Note: It's been a very long time since I uploaded something - the reason being, school and no inspiration. It's been about a month since school ended, and one night before I went to sleep, this idea came into my head ...
- Not historically accurate.
- This is a flashback. Everyone is in their twenties (except for some people, like Zhang Fei who is thirty, when it is obvious)

I'll try to write a new chapter each week. Enjoy, and review! :)

Redemption and Retribution – Introduction – A Glimpse in Time

Disclaimer – I do not own Dynasty Warriors.

In the first huge blunder Zhuge Liang made in planning against the Wei army, the few generals with him, Yue Ying, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Fei were ambushed. In a deep, narrow pathway, there was only one escape to the west; a rarely used pathway known only by the citizenry (as they imparted their wisdom to Zhang Fei during the conquest of Shu) which was wide enough just for one person to go through at a time. Battling between his personal feelings and the fate which he would confine Shu to, Zhuge Liang could not make a decision; Yue Ying or him first. To further his stress, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun volunteered to hold the army back. Yue Ying, understanding that Zhuge Liang held more significance than she did in Shu, volunteered to hold the army back as well. The disgruntled Zhuge Liang adamantly refused and begged Yue Ying to go first. Irritated, Zhang Fei pushed Zhuge Liang forward and forced him through the path. Zhao Yun let Yue Ying follow next, but by that time, the vanguard had caught up; Zhang He, Xiahou Dun, Xu Zhu, and Cao Ren were within attacking distance of the Shu generals. They could not hold back much longer, as the four mounted Wei generals continued their barrage. Taken by surprise as she only focused on two of the generals, Xiahou Dun managed to capture her. Zhao Yun, realizing his necessity in this situation, could not attack Xiahou Dun in fear that the Military Commander's wife would be harmed. Slowly, eyeing the generals, he quickly made a powerful thrust which knocked Xu Chu off his (very stable) horse, chucked dust into the air with his spear, and took the long road. They remembered his legacy at Chang Ban, and chose not to pursue him.

Zhang He, clearly unsatisfied by not catching Zhuge Liang for a large reward, requested that they return to Sima Yi with his wife. Slightly infuriated upon hearing this, Sima Yi was ready to punish them, but quickly decided to take his anger out on the captured general in the prison stronghold.

"We failed to capture a dragon, and all we have is a little carp. Hmph! You're not even half as famed or as capable as Zhuge Liang is. What is the use of leaving you in this prison?"

"Kongming will never forgive you for this!"

"Oh poor me, my rival will not be courteous to me. What am I to do? How could I live the rest of my life knowing this?"

"Crazed beast!"

Yue Ying managed to wiggle out of a rope restraining her arms, and dart towards Sima Yi. Fortunately for him, he was able to step out of the way, allowing the bonds on Yue Ying's feet to exhaust her once more, right after she ripped the skin off the better half of his hand.

"I've already had enough of you!" he exclaimed, tearing a piece of his garment off, wrapping it around his injured hand. "Guards, guards! Order an execution for this fish now!"

"Wait a minute!" someone from outside the prison called. The doors creaked open the same instant dark clouds hovered over the Wei camp, almost mournfully, as if the Heavens too believed Yue Ying would be slaughtered today.

"Ah, if it isn't my wife, Zhang Xuan Mu … what brings you here? Aren't you supposed to be supervising the production of weaponry?"

"I was on my way to the main tent to write a letter to our iron ore supply and tell them we have enough to last a decent amount of time … Who is this woman I hear?"

Yue Ying, now once again constrained, was under greater tension than she was before. "I am the wife of Sima Yi's superior, Zhuge Liang; Huang Yue Ying!"

"Well, you should be happy I stopped you when I did, Sima Yi! Do you remember when Cao Cao wanted to recruit Xu Shu? He captured Xu Shu's mother. To try to stop from 'doing further harm', she provoked him to try to kill her. If you do kill Yue Ying now, Zhuge Liang will be bent on resisting us."

"Are we trying to anger Zhuge Liang, or make him our best friend?"

"I'm saying we should use her in exchange for Jing province. Don't you think Zhuge Liang will agree on the trade?"

Yue Ying began to struggle on her ropes again. "Never! Zhuge Liang is much brighter than you take him to be. He will never exchange Jing province for me. Haha! Your efforts will go to waste!"

Sima Yi shook his head. "Ignore her, Xuan Mu; you're right. Send the letter to our supply men, and then send another to the Shu camp. If we don't obtain Jing province tonight, we'll have Yue Ying's head to present to His Majesty, Cao Cao!"

" … Come outside, I'll explain it all there … " She took hold of his arm as he left the stronghold.

" … Death is a simple word for the unborn son as well as me, Sima Yi! If I must die, I shall die with honor! For the glorious Han Dynasty!" At this moment the skies darkened and thunder clapped; Yue Ying had lost consciousness.

After writing both letters with minor difficulty, Zhang Xuan Mu, pondering on the words left by Yue Ying, decided to talk with Sima Yi about the current situation. She struggled to find her way into the main command tent, later assisted by a few guardsmen outside. "Sima Yi?"

"Ah, what do you want?"

"The captured one … she's almost due, isn't she?"

"I believe so. I mentioned that in my letter to Zhuge Liang. The poor village ass, he'll lose the better half of his family if he doesn't give Jing province."

" … Are you sober? You'll kill both of them? Yue Ying, as I understand, is a minor threat in Wei. But her son-"

"Cao Cao himself once said, 'Spare the son to avenge the mother? Are you mad?' I'm only following his philosophy."

"What if we-"

"Enough with you, woman. Mind you, arrange the execution."

Before Xuan Mu could say any further, the messenger who went to Shu returned and requested audience with Sima Yi. The messenger said, "Liu Bei, upon hearing the news, went into a secret discussion room with Zhuge Liang, saying that he would be prepared to offer Jing province for the safe return of his niece. Oddly enough, Zhuge Liang interrupted him and said, with great difficulty, that Jing province was more important than his wife. A guard shooed me away after noticing I was too close; when I tried to listen-in again, another threw me in prison. Later, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang released me; and both … "

"And both what?" questioned an anxious Xuan Mu.

"Both dare you to kill her."

"The nerve of that man!" Sima Yi called in frustration. "One would expect Liu Bei to take his own authority in greater seriousness than the opinions of that half-witted advisor."

Xuan Mu tried to calm him down: "Now hold on, a few days can change their minds, can't it?"

He signaled for the envoy to leave. "What do you mean?"

"Let me check on the prisoner, and I'll tell you after."

" … Very well. Here is a token. Show it to the guards, and they will let you see her. I trust you won't fail me?"

"Naturally."

Xuan Mu received the token and, once again with the assistance of the guards, left the command tent. One of them brought her to the prison stronghold and led her to Yue Ying's cell, where she found Yue Ying resting by the side walls.

"You are the one they call Lady Huang?"

Yue Ying lifted her head sluggishly. "What are you here for?"

Xuan Mu dismissed the guards, and with the help of her hands, found the bars of the prison. She kneeled down shortly before saying, "I want to help you."

"Why help me?" Yue Ying wondered. "Hey, are you blind?"

"One could say," Xuan Mu laughed, "but I can see more than a person with normal sight. You've been pregnant for at least nine months now, am I correct?"

" … More or less. Why?"

"There's something familiar about the odors in the air," responded Xuan Mu, finding the lock on the door. "You're bound to be due today or tomorrow."

"No way … it's still too early … "

"I've long studied medicine before I studied metallurgy. There's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. I told you I want to help you. Will you allow me?"

A wave of depression overwhelmed Yue Ying. "Alright. What will you do?"

"You ask that before you agree?"

"I believe I have no other choice. And you seem to be a much gentler soul than Sima Yi is."

"He is a gentle soul, just not so much to his enemies. Anyway, I only want others to suffer what I have … "

"What was that?"

" … Never mind. I'll summon a midwife and another physician in half an hour. Stay put, and stay sharp."

As if she was able to see straight into the future, Zhang Xuan Mu was correct. In two hours time, Yue Ying was in labor. Due to her assistance and kindness, the birthing process was nothing too abnormal. A day later, as the execution was prepared, Xuan Mu managed to convince Sima Yi to delay it by saying, "I told you Zhuge Liang could be convinced after a few days to hand Jing province to us, yes? Well, now the life of his heir is at stake too. We'll send him another letter saying that everything is fine … and that the fate of his son is in our hands. This should surely convince him. If it doesn't, then we've exhausted our use for them … then, it would be appropriate to order death."

Upon receiving the letter, Zhuge Liang, overtaken by rage, frustration, anxiety and misery, kept the matter to himself and painstakingly wrote a short response: "They say, 'Before the Heavens give a great task to man, he must first be tested.' As a subject of the Imperial Uncle of the Glorious Han Dynasty, I, Liang, am forced to perceive matters as a warlord, but make judgments in all fairness to the citizenry of Han China. You have not captured the Emperor, a general, advisor or significant civilian in our lands, and any seal for this matter cannot be passed out in exchange for."

A week later, when Sima Yi obtained this letter, flew into another fit and ordered Yue Ying to be cooked alive. That night, the guards were pulled back to help prepare the broth; Yue Ying found an opportunity to leave! As a prisoner, few daily necessities were taken care of; unusually, one of the soldiers had given her a shovel and told her to dig her own well in the prison cell to draw some water. Forgetting to re-claim it, she managed to dig a hole (while the baby boy was sleeping, of course) to free land outside the stronghold. Then, with the child in her hands, she slowly left the prison cell and the main camp. It was not too long before the Wei troops found her missing and followed the trail. An hour later, less than a kilometer away from the main camp, the familiar cries of the army men as well as the classic beating of drums surrounded Yue Ying.

In one, final, frantic attempt to avoid being caught, Yue Ying jumped into a small ditch surrounded by dead trees, only to hit her head against a rock-hard tree-root, resulting in unconsciousness. She was shaken once she regained consciousness, finding Zhuge Liang with a worried expression in front of her.

"Are you alright?"

"Zhan … where's Zhan?"

Zhuge Liang hesitated. "Yesterday night, when word spread that Sima Yi would boil you alive, I sent a team of a hundred expert mounted spearmen to rescue you. A fumble resulted in the Wei army sending a team to retaliate. Half darted away, hiding in ditches, behind trees and such to surprise the enemy while the other half would serve as the vanguard. One of them found you and recognized you as my wife. He went to investigate the situation and somehow linked it to Nan'an … "

"And?" Yue Ying asked anxiously.

"I personally went to Nan'an earlier … it's deserted. There's no sign of life anywhere."

" … Zhuge Liang!" Yue Ying's breath became short and her face drained of all color. "You're lying, aren't you? … Haha, pray tell what you've been up to these last few days. Where is he? Where is Zhan?"

"For all we know, Zhan is dead."