Babysitter Zhao Yun
Author's Note: I apologize for the late update guys. Summer's almost here. I apologize if this chapter isn't up to speed with the rest of them, or if it seems slow to you. It'll pick up again, I promise. Thank you to all who reviewed and stuck with me for this long.
Xingcai, Guan Yinping, and Bao Sanniang all stared wide-eyed at the fluffy white cat on their mentor's lap. A few moments ago they didn't even know he had a cat. They heard a soft trill and looked down in time to see a graceful white cat with hemochromatic eyes; one green, one blue, that was fluffy with a feathered tail. It jumped on to the bed of their mentor and trilled at him. It laid down right next to him after finding a comfortable spot to do so.
Zhao Yun smiled at the three girls and their reaction. The kids never knew he had a cat. Much less one that didn't meow, but trilled. Zhao Shufeng sat next to him and started to pet said cat, which rubbed against the friendly hand. It purred softly.
The girls kept their eyes on it for a bit longer before looking at their mentor. Confusion and surprise was evident in their faces. Zhao Yun chuckled and pet the cat on his lap. "Well, it was about time you showed yourself to them huh?" He said to the cat. The cat rubbed its face against the gentle hand and trilled in response. His cat, named Cloud, didn't often show herself when the kids were at his house. She always hid underneath his bed, or his dresser. Sometimes Zhao Yun even found her in his sheets on his bed, curled up. She even hid from his own kids at times. But since Zhao Yun was bedridden for the past couple of days, Cloud was a constant presence on his bed since her owner wasn't running around all the time now. He was sick and needed her love and affection. Even if that means appearing before the children her owner watches from time to time.
And to Zhao Yun it was quite amusing to see their wide eyes look blankly at his cat.
"Sensei I didn't know you had a cat in your house." Xingcai managed to say. "What its name?"
"Her name is Cloud." Zhao Yun replied. "I've had her for quite some time now. If memory serves it would have been five years since I got her as a kitten."
"How come we never saw her before?" Guan Yinping asked.
"She's quite shy. Plus she isn't the biggest fan of loud noises like children running through the halls trying to get candles to light on command."
"I didn't know you needed a match!" Bao Sanniang responded quickly. "I thought you could snap your fingers at it and light it."
Zhao Yun chuckled again, but he cut it short when he felt like he was going to end up coughing instead. The simple act of talking to the children ended up being a chore that exhausted him. His insomnia filled nights and overexertion in his work was paying its price when he refused to take a rest. It hurt to breathe. Each breath was taxing on his body.
The one wound that he sustained in his fight with the assassin who managed to kidnap his kids has yet to heal due to his body's lack of sleep, so his usual fast-healing ability wasn't working the way it should have. By now he would have already been healed and working again. But unfortunately his sleepless nights decided to punish him for it by having him heal at an incredibly slow pace. The poison Eclipse Mirror used on him slowed his metabolism as well, which allowed him to get sick in the process.
He doesn't even remember the last time he was this sick. His body was feverish, and he felt like there were rocks in his head that wouldn't stop rolling. He was currently sitting up in bed, with bandages wrapped around both his arms, legs, lower and upper torso, and around his neck. All of these bandages were hidden by his white robe. The only bandages that were not covered were the ones covering his slim fingers. He didn't want the kids to worry about the situation he was in, even though he wasn't suppose to be sitting up in the first place. Or watching the kids again while he was recovering.
But as fate would have it, the kids were worried about him, and try to help him relax, as he watched them for their fathers yet again. This time they were going over a campaign into the mountains and if they should start early this spring and stay up there over winter, or wait until next spring and do it then. It was a mandatory meeting for the Generals, Commanders, and Strategists.
And since he was recovering, he wasn't on the list of generals that were fit to go. His luck was acting like a stay-at-home-mom for the children while their fathers discussed military matters. Zhao Yun took his bandaged hand and ruffled Bao Sanniang's hair. She pouted, but took the affectionate gesture.
It was odd to the girls to see their mentor stuck in bed. He was usually up and moving, acting like it hurt to sit down and relax. It was also troubling to them to see their beloved Sensei paler than usual. Even though they still see him with a smile on his face, he looked tired. His usual warm brown eyes just felt slightly less warm to them, since it was obvious he needed rest, but couldn't take it since they were dropped off at his place.
So the kids decided to help him around the house. They did all of his chores and played with Zhao Guang and Zhao Shufeng. They tried to play with Zhao Tong, but he pointedly ignored them and continued to read. Until Guan Yinping tried to throw a boulder at him. Now he was busy cleaning up the remains of a blue vase that had white and red flowers in it.
Jiang Wei was picking ripe vegetables from Zhao Yun's garden and putting them in a basket to take inside. With him were Guan Xing and Zhang Bao who took care of the flowers by watering them and pulling weeds out of the ground. Bao Sanniang was out there with them a few minutes ago putting more bird seed in feeders that were hanging from the lone tree in the yard. Guan Ping is currently mowing the front yard, and Guan Suo is inside dusting the surfaces of tables or any furniture that he can reach. Zhao Shufeng had already completed her violin lessons for the day, and was sitting next to her father on his bed to keep him company before the other three girls came in.
Zhao Guang was cleaning the dishes, doing laundry, and overall acting like his father's "mother hen" side. He lightly scolded Guan Yinping throwing boulders at his older brother, whom she missed, and teaching Guan Suo how to dust the tables and other surfaces that need dusting. He was overall trying to keep everything in order, and was doing a decent job at it. Xingcai tried helping him cook, but eventually they ended up making a mess and decided they can eat the snacks that were in the cupboard that didn't require to cook or heat up. Lucky for them there is a lot of fruit and other items.
Jiang Wei walked into the kitchen with the basket of vegetables and looked over to Zhao Guang cleaning everything from the dishes to the counters. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "You would make a fine wife to someone someday Zhao Guang."
Zhao Guang giggled behind his hand. "Thanks Jiang Wei. Tong tells me that every time he sees me clean too. I think I picked it up from dad. Do you mind washing the vegetables? I'll cut and store them after I find the right bowls for them."
"Sure thing." Jiang Wei started washing the potatoes and carrots while Zhao Guang looked for the required utensils.
"How many flowers does Lord Zhao Yun have?" Zhang Bao asked Guan Xing. Said boy plucked a few weeds out of the ground before looking up at Zhang Bao with the watering can.
"I couldn't tell you unless we count them." The flowers go all around the border of the yard and then there is a vegetable patch right beside the shadow of the lone tree. "Do you think the tree here sprouts acorns?" Guan Xing asked in turn.
"I have never seen a squirrel in this yard in all the time I've been here." Zhang Bao replied. He took the watering can and sprinkled it over a patch of forget-me-nots. "Have you?"
"Nope." Guan Xing stood up and stretched. "Wow this is back breaking! Lord Zhao Yun doesn't look like he has trouble doing this but I'm already sore. I think I have my father's back pain."
"If your old man has back pain then mine needs to go to the doctor." Zhang Bao rubbed the back of his neck. "In fact, now that you mention it, I have some back pain too. I think that's a sign that we need a break, yeah?"
Guan Xing rolled his eyes. "We're almost done. I think we can survive a few more minutes out here."
"You got a sunburn though." Zhang Bao poked Guan Xing's exposed shoulder. The contact made Guan Xing flinch back slightly. "We need a break." Zhang Bao placed the watering can next to the next patch of flowers that need watering and stood back to stretch and headed back to the house.
"Tell Jiang Wei or whoever is in the kitchen to get a class of water waiting for me, will you?" Guan Xing called back, getting down on his knees to complete the weed-pulling task he was working on. Zhang Bao waved back at him, letting him know he heard.
Guan Ping walked into the house and gave a huge yawn before sitting down at the couch. He held a package in his hands that was addressed to Zhao Yun from some guy named Xui Zheng. He had half a mind to open the package up himself, but the other half won over and he stood up with it in his hands to give it to Zhao Yun.
Walking into the room he was greeted by a trill. He tiredly opened his eyes and blinked. Then blinked again. On his mentor's bed was a white cat with one blue eye and one green eye. It trilled at him again. Guan Ping shook his head. He was definitely tired if he was seeing and hearing things. 'Lord Zhao Yun doesn't have a cat. Or at least none that I've noticed,' he thought.
He walked next to the bed and gave the package to Zhao Yun, who was sitting up and talking to Guan Yinping. "There was a package outside waiting for you Lord Zhao. I thought I would bring it in here and give it to you."
"Thank you Guan Ping." Zhao Yun said and reached for the package. "Mmm, Xui Zheng huh. What could he possibly send me?" Zhao Yun said tiredly. He unwrapped the roll and let the scroll run down to the end of its length. There was a loud clank that hit the wooden floor underneath him. Zhao Yun looked down to see a packaged engagement ring. With his daughter's name on it.
Zhao Yun's eye twitched and he tensed up. 'Oh, you've got to be kidding me!' Guan Yinping saw it and bent down to pick it up.
"Hey this has Shufeng's name on it." Then she looked closer and gave Zhao Yun and Guan Ping a large toothy smile. "Someone wants to marry her!"
Guan Ping gave a surprised grunt and rubbed his eyes. He had to be tired. He could not have heard his baby sister right just then. No one in their right mind would have the guts to ask a child of the Five Tiger Generals to marry them. Much less to a child as young as Shufeng.
"Guan Yinping can I have that?" Zhao Yun asked gently. Without hesitation Yinping handed him the packaged ring. It was made of silver, which was his color or his symbolized metal. There was three gemstones that stood proudly in a clutter centered by a rose-like design around the stones. One of the stones was a blue topaz, another one was a white diamond, and the last was a black stone of onyx.
Zhao Yun was rather annoyed. He could feel anger burn in the back of his head, but couldn't get to the height that would have been if he wasn't sick. So being annoyed would have to work. Getting angry takes too much work, and being annoyed took less effort right now. Zhao Yun sighed deeply. He turned his head to a quiet Guan Yinping and tired Guan Ping and smiled at them. "Yinping why don't you help Guang and Jiang Wei clean the vegetables. Guan Ping feel free to take a nap. You look like you need one."
Both of them said "Okay" and left the room. Zhao Shufeng had left earlier to help her older brother to store the cut veggies. Specifically the carrots and lettuce.
Zhao Yun leaned back against the headboard and groaned. He took the scroll and frowned heavily at it. It was a Marriage Letter for his daughter. In Shu it was mandatory to send a letter to the father or mother of a child who someone wanted to marry in an act to get the blessing of the parent. If not the parents it was the oldest member of the family. The letter itself had to be really good to convince the parent on why they were good for the child they planned to marry.
But this guy… Zhao Yun rolled the scroll up, and threw it into the trash bin right next to his bed. His daughter wasn't even six yet, and this guy had the nerve to try and propose to Shufeng. He couldn't believe it. Even the ring in the package left a bad taste in Zhao Yun's mouth. He tossed it too.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, tired and annoyed. It was just his luck. He was not in the mood to deal with someone who wanted to marry his young daughter. Specifically someone who would do it for the sake of their own reputation.
Before too much time had passed thinking about the distasteful situation, there was a knock on his door.
"Lord Zhao Yun, it is your doctor Li Qing. May I request an audience with you sire?" Came a soothing voice from the wooden door.
Zhao Yun sighed again and answered. "You may enter Xensheng." Li Qing was the only doctor Zhao Yun would allow near him. Any other doctor he avoided at all cost. He was the only person allowed other than Li Qing's younger brother to call him by his style name Xensheng.
The door opened for a tall, fair skinned man who stood at 187.96 cm, or 6'2'' in height. He had dark brown hair that was windswept to the right side of his face and was held back with a black ribbon. His hair, although it rested over his left shoulder, went down to his lower back. He wore white gloves with a white coat over a black turtleneck sweater and black jeans. He wore brown combat boots and an emerald amulet hanged around his neck.
Li Qing smiled at Zhao Yun before it fell from his face. "Milord you shouldn't be sitting up like that. But I made you some tea to help ease some of the pain you must be feeling." From a silver tray he had in his hands he picked up a decorative flower cup and handed it to Zhao Yun. "It's Dragon Apple Cider Green Tea sire. It'll do you some good to drink it quickly while it's warm."
"Thank you Xensheng. This is really too much." Zhao Yun told him before drinking heavily from the cup. The nice taste of the apples and green tea mixed was crispy and refreshing. He finished it seven gulps or less. "You're the best at making these herbal teas." The growing headache he was about to have vanished.
Li Qing smiled and took the empty cup away from Zhao Yun and placed it back on the tray. "I thank you for the high praise sire. And really, you're much too modest. I feel like I'm not doing much at all for you. You look absolutely exhausted." He set the tray down on a nearby nightstand and felt Zhao Yun's head with the back of his hand. "Your body looked feverish so forgive my sudden closeness milord. You've got a fever. I should start making a herbal ointment for your wound as well."
"A sudden spike in my fever. Great." Zhao Yun sighed. "It must be because of the sudden package I got today."
"Oh? Now why would that cause such a high rise in your temperature milord?" Li Qing handed Zhao Yun a glass of water and peppermint leaves.
"It was a Marriage Letter. For my daughter. Have you heard of a Xui Zheng? I should know him, but I can't quite bring myself to care to put a face to the name." Zhao Yun chewed on a peppermint leaf. The sharp mint taste and smell opened his breathing. He took a drink of the water and the cool, refreshing feel of it cooled him down.
Li Qing had the back of his hand on Zhao Yun's forehead again. "That's not like you milord. Your exhaustion must be making you indifferent to such a big thing. The young Shufeng is far too young to be married off, and she does not know how to handle a weapon yet so she could defend her honor against her suitor. Xui Zheng does sound familiar though, so I'll keep a close eye on any information I can get about him and let you know."
"You're too kind Xensheng. Do you mind letting a few of my commanders and servants know as well? Preferably Deng Zhi, Chen Dao, Shing Li, Yun Minsheng, Chau Shilin, Yu Jiang, Chao Aiguo, and my champions?" Zhao Yun asked. Although the majority of people he listed were his servants, they tended to be constant companions to him. Currently they were all on vacation, so it was just him in his house.
"I've already let them know you nearly collapsed the other night milord. They told me they would back later tonight. I will let your commanders and generals know sire." Li Qing mentioned.
Zhao Yun shook his head. "I was talking about Xui Zheng, my friend. Not about my condition. Do you know how many of them are going to be all over me? I'll be suffocated by kindness."
"Yes, but they are a part of your army milord, as well as the protectors of your large estate. I doubt those kids know how big your house actually is." Li Qing smirked. "They haven't even met any of your "bodyguards" have they?"
Zhao Yun rolled his eyes. Li Qing was up there with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and all the other warriors of Shu. He was allowed to roll his eyes at his doctor. "At this very moment Li Qing I have eleven kids in this building of my estate. My three kids, Guan Ping, Xing, Suo, and Yinping, Zhang Bao and Xingcai, Jiang Wei, and Bao Sanniang. They're used to just seeing this portion of the estate. It's called baby steps Li Qing."
"I would call it discovery if they found your basement milord!" Li Qing chuckled. "I just hope that's as far as they go underground. By the way milord," Li Qing's smile faded from his face. His hazel eyes narrowed. "I heard from the twins that they managed to trap a couple of people trying to get into your estate. In your weakened state milord you could be at risk of assassination yourself." Li Qing told Zhao Yun worriedly.
Zhao Yun was silent. Then he burst out laughing. So much so that he went directly into a coughing fit. As Li Qing patted Zhao Yun's back to help calm the coughing Zhao Yun tried to control his sudden burst of laughter. He coughed for a bit longer than waved Li Qing off to signal him he was okay. He still had some giggles in the back of his throat.
Li Qing looked doe-eyed at his lord. A concerned scowl graced his features. "Did I say something funny milord?"
Zhao Yun had small tears in his eyes as he nodded. He had a bright smile on his face. "You said I ran a risk of being assassinated in this weakened state of mine."
Li Qing raised an eyebrow at him. He was mildly confused at the notion being funny.
Zhao Yun saved him from the confusion. "Li Qing I know how to protect myself, no matter how weak, from assassination attempts at my head. Do you remember Zhao Fan, the person who wanted me to marry his widowed sister-in-law? He tried to assassinate me four times before he thought better and ran."
"You were not in any weakened state at the time milord." Li Qing argued. "You must take it easy and have some of your servants do some of the work for you. You have all of us at your command! Why not use us as such?"
Zhao Yun smiled lightly. "Because you're far more than just servants to me Xensheng. All the servants I have under me, who live on my estate grounds with me, I have recruited myself for their skills and abilities. Take the twins you have mentioned previously for example. They have laid many traps throughout my estate to catch those who try to harm or steal from me. They excel at deception and many underestimate them purely for the fact that they are young girls. They are students, better yet comrades to me much like you and the others. I don't have servants Xensheng. I have companions who'll stick by me. For that reason alone I can't just throw any of them recklessly into a battle like that."
Li Qing smiled softly and sighed. "I was recruited years ago into your personal army for the reason that you needed a doctor, but refused to go see one. I've seen many of your battles and you never come back with a scratch on you or your armor. But when I got a call from you, telling me you were injured, I panicked. I thought you endured massive damage. Instead you calmly told me to deal with your poisoned wound and passed out. All of your medical records of you and your family are hidden far underneath the estate's cellar, with me being the only one allowed to view them. Honestly I'm honored to have such high trust from you milord, and I don't plan on misplacing it. It's just that as a fellow companion I have the natural reaction of being worried if you are injured sire, or if your health deteriorates."
"When the poison leaves my body my metabolism will return, and so will my healing capabilities. I'll be back to work in no time." Zhao Yun took another drink of his water. Then a thought crossed his mind that made him mildly concerned. "Did the children let you into my house, perchance?"
Li Qing shook his head. Zhao Yun breathed a sigh of relief. "I went through the labyrinth you call a dungeon underneath the estate to the secret door in this building's basement. I noticed all the kids playing outside besides one sleeping on the couch. They were poking at one of the boys that had a pretty bad sunburn."
Zhao Yun chuckled. "Thanks for helping me out here Xensheng. You can head back now if you would like, I'm good for now."
Li Qing bowed low. "Your command is my order milord. If you need me do not hesitate to call. I'll also tell the others when they arrive to defend the estate closer at night." He picked up the silver tray he brought with him and headed out of the room. "Drink plenty of water, and sleep well." Zhao Yun waved at him in goodbye.
The boys all stood doe-eyed at their mentor's bed. In the center of the bed was a white cat, purring loudly in their mentor's lap, eyes closed and nuzzling up against his hand.
Guan Ping rubbed his eyes over and over again because he thought he was still tired, and seeing things.
But no. It was real. Their mentor had a cat, and they didn't know about it. The girls told them matter-of-factly that Zhao Yun had her for five years and her name was Cloud.
Zhao Yun was just amused then as he was now at the reactions. But the constant thought of a Xiu Zheng kept crossing his mind. A suitor much older than he was wanted his daughter's hand in marriage. It was a terrifying thought.
There was a knock on the door, which startled the kids. They quickly ran up to their mentor's side, which made the cat on his lap jump on Zhao Yun's shoulders and rest there instead. Zhao Yun chuckled lightly and called out. "It's open. Come on in."
In the doorframe was Guan Yu, behind him were Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong. Zhao Yun knew who they were due to their Musou signature.
"What can I help you guys with?" Zhao Yun asked casually, not bothering being formal. He didn't care. And neither did they.
"Hey little bro! You doing okay?" Zhang Fei asked. When the kids saw who came through the door Zhang Bao and Xingcai ran up to their father. Zhang Fei lifted both of them up and placed them on his shoulders. "I hope the kids weren't too much trouble."
"Depends. How does my front yard look? Guan Ping told me he mowed it." Zhao Yun ruffled said kid's hair with his bandaged fingers. Guan Ping smiled shyly and took the affectionate gesture.
"Well your yard looks fantastic as always. But when we came into the house there was a boulder where your couch should be and the remains of a broken vase with flowers in it." Ma Chao answered for him. He chuckled at the kids' guilty expression.
Zhao Yun rolled his eyes. "I kind of figured since I heard Guang scold Guan Yinping for it. Tong I thought you cleaned up the vase mess?"
Zhao Tong looked over to his father in a blank stare. "I did. I tossed the remains into a trash bin." His eyes shifted to Zhao Guang. "You were inside most of the day. Did something happen to the bin?"
Zhao Guang shook his head. "I didn't notice anything. And I watched you toss the remains of the vase into the bin. I swept everything else up. So I couldn't tell you."
When the topic of the trash bin came up, Guan Yinping looked toward Zhao Yun with a bright smile on his face. "I almost forgot. Lord Zhao Yun got a package today."
Zhao Yun smiled back softly. "Indeed I did. It gave me a headache but it wasn't all that bad."
"Let me guess…" Huang Zhong started. He was about to continue until Zhao Yun spoke up.
"Hey kids, why don't all of you wait in the living room for a couple of minutes okay. I have to tell them something important."
Guan Yu followed up, "We need to discuss something that is important, and you kids can't know about it yet." The children pouted, but complied. They ran out of the room, with Zhao Shufeng holding on to her brothers tightly to avoid being seen by the other adults. When they left Ma Chao closed the door behind them.
"What's up Zhao Yun? You look terrible!" Ma Chao was rather surprised to hear his comrade had nearly collapsed the other night, and was put in charge of the young kids the next day. "And paler."
Zhao Yun gave a weak smile. "I'll live. And I'm sorry Guan Xing got a sunburn. Turns out he was too prideful to come inside until he was done pulling weeds out of the garden out back."
Guan Yu shrugged it off. "It happens Zhao Yun. I imagine you were stuck in bed all day."
"With my cat." Zhao Yun nodded. Cloud purred up against his ear upon hearing him mentioning her.
"Heh. So, what's with this package that you got that you had to remove the kids out of the room for?" Zhang Fei asked. "Is it bad?"
Zhao Yun growled low. "It was a Marriage Letter for my daughter by a man named Xui Zheng." Zhao Yun leaned over to grab the trash bin right next to his bed. "He even sent the engagement ring with it." He managed to grab the scroll and tossed it to Huang Zhong. "Were you going to mention something similar Huang Zhong?"
"Actually yeah. I was. It turns out Ma Dai and Fa Zheng also got a letter asking for their daughter's hand in marriage. Fa Zheng seethed all day since he got it in the middle of the meeting." Huang Zhong answered. "Ma Dai was no better."
"Good thing brother and I didn't get one yet!" Zhang Fei smiled at Guan Yu.
"Because no one is stupid enough to test their luck with the both of you." Zhao Yun deadpanned. But it brought up a terrifying thought to him. "Who wrote the letter for Ma Dai and Fa Zheng? Their daughters are as young as mine."
"For my cousin it was a certain Jeong Meng. And for Fa Zheng it was a Kui Kuang." Ma Chao replied. "Would you know them?"
Zhao Yun nodded his head in affirmation. "I've heard of them. Hope they wrote a better letter than a Xui Zheng." Zhao Yun tensed up. "Unfortunately I recall the name Xui Zheng, but I don't care enough to match the name to a face. I recall a Jeong Meng. He lives further North of here, near the mountains. And this Kui Kuang had three women already divorce him. If any of these men get a hold of Ma Dai or Fa Zheng's daughters they'll be in a world of hurt."
"How?" Guan Yu rose an eyebrow at him. "You're bedridden for the next couple of weeks."
Zhao Yun smirked at him. "I'm not the only over-protective hen in Shu you know. Ma Dai has his moments and Fa Zheng could be quite cruel if he gets his hands on someone who did him wrong." Zhao Yun took another drink from his water.
Ma Chao nodded his head. "Yep! That's my cousin and our cunning strategist. I would be surprised if they didn't do something."
"Speaking of a couple weeks actually, what were you going to mention Guan Yu?" Huang Zhong brought up.
Guan Yu nodded once and turned to Zhang Fei. "Zhang Fei mentioned a fun activity we could do for the kids when you get better Zhao Yun."
Zhang Fei smiled at the mention. He bounced up and down for the news. Zhao Yun sweatdropped. "Should I be worried? Because I'm not allowed to get up."
Zhang Fei gave a loud laugh. "Oh, don't worry little brother! Because when you get better we're all going to the zoo!"
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! I'm going to try and get as many chapters I can out for you guys. I hope this wasn't too chopped up or slow for all of you. This chapter was made to be purely fluff, but it turned out to not include very much. Maybe next chapter. If any of you have any suggestions, I'll gladly look them over. In case I don't get a chapter out by then, Happy Father's Day to everyone!