章節 26: General Bingwen
"Your Imperial Majesty, you should please get some rest," said one of the generals from his side. Unlike his son, Yang Qui, this general was middle-aged. He had been with Emperor Yong in building Heping Empire. His name was General Ling.
The Emperor had his eyes closed. "I'm fine," he whispered. To be honest, he had been drifting to sleep once in a while. Years of training and discipline in the military made him this way.
"We should reschedule meeting the leader of the enemy."
"I want this over," he opened his eyes. Two days ago, there had been a welcoming party for his third son—to celebrate his return after a year outside the walls. "I want my son and the princess home as soon as possible. He had delayed far too much already. It's about time we meet this person who dared to come here."
The Emperor had already sent out countless messengers for the enemy beyond Heping's walls. But all he got in reply was that HE HIMSELF SHOULD GO AND MEET THE ENEMY.
When that message got to him, he barked laughter at it. He never laughed that hard in years that it brought tears to his eyes. The paper was not signed by a name so he was still clueless on who was trying to beat down their doors.
The Emperor was even convinced that he should wait for the enemy's army to run out of food. But that could take weeks. Worse, it could take months. He could not risk that—not with the princess running in the wild.
Emperor Yong did not know what it was that made the other leader's mind change, but he was certainly pleased that he would finally get to know what it was that the enemy wanted.
He nodded at the two soldiers guarding his doors. "Send them in."
The heavy doors swung open and in came a man with long hair tied on a bun on top of his head. He was clad in full armor—breastplate, pauldrons, the huge swords hanging from his waist, and the loaded pistol at the other side—you name it, it was in his being other than the helmet.
"Greetings, Emperor," said the man at the front.
Emperor Yong was pleased to see that the man was familiar. "General Bingwen, it had been a while since I last saw you." While he was relieved, it was also the reason why the emperor should panic for this general was Princess Yingyue's uncle. He eyed the red and white banners with the snake curling around a flaming sword. "Did Shanmai change crests?"
General Bingwen shook his head with a small smile on his lips. "Let's just say that the new Shanmai Emperor and I don't get along. We just don't see the world in the same sense."
The new Shanmai Emperor—the son of The Tyrant King, the brother of Princess Yingyue—Emperor Guang. Emperor Yong's forehead creased. "Did you run rogue, General?"
General Bingwen laughed menacingly. "Let's not get into the specifics. I only want to take my niece with me."
"She's not here," answered the Emperor.
It was as if the whole vibe of the room shifted as General Bingwen stared down the emperor. "Are you really going to wait until I destroy your walls before you hand her over?"
The Emperor's general, General Ling, was the one that laughed at this. "Let's see if you can really do that. Once you attack our wall, we would have no choice but to return fire. Think about your men, General. You are not going to win this."
General Bingwen narrowed his eyes to the other high-rank soldier. "Oh really?"
Before things got too heated—which the Emperor would hate as he didn't like blood spilled in the throne room—he stepped in. "Why do you want the princess? You haven't come for her when she was younger. Why do you want her now?"
General Bingwen sent a calculating look at the Emperor, then he shrugged. "She's turning twenty-one soon. I am going to have her marry the King of Tiankong. She's going to be his third wife. And I am finally going to be in the council, away from all the blood of the battlefield."
The Emperor was mortified. They really had come here for the princess. Her uncle wanted to sell her. They all knew that the princess was their one-way ticket to access the greatest and the largest army that this land had known. The army of Shanmai Empire.
The Emperor was a hypocrite, he acknowledged that much. He was the one that kidnapped the princess, took her as a hostage so the army would not invade Heping Empire, and planned to marry the princess to one of his sons for the same purpose: he also wanted access to the army of Shanmai and to ensure that the people of Shanmai would never seek revenge for the death of their late Emperor Zhiquiang.
But that was HIS plan. How dare this lowly general come and steal that very idea that he had been cultivating for the past sixteen years?
"That's not going to happen," said The Emperor.
"It will happen," said the general with a smug look on his face. "I am not leaving this place until I already have the princess. If you're not going to give her willingly, I shall take her by force. I already have men at your every gate and in your woods. I am going to find my niece and I am going to take her to the King of Tiankong."
The general did not even bother to say good bye, just spun around on his heel, taking all his men with him.
"Should I order for their deaths?" asked General Ling.
"We are no longer savages," The Emperor replied. "We should no longer contribute to the fire of The Wars. We are going to settle this peacefully. Send a message to Yang Qui. Tell him… tell him I need to speak with him."
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