Xiomi the warlord of the Ming Dynasty

Acknowledged Enemy

Tianchai then continued "If I had informed the government" after which Cheng Ho snorted "The entire country would probably have been taken into the war. No matter how much good we do to protect the innocent civilians, the rebels would still try to harm the innocent civilians, including my wife, children and grandchildren. The people of Qian Zhou will suffer a terrible fate if the war starts!" Cheng Ho exclaimed furiously with his fists clenched tightly. A murderous glint appeared in the eyes of everyone present, even Cheng Ho felt a sudden pressure weighing down on his chest as he stared into his old friend's icy blue eyes.
The atmosphere in the room became quiet and then Cheng Ho sighed heavily. In the meantime, everyone sat in silence contemplating what would happen in the coming days. A  loud bang echoed through the halls, startling the servants of the palace, especially those standing guard. They quickly gathered together to see what caused the sound, fearing that someone may be in danger. They soon learned from those servants that several guards had just discovered two figures standing quietly at the entrance of the inner court of the palace and the three strangers.
They were startled upon realizing that they were two women who both wore clothes made of the finest silk. Their dresses looked as if they were made by hand and although their clothing style was different from the clothing worn by most men who wore the dress "Lady Zhi Yang how are you?" enquired the servant. After hearing what they had to say Lady Zhi Yang replied, "Please take care of us for tonight. We cannot afford to disturb you". Then Lady Zhi Yang and the others left without any hesitation. As the servant saw that their master and lady were heading in the opposite direction from where they came from, they quickly returned inside, where they found her and her friends lying on the ground unconscious and covered with blood. The servant then immediately went to alert the Imperial Guards that he found her and her friends outside the gates of the Palace, thus they quickly carried her body back to the Palace.
Meanwhile, the two female warriors who accompanied Lady Zhi Yang and her companions were also taken in by the servants of the Palace. After they had recovered from the shock of finding themselves outside the palace walls, they noticed the bloodied corpses lying lifeless on the ground, "What a terrifying sight". The woman who spoke earlier said to her companion quietly "I've never seen anything like that before. Who were they?".
The other man answered "It is clear that they were killed. But there seems to be a trace of some kind of magic that stopped the bleeding of the wounds on their bodies. There is no way that it is normal to see such a thing".
The other woman continued to observe Lady Zhi Yang's wound with worry, she couldn't"tell if it is too severe or not."

She then suddenly gasped when she suddenly remembered an odd thing. She pointed toward Lady Zhi Yang's wound and questioned "Didn't you say that the woman had stabbed you and was holding onto the knife when she died? Yet, I didn't feel any pain on the stab wound at all." Hearing her question the man who was beside her, said, "There might be a possibility that there wasn't any pain on the stab wound due to the magical barrier preventing the pain from spreading throughout the rest of her body. That is why there is not any pain from the stab wound on our Lady Zhi Yang and that is why she didn't die from her injury".
At the same time as the two women's discussion, the two guards had returned to report, "Reporting to Your Highness" Both of them bowed respectfully before speaking up "An hour ago, the two ladies who accompanied Lady Zhi Yang and her companions came searching for us. When we went downstairs to inform Your Highness of their arrival, they refused to leave. After arguing with them for a while, we finally agreed that if they are willing to accompany Her Highness and us during the night, we might be able to persuade them to go back to their homes. Unfortunately, after discussing it for awhile, we eventually decided to make arrangements for their acaccommodation" After telling the Emperor about their decision, the two guards waited for His Majesty to speak.
His Majesty replied to them calmly "You may go now and tell the ladies that they are allowed to stay here for the night. They are welcome to bring the two ladies with them". Once the two guards finished their sentence, they headed to the guest room, leaving his Majesty and his subordinates behind.
Once his subordinates had gone away, His Majesty told his two lieutenants  prepare some food for the ladies. Soon after that, they heard footsteps approaching them. Turning around, the Emperor found himself greeted by another pair of male guards, each of whom bowed and addressed him by name respectfully, "Your Majesty, we have already prepared a set of rooms for Your Highnesses. The two ladies have also arrived". Following which the Emperor and his generals were led to one of the rooms on the east side of the Palace. Upon seeing this, Cheng Ho couldn't help but ask "Is this actually the East Wing?" after which both officers shook their heads.
"No, this is only a temporary suite that was prepared temporarily by the royal guards". The second officer explained to his comrade, "This is the only room in the East Wing reserved for guests of the Imperial Family".
As they reached their temporary quarters, they took their swords from their scabbards.
Tomorrow, the Emperor will arrive in the morning to meet the young ladies. As soon as Cheng Ho heard those words, he could not help but sigh and shake his head. He had been in the Imperial Guards for years and was familiar with the routine they used to do at least every three months to prevent any mishaps that might occur. So far, so good, however, he wondered how much longer it would last? It was evident that these two female warriors were not ordinary people; however, he had no idea why they suddenly decided to become part of the imperial family. Could it be that they had something to do with the strange occurrence which occurred yesterday? After thinking carefully, Cheng Ho concluded that perhaps the two mysterious women wanted to join the rebellion because the emperor is trying to gain some power and status for himself and for all the common folk of the Imperial Capital. However, the problem is, why would an ordinary girl like them want to join the rebellion. If that was the case then it meant that something must have happened before the battle between the empire and rebel forces, but why should that change the situation between the two empires? This was something that Cheng Ho needed more evidence to support his suspicions.
He was deep in thought when Zhang Shulun interrupted his thoughts and said softly to him, "Lord Cheng Ho, please excuse me for not saying this sooner", she added with a worried expression "but...", Cheng Ho interrupted her and asked curiously, "Yes, Lady Shulun?"
Zhang Shulun hesitated a moment and tried to think how she should phrase her thoughts, but failed to come up with any satisfactory reason, thus she eventually decided to simply say the truth. As soon as Zhang Shulun finished her sentence, Cheng Ho nodded his head slightly indicating that he understood and gave her permission for her explanation.
Zhang Shulun looked at Cheng Ho nervously, unsure of whether or not he would accept what she had to say.
When Cheng Ho saw her nervous expression, he immediately reassured her with a warm smile, "Don't worry about that. As long as we can find out more about what the rebels intend to do, then everything will be fine."
After Zhang Shulun finished her statement, she immediately turned around and ran towards Lady Zhi Yang and Lady Zhao who were sitting close to them.