บท 5: Reviews

The following day, Lu Qinyi sat across from him at the table for breakfast, blabbering as usual about something rather. It seemed today's topic was how the weather was cooling down and how he already missed the warm sunshine. Only, he kept yawning. The first few he had tried to smother with his sleeve but they kept coming so he gave up. Fei Li looked up from his meal as the talking paused. He was yawning again, blinking harshly a few times as if that would rid him of the tiredness. Fei Li had only just finished his bowl of rice when a man dressed neatly in military robes rushed in. "General, you're needed urgently, some of the men have gotten into a brawl."

Lu Qinyi's expression fell as he grumbled, "What foolishness and so early in the day too." He got up from the table, once again trying to suppress his yawns as he followed the man out. Those reports had really taken much too long to write.

By the time he arrived, the three men that had been brawling had been separated and were kneeling in a line.

"What was the fight about?" He demanded impatiently. The three men remained still with their heads lowered. Instead one of the men to the side answered, saluting to him.

"General Lu. It seems the men got into an argument about who was on cleaning duty today. The argument then escalated into a fight."

Lu Qinyi glanced over the three men. "Bullshit. Call Yang Xun and Zhao Mei over."

The man startled but quickly acknowledged with a "Yes sir", rushing off to fetch Yang Xun and Zhao Mei.

Yang Xun strolled over, pausing when he saw the three men kneeling disheveled and covered in dirt from the brawl, his eyebrows raising. Zhao Mei who walked in after him also seemed interested, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yang Xun, tell me why these three insist on fighting it out first thing in the morning? They claim it was over today's cleaning duties."

"Bullshit." Yang Xun responded. "General Lu, I ensure all duties are clearly allocated. There should be no dispute over them." He gave the three a thoughtful look, tapping his index finger against his chin. "Ah, this is probably about Maiden Zhu again." He pointed to two of them. "These two are in love with the same Maiden. They regularly argue over who deserves the pleasure of marrying her." The two men lowered their heads further. He then pointed to the remaining man. "And this is that maiden's brother who won't approve of either of the men." The last man didn't lower his head, clearly unashamed of getting into a fight for his sister's sake.

Lu Qinyi looked shocked for a moment before slapping his forehead with his palm. "Truly, all this over a maiden?" He heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright, give your advice then, Yang Xun."

"I believe all three men should be assigned to separate divisions."

Lu Qinyi nodded at this. "Reasonable. Which divisions?"

Yang Xun nodded toward the first man. "Wang Xi is quite proficient in horse riding. I'd reassign him as a messenger." He nodded toward the next man. "He Zhong has talents in hand-to-hand combat. I'd recommend reassigning him to the Fourth division." He finally looked at the last man, pausing before saying. "Zhu Zian is rather bright. He'd be suited to the intelligence sub division of the Sixth Division."

Zhu Zian's eyes widened at that, clearly not having expected to be assigned to such a specialized group. Zhou Mei however didn't look impressed, her cold gaze bearing into him was almost enough to make Zhu Zian shiver.

Lu Qinyi's eyebrows raised as he purred an "Ohh? He'll certainly want to keep his emotions in check from here on out." Although his tone was light, Zhu Zian stiffened further, the warning underlying those words more than clear.

"Alright, I approve of the reassignments. As you three already know, in-fighting isn't allowed. Zhou Mei, you're free to punish them however you see as fitting." The three men all simultaneously hunched in on themselves, fear sinking deep within them. They didn't dare raise their heads to meet Zhou Mei's cold gaze, afraid of provoking her further.

"Understood." She acknowledged with a gleam in her eye.

Yang Xun shook his head in pity.

"As for the rest of you..." Lu Qinyi glanced at the rest of the people dressed in military uniforms in the yard who all instinctively straightened up. "I want all training doubled, and schedule more sparring sessions. Since you men and women are feeling restless enough to fight with each other, you should be able to handle it. Learn to keep your anger for fighting the Northerners." The soldiers had to hold in their silent tears as their merciless general determined their fates. Yang Xun could only sigh and acknowledge the order.

"Oh, by the way General Lu, about the reviews..."

Lu Qinyi's shoulders drooped at Yang Xun's reminder for half a beat before he nodded. "Ah. Right, it's time for the reviews."

It wasn't that he had forgotten it was time for the reviews to be complete but that he had been avoiding them. With Yang Xun's reminder and Zhou Mei's unrelenting gaze on him, it seemed he wouldn't be able to avoid them any longer so the next morning, Lu Qinyi had just pulled on his robe, intending to follow Zhou Mei and Yang Xun to start right away on the reviews. He had left it to the servants to inform Fei Li he would be out all day and they would help him with his meals instead. But Lin An rushed to catch him on his way out, apologising profusely as she explained Fei Li wouldn't eat. He pinched between his brows before walking over.

"Don't bother."

"Let him starve."

The duo insisted but they followed behind him anyway, giving Fei Li unkind looks from where they stood by the door.

Lu Qinyi put on a patient smile as he sat across from Fei Li. "General Fei, I can't say I understand your actions. Having Lin An or Lin Jiao test the food is the same as having me test it. I really don't have the time today, you would have to go hungry until late this evening." This was the truth, he really couldn't understand what Fei Li's reasoning for this could be. It wasn't like he was asking the other to tolerate someone he didn't trust touching him, as would be the case if someone else were to tend his wounds. What harm was there in someone else testing his food for him? There was no reason to insist on Lu Qinyi for this.

But Fei Li seemed set on this, once he had finished glaring at the two by the door, he met Lu Qinyi with a stubborn gaze.

"I really don't have the time, I won't even be in this area today. You should understand better than anyone how busy being a general is. Be reasonable, General Fei."

But Fei Li would not be reasonable. He instead childishly pushed the dish in front of him away. Lu Qinyi could only sigh. "Have it your way." He got up to leave. Zhou Mei scoffed while Yang Xun looked delighted that his general was finally forced to stop being so sickly kind and accommodating. They left Fei Li behind, who could only stare after them expressionlessly.

Sure enough, they were gone all day and Lu Qinyi only swung by his room when it was well into the night. "You really didn't eat today, you're certainly more stubborn than I had expected General Fei," he chatted lightly while using the jade hairpin to twist his hair up. He had paused when he first saw it on the bedside table, eyebrows raising in surprise but he hadn't claimed it back. Fei Li seemed to like it since it was placed back rather carefully on the bedside table each night and as long as it was taken care of, Lu Qinyi didn't mind.

Fei Li obviously had nothing to say to this, his head lowered as he ate his food. Although it was clear he was rather hungry and he was eating quickly, much to Lu Qinyi's appreciation, he didn't make a mess. "I wonder how long you'll keep up such pointless resistance. I really can't see what you're getting from it." Lu Qinyi continued to comment as he tugged the bandages free.

Even if Fei Li could hold his thoughts long enough to talk, he would never explain it was because he found comfort in Lu Qinyi's visits and he knew the other wouldn't visit as often if there wasn't the need to. He felt the need to cling onto Lu Qinyi as the only thing he trusted in this confusing and unfamiliar world of pain and fear. He could only hazily remember who he was and even after all this time, he had no idea where he was or why he was here. Although their names sounded familiar, he felt he didn't know Lu Qinyi, Zhao Mei or Yang Xun, despite the fact the latter two seemed to hold hostility toward him. All he knew was Lu Qinyi had taken the effort to personally prove his food wasn't poisoned, going out of his way to provide him care and put him at ease. He had only ever treated him gently and kindly. And so Fei Li had chosen him, and only him, to trust and hold onto to keep himself afloat until this haziness cleared.

Lu Qinyi finished up, bidding Fei Li good night. The following day, Lu Qinyi didn't show at all, again only returning some time in the night. So Fei Li continued to refuse to eat or drink without him there, spending the day staring out the window at the desolate courtyard. When Lu Qinyi came that night, he seemed tired and didn't have much to say, treating him and ensuring he ate before leaving again.

The day that followed played out the exact same. Fei Li almost felt a sense of loneliness during the quiet, undisturbed day so he dug his heels in further, even more resolved to keep up this childish refusal. That night, Lu Qinyi was tired again and his expression wasn't good.

"General Fei, you should stop this. Refusing to eat all day isn't good for your recovery. At least drink your medicine."

This was true, Fei Li did feel a bit weaker, and the pain from the aching in his head was awful but he had no intentions of stopping.