Crossing Spears - Chapter 7
By: Yeu
This is the make-up-for-all-the-short-chapters chapter (That was a mouthful.) Sorry for not updating for so long, if you want to know the reason, go read my bio. I had checked and rechecked the story to make sure it has as little mistakes as possible, but if you catch one, please e-mail it to me. Which reminds me, now taking applications for a beta-reader ^_^
I know I said I'm going to put in the surprise in this chapter, but since I've never written anything near sexual before (Kissing, hugging, sex. you get the idea) I'm hitting quite a large writer's block. And after you read this chapter, I think you can pretty much guess what's going to come next, but I'm still trying though. This chapter somehow turned out to be more plot orientated than I had planned, but I promise, I will get to the action.
And since the content of the next chapter will be quite heated, I will change the rating for this story to R or NC-17 once Chapter 8 is updated, which will not be for a while if my memory problem doesn't improve soon. Reviews would be appreciated so I can know which way the readers want the story to go.
Thank again to Koei and Omega-Force for making the wonderful game possible and to let more people get exposed to the Chinese culture.
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"My Lord!" The soldiers guarding the gate to the divisional camp were very surprised to see him. "What are you doing here? Where are your bodyguards? Why didn't you send word you were coming?" They fired off a barrage of questions.
"Never mind that!" Zhao Yun answered sourly, he had spent all night on horseback without break and he was very tired. "Get me the commanding officer here, I want all the details about the failed attack within half an hour."
Rushing his horse like there is no tomorrow, the Little Dragon managed to make the day trip in only half a day, but his horse looked quite drained as he climbed off the poor animal. Zilong let himself be led to a large tent where Officer Lai Tong was already waiting for him, along with scrolls and scrolls of lists and reports. Wearily the tiger general flipped thought the piles of intelligence and forcing his already exhausted mind to absorb the information.
"If I may ask, my lord." Yan Yan, an officer, asked meekly while he went through the reports. "Where are the reinforcements?"
"There won't be any." He was too exhausted to sugarcoat anything for the poor man. "Make do with what you have."
The crowd panicked. "But Lu Bu is out there!" They shouted. "We need more men or we'll all be killed!"
"Which reminds me." Zhao Yun rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand. "Get me the men who stayed behind with General Jiang and also those who said they saw Lu Bu. Bring me some food and drink too, I'm starving."
By the time he was done with the questioning, the man from Changsan swears he was seeing doubles. He felt drained and tired to the bone, but there was so much to be done, and simply no time to do them all.
According to the men, there was no mistake that it was the God of War himself. Although the Little Dragon never had the chance to see the giant personally, he is quite sure he doesn't really want to anyway. After questioning several more common soldiers, he asked for the team of bodyguards that was suppose to follow Jiang Wei, but was told that none of the team members had returned.
"They probably were afraid that if they return they would be put to death for abandoning their officer." Yan Yan commented.
Zhao Yun cracked a dry laugh, another thing in which to the punishment is death. Everything seems to be punishable by lopping your head off; a man's life is just too cheap nowadays, except when you become famous. Then your life's worth depends on how much bounty other factions put on your head and you actually has to start worrying about assassins whom are mostly farmers trying to feed their families. Still, without more information, the only thing he could do was to go to the place where the last confrontation occurred.
But before that, he definitely needs some sleep. Looking at the position of the planets in the sky, it has been more than 30 hours since he last slept. The men led him to the only empty tent in the camp, since all others are filled with the wounded, which is the tent of their absent commander, Jiang Wei.
As Zhao Yun stepped into the quiet shelter, he wondered what the young man did the last few night he was there. The books were stacked up neatly in one corner while the weapons and armors piled the other. Some spare robes lay on the bed sheets but were neatly folded. In all, the small space was very clean, unlike that of his own tent, although he wasn't messy, he wasn't that neat either.
Sitting down on the cool sheets, he can't help but to wonder where Jiang Wei is and his current condition. Pushing the folded shirts to one side and pilling his boots off, Zhao Zilong slowly lowers himself on to the bed and closed his eyes.
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Jiang Wei could not tell if it is morning or not from the inside of the tent, but the sounds of the birds singing signifies the coming of a new day. He shook the sleepiness from his pounding head, no matter how tired he was, he could hardly get any sleep when he is tied to a large wooden pole.
"Good morning, my lord." Diao Chan smiled pleasantly as she entered the tent with a tray of food. "You haven't eaten for days, you'll need to eat if you want to recover soon."
As if responding to her statement, his stomach growled it's agreement and the young man sheepishly laughed.
"I do not have permission to untie you so I hope you'll be okay with spoon feeding." The girl set the tray down, and he saw several buns, rolls and a steaming white soup on it.
"Doesn't it seem to be too much for one prisoner?" He asked her.
"What they don't know they can't tell." The maiden playfully put a finger to her lips. "Besides you'll need a lot of energy. Lord Dong Zhou will be summoning you later today."
"Wonderful." The young man rolled his eyes, but took a bite of the roll that she held up to his mouth.
"When he summons you," The girl cautioned. "Try not to be too headstrong, and definitely try not to talk back to him. I know you men need to show your courage, but trust me, that will not be the time."
"Then what should I do?" Jiang Boyue frowned. "Act like a spineless worm?"
"Anything, just don't arouse his attention too much," Diao Chan blow on the soup to cool it down before spooning the liquid into the prisoner's mouth. "If you trust me on nothing else, just believe me on this one. It's for your own good."
The rest of the meal continued in silence, although there seems to be more the girl wanted to say, she kept her mouth closed. The young general on the other hand, devour the food so fast that Diao Chan feared he would choke. After the meal, she changed his bandages again and reapplied the ointments, even giving him medication. When he questions her on her generosity, she would not answer but he knows that what she is doing is against the rules.
The time come too soon for the meeting, the girl came with two guards that untied him from the post but kept his hands bind behind his back. The trio led him from the small tent, which he had been sheltered and for a moment the strong sunlight blinded him.
Dong Zhou's camp was much bigger than he had imagined, and the young general is quite surprised that the tyrant still had that many men following him. The numerous tents covered an entire basin, which was surrounded by a lush forest.
The singer led him to a giant tent decorated with gold and jewels and the sight of it somehow aroused anger in the young man. Dong Zhou was know to forcibly take treasures and women away from its rightful owners back in the days when he was still in power, sometimes even stealing from graves. Jiang Wei secretly wondered if he had plundered more people to keep up with his lavish lifestyle, and the young man secretly promise himself that he would make the tyrant pay somehow. Still, the short walk did miracles, although the wounds were still painful, it was nice to stretch his muscles.
The inside of the tent was vast and even more richly decorated to the point of being garish. Everything was gilded with gold and jewels, and hides of rare animals scattered on the floor, while priceless ceramics were tastelessly placed. The plump dictator slumped on a grand chair raised on a slight platform while young maids served him wine as his pea-sized eyes studied them with a perverted intention. His officers sat below him and were feasting on foods they recently stole from a nearby village, the noise quite down as the famous singer entered with the prisoner.
"I have brought the prisoner my lord." Diao Chan reported with her musical voice and retreated to stand next to the lazy man as the guards pushed the youth to his knees.
"Ah, so this is the prisoner?" Dong Zhou mused, already a bit drunk. "Why, I was expecting a real man from Zhang Liao's reports, but this is just a wimpy boy!"
"That is indeed the right man, my lord." Zhang Liao reported. "He burned many of our troops to death when he set fire to the forest."
"Well, you people need to reconsider yourself then." The fat man burped lightly. "Only the stupid will be tricked by such a weakling."
The young general tried very hard to swallow his pride and let the name calling pass, Diao Chan's warning still fresh in his mind. Still, he could not help but give the old pervert a nasty glare, but the young woman next to Dong Zhou immediately to try to signal him to stop when she caught his eyes.
Doug Zhou lazily sits up on his cushioned chair, studying the captive. "I still can't believe you are hindered by such a womanly boy, Lu Bu." The foster father said to his son. "You are loosing your touch."
The said general grunted but said nothing.
The fat tyrant continues to study the young man, and his stares made Jiang Wei feel increasingly uncomfortable. The young man felt quite naked under the perverse look of the tyrant, and he looked away in disgust.
"Embarrassed, my pretty?" Dong Zhou burped lightly again, wiping his greasy fingers on a luxurious fabric nearby as he got up from his seat and wobbled down the platform. "Don't be, let me look at that handsome face of yours."
The youth nearly gagged as the stink of grease and other unpleasantness assaulted his nose and was even more revolted when the stumpy fingers touched his face. He always had put a lot of emphasis on personal hygiene, sometimes even ordering the troops under him to take a bath before he will see them after battle. Not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a more grimy man than the overweight fool in front of him. And his unwillingness shows on his face as he wrinkled his nose and held his breath so he would not get sick from the stink.
"Such a pretty you are, my boy." Dong Zhou slurred again. "Why, I haven't seem a boy as pretty as you since I escaped from the Imperial palace."
"My Lord!" Diao Chan suddenly called, and Jiang Wei could detect a bit of nervousness in her voice. "You should not be examining the prisoner personally." She forced a fake smile and moved to herd the drunken man back to his seat. "Let one of the officers earn their keeping and you can sit comfortably while you watch the questioning."
At first the plump dictator seemed to object the notion, but being too drunk to protest, he allowed himself to be lead back to his seat where he immediately slump back into the numerous cushions. Zhang Liao took over the process from there, being the only other officer who was at the scene besides Lu Bu, whose lack of word skills are almost as world renowned as his skill in battle.
The beginning part was almost procedural, the question consist of what is your name, your rank, what did were your responsibility, that kind of thing. Jiang Wei replied to the questions in a cold, unfeeling tone. Except for his name, he gave nothing else away, even when they threaten to whip or impose other punishment on him, he only stayed silent.
"Ah, I know who he is!" A weedy looking man suddenly said from his seat as Zhang Liao were getting quite frustrated with the stubborn youth. "Jiang Wei, I heard that is the name of a Wei general who now sides with Liu Bei and the Shu. Zhuge Liang had even taken him as his pupil. This youth fits the description that I heard, it is probably the same man."
Jiang Wei was both surprised and pleased with the revelation. Although he was caught off guard that somebody in the camp were up to current news, he felt quite pleased with himself as gasps of shock and murmurs of surprise filled the tent.
"So this is Zhuge Liang's new student?" Zhang Liao mused. "No wonder we fell for his trick."
"Ah, you guys are over reacting." Dong Zhou mumbled on his chair, eyes half closed. "What can this skinny little boy do? And that Zhuge Liang is just a idiotic fake."
The young man could take insults on himself, but it was too much to listen to insults pointed at his teacher. At first he tried to stay quite, keeping the singer's warning in mind, but Dong Zhou would not stop, but kept blabbering on in his drunken state. Finally, the youth could take no more.
"Someone who is surrounded by swines," He said icily, "can only see from a swine's point of view." Diao Chan tried desperately again to signal the youth to stop with her eyes, but he ignored her.
"Well, well, the boy has a backbone. I like that." The plump tyrant laughed after his initial shock passes, which surprised Jiang Wei, he was expecting to the dictator to start fuming. "Boys like that are hard to find these days."
"Rather be a boy than a brainless pig who feast on other's waste." Jiang Wei spat, ignoring repeated shouts from the surrounding officers and the guards to shut up. "Tell me, it is nice eating other people's shit?"
"It is very disgraceful for you to lose your temper like that, Boyue." A voice suddenly said from somewhere out of the youth's sight. But he didn't need to see the speaker for him to recognize the voice.
"Zhang He, you faggat, what are you doing here?" Jiang Wei said, not bothering to look around, partially to hide his own surprise.
"Well you know, Lord Cao Cao need some alliances, and we are here as his representatives." The lithe man walked slowly into the young man's view. "But I must say, we missed your company. Life is so boring when those who we love is not around."
"We?" Jiang Wei repeated.
"General Zhang, do you really enjoy being misunderstood that much?" Zhen Ji asked annoyingly as she joined the smirking man.
"Greetings, Lady Zhen, I apologize for not being able to greet a lady properly." The young man said from his kneeling position.
"Well, you were always one of the most polite man I know, but." She sighed and said no more.
"So this youth is the Jiang Wei that we've heard in the news?" Zhang Liao asked the guests.
"Why yes, he is, or he was my dear, dear friend, Jiang Wei." Zhang He made a dramatic frown. "I did miss him so when he sided with the Shu and abandoned me to my misery."
"Shut up, you eunuch, no one will think you are mute if you don't talk." The ex-Wei general said with much frustration.
"Why, you surprise me, Boyue." The shirtless man feigned shock. "Lady Zhen and Miss Diao Chan is here, how can you use such horrid language? Is that what Zhuge Liang is teaching you?"
"Why you worthless mutt." If not for the guards holding him down, Jiang Wei would have charged at his former comrade. But Zhang He only laughed and ignored him.
"Well, I have a proposal to make, my lord." The clawed general turned to Dong Zhou. "Forget the gifts, let us have this prisoner to take back to Lord Cao Cao and I personally will guarantee you that the treaty will go through." Zhang He knew that he was offering a good deal, Cao Cao will be so delighted in having the traitor back that he will agree to almost anything.
Dong Zhou, who had been watching the scene with a faint smile of amusement thought about the offer. "No." The overweight man finally said. "I have some other. design in store for him."
Stunned silence suddenly covered the tent. "But my lord," Zhang Liao protested. "I strongly suggest you agree to the terms, it is greatly in our favor!" Murmurs of agreements rise from the other officers, but that only angered the large dictator even more.
"I'm the one in charge here, and I said no." Dong Zhou bellowed, and turned to the pair of Wei generals. "The gifts are prepared, you can leave the day after tomorrow. You are dismissed."
Zhang He's face showed great displeasure, but he and his companion bowed and left the tent wordlessly.
"And being the prisoner to my tent, I shall examine him personally." The man throws a precious jade cup on the floor in a fit of anger where it shattered. "All dismissed!" And with that, he turned and left.
Jiang Wei caught a look of terror on the young maiden's face as she looked at him, and some of the officers around him shared a knowing look mix with sympathy. He wished desperately to ask about his fate but the guards pulled him to his feet harshly and shaved him out the tent.
After a few moments walk, the youth arrived at another tent, only this one reeked of some smell he just can't identify. Dong Zhou was already waiting for them when inside the tent, and he ordered the soldiers to chain their charge on a peculiar wooden frame that seems to have been made just for that purpose.
The construction is quite simple, and looked like a doorframe without the doors. The four corners of the structure all sport a chain that ends in a cuff. As he gets closer he could see the height of the thing is actually adjustable along with the length of the chains. Judging by the lack of any sophistication and probable sickness behind the concept, Jiang Wei didn't even need to guess who thought it up.
Sensing that is something more than the routine torture and that this is his last chance, also his preference for death over disgrace. He suddenly attacked the guards as they unbounded his hands to transfer him to the chains. The guards were taken completely off surprise, as the prisoner had been pretty docile. The youth's shoulder slammed into one of the soldier's chest and the man fell backwards, Jiang Wei then grabbed the other guard by the throat, but found he was too weak to break the man's neck like he had been taught. Improvising, he kneed the shaken guard in the face, breaking the man's nose. Throwing the guard aside, he quickly glanced at the frightened fool collapsed against the bed, although the young general desperately wished to kill Dong Zhou, he decided that he should escape first. The moment's hesitation, however, cost him the chance. As the first guard recovered from the shock and pain and immediately grabbed the youth's legs, tripping him.
The young man landed on his back, recovered and kicked the man holding his leg, and again his weakened condition sealed his fate. The few precious seconds that he needed to get the first man off of him, the second guard was upon him. Throwing his whole entire weight on the youth, efficiently restrained the youth's movements. And together with the first guard, they shackled the young man to the frame and quickly left with one of them holding his bloodied face.
"That was a good show you put on, my boy." Dong Zhou said evilly as he pushed himself from the place where he had collapsed, regaining his composure.
The young man glared at him with unyielding hatred, even spat at the man when he tried to advance on the imprisoned youth.
"Feisty." The arrogant man clasped his hands and rubs them together with expectation. "It has been a while since I last enjoyed myself."
"Well then maybe you should go out and roll in one of those mud holes you hogs seem to love so much." The young general managed to snicker despite of his predicament. "Or maybe it's the dung hole?"
With one swift movement, the plump dictator shoved a cloth gag into the youth's mouth to put a stop on the train of abuse. Then he stepped back and looks at his prisoner carefully again. Chained at all four limbs, the youth is kneeling on the ground while his arms dangle above him. His numerous wounds have been cleaned up and bandaged, but his clothing remains unchanged, coated in bloodstain and dust and ripped in many places. Also, the little scuffle was not without it's consequences, reopening some injuries from the look by some bandage's growing red stain.
Jiang Boyue has never felt so scared and helpless in his life, and he tagged at the shackles relentlessly, although he wasn't too sure as to what is going to happen, he sure as hell doesn't want to stay and find out. If the eyes of the sick man in front of him is any indication, he was pretty sure he would rather be dead than live in the shame of what the fat man has in mind.
Helplessly, he watched the man approached him, and panicked
Jiang Wei struggled desperately against his binds; not noticing the cuffs had began to dig into his skin and was drawing blood in addition to the already reopened wounds. So great was his desire to be out and away from where he is. But in his weaken state he could not even snap a branch much less break the metal chains.
Dong Zhou watch the youth struggle with a smirk on his face and licking his dried lips. The pure terror and hatred in the young general's eyes only made him even more aroused.
"Quite a beauty you are, my boy." The plump tyrant smirked. "Why, you would pass for a girl if you were in a dress."
The chain of harsh sounds the prisoner made was incoherent but it's meaning easily understood. The glare of death made no difference to the one time aristocrat, he knew the boy cannot escape from the binds and therefore poses no threat. But the bloodstained clothes were in the way of his fun, for a moment he contemplated about how to remove the torn fabrics without putting himself in harm's way. Although the youth is bind both hand and feet in addition to being gagged, his eyes look like that of a angry wolf being pushed too far to the point where he is desperate enough to do anything to be free again. At first he thought about slicing the robes away with his sword, but afraid he youth will try to impale himself upon the weapon.
He greatly disliked the smell and sight of blood, although tortures amuse him greatly. In essence he was a coward, prefer to be somewhere safe to watch the action rather than be in the action. A soft call from somewhere outside the tent disturbed his thoughts.
"Lord Dong Zhou," the woman called. "It's Diao Chan, may I come in?"
Annoying the fat man grunted, and the dancer walked in gracefully. An expression of horror ran across her face as her eyes settle on the battered young man chained to the wooden frame, but it quickly disappeared to avoid arousing suspicion in the cruel man whom she serves.
"The moon is beautiful outside, my lord." The young woman gave the most brilliant smile she could muster. "May I suggest we drink wine under the sky to enjoy ourselves? It's much more amusing than playing with a gutless dog."
"Hmm." The fat tyrant actually looks like he was considering the proposal, and his bean-sized eyes darted from the young woman to the young man, both are toys in his eyes. But like the spoiled child that he is, the newer toy always seems to be more fun and exciting.
"Maybe later," Dong Zhou replied. "Can't you see I'm busy right now?"
"But my lord," the singer nagged. "That'll be too late!"
"If I say later, it'll be later!" The fat man yelled at the girl. "Now leave and make sure everyone stay away unless I call for them."
The maiden bowed and turned around, she gave the young man an apologetic look and mouthed the word 'I'm very sorry' before she hesitantly flipped the tent door open and left.
By: Yeu
This is the make-up-for-all-the-short-chapters chapter (That was a mouthful.) Sorry for not updating for so long, if you want to know the reason, go read my bio. I had checked and rechecked the story to make sure it has as little mistakes as possible, but if you catch one, please e-mail it to me. Which reminds me, now taking applications for a beta-reader ^_^
I know I said I'm going to put in the surprise in this chapter, but since I've never written anything near sexual before (Kissing, hugging, sex. you get the idea) I'm hitting quite a large writer's block. And after you read this chapter, I think you can pretty much guess what's going to come next, but I'm still trying though. This chapter somehow turned out to be more plot orientated than I had planned, but I promise, I will get to the action.
And since the content of the next chapter will be quite heated, I will change the rating for this story to R or NC-17 once Chapter 8 is updated, which will not be for a while if my memory problem doesn't improve soon. Reviews would be appreciated so I can know which way the readers want the story to go.
Thank again to Koei and Omega-Force for making the wonderful game possible and to let more people get exposed to the Chinese culture.
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"My Lord!" The soldiers guarding the gate to the divisional camp were very surprised to see him. "What are you doing here? Where are your bodyguards? Why didn't you send word you were coming?" They fired off a barrage of questions.
"Never mind that!" Zhao Yun answered sourly, he had spent all night on horseback without break and he was very tired. "Get me the commanding officer here, I want all the details about the failed attack within half an hour."
Rushing his horse like there is no tomorrow, the Little Dragon managed to make the day trip in only half a day, but his horse looked quite drained as he climbed off the poor animal. Zilong let himself be led to a large tent where Officer Lai Tong was already waiting for him, along with scrolls and scrolls of lists and reports. Wearily the tiger general flipped thought the piles of intelligence and forcing his already exhausted mind to absorb the information.
"If I may ask, my lord." Yan Yan, an officer, asked meekly while he went through the reports. "Where are the reinforcements?"
"There won't be any." He was too exhausted to sugarcoat anything for the poor man. "Make do with what you have."
The crowd panicked. "But Lu Bu is out there!" They shouted. "We need more men or we'll all be killed!"
"Which reminds me." Zhao Yun rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand. "Get me the men who stayed behind with General Jiang and also those who said they saw Lu Bu. Bring me some food and drink too, I'm starving."
By the time he was done with the questioning, the man from Changsan swears he was seeing doubles. He felt drained and tired to the bone, but there was so much to be done, and simply no time to do them all.
According to the men, there was no mistake that it was the God of War himself. Although the Little Dragon never had the chance to see the giant personally, he is quite sure he doesn't really want to anyway. After questioning several more common soldiers, he asked for the team of bodyguards that was suppose to follow Jiang Wei, but was told that none of the team members had returned.
"They probably were afraid that if they return they would be put to death for abandoning their officer." Yan Yan commented.
Zhao Yun cracked a dry laugh, another thing in which to the punishment is death. Everything seems to be punishable by lopping your head off; a man's life is just too cheap nowadays, except when you become famous. Then your life's worth depends on how much bounty other factions put on your head and you actually has to start worrying about assassins whom are mostly farmers trying to feed their families. Still, without more information, the only thing he could do was to go to the place where the last confrontation occurred.
But before that, he definitely needs some sleep. Looking at the position of the planets in the sky, it has been more than 30 hours since he last slept. The men led him to the only empty tent in the camp, since all others are filled with the wounded, which is the tent of their absent commander, Jiang Wei.
As Zhao Yun stepped into the quiet shelter, he wondered what the young man did the last few night he was there. The books were stacked up neatly in one corner while the weapons and armors piled the other. Some spare robes lay on the bed sheets but were neatly folded. In all, the small space was very clean, unlike that of his own tent, although he wasn't messy, he wasn't that neat either.
Sitting down on the cool sheets, he can't help but to wonder where Jiang Wei is and his current condition. Pushing the folded shirts to one side and pilling his boots off, Zhao Zilong slowly lowers himself on to the bed and closed his eyes.
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Jiang Wei could not tell if it is morning or not from the inside of the tent, but the sounds of the birds singing signifies the coming of a new day. He shook the sleepiness from his pounding head, no matter how tired he was, he could hardly get any sleep when he is tied to a large wooden pole.
"Good morning, my lord." Diao Chan smiled pleasantly as she entered the tent with a tray of food. "You haven't eaten for days, you'll need to eat if you want to recover soon."
As if responding to her statement, his stomach growled it's agreement and the young man sheepishly laughed.
"I do not have permission to untie you so I hope you'll be okay with spoon feeding." The girl set the tray down, and he saw several buns, rolls and a steaming white soup on it.
"Doesn't it seem to be too much for one prisoner?" He asked her.
"What they don't know they can't tell." The maiden playfully put a finger to her lips. "Besides you'll need a lot of energy. Lord Dong Zhou will be summoning you later today."
"Wonderful." The young man rolled his eyes, but took a bite of the roll that she held up to his mouth.
"When he summons you," The girl cautioned. "Try not to be too headstrong, and definitely try not to talk back to him. I know you men need to show your courage, but trust me, that will not be the time."
"Then what should I do?" Jiang Boyue frowned. "Act like a spineless worm?"
"Anything, just don't arouse his attention too much," Diao Chan blow on the soup to cool it down before spooning the liquid into the prisoner's mouth. "If you trust me on nothing else, just believe me on this one. It's for your own good."
The rest of the meal continued in silence, although there seems to be more the girl wanted to say, she kept her mouth closed. The young general on the other hand, devour the food so fast that Diao Chan feared he would choke. After the meal, she changed his bandages again and reapplied the ointments, even giving him medication. When he questions her on her generosity, she would not answer but he knows that what she is doing is against the rules.
The time come too soon for the meeting, the girl came with two guards that untied him from the post but kept his hands bind behind his back. The trio led him from the small tent, which he had been sheltered and for a moment the strong sunlight blinded him.
Dong Zhou's camp was much bigger than he had imagined, and the young general is quite surprised that the tyrant still had that many men following him. The numerous tents covered an entire basin, which was surrounded by a lush forest.
The singer led him to a giant tent decorated with gold and jewels and the sight of it somehow aroused anger in the young man. Dong Zhou was know to forcibly take treasures and women away from its rightful owners back in the days when he was still in power, sometimes even stealing from graves. Jiang Wei secretly wondered if he had plundered more people to keep up with his lavish lifestyle, and the young man secretly promise himself that he would make the tyrant pay somehow. Still, the short walk did miracles, although the wounds were still painful, it was nice to stretch his muscles.
The inside of the tent was vast and even more richly decorated to the point of being garish. Everything was gilded with gold and jewels, and hides of rare animals scattered on the floor, while priceless ceramics were tastelessly placed. The plump dictator slumped on a grand chair raised on a slight platform while young maids served him wine as his pea-sized eyes studied them with a perverted intention. His officers sat below him and were feasting on foods they recently stole from a nearby village, the noise quite down as the famous singer entered with the prisoner.
"I have brought the prisoner my lord." Diao Chan reported with her musical voice and retreated to stand next to the lazy man as the guards pushed the youth to his knees.
"Ah, so this is the prisoner?" Dong Zhou mused, already a bit drunk. "Why, I was expecting a real man from Zhang Liao's reports, but this is just a wimpy boy!"
"That is indeed the right man, my lord." Zhang Liao reported. "He burned many of our troops to death when he set fire to the forest."
"Well, you people need to reconsider yourself then." The fat man burped lightly. "Only the stupid will be tricked by such a weakling."
The young general tried very hard to swallow his pride and let the name calling pass, Diao Chan's warning still fresh in his mind. Still, he could not help but give the old pervert a nasty glare, but the young woman next to Dong Zhou immediately to try to signal him to stop when she caught his eyes.
Doug Zhou lazily sits up on his cushioned chair, studying the captive. "I still can't believe you are hindered by such a womanly boy, Lu Bu." The foster father said to his son. "You are loosing your touch."
The said general grunted but said nothing.
The fat tyrant continues to study the young man, and his stares made Jiang Wei feel increasingly uncomfortable. The young man felt quite naked under the perverse look of the tyrant, and he looked away in disgust.
"Embarrassed, my pretty?" Dong Zhou burped lightly again, wiping his greasy fingers on a luxurious fabric nearby as he got up from his seat and wobbled down the platform. "Don't be, let me look at that handsome face of yours."
The youth nearly gagged as the stink of grease and other unpleasantness assaulted his nose and was even more revolted when the stumpy fingers touched his face. He always had put a lot of emphasis on personal hygiene, sometimes even ordering the troops under him to take a bath before he will see them after battle. Not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a more grimy man than the overweight fool in front of him. And his unwillingness shows on his face as he wrinkled his nose and held his breath so he would not get sick from the stink.
"Such a pretty you are, my boy." Dong Zhou slurred again. "Why, I haven't seem a boy as pretty as you since I escaped from the Imperial palace."
"My Lord!" Diao Chan suddenly called, and Jiang Wei could detect a bit of nervousness in her voice. "You should not be examining the prisoner personally." She forced a fake smile and moved to herd the drunken man back to his seat. "Let one of the officers earn their keeping and you can sit comfortably while you watch the questioning."
At first the plump dictator seemed to object the notion, but being too drunk to protest, he allowed himself to be lead back to his seat where he immediately slump back into the numerous cushions. Zhang Liao took over the process from there, being the only other officer who was at the scene besides Lu Bu, whose lack of word skills are almost as world renowned as his skill in battle.
The beginning part was almost procedural, the question consist of what is your name, your rank, what did were your responsibility, that kind of thing. Jiang Wei replied to the questions in a cold, unfeeling tone. Except for his name, he gave nothing else away, even when they threaten to whip or impose other punishment on him, he only stayed silent.
"Ah, I know who he is!" A weedy looking man suddenly said from his seat as Zhang Liao were getting quite frustrated with the stubborn youth. "Jiang Wei, I heard that is the name of a Wei general who now sides with Liu Bei and the Shu. Zhuge Liang had even taken him as his pupil. This youth fits the description that I heard, it is probably the same man."
Jiang Wei was both surprised and pleased with the revelation. Although he was caught off guard that somebody in the camp were up to current news, he felt quite pleased with himself as gasps of shock and murmurs of surprise filled the tent.
"So this is Zhuge Liang's new student?" Zhang Liao mused. "No wonder we fell for his trick."
"Ah, you guys are over reacting." Dong Zhou mumbled on his chair, eyes half closed. "What can this skinny little boy do? And that Zhuge Liang is just a idiotic fake."
The young man could take insults on himself, but it was too much to listen to insults pointed at his teacher. At first he tried to stay quite, keeping the singer's warning in mind, but Dong Zhou would not stop, but kept blabbering on in his drunken state. Finally, the youth could take no more.
"Someone who is surrounded by swines," He said icily, "can only see from a swine's point of view." Diao Chan tried desperately again to signal the youth to stop with her eyes, but he ignored her.
"Well, well, the boy has a backbone. I like that." The plump tyrant laughed after his initial shock passes, which surprised Jiang Wei, he was expecting to the dictator to start fuming. "Boys like that are hard to find these days."
"Rather be a boy than a brainless pig who feast on other's waste." Jiang Wei spat, ignoring repeated shouts from the surrounding officers and the guards to shut up. "Tell me, it is nice eating other people's shit?"
"It is very disgraceful for you to lose your temper like that, Boyue." A voice suddenly said from somewhere out of the youth's sight. But he didn't need to see the speaker for him to recognize the voice.
"Zhang He, you faggat, what are you doing here?" Jiang Wei said, not bothering to look around, partially to hide his own surprise.
"Well you know, Lord Cao Cao need some alliances, and we are here as his representatives." The lithe man walked slowly into the young man's view. "But I must say, we missed your company. Life is so boring when those who we love is not around."
"We?" Jiang Wei repeated.
"General Zhang, do you really enjoy being misunderstood that much?" Zhen Ji asked annoyingly as she joined the smirking man.
"Greetings, Lady Zhen, I apologize for not being able to greet a lady properly." The young man said from his kneeling position.
"Well, you were always one of the most polite man I know, but." She sighed and said no more.
"So this youth is the Jiang Wei that we've heard in the news?" Zhang Liao asked the guests.
"Why yes, he is, or he was my dear, dear friend, Jiang Wei." Zhang He made a dramatic frown. "I did miss him so when he sided with the Shu and abandoned me to my misery."
"Shut up, you eunuch, no one will think you are mute if you don't talk." The ex-Wei general said with much frustration.
"Why, you surprise me, Boyue." The shirtless man feigned shock. "Lady Zhen and Miss Diao Chan is here, how can you use such horrid language? Is that what Zhuge Liang is teaching you?"
"Why you worthless mutt." If not for the guards holding him down, Jiang Wei would have charged at his former comrade. But Zhang He only laughed and ignored him.
"Well, I have a proposal to make, my lord." The clawed general turned to Dong Zhou. "Forget the gifts, let us have this prisoner to take back to Lord Cao Cao and I personally will guarantee you that the treaty will go through." Zhang He knew that he was offering a good deal, Cao Cao will be so delighted in having the traitor back that he will agree to almost anything.
Dong Zhou, who had been watching the scene with a faint smile of amusement thought about the offer. "No." The overweight man finally said. "I have some other. design in store for him."
Stunned silence suddenly covered the tent. "But my lord," Zhang Liao protested. "I strongly suggest you agree to the terms, it is greatly in our favor!" Murmurs of agreements rise from the other officers, but that only angered the large dictator even more.
"I'm the one in charge here, and I said no." Dong Zhou bellowed, and turned to the pair of Wei generals. "The gifts are prepared, you can leave the day after tomorrow. You are dismissed."
Zhang He's face showed great displeasure, but he and his companion bowed and left the tent wordlessly.
"And being the prisoner to my tent, I shall examine him personally." The man throws a precious jade cup on the floor in a fit of anger where it shattered. "All dismissed!" And with that, he turned and left.
Jiang Wei caught a look of terror on the young maiden's face as she looked at him, and some of the officers around him shared a knowing look mix with sympathy. He wished desperately to ask about his fate but the guards pulled him to his feet harshly and shaved him out the tent.
After a few moments walk, the youth arrived at another tent, only this one reeked of some smell he just can't identify. Dong Zhou was already waiting for them when inside the tent, and he ordered the soldiers to chain their charge on a peculiar wooden frame that seems to have been made just for that purpose.
The construction is quite simple, and looked like a doorframe without the doors. The four corners of the structure all sport a chain that ends in a cuff. As he gets closer he could see the height of the thing is actually adjustable along with the length of the chains. Judging by the lack of any sophistication and probable sickness behind the concept, Jiang Wei didn't even need to guess who thought it up.
Sensing that is something more than the routine torture and that this is his last chance, also his preference for death over disgrace. He suddenly attacked the guards as they unbounded his hands to transfer him to the chains. The guards were taken completely off surprise, as the prisoner had been pretty docile. The youth's shoulder slammed into one of the soldier's chest and the man fell backwards, Jiang Wei then grabbed the other guard by the throat, but found he was too weak to break the man's neck like he had been taught. Improvising, he kneed the shaken guard in the face, breaking the man's nose. Throwing the guard aside, he quickly glanced at the frightened fool collapsed against the bed, although the young general desperately wished to kill Dong Zhou, he decided that he should escape first. The moment's hesitation, however, cost him the chance. As the first guard recovered from the shock and pain and immediately grabbed the youth's legs, tripping him.
The young man landed on his back, recovered and kicked the man holding his leg, and again his weakened condition sealed his fate. The few precious seconds that he needed to get the first man off of him, the second guard was upon him. Throwing his whole entire weight on the youth, efficiently restrained the youth's movements. And together with the first guard, they shackled the young man to the frame and quickly left with one of them holding his bloodied face.
"That was a good show you put on, my boy." Dong Zhou said evilly as he pushed himself from the place where he had collapsed, regaining his composure.
The young man glared at him with unyielding hatred, even spat at the man when he tried to advance on the imprisoned youth.
"Feisty." The arrogant man clasped his hands and rubs them together with expectation. "It has been a while since I last enjoyed myself."
"Well then maybe you should go out and roll in one of those mud holes you hogs seem to love so much." The young general managed to snicker despite of his predicament. "Or maybe it's the dung hole?"
With one swift movement, the plump dictator shoved a cloth gag into the youth's mouth to put a stop on the train of abuse. Then he stepped back and looks at his prisoner carefully again. Chained at all four limbs, the youth is kneeling on the ground while his arms dangle above him. His numerous wounds have been cleaned up and bandaged, but his clothing remains unchanged, coated in bloodstain and dust and ripped in many places. Also, the little scuffle was not without it's consequences, reopening some injuries from the look by some bandage's growing red stain.
Jiang Boyue has never felt so scared and helpless in his life, and he tagged at the shackles relentlessly, although he wasn't too sure as to what is going to happen, he sure as hell doesn't want to stay and find out. If the eyes of the sick man in front of him is any indication, he was pretty sure he would rather be dead than live in the shame of what the fat man has in mind.
Helplessly, he watched the man approached him, and panicked
Jiang Wei struggled desperately against his binds; not noticing the cuffs had began to dig into his skin and was drawing blood in addition to the already reopened wounds. So great was his desire to be out and away from where he is. But in his weaken state he could not even snap a branch much less break the metal chains.
Dong Zhou watch the youth struggle with a smirk on his face and licking his dried lips. The pure terror and hatred in the young general's eyes only made him even more aroused.
"Quite a beauty you are, my boy." The plump tyrant smirked. "Why, you would pass for a girl if you were in a dress."
The chain of harsh sounds the prisoner made was incoherent but it's meaning easily understood. The glare of death made no difference to the one time aristocrat, he knew the boy cannot escape from the binds and therefore poses no threat. But the bloodstained clothes were in the way of his fun, for a moment he contemplated about how to remove the torn fabrics without putting himself in harm's way. Although the youth is bind both hand and feet in addition to being gagged, his eyes look like that of a angry wolf being pushed too far to the point where he is desperate enough to do anything to be free again. At first he thought about slicing the robes away with his sword, but afraid he youth will try to impale himself upon the weapon.
He greatly disliked the smell and sight of blood, although tortures amuse him greatly. In essence he was a coward, prefer to be somewhere safe to watch the action rather than be in the action. A soft call from somewhere outside the tent disturbed his thoughts.
"Lord Dong Zhou," the woman called. "It's Diao Chan, may I come in?"
Annoying the fat man grunted, and the dancer walked in gracefully. An expression of horror ran across her face as her eyes settle on the battered young man chained to the wooden frame, but it quickly disappeared to avoid arousing suspicion in the cruel man whom she serves.
"The moon is beautiful outside, my lord." The young woman gave the most brilliant smile she could muster. "May I suggest we drink wine under the sky to enjoy ourselves? It's much more amusing than playing with a gutless dog."
"Hmm." The fat tyrant actually looks like he was considering the proposal, and his bean-sized eyes darted from the young woman to the young man, both are toys in his eyes. But like the spoiled child that he is, the newer toy always seems to be more fun and exciting.
"Maybe later," Dong Zhou replied. "Can't you see I'm busy right now?"
"But my lord," the singer nagged. "That'll be too late!"
"If I say later, it'll be later!" The fat man yelled at the girl. "Now leave and make sure everyone stay away unless I call for them."
The maiden bowed and turned around, she gave the young man an apologetic look and mouthed the word 'I'm very sorry' before she hesitantly flipped the tent door open and left.