53. Nuo Hu
The candles flickered, but the warmth they emitted stood no chance to the frosted silence that had filled the room after the messenger had delivered the message.
"They were defeated?" the tone was so icy sharp that the messenger actually shivered.
"Yes. They were defeated. They ransacked our camp. General Nuo Hu ordered me to destroy every order we've received."
"Where is Nuo Hu to offer his head to me? How could he allow the weak army from the Liang border to defeat the troops stationed there to take the village?" the messenger cowered under the merciless stare from those cold eyes. When he didn't respond the icy voice of his master hissed: "Speak up. Where is Nuo Hu to offer his head?" The messenger, still kneeling on the floor looked down, so he didn't have to look into the cold eyes trained on his neck. Trying not to show that he swallowed shallowly, he then spoke up: "He immediately left to lead the other troops to take the two army camps."
"Tell him only to return victorious, if not he shouldn't return at al. He'll bring shame to his family." The master turned around and sat down on the chair placed in the middle of the dais. "Report to me the result of this battle." Still not daring to raise his head or to stand up the young kneeling man remained kneeling with this eyes firmly down cast: "It was a surprise attack from troops they hadn't seen before. The scouts hadn't spotted them. The troops bore the sign of Prince Qi. A mark that hasn't been seen in eight years."
"Prince Qi…that is interesting. Was Prince Qi present?"
"Yes, he lead his troops in the fight, he slew many of our men and captured the rest. General Nuo Hu barely escaped. Prince Qi arrange the guard of the border town and took the remainder of his troops away."
"Where to?"
"I saw them leave through the forest in the direction of the military camps." The young man said, now more sure, raised his head.
"Leave, join the western army." The hand gesture showed that the master was still agitated. The messenger left. After the messenger had left and the room was silent again the solitary person on the dais murmured: "Prince Qi…How much do you know. Or was this a lucky guess? No, he must know by now the three rebel groups is actually one group. You must have realized our strategy and counteract it with a swift attack on the rebel group near the town. And now you are marching on the other troops." Silence settled in the darkened, cave like room. The moonlight casting long shadows in its pale light. A few more weeks and then these meetings could possibly take place during the day. The families supporting their cause were getting bolder, more powerful, showing themselves and causing chaos. All those were going according to the well drafted plan, but these small mishaps, the intercepted weapons, the refusal of the emperor to close the case of the trade minister and now this forceful counterattack to well laid plans, they were no coincidences, surely they couldn't be. Pei Zhao and his wife Su Ci where the culprits. The men had reported they had visited the border town more than half a year ago and this time they had also shown up and had investigated the fire at the Tong mine. They had to be stopped. And now they also had to deal with Prince Qi. It didn't really matter, there were ways of dealing with men and these were all small setbacks, they wouldn't stop the movement of their own pieces.
His men were better trained and were quickly defeating the rebel troops, capturing most. Yan allowed himself to feel proud for a short while and then refocused scanned the battlefield until he found the leader. With large strides Yan shortened the distance and with a quick swing of his sword saved one of his soldiers from imminent death. Yan landed two more blows before Nuo HU had time to react to his new assailant. But after he had regained his footing Nuo Hu proofed to be one of the fiercest warriors Yan had encountered in his life. Yan was thankful he had trained shit Shuomo several times in the past week, which allowed him to anticipate certain moves from Nuo Hu which would otherwise have had the ability to hurt him quite severely. He also noticed that Nuo Hu had spent much time in Liang fighting, because he also had good insight in his fighting style. During a little break in the fight Nuo Hu smirked and said: "The emperor must be worried about our presence to send you Prince Qi. My master said we should be weary of you, that you weren't as idle as everyone assumed. It seems my master knows more than others."
"Who is your master?"
"You'll never know, we'll have take Liang and killed the royal family before you can figure out who is behind the Ghost Army." Both men eyed each other for a few moments. "Ha!" Nuo Hu struck out again, Yan easily countered it and spun away only to strike out immediately after he handed, using the speed of his spin to slash across Nuo Hu's abdomen. Though he evaded the strike Yan did manage to draw blood. The fight was getting more aggressive, each managed to wound the other though none were bad enough to allow one of them to finish the fight.
Suddenly Yan heard the soft sound of an arrow and narrowly escaped it by stepping back. This gave Nuo Hu the chance to strike out and wound Yan's side. Still engaged in his battle with Nuo Hu Yan ensured the impact of the blade would be as minimal as possible and managed to strike back by inflicting a large wound on Nuo's leg. Then the soldier who had shot an arrow shot again and again and again and again. While dodging the arrows Yan created a large distance between him and Nuo Hu. Yan could by then feel the sting of the large wound to his side, but he pushed it away, focusing on his surroundings again. He located the archer and threw a dagger directly into his heart. When he turned to where Nuo should be he saw Nuo fight with Shuomo. Yan and Shuomo had before the battle decided that Shuomo wouldn't fight, as they intended to keep Shuomo's involvement in the investigations into the Ghost Army secret. But when Shuomo had seen that Yan and Nuo Hu were engaged in battle he had decided to view the battle. When the archer created the void between the two warriors Shuomo had take his sword and engaged in a battle with Nuo Hu. It had greatly angered Shuomo when he had heard Nuo was the one leading these troops.
He had dealt with Nuo Hu before and removed him from court, then he had found evidence of his affiliation with the Xuan supporters and managed to get Nuo imprisoned on charges of supporting the warrior queen. Only just before he received the message that Yunchuan was in the border town, the message had reached him that Nuo Hu with other prisoners had escaped. The fact that this jailbreak had been kept from the emperor created much chaos. His father had been furious and immediately replaced all guards of the prison and ordered further investigations of guards in other prisons. The news that Nuo Hu was the one leading the troops was only made known to Shuomo when he met Yan in the mansion of the Marquis. He related this to his father as it meant the jailbreak had happened months earliest then they had thought. To Shuomo this signified that the Ghost Army and those affiliated with it had been working in secret for many years, not just in Liang but also in Beirong. The man he was fighting now had for so many years waged war on Liang and after the peace treaty tried to get the two countries back into a war. Now it was time to deal with him once and for all. Because Nuo Hu was already injured it didn't take Shuomo long to deal the last deathly blow, but Yan could see that should he ever have to fight Shuomo in battle it would take all his strength and ability to defeat him, his sword pointed to Nuo's neck, Yan came to stand next to Shuomo and looked down on Nuo Hu. "It turns out you're only a puppet, who is your master?" Shuomo sneered. Nuo Hu laughed, hacking and coughing up blood: "I'll never tell, certainly not you. You and your family are all traitors, traitors to Beirong. Don't you feel any shame? Empress Xuan showed us how to create a great empire and you all are squandering her hard work." Nuo Hu coughed a few more times and then fell back, dead. Shuomo knelt down to check his pulse and then closed Nuo Hu's eyes. He rose and looked at Yan and then their surrounding where soldiers were still fighting.. "How long do you think it'll take to round up the last rebels?" Shuomo asked. Yan took in the fighting that was still going on. "Not long, most are already captured or dead." And Yan was right, not long after the demise of Nuo Hu the last of his rebels were rounded up. Shuomo supported Yan when they walked to the medical tent. Shortly after they arrived one of the captains came to report that the fighting was over. "Good, gather all wounded soldiers and make sure they get treatment, then lock them up. Then gather all the deceased and take care of the bodies. Write a detailed report and report back to me." The captain bowed and left. By this time Yan could feel all his wounds and knew he would need several days to fully recover, but even the deep laceration to his side would heal fully. The physician bound all the wounds and prescribed restorative herbs.
As Yan drank the medicine the physician tended to the few cuts Shuomo had gotten and then left the two men. Yan reclined on his bed and Shuomo was standing opposite him "What will you do with these rebels?" Shuomo asked, Yan looked at him and raised his eyebrow: "The same Beirong would have done, where the situation reversed. I'll issue a report to our emperor after which these men will be sentenced. A report shall then be sent to your emperor."
"Let me take these rebels to Beirong and have them be punished there."
"Why should I do that?"
"I give you my word that these men will be executed, letting us doe the sentencing and execution gives a clear signal to others who might want to join or who support the Ghost Army." Yan considered Shuomo's words, seeing the advantages to having Beirong deal with their own. But he was hesitant, he trusted Shuomo to do as he said, the had worked together for a long time now and in that time they had formed a bond close to friendship. Yet Yan had to consider het fact that Shuomo was from Beirong. Simply letting him take the prisoners to Beirong would not sit well with the imperial court. He needed a better solution. "If you can agree to some of my men accompanying you and witnessing the sentencing and execution of the sentence, then I will let you take the prisoners to Beirong to be sentenced for their crimes." Shuomo acquiesced the request. A soldier came to deliver dinner and a message for Prince Qi. While they waited for the solder to place the dinner down and arrange some bowls and chopsticks, Yan opened the message that had been sealed by his own mark, telling hi this was a message from Su, as there were not many people left in their mansion, because both masters were away. "Oh, this is interesting." He said when he read the letter withing. Yan handed the letter over to Shuomo. " The ladies have traveled to the capital after Su was asked to investigate several cases related to the Ghost Army."
"It seems those that are sympathetic to the Ghost Army are getting bolder even here in Liang."
"Which is probably why my brother requested Su to investigate. Luo Xin must have several detectives already working on these cases. But now we have to show that these troublemakers will be swiftly caught and punished." Yan grimaced a little when a small movement he made to get more comfortable pulled his wound. Shuomo rose and got a bowl of rice, some meat and vegetables and gave it to Yan. "Eat something and then rest. Let your wounds heal first, we can plan our next steps tomorrow." Yan accepted the bowl and nodded. Shuomo stayed to eat with Yan and then went back to the tent he had been assigned to. While walking through the camp he could see some soldiers regarding him with hostility and suspicion in their eyes. He could imagine the conversations around the fires that night. Deciding to take pre-emptive measures Shuomo detoured to the Marquis' tent. As the guards of the marquis had also been at the mansion and knew him, he gained access easily. "Your highness." The marquis bowed in reverence.
"Marquis, I've just visited Prince Qi and while I walked to my tent I noticed some unfriendly looks. Which shouldn't surprise us. I'm here to suggest you post two soldiers at my tent. They will always be able to verify my where abouts, should something happen."
"There are already several guards assigned to you. Prince Qi requested it the moment you came here with him. They are from his personal guard, but their assignment is to guard from a distance. Don't worry." Shuomo recalled these last three weeks since they had entered the army camp and remembered several instances when he had thought he had seen certain soldiers more often. "How is Prince Qi? I heard he fought the general in charge of those rebels."
"He would have won, had not an archer interfered in the battle. In the end I struck the final blow. Prince Qi did sustain a large wound that requires some time to heal."
"Hmmm, then I'll visit him tomorrow." The marquis looked at Shuomo and gestured to a table: "Have you had dinner? Mine is going to be served soon. You are welcome to stay."
"I've had dinner with Prince QI, I'll return to my tent to write a report to my father. Tomorrow Prince Qi and I will discuss further actions. For now please have your men guard the prisoners carefully. I will leave now." Shuomo bowed which was reciprocated by the Marquis.
That night Shuomo slept peacefully, it took Prince QI longer than usual to fall asleep due to his wound sand due to the fact that he missed Su, but the guards at the cells were hard at work…
In the morning the caption of the guard reported a jailbreak from tow cells. An unknown man had come and been able to unlock the cells. The guards had given chase and killed two of the escaped prisoners, but they had been unable to apprehend the other escapees. Yan, Shoumo and the Marquis were gathered in Yan's tent, when the captain reported the jail break. Yan had sighed and ordered the captain to give chase, after which the captain left. The tree men there spoke of the situation and what actions were needed next. Shuomo would return to Beirong the following day with the prisoners and a battalion of Liang soldiers to escort them to the capital of Beirong. He would seek out the family of Nuo o and try to find extra information on those behind all this chaos. Yan would remain for a week and then travel back to the capital. This was also send to Su with this note: "The rebels are defeated. Nuo Ho, the disgraced minister of War was the general, but he isn't the one behind all this chaos. I have been injured in battle, not gravely. I will remain here to heal and then come back home. I have send some guards to help guard Pei Mansion, return to it and keep Tong Zin company. Tell her her village is safe once more." The following week several pigeons flew the distance between the mansion of the marquis where Prince Qi stayed to recuperate and the capital, either Pei Mansion or the Palace.