Note: This story isn't historically accurate. The author made great use of historical license on writing it. The inaccuracy is designed to add to the dramatic aspects of the plot. The Huns' invasions and the first Japanese incursion into Chinese territory is at least two centuries apart. The military apparatuses used in the story are out of their respective Eras, as well. That being said, the cultural aspects of Chinese society were extensively studied and are, mostly, accurate, though. Enjoy the reading!

Flower of China

By Kath Klein

Translated by Yoruki Hiiragizawa

Chapter II

Sakura took two steps toward the window in front of her and lifted the curtains, looking out through it. "It's high! Dammit! I don't think I can jump through here…" She thought; trying to come up with a way out.

She suddenly felt herself being held from behind and tensed up as two strong arms enlaced her by the waist. An unusual heat spread through her body as she felt the man's lips on her skin when he started kissing her neck. Her heartfelt like exploding.

'Don't be afraid,' Li whispered in her ears, making her shudder from head to toe.

'No, don't!' She cried out, trying to get away from him.

He turned the girl around and glared at her while holding her arms. 'Look, bitch, I don't have the patience for theatre.'

'I already told you I'm not a bitch! Now let me go!' She pushed him forcibly, disentangling herself from his grip. Taking a step back, she pulled the hairpin out and pointed it at the man's chest. 'I'm warning you! I don't wanna hurt you, sir, but I won't lie down with you,' she said forcefully, trying to hide the trembling in her voice.

Li crossed his arms in front of his naked chest and glared at the girl in front of him. 'I should warn you that I can't stand this kind of scene,' he said, making her widen her eyes. 'I have pretty straightforward tastes, girl. So don't think that this act in defence of your virtue will arouse me. I'm not the kind of man who has these fantasies. Just lie on the bed and open your legs, already.'

Sakura felt a wave of revulsion that almost made her drop her impromptu weapon, yet she suppressed the nausea and held the hairpin even tighter, pointing it towards the Major. 'I'm not the kind of woman to make a scene, sir. I already told you that I'm not a bitch and if I'm here, it's against my will!'

'Argh, by the Ancestors! Again with this? I can't take it any longer…' Li hissed impatiently and took two long steps in the girl's direction.

She tried to stab him with her pseudo-weapon. However, a hair ornament in the hands of a little girl was of no consequence to a Major of the Chinese Army. Li quickly disarmed and restrained her, pinning the girl down on the bed with his own body and opening her dress.

Sakura felt her body heat up in embarrassment as the man touched her in a way no one ever had before. She didn't want that. When Li tried to open her legs, she reached out for the first heavy thing she could from the side table and bashed it against his head, causing the man to collapse over her body.

Sakura needed a couple of seconds to calm her heart and think clearly again. She pushed the heavy body away from her and stood up, closing her hanfu tightly again, breathing heavily. She looked at the man lying on the bed with a bloody head and a terrifying notion crossed her mind, making her shiver in fear, as she wondered if she had killed him. The girl hesitantly knelt down beside him and blushed as she placed her ear over his bare chest. She shied away, breathing easily as soon as she could hear his heartbeat.

'He's only unconscious…' she muttered, relieved. It would be no good if she had killed an Imperial officer. 'It serves you right! I warned you that I wasn't one of those women,' she taunted the big knocked-out man with a slightly tight-lipped smile.

Sakura stood up from the bed and neared the window, looking down. As she had thought, it was too high. She ran her hands through her hair and scrutinised the room, trying to figure a way out of there.

'I'll have to make a rope.'

She quickly went back to the bed and, pushing the Major's body aside, pulled the pair of sheets out, tying them together. It was still not enough to cover the distance to the ground. Thinking on her feet, she approached the door and just listened for a moment, before opening it to spy around the poorly illuminated corridor.

She tiptoed toward the next room and pressed her ear against the door. Upon not hearing any sounds within, she slowly opened the door, entering the room when she found it empty. She felt momentarily paralysed at hearing some loud moaning coming from the contiguous bathroom inside. Snapping out of it, she hastily pulled the sheets from that bed, as well, and covered the distance back to the door, tripping over a soldier's uniform. Sakura couldn't help opening a smile as an idea came to her mind.

If she went out dressed as a concubine, she'd attract attention and Quang Dan would probably find her in the blink of an eye. Now, if she dressed as a soldier, as a man, they'd never find her. She took the soldier's clothes and boots and bolted back to the room where the man was still unconscious, locking the door behind her.

Sakura tied all four sheets together and calculated that it would still not cover all the way down, but that she could just jump the rest of the distance to the ground. She took Li's sword and went to the bathroom, where she washed her face and cut her hair, being careful not to let a single strand lying around. She undressed the hanfu, tearing it down in a long sash, bound her chest, so that the volume of her breasts wouldn't ruin her disguise, and dressed up in the soldier's uniform. She had to fill the boots with rags before putting them on, to prevent them from flapping around. At last, she bundled her hair in what was left of the hanfu to drop it around somewhere.

She tied the rope to the windowsill and was about to climb down when her eyes settled over the man's unconscious body again. There was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind about leaving him there like that. The girl shook her head, looking away and thinking that he was a disgusting pig just like Quang Dan. When she looked at him again, lying there with a bloody head, she couldn't help consider that, even if he should have taken her word at face value, he didn't know how she ended up there.

She closed her eyes with an exasperated sigh. 'Damn you, heavy conscience!' She murmured, gritting her teeth.

She hastened back to the bed, taking off the pendant she had around her neck. Sakura held tightly to her only valuable good. If the man sold the jewel, he could make up for part of what he paid for her. She bit her lower lip and, taking a deep breath, placed her pendant in his hand, closing his fingers around it.

She looked back at his face. 'I don't like the idea of being indebted to anyone. I'll find a way to pay you what I owe you someday,' she promised sincerely, before leaping towards freedom.

Li opened his eyes, feeling the sunlight irritating his eyelids. He took one of his hands to his throbbing head and felt some dry blood on his fingers.

'Crazy bitch,' he hissed, remembering that he had been hit by something.

Li sat on the bed, finding it weird that the red sheets had disappeared from under him. 'Where's that lunatic?' He wondered, looking around the bedroom.

He felt something slide from his hand and looked down, seeing a cherry flower pendant there. He frowned, raising it to his eyes and staring at the delicate jewel while his other hand massaged his aching head.

'My money!' The Major suddenly widened his eyes, jumping out of bed and rushing in search of his coin purse to where he'd left his clothes in a pile the night before. He felt stunned to find it all there.

He looked around the room again, holding his uniform in his hands and approached the window at the sight of the sheets tied to it. Looking through it, he could see the girl's escape route.

'So she really didn't want to become a prostitute.' He shook his head with a rueful grin. 'Damn it! She cost me 300 coins...' he groaned, holding his head. 'And a headache.'

The Major washed his face and cleaned the blood from his hair, before dressing himself while thinking that he had wasted a perfect night off. Probably the last in quite a bit, as he'd have to present himself with his troops at The Forbidden City in two days for his new assignment. He looked through the window again, seeing that the sun was already high in the sky. They should've left Shanghai at dawn. He'd catch hell if he arrived late.

'Damn that girl!' He gritted his teeth while finishing putting his armour back.

He got his sword and was about to leave the room when his eyes locked on the pendant he'd left on the bed. He caught it and looked at it again for a long second, before deciding to tuck it into his pocket.

'Soldiers!' He mustered his men, walking down the hall toward the main room. Some of them were still asleep. 'Men, we're behind schedule to meet our Emperor, the Holy and Exalted One!' he cried, even more annoyed at the delay.

There was a turmoil as they regrouped back into formation. At some point, a soldier started complaining that he couldn't find his uniform, but Li paid no attention to that. He had his own problems and an aching head to worry about.

Mr Quang approached him, asking where his new precious jewel was and Li gave a gruff evasive answer, ignoring the establishment's owner as he headed to his stallion. He couldn't care less about the girl's whereabouts and Quang was lucky he didn't demand his money back.

Calling his soldiers again, he mounted the horse and took the lead on the ride to their destination.

Sakura walked aimlessly for the whole night. She had left Shanghai behind a few hours ago, taking a road to somewhere, though she had no idea where. What would she do with no money and nowhere to go? Where should she go? What could she do? She heaved a heavy sigh, thinking that she'd gotten out of the furnace only to get into the fire.

She held her stomach, hearing it rumble. She hadn't eaten anything ever since the previous morning. Sakura always thought Shanghai to be a prosperous and modern city instead of such a dirty and marginalised place.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of horses' hooves coming her way and felt her blood run cold. She forced herself to keep walking at a moderate pace without looking back and saw many of the horsemen pass by her without even a second glance until one of them stopped by her side.

'Hey, Soldier! What is ya doing he'e by ya'self?' The man called at her.

Sakura turned to look his way and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came to her mind.

'Ya clearly can't hold ya liquor yet, huh?' The soldier guffawed, loudly. 'Come on, Kid! I'll give ya a ride.' He held out his hand to her.

Sakura would love to say that it wasn't necessary, but how would she explain not being a soldier when she was dressed like one? She sighed and took the man's hand, mounting on the horseback behind him.

'Let's hurry! We've to join His Majesty's troops, but I think we're late…' The man explained, breaking into a gallop to catch up with the rest of the platoon. 'Plus, Major Li is in a terrible mood. It looks like the girl he paid for last night wasn't that good, if ya knows what I mean.'

In spite of her apprehension for being close to Major Li again, Sakura smirked, remembering the strong hit to the head she gave the Major. She hoped that he'd woken up with a serious headache.

The soldier that helped her out was called Yancha and was quite jolly, despite being fat and somewhat filthy. He had awful eating manners and an even worse hygiene. If she hadn't been starving to death, she'd never have accepted the slice of bread he'd offered her.

It wasn't a very long trip, but it was a tiresome one. The Major ordered them to ride at a gallop for almost two days, with barely any stop, except for the horses to rest.

Sakura thought it to be the perfect arrangement, once it gave the troop no time to notice a stranger amidst them. Even with some of them having been recently recruited by the Major on the way to The Forbidden City themselves, she'd rather keep a low profile. As soon as they arrived at the meeting point, she'd find a way to disappear.

They got within view of The Forbidden City before noon of the second day, just in time for the meeting. Sakura felt mesmerised by the sight in front of her as the platoon crossed the gates to The Forbidden City and joined the bulk of China's Army. There were legions, thousands of men, gathered in that wide-open area in front of the palace and Sakura unconsciously shrank behind Yancha.

Major Li went ahead at a trotting pace, as high and mighty as ever.

Sakura had kept an eye on him during the ride, trying to stay away from his view and noticed that, despite being feared and respected by the soldiers, the Major wasn't liked by a lot of people. No wonder, once the man barely spoke a word to his men other than to give orders.

Yancha had told her that the man descended from an impressive military lineage and that he'd been promoted at a young age, but that, even if he was an excellent warrior and had an extensive service record, several officers resented his rank.

The Major dismissed them and dismounted expertly, strutting toward another gate.

Sakura dismounted from the horse hardly feeling her legs. They were numb and sore. She had felt them cramp a few times during the ride there, but bore it well.

'Ya never been he'e, has ya, Kid?' Yancha asked, shaking his head while laughing at her obvious wonder.

Sakura looked away from the magnificent golden-plated buildings around them and coughed, trying to coarsen her voice. 'No, sir. I've never been anywhere so… impressive.'

'I also never been he'e. Our Emperor really is the Son of Heaven,' he commented with a trace of awe.

Sakura only nodded in agreement and followed Yancha around to join the rest of the troops while looking for a chance to escape. What she had grasped from the soldiers' chatter was that countless high ranking officers would assemble with the Emperor there today to strategize against the Hun invasion of the Chinese territory.

Sakura heard a crier sort out the soldiers into two different groups, directing the experienced soldiers to one side of the courtyard and the new ones to another. Both groups would be enrolled and then assigned to new troops and put under an officer's command.

She thought about taking that opportunity to flee, but Yancha dragged her with him to the draft line chatting with her enthusiastically. It was just her luck to befriend the friendless man and have him clinging to her like that. There was no way for her to get out of the noisy man's sight without getting attention, so she just remained in line in front of him under the scalding sun. The heavy and sweaty uniform along with all the prattle around her were causing her a headache and vertigo.

'Family name, boy,' a sullen voice demanded, startling her out of her distraught.

Sakura widened her eyes, looking at the soldier brooding at her from behind a desk. How did she get to the beginning of the queue?

'Are you a mute?' he sneered when she delayed.

'Hum…' Her mind went blank and she couldn't think of any name at all. Yancha have been calling her 'Kid', so she never thought about a name for herself up until now. She hesitated, biting her lower lip as she thought about what name she should give the man. 'Kinomoto,' she said, at last, giving her father's name.

The soldier raised his eyes, glaring at her. 'Are you Japanese, boy?'

'No, sir! I'm Chinese.' She replied out of habit, looking at the man in front of her.

The soldier frowned and looked at the scroll on his desk to write the name on it.

Suddenly, she widened her eyes, thinking of a way to be cast out from the army. 'My father was Japanese, though,' she said quickly, noticing that the man stopped the brush for a second before writing her name down.

'Hmph… Forename?'

Sakura hesitated for only a moment before answering with a name she remembered hearing somewhere. 'Touya.'

'Tou… what?' asked the soldier, trying to write her name on the scroll.

'Touya,' she repeated, still feeling a bit uncertain.

'Never heard of it…' Mumbled the man. 'Age?'

Sakura almost gave the man her real age but refrained herself just in time when she thought she'd never pass as a 16-year-old boy. They'd certainly suspect of her due to the lack of beard. She'd need to say she was younger, but it couldn't be too young. How many years have passed since the Japanese troops were defeated? Was it ten or twelve? Either way, that was too young to pass as her age.

'I'm 14.'

The soldier sighed, staring at the little boy in front of him for a few moments. 'Kinomoto Touya, your number is 678. Keep it in mind.'

'Yes, sir,' she said, feeling downcast about being unable to escape.

She walked away, dragging her feet while hearing Yancha boisterously answering the same questions. She scoffed and shook her head when the soldier asked the man "how much he weighed" and Yancha stammered, trying to convince him that all that fat was, actually, muscle.

Sakura sat, leaning against a wall and analysed that sea of men, wondering how would she get out of the mess she found herself in.

Major Li was seated beside various men, all dressed in pompous military attires elaborated for the sole purpose to showcase their high power. He could honestly say that he saw no good reason to hold those so-called strategic meetings. They never got anywhere because there was no one among those many officers who really excelled as a strategist.

He slouched comfortably in his seat, lightly massaging his head on the spot where that girl had hit him. A small smile played on his lips as he thought of her. He might've been a bit drunk, but still remembered the girl's amazing green eyes. That was what had attracted him the most. It was exceedingly rare to see Chinese women with such beautiful eyes.

For a brief moment, he thought about where she might be, hoping that she had successfully escaped Quang Dan's hands, as she seemed to have been there against her own volition. However, escaping was also a grim fate for a young woman all alone in a city like Shanghai. He knew, by their brief encounter, that she had a strong temperament, but wondered how long she would be able to avoid some other man's advances.

He felt his chest constrict a bit by thinking that, if she didn't have such a strong disposition, he would have ended up raping her. He furrowed his brow at that thought. He wouldn't deny that he enjoyed sleeping around with prostitutes and, sometimes, with naïve young ladies, but he had never resorted to brute force to get what he wanted of them. He had never needed to. He either seduced them or paid for what he wanted because he considered forcing women to sleep with him to be demeaning and cowardly, both of which were inconceivable in his opinion.

He ran his hands through his hair, tousling them even more than they already were. After that mess of war was sorted out, he'd go back to Shanghai and search for the girl to get to the bottom of that story.

He sighed, looking at one of the great hall's corners while listening to the cacophony of voices trying to reach the best solution on how to defeat the Hun invaders, who had already destroyed several border villages before they could get any closer to their sovereign's palace.

A sudden stillness descended upon the room as everyone hushed and Li heard the sound of chairs scraping the floor. While absent-mindedly thinking about the green-eyed beauty, the Major failed to notice that the His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Wei of the Great Fu Dynasty had entered the room, followed by the Imperial Highness, Prince Yue, and his five most trusted Councillors.

'Major Li.' He heard the familiar voice of the Emperor and looked up, seeing the man himself almost in front of him with a stern look on his face for finding him still seated. Every officer in the room had prostrated themselves on their knees - except for him.

He floundered and knelt, bowing his head in sign of respect and to try covering up his embarrassment. 'Yes, Your Royal Majesty?'

'You seemed to be quite spellbound.'

Li heard the prince sneering and frowned, raising his eyes just enough to see the Emperor's reproachful look for his son before turning to look his way again.

Emperor Wei was an elderly wise man, owner of a keen and ingenious mind, whom he greatly revered. His father, General Li Shang, had been Wei's closest friend and confidant before dying in combat, which was why the Emperor held him in high regard. Unfortunately, the Emperor's favour often caused great animosity between the Major and the Prince who was almost ten years younger than him.

'Forgive me, Your Majesty,' he pleaded, humbly.

Wei looked at him and offered a weak smile, gesturing for everyone to rise and resume their seats. 'So, gentlemen, what can we do to protect our lands and our people from the Huns?' he inquired, taking a few more steps towards his throne, but stopped in front of the Major, watching him closely as if searching for something in his face.

'We were discussing that, Your Majesty,' stated a General, making him look away from Li and resume his walk up to his throne, where he sat facing everyone.

The Elder was truly worried and not only about the slaughter ongoing in China. With a heavy sigh, his eyes locked on the young Major again. 'What do you think, Xiao Lang? What shall we do?'

Li took a deep breath, trying to buy some time and think about something to say. He knew the Emperor had only singled him out because he noticed that he hadn't been paying attention to the discussion going on in that room.

'We're at war, son. We need to find a way to defeat the enemy or we'll continue to lose precious lives. If General Li were here, he wouldn't be distracted,' the Emperor said patronisingly.

'I'm certain that he wouldn't, Your Majesty,' he answered, grudgingly. Xiao Lang saw Prince Yue looking his way with a murderous look in his eyes.

Wei nodded, with a kind and patient smile on his face, before turning back to the most seasoned officers trying to come up with a plan.

The Major remained silent for the rest of the meeting, feeling rattled by the way the Emperor treated him. It seemed like Wei would always see him, not as Major Li Xiao Lang of the Chinese Imperial Army, but as the brat, the son of his good friend Li Shang.

Sakura was munching on a slice of meat that had been given to the soldiers who were waiting for their new orders, while absent-mindedly listening to Yancha running his mouth. She had already noticed that the big guy was full of hot air, but, listening to him talk to the other men about women and fighting, she came to realise that all of them were the same.

She heaved a sigh, leaning back on the wall behind her and looking up with narrowed eyes as she thought about what to do now that she was left to her own devices. She couldn't go back to Yuhan. Mrs Yang would probably send her back to Quang Dan, or perhaps the greedy old woman could try and sell her out to another whoremonger to make even more money out of her. No, she couldn't go back and therefore had nowhere to go.

A lone woman, with no family and no husband, was as worthless as a stray dog feeding on the leftovers and rummaging in the garbage. Her throat constricted and unshed tears stung her eyes. She had to control herself and look brave. She couldn't cry or it would all be over. Real men don't cry, wasn't it what they always said?

At nightfall, the Emperor himself showed up at the Palace's balcony alongside the strong arm of the Chinese military. Looking at the elderly man, Sakura felt like there stood the kindhearted father of their great empire. Every soldier at the courtyard stood up to listen to their patriarch's words.

'Honourable Men of China! We are at war!' the Emperor hollered, despite the frail and kind appearance. 'Our lands have been invaded by villainous men who pile our money, burn our farms and homes, kill our children and defile our women!' he proclaimed and then halted his speech, looking out for the soldiers' reaction and noticing that he had them riled up. 'We need to protect our lands and the lives of our people!'

The soldiers roared afire with every word uttered by their leader and, even Sakura caught herself cursing China's invaders along with the other men.

'We'll reassign you into new troops and we'll defeat the Huns. We'll show them that the Chinese men are forged by the rage of war!'

The soldiers cried out, frenzied and Wei said a few more words, before departing alongside with his trusted men. In the wake of his withdrawal, a soldier began to sort numbers followed by an officer's name. Sakura sat back again, but the rest of the men were unable to sit still as if they were ready to go to war.

'From the number 1 to 100, report to Captain Ming Chan!' The soldier howled, separating the hundreds.

Sakura looked at Yancha and asked him which number he was given.

'679! I'm in the same group as ya, Kid!' the big man laughed, patting her on the head.

'But I was right behind you and got 514,' Said a soldier who came with them along with Li's platoon. 'How are they classifying us?'

Sakura looked around at the men that had already been called out as they flocked around their designated commanding officers. 'I think they've sorted us by strength.'

'Then I'm in the same group as a kid?' Yancha complained loudly.

'It's your own fault for being fat as a pig!' Another soldier declared, bursting out laughing along with several others.

'From 601 to 700, report to Major Li Xiao Lang.'

Sakura widened her eyes at the name of the commanding officer in charge of her group. It was just her luck! She was grudgingly dragged by Yancha to the North Wing, where the Major had been posted.

It seemed that her chances of escaping that man and the situation she found herself in turned increasingly impractical. If Li even started to imagine that she was a woman, she'd certainly be beheaded in the town square.

To be continued.

Edited: November 28th, 2019.