The General Arrives

Word quickly spread that the magistrate of the border town had been through an assassination. He survived but was severely wounded, and no one was sure he could hang on for long. The gates were quickly closed, and a curfew imposed to keep things under control. This made most of the merchants and officers at ill-ease. After all, the most powerful official here at the border town was Wang Bo, who was only of the upper ninth rank. His assistant quickly took over matters, but he was only at the lower ninth rank, and there was only so much he could do.

The next most powerful person was general Pei, who was stationed at the army's border, closest to Northern Wei's territory. He rarely came to the border town, though he did have his estate in the border town, he rarely returned, and the place was rather decrypting. However, he was still the nearest person who had the most authority, so a messenger bird was swiftly sent to the border stating the details of what happened.

The border station was where people were exiled. It was a long journey from the inner provinces to the border town. The winters were harsh and the summers, nonexistent. Who knows how many people died on the way, becoming old bones on the side of the road. Some say that general Pei himself was banished by the court because he offended some high ranking civil officials, never to return to the capital.

Though this place was called the border town it was not as close to the border as one might think. The true border was the place where general Pei was stationed. It was a three day's journey on horseback from the station to the border town.

However, two days after the assassination incident, there were three black spots in the distant snow-covered ground, making them look extremely prominent. As the spots came closer, the soldiers who were on top of the checkpoint saw that the three spots were actually three people on horseback, riding towards the town. They recognized the man to be general Pei and his two trusted aides at a glance. He was recognized, not just for his fame, but because most of the soldiers at the border town were once stationed under him.

"Send someone to alert official Tao."

An order came to open the gates and the horses galloped through the open gates. Each horse tired and weary, just like their gray cloaked owners who were riding them. It did not take long before official Tao, dressed in a thick winter's cloak came and greeted them.

The man descends from the horse, he is tall, with a straight back, with skin that is slightly tanned from the time spent at the border's barracks. With eyes as sharp as an eagle and eyebrows as sharp as swords. He was a rather good looking man in his mid-thirties, though he is tired and weary, his eyes are filled with spirit. Nothing as the rumors said that he had been banished to guard the army border to await his death.

"Take me to see the magistrate." Was the first order he had upon seeing the official with a thick winter's cloak.

"General, you have just made a long journey, and we thank you for quickly arriving, but would you like to rest up for a bit before coming over?" Official Tao asked politely in a scholarly manner.

"No need, just lead the way." General Pei replied with a polite gesture. Though he was a man of few words, he knew the etiquette between civil officials. He ordered his subordinates to take care of matters in the general's estate. They immediately descended as well, pulling their general's horse toward the direction of the general's estate.

As one side walked towards the general's estate, the other walked towards the magistrate's court, which was in the middle of the town square. Because there was an assassination attempt, the place was well guarded, to prevent any suspicious people from entering. However, that all should have been done sooner, it was useless to do all this now.

As General Pei neared, the pungent smell of medicine wafted towards him. At the side courtyard, there were countless doctors that had been invited to treat the magistrate who had been wounded from the assassination.

They had all agreed on one thing: He would not live long. This was because there was no way to treat such a wound where the blood loss was severe, but the blood was not flowing out, it was already seeping into cavities of the body, where it ought not to be. The wound was something that was thin as a hair's line and there was not much blood flowing from it, so it was useless to try to stop the bleeding with blood staunching medicine.

As official Tao and General Pei entered, they saw a well put together woman in her forties by the bedside. She did not have the slightest bit of makeup on, and her eyes were red, looking at the middle-aged man with a pale, haggard face with bandages wrapped around his chest, he was lying on the bed, with barely any movement. If not for the slight rising and falling of his chest, they would have thought him to be dead.

Realizing that people had come in, she quickly placed the brocade quilt over Wang Bo's bare skin, as though she did not want outsiders to see an embarrassing scene. She lowered her head upon seeing them arrive, using her handkerchief to dab some of her tears away.

"I'm sorry to have let gentlemen see such an embarrassing scene." She said in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Nonsense, Wang Daren has been my superior and colleague for so many years, we even took the imperial exam the same year, could it be that madam sees me as an outsider." Official Tao asked in a gentle tone. His tone was rather soft as though afraid of scaring Li shi.

Li Shi shook her head, "No… Don't misunderstand, it's just that… " Li shi lifted her head to look at General Pei who had been playing bystander and listening to their conversation. Upon catching a glimpse of his cold eyes, she immediately lowered her head again.

"What nonsense, this is General Pei. Though he may look worn out, he made this long journey from the border station to investigate the magistrate's attempted assassination." Official Tao said reassuringly.

However, though Li shi knew of general Pei, they rarely ever met. Perhaps she had only seen him once when she first arrived at the border town with her husband. After that, there were rarely any other chances, considering she was a woman, and rarely left the magistrate's manor. At most, she would help out the pitiful street urchins of the town by handing out food or teaching them the basics of writing.

"General Pei, thank you for coming so quickly." Li shi curtsied before returning to Wang Bo's bedside.

General Pei merely nodded and continued to observe the seemingly meek and submissive woman who was doing as any loving wife would, upon hearing of the incident with her husband's assassination attempt, and coma that he would most likely never wake up from.

Yet he knew that the emotions between the magistrate and his wife were not as strong as she displayed. The magistrate was a man who frequented brothels and pursued a life of excess and debauchery. Rarely seeing his wife, this was the reason why despite them both being in his forties, they did not have a single child beneath their knees, perhaps this could be attributed to his weak body. This was fine since the title of the magistrate was not one that could be inherited.

Li shi was calm as she occasionally dabbed the handkerchief to her eyes, irritating them to the point of turning red. There were teardrops that formed around the red rims of her eyes, giving her the appearance of an exceedingly weak and helpless woman.