Xi Chen calmly placed a hand on Ye An's arm, knowing intuitively that she would regret it later if she had an outburst right this second. To Ah Lin, he just said, "Mind your manners, Captain Zhang, you're speaking to your sovereign."
Ah Lin finally realized his mistake and widened his eyes before apologizing profusely. "My apologies, Your Imperial Majesty."
Ye An took a deep breath to calm herself. She then turned her attention over the border towards the Northern territory. "It's alright. What's important right now is that we have an entire army of enemy waiting just outside our doorstep and we need to figure out a way to make them go away."
Both men nodded.
Ye An continued her gaze on the Northern troop that was camping only a few yards away. "Since Chieftain Burat agreed to the treaty the last time he came to visit us and the fact that this happened after he was assassinated shows us that this probably wasn't his intention."
Ye An paused slightly before adding, "And.. Even though I really hope that it isn't true, there might be a chance that Adlai was in on this. Since this happened after he had left for the North instead of right after Chieftain Burat's passing. The assassination was the perfect set-up to use as an excuse to go to war with us. Why wait for over a week?"
Xi Chen frowned as he tried to make sense of things. "But Prince Adlai might've also been a scapegoat. Remember his reaction when the grand eunuch delivered the news of the assassination? His shock was genuine."
"Yes, there's that too. It is also one of the reasons why I think that he's innocent. Based on how General Shao was welcomed by Leader Wakhia earlier, Leader Wakhia might be the one in control. However, that doesn't mean that Adlai was absolutely clueless." Ye An contemplated. "For now, let's just keep that particular part open-ended. But I believe that Minister Sze is still in the North. I haven't had any contact with him since he left for Chieftain Burat's funeral."
Xi Chen added. "Yes, the Northerners might spare General Shao because he had some private alliance with them. But based on the battle earlier, the rest of us are probably not safe around them."
Ah Lin frowned. "Well, that's not good. It makes Chang an easy target."
"Then, it's our priority to get him out safely." Ye An concluded.
Ah Lin turned to face Ye An. "Your Imperial Majesty, I'm afraid that at this rate, we won't be able to do anything other than bartering but what could we offer? It seems like they'll only be satisfied with taking a part of our land."
Xi Chen observed the spacious flat land that lay in between the wall and the campsite of the Northern troop and added, "Yes, and with them camped out at such a distance away, it's difficult for us to infiltrate their lines to get any information on Minister Sze's whereabouts, much less get him out of the North. The sparse land here is good to spot invaders but it also makes it hard for people to not notice someone creeping over it."
Ye An flipped the situation into different angles in a bid to find the best solution to tackle the problem. But none of them seemed possible without ultimately offering a part of the country to the Northerners. Was a minister worth losing a part of the territory that she had a duty to protect? The answer came easily to Ye An in a prominent yes. Yes, because it was also her duty to protect the civilians living in this country. Ye An knew that if she was to readily give up on one civilian, her civilian, there would surely be more that would follow in the future. It wasn't a scenario that she would tolerate.
"Then we'll give them our land." Ye An announced blandly.
"Are you sure?"
"What??!"
Both men responded at the same time. Xi Chen in a calm manner, while Ah Lin not even trying to hide how alarmed he was at Ye An's sudden decision.
"But what about all of those men who had just lost their lives defending the border?? It would be so unfair to them!" Ah Lin accused, forgetting to filter his words once again.
"Captain Zhang!" Xi Chen warned sternly which made Ah Lin whimper like a puppy.
"It's alright, Xi Chen. I understand where Ah Lin is coming from."
Xi Chen turned to face Ye An. "Your Imperial Majesty, is that what you truly desire?"
"Yes." Ye An said without a doubt in her demeanor. She then walked towards Ah Lin with a solemn look on her face, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. But this is the best solution that I could think of. It's not just about Minister Sze. But also a way to mitigate the war between our two countries."
Ah Lin could only stare at the ground. Because he too knew that it was better this way if it could stop the war from proceeding and causing more lives lost.
Xi Chen walked towards the trap door as he spoke. "Well, then. We shall send a messenger to the North immediately. There's no need for another blood bath."
Ye An nodded. Right at that moment, the trap door to the commander's post opened revealing a maiden with a grace that Ye An had only ever heard of in folk songs. Even with her shortened robes which Ye An assumed was altered for convenience, the maiden still managed to look as graceful as if her robes were flowing in the air.
"Yue Fei!" Ah Lin exclaimed, recognizing her immediately.
Yue Fei hit Ah Lin in his head affectionately as a big sister would when she cleared the trap door. "That's Ms. Zhao to you."
"I don't know why you insist on me calling you so formally when we literally grew up together." Despite the graveness of the situation that they were in, Ah Lin couldn't help his almost childlike pout in front of Yue Fei.
It was probably a normal occurrence because Yue Fei merely ignored him. When her eyes fell on the clothes that Ye An was wearing, she immediately curtsied without a hint of fluster in her movement. "Your Imperial Majesty."
"At ease." Ye An said stiffly, wondering who this person was.
Then, Yue Fei suddenly gasped and crouched down by Xi Chen's side, naturally holding his calf. "What happened?? This needs to be treated immediately!"
She quickly pulled a chair over and pushed Xi Chen forcefully into it. Without even consulting anyone, Yue Fei took Xi Chen's boots off and pulled a small knife out from her medical supplies bag. She then unceremoniously ripped Xi Chen's socks and trimmed off the bottom of his pants.
"Who is she?" Ye An whispered to Ah Lin, not fully understanding the feeling that she was having at the sight of another woman manhandling Xi Chen.
"That's Yue Fei. We practically grew up together here in the military barracks. Her father was the head physician when we were younger and she took over the position when he unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago." Ah Lin explained. And then he added, "Xi Chen used to have a huge crush on her."
That feeling in Ye An's chest swelled and doubled in size when she heard that.
"I remember how he used to follow her around, asking her to teach him how to bandage just so he could spend some time with her." Ah Lin snickered as he watched Yue Fei bandaging Xi Chen's wounds.
The icky feeling gripped at Ye An's heart tighter than she ever thought it could as she suddenly remembered the time when Xi Chen bandaged her wound after the Annual Hunt. So this was who he had learned it from.
Xi Chen gently pulled his leg away and stood up. "It's alright. I'm fine. There's no need to fuss over a small cut."
"You call this small? If the cut went deeper, it would have hit your nerves and you would've been paralyzed waist down for the rest of your life. How can I not fuss?" Yue Fei glared at Xi Chen bossily. The expression on her face dared him to challenge her.
Xi Chen could only give out a small sigh and sat back down to allow Yue Fei to do whatever pleased her.
Ye An's shot up. "What do you mean that he could've been paralyzed?"
Yue Fei gazed up towards Ye An. When their eyes met, Yue Fei watched Ye An thoughtfully. It was only a brief moment before Yue Fei answered. "There's a nerve burrowed deep in a human's calf that when it's severed, would cause the person to lose the ability to use his or her leg. And Xi Chen was cut on both of his calves which could have caused him to be permanently disabled on both of his legs for the rest of his life if the wounds went any deeper."
Yue Fei started sewing up Xi Chen's gaping wounds after that, the movement in her hands was expertly concise. Ye An turned silent at the sight.
"Well, how is it at the ground? Found anyone alive?" Xi Chen asked, his teeth gritted tightly with each pull of the thread that was closing his wounds.
Yue Fei gave out a small sigh. Ye An couldn't help but admire how such an everyday gesture was imbued with elegance when Yue Fei was the one doing it. "We found some. But some is too little."
Ah Lin returned to his grim self at the news.
Yue Fei continued as she put the finishing touches and bandaged Xi Chen's wounds. "And we found a couple of Northerners. What do you want us to do to them?"
Yue Fei who was focused on Xi Chen's wounds this whole time finally looked up at him for his guidance.
Xi Chen clenched his jaw. "Take them in, but put them in a separate room. I'd like to question them later."
He then turned to Ye An. "Your Imperial Majesty, it might be better to hold onto the pigeon for a while. I'll try to see if I can get some information from these Northerners."
Ye An who was looking at Yue Fei the entire time finally turned her attention to Xi Chen. "Of course. But I need answers by the end of the day."
"Yes, of course."
"Alright, that should do it for now." Yue Fei made a remark about Xi Chen's bandage as she stood back up. "I'll be heading to the infirmary to check up on our wounded soldiers and the Northerners. My disciples have probably collected almost everyone by now."
"Wow, look at you, such a cruel boss who makes her subordinates do everything for her." Ah Lin couldn't help but tease weakly.
Yue Fei knew that he was just trying to lighten the mood, both in the room and his own so she played along. "Yes, yes. I'm the devil."
"It's no fun when you agree with me."
Yue Fei shoved him in a playful manner. "Fine, I came here because I knew one or both of you would be here. And god knows both of you think that you're invincible when you're in battle. How can I not check up on my two baby brothers?"
Ye An snorted at Yue Fei's choice of words. Despite being the cause of the murky feeling tugging at her heart, Ye An thought that Yue Fei was not all that bad. Xi Chen was unbothered but it was a different story for Ah Lin.
Ah Lin's face suddenly turned beet-red. "What baby? I'm not a baby! Stop treating me like a baby!"
Yue Fei stuck out her tongue before leaving through the trap door. "See you! Your big sister got other more important stuff to do."
"Yue Fei!" Xi Chen called, which made Yue Fei stop in her tracks. Ye An didn't know that the feeling clenching at her heart could be twisted tighter. But apparently, it could.
"I'll head to the infirmary once I changed out of my blood-stained robes. I think it's better to strike the iron while it's still hot. I'll interrogate the Northerners now and get that out of the way." Xi Chen said.
"Sure." Yue Fei threw out as she left.
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