After a long and restless night, the breaking dawn ushered in tendrils of hushed whispers that clawed their way through the crevices of the military barracks.
"Did you see the new flyers that were distributed when we were leaving the capital yesterday?" A soldier from the central troop asked his troop companion as they trudged through the thick fresh snow blanketing the courtyard that connected the dormitories.
"What flyers?" His companion asked, intrigued.
The soldier then rummaged in between the folds of his clothes, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. "This flyer."
Snow crunched as another soldier, this time someone who was from the southern troop, edged his way in between the central soldiers, pulling out his own scrunched-up parchment. "May I know what flyers you were talking about? Is it this?"
"Wait. There's more?" The central soldiers both stopped in their tracks. The three soldiers now huddled together to compare the flyers in their hands like students comparing notes for their tests.
"What are you guys doing?" As if three wasn't a large enough crowd, another soldier joined in. Judging from how he was leading a horse with ease, this new addition seemed to be from the eastern troop. He peered over their shoulders and squinted his eyes to read the words on the flyers. His eyebrows rose higher and higher with each sentence. "Is His Imperial Majesty really a woman??"
A seemingly disembodied voice startled the group. "There are certainly similarities in this alleged lost grandson of the late Great Emperor Lee Gang." It was a soldier from the western troop who had stealthily joined them, increasing the number of their party to five. "And if you see them side by side, His Imperial Majesty certainly looks like the feminine version of him."
The soldier from the western troop added, "I heard that he's a minister of the court."
All five of them were so engrossed in the gossip that they didn't even notice when Ah Lin walked in their direction with the entire northern troop following at his feet and overheard their conversation.
Ah Lin cleared his throat loudly from behind the whispering party, his shadow cutting an imposing figure over them. "I would never have thought that the noble soldiers of this land would gossip like those nosy rumormongers in the markets."
The soldiers jumped in surprise and turned to face Ah Lin sheepishly. One of the northern soldiers behind Ah Lin reprimanded sternly, "Shame on you for behaving this way. Especially when our country is in a crisis."
The central soldier who started it all said indignantly, "Yes, we're in a crisis! So, where's Lieutenant Yun then? Shouldn't he be the one leading the attacks now that General Shao is not here?"
"How dare you! Lieutenant Yun is-" The northern soldier stopped midway as Ah Lin put his hand up, signaling to the soldier to stop speaking.
"Right now, we are led by His Imperial Majesty himself. Are you questioning his ability to lead us?" Ah Lin asked pointedly, not only towards the central soldier who had spoken but the rest of the gossipers as well. All of them looked anywhere but at Ah Lin.
YOU ARE READING
THE DAY EMPEROR: 阳明王 【The Night Emperor Book 2】
Historical Fiction"There are enough bad things in life, hold on to whatever it is that gives you joy." In the months after Ye An had ascended to the throne, she has learned about all the secrets that were kept from her. Secrets that had spanned generations. But is th...
