I've tweaked chapter 5 a bit… although I think you'd barely notice the changes, just a couple of syntax and grammar checking. Anyway, here's Chapter 6! Still a long way to go… this one's not very romantic though, but we'll see a little skirmish between Hou Yi and Zhuge Liang. Let's see who wins. Hehehe.
***By the way, this conquest of Shanggui does exist for those of you who don't know. I thank the internet for being such a handy resource! ^__^ I thought it would be a good setting for my story to take place, but I warn you, there'll be a lot of inaccuracies later on… but heck, this is a fan fic for crying out loud.
Chapter 6
Upon entering the city, the Shu soldiers, along with the aid of the renegades cleared the rubble and the dead bodies that littered the grounds as Zhuge Liang had ordered them to. It tore Hou Yi's heart to see the lifeless faces that belonged to the dead bodies of the defectors who so valiantly fought for freedom and have not lived to witness it. She willed herself to brush these emotions away, reminding herself of the truth that this was inevitable, and how these men have sworn to go to the extent of laying down their lives.
But a stinging mist still welled up in her eyes as she stood by what used to be a pottery store, now emptied upon the evacuation of the civilians. She blinked the tears back as soon as she noticed Jiang Wei approaching her.
"Are you all right?" Jiang Wei knew the pain that Hou Yi was feeling at the sight of all this. Hou Yi only nodded her head in reply. She could feel that her voice would break should she have spoken instead.
"I should be used to this by now. This always happens."
"Don't try too hard to shrug it off, Hou Yi." Jiang Wei consoled her. "You're right, it always happens… and every time it does it's always depressing for everyone. You're not alone."
"Thanks, Jiang Wei." Hou Yi smiled sadly.
"By the way, you'd help us conquer the minor forts around the city, right?" Jiang Wei attempted to change the topic, much to Hou Yi's relief as well.
"Of course. I already even have plans in mind, but if your sage-commander has a better idea, we'll probably do that instead. He's the genius after all."
"But you know Shanggui more than we do. The Prime Minister will likely listen to your suggestions."
"I thought he didn't like being questioned?" Hou Yi remembered how the Sleeping Dragon had snapped at her although she wasn't really bothered by it. She thought how Sima Yi's fury had been worse.
"But he is open to ideas. Just say it politely."
"Seems like he's a finer duplicate of Sima Yi," Hou Yi said. "Except he doesn't breathe fire the way Sima Yi does."
"On the contrary, he does and he will—when provoked."
"That just means Zhuge Liang almost always provokes Sima Yi then…" Hou Yi sighed amusedly. Jiang Wei laughed.
He followed Hou Yi as they made their way past the soldiers who scurried about carrying stretchers and sacks of debris and entered the tavern again where they saw Zhuge Liang sitting at the table speaking to his secretary.
"Speaking of Sima Yi, where is he anyway? I was rather expecting him to be here leading the defense himself since Shanggui is still somehow an important region." Jiang Wei asked as he turned to Hou Yi. He was puzzled by Hou Yi's unexpected laughter.
"It's a long story. You see, the moment the Wei court heard that Zhuge Liang was going to invade this place, they immediately saw the advantage of this location to Shu and of course, they were panicking after suffering heavily from a lot of loss caused by Zhuge Liang. They immediately demanded that Sima Yi take up arms and drive you off, but Sima Yi insisted otherwise.
"Instead, he argued that to attack would instantly mean failure because their supplies weren't sufficient enough and because their forces were divided to address the Mongols up north who were causing trouble. So Sima Yi simply sketched out a defense plan while he's stuck there convincing the officials, while here you are now successfully invading the main city. But I'll bet he'll try to seize the land back either by hook or by crook as soon as he finds out what happened…"
"Which is why," Zhuge Liang cut in as he walked to them after he finished speaking to his secretary, "we need to move fast if we want to foil his plans." Jiang Wei bowed his head politely as soon as he saw him. Hou Yi followed suit.
"It seems that you know quite a lot about the issues in the Wei court." Zhuge Liang said to Hou Yi.
"I have to. I work there." She replied casually, "well, not anymore." She quickly added.
"So there is pressure from the Wei court on Sima Yi?"
"Yes sir." Time and again Hou Yi tried to remain stoic under Zhuge Liang's notably piercing gaze.
"Then you are right with your calculations, my lord." Jiang Wei recalled Zhuge Liang having mentioned this once to him before they took on the conquest of Shanggui.
"What was your position in the Wei army, Zhang?" Zhuge Liang had randomly asked. Jiang Wei had forgotten to ask the same question to Hou Yi as well.
"I replaced Jiang Wei after he left."
"I was captain of the infantry then, sir." Jiang Wei clarified. Hou Yi returned to the Wei army, easily climbing up the ranks… with her excellent skill with combat, Jiang Wei wasn't surprised that she had worked her way up smoothly, even if she had a mysterious identity that no one knew about. She hid the identity of Zhang Hou Yi who left the Wei army without permission, and returned after four years to carry out her revenge against the crimes that this army had done to her.
Hou Yi fatally deceived them all.
"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go lend a hand to the doctors outside. We saw a good number of wounded men on the way here. They should get treated at once." Hou Yi sensed that Zhuge Liang might be on to finding the truth about her, and she would not risk giving him the chance of cornering her.
Zhang quickly bowed her head, sparing a glance at Jiang Wei and exited the tavern. She thought twice about whether she was really going to go to the wounded, or she'll confine herself somewhere else. But she thought better and headed straight to the hut they passed by a while ago.
Zhuge Liang watched her intently as she left, his forehead ever furrowed in thought. Jiang Wei noticed the expression on his lord's face.
"Has this friend of yours always been wearing a mask?" Zhuge Liang suddenly asked.
"Um… yes sir." Jiang Wei felt uneasy about lying to him. He had only seen Hou Yi wear a mask when she met with him. During the time that he was serving Wei, Hou Yi had been the only female he had seen in the army and she never had to wear a mask and pretend she was a man. "Why do you ask?"
"It is nothing, Jiang Wei. It's just that, aside from hiding his appearance, he seems to be hiding something dark as well." Zhuge Liang said, gently fanning himself. Jiang Wei's eyes widened with fear while he felt his pulse rapidly rise.
"Don't get me wrong. I do not think ill of your friend, for I trust that you will not simply let any traitor of sorts to enter our force. It just intrigues me… what is it that makes this friend of yours desire to see Wei fall?"
"But didn't he already answer that, my lord?" Jiang Wei was trying to appease the Sleeping Dragon's suspicions.
"Yes, but his answer was very vague. His eyes tell me that there's a deep reason behind his words."
"But whatever it is, we can trust that Zhang's actions will always support our cause, my lord." Jiang Wei assured.
I do hope I am not mistaken… Zhuge Liang was still wary of Hou Yi's presence. He wanted to test the extent of this warrior's character. And he would find out who he really was behind the mask, one way or another.
The city was soon cleared by nightfall, and Zhuge Liang had given the night to the men for celebration. This was all, of course, still a tactic to boost the soldiers' morale. The last thing he'd want was a battalion of demoralized and discouraged men.
It was a splendid sight to see the renegades getting along well with the Shu soldiers in their festive exchange of woes and joys over bottles of common rice wine. There was drunken laughter and singing. Everyone seemed to be thankful for an evening's moment of relief.
Such celebrations were always a pleasure for Hou Yi. She loved the sight of merriment and enjoyed drinking like any man. Soon enough, she found herself caught in a drinking contest against Luo, the city blacksmith with a huge stocky build with a square jaw and a hard expression on his face, while here she was with only a light frame and huge pride. Her rational mind told her to back out, but her guts dared her on. She loved a good challenge.
The men merrily cheered both of them on as they were already on their fifth bottle of wine. The amount had not even begun to make Hou Yi feel dizzy yet, and there was Luo beginning to sway uneasily. On the eight, Luo forced himself to finish the quarter of alcohol left but a wave of lightheadedness knocked the lights out of him as he tumbled down in an intoxicated sleep. Hou Yi raised her bottle victoriously as the soldiers and renegades let out drunken praises to her, arrogantly pleased with her win.
They offered her another bottle but Hou Yi knew she had enough. Any more and she'd likely end up the way Luo did as he senselessly lay on the dusty floor. She excused herself from the boisterous crowd—much to their disappointment. But Zhang loosely promised to drink with them again. Although she knew that she should never do if she intended to keep her plans intact.
By this time, Hou Yi felt like her blood had turned into the wine itself as she made her way to the quieter tavern where Jiang Wei and the Sleeping Dragon stayed, slightly feeling her head beginning to spin. She shook her head roughly as if to shake off the dizziness.
She collapsed unto the doorstep, never much bothering to go inside. But Zhuge Liang motioned to Jiang Wei to call her inside.
"Zhang, won't you join us?"
"No thanks." Hou Yi hollered out over the noise of the merrymaking.
"I insist you do," Zhuge Liang added in. Surely, Hou Yi knew it would be impolite to decline a superior's invitation. But in her semi-drunken state… she feared that she may create more insolence than refusing the Sleeping Dragon's offer. But then again, she was a new recruit, and now would be the chance to get into Zhuge Liang's favor if she wanted to remain in the army without receiving suspicions from his eagle eye.
Hou Yi got up feeling much better with a clearer head and walked up to the door and entered the tavern. She bowed and on approaching the table, she noticed something spread out on it amidst the wine jar and the cups. It was a map.
"Strategizing in the middle of a celebration?" Hou Yi blurted out.
"Yes, now do sit down." Zhuge Liang said coldly. Jiang Wei suddenly recalled how Hou Yi had spoken to him in the same manner when they met and found it fairly amusing to see it being done to her. Hou Yi felt faintly unnerved by his unfriendly demeanor.
She pulled a chair beside Jiang Wei and sat across the Sleeping Dragon. Carelessly, she brought her elbows to the table and rested her chin on her palm.
"I would like you to exercise a little more propriety in my presence, Zhang." Zhuge Liang spoke. There was no contempt in his tone, yet it was commanding. And the way he said it made Hou Yi appear like some sort of an uncultured being, much to her resentment. But she kept her cool and simply sat up properly. She was being challenged by this man, she knew that—and she will not give him that luxury of seeing her fold.
"Now, tell me. Do you know when Sima Yi's forces will attack?"
"There are no certain signs of movement yet, sir. But should they begin their march, it will take them roughly five days to arrive here—that is, if they won't be stopping to take a break. You'll still have ample time to…"
"I only asked you to tell me when Sima Yi will attack." Zhuge Liang interrupted.
Jiang Wei shot an uneasy glance at the Sleeping Dragon. He wasn't acting normally. He knew that this man was not the type to treat people as harshly as he was doing now. The young apprentice was deeply perplexed by the sudden change in his mentor's behavior.
"Sorry," Zhang fought back any signs of aggression that began to bubble up in her. "Would you have any other questions, my lord?" she asked, putting on a mask of a polite smile. You son of a…she had so much wanted to let out a curse instead.
"Jiang Wei mentioned that you have suggestions in securing the minor forts around the main city. I'd like to hear them."
"Well, I have some of my men in the other forts mixed up with the regular Wei soldiers. They could initiate an attack there from inside like we did while the Shu soldiers attack from the outside, completely confusing the enemy."
"You mean you want the Shu soldiers to accidentally attack these defectors as well in the process? Such a weak and utterly uneducated move."
"What!" Hou Yi roared slamming a fist unto the table, shaking the wine jar and cups in an abrupt clatter. It was clear that Zhuge Liang had meant an attack below the belt, hiding it cleverly behind his criticism of her strategy. The alcohol had begun to weaken the walls that held back Hou Yi's fury, creating fissures and cracks for her rage to seep through as she gritted her teeth, fighting hard to prevent her drunken anger from powering over her.
Zhuge Liang rested the feathers of his fan on his other palm with ease and sharply looked at Hou Yi, staring past the pale mask. He was rather pleased to finally see her true colors emerge from the ashen white veil that concealed her physical identity. He was not interested in this mysterious warrior's appearance; he was more interested in this person's character.
"Shall I tell you why?" He remained very calm as he said this with a smug expression on his face as if to intentionally annoy her—further aggravating the already infuriated Hou Yi. She was getting frustrated at this game they were playing, and Zhuge Liang had not ceased to push her to the losing end.
Jiang Wei watched all this and dared not to let out a single a word. He was caught between a battle of words and the fiery tension had left him speechless.
Meanwhile, Hou Yi took in a deep breath and reminded herself to remain composed. Her blood was boiling. She hoped for this to end before she completely lost control.
"There's no need to my lord. I see the fault in it. That was after all, simply a suggestion," she said with an awkward calm. "I meant no effort in coming up with it since I expect that you sir, will no doubt already have something better in mind."
"I am humbled by your acknowledgment. It does seem that some things are better left done by those who are more knowledgeable." He answered slyly.
Humbled?! You call yourself HUMBLED??? Hou Yi's mind was screaming all the profanities she could think of while she hid with all her might how she absolutely hated or even despised how he appeared to enjoy his power over her. He had her by the neck and one wrong move she would be dismissed from the army—she knew she had to be careful. She needed to see Sima Yi, and even the entire Wei kingdom fall before her very eyes.
But this pretense was agitating her.
"Yes… sir." Hou Yi said through gritted teeth.
Zhuge Liang was amazed at how Zhang was holding up even after his spiteful words. This masked warrior was no doubt determined to stay as he watched how she swallowed his mockery, word for word. He finally reclined into his chair looking more relaxed, as if to break the spell of the choking tension in the room.
How could she endure this? The Sleeping Dragon thought. It amused him that Hou Yi's rage was paralyzed by his authority. This was strangely entertaining him.
Jiang Wei heaved a sigh of relief. Had this gone a little longer he was sure to see a bloody battle between the two, and quite literally it would have been, knowing how Hou Yi's recklessness worsened by alcohol could lead her to doing the unthinkable.
"I suppose we could hear your strategy, my lord?" Jiang Wei stepped in when he felt that there was already a ceasefire.
"Yes, let us begin." The Sleeping Dragon replied casually, as if the heated exchange did not even exist to begin with. Hou Yi unwound her tightly coiled fist in resignation and slowly felt her natural sense of peace return to her. But her eyes, hidden behind her mask still stared intently at the man before her who was now pointing locations at the map and talking to his apprentice.
That eerie calm that emanated from the Sleeping Dragon made him fearfully unpredictable. He had managed to work her up without even the slightest effort. Hou Yi now understood the truth behind his title, and she would be unwise to step into the jaws of a sleeping behemoth—knowing the danger that once it awakened it will not think twice about crushing her.
Unknown to her, Zhuge Liang had plans of using her arrogance and unreleased rage in his tactics. Her unrelenting determination to stay in the army proved to the cunning Prime Minister that Hou Yi will not turn her back on Shu—at least while she still appeared to have some use of this new force she had entered.
Although what exactly that compelled Hou Yi still remained a mystery to the Sleeping Dragon, he knew that he would find her useful. But he still was not contented as to leaving this source of intrigue unanswered. He would one day hear it from her.
He was after all, the famed Zhuge Liang—and his brilliant mind will find ways.
Poor Hou Yi. Zhuge Liang bullied her. Hahaha… oh well. Why did Hou Yi bite her tongue when she could have at least said something to Zhuge Liang? And what was that driving force that makes her continue to stay? Let's find that out in the succeeding chapters.
Oh, in case you're wondering why I haven't put chapter titles yet… well… I'm still having difficulty coming up with one. I'll probably title the chapters soon.