Sour Return

Yun returned to Puyang victorious but the mood the army was displaying was defeat. Yun and the army could feel that the city was mourning the death of their valiant defender.

Yun slowly approached the Zhao Manor as he was feeling guilty for the death of his father since he could have prevented it if he didn't recklessly push forward as always.

The people he passed on Thunder gave him their condolence as they reached the gates of the manor which looked bigger than the gates of the cities he conquered or defended.

Yun then feels a hand on his shoulder and hears from behind him, "They seem bigger than normally to you."

"They do and they will be even heavier to open this time," says Yun as he looks over his shoulder seeing Huang Zhong's face.

"Do you think your father would have liked to see you torturing yourself like now or did he want you to stand up and become better," says Huang Zhong trying to ease the mood but Yun just looked over his other shoulder and saw his son and daughter.

They still weren't over the news that their grandfather was dead and Yun says, "I might get over it fast since I still had a last conversation with him before the last battle. I also have lost my wife not too long ago which strengthen me against this a bit. But still, my children, they won't overcome this as fast as I will nor will my sister overcome it that easily."

"They will with time," says Huang Zhong having experience with losing an important person.

Yun passes the gates to the manor and jumps from Thunder's back. He hands over the reins to one of the servants before taking some steps toward the entrance when he sees his mother in black.

She was wearing a black veil as she did when she mourned for Diao Chan. She wasn't as devastated as Yun thought she would be while his sister rushed at him.

She beats on Yun's chest plate in her sorrow feeling a bit furious with Yun while saying in defeat, "Why... You are the strongest of them all and still... He died... He was always so proud of what you have accomplished on the battlefield. Why couldn't you protect him?"

Qian's head was against Yun's chest plate looking at the ground not able to look her brother in the eyes as tears were falling to the ground while Yun was steeling himself. He wanted to tell his sister that everything was going to be alright but he knew that it would have been a lie.

He stood there for a while letting his sister vent her frustration on him while his children passed them going towards their grandmother who received them with open arms.

Madam Su was saddened by Xian's death but she experienced the deaths of her parents as well as the deaths of her in-laws before Yun was even born. She was happy that she and her husband lived this long since their parents didn't as they died quite young compared to them

She didn't give Yun the fault for Xian's death since Xian was old enough to know that one of those days he wouldn't return from the battlefield. It just happens that the day arrived earlier than expected.

Clouds began to form over Puyang and rain slowly began to fall as Yun looked at the sky making the rain over his face before he looked at his mother who could read him like a book.

She could see that her son was crying while hiding it in the rain as he would always do since he was young never showing his true emotions when he could hide them like putting his head in a bucket of water after hurting himself while training.

Soon after Wei Yan took Qian inside because he was worried about her health since the rain soaked her clothes. But Yun stayed in the rain for a little while longer. His eyes were red from crying when Shadow lands on his shoulder trying to comfort him when an umbrella stops the rain from hitting Yun.

He petted Shadow before looking at who was holding the umbrella seeing that it was his mother. Shadow flies away before Yun hugs her tightly while falling to his knees and saying, "I'm sorry, if I wasn't that reckless he wouldn't have..."

"It's alright," says Madam Su while petting his head as she would do while he was a child before saying, "It wasn't your fault. I and your father have lived for a long time. It was far longer than expected in those turmoil times in which your grandparents were taken from us far earlier than you might believe."

She passed her hands over Yun's eyes and cheek to wash his tears away while saying, "He wouldn't want you to break in the middle of your plan to bring peace to those times so his descendants don't have to wage war."

"I know, but still... How much do I have to lose for it? I have lost my wife and my father. I can't even look after my son out of fear that he follows me into battle and he gets slain because of me," says Yun as he buried his face into his mother's chest feeling like a child again.

It felt like she was taking his pain away by treating him like a child instead of an adult when Madam Su says, "We can't be shackled by our fears but surpass them. Yun, you are a symbol of greatness in anyone's eyes but in mine, you are still my little boy that hides his true emotions until he is pushed to show them."

"Your father was the same. He was always afraid that something might happen to you the older you got since you changed from being careful and strategic to reckless and rash. He thought that he pushed you into your current line of profession because he taught you the way of the spear," says Madam Su as she takes Yun's hands with her left hand.

"But I knew when I saw that smile on your face while swinging your spear that you were born to become a warrior. So stand tall and become the warrior that will be remembered until the end of times. Show them that in your veins flows the blood of the First Emperor and that you will be immortalized as he is in our history," says Madam Su making Yun stand again.

Once Yun was standing she smiled at him and she says, "Now let us go inside and pray for your father's soul so he can reach the afterlife and meet his Ancestors."

"Yes, mother," says Yun as he takes the umbrella from her right hand to cover them both as they entered the manor.

"Where is your brother by the way?" asks Madam Su curious since Hua wasn't around.

"He should be on his way back from Ye with the compensation and reward from the Yuan Clan," says Yun stilling the curiosity of his mother as he folds the umbrella.

"So when are we moving to Xiapi?" asks Madam Su as she was worried about what they would do with Xian's remains.

"We are moving once Hua returned and we gave the rites to father. Then I will ride to Zhending to bury him beside his Ancestors as he always wanted while the army marches to Xiapi. I have left the Xu Province for too long unattended," says Yun when he feels his mother poking him.

"What is it, mother?" asks Yun as he looks at his mother's cunning smile.

"I have some portfolios from women that want to be your wife," says Madam Su trying to animate Yun's mood with this joke knowing that Yun wouldn't even look at them.

This made a smile appear on his face which alleviated Madam Su since Yun was smiling again after the emotional beating he received from his sister. What she didn't know was that Yun smiled to alleviate his mother since she was trying hard to get him to smile.

In the meantime three days away from Puyang, Hua was already on halfway back to Puyang with Lu Bu and Zhang Liao. Hua secured a big compensation from the Yuan Clan and an apology gift which Hua wasn't a fan of nor were the others.

"Your brother won't like the apologies gift," says Lu Bu looking at it eating.

"He will like it even less when I tell him what the Yuan Clan told me," says Hua as he looked in the same direction Lu Bu was looking at.

"What did the Yuan Clan say?" asks Zhang Liao a bit curious since he wasn't there when Hua and Lu Bu negotiated Yuan Shao's bail.

"They said that my brother should forget the past and concentrate on the future. They also said that their gift will help him forget. I think they don't know that my brother has children the same age as their gift," says Hua looking at the gift suspiciously.

"He will be out of himself. They must be crazy to think that Yun won't see that as a provocation," says Lu Bu with the same look on his face as Hua on his face.

They all looked at the apology gift Yun received for what the Yuan Clan had done. She was a teen almost the same age as Fang and Mulan. She is wearing a black veil to cover her face and black clothes because the Zhao Clan was mourning the death of one of their own.

"She might be an assassin," says Zhang Liao hinting at the worst.

"That could be possible but where does she hide her weapons?" asks Hua himself out loud since he checked her before leaving Ye.

"We will find out once we are back in Puyang if she is one or not," says Lu Bu as he kept a close eye on the young woman just in case she poisoned their food on their way back home.