TWENTY ONE

In a rush, Xiao Gan Zi gonggong approached a group that was led by Jiang Xi Yu.

To fill in her boretime, Jiang Xi Yu agreed to teach and share her skincare products with her qie shi. Xiao Gan Zi gonggong reached the pavilion where the group had their lesson. The moment they saw Xiao Gan Zi gonggong arrive and seemed to be nervous, all of them became worried.

Jiang Xi Yu's heart skipped a beat.

"Wang ye send out a letter?" Quickly asked, Jiang Xi Yu's mind went to Li Fei Long who has been away for two days. Xiao Gan Zi shook his head and Jiang Xi Yu was halfway relieved. Inside her mind she dwelled on Li Fei Long's promise that he would send out letters to make her heart at ease.

"Spare me, wang fei. Nucai here to disturb wang fei's afternoon activity for an urgent household matter." Xiao Gan Zi bowed and waited just a few steps from where Jiang Xi Yu sat.

Since Xiao Gan Zi gonggong mentioned that this was household matters, Jiang Xi Yu grabbed Ding mama's hand to help her stand. She only glanced around and waved the other hand to Yu Wan ce fei and Zheng yiniang.

"Help yourself to take what you feel is suitable for your skin. You better ask Ru Ming and Ru Qing, which should be kept at room temperature and which are preferable in slightly cooler temperatures." After that Jiang Xi Yu let Ru Ming and Ru Qing helped out the two qie shi picking up the skincare that they wanted and also let them know how to use it.

As Jiang Xi Yu was walking away from the pavilion with the help from Ding mama, Xiao Gan Zi made sure he kept pace with Jiang Xi Yu's footsteps.

"You can start telling me what is the problem in your mind." Jiang Xi Yu was walking slowly as she also wandered around her garden. The sunlight was getting stronger at that time, people started to sweat easily and their odor started to get bad. Luckily, she has given several products for them to use to reduce their own body odor. Jiang Xi Yu was considering producing a lot more to let the other servants use for their own hygiene reasons.

"Few days ago, on the day when wang fei visited Jing Gui Fei, the guard who was on duty on the southeast wing gate found a young girl rolled out from a small wagon filled with wheat. At first he thought the girl was dead and the servant who passed the alley there purposely threw the corpse there because people rarely pass that alley. The guard went on to check and found her severely wounded and unconscious. He took her to be questioned once she awakened." Xiao Gan Zi gonggong explained in a low voice as he did not want this matter to be heard by other ears. Since Jiang Xi Yu stayed quiet and waited for more information, Xiao Gan Zi gonggong continued on.

"This morning the girl regained consciousness so the interrogation began. She claimed to be a servant who ran away and asked for help. She swore allegiance if our residence would accept her working here." Xiao Gan Zi gonggong stopped there and waited for Jiang Xi Yu's response.

Jiang Xi Yu stopped her feet, then turned her head towards Xiao Gan Zi who lifted up his sight to meet her.

"Where did she run away from?" Jiang Xi Yu asked with curiosity.

"From The Grand Chancellor's residence." Xiao Gan Zi gonggong answered in a much lower voice.

The trio spent a few seconds in silence before Xiao Gan Zi gonggong added more information. "The day she ran away was the day where The Young Master, Han Hong Yuan, decided to follow wang ye's troops. Nucai believes this matter is not as simple as it might seem because The Grand Chancellor's residence did not report any crime or a runaway servant to the Department of Personnel. Therefore the existence of this maid was questioned."

Xiao Gan Zi glanzed at Jiang Xi Yu and asked, "Should Nucai inform The Grand Chancellor's residence and return this servant back or should we keep her inside the fu?"

"They did not claim that one of the servants had run away. So, lead me to her. Let me decide after I see and question her in person." Somehow Jiang Xi Yu became curious.

Xiao Gan Xi gonggong noded and showed her the way to Li Fei Long's study room. Jiang Xi Yu never used that room before since she respects Li Fei Long's secrecy of his work. But as Xiao Gan Xi led her there without a word beforehand, Jiang Xi Yu concluded that Li Fei Long let her use the room by Xiao Gan Xi's action.

Between the front hall called Yonghe Gate Hall and the inner hall called Yonghe Gong Hall, there were four buildings. One of them was Li Fei Long's study room. Medicine Hall and Shenao De Hall were on the east side, both facing Shilun Hall which was Li Fei Long's study room and also Gongkai De Hall, both on the west side. In the middle of these halls was a huge garden field where a temple, a huge pavilion, and a rock statue were there.

Jiang Xi Yu visited the Medicine Hall quite often as she sometimes did not like to wait for her people to deliver the ingredients that she looked for and preferred to look for herself or sometimes she simply visited as she wanted to check the progress of the making of her skincare products.

After they reached Shilun Hall, Jiang Xi Yu straight away observed every detail in the room. The window overlooked the beauty of their beautiful garden. A large tree shaded the window of the room so that it felt comfortable and soothing.

Li Fei Long has many stacks of parchment rolls stored there neatly arranged in ancient wooden cabinets. Beside that, Li Fei Long also stored some art sculptures and paintings there.

"Nucai will bring the servant here." Xiao Gan Xi bowed and then disappeared quickly from her sight. Leaving Jiang Xi Yu with Ding mama alone there.

Jiang Xi Yu gazed at a painting of a large tiger staring fiercely with a line of ancient poetry writing adorning the main wall. On the table, Jiang Xi Yu noticed a wooden box was there in the middle of the table. She walked behind the table and opened the wooden box.

"Wang fei, in my humble words, nubi suggests for wang fei to be cautious of this maid. She might be one of The Grand Princess's attendants and was purposely kicked out to gain your sympathy." Ding mama warned her.

As Ding mama followed her and got the chair for her to sit, Jiang Xi Yu smiled in embarrassment the moment she found a letter that she wrote for Li Fei Long before he knew who she really was.

Ding mama got confused because of her smile. The old mama even checked her hands to see what made her smile in embarrassment.

Jiang Xi Yu took out the old paper from the box and then she sat down. She waved the paper to Ding mama before she read what she wrote there all over again.

"I wrote this before. I left it on the dressing table when I was staying at cui you yuan. When I wrote this, I thought I would never see wang ye ever again. I thought he would throw it away. Who knows he kept this silly letter all this long?!" Jiang Xi Yu recollected the memories when she was very determined to leave this fu.

Every word she wrote seemed ridiculous. Jiang Xi Yu wondered what Li Fei Long was thinking when he read that letter. Her hands were about to rip it off but Ding mama shrieked in shock. Before Jiang Xi Yu could rip it off, Ding mama took it away.

"Wang fei, this is like a treasure that wang ye keeps securely. If wang fei rip it and throw it away, would it hurt wang ye?" Hastily, Ding mama put the letter back into the wooden box on the table. She closed it and took it over to the cabinet near the window as if she wanted to keep it away from Jiang Xi Yu, the owner of the letter.

Jiang Xi Yu laughed at her. "It would hurt me if wang ye uses it in the future to mock me."

"Wang ye will consider it as a love token for him from wang fei." Ding mama quickly chimed in and returned to her side after making sure the letter in the box was kept safely.

Soon after that, the knock on the door made their intention of the letter disappear. Xiao Gan Zi brought two taijian to drag a skinny girl into the room. The two taijian dropped the girl on the ground not too far from the door and then they left the room after receiving orders from Xiao Gan Zi. Jiang Xi Yu waited until the taijian closed the door before she started questioning Xiao Gan Zi and the girl.

"So, this is the girl who claimed to be a servant of The Grand Chancellor's residence?" Without leaving her seat, Jiang Xi Yu lifted up her chin to get a clear look of the girl.

Her condition was very bad. As if she had no flesh between the skin and bones, the little girl looked malnourished. It seems they have changed her clothes for the better but her appearance still looked dull because there were so many wounds that had not yet dried on her body. The graze marks on the girl's face look disgusting and have not completely healed.

"Wang fei, this is the girl who claimed that she escaped from The Grand Chancellor's residence." Xiao Gan Zi stood next to the girl and pointed at her. Then he kicked the girl to make a sound. "Greet Duan Wang Fei if you want to live a little bit longer."

The girl kowtow on the ground. She put her forehead on the ground and cried. "Wang fei, I am worthless. I do not have any family or relatives and I beg you to accept me into this residence. I want to serve you and I beg, please, do not return me to The Grand Chancellor's residence."

"Address Duan Wang Fei properly!" Xiao Gan Zi shouted at her once again.

"Duan Wang Fei, please spare me… Nubi just wants to live and serve in peace." The girl cried and begged.

"And why do you insist on not returning to The Grand Chancellor's residence? Did you commit a crime there? Because accepting you here right now, instead of returning you back to The Grand Chancellor, would put Duan Wang Fu in a tight position with The Grand Chancellor." Jiang Xi Yu said what exactly she was thinking.

The girl lifted up her face. The face was not pretty. The bruises on her face made her face look really bad. Jiang Xi Yu was shocked and felt sure there was a dent on the side of her face.

"Nu… was once a beggar…. a homeless… just someone on the street and got picked up by the head house steward to serve the new second lady of the house. Once nubi entered the household, that was when...nu realized it was The Grand Chancellor's residence and nu was appointed to serve the second lady of The Grand Chancellor." The girl cried her heart out.

Jiang Xi Yu did not think the girl was lying until Xiao Gan Zi slapped her real hard.

"The Grand Chancellor is widely known as a loyal man for The Grand Princess. If The Grand Chancellor took a second fei, The Heaven would have bestowed him one and it should be announced." Xiao Gan Zi shouted at her to scare her off. But the girl cried even harder.

"I did say the truth…." The girl was covering her face before Xiao Gan Zi tried to slap her again. The girl looked at Jiang Xi Yu with teary eyes. "Nubi said the truth…."

"Xiao Gan Zi gonggong, let her speak. Slapping and kicking her would not make her speak honestly." Jiang Xi Yu wanted Xiao Gan Zi to stop using violence in front of her. The girl was weak enough.

Xiao Gan Zi nodded and moved closer to Jiang Xi Yu. The girl dragged herself closer to the table and raised both hands to beg Jiang Xi Yu.

"Wang fei, nu is innocent. They assigned me to serve Lady Pan who had thought that she was the second lady of the house. They trapped her in the house because they wanted to use her to make the Young Master heartbroken and become the man as The Grand Princess wants him to be. During my time there, nu witnessed a lot of taboos, a lot of violence, and nubi was afraid ... Nubi is still afraid… that they will accuse me for helping Lady Pan ranaway from the residence." The girl was obviously begging for her life.

"Did you do it? Did you help this Lady Pan out from there?" Jiang Xi Yu asked her in curiosity. The girl was clearly afraid. She shocked her head firmly.

"They….they had her inside a room. Nearly died… nubi thought she might have passed away that morning. They hung her on the ceiling, torture her…." The girl cried as the imagination hit her mind.

"Nubi was supposed to clean her dirt and blood droplets when all of a sudden she whispered for help. Nu was scared. Nu left the room and was subjected to torture and punishment. Nu spent the whole day serving my sentence in the kitchen until nu heard that Young Master ran away from the house with Lady Pan. The other servants saw and raced to turn nubi to The Grand Princess. They said nubi must has known the plan and let them run away from the residence. So from that, Nu tried to run away to save myself."

Jiang Xi Yu played the whole story inside her mind. It was like a movie scene she imagined. "Do you have a name?"

The girl lifted up her chin, with swallowed eyes she nodded.

"Do you remember your name?" Jiang Xi Yu asked her again and she nodded. Before the girl mentioned her name, Jiang Xi Yu cut her by lifting her hand to stop her.

"From now on, you need to remember your name is Chu Hua. Ding mama will teach you about manners and Xiao Gan Zi gonggong will show you the tasks you have to do as a servant."

"Chu Hua…." The girl whispered repeating the new name she just received.

"Wang fei…" Both Ding mama and Xiao Gan Zi seemed to object to Jiang Xi Yu's decision.

"Since neither The Grand Chancellor or The Grand Princess claim any crimes committed by their servants or make reports of a servant who is running away, it would not be wrong for us to have a servant named Chu Hua. In reality, Chu Hua is a different person. Right, Chu Hua?!" Jiang Xi Yu emphasized her statement back to Chu Hua. The latter nodded in agreement.

"Nu is part of this fu. The only name nu has is just Chu Hua and nu has never been anyone else before." Chu Hua looked at Xiao Gan Zi and Ding mama with full hope that the two would agree to take her inside.

"So, the problem is solved." Excitedly, Jiang Xi Yu concluded.

She looked at Chu Hua once again and pointed at her in a more serious way. "By the time you walk out from this room, you will only know that your name is Chu Hua. Therefore, before you become Chu Hua, tell the truth who Lady Pan is?"

***

Li Fei Long was halfway to Gaochang. The troops stopped in Haibei prefecture and they were building tents on the grassland near the Qinghai Lake when Han Hong Yuan caught up with them.

Being led by Lou Sheng to approach the spot where Commander Lin Rui En, Li Fei Long and Li Jin Qiu settled down to take some rest, Han Hong Yuan appeared in full armor. Every one of them was surprised by his arrival there. Especially because they knew Han Hong Yuan did not have any advantages to go to war.

"Duan Qin Wang, Chen Qin Wang, Commander Lin Rui En." Han Hong Yuan greeted all of them and got an astonished reply.

"I have spent my whole life not thinking about the people's interests and only thinking about myself. In the end, I want to make a contribution. Please allow me to participate in this campaign." Han Hong Yuan folded his hand and lifted it up in a proper manner as he asked for permission to join them.

"Please be at ease. We all grew up together and we all know each other very well. As far as I know you do not have any advantages for joining war." Li Fei Long gestured for him to take a seat at the empty seating that was set up in scratch.

Han Hong Yuan did not follow Li Fei Long's directions, instead he bowed politely at Li Fei Long and the others.

"I dare not compare myself to Duan Qin Wang or even Commander Lin as I have never been practicing in anything other than art. But my interest and desire to join this campaign was due to my interest which arose since I became aware of the art of war strategy. To my knowledge, beside General Jiang and The Great General Kong, Strategist Commander Bai Liang Jun will also join this campaign. I beg to be allowed to join this campaign apart from being a participant, also as a student to share experiences."

"Dage, Strategist Commander Bai is an extraordinary man. In my opinion, being able to join him and carry out a mission with him is already a great reward. So I can understand how it feels for Han Hong Yuan." Li Jin Qiu turned over to Li Fei Long.

The men in the circle acknowledged Strategist Commander Bai who was one of the main key at many wars. The man was famously known as a virtuous and talented person. Even Li Fei Long has a desire to get to know him more closely.

"We planned this place as a meeting point with General Jiang before continuing on to Gaochang. We still have a halfway ahead before gathering up with The Great General Kong and Commander Bai. Adding one more person is not a burden." Commander Lin added his opinion with his cold voice.

The young and cold commander turned to give a look at Han Hong Yuan. It was not a mock, he added some warning for Han Hong Yuan to reconsider his thought.

"There is no one who will clean our seats while we are on the field. It was either win and life or lose and die. So, if Han gongzhi's mind is set, I suggest that you start taking care of your own defense."

To neutralize the atmosphere, Li Fei Long laughed after that. Actually, he did not expect Han Hong Yuan to be there in the first place. His first thought was this man was here because of a secret mission that he carried on behalf of his parents. Li Fei Long was curious.

"Take a seat, Hong Yuan. As long as you have The Grand Chancellor and The Grand Princess's permission to be here, joining this campaign, I do not have any objection." This was a sarcastic note from Li Fei Long. A spoiled man who usually stays at home and only spends his time writing poetry and painting had to feel a lot of forging to bring out its hidden meaning.

Han Hong Yuan did not seem offended. Instead of feeling hurt, he flopped down and sat among them. "I do not need anyone's permission to be here. I am an adult man who just found my interest in the art of war and politics."

"You are indeed The Grand Chancellor's son." Commander Lin responded coldly to him.

No one can understand the basic tone spoken by Commander Lin, especially with his face as flat as the intonation.

***

As a busy trading center, Gaochang was a stopping point for merchant traders traveling on the Silk Road. It played a key role as a transportation hub in Western side of the empire. Even though the Jushi leaders pledged their allegiance to Xi Empire, after the fall of the previous dynasty, Northern China split into multiple states, including the Central Asian oases, and had their eyes occupying Gaochang.

Gaochang was controlled by the Kan clan, Zhang clan, Ma clan and Qu clan on which Kan Bo Zhou ruled as the king. To strengthen allegiance, The Late Emperor bestowed Great General Kong to wed Kan Bo Zhou's younger sister and bestowed him a main residence on the other important trading town called Yanqi.

The Great General Kong has been in Gaochang for a few days. He left his residence at Yanqi beside to launch the campaign but also to put up eyes observing who among the four clans, which one became a turncoat.

Kong Li Jun was a fit man in his age. He passed his golden age but he was still active in wars and campaigns. All his sons became warriors like him and he was proud of his lineage.

Inside his camp tent, Kong Li Jun was reading a note sent in full confidentiality. A note in his hand did not have any official stamp. The messenger killed himself after handing the letter directly to him. A common action that was used to cover up the evidence in the future.

He kept reading the note for a few times until he brought the note to the incense burner. He watched it burn to ash inside the silver pot. He just got an extra heavy duty after the campaign.

The camp tent he was living in was the biggest on the campsite that took place just outside Gaochang. He has reason to live there instead of using the site that was prepared by King Kan Bo Zhou for him.

For the others, it might have looked like it already became his habit to be more comfortable sleeping inside a camp tent. A General who shares the same burden as his troops. It was true that The Great General felt more comfortable staying at his own tent but staying there also gave Kong Li Jun freedom for himself. As the note turned ash, Kong Li Jun approached out.

"Bring her in." His deep tone ordered the soldier who stood by in front of his tent. The soldier turned around and nodded.

Kong Li Jun went back in and started to take off his clothes. His full armor was on display in the center of the tent. As his eyes scanned it thoroughly, he stripped down to his birth suit.

A woman walked half naked into his tent. Without making a noise, the woman started to touch his back and walked around so he could see her. The woman had blue eyes and light red coloured hair. She was taller than average Han women. The animal skinned jacket just covered her breasts and ended right below her woman part. Her gaze was alluring as she put her both palms on Kong Li Jun's fit chest.

"Sat there." Kong Li Jun pointed on the seat that was back to back with his armor display.

The woman followed his order and smiled wide as the seat was a symbol of power and his greatness that no one dared to even touch it. She opened her legs wide as she thought The Great General had interest in licking her part.

To her surprise, Kong Li Jun gave her his back instead of starting to eat her out. He went to his huge wood chest, opened it effortlessly, and then he took out a beautiful silk dress. He dragged it with him and he stopped right in front of the woman.

"You want me to wear this, General?" The woman stuck out her hand to touch the expensive dress. The General slapped her hand without mercy.

He yanked the dress and slung it over his shoulders. The Great General Kong Li Jun, who had killed countless enemies, tried to wear the woman's dress by himself. The Jushi woman was shocked, her mouth dropped open as she stood up.

Kong Li Jun slapped her face hard enough to make her lips bleed.

"Take the whip over there and come here." He ordered coldly.

The woman turned to the side and saw the whip was prepared over there near to her. She became afraid of this old General. She was a whore to many soldiers, she met so many maniacs with their own interest in bed. But she tried to avoid violence against herself. She scared death the most.

"Get the whips and come here hit my back!" The order was loud. Kong Li Jun got irritated as she moved slowly.

Once again the woman was shocked. She walked there and got the whip in her hand. In confusion, she approached Kong Li Jun who was already wearing the dress, looking very much ridiculous.

The General kneeled on his knee in front of her. His hand grabbed her butt and pulled her closer. His bushy beard touched her hairy pussy and he started kissing her. His tongue kissed her down there while his hand kneaded her butt.

She moaned slowly as the lust started to fill the air. A hard slap on her butt stopped her lust. She looked down and found The Great General looked up.

"Hit me. Teach me." He said with a full heart.

The Great General which many people fear was nowhere to be seen. He was just a man with a fully aroused penis, begging her to give him punishment for being fully erected.

The woman shook the whip lightly onto his back. Just for a test.

The eyes turned annoyed at her so she shook the whip more strongly for the second time and a soft moan came out from his mouth.

"Again…" He asked. "I have been naughty… please punish me."

The third time the woman hit his back with the whip, The General crushed his mouth onto her pussy. He sucked the hell of her wet vagina and then he laid himself on the ground. His strong hands maneuvered her so she sat on his face.

Knowing that Kong Li Jun was fully under lust, the woman became inflamed. One of the strongest men in the empire was between her legs. He was eating her out and letting her whip him. The woman turned wilder than before.

"You want this pussy, General?!" The woman asked in eagerness.

Her hips moved violently on his face. Her wetness covered all over his face. Once again she whipped strongly at his stomach as she grinded her pelvic.

Kong Li Jun's hand grabbed her long thick wavy hair and pulled it back. His hands forced her to bend back and made her fall on his body. Her face fell next to his aroused penis. With one hand held her body so her pussy would not move away from his face, the other hand directed her face to his manhood.

He jabbed his own hard penis into her mouth as he continued eating her out.