The Blood Peony

The sound of swords clashing rang throughout the battlefield.

At the front lines, was the old General of the Dizheng Empire. He smirked at the sight of Biantian Empire's General.

Truly a humourous sight, to see a small girl—she could barely be called a woman—on the battlefield.

What could she do! She was a child—one who obviously had no training and definitely spoilt rotten. How could her father let her prance onto the battlefield, if it wasn't for him spoiling her and giving her everything she wanted?

How could he sacrifice the lives of his own people like that?

He won the last battle: she should've retreated back into the safety of her nest. But here she was, sitting proudly on top of that white stallion of hers, that golden sword recognisable from afar.

Her face was small and white, making her stand out amongst the tanned soldiers. He couldn't make out her exact features from this distance, but he had seen her before—once, at a feast. That was 4 years ago. His memory of her features were hazy; all he knew was that she was a budding beauty, and that her eyes were like a fiery pool, threatening to drown him.

After he wins this war, he should definitely take her back as a prisoner-of-war, and treat her very well... Fiery beauties was just his taste, and his last one broke within only a few weeks. It was unfortunate that he didn't completely destroy her army from the last battle.

The poor one was struggling dearly, she was barely blocking the swords of his soldiers. Her Lieutenant Generals were surrounding her, protecting her from the brunt of the attacks.

Unknowingly, she inched closer and closer to him.

The old General smirked.

Her Lieutenant Generals had seemingly left her side, leaving her like a rabbit in front of a pack of wolves.

He took the bait, and moved closer to her.

"Well if it isn't the third princess of Biantian, Princess Mudan," he said condescendingly when she was within earshot.

She glared at him, and he drew back a little from the intensity of her pure rage, the fierceness dancing within those inky black orbs; flames flickering, burning everything in their way. The same—if not even brighter—gaze from 4 years ago.

He shook his head. She was still just a child. A paper tiger, all bark and no bite.

With every thrust of his lance, he killed one of her soldiers. Blood splattered across his armour as one by one, her men fell under his attack; unable to land a hit on him. Wei Mudan's eyes turned red and she roared a wordless shout at him, which he ignored.

Little princess, you had your chance to flee, he thought. He couldn't wait to have her under him, to see those fiery eyes turn dark and cloudy. In a moment of arrogance, he turned his attention away from her.

Wei Mudan seized the chance.

This was his fatal mistake. To underestimate the enemy because of a previous win—to judge the General by what her appearance was. She leapt from her white stallion, and with one powerful slice, lopped off the General of Dizheng Country's head.

None of the soldiers around the two saw what had happened until they felt a spray of warm blood upon their faces. When they looked towards the General of Dizheng, what they saw terrified them.

Princess Mudan, standing upon the enemy General's horse, holding the General's head by his hair. Blood covered her silver armour, making her seem more like a demon than a human. Her beautiful face was icy cold and emotionless.

The enemy General never saw it coming. His face was forever frozen in a condescending smirk.

Wei Mudan kicked the General's body off his body. She had a look of displeasure on her face, but she took the head and leapt back onto her own stallion.

One of her Lieutenant Generals held the rein of her horse as the others fought around them, allowing her to land without a hitch.

Dizheng Empire's army quickly scattered following the death of their General. Wei Mudan raised her sword and commanded, "Hunt them down! Victory is in our grasp!"

The men who were still alive had a gaze of fiery lights, charging towards the frantic enemy. Most were hunted down, but a few were left to carry home a single message—

[Beware of the Blood Peony.]

After the fight, some of the fleeing soldiers noticed fresh peonies blooming. Flowers that should've been the symbol of bashfulness, of a young girl hiding her blush behind her flower sleeve. Flowers that were now soaked in the dirty blood of the battlefield.

They had connected it to Wei Mudan, a Princess who should've been those fresh peonies she was named after. With her peony-like appearance, Wei Mudan was truly beautiful. But none would call her beautiful when she was stained with blood; a female devil, one who had come to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Hence, the blood peony was born from the blood of the battlefields.

The chase of the remaining stragglers took a few days, but Wei Mudan wasn't worried. For she had finally proven her worth, proven that she had capability and could fight just as well as any man could.

Now within enemy borders, they had to be careful.

As Wei Mudan rode her horse through a bushy forest, a small rustle in the bushes attracted her attention. A weary enemy soldier, obviously worse for wear, stumbled towards her. Wei Mudan calculated the distance between them. Fifteen metres. Good enough.

"Girl! Give me your horse and no-one will be hurt!" he yelled, brandishing his sword and aiming it towards her white stallion.

Wei Mudan raised an eyebrow. Hunger and thirst overcame his rational thoughts, and now escape was the only thing on his mind. It seems like this soldier had lost his mind to the point where he could not recognise the insignia of Biantian Empire.

On top of her horse, Wei Mudan drew an arrow and mercilessly shot a whistling arrow through the air, towards the soldier. Right before it hit, the soldier's eyes widened in fear at Wei Mudan's valiant figure. The words 'blood peony' had only just passed his lips when the arrow hit, piercing his heart.

Jiang Cheng, one of her Lieutenant Generals rode up to her, giving a cold glance to the body in front.

"We fear that there may be reinforcements up north," he said.

Wei Mudan replied cooly, "Retreat. The soldiers are exhausted, we cannot be too far in enemy territory, lest we run the risk of an ambush."

Jiang Cheng nodded and rode back to the camp. The message spread around the temporary camp, and the soldiers left with a sense of pride within their hearts. To win a battle for the Empire, was that not a beautiful glory?

A messenger had already set his way back to the Imperial Palaces with the head of Dizheng Empire's General. In front, the old General had already left two days prior after the initial victory.