by Tony Tran
Neither Ai nor Ling’s skill sets were really well adapted to do large-scale hunting. This was especially true for Ai because most animals that catch sight of her instantly run for their lives.
“Don't need to win to get brother to do things for me.” Ai said with a smile as she picked up a bunch of flowers and then spent the rest of her time gazing at the Azure Tower that could be seen piercing into the sky from far away.
Like Ai, after shooting down a few board and bears, Ling preoccupied her time grooming Little White.
Once the thirty-minute mark was reached, Yuying’s horde of animals numbered roughly three hundred and a confident small was present on her face. Currently, her horde contained dozens of chickens, rabbits, wolves, tigers, boars, deer, elk, and dozens of other types of animals. If she continued her efforts, then she could easily accumulate triple what she currently had.
However, something unexpected happened, before Yuying’s horde could increase any further, an odd scent drifted into everyone and everything’s nostrils. Before long the forest was filled with activity as all of the living animals in the area began to gather.
When the animals that were attracted to the irresistible scent gathered, Lingqi quickly dispersed one of her poisons into that air, by the time the one-hour mark was reached, Lingqi had surpassed Yuying and had hunted hundreds of animals.
In the end, Lingqi was, of course, the victor of the contest amongst Zhang and his wives, however, the true winners were their soldiers because the ones who were able to enjoy the meat from the hunted animals were of course, Zhang’s soldiers.
Once Zhang and the beauties finished up their contest and spent a few more hours enjoying their time in the forest, they returned back to camp where the meat from their hunt was quickly distributed to their hardworking soldiers.
Ling had allowed Little White to roam the words in search of more prey until it’s stomach was filled so, it did not return until much later in the day, with its coat of white fur smeared in blood from the many animals it gorged on.
As the sun departed and the moon began to over watch the earth, small feasts were held the soldiers constructing the five forts. With a large perimeter set up, dozens of guard towers erected at each construction site and many small trenches dug, Zhang’s soldiers were given as much sense of ease as possible during a war. Although tea was used to replace wine, since drinking was prohibited when soldiers were on active duty, everyone was merry and enjoying the freshly hunted meat.
Freshly recruited soldiers got to know their seniors while various generals and commanders became acquainted with one another over a simple meal.
“That tower looks so, beautiful under the moonlight.” Yuying said as she looked at the Azure Tower that was basking under the moonlight. The azure colored tiles seemed to glow and gave off a mysterious air to all those who saw it, especially at night.
To receive praise from Yuying, meant that the tower was truly exceptional because as a princess of the underworld, what type of building style hasn’t Yuying seen?
“A beautiful tower should belong to a beautiful owner; shall I gift it to the four of you once we acquire it?” Zhang asked with a smile as he looked at each of the beauties who were enveloped in moonlight causing their features to be ever more dreamlike. Their hair glistened, their skin glowed, their eyes twinkled and their smiles captivated the soul of any onlooker.
While Zhang couldn’t help, but sit in silence and stare at his wives, deep within the mountains, high up atop the clouds, a lone figure stood on a massive balcony, gazing down from above. This, of course, was the lord of the Azure Rain Province, who was on one of the upper floors of the Azure Tower.
Gazing down through the gaps in the clouds, Azure Rain Province’s lord watched silently at the unchanging landscape below. Only after tens of minutes of silence could a sigh be heard before he walks away from the balcony and entered into a large empty room.
“My lord, our scouts have reported that the enemy is erecting five forts and blocking off the exits out of the mountain range, they also spotting a lone rider moving through the forest and heading toward our current location. It appears to be a messenger.” A soldier clad in azure colored armor reported as he kneeled down on one knee.
“A messenger... “The lord of the province muttered.
“Have our soldiers guide the messenger here and have him brought to me.” He said after a long moment of silence.
“Also have our soldiers mobilize and strengthen our defenses in case the enemy decides to move into the mountain range.”
“I’ll have the men prepared right away my lord.” The soldier clad in azure colored armor said before dismissing himself.
With the soldier gone, the lord of the Azure Rain Province proceeded to walk out onto the balcony once more and gazed down at the scenery below the tower where he could see countless specks that looked smaller than ants. These specks were actually the tents and makeshift lodgings for soldiers and civilians of the Azure Rain Province who were all taking shelter within the confines of a magnificent fortress that surrounded the base of the Azure tower.
“I pray that no lives would have to be needlessly sacrificed.” The province’s lord said softly.
Down below at the base of the Azure Tower, countless men, women, and children were helping the soldiers of the Azure Rain Army strengthen the defenses of their fortress while also carrying out dozens of other menial tasks.
Chapter 66: Messenger
Early in the morning before the moon hid away but as the sun rose up from the horizon, a soldier dressed from head to toe in black armor that gleamed under the light of the sun rode his trusty steed deep into the forest near the Azure Tower. With a golden scroll tucked tightly in his robes, the soldier rode day and night to complete his objective.
“Jiao Fu, all you have to do is deliver this scroll and then return back to camp.” The soldier repeatedly said in his mind as his steed sped through the forest, galloping over unkept roads and grassy patches of earth.
Generally being a messenger was one step higher than a regular soldier, however during times of war when messages were sent to enemy lords and commanders, a messenger’s job was a dangerous one. If the receiver of the message was in a bad mood, then the massager’s life would be forfeit if the receiver of the message did not like what was in the message then the messenger’s life would also be forfeit.
So, the messenger named Jiao Fu, headed toward the Azure Tower all he could hope for was for the lord of the Azure Rain Province to be an understanding person and not a temper driven brute.
“Halt!” A voice rang into the Jiao Fu’s ear as a group of riders clad in azure colored armor rode out from within the woods.
With a hard tug on his horse’s reigns, the messenger came to a sudden halt as he was surrounded by four riders from the Azure Rain Army.
“I’ve come with orders from his highness, Prince Zhang of the Aurora Kingdom to deliver a message to the lord of the Azure Rain Province.” Jiao Fu said in a loud audible voice since the last thing he wanted was for the enemy soldiers to mishear what he said and possibly attack him.
“Lord Tian Lan has personally ordered for us to escort you back to the Azure Tower.” One of the four soldiers of the Azure Rain Army said as they gestured Jiao Fu to follow them.
After traveling roughly, a day lone and half a day following behind the four soldiers of Azure Rain Army, and once he rode out of the forest, Jiao Fu found himself in front of a massive fortress built around the base of what looked to be an ancient dormant volcano. Thousands of buildings lined the mountain while a magnificent azure colored tower rose out from the crater at the peak of the mountain and pierced into the skies.
“To think such a large fortress was here…” Jiao Fu thought as he gazed at the fortress that was practically hidden away thanks to the surrounding mountains and dense forest canopy.
Once he passed through a small side gate that was cut into the fortress’s solid stone walls, Jiao Fu saw many dozens
of rice paddies and countless people tending to them. Cattle and other domestic animals could be seen in makeshift pens while patrolling soldiers were constantly keeping an eye out on their surroundings.
“With so, many rice paddies and animals, they could survive in here for decades without a problem, no matter the number of mouths they had to feed.” Jiao Fu thought.
From what Jiao Fu, could see, Zhang’s decision to erect the five forts at the choke points that were the only exits out from the mountain range was a good one because if they were to march into the mountain range, sieging this massive fort would be a large issue even with nine hundred thousand soldiers.
With the forest and mountains acting as natural barriers, there would be no way to move in siege weapons or quickly assemble large units of soldiers in one area. Enemy ambushes along the way would have caused a significant decrease in the number of Aurora’s soldiers while the solid walls and lack of siege weapons would have prevented them from quickly breaching the fortress.
“Follow us.” Jiao Fu’s escorts said as they noticed him eye the fort’s defenses and the various facilities within it.
Although a messenger’s primary job is to deliver messages, their secondary job was also to act as scouts since they were able to infiltrate deep into enemy territory. A good messenger would be able to scout out and memorize the layout of the enemy’s base of operations while gaining a good grasp on the personality of the enemy’s leader.
As he was led through the fortress and up the mountain toward the Azure Tower, Jiao Fu began to notice the countless gazes concentrate on him. Looking around he saw hundreds of not thousands of common folk watching, some had curious expressions on their faces, others seemed fearful, a few showed looks of disdain and hatred.
“Maybe I should have taken off my armor and wore regular clothes before entering the fort… Let’s hope I’m not done in by these people before I can even deliver this scroll…” Jiao Fu thought as the crowd around him continued to increase. Once the common folk saw his gleaming black armor they were drawn to it as insects were drawn to a fire at night.
“Aurora scum! Leave our lands!” A few of the people yelled angrily.
At first, Jiao Fu was assaulted by words but this quickly escalated into small stones which eventually turned to fist sized rocks.
Luckily for him, Jiao Fu was fulling donning armor while equipped with a large steel shield that managed to repel most of the things thrown at him.
“Stop! Do you not know that harming a messenger is an act of war!?” One of the escorts sent by Lord Tian Lan yelled as he tried to disperse the crowd that was attacking Jiao Fu.
Since they did not know what their lord hoping to accomplish, the soldiers of the Azure Rain Army didn’t dare to allow Jiao Fu to be injured because if Jiao Fu isn’t killed after delivering his message then depending on what he reports when he returns to master, then an unwanted outcome could occur.
Before thanks got even more out of hand, a group consisting of a dozen or so, soldiers in azure armor marched in and formed a safety perimeter around Jiao Fu.
“Thank goodness…” Jiao Fu said with a sigh as the commoners were pushed back and he was allowed to continue his journey toward the Azure Tower.
Once the crowd was forced to disperse and after Jiao Fu managed to ride to the top of the crater located onto of the mountain, he saw countless tents littering the inside of the blown-out crater around the Azure Tower.
Luckily for Jiao Fu, Lord Tian Lan was waiting on the first floor of the Azure Tower and he did not have to walk all the way up the many thousands of steps within the tower.
“My lord, Prince Zhang, sends greetings to you Lord Tian Lan.” Jiao Fu said as he kneeled on one knee.
“No need for small talk or formalities and just deliver your message.” Lord Tian Lan said coldly.
“I, Zhou Zhang, sends greetings to the lord of the Azure Rain Province.” Jiao Fu said after he pulled out the golden scroll tucked in his robes and began to read it.
“I humbly ask for your surrender because blood not spilled are lives not lost. If you surrender, then you are free to govern your lands like before and not much will change at all. But most importantly is no one having to die and no blood has to stain your sacred tower.” Jiao Fu continued to read.
Since trying to appear polite would only make him seem weak and indecisive, and since trying to appear aggressive would only make him seem like a brute, Zhang tried to limit his words as much as possible.
“Return to your prince and tell him I’ll agree to surrender if and only if he grants me a plot of land four times the size of the Azure Rain Province, along with a few other things listed in this scroll. I also want for him to personally come and give me the good news or blood will have to be spilled.” Lord Tian Lan said as he tossed a blue colored scroll that he had prepared beforehand toward Jiao Fu.
“I shall deliver this to highness as soon as possible.” Jiao Fu said with a bow.
“No, stay for the night. I’ll have some men escort you back tomorrow.” Lord Tian Lan said.
While Jiao Fu was staying the night at the Azure Tower, the construction of the five forts was coming along splendidly. The trenches that would wrap around the exterior walls of the forts were expanded and now equipped with wooden spikes. So, although no walls were up yet even if the forces of the Azure Rain Army were to decide to attack they would find themselves unable to due to the trenches.
Although they were not given meat to feast on like the previous day, the morale of Zhang’s soldiers was currently as high as they could be because they had yet to encounter enemies and no fighting had occurred yet.
However, peace does not often last very long because the following night, Jiao Fu who was escorted by the soldiers of the Azure Rain Army returned to camp.
“My lord, the enemy lord told me to give you this scroll that contains his terms for surrender.” Jiao Fu said politely as he presented the blue colored scroll to Zhang.
After getting the scroll from Jiao Fu, Zhang broke its wax seal and began to unroll the scroll to read its contents.
“Dear Prince of Aurora,
My terms for surrender are simple but they all must be accepted or it’ll be like none of them were accepted, my first condition is the safety of my people must be ensured and no harm must come to them. My second condition is that you must ensure that after my surrender, you’ll shield my people and me from the retribution that will come from the Southern Alliance. The third condition for my surrender is that you must aid us in the reconstruction of the province. My fourth condition is that you must….” Zhang read the scroll half way before laughing and tossing it onto a desk not too far from him.
“Darling what’s so, funny?” Lingqi asked as she walked over and picked up the scroll and began reading.
“Hmmm, their safety can be ensured, the Southern Alliance can be dealt with, the province can be reconstructed although they were the ones who destroyed it to begin with…” Lingqi said as she read the scroll, however as she reached Lord Tian Lan’s fourth condition she stopped talking and tossed the scroll on the desk.
“Absolutely not! Absolutely now!” Lingqi said angrily with furrowed brows.
“Let me have a look…” Yuying said after she saw Lingqi’s reaction.
“What’s the fourth condition, sis?” Ai asked, curious as to why Zhang and Lingqi reacted so, differently.
“My fourth condition is that you must… divorce your wives and marry one of my daughters in exchange for the province…” Yuying read before she tore the scroll into two and tossed it into a small open flame furnace.
“That fox… If we all got divorced and honey had to marry one of his daughters, then wouldn’t all of the lands under Aurora’s control eventually fall into the hands of his grandchild?” Ling said in a surprisingly calm tone.
“What are you laughing about mister?” Ai said as she pinched Zhang’s arm.
Since Zhang did not currently have any children with the four b
eauties, if he were to divorce them and marry one of Jian Fan’s daughters then his if they have a child then in the future all of the lands of Aurora would fall into that child’s control, thus inevitably falling into the hands of Jian Fan’s descendant.
“He even said that we must accept all of his conditions or else he won’t surrender… Maybe I’ll show him not to get on my bad side...” Lingqi said angrily.
“How about a fake divorce?” Zhang said with a laugh.
“No!” All of the beauties replied in unison with burning flames lit in their eyes.
“Well since a real divorce is out of the question and a fake divorce won’t work, I guess all there is left to do is finish building those forts and prepare for blood to be spilled.” Zhang said with a smile.
Thus, Lord Tian Lan earned the scorn of the three beauties as they each began to concoct various methods to invoke their wrath on him.
