Chapter Seventy - Time is Like An Arrow

The changes within the Twin Moon Imperial Palace did not have much impact on the most of the Empire, with the exception of Huang Jia's fall in the south leaving a large void in power.  Of course, several Houses were quick to take advantage and were happy to fill said void.  Still, internal power struggles and small assassinations caused the recovering South to suffer four more years of poverty.  The East was recovering slowly.  Although food was no longer a problem here, scars still remained on people's hearts.  Almost eight years they had struggled and no officials had bowed down to help them.

Both Princesses had been married off to Princes outside of the Empire, securing trade and peace along parts of the border.  But in the West, old conflicts were not too quick to die.  The Emperor instructed the third army to join the second in an attempt to settle things there, once and for all.

"Father.  We wish to join the third army and bring peace to the West."

The Emperor had brought both sons to attend court with him since both turned fourteen.  Wáng Jie Long was developing into a handsome man, with chiselled features and sunny, bright eyes.  There always seemed to be a hint of amusement upon his face and his nature was passionate and restless.  Any man would be proud to call him son.  But as much as the Emperor enjoyed displaying this specimen of a man before his ministers, he loved the beauty of Wáng Yu Long more.

At sixteen, the Second Prince had lost much of the femininity displayed within his childish days, but this had not retracted from his pale beauty.  If anything, his soft, thin lips and jade like skin was even more prominent than before.  He had proud, cool lines, but his black eyes held liquid warmth despite his icy features.  Both young men had many girls, wealthy family or no, weeping into their pillows at night hoping that they might just one day turn their way and smile at them!  The First Prince was a great martial artist, the Second Prince had the heart of a scholar, what was there not to want?

So from his warrior son, the words said were not unexpected.  However what followed distressed the Emperor.  "Please allow us, Father," Wáng Yu Long requested.  The Princes called him Father on his instruction, not for any love their bore him.  Old wounds did not always heal fast.

The Emperor truly wished to deny the Second Prince; how would he be able to suffer the whining ministers without his most lovely son brightening the dowdy court with his beauty?  But the ministers, who were still distressed by the lack of a named heir since the Third Prince had found this path cut from beneath him, argued in the Princes favour, after all, was this not a good trial to see which one of them might one day rise to claim the dragon throne?  The Emperor began to sulk.  He had sprinkled his garden with a more masculine touch and savoured the uniqueness of those Male concubines, but none surpassed the beauty of this one son.

He finally relented, but let it known he was not pleased with the decision by holing up in his harem for most of the month!

*****

Thwamp!

The sound of the arrow embedding itself in flesh was followed by a sharp squeal and a thump.

"Well done, your highness!" Yu Long shared a meaningful look with his brother as the fawning soldier praised his aim. What was there to praise? The large boar had been upwind, drinking from the forest lake and had let its guard down.

"Take it back to camp with the other," Jie Long instructed, after clearing his secret chuckle with a slight cough. The two soldiers bowed and ran to claim the boar carcass. As he watched them disappear in the distance, he turned to face his brother. "You know, you don't need to hunt meat for the army, there are farms we can collect food from nearby."

"No," Yu Long argued. He'd seen the fear and resigned looks in the faces of the farmers that they had passed so far and the further they moved West the more pitiful those looks became. "What kind of men are we to bully those we are supposed to protect by taking what little they have?"

"It is their duty.." Jie Long attempted to argue, although he knew it was in vain. His brother could be very stubborn about such things.

"Their duty? And what of our duty?" Yu Long asked. "How many tales of bandits have you heard of with each merchant wagon that passes us on the road?"

"Yet we haven't seen one," Jie Long reminded him.

"Would you be so foolish as to attack an army?" Jie Long shook his head helplessly, unable to deny these words. "Bandits only attack the weak and only because they can get away with it. Clearing the mountain and forest passes of those wretches would better trade and bring greater wealth. After all, have you ever heard of a bandit paying taxes?"

Jie Long laughed. "And this is why you are a scholar and I am a warrior. You do the thinking for me!" Yu Long hit him gently around the head with his bow.

"You cannot rely on my brains forever, brother," he chided, softly. Just then, there came a rustling from a nearby bush and Jie Long grinned as Yu Long sighed, before drawing his bow. Their guards held their swords ready to unsheath them at a moment's notice.

"Seems that at least a few bandits will be reformed this day," Jie Long mentioned as unwashed bodies sped towards them. As these bandits were untrained and relied only on brute force, they were ill equipped to deal with actual soldiers. More fool were they when they saw the two young princes and thought they might be weak. It was a very one sided battle from start to finish. "How did they survive this long?" The First Prince muttered as he withdrew his bloodied sword.

"Probably attacked less guarded wagons," Yu Long replied, notching his bow and aiming at a fleeing man. His shot was true, the arrow pierced his heart from behind. Finally, a squadron from their own army appeared in order to assist.

"A little late for that," Jie Long said, wryly, before walking past the squadron in order to return to camp.

*****

Wu Chang felt shamed. He was an exemplary soldier and had risen through the ranks without relying on his father's name, but still he felt humbled by these two Princes who he'd thought were merely playing soldier.  Not only did the First Prince prove he had immense knowledge of war craft, history and was skilled martial arts, the Second Prince had chided their rough handling of the commoners and had insisted purchasing fodder for the horses and hunted to supplement their supplies. Were these boys truly just sixteen years of age?

Now he watched as the Second Prince stopped a travelling merchant, who had a wagon of fresh fruit and was headed to the capital. After speaking with the merchant for a moment, the Prince turned appearing smug and walked up to him, hands behind his back. "Ah, I've negotiated a price with that man," he announced. "I will leave it to you to make payment." As the merchant need not travel further and risk being attacked by bandits, the Prince had managed to purchase the fruit cheaply. While it was true that it would not feed many in this army of 10,000, Wu Chang could not help but admire this Prince's ethics. Many of his men disliked purloining grain from farming communities, even if that was in the name of the Emperor, as they had been raised on farms themselves. The Prince was winning over soldiers and commoners alike.

Jie Long was also learning from his brother. "Emperors treat the people as heaven, moreover people treat food as heaven," Yu Long told him, when asked again why he was bothering with these extra efforts. The First Prince allowed himself to be influenced by his brother's ways and would take a small squadron of men to hunt in nearby forests and the large grasslands almost every night. And while they still had to claim sacks of flour and rice from farms, they offered silvers in return.

*****

The overall journey took six weeks marching to reach the West border and eighteen months to force the neighbouring armies into submission, eventually relying on tactics created between Jie Long and the army generals. There was also discussions of building a second army base upon this volatile border and improvements of the existing base and border walls. The third army remained to patrol the border and would wait for the fifth army to relieve them, while the first army would return to the capital with the two Princes. For some reason, Yu Long requested that Wu Chang return with them. Not willing to turn down this young man, who unexpectedly never demanded anything, this was agreed to.

As the army neared the border that joined Western Counties with the Northern ones, Jie Long's hunting squadron came across a group of bandits manhandling a young woman. From her torn clothing and dishevelled appearance, there was no doubts behind their actions. The Prince ordered his men to dispatch the bandits swiftly as he joined in the fray. Jie Long then approached the frightened woman, who was wrapped in a cloak one of the soldiers had passed to her.

"Zank you," she said with a strong accent, causing the soldiers to glance at one another.

"Can you tell me what happened here?" The Prince asked softly, noting that the girl was around his own age and quite pretty beneath the dirt. She had dark toned skin, something that was unfamiliar to him. The harem women were all pale, like white jade and commoners women had been kept from view of the army. Her hair was matted with leaves, but seemed to be curly and black. She was very curvy and voluptuous, which drew the eyes of many of his soldiers appreciation.

"I flee here. Zen say zey help, but attack me," her broken language was still clear enough to catch.

"What shall we do, your highness?" One of his men asked.

Jie Long asked himself what his brother would do. "We'll take her along with us until we reach the next village and decide from there." They needed to be clear about her story before they could dismiss her completely. What could she mean when she claimed to be fleeing something?

The dark skinned girl looked up at them with startling green eyes, but only when one got close enough would they notice the twin black pupils held by one.

Translations;

Emperors treat the people as heaven, moreover people treat food as heaven, people are most important to rulers, food is the most important thing for people.

Author's note; I am cheekily avoiding describing war battles.  Not only am I not good with battles and tactics (although I could research), I also want to get our to MC/ML's to finally meet in this world!  Adding war stories feels superfluous.  Of course, there are always later extras if you feel I should pursue this.