Chapter 161: The casualties of war 1

The sixth prince's mansion.

The metallic smell of blood was heavy in the room, which was not surprising considering how often Zhu Feifei bled since she was locked up in here. Most onlookers would argue that her living conditions were bearable considering the offence she had committed. However, on close observation. They would discover that she never had a day of rest. 

Although Zhongshan Cheng was forced to keep her alive until the Emperor gave his verdict, that didn't stop him from ordering servants to torture her. Zhu Feifei had bruises on her stomach and legs all thanks to the matron's careful actions. 

At this point, Zhongshan Cheng was sick of dealing with her. He glanced at the fresh bandage on her wrist, "how did she get to a knife?" He walked to her and raised her chin.

One of the stone-faced matrons keeping watch on Zhu Feifei replied "Answering your highness, the princess consort_"

"Don't call her princess consort, call her madam Zhu. She has lost that privilege", he interrupted smiling.

Zhu Feifei struggled out of her restraints, " You monster!"

He pulled his hand away from her chin forcefully, "Monster!, me_ you little!" He glanced at the maid behind her.

The maid raised her hands and sent it down On Zhu Feifei's cheeks. Zhu Feifei's face was pushed to the left by the force. Her eyes teared up immediately and her sour cheek swelled up more. She felt the slightly metallic taste of blood in her lips, she turned sideways and spat out saliva mixed with blood 

Zhongshan Cheng never spared her any other gaze, he gestured for a servant to pull a seat closer and sat in front of Zhu Feifei. He leaned to the side and gazed down at her, her cheeks were like large red tomatoes. They swelled so much that her other facial features combined with the swollen cheeks made a very funny look.

He chuckled and tapped the side of his lips, "stop making so much noise, it won't help you." He glanced at the bandage wrapped around her wrist, "you want to die? Don't you dare or you can be sure that your daughter will follow after you. Your life is in my hands, I will decide how and when you die".

He stood and walked to the door but paused a short distance away from the door. He raised his index finger and turned back, lips curved up. "Oh and one more thing, don't place any hope on the fantasy that your father would save you. Because he won't, no one will. You see he has more pressing issues to worry about than you. Plus you are pretty expendable, don't you have two other younger sisters apart from Zhu Fenfang.

"You Zhu sisters are really capable, do you know how hard it is to get just one daughter married into the royal family" he shook his head, "but the Zhu family has two daughters in the Imperial family. That just shows how capable your Zhu family is".

He laughed and left the room, completely ignoring her bellows. Zhu Feifei's opinion was of no relevance as far as he was concerned, there was no need to pay her any attention. He instructed the guards at the door to tighten up security as he walked out.

He was initially headed tie the direction of his side hall to visit one of his usual concubines but on second thought took another turn and headed straight to his study.

********

Two hours later, the Duke's mansion 

"Mistress, the guard at the gate just reported that the Duke and General are back" Baozhai whispered into Su Liya's ears as her mistress sat through Rong Rong's packing. They were in a hurry to pack up before the General returned from the palace. Su Liya dropped the hairpin in her hand inside tge box and stood. 

She glanced at Baozhai, "you take care of things here, I will go out and meet General Lu". Su Liya walked out of the side room and into the living room. Lu Yaozhu stood by the window, with his back turned to her from her position at the door. He turned as he heard her footsteps and smiled, "there you are".

Su Liya quickly ran her eyes through him from head to foot, everything seemed okay. There was nothing out of order, she let out a loud breath on seeing them in order. "You are back, how was it," she said walking closer to him.

"Good" he kissed her hands, "I will be leaving with the recruits and other soldiers for Ningzhuo tomorrow. I can not stat any longer my dear. The enemies are getting closer to the border".

"I am already done packing, I can leave when you are ready"

"You? Are you coming with me?"

"Yes!"

"Why"

"Because I want to, plus I could offer medical help to the refugees and injured soldiers"

"But it could be dangerous, you could get injured".

"And so could you, I can not let you go through this alone. Don't worry, I would get in your way"

Lu Yaozhu looked at her stubborn expression and sighed, "okay" 

**********

The next day, Lu Yaozhu and Su Liya left at daybreak, before leaving they stood just outside the city gates and underwent a short ritual in the Emperor's presence. Emperor Zhong sat at the tower by the gates until they were completely out of sight. 

Every morning for the next four days Emperor Zhong often sat at the tower to see the soldiers off. Although they tried without end to keep the conditions at the borders under wraps, rumours began to spread. The frequency of recruitment and deployment of soldiers raised a lot of suspicions. 

Emperor Zhong had people monitoring the situation at the borders, he was informed as soon as Lu Yaozhu arrived at Ningzhuo with his wife. The Narashi Warriors had just crossed the Frozen shark river a few hours after Lu Yaozhu arrived at Ningzhuo which would put them toughly three days away from the border.

Emperor Zhong folded threw the report his soy master sent into the fire and glanced at his chief eunuch Caihong. "How are things with the Empress?"

Chief Eunuch Caihong understood the question his master was asking and replied, "her highness has not been informed of the conditions at the borders".

"Good, the last thing I want is for her to come charging in here. It is not my fault that her favourite nephew took such a risk. I can not be blamed for every bad decision he made."

"General Lu is an adult, I am sure her highness would understand that you had no control over his choice".

He raised his teacup high, " here is to hoping that she does, meanwhile, keep an eye on the seaport. Although it seemed safe, I can not help but worry about the safety of the crown Prince".

"Yes"

********

Meanwhile in a well-lit tent of the tiger claw camp of Droko tribes a few kilometres away from the southern borders of Northern Wei

A hairy muscular man dressed in a black half armour stood at the head of the squat shaped control table that contained a detailed map of the southern borders of Northern Wei when a soldier ran in with a letter from their contact at the southern seaport.

The man raised his hands and gestured for the other occupants of the room to keep silent. The other men didn't have to be told twice, they kept silent while the general read through the letter. 

The Tiger claw troupe was part of the major forces of the Droko tribe and led by the king of Droko tribes nephew Prince Du. A giant-sized man of over 6 ft 5 popular for his massive beards.

Prince Du let out a hearty laugh as he rolled up the letter and threw it into the fire. His mean looked up expectantly, they had served him long enough to know that if getting a response like this from him wasn't easy. It had to be something interesting.

Prince Du picked up the jar of wine next to his hands and drank straight from the bottle, a few drops of the wine fell on his beards but he didn't take offence with that. "Tell the men to drink and be merry tomorrow, we will give the silly Emperor a huge hit."

"Yes!" His men chorused and left the room.

The next day, Prince Du led his elite troops after the Crown Prince of Northern Wei. He had come here out of duress but the prospect of ending the life of a spoiled near like the crown Prince made it worth the worry.

Zhongshan Cheng was ambushed on his way back to the seaport tower from a small farming village a short distance from the seaport. He had gone there to meet with his mother's former Nanny, he had a few questions about the events that occurred before his mother's death. The Nanny initially tried to refuse his demands but after he said a few words, she gave in and told him all he wished to know.

An arrow flew past his headache rode out of the village, knocking him out of his horse.