Kiss Of Affection

Normally, general Tengfei resided in his own army barracks and only came once three times a year to the Wang residence, mostly on the consort's request. But this time, he intended to stay longer, because he was seeking the alchemist and had no luck finding him.

Which was why Tengfei led his new bride to his quarters, which was filled with some of his soldiers, manning his entrance with expectant faces, led by Fu Bao.

"Ah! Look! The general is here!" An excited voice cried out, drawing everyone's attention to the arrival of Tengfei, and the bride in his hands.

Fu Bao rushed over to the two, wearing an all knowing smile on his face, "I never knew that general Wang had such a romantic side to him." He exclaimed, trying to steal a glance at the person under the veil.

On cue, Tengfei clasped his bride to his chest, forcing them to wrap their hands around his neck for support. The action caught the young general off guard, he averted his eyes from the person in his arms then cleared his throat.

"All of you lingering around may resume your training. Give me..." He looked down at his bride, probably sizing them up. "About three hours and I'll be right with you." The general announced, then walked into his quarters like a proud hero, returning from a gruelling war, carrying a national treasure in his hands.

As soon as the general disappeared, his subordinates led by Fu Bao grinned fully from ear to ear.

"Remember men what we must do now, after all this is part of training itself." Fu Bao said to the others who all wore supportive looks, as though they had something pre-planned.

"No more wasting time, we may now commence the operation!" On that charge, the soldiers all dispersed with vigour taking every available entrance into General Tengfei's quarters.

There stood a large apple tree beside the general's sleeping quarters, some overly zealous soldiers took advantage of this and swiftly climbed up it's branches. Once they reached a high enough height, they peeked into the general's sleeping chamber, through the open window.

Mischievous grins rested on their faces as they watched Tengfei sit the bride down at the edge of his bed, and took off his sword holster. However, just as he was about to take off his outer robe, he took a dramatic pause. Then, without warning he charged for the open window with intention to close it.

Unfortunately for the naughty soldiers, their general caught sight of them and sent them a threatening glare! His stare was so intimidating that the soldiers ended up loosing their balance and falling down the tree!

Tengfei hissed under his breath then closed the window shut, "those idiots won't give it a rest." He pinched hard at his temples, swaying his head from side to side.

"Don't mind them, they're hopelessly stupid." Tengfei said to the bride who still had the red veil on.

He stared at their attire from head to toe, only now realizing this bride's build was far different from most women. Tengfei pursued his lips as he made a motion to lift the bride's veil and get a glance at his wife.

However, before he could act on that thought, the general noticed a set of eager eyes peeking through newly punctures holes in his quarters.

"Fu Bao!" He cursed angrily under his breath clenching both fists, then promptly marched over to the main entrance of his chamber, his lips twitching in rage.

"Just a minute." The general discreetly reached out for his sword, his kill intent seeping out.

Without wasting a second, he forcefully pulled both doors apart, and as expected his prickly glare landed on Fu Bao and two other soldiers crouched down with one eye peeking through tiny holes.

"Ack!" Fu Bao tumbled back in stun at the sight of General Tengfei who had his sword pointed directly at his subordinate.

"General Tengfei! What a surprise to run into you like this!" He exclaimed, nervously scratching the side of his neck. "Ahem..." Fu Bao dry coughed, averting his panicked eyes from Tengfei's scrutinizing gaze.

But Alas! When he took a sweep of his surrounding, this subordinate soon discovered that all his cohorts had fled the scene, leaving him to face the consequence alone.

"I shouldn't have put it past you to trouble me. No, in fact, I would be surprised if you didn't pull off a stunt like this." Tengfei spoke in a somewhat calm tone, which was a sharp contrast to the angry expression on his face.

"General, this subordinate was merely just..." He bit hard on his lower lip, trying to cook up an excuse to soothe Tengfei's wrath. Judging by the general's stance, he wasn't just brandishing his sword around for fun.

"Ah! Yes! Yes! We were just partaking in the marriage customs, we meant no harm in this." Fu Bao explained, inwardly cursing all those who had deserted him without thinking twice.

'If I'm able to survive this, then heavens bear me witness, I'll surely exact my revenge on those cowards!'

"I see. Since we're making up customs I might as well include my own." Tengfei announced with his sword still pointed to Fu Bao, a mean scowl drawn across his face.

Fu Bao felt a cold chill run down his spine at the general's indignant tone, "oh really?" His lips twitched nervously, Tengfei gestured Fu Bao to follow him.

The subordinate had no choice but to follow, Tengfei ended up leading him to a deserted part of the spacious Wang residence.

Shēnqíng zhī wěn. (kiss of affection)

Which was said to have unlucky soil.

Apparently, a century ago, one servant fought with the other over who was superior and who had more bragging rights over the other. At the time, it was a seemingly harmless argument between the two drunk hotheads. But as each side remained obstinate and would not give in to the other, tensions began to spring up. Consequently, all the servants were split into two factions, one belonging to each party involved.

Now with supporters encouraging the little debate, each servant got too cocky and ultimately were at lodger heads with each other. Over the span of two years, when the rage they both harboured could no longer be contained. Both sides ended up exchanging blows and the end result was quite nasty.

It turned out that one of the passionate supporters from each faction went an extra mile to add poison into the food of their leader's nemesis. Hence, both foolish servants whom were once brought into the Wang house as best friends, met their unfortunate demise on that very soil. Which used to sprout the most beautiful plants, even it's weeds outshined delicate flowers.

"General why are we here?" Fu Bao questioned with widened eyes, in front of him was a piece of land which barely bore any form of nature.

"Dig." Tengfei announced in a distinct tone, Fu Bao who had heard it was unconvinced and decided to clarify.

"Dig for what General?" He asked, maintaining a five step distance.

"A well."

Fu Bao was left impaled by shock.

"Gather up all your accomplices and dig till this wasteland becomes a well. You're prohibited from eating anything until the task is completed."

With that said, Tengfei straightened his clothes then marched back towards his quarters, as though he were a puppy returning to it's owner.