5 is a magic number! Anyway, as you've probably guessed, the darling heroine [who's apparently not very girly] of our story is Zhang Hou Yi!
There's no romance here yet by the way. As a matter of fact, I personally think that this chapter is a bit boring since they're all just… fighting [make Love! Not War! Support Yaoi! Okay, I'm just shitting here… hahaha. Yes, even if I'm writing a regular pairing here, I am still a fan of shonen~]…
But this is just the beginning. I promise I'll try to do my best to make the next chapters good, so please inspire me with ideas to make this love story a beautiful one. I just can't stop saying thank you for having been patient until now, so thanks again!
Chapter 5
The first streaks of cold solemn sunlight began to seep through the thick blanket of darkness that covered the sleeping hills of Shanggui, while the cool breath of dawn cradled tranquility in her arms. There was the voice of peace in this silence…
But not for long.
A hoard of shadows came marching far away from the Shanggui fortress. And while the city remained in slumber, up on the stone watchtowers were the soldiers of Zhang Hou Yi, along with several other soldiers who were anxiously keeping vigil. But there was a difference between the two groups: one awaited the arrival of an enemy; the other, a guest. But they were altogether weary, naturally. They have been up all night, and the soldiers, especially those who weren't under Hou Yi, were fervently wishing that the next shift would finally arrive.
But it had already been hours since the assigned period, and their energies were at their very limit. They knew that as long as they were up there, they were serving as the eyes of the army—and they knew that they cannot falter. But they were tired. And the morning fog only made matters worse.
And this made it the perfect chance to launch an attack.
Just then, a loud rumble echoed in the distance, startling the drowsy watchmen. They squinted through the wall of mist but to no avail.
Suddenly, a huge object came soaring through the air in a perfect arc. Their eyes followed the path of the unusual shadow as it flew above their heads until they realized, to their horror—it was a terrifyingly huge boulder, and it crashed violently unto one of the structures within the city walls. A split second later another boulder was mercilessly hurled into the air again, this time, colliding unto the roof of the watchtower, tearing it off. The watchmen shook in fear at the sight of it, their morale instantly crumbled.
The attack had begun.
Hou Yi jolted awake at the first sound of war. She had barely slept, and it would be no surprise if the unholy ruin of morning calm struck fear in her.
But it didn't. In fact, she was almost pleased to hear it coming. What worried her was that the city might be left completely destroyed if this went on, and Hou Yi knew that if she didn't act quickly, Sima Yi's imminent refusal to yield would be the very reason for its destruction. And she will make him yield. The evacuated civilians… Hou Yi did not want to see the people homeless, or at least left with nothing to start rebuilding their lives with.
She got up and pulled on her leather armor over her cotton robe and proceeded to fasten the knots securely and comfortably in place. She had practiced doing this alone for days before returning to Wei as the wolf warrior. She knew that no one else must do it for her or she'll deliberately be exposing her identity. She put on the rest of her garb: boots, arm braces, the belt to which her swords were strapped, and the cloak—all in quick, skillful succession.
And finally… the mask. Before putting it on, Hou Yi decided to savor for a moment the feeling of nakedness; that solemn moment that she need not put on her alternate identity of a fierce and entirely fearless warrior that she knew she fully wasn't. It was as if the mask were a drug that drove her to be able to do anything—anything but act as a normal woman who had the ability to feel weakness.
Hou Yi ran her fingertips over the delicate carvings that formed the frightening deep-set eyes and for an instant, remembered the craftsman whom she first got it from in one of her travels. She felt the little scars that weathered the mask's wooden polished beauty that remained invisible in its whiteness. They were those scars that reflected the months she had spent pretending to fight for an army that she scorned, those wounds that had also left their mark in her heart.
At the sound of a couple of more rumbles, Hou Yi finally tied on her mask and headed towards the door. The moment she stepped out, she was again—the masked wolf warrior. No longer a woman. Not even a man. But just a warrior.
Jiang Wei was already up when Hou Yi called out to him from outside the sliding door of his room. He too woke up at the first sound of attack and was immediately prepared, his spear in hand. Hou Yi led Jiang Wei to a trapdoor hidden in the kitchen of the desolate tavern. They dropped in and went through a dark dry tunnel with only a lamp as their guide. They could hear the heavy steps that raced above them as they went. The Wei army was on the move.
When they reached the end, they climbed up a ladder and out of another trapdoor to a secret room in the city hall; it was a den full of defectors under the governor's roof, and the governor didn't even have the slightest idea about it. A little over a hundred renegades were rallied together by Hou Yi during the evacuation period and sent word that they go there in the meeting room last night. And even as chaos went about in and out of the city, in that hiding place they remained calm and awaited Hou Yi—or Zhang, as she was known to them.
And just as soon as they saw the trapdoor swing open and spotted Hou Yi's dark chestnut head surface from the opening, an old man immediately held out his hand and helped her up, while two more young men lifted Jiang Wei.
Straightening up, Hou Yi's eyes, hidden behind the mask, surveyed the men—young and old, soldiers and peasants, carrying swords and spears in their hands. These people have families, she knew that, and yet they were willing to die just so they could taste that promise of a benevolent rule that Shu upheld, or at least earn it for their wives and children who waited fearfully if they were to return.
"Men," Hou Yi began, putting as much strength and power that she could in her voice, "The day has come. You've come quite far in risking everything into doing this. But I can't and I won't promise you anything. Because all I can ever do is just tell you what to do without the assurance that it will go as perfectly as we wish it to."
"Instead," she continued, "I'll have to ask you to promise to yourselves that you will do everything that you can to prepare the way for our new ruler. Remember how your useless governor stole the grain from your barnyards and left nothing for your family to eat to satisfy his greed. Blacksmith Luo," she said, turning to a huge hefty man wielding an axe over his shoulder, "remember how the governor demanded you to make twenty swords for his army and never paid you for it?" the man frowned angrily and nodded his head.
"So to you, and to all of you who were victims of the governor's wickedness, now is the time to seize the power from him that should have been used to make you richer not poorer."
Jiang Wei was amazed at Hou Yi's speaking skills and could already imagine the fire in her hidden eyes as she spoke. Never in his life had imagined that Hou Yi could be the leader that she was now, and was anxious to find out the plans they have prepared.
"People of Shanggui… This city… is now yours!"
* * *
The group of men swarmed the city hall and divided themselves into groups as planned. Two groups remained in the building and fearlessly slew the soldiers that guarded the governor and seized him. The rest, armed with torches in hand, stormed out into the streets where bloody bodies skewered with arrows lay and began fighting the Wei soldiers who were already in utter disarray.
Jiang Wei and Hou Yi meanwhile raced towards the watchtowers, jumping away from the dangerous arrows that plagued the city. They had no time to lose; they needed to end this quickly. Before long, they arrived at the massive wall, now beginning to crumble after suffering from a number of huge boulders.
"Jiang Wei," Hou Yi said quickly. "Go up the watchtower, take up a Wei flag and burn it. Make sure they can see it. After I open the gate, I want you to go to immediately go to Zhuge Liang, all right?"
"Oh, and by the way," she added shortly before Jiang Wei left, "from now on, you'll have to refer to me as Zhang. Never ever use my real name in front of anyone okay? Pretend that I'm a man now."
Jiang Wei nodded his head in understanding and immediately headed towards the flight of stairs, beating anyone in his way with a powerful strike of his spear. He knew that Hou Yi, with her excellent skill with the sword can do fine job protecting herself.
Below, Hou Yi shot a glance towards the large sealed gates that were starting to yield to the heavy battering rams that charged into them. Then she turned to the Wei catapults that have ceased firing, and she knew that the defectors have accomplished the task of getting rid of the operators.
Then, calling out to Luo, the blacksmith and another number of men, they went to the gate and killed the guards in the way and lowered the bars that sealed them. They were nearly knocked back and moved away just in time before the battering ram swung again. The Shu soldiers, headed by Wei Yan were utterly baffled at what had just happened. But when they saw that the gates were open, the footmen wasted no time and entered the city.
While Zhuge Liang was watching all this at a safe distance behind the catapults, a soldier who had come all the way from the middle of the battle came running towards him. He was shouting something, but Liang could barely hear it, until finally, when the soldier came close enough he heard him shouting a name.
"Commander! General Jiang Wei is here!" And the soldier kept repeating it until he arrived in front of the Sleeping Dragon.
Just then, following closely behind him, was Jiang Wei with a grave look in his eyes as he gasped for breath. He bowed his head quickly and without delay told him what he needed to tell him.
"Prime Minister, I implore you to order a ceasefire at once." he said breathlessly.
"And why, Jiang Wei? Have you not been held hostage by their troops?" Zhuge Liang feigned not remembering the letter given to him. He first needed to know the truth.
"It is a complete misunderstanding sir. Ho…" But just before Jiang Wei could accidentally say Hou Yi's name, he at once remembered her warning and caught himself just in time.
"I mean—Zhang is a close friend of mine, sir. He has opened the gates and suppressed Wei's defenses by disabling the catapults and rallied defectors to suppress the counterattacks. He released me to tell you this, sir."
Zhuge Liang was quite surprised at hearing this. Jiang Wei would no doubt lie about something this important.
"Very well," Liang uttered.
"Soldier," he said, turning to the man who had run to him awhile ago. "Tell the catapult unit and the archer unit to cease fire. Let the footmen clear the city with any other remaining Wei troops and rally them in front of the city. I shall join them shortly."
The soldier nodded, and bowing his head, left to carry out the Sleeping Dragon's orders. Then, focusing his attention again on Jiang Wei, Liang spoke.
"How have you come to know Zhang?"
"He is a friend of mine when I was still serving in Wei, sir. He turned his back on Wei and wishes to pledge loyalty to Shu." Jiang Wei was slightly feeling uncomfortable about referring to Hou Yi as a man, but he made sure that he didn't show it.
"If he is truly a friend of yours, why attack the camp and kidnap you?"
"It was because he knew that at the period of war, it would be impossible to convince me of his intentions if he had contacted me indirectly. He wanted to personally see me, and thought that was the only way." Jiang Wei tried his best to play down the negativity of Hou Yi's false raid. "I believe no one got seriously hurt, am I right my lord?"
Zhuge Liang raised a brow. How did Jiang Wei know? Perhaps, Zhang was being honest in his letter, and told everything to Jiang Wei. Zhang was using Jiang Wei as a guarantee for his actions. But Liang was still not fully convinced. He needed to see Zhang for himself.
"Bring Zhang to me."
* * *
The full golden glow of the sun finally revealed its glory as it ascended into its azure throne. But as it shone down on the earth, it uncovered the darkness that kept hidden the hideous aftermath of the battle that had occurred. The corpses of the Wei and Shu soldiers, along with the defectors were sprawled on the ground and painted the grounds an ominous crimson. Sima Yi wouldn't like the sound of this and would again, suffer a barrage of criticisms from the Wei court. It would even be worse than the period when he hesitated to be the first to take up arms against Shu for tactical reasons.
Hou Yi surveyed the ravaged city of Shanggui as the eastern winds began to blow—lifting the lonely flags of both Wei and Shu, as if to console them in its embrace. It was that familiar scene again, where she felt so alone even in the midst of other defectors who managed to get through the battle who were now rejoicing. It was as if her soul and her body had become two separate entities, and she was watching herself and the bloody landscape from a distance, clutching her swords tainted with blood.
"Zhang!" The familiar voice yelled from a distance. Jiang Wei took care not to say her name aloud.
When Hou Yi turned around, she spotted Jiang Wei running towards her.
"The Prime Minister wants to see you! I've told explained everything to him, excluding your identity of course, but anyway—he's waiting outside! Go and see him."
It took seconds before Jiang Wei's words finally sank in.
"What?"
"The Prime Minister. He wants to see you."
From behind her mask, Hou Yi's eyes widened with panic.
"Wait! Oh no, do I look all right?" She blurted out.
"Heavens, Hou Yi. You're wearing a mask. How can anyone possibly see how you look?"
"Well…!" She was flushed with embarrassment. Jiang Wei was right. Hou Yi felt silly for her sudden reaction.
"Go on, he might get impatient. I'll be at your side."
And while the defectors were rejoicing, Hou Yi and Jiang Wei stepped out of the city gates where the Shu soldiers stood sharing with those inside, the same ecstatic expression of victory.
And there he stood. The esteemed Master Strategist of Shu, wielding his symbol of power—a beautiful white fan adorned with gold and jewels at its handle. But he appeared a simple man in minimally adorned silk and cotton robes with his long ebony hair flowing over them from his Taoist hat. He was a typical strategist with that typical air of an academe, complete with the mustache and a neat growth of hair under his chin so common among nobility and scholars.
But what caught Hou Yi's attention most was that somberness in his face. It was if he was void of any lightness. Then, she noticed his black eyes studying her—and for a moment she felt uneasy under his scrutinizing gaze. It was almost as if he could just see right through her mask.
"Bow," Jiang Wei nudged Hou Yi discreetly. At once, Hou Yi sheathed her swords and made a swift graceful bow. The gesture seemed to have made things lighter as Zhuge Liang returned it with an approving nod.
"You are Zhang, I presume." He spoke, his deep voice filled with a kind of richness to it.
"Yes, sir."
"And it was you who began the rebellion here in Shanggui?"
"Yes, sir." Hou Yi was hoping that Zhuge Liang would simply stick to asking questions that only required an answer of yes or no. But she kept her cool, and remained stoic as what felt more like an interrogation rather than a conversation went on.
Just then, Hou Yi was surprised when she caught an almost smugly amused smile creep into the Sleeping Dragon's seemingly serious face.
"Interesting." Liang said as he took a step forward, inching closer to Hou Yi. But Hou Yi simply stood still, never showing any signs of flinching. Why would I flinch? She said to herself. She was more arrogant than anyone can get, and she wouldn't allow anyone, not even a Prime Minister of a kingdom to intimidate her.
"And what is Shu going to benefit from you, should I allow you into my army?" The question made Hou Yi think twice before answering. She could never tell him of her true intentions of merely using Shu to her advantage for her plans of revenge against Sima Yi. No, she could never directly tell him that.
"Shu," she said with much conviction, "will find itself possessing a warrior who's been through enough to make him wonder and see for himself if this so-called reign of virtue could actually be possible." Hou Yi wondered if Liang may have just gotten the hint in her clever answer. But to Liang, it only seemed that there was a certain determination burning in Hou Yi.
"Do you mean that you doubt that Shu will succeed in its aspirations?"
Hou Yi simply gave a haughty grin of her own. "Prove me wrong then."
The line of soldiers that stood behind Zhuge Liang was shocked at Hou Yi's bold statement. She was talking to a feared man in the army, and yet here she was intrepidly facing him. They wondered if her act was of great courage or plain ignorance.
But instead of being offended, Zhuge Liang was rather amused by her guts that he nearly chuckled as he fanned himself with his grand feather fan. He had not seen such fire in anyone around him for quite a while. And something about the audacity in this warrior caught his interest.
"My, my, such a brave one we have here. I need more people like you in this army." He said as he finally stepped away from her.
"Then does that mean… you're letting Zhang into the army, sir?" Jiang Wei blurted out in his excitement. Although the answer was obvious enough, he wanted to hear it for himself.
"Why certainly, Jiang Wei."
"Let me just remind you that there are renegades here in Shanggui who also want to help out, just in case you're interested." Hou Yi had suddenly dropped all formality as she added in. "I think your tiny army won't mind a little extra help."
"The minister of military affairs will take care of them." Zhuge Liang said shortly, not seeming to mind her less formal speech.
"Well, then… the city's yours," Jiang wei elbowed Hou Yi again, reminding her of her decorum, "…sir. What's next?"
"First, we'll have to clean up the mess here in Shanggui."
"And then?"
"That," he said, somewhat annoyed that someone should question his plans, "is none of your concern at the moment."
Hou Yi was taken aback by his answer and Jiang wei seemed to sense so as he moved to whisper something to her. "I forgot to tell you that he doesn't like being questioned. Don't push it, or you might just find yourself in trouble." But Hou Yi simply laughed.
"You know what? I think I'm going to enjoy my stay here in this army."
The thought of stepping into the same yet unfamiliar ground sparked excitement in Hou Yi. It was still an army, yes—and she would still be fighting. But what made it different for her?
Perhaps, it was the fact that everyone exuded an air of hope. Even behind the coldness in Zhuge Liang, Hou Yi could see that he too expressed hope. And little did she know that it was this hope that would one day, be her light.
FINALLY. My gosh, 4 chapters before they could finally meet! I feel like I've been wasting so much time babbling about this and that and… *sigh* well that's that. I've finally made up for having failed to update for nearly a month. Oh, and belated happy mother's day to your moms, friends or to you, if you're a mom... [yeah, I know it's pretty TOO late but heck…]
Please do comment, if that's not too hard for you to do. I mean, just a little hi or two just to let me know that someone still does bother to read this fic I'm making. It will help me very much.
See you next chapter!