Sun Jian sat pouring over maps, papers, and letters. The heat was beginning to give him a headache, which was the last thing he needed at this point. The kingdom had been in a state of ecstasy ever since the wedding of Lu Meng and Li Tai. But now he had to get back down to business. He needed to tend to the army, check on the neighboring cities, and commence border control. The Tiger of Jiang Dong let out a heavy sigh at that thought. He absolutely hated checking his borders with Shu and Wei. There was almost always an ambush of some kind, with the other lords complaining that they were trespassing on their land. But it was a necessary evil, and luckily one that didn't take very long.

He looked up when the door opened to see his oldest son, Sun Ce, and his friend, Zhou Yu, heading over to the table. "Got your message, Pop. When are you planning on leaving for patrol? Zhou Yu and I can round up a bunch of guys for ya whenever you need 'em."

"I think I'm just going to take a handful of men with me, son. I called you in because I want you to be in charge while I'm gone. Border checks should not take very long, but I want you here in case something happens. Can you do that for me?"

Sun Ce puffed out his chest a bit. "Sure thing, Pop. You can count on me." Zhou Yu coughed a bit but said nothing. As Sun Jian was about to go back over his maps, the door opened again. This time Huang Gai and Lu Meng entered, bowing before they reached their lord. Sun Jian nodded to them and pointed to a section on one of the maps in front of them.

"I am going to take you men on border patrol with me. We are going to leave in a few days, and we're only taking a handful of the soldiers with us. I have already sent Taishi Ci and Gan Ning to check the Wu and Shu borders. We shall be checking those with Wei. I will need each of you to select about fifty men from your ranks to accompany us. Tell them to be ready to leave within three days." Sun Jian let out another heavy sigh as he looked up at his officers. "I must admit that something about this is making me feel uneasy. Therefore, I want to get this done as quick as possible. I hope you all understand." The others in the room nodded and began to file out of the hot room.

Sun Ce fell into place beside Lu Meng as he headed down the hall. Slapping a hand onto the officer's back, he gave him one of those mischievous grins. "Meng, why so down?"

Lu Meng raised an eyebrow at the Little Conqueror. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on. I saw your face drop when my dad said you were going on border patrol." Zhou Yu rolled his eyes from the other side of Sun Ce. Lu Meng frowned.

"Yes, my face may have dropped. Do you know why?" Sun Ce opened his mouth to say something but was cut off. "Because I hate border checks. Do you remember the last time I went on one, what happened then?"

Zhou Yu sighed at that. "I remember. We were checking Shu borders when we were ambushed. We thought Liu Bei had sent men to attack us, so we killed the attackers. As it turned out, it was just a farmer and his family who wanted us off of their land. What a mess that was."

There was silence for a few moments, then Sun Ce threw his hands into the air. "You know, I was trying to make this conversation lighthearted and fun for me, and you guys just ruined it." The pout on his face made Zhou Yu laugh.

"I am sure Lu Meng will miss his wife while he his gone and she will miss him as well." Sun Ce continued to pout until his best friend began to steer him down the hallway that led outside the palace. "I have an idea that will cheer you up. Why don't we go watch the girls practice in the training yard? Seeing Da Qiao fight always brings a smile to your face." Sun Ce just shrugged his shoulders, but Zhou Yu and Lu Meng exchanged playful grins, and taking his arms, marched him outside into the warm sun.

Li Tai was in a very uncomfortable position. The sun was bright today, making it hard to see her opponent. It didn't help that all the other soldiers were now gathered around them, causing the sun to reflect off of their armor and into her eyes. In fact, that was the reason she was in this odd position. Bent over backwards with her feet planted firmly into the ground, she had her long sword right above her face. She was desperately trying to push upwards, but her opponent had different ideas and was pushing downward with all her might. The only way for Li not to fall on the ground was to keep pushing, which was getting harder and harder by the second.

Just then, Li lost her footing and the world began to spin. She fell into the dirt and quickly rolled away from the other soldier so as not to lose her head. There was a collective laugh as she got to her feet, shaking the dizziness from her head. She scowled at the laughing soldiers around her until she looked up at her opponent. Sun Shang Xiang was sitting on the ground, also slightly winded. Apparently after Li fell and rolled away, Shang Xiang had fallen over and nearly pushed herself into her chakrams. The two girls looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Well, I guess we're done," the princess said as she got to her feet. Li grinned helplessly as she limped over to her friend and helped her pick up the chakrams. "Of course, we could go another round if you want."

Li shot Lady Sun a warning look. "Oh, please. I think I just pulled a muscle in my leg because of you. There is no way I'm going any more rounds with you today."

Sun Shang Xiang grinned. "Just kidding. Hey, lets head back to my room. It's so much cooler in there, and I smell like a man." Li laughed as Lady Sun took a whiff of her arm and screwed up her face. The girls made their way across the field towards the palace, passing the other soldiers and occasionally stopping to watch them. There seemed to be generally more laughter today for some reason. There were days in the training yard where the soldiers were all business, practicing like there was no tomorrow. But Li's and Shang Xiang's slight mishap during their exercises seemed to have made everyone silly. Soldiers were falling all over the place, laughing and trying the moves again. Li wondered how many of them were doing it because they were actually falling, or if they were still teasing the girls.

They were joined about half way to the palace by the Qiao sisters, who had been practicing earlier but were finding it hard to concentrate with all the giggling and such going on around them. Li found this particularly amusing with Xiao Qiao, who was always giggling about something. But today she just seemed agitated.

"It figures that the one time I really want to practice is the day everyone decides to be like me." The youngest Qiao folded her arms sternly across her chest, getting a raised eyebrow from her sister.

"Why so grumpy today, Xiao?" Sun Shang Xiang asked. "You are normally the epitome of happiness."

Da Qiao decided to answer for her sister. "Lord Sun Jian is commencing border checks again. That means most of the men will be away for a while, and the euphoria from the wedding is finally letting down. I think the combination is too much for Xiao."

"Wait, didn't he just do border checks not that long ago?" Li asked. Da nodded.

"Yes, but it seems that Wei has been stirring up trouble, and he wants them to be as secure as possible. So he's sending out some of his officers to check them and make sure Wei has not been scheming against Wu." Li nodded as the rest of the group headed back inside, thinking about Wei. She had heard that Cao Cao seemed to be getting restless, sending small parties across the borders and attacking farms and villages close by. While these were just rumors, it was not something Cao Cao was unwilling to do. Thus it was possible that the rumors were true. Li wondered who Sun Jian would send on such a mission.

"Hey hey! There they are!"

The Little Conqueror's voice brought Li Tai back to reality. He was waving furiously at the girls while Zhou Yu and Lu Meng followed close behind. Within seconds he had made it over and was grinning at Da Qiao, who responded by turning a shade of red. Xiao Qiao continued to be grumpy until Zhou Yu came over and put a hand on her shoulder. Lu Meng smiled at Li, who returned it with a grin of her own.

"Now this is a change," Zhou Yu said, looking down at his wife. "Normally you are the one bounding towards me. Did something happen that I should know about, Xiao?"

"Um, how about the fact that you're leaving?" she answered, perhaps a bit snippier than she normally would have. Sun Ce tried not to laugh, and Sun Shang Xiang punched him in the shoulder when he snickered. Zhou Yu let out a laugh of his own, then hugged her angry figure.

"Is this about the border checks? Well, you don't need to worry. I'm not going anywhere, and neither is Sun Ce." Xiao immediately looked up at him, her crossed arms unfolding as he stepped back.

"Really?" He nodded. Lu Meng took a step forward.

"I am the only one that's leaving," he said. Li immediately gave him a look of confusion and concern. "I am going to accompany Lord Sun Jian, along with Huang Gai, to check the Wei borders. It should not take long." Li said nothing but nodded. Not it was her turn to feel sad. They had been married only a month and already he was leaving. Li knew that such was the life of a soldier under Sun Jian, but since she would not be going with him she would miss him something awful.

Sun Ce sensed the change of mood and threw his arms up in the air. "Well, now that we have thoroughly depressed everyone here, shall we head back? I don't know about you guys, but I am absolutely starving!" Da let a giggle escape, and a much happier looking Xiao gave a nod in reply. As the group began to disperse, Lu Meng moved in step next to Li. He said nothing, but something in his eyes told Li not to worry, that this mission would not take long and he would be home soon. In response, Li slowly slipped a hand into his own, bringing a smile to his face again. Silently, they made their way back to the palace for a much needed break and time to think this whole situation over.

Once again, Cheng watched from the shadows as the group made their way back inside the palace. He grinned to himself as he slipped through the yard and into the stable, where he had left his horse. The best thing about spying on royalty was that everything was so large, no one would notice someone unfamiliar wandering around or an extra horse in the stable. After making sure no one was around, Cheng opened the stall to his horse, who gently nudged his arm.

"So, Lord Sun Jian is finally ready to move on with life, I see," he said to the horse. "This is very good. Tonight I shall send Cao Cao a letter, telling him to be ready. I love how that man thinks I am only trying to prove myself to him. Cao Cao sees nothing. He understands nothing. Does he not realize that a man's ambitions are greater than his loyalties?" The horse whinnied softly, and Cheng smiled. "You would think that a man like Cao Cao would understand that better than everyone else."

Cheng reached into the saddlebag on the floor and pulled out a note he had prewritten for Cao Cao. Tonight he would give it to one of the boys he had brought with him, and within a few days Cao Cao would be ready to put this first part of Cheng's plan into action. He just hoped that the Imperial Protector would be able to live up to his name and capture the great Tiger of Jiang Dong. Pocketing the letter, he gave his horse a final pet on the nose and swiftly left the stable. He would have loved to stay in the calm of the stable, but there were other things that needed to be done. Plus, he still had people to keep an eye on.

The mercenary let out a grin. At least this part was enjoyable.