After sending the spy a little 'gift', Han Xiu left with his people. The spy continued to watch them but it was from a greater distance now. Han Xiu's decision to lead the Zhuming spies away from the capital caused him to reach his destination later, just as he said it would.
While they were travelling, the weather seemed to become colder and it took a lot of energy just to stay awake. Han Xiu noticed Biyu trembling on her tiny horse and felt bad for her. He stopped Ben and waited for her to catch up.
When she was beside him, Han Xiu took off his thick coat and bent down to give it to her. Biyu started to blush in the cold weather and slowly shook her head.
"You need to stay warm." Han Xiu said and put it on her before she could refuse.
Biyu shyly whispered a thank you and Han Xiu nodded, smiling slightly. This made Biyu feel very special, which was a bit sad since this was just basic manners for Han Xiu. Continuing with their journey, Han Xiu was back at the front and Ben was moving slowly.
It started to snow soon after, which made the temperature drop even more. Han Xiu started to feel the chilling cold shortly after giving away his coat.
I was being kind, I can't take it back anymore.
An hour or so later, Han Xiu felt his body getting extremely weak and slow. His nose started to run and he swiftly wiped it with his handkerchief, when he looked at it he saw that the cloth had a large red mark on it. Han Xiu started to feel an excruciating pain take over him, it felt as though his bones were freezing up.
Blood starting dripping from his nose faster, leaving red dots on the snow. Han Xiu, with a lot of pain and discomfort, covered his nose with his handkerchief and decided to ask Arlo about what was happening.
'Arlo? Are you still here?'
'Yes, host?'
'What's happening to me?'
'It seems that Han Suyin had contracted an illness due to kneeling for too long in snow and rain previously, damaging her immune system. This affected how she could tolerate different weathers.'
'Her immune system is damaged? It must've been pretty weak from the start.'
'In this case, yes.'
...
Han Xiu bared with the teeth-shattering pain for the rest of the journey. When he arrived at the capital, he and his army were ready to pass out from exhaustion. The weather didn't get any better, but it didn't get colder, which Han Xiu was very grateful for.
Han Xiu had to go and greet the Emperor before he could rest as a sign of respect. Fu Guan joined him and instructed the other soldiers and Biyu to stay outside of the palace when they arrived.
Marching through the streets of the capital, Han Xiu's soldiers all had a stoic face, none of the tiredness was shown. This was a standard form of intimidation which soldiers used and it worked effectively with the citizens.
Han Xiu's pain had mostly gone away and his nose wasn't a bloody waterfall anymore, but he had gotten a slight headache. When he and Fu Guan had reached the entrance of the Emperor's palace, the guards didn't make any indication that they were opening the gates to let them in.
Great.
Just as Fu Guan was about to go off on the guards, a servant came out of the palace hurriedly.
"Open the gates!" He told the guards.
The guards furrowed their brows but eventually opened the gates to the palace. The servant rushed outside and bowed to Han Xiu.
"Captain Han, it is truly an honour to be in your presence." The servant said admiringly.
Damn, you stole my line. Now, what am I supposed to say to the Emperor? Should I just repeat it? He doesn't know what happened here.
Han Xiu nodded at the servant and smiled, despite his inner-thoughts. The servant led Han Xiu and Fu Guan inside the imperial palace, the place that's dripping with gold and betrayal. Han Xiu glanced around and saw the intricate designs on the pillars, each one looked so beautifully crafted.
The architecture was breath-taking. Han Xiu knew that some architects would kill just to have a glance at an imperial palace in all of its glory. By the time Han Xiu had finished day-dreaming, the servant had stopped in front of big doors.
"We meet again, Captain Han." The same old man that came to deliver Han Xiu the Emperor's letter was waiting in front of the closed doors for them. Han Xiu assumed that this man was the Emperor's most loyal eunuch.
"We sure do."
"Allow me to open the doors."
When the doors opened, Han Xiu and Fu Guan saw a big hall. Right at the front was the Dragon's throne, it was elevated so that it was higher than the others and showed that the Emperor was the one on top, ruler of all. It was a really big throne, but nobody was sitting on it.
Right, forgot. The Emperor is the one we wait for, not the other way around.
"It should not take His Majesty long. His Greatness has been looking forward to your arrival." The eunuch said and waited for Han Xiu and Fu Guan to enter. When the two men walked in, they got a strong whiff of the incense sticks that were burning on the side.
"I'm surprised the old guy hasn't dropped dead yet with all the smoke coming from those sticks." Fu Guan whispered to Han Xiu.
Han Xiu snorted but didn't reply. Fu Guan and Han Xiu started to have a little discussion on how they should greet the Emperor.
"You kowtow! That's how you greet the Emperor." Fu Guan aggressively whispered.
"I thought that a deep bow would suffice, you don't seem like you care anyway." Han Xiu replied, also whispering.
"I value my life very much, okay?"
"You do? Because I recall someone calling the Emperor an old guy and wondering why he wasn't dead yet."
"That was a joke!"
"You know better than me that if that eunuch or anyone else heard what you said, you'd have your head cut off."
Fu Guan was about to reply to Han Xiu but the Emperor was about to be announced so he shut his mouth.
"All rise for the Great Emperor of Jiu, His Royal Highness from the Yang Dynasty!" A eunuch announced loudly while a guard hit a gong on the side.
Han Xiu and Fu Guan stood up straight when they saw the doors open. Their eyes were looking down, so when they saw the yellow fabric of the Emperor's clothes Han Xiu went into a deep bow while Fu Guan was about to kneel to kowtow.
Han Xiu held him back and pulled him up from his shoulders so that Fu Guan was also bowing with him.
"Are you stupid?!" Han Xiu whispered.
"Whatever." Fu Guan mumbled quietly.
The Emperor hadn't said anything until he made his way to his throne. Han Xiu was curious to see how the Emperor who had so much love for his son looked like. Once Han Xiu heard the Emperor settle down, he was ready to stand up but, the Emperor still hadn't said anything.
Raising an eyebrow, Han Xiu glanced to Fu Guan beside him who looked like a tomato. It seemed like the blood was rushing to his face. Before Fu Guan did something that he would regret, the Emperor spoke.
"You may stand."
When Han Xiu stood up straight, he saw the Emperor's face. It seemed like he was in his late 30s, with a slightly receding hairline and deep forehead creases. Han Xiu could tell that this man was very stressed judging from all the forming wrinkles that should not be on a middle-aged man's face. He was probably handsome at his prime age.
The Emperor was also curious to see how Han Xiu looked like. He knew that General Han was a very talented man and he wanted to see if Han Xiu has the same passion that he had.
When Han Xiu looked up, his eyes locked on the Emperor for a moment before he glanced down. The Emperor was taken aback. His eyes widened as he looked at Han Xiu, stunned.
That man looks exactly like General Han!
The same face structure, the same eyes, charming aura, it was just like how General Han was when he was younger. Maybe even more intimidating.
The Emperor had to convince himself that nobody that had blood relations to the Han family was left. He saw all of their bodies apart from Han Suyin, who was most likely dead.
He tried to justify how similar Han Xiu looked like his dead General. He had heard from his teacher when he was a young man that if a younger person spent a lot of time with someone, they start to look more like them.
Yes, that could be it.
All the while the Emperor was shocked, Han Xiu was looking down at the ground. Fu Guan moved a little closer to Han Xiu and nudged his shoulder.
"It looks like the Emperor has seen a ghost." He whispered.
"He might as well have."
The Emperor calmed down and composed himself. He looked at the young man in front of him and lightly sighed. Han Xiu didn't look up because he felt dizzy. He was worried that Fu Guan would be able to see how shaky his eyes were.
"Finally, we get to meet the new and astonishing Captain Han." The Emperor spoke, his voice ringing through the hall.
"It is this humble one's honour to be in your presence, Your Highness." Han Xiu replied humbly and gave a slight bow.
Fu Guan snickered quietly at Han Xiu's unoriginal reply.
"And who might be the one beside you, Captain Han?" The Emperor questioned.
Han Xiu glanced up to the Emperor for a second then looked at Fu Guan.
"This is my teacher and one of my father's closest friends."
Fu Guan bowed slightly and didn't say anything. He turned to look at Han Xiu and saw that his forehead was covered in a slight sheen of sweat. Fu Guan frowned but couldn't say anything with the Emperor around.
"General Han was one of my best men, we're glad that he has someone left to continue his legacy." The Emperor said.
Han Xiu was struggling to keep consciousness so he didn't say anything and bowed his head in reply. Just as the Emperor was about to continue praising General Han, a servant announced the arrival of the Crown Prince, Xing Yi Rong.
"Ah, here is my dear son, Xing Yi Rong. Welcome back to the capital." The Emperor glanced at his son who strode into the hall.
Xing Yi Rong bowed and greeted his father then glanced to the side to look at the people beside him. Han Xiu stealthily used the sleeve of his clothes to wipe of the sweat on his forehead. He bowed towards Xing Yi Rong and Fu Guan followed. Xing Yi Rong waved them off with his hand and didn't get a chance to look at Han Xiu's face since it was already facing the ground.
He turned back to look at the Emperor and walked up to him. The Emperor was planning on telling Han Xiu about his intention to promote him from Captain to Colonel because of his amazing potential but Xing Yi Rong interrupted him.
"Father, I've settled the matter on the Northern borders and I also went over with my men to Jiandan where we got them to surrender to us, they're now under our control." Xing Yi Rong lied casually and took credit of something that Han Xiu achieved.
Xing Yi Rong had been given a trivial task to do for the Emperor which required him to go to the military's base up north. While he was coming back from his journey, he had found out that Jiandan had been 'conquered' by a nobody. A random young fellow pretending to be related to General Han. He thought that there was no harm in saying that it was him who had taken control of Jiandan. It would make the people of the court, and his father, take him more seriously.
Han Xiu, Fu Guan and the Emperor all heard what Xing Yi Rong said and creased their brows. If the Emperor hadn't sent a spy to see what Han Xiu was up to, he would've almost believed him. His son's habit of lying and stealing others successes was really starting to become troublesome.
"We shall take our leave, Your Majesty." Han Xiu said slowly and bowed, trying to get out of the palace as soon as possible. He didn't care whether Xing Yi Rong took credit for what he did, the Emperor knew the truth anyway.
The Emperor didn't want to embarrass his son, so he dismissed Han Xiu and Fu Guan. Walking in a slightly hurried pace, Han Xiu quickly made his way out of the hall before he collapsed.
Just as he was about to breathe out a sigh of relief, he noticed that the Emperor's trusted eunuch was following him.
"May I help you?"
"Captain Han, I need to inform you that His Majesty will be holding a function for you in a weeks time to announce your promotion." The eunuch said respectfully.
Han Xiu nodded absentmindedly and thanked the eunuch, watching him walk away. Fu Guan had caught up to Han Xiu and he looked very worried. They both didn't exchange any words and proceeded to leave the palace. As soon as they walked out of the palace gates, Han Xiu fell to the ground.
"Han Xiu! Are you alright?" Fu Guan held Han Xiu up by his shoulders.
Blood started to trickle down from Han Xiu's nose and he tried to wipe it away but his arm felt numb. He looked at Fu Guan and then struggled to look to the side to see the guards looking ahead of them, not paying attention to what was happening.
"I need to get out of here before someone thinks I'm possessed." Han Xiu managed to say.
Fu Guan helped Han Xiu up and then held on to his shoulders once again to ensure that he doesn't fall down. Slowly walking further away from the royalty's residence, Han Xiu saw that his soldiers were still in the same position as the last time he saw them.
All of them were doing an amazing job at hiding their exhaustion, even Biyu. They heard footsteps in a familiar pattern and they turned to look at the source of it. All of the soldiers instantly became worried when they saw their leader in a weakened state, their hands automatically went to the side of their waist where their swords were resting.
"Don't worry guys, I'm fine. It's just an illness that I've had for a while now, no need to pull out your swords."
"I sharpened mine before coming here and I intend to use it." A soldier spoke from the front line very passionately, seemingly in his own world.
Han Xiu, although in pain, couldn't help but give out a little chuckle.
"On who?" Han Xiu asked, trying to divert the soldiers' attention.
"Leader Han! A very, very, long time ago, Guowei had come to the capital with your father and he foolishly fell in love with a wench in disguise." A soldier beside Guowei dramatically told.
The soldier named Guowei shoved his old friend to try and make him shut up.
"Alas, our dear Guowei was too dense to figure out how scheming she was! She lured him in with her beauty and made fake promises that they would spend their lives together, and she led him on and on until..."
"Until?" Han Xiu's interest was piqued and he momentarily forgot about his illness.
"She got married to the merchant who lived beside her! Can you believe it? She was lucky that Guowei had to leave in a few days! He was planning on staying for his love, but she betrayed him!" The soldier continued rambling after he finished narrating Guowei's tragic love story.
"Wait, you came with my father to the capital? I thought that a lot of you haven't been here." Han Xiu questioned, his voice becoming dry.
"Well, us older ones would come here once or twice, but the younger ones were all raised at our base, so this is their first time." Guowei said plainly.
"Ah."
"Leader Han! Your nose is bleeding!" Biyu suddenly said and ran up to him and tried to tip toe to reach his height so that she could wipe it for him.
Han Xiu sighed lightly and patted Fu Guan, indicating for him to release his hold. Fu Guan listened and slowly removed his arm which was acting as a support system. Han Xiu crouched down and Biyu looked at Han Xiu for permission before she used her floral embroidered handkerchief on him. Han Xiu nodded and she carefully wiped away the blood that was spilling out from his nose.
Starting to feel his limbs working again, Han Xiu thanked Biyu and stood up, rolling his ankles a little bit. Everything that had just happened to him felt so surreal, it was all so sudden. Han Xiu hoped that this illness would not act up again.
...
Hello everyone! Hope you're staying safe!
I've been re-reading this book recently to see if there is anything that bothers anyone, like plot holes, etc. I tend to gloss over my own work so I would love it if you could give me some advice/feedback.
Thanks for reading!