Changed my pen name back to shadowwolf5889 again. It's letting me use numbers again. I have no clue what's going on with that. If my pen name ends back up as MalevolentPhantom again, then it's because it's doing that thing again. Well… that is unless someone else has taken that name by then. Also, don't get used to me updating so soon. I had a 4-day weekend and lots of time to waste. I'm shooting for trying to update once every week or two instead of every month, but I'm not sure how that will turn out.
Note: I think it takes about 6 weeks for broken bones to heal? Oh well. If it's not, it is now. Even if it isn't, I did say about six weeks, which could mean more if it is more. This chapter isn't very good in my opinion. Sort of boring I think. There's a lot of dialogue, so I hope you guys don't mind and I hope it doesn't get confusing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dynasty Warriors. Blah blah blah blah blah.
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CHAPTER 12 START
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It had now been about six weeks since Chi Bi. Yue Ying's arm had finally healed and she no longer had to wear any bandages or splints. She was now able to move it around as she chose, although it was still stiff and weak from being inactive for such a long time. Zhuge Liang still refused to let her train with her scythe. If she wanted to train, she had to use a lighter weapon. Another rule was that he had to be there to watch her. This really didn't make any sense to her. Of course he was trying to make sure that she didn't hurt herself again, but it's not like she was going to work herself up to that point; she would have stopped when her arm started to hurt. Didn't he have any trust in her? Did he not think her responsible enough to care for herself? She sighed and swung the small sword that she now used to train, hitting the sackcloth man stuffed with straw that was hanging from a wooden post. This was so boring. She turned around and looked at Zhuge Liang, who was sitting in a chair nearby and watching her every move.
"Urr…" She groaned when she saw how closely he was watching her. She couldn't train when someone was staring at her like that, so she walked over to him and placed the sword back on the rack where it and a few other various weapons were kept.
"Finished for today?" He asked lazily.
"Yes. I suppose so," she replied, with aggravation present in her voice. Zhuge Liang turned his head to look at her.
"What is the matter?"
"…Nothing," was the response he got as his wife barged through the door that led back into castle and slammed it behind her. Pang Tong just happened to be walking by and had seen the last few minutes of this.
"Wow. She's really mad at you. What's wrong Zhugey? Having marriage problems?" Zhuge Liang glared at him.
"Hmm… Pang Tong. Do you not still have to finish cleaning out the stables?"
"What are you talking about! I finished that about two weeks ago! You said I only had to do that for a month!"
"Yes, but apparently you had help."
"What?" Pang Tong looked offended. "How could you, my dearest friend in the entire world, accuse me of such hideous crimes? I did all that work on my own!"
"I? Your dearest friend? Why, I thought you said I was nasty, and that I was a slave driver!" Pang Tong's mouth dropped open for a minute, he closed it and said, infuriated,
"Did Yue Ying tell you? She promised she wouldn't say anything to you!" Zhuge Liang chuckled.
"Oh no. Yue Ying does keep her promises. What neither of you seemed to realize was that I had one of her handmaids follow her around secretly to make sure she did not do anything to her arm. The maid happened to notice the group you hired to help you. She also happened to overhear the conversation when you told Ying about them." Zhuge Liang's small smile vanished and his face darkened. "So, you were the one who egged my farmhouse. That is what I had suspected… Anyway, you now must once again clean out the stables for another month, alone. Well, except for the guards that I will post to watch you; guards that will not be swayed by your scheming tongue." Pang Tong stared at him.
"If you knew about that, why did you wait until now to tell me?"
"Why, you ask? I was going to let it slid… until you made that comment about my marriage."
"Urg… curse my stupid mouth…" Tong grumbled to himself, and then directed his speech towards Zhuge Liang. "Hey! You promised me that we would have a battle of wits!"
"What of it?"
"I challenge you now, Zhuge Liang! If I win, I don't have to clean the stables; if I lose, then I'll have to," said Pang Tong, and added, "Oh, and if you lose, you have to take my place and clean them!" He grinned mischievously. Zhuge Liang sighed.
"Very well. There is nothing else to do around here now anyway. What do you propose we do for this… battle?" Pang Tong thought for awhile.
"Well… perhaps not precisely a battle of wits, but I want to prove that my strategies are just as good as yours, if not better. Sometimes I look at your smug expression and think that just once, I'd like to beat you at your own game."
"I see… Very well. I believe that we should use the extra fortress nearby."
"You mean that one that we use to hold the soldiers that can't be fit in this castle?"
"Yes, that is the one. I am sure that the soldiers there need some training, they should be glad to participate. Even if they are not, we will make them. I will go ask Lord Liu Bei for permission to use it."
"Do you think he'll agree?"
"Probably. I did promise, and a promise is a promise. He will most likely uphold this. If not, I will find a way to persuade him," said Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong nodded,
"Good. Do you know how long it will take?"
"I am not sure. I guess we will just have to find out," replied Zhuge Liang. He stood and walked back inside the castle to see if Liu Bei could spare the time to talk to him about this.
x-x-x
It was later on in the day and Yue Ying was out in the courtyard. There wasn't any particular reason for her to be out there; she had just come to get some fresh air. As she walked along, Pang Tong popped up beside her.
"So… Zhuge Liang found out that I hired servants to help me clean the stables."
"He did? Well, I did not tell him. How did he find out?"
"He had one of your handmaids follow you around during the days when your arm was broken. She noticed the guys helping me, overheard our conversation, and ran straight off to tattle to your precious husband."
"What? He had sent one of my maids to follow me around? Urg!" Yue Ying looked furious.
"Why are you so mad at him?" asked Pang Tong, as he tilted his head to one side.
"I am mad because he does not seem to trust that I know how to take care of myself."
"I can understand that, but he was just trying to make sure you didn't get hurt again. That's also the reason why he won't let you train unless he's watching you."
"I already know that. But still… it makes me mad. I am not going to do anything that will hurt my arm again. I know what my own limits are."
"He's doing it because he cares about you, you know. I wish I had someone like him that cared about me that much, though, of course, I would want a woman and not a man. Don't you think you should consider yourself lucky to have someone like him?" Yue Ying stopped and thought for a moment. Pang Tong was right. She should consider herself lucky. Zhuge Liang really cared about her. There were a lot of other generals around here whose wives – since she was the only female general – didn't really seem to care much about them. They only cared that they had married someone of such high ranking. Although, that was also another reason for her to be lucky. Somehow she had managed to marry a very renowned strategist, despite however "plain" she was considered to be. She sighed.
"I suppose you are right. Thank you, Pang Tong."
"No problem! Now then… See, Zhuge Liang and me are going to have this battle sort of thing. I want to prove that my strategies can beat his. We're going to use that extra fortress that's nearby as our playground. I believe you have some of those Juggernauts over there, don't you? Do you think that maybe I can borrow them since I helped you with that, not to mention that I once saved your life?"
"What? No way!" exclaimed Yue Ying.
"Why not? I thought you wanted people to see how useful they were in battle. Wouldn't now be a good time?"
"I guess, but I am not going to just give them to you! You have to take them from me if you want to use them."
"…Does that mean that you're going to be there too?" asked Pang Tong.
"Yes, I must protect my inventions. Besides it would be better, would it not? You would have to find a way to get by me to get the Juggernauts, which is another way for you to prove yourself."
"Well, yes... but, do you think Zhuge Liang will let you go?"
"No, but I do not care. I will go anyway," she said defiantly. "He does not have to know that I am there, now does he?"
"He will find out eventually, and he will be mad."
"So be it. I do not care." Pang Tong shrugged.
"Fine.. Suit yourself. Just don't end up breaking your arm again. See ya later!" He walked off in the direction of the castle, but noticed something and stopped,
"Hey… If you're still mad at Liang, don't look over near the pond, okay?" He said, and then continued walking. Yue Ying looked over in the direction of the pond. There, hiding behind a tree, was one of her handmaids watching her.
"Ugg! He is still having her follow me around?" She asked angrily. The handmaid noticed that she had been spotted and turned around to face the pond. The woman appeared to be whistling, trying to pretend that she hadn't been doing anything. Yue Ying shook her head. She turned around and followed Pang Tong into the castle. If she was going to be watched so closely, she would rather it be done openly by her husband than by a maid spying on her, so she walked up the stairs and to the door that led to her and her husband's room. She opened the door and walked in. Zhuge Liang was sitting at a desk with scrolls scattered around him. He looked up when she entered and watched her as she sat down on the end of the bed. He wanted to say something to her, but didn't know exactly what to say, so he returned to his studies. Yue Ying sat there for a moment before walking over to a shelf and picking up a scroll for her to study as well. She went back over to the bed and laid down, with her head propped up by the headboard and a pillow, and began to read.
A few hours later, Zhuge Liang shook himself from his studies and looked up at her. He smiled and shook his head. She had fallen asleep. Silently, he got up and walked over to her.
'She looks so peaceful when she is asleep…' he thought and carefully removed the scroll from her hands and looked at it. 'Ahh… no wonder she fell asleep. I myself often fall asleep when I read this scroll,' and he placed it back on the shelf. From inside a chest, he pulled out a blanket and went and spread it over Yue Ying before going back over to his desk and continuing his studies.
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CHAPTER 12 END
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The next chapter will be based on Pang Tong's legend from DW4: XL, I think. Unless I change my mind. I might do something else. There's two ways I could go with this. Anyway, once again, I hope this chapter wasn't confusing with all the dialogue. You know how it tends to get confusing sometimes when there's a lot.
zhugeliangsgirl - Glad you liked it! I thought it was sort of stupid, but then again, I think everything I do is stupid. Wee! You updated your story again!
CrazyInsanity - Yup, that is me. Already told you that, but whatever. It's okay that you haven't reviewed much. As long as you are still reading, I don't really care if you review or not.
Guan - Yup. It is very a very interesting tale. You actually gave me the idea for this chapter, so thanks! I was going to make it be about the Battle of Luo Castle…
