against an invisible wall. The soldier followed it but yelped and recoiled as Fei Li struck it with a small amount of force.
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.
“Your arm isn’t broken. So he was holding back on you. Bear that in mind next time you choose to challenge him.”
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Mfl Ol byrfgnfv tlr beagjuf klat j rlifca jrrfrrwfca, gjlrlcu jc fsfygbk rilutais. “Glvc’a sbe rjs tf kjr atf bcf ab jaajmx sbe olgra? Qts lr la atja sbe vlvc’a mbggfma wf, sfa sbe tjv atf kbgvr ab mbwqijlc.”
“He-… I-… Well-” The soldier stammered.
“Don’t bother. What’s it matter who struck first? Punish us both already and be done with it.” Lu Qinyi interjected.
Fei Li stared at him long and hard, unable to understand why it seemed he was covering for the other soldier. But when he finally glanced at the faces of the surrounding crowds and the emotions they held, he realised it wasn’t that soldier Lu Qinyi was defending. His men were looking at him with anticipation. Not for the soldier’s punishment, but for Lu Qinyi’s. It was Fei Li’s image in front of his soldiers that Lu Qinyi was defending. Fei Li felt even more complicated now. He was going to have to punish them both for this incident, despite the fact he would have rather have established his soldier’s guilt and given Lu Qinyi a lighter sentence. But it was true that he had to consider the bigger picture. He couldn’t be believed to be giving Lu Qinyi preferential treatment, and with how poorly the two sides still thought of each other, even giving Lu Qinyi the benefit of the doubt would be viewed as taking sides with him.
Fei Li gave the soldier one last cold look. “I don’t tolerate my soldiers lying to me. I will only let it go this once.”
The soldier tensed and the guilt in his eyes was a dead give away, but still, Fei Li had to turn a blind eye.
“10 lashes on the back and all shared duties are now solely the responsibility of you both. I want the lashings to heal in a week or two, the punishment will last until then.”
A punishment that was neither light nor heavy. The painful bruising would mean the week or two of hard labour would be both difficult and uncomfortable, and nights would be spent sleeping on one’s stomach. But Fei Li had been known to give out far harsher punishments when he felt like it. However, although the soldier accepted his sentence with dread, Lu Qinyi didn’t even blink. He was clearly unbothered by the thought of the pain nor the chores. He lifted his hands in a salute to acknowledge his punishment, but, before he could, Fei Li began speaking with a thoughtful tone. “Perhaps that’s an unfitting punishment. Mrs Zhao.”
Zhao Mei seemed a little surprised she had been called on, but she approached nonetheless and gave a short bow of her head. “Yes?”
“Could you choose a more suitable punishment for Lu Qinyi? This was your area of expertise, was it not?”
Lu Qinyi suddenly seemed more uneasy as he made direct eye contact with Zhao Mei.
Zhao Mei smiled slightly. “It was. You can give him corporal punishment, but they were never effective on him, even during his training from what I’ve heard. I’ve also seen him take a harder beating and act as if it didn’t affect him. He actually likes cleaning and labour tasks. I’d recommend having him write 70 scriptures instead, it’s more fitting for someone as unprincipled as him.”
“What?! That’s a ridiculous punishment! Give me the original one!” Lu Qinyi argued immediately with the most care he’d shown to the situation yet. The dread that had been absent earlier was now easily heard in his urgent tone. Lu Qinyi quickly turned his head from Zhao Mei to Fei Li, who didn’t meet his gaze.
“I see. They will both receive 5 lashes, a week of duties and 35 scriptures.”
The soldier seemed delighted with the ‘lighter’ sentence for the price of getting a break from training to copy some scriptures. Lu Qinyi on the other hand was glaring daggers into Zhao Mei. “I hate you,” he spat unhappily.
She only gave him a slightly satisfied look. “I’ve wanted to see you do this for years.”
His glare only grew more fierce. “You’re a cruel and vicious woman. No, you’re a snake!”
“The sooner you start, the sooner it will be over.” Yang Xun comforted but received another displeased glare from Lu Qinyi for his efforts. He only shrugged to Zhao Mei as Lu Qinyi turned his back on them both and grumbled as he was led off to begin his punishment.
–
Fei Li twirled the needle-like weapon between his fingers, feeling the weight of the solid metal shifting over his knuckles. Dragon’s Teeth was a weapon that was difficult to handle, their main strength was in their convenient size and concealability. He had admittedly not practiced with it in some time but after just a few moments with it in his hand and a strong flick of his arm, it buried half way through the wooden targeting block. Fei Li only looked at it long enough to confirm the hit before turning with his hand open. The soldier by the weapon rack snatched up the next one, a sword, and tossed it to Fei Li’s waiting palm. Fei Li dashed forward, slashing in a clean arc so the tip of his blade only just scratched along the wood’s surface. He tossed the weapon aside as he completed the arc, holding his hand out for the next one. He caught it, letting the long shaft swing to regain control of the weapon from the momentum. The metallic tip skimmed the dirt. A halberd. He swung the weapon upward, flipping the halberd so it faced forward and sliding his second hand down its length to gain a firmer grip. He stabbed forward, once more skimming along the surface of the wooden block and leaving a thin scar in his wake. He discarded the weapon. The next was a throwing knife tossed in Fei Li’s direction. Fei Li snatched the handle out of the air, spun with a twist of his foot and flicked the blade out from his fingers. The knife embedded tip first into the block.
Fei Li had just been about to open his hand for another weapon when a low whistle interrupted him. Fei Li had long since banned cheering while he was practising. He wasn’t putting on a performance, and he didn’t want the encouragement. It was obnoxious, distracting, and unnecessary. So there was usually silence, even when his men crowded around to watch. Fei Li turned his head towards the sound only to see Lu Qinyi, observing him from the sidelines with his arms crossed loosely in front of his chest.
“…Do you have something you wish to say?” Fei Li asked, rubbing gently at his wrists that still felt the strain from earlier.
Lu Qinyi shrugged. “Not really. It’s just impressive. How did I ever fight on par with you?”
Fei Li ordinarily trained alone. Despite the many talents among his men, the skill gap was still significant and it was too difficult for his soldiers to keep up with him. But when he thought back on the times Lu Qinyi and he had fought, he suddenly desired an equal to test his skills against.
Fei Li walked over to one of the soldiers who looked startled as he plucked the training sword straight from the soldier’s hands. He tossed it to Lu Qinyi. “Spar with me.”
There was a murmur from the lingering soldiers observing but they quickly fell silent, as if they also wanted to witness what would happen next.
Lu Qinyi raised an eyebrow as he caught the wooden sword. “I’m not allowed to wield a blade anymore.”
“A training sword isn’t a blade, it’s a glorified stick,” Fei Li countered as he collected a training sword for himself. He recalled that Lu Qinyi was most talented with a sword.
Lu Qinyi was initially a little taken aback by the sudden demand, but the familiar weight of a weapon in his hands and the promise of a fight was too tempting in the end. Lu Qinyi had always been partial to the rush that came with a fight, and even now after all that had happened and all that had changed, that truth still laid at his core. “That’s true.” He stepped out into the clearing and tossed the training sword between his hands. “I’m out of practice. Not that I could be on par with you anymore even if I wasn’t..”
“It’s fine. I’ll go easy.” Fei Li knew that Lu Qinyi hadn’t completely returned to the strength he had prior to his downfall, but he didn’t care. He felt Lu Qinyi still had the ability to give him a challenge.
“I still feel sore from those lashes. It might hinder my performance.”
Fei Li frowned faintly in impatience. He was almost certain Lu Qinyi was toying with him, as if he could tell Fei Li’s eagerness and was drawing it out. “It’s been over a week, and your movements seem smooth. Start.”
One side of Lu Qinyi’s lips rose at that. “Alright.” He bowed slightly and as he completed the movement, he pushed his weight into his feet to rush toward Fei Li.
Fei Li raised his weapon but the sheer force Lu Qinyi put behind his attack threatened to push him back. His heels dug into the dirt in an effort to hold his ground. But the pressure suddenly slackened as Lu Qinyi shifted his weight to strike out with a kick. Fei Li quickly jumped back. Lu Qinyi didn’t follow, straightening his posture as a smug grin that suited him all too well snuck onto his features. He used two fingers to gesture for Fei Li to attack him.
Fei Li had to admit that in terms of cockiness, Lu Qinyi had him beat. He lunged forward and his swing was parried with a loud clack of wood on wood. He swung again, but had to turn the weapon in his hand at the last moment to catch the edge of Lu Qinyi’s before it had the chance to land its blow on his shoulder. He pushed against Lu Qinyi’s training sword, arcing it into the dirt beside him and giving himself an opening to strike at him again. Lu Qinyi turned quickly and brought his sword back up with a scattering of dirt in the air to block the attack. The more Lu Qinyi countered his attacks and the closer Lu Qinyi’s blows came to brushing him, the more intense Fei Li actions became until he had all but forgotten his promise to ‘go easy’. He struck out mercilessly, gradually forcing Lu Qinyi on the defensive. And still, the tip of that glorified stick grazed his clothes, skimmed along threads of his hair or sent a breeze brushing past his face in near miss after near miss. Finally, Fei Li swept his blade at Lu Qinyi’s legs and the other couldn’t defend in time, forced to stumble back. Fei Li turned his hand and brought the blade’s tip straight upward, and Lu Qinyi had no choice but to lean back to avoid it grazing his front, putting off his balance even more. Fei Li hooked Lu Qinyi’s ankle with his foot and dragged it forward, toppling the man over. Lu Qinyi hit the ground in a cloud of dust. But when the dust cleared, it was Lu Qinyi’s blade that rested under Fei Li’s chin. The moment Fei Li had stepped forward to pin his opponent down, Lu Qinyi had kicked out Fei Li’s leg and forced him to his knee. With the tip of the other’s weapon hovering dangerously close to his neck, Fei Li couldn’t move.
There was a tense silence as the two men stared at one another. Then Fei Li tossed his weapon aside and held his hands up. “I yield.”
Lu Qinyi immediately discarded his weapon and starfished in the dirt with a loud, relieved exhale. “That was exhausting! I never want to spar with you ever again. My back hurts, did you have to toss me down so hard?! Was that you going easy on me? I never want to see you going hard!”
“…I went a little harder than I meant to. I apologise.” Fei Li stood up before offering a hand to Lu Qinyi. Lu Qinyi took it, letting Fei Li heave him back onto his feet.
Lu Qinyi brushed at the dirt he was covered in with a frown. “Tell the servants to run me a bath when we return and I’ll consider forgiving you.”
Author’s Note:
Sorry about the delay! I especially wanted to get this chapter out a week earlier for Sigh, but I unfortunately caught COVID. I’ve made a complete recovery now and just finished writing this chapter this morning! Big thanks to editor Rae who had this chapter edited within a couple hours!! I got back from lunch and she had already finished it.
Since the last chapter was a bit short, this one is nearly 3000 words. It was fun to write, just an enjoyable time but readers be warned, that’s because its going to get angsty and emotional going forward. Everyone hang onto your tissues and chocolates!
This is a type of traditional Chinese throwing dart called a Fei (heh) Biao or Dragon’s Teeth. Its about the width of a pinky and a lot like a metal pencil with a sharp pointed end that buries into the target. 
Aah, thank you for all your efforts. Hope you are doing well now. Take care ❤️❤️ (sending extra love).
❤ Thank you! I’m doing very well now. You’re very kind
Such a cute read, thank you for the chapter! Take care, dear author! 💕
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I wanted some cute fluff before we get into the emotional stuff. Thank you, you as well Miyori 💕
Thanks for the chapter! Glad you’re recovered.
Thank you! Its good to see you again knightmare!