CH 1

Chapter One: The soul travelled to a different era, Part 1 of 4

As night fell, the inside of the receiving hall of the General Manor was brightly lit with candles. Inside this spacious room, apart from a set of rustic, huge mahogany chairs, there were two men, one sitting, the other standing, one relaxed, the other restless. The young man impatiently walked up and down in the room, after several back and forth, he finally could not bear it, looked towards the lean man on the side sitting motionless as a mountain, asked: “Second elder brother, dumping that woman inside eldest brother’s room, it’s alright ah?”

Eldest brother returns today from defending the northern borders. To see a woman lying on his bed as soon as he comes back, he will likely either strangle the woman or strangle them out of anger! Blame, just blame the emperor!. It’s fine for him to deliver some woman ah. General Manor does not have even one single maidservant. Then out of the blue many people came demanding where to put the woman!

Without lifting his head Su Ren continued to gently wipe a silver spear, laughingly snapped: “of course, she’s the emperor’s gift, eldest brother’s woman, if not thrown in his room, in your room then?”

After hearing this Su Yu immediately turned his back and roared: “I don’t want it!” He most dislikes that kind of frailty and delicateness, resigning himself to a rich scholar’s young daughter, alone the thought makes a person spoil his appetite!

Su Ren shrugged his shoulders, his appearance indifferent, actually a woman in a house is also a good thing, in no time one  will even be able to accept the hustle and bustle.

Su Ling on the battlefield!

“Don’t want what?” Deep male voice resounded at the same time a big, tall, straight figure also appeared inside the house. A travel-weary Su Ling just returned home, still wearing the dark black armor and helmet which he had not enough time to remove.

“Oh nothing!” Su Yu forced a smile or two, laughed, “Eldest brother, you came back?” Su Ren stared at him coldly. Rubbish, eldest brother is standing here. Of course, he’s back!

“Hmm.” Su Ling nodded coldly, took off the helmet, poured a cup of tea and quickly drank it in one gulp.

Su Yu stared at Su Ren, winked at him, signaling him that he should tell Su Ling about the matter of the woman inside his room. Su Ren immediately bowed his head, his eyes blinking foolishly, but also acting as if he did not see anything. Su Yu angrily pushed his shoulder fiercely. Su Ren still had the appearance as if the matter is of no concern to him.

They made eyes at each other, pushed and shoved one another. Su Ling impatiently and coldly said: “You two, what are you up to being fainthearted, do you have something to say?” He hates it most when someone holds something back, dislikes people who say things and handle work slovenly. He was gone only for a few months. How did these two men acquired this bad habit! Su Ling’s face showed he was not pleased. Su Yu did not dare anymore to shirk from responsibility, shouted back: “The emperor’s gift of a woman was finally delivered at noon today. She’s now in your room.”

Su Ling held the teacup with stiff hands, across his eagle eyes flitted a look of disgust, in a cold voice he replied: “look for a spare room in the rear court. Get her out of my sight.” Damn it! The emperor went so far as to really send off a woman to General Manor. Does he, Su Ling, fancy a woman he has not even seen yet?!

Su Yu looked nonplussed standing there. Su Ren simply shook his head immediately, lightly cleared his throat, suppressing a smile he replied: “Now I reckon it is not alright.”

“Why?” Su Ren’s face displayed a rather weird smile, Su Ling has a kind of bad feeling about this. Su Ren kept on wiping the silver spear and did not answer. Su Ling turned to Su Yu. Su Yu muffled his reply: “You go in and take a look. You’ll know.”

Two persons behaving peculiarly, is she not just a woman? Don’t tell me she possesses formidable powers. No that cannot be! Ignoring them Su Ling walked over in large strides towards Lingyun Pavilion.

Gu Yun once again attempted to move about her already numb hands and feet. Alas, even the tingling feeling is now gone. She reckoned they’re completely numb. She wanted to sit up, but found out the strength in her waist and abdomen she’s always been intensely proud of is gone! This is it! What’s going on?! Her face was covered with a big red cloth. Gu Yun simply closed her eyes, recalling the events of the day. She could only remember that night she went to Qing. She found a strange exhibit and afterwards a flash of red light. She felt a sharp pain in the head, a blackness in front of her, then she lost consciousness.

She spent the next days in chaos. She underwent SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics] training in the past, thus she knew someone had been drugging her. She had tried to keep awake in various ways. She had wanted to escape from the horse-drawn rickety carriage. When they discovered that, they tied her up afterwards. Normally, she could loosen these ropes, but now she felt that her body is not the same. It had no strength at all!

From noontime she had a big red cloth covering her head. Since she was moved here a full eight hours have passed. She did not hear any sound. Her repeated attempts to move failed because of physical weakness. She once suspected that she and Qing were kidnapped. What kind of people would go to so much trouble to kidnap them? She could sense the environment around. The body costumes have changed, and even hair has changed. Everything revealed a strange atmosphere.

Her head is perhaps muddled, but her sense of hearing is still sharp. There seemed to be someone at the door. Before she could ascertain it, already the door has been pushed open. Gu Yun held her breath, waited and observed.

As soon as Su Ling entered the house, he sensed a person was lying in the bed. Inside the house was pitch-black. Su Ling lit a candlestick lamp, in the dim candlelight, on top of the bed was a woman in a particularly eye-catching red outfit.

Su Ling’s expression changed. What’s this? Granted that the woman was thrown in his bed, but also binding her in this manner. He went to put the helmet on the table. Su Ling grew edgy, he conveniently raised and overturned the red scarf covering the woman’s face. Originally he thought he would see a terrified, weeping face. Contrary to his expectation, a pair of furious, raging flame-filled eyes greeted him.

It was a pair of eyes, both distinctly cold as the bright moon and burning hot like the scorching sun. Su Ling’s cold eyes narrowed slightly. What kind of woman would have such a pair of eyes?

Because of these eyes, Su Ling is now a little interested to see her face.

It was a delicate and young face, long eyelashes by candlelight leave a faint silhouette, full cherry lips, very proud and pretty nose. The whole person looks too petite as if a pinch will shatter her entirely. Su Ling frowned, he dislikes this kind of delicately pretty young lady. If not for her unusual pair of eyes, he would not even take a glimpse of her.

While Su Ling was looking at Gu Yun, Gu Yun also looked at this silent unruly man in front of her. A big, strong body stood before the bed, nearly blocking the already not so bright candlelight. With the light on his back she could not see clearly his looks. He was dressed in dark black armor with a bronze girdle. His exposed skin showed a healthy tan, the person looked dashing and uninhibited, a kind of aggressive, domineering man whose temperament in general is difficult to find among ordinary men. But why did he want to wear an armor? How he looked a little bit bizarre with this outfit.

What fascinated Gu Yun the most was his eyes. Under the dim light of the night both eyes were sharp, cold and cynical like those of an eagle. She had worked in the criminal investigation team, anti-narcotics task force, and anti-riot squad. Naturally she had seen eyes more ruthless, sinister, and vicious than this pair of eyes. However, before her this person compared to those people comes out as firm and resolute, his strength a little bit awe-inspiring.

Since her body was tied up Gu Yun could not move. She has yet to figure out what had happened. But she was always cool-headed and not prone to panic, she said in a low voice: “Could you please help and untie me?” She hasn’t spoken for a long time. Her voice sounded hoarse, but she was still able to hear it was not her own voice!

Gu Yun’s mind went straight into panic, what on earth is going on here? Ever since that night she saw the golden trigram disk, everything seemed so strange.

Gu Yun slightly turned her face away. Although her back was to the light Su Ling saw the two knife wound scars on her other cheek. They seemed to be from a recent injury. He reached out his hands, grabbed Gu Yun’s chin and turned it to one side. Su Ling’s big hands gently touched her cheek. He wanted to examine the injury. Even though he found the woman inconvenient, but if someone left two hideous scars on the face of such a weak woman, it made him feel disgusted.

Suddenly a warm hand was caressing her cheek. Gu Yun’s heart quickly jolted. She breathed and shivered in cold! She wanted to twist, but this man’s hands were surprisingly strong. She could not move. Gu Yun steeled her heart and bit Su Ling’s wrist.

She bit hard. Soon she tasted blood in her mouth, but the cold, arrogant man merely knitted his brows. He did not even grunt a protest. As if she was just having a small fit of losing her temper. Gu Yun frowned. Since biting him was useless and she didn’t want to waste her strength anyway, she shut her mouth and thought of other ways to get rid of his big hands.

Not troubling her further, Su Ling already coldly withdrew his hand. Is she is a dog? Looking down at the two rows of deep teeth marks, he looked and stared at Gu Yun for a long time. Su Ling’s knitted brows tightened more, in a cold voice he asked: “You are Qing Mo?” He remembered the emperor wanted to send a woman with this name. The third daughter of the Qing family, Qing Mo, is widely rumoured to be a gentle, sweet, warm and charming beauty. But where’s the gentleness in the woman in front of him? Is the emperor playing a trick on him, or one cannot simply believe everything about hearsay?

What Qing Mo? Gu Yun was befuddled, but she did not rush to deny anything. Once again she calmly said: “Untie me.” She put off first the discussion of the whole thing. She could not wait to have her hands and feet freed, before she can begin to clarify the situation. This time, Su Ling went straight to a nearby wooden stand, removed his armor pieces and hanged them up on it. He did not glance again at Gu Yun in the bed. “This is the General Manor, not your arbitrary boudoir backyard. If you want to stay here, then give me peace. Observe the rules. Stay within your bounds.” Coldly leaving behind these words, Su Ling nonchalantly breezed out of the room.

Chapter One: The soul travelled to a different era, Part 2 of 4

The room was quiet again, Gu Yun was still tightly tied, only the red scarf draped on her face was taken away. Staring at the white curtains of the bed, Gu Yun was stunned. Who can finally tell her what exactly happened? Lying flat on the bed, Gu Yun breathed deeply a few times in order to calm down her restless heart. That unfeeling man should not be back tonight, she must free herself from her current predicament, at the very least first untie the rope! 　　

It was a large room, about fifty square meters, the furnishings of the entire room is extremely simple, in addition to the bed where she’s lying now, the room has a set of wooden mahogany chairs and a low, small table, nearby the bed is an upright wooden stand where the helmet and armor were hanged up, all solid wood furniture, the impression the room gives off very much resembles the man who departed a while ago – tough, icy-cold. 　　

Looking around the room, Gu Yun’s eyes lit up as she saw hanging next to the wooden stand a double-edged sword, the blade about four feet, its whole body is silver white, the scabbard has no ornamentation, the sword hilt has a white jade inlay, the whole sword imparts an aura of arrogance, coldness and aloofness. 　　

She increasingly took a liking to the cold sword, in her mind thinking how to get close to the sword, as it just may help her escape from her present dilemma. Gu Yun took a deep breath, hoping to use the strength of her abdomen to straighten up, but unfortunately, she only made it halfway, again she collapsed on the bed. 　　

Gu Yun frowned, what is really the matter? What have they done to her body to make her so weak, but Gu Yun is stubborn and not willing to be defeated. Struck with a sudden inspiration, Gu Yun put aside the failure of her effort to stand up, writhing like a worm she crawled slowly to the edge of the bed, first she extended her tightly bound feet out of the bed, then her hips, but unfortunately she could not control, she fell on her butt on the floor. 　　

Sssh… – sucking in a mouthful of cold air, Gu Yun reluctantly sat on the cold floor, she did not know whether to laugh or cry, when was she, Gu Yun, ever in such an embarrassing, sorry state, that even lowering down out of the bed has her already gasping for breath? 　　

After resting for a moment, Gu Yun slowly straightened up, it felt good to be standing, but then after standing straight, immediately Gu Yun’s heart sank! Oh no, her height … she seemed to dwarf a lot! And her hair is ankle-length which made her inexplicably surprised, she has short hair for more than ten years already, how come this long hair? 　　

Everything is too weird! Taking a deep breath, Gu Yun temporarily suppressed the doubt in her heart, her goal now should be to untie the ropes. Looking at the hanging sword, Gu Yun frowned again, her hands tied behind her back according to her height, she will not even reach the tail of the sword. 　　

She can only use those wooden chairs as a base to put herself up, but between the chairs and the sword there’s a distance of seven or eight meters, she is right now bound that even moving about is difficult, so how can she move the heavy wooden chair? 　　

Inside the huge room the pale yellow candlelight flickered, Gu Yun’s tightly strapped thin body stood upright in the middle, but her calm face did not reflect cowardice and suffering, her cold eyes observed once more the almost empty room, after concluding that there was no other alternative, Gu Yun began to take small steps and walked towards the wooden chair. Analysis of the situation, weighing the pros and the cons, setting a definite goal, taking immediate action, this has always been how Gu Yun handles matters. The more difficult her plight is, the more fierce she becomes, this was the evaluation of the SWAT captain of her, she has never ever let herself down, this time it will be the same!

Positioning herself beside the wooden chair, Gu Yun slowly squatted, sat down on the ground again. Drawing up her legs, she kicked the corner of the standing wooden chair, it was much heavier than she imagined it would be, she has exhausted all her strength, the chair actually moved only a dozen centimeters! 　　

Looking up at the not so distant sword, according to this rate, her wanting to get there, is undoubtedly a “Long March.”[1] Inwardly grinding her teeth, Gu Yun again bent her legs and kicked, repeating this over and over again, until her feet felt numb, but she did not stop for a moment. She did not know how many times she repeated the action, when at last the wooden chair reached the wall, Gu Yun slowly raised her head outside the window a faint red light has seeped through the room, heralding a new day has come.

Along her forehead sweat was dripping on the floor, Gu Yun bowed her head, casually wiped her head on her skirt, her soaked skirt was proof of how she worked hard the whole night. The slow, kicking activity numbed her feet, she rested for a moment until her legs finally regained some feeling, Gu Yun slowly stood up against the wall. 　　

Dizziness hit Gu Yun, she stood leaning against the wall for a long time until she slowly regained her strength. Moving forward to climb up the wooden chair, she finally reached the tip of the sword, caught the swordtail, pulled a long time until the sword fell down from the wall. 　　

The ice-cold sword made Gu Yun feel very comfortable, fondly stroking it for some time, she slowly moved to the place of the sword hilt, pulled for a very long time, until finally the sword came out of its sheath.

Even if the sword was in her back, Gu Yun felt the moment it emerged out of its scabbard, a whiff of chilly air hit the surrounding, as one can well imagine the edge of the sword is sharp. 　　

Carefully and slowly she positioned the sword near the rope on her hands, after Gu Yun felt the presence of the rope, she then pulled the hilt, thumb-thick twine unexpectedly was cut immediately. Suddenly freed from her bondage, Gu Yun almost fell off from the wooden chair. 　　

The pure white lustre of Bing Lian

(photo taken from pinterest.com)

After managing to gain a firm foothold, Gu Yun could not wait to appreciate the sword in her hands. The sword blade is spotlessly white as jade, nearly of the same color as the white jade hilt, she can not make out which metal is it that can have this kind of pure white luster. The scabbard has no decorative motif, but on the sword blade fine fish scale pattern can be seen as a decorative design, the edges of the sword were suffused with glowing white cold light, on its white jade hilt were carved two characters, Gu Yun squinted her eyes to look – 　　

Bing Lian?[2] This is its name, right? Bold and forceful calligraphy, it was in stark contrast to the pale white jade. Sure enough, the sword held up to its name, she just realized now she was not mistaken, close to the sword one can really feel a current of cold air, truly it is a good mystical sword. 　　

After admiring the sword for a while, Gu Yun picked up the scabbard, hanged back the sword intact on the wall. Her limbs finally freed, Gu Yun gently exercised her wrists. Suddenly, she was astonished and stared at her hands for a long time, her heartbeats jumped faster. These delicate white hands, jade slender fingers, beautiful and impressive, but … these are not her hands! 　　

Because of the years of handling a gun, the thick calluses on her hands have reached the extent that they became annoying, but these hands, are not only ridiculously tender, but also frighteningly small! Shrinkage in height, ankle-length long hair, slender hands, far too many facts, telling her that this body is not her! Heavens! This is too crazy! 　　

Mirror! She needs a mirror! She looked around the room, Gu Yun could not find a mirror. 　　

The only thing that can reflect light is the Hu xin jing[3] on the chest armor piece hanging on the wooden stand, its bronze material can vaguely reflect a person’s face.

A battle armor with Hu xin jing; photo from sevenstarstrading.com

Gu Yun walked to the side of the armor, her heart calmed again, she observed the man last night wearing the armor, she estimated him to be about 185 centimeters tall, the wooden stand is almost as high as he was, and now her face barely reached the position of the Hu xin jing, so that means she is now just around 158 centimeters tall?! 　　

She thought, to be 158 centimeters tall, this fact is already a fatal blow to her, however, when she saw the face now from the fuzzy mirror, when encountering difficulties she always try to remain calm, but in the end one low growl erupted out of her. “Damn!” She stared straight at the image on the Hu xin jing, her mind blanked for a brief moment, the woman in the mirror, no, this can only be regarded at best, this face belongs to a girl!

Very small snow white delicate face, beautifully arched eyebrows bent like a light willow leaf, small and exquisite rosy cherry full lips, the most attractive in the whole face are the eyes. Long eyelashes, bright and translucent, round like those of a tiny rabbit, shining innocent pure radiance, even most ridiculous are these watery eyes, as if any time ready to weep like now! This, this, this is simply too much, enough to drive Gu Yun to murder someone! 　　

She doesn’t really hate this appearance, if she saw before this girl, she’ll also praise her she’s cute, but now the problem is that if this face is her, how can she endure it! Gu Yun who has always been known for being calm and rational finally punched the Hu xin jing! The Hu xin jing is forged out of pure copper, naturally her fist didn’t change anything. After lightly swaying the Hu xin jing still reflects the delicate face, except that before the adorable innocent eyes have transformed into eyes glittering with cold rage and fury … 　　

Taking a deep breath for quite a while, Gu Yun has barely let herself calm down, she looked again in the makeshift mirror, she ironically discovered that the only feature which pleased her about this face are the two scars on the right cheek! She irritably turned backwards, she didn’t look in the Hu xin jing anymore. 　　

Having busily spent the night, Gu Yun’s body covered in sweat felt hot wearing the layers of her tiered red dress, she took off the outermost complicated red cape gown, wearing only the inner red long dress, afterwards she lowered her head and carefully examined her body, she felt like crying but there were no tears to shed. 　　

She finally undertood why even getting out of the bed was so difficult, why she also needed an entire night to push a chair, why she felt so weak … These two arms are basically two thin toothpicks indeed! Furthermore this waist now, her thigh before in comparison is even thicker … 　　

Tall height, nimble body, vigorous physical stamina, powerful strength, these which she had always been intensely proud of herself before vanished instantly without a trace, Gu Yun for the first time felt anxious, with this body, how can she escape from her predicament, how can she save Qing? 　　

Sunlight penetrated through the window lattices lighting up the inside of the room, it permeated and left mottled shadows in the room, the wind was gently blowing inside, her clothes sleeves fluttered, her hair floated, a sweaty Gu Yun shivered for no reason, she recovered her composure at once. What is she doing?! Qing is missing, whether she’s dead or alive is yet unknown, she still knew nothing about the circumstances of the present surrounding, at the moment all is not lost in despair, she’s still alive, her four limbs are sound, her mind is clear, she can capitalize on these! 　　

Gu Yun decided to go out of the room to have a look outside, she only took a few steps to find, her ankle-length hair is quite troublesome, her brows furrowed, she walked towards Bing Lian, pulled out the sword, not in the least hesitant she raised and lowered the sword, a shining white light flashed, fine black hair at once landed on the floor. The jet-black supple hair was cut up to her waist. Originally she wanted to cut it shorter, but the long sword is not handy like a pair of scissors, she has to a bit reluctantly accept this. 　

Gu Yun hanged back the sword, with a smile she said: “Thanks, Bing Lian!” 　　

Gu Yun gathered the thin waistband of her skirt, while walking out of the room she tied her hair into a ponytail, and so she hasn’t noticed when she lowered her head at that moment, Bing Lian hanging on the wall emitted a red glow, but it quickly vanished without a trace.

[1] Long March, idiomatically means a rigorous, tedious journey

Long March, 1934–1935. A yearlong trek to northwestern China by a large branch of the Red Army, the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party, to escape the army of the Nationalist Party. From 1927 until 1934, the Red Army fought the Nationalist Party forces by using guerrilla tactics that made Mao Zedong a world-famous military strategist. However, the Red Army was forced into a defensive position that it was not able to maintain because it ran short of medical supplies and weapons. By the end of 1934 the Red Army had to retreat, and it was able to evacuate many people before the Nationalist Party forces realized what was happening. About 100,000 Communists left the Jiangxi base and began their rigorous trek to northwestern China; this became known as the Long March. (Source: Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, Its History and Culture / fofweb.com)

[2] Bing Lian lit. means Ice smelting/refining

[3] Hu xin jing (protecting heart ‘mirror’) is a small circular shield that is worn at the chest area to protect the heart. (Source: hui3r.wordpress.com / sevenstarstrading.com)

Chapter One: The soul travelled to a different era, Part 3 of 4

Gu Yun

As Gu Yun walked to the doorway her steps lagged at the moment.

There’s someone out there! She retreated two steps behind, the door was shoved open with a clang, two tall soldiers dressed in ancient outfits walked in.

Gu Yun frowned, is it this body the root cause? Her mental alertness and physical strength obviously are not as good as before, but to hear the changes only at this proximity. She was inwardly chagrined, the two soldiers saw now in front of them a woman, speechless they gawked at her, this woman is quite small, quite lovely ah, with the flimsy red dress on her she seemed innocent and a bit charming. However, her face somehow has two scars, they cannot help but feel a little pity towards her.

Gu Yun silently observed them, she wasn’t particularly anxious to talk.

The two soldiers who were the object of Gu Yun’s quiet and cold assessment regained their composure, lightly coughed awkwardly, the somewhat younger fellow stepped forward and exclaimed: “You, come out.”

Gu Yun stood still, coldly asked: “To go where?”

The young soldier did not expect she would ask, impatiently answered back: “This is the general’s room, it’s not the place where you should be.”

Yesterday the man said, here is the General Manor, here is his room, he is naturally the general, and she, without any ceremony on a red bridal dress dumped on his bed, the identity of the owner of this body is most likely his concubine.

In order to confirm the identity of the body, Gu Yun deliberately replied: “I’m his wife, why can’t I stay in his room?”

“Wife?!” Sure enough, the young soldier immediately laughed out loud: “You are really overestimating yourself, you at best can only be regarded as a gift.”

Gift? Gu Yun kept her doubts in her heart, continued to shock him and said: “I’m not a gift, I’m the general’s wife!”

“That’s a big joke, you relying on the match! Your Hao Yue country gave the three siblings of the Qing family to our Qiong Yue emperor, the emperor sent you to the general, perhaps if the general is not happy, he can also give you to anyone. If not a gift then what makes that of you!”

Damn it! Gu Yun could not help but clenched her fist, emperor, general, a bunch of unknown country names, as well as this person’s body which sickens her, all in all, she needed not do further analysis it’s now clear to her, she travelled to an unknown space and time, and here is a period of absolute monarchy, the identity of this body currently hosting her, she’s a gift, a tribute of a small vassal nation to an imperial kingdom.

So what about Qing? Where is she? Can it be the same with her, has she also entered another person’s body?

Seeing the self-indulgent look of the young soldier, Gu Yun proceeded to ask: “My sisters were they sent to the palace?”

“They …” He just started to open his mouth when the older soldier cut in and said: “Don’t engage in idle talk with her.”

“You’re told to leave, you leave right away, you shouldn’t ask, don’t ask.” This woman has an innocent, harmless, delicate and cute appearance, but her eyes are unusually sharp, it’s wise to be careful with such a person.

Gu Yun slightly squinted her eyes, this person’s vigilance is not weak, this so-called servant meets and knows the master, she must not belittle this General Manor, especially her body now resembles bean sprouts. Gu Yun kept silent as they strode and went out of the door, all the way she secretly observed the environment, on her guard, playing it all by ear.

The courtyard is large, in the perimeter stood pine trees, and the air was filled with the faint smell of pine wood, as she walked out of the courtyard, Gu Yun looked back and saw on the front gate, powerful and bold calligraphy of “Lingyun Pavilion”.

Three big, dark green ink characters on the courtyard’s gate.

“Hurry up.” The young man called out impatiently. Gu Yun turned her head again in front, continued to quietly follow them going forward.

Walking through the labyrinth of the General Manor…

Walking down the winding corridor about seven or eight turns, they took Gu Yun towards the direction of the north circumventing around, Gu Yun secretly noted the route they took, she soon discovered that the construction of the General Manor is intricate, they haven’t really walked a long distance, within the layout there are three identical spots, with this design it’s easy to surmise that one can lose his way, thus if one absent-mindedly walks it can lead to finding oneself in a real labyrinth.

And here the security is tight, all the way she has seen two teams of patrolling soldiers, their march steady and firm, they’re well-trained, when they saw her at first their faces showed a surprised look, but soon after they behaved as usual, no longer looking at her.

The further she walked the more apprehensive Gu Yun felt, the place is heavily guarded, the terrain is complicated, unlike what she thought before, she may not be able to escape, she has to scrap that plan for now, no need to even speak of it ah.

“From today onwards, you live here, unless the general says, you cannot take one step out of the courtyard.” Gu Yun was pondering all the while until she heard the cold voice of the young man, she looked up.

Banished to live alone in this humble wooden hut…

In front of her is a small courtyard, also in it is a small wooden house, the courtyard gate didn’t have a lintel, though simple and plain, it’s very quiet and peaceful, Gu Yun fairly liked it. Listening to what they were implying, the general who is not satisfied with her banished her to the periphery of this corner to fend for herself. Gu Yun is secretly pleased, that’s good, she has time to properly exercise her body and research an escape route.

The two men turned around to leave, Gu Yun promptly cried out: “Stop! The General Manor is not that poor as to lack even clothes ah? With the meals whether or not it allows one to eat to one’s fill ah?” The young man scoffed at her, condescendingly replied: “You don’t have to worry about that, the General Manor can also keep one woman alive.”

Gu Yun’s sharp eyes gleamed, very good! This is what she really wanted to hear.

She trained herself before to become a martial arts champion, within the police force to be the best, she too can in the same way train this body of Lolita to turn into a Laura! [Lolita, a young, cute girl into Laura, a ripe or mature woman]

Inside the study, a big nine-seat square table stood in the middle of the room, a blueprint was on the table, this detailed and confidential drawing is densely filled with dots and lines, two men stood tall before it, their eyes were staring intently at the blueprint.

Picking up a pen next to it Su Ren leaned, a bit to the right side he drew a circle on the blueprint, lowering his voice, sighing he said: “After yesterday’s field attack drill, you could see, your deployment of troops, during the drill the right flank was too weak, if the right flank is breached then this formation is defeated.”

The Su family army is famous among the six nations, it has been able to make its enemy lose heart, even if eldest brother doesn’t personally lead the troops, it is still always able to win, the main reason for being undefeated is that the Su family army soldiers are all physically robust, brave and fierce, their strategies are unpredictable, making the enemy unable to figure out their formations.

These all can be credited to eldest brother, he not only demanded that all the Su family army battalion commanding generals must study the book on military strategies, but also to create their own strategies, all their own tactical deployment or training, battle drills are then held once every six months. Each general must come up with his own tactical deployment to contest with the others, the best battle formation is then selected to be implemented in the army. This is also why in the mountain behind the General Manor a training ground was created as venue of these military drills, they acting as trainers of the Su family army, naturally cannot neglect to practise, this year eldest brother intends to battle against third brother, but looking at his plan using this tactical formation, he felt prevailing over him would not be easy.

Su Yu frowned, his handsome, clear face full of restlessness, replied: “Ah, I too realized it, last night I thought of it the whole time, already thought of a solution to counter it, and so I will train the soldiers well, after half a month we will drill again!”

In a single night he was able to come up with a solution? Su Ren begged to differ, the third brother’s shortcoming is his impatient attitude, he doesn’t know when he’ll drop this bad habit, but Su Ren didn’t intend to chide him, to let him have a few tumbles, edges and corners and bad habits will naturally be fewer.

“Reporting!” A loud male voice echoed at the door.

Su Yu coldly asked: “What’s the matter?”

“Reporting to the Lieutenant General, the woman has moved already to the rear court, but …” The young man’s voice at first was loud and clear but as he continued talking his voice gradually became weak and hesitant.

Su Yu growled impatiently: “You have something to say.”

The young man immediately straightened up, with a clear and resonant voice said: “She said to tell you of her request for food.”

“What?” The young man could not finish talking, Su Yu, initially not in good mood this time he was even more riled, roared back, “now she also wants to eat exotic delicacies ah!” So the woman is troublesome, big brother walked away, they let him deal with the aftermath!

The young man secretly shrunk his shoulder, quickly replied: “No, she only asked to eat beef, eggs and the likes, she wants to eat a lot.” Really a lot, for a woman’s appetite, it was pretty enormous and scary.

Su Yu’s face suddenly became gloomy, across it a black cloud settled. The General Manor feeds all three thousand soldiers, still could a woman’s eating be able to make it collapse! Su Yu glared at him, both of his eyes seemed to shoot flames, “as much as she wants to eat, let her eat! This kind of trivial matter do not come to report. Leave!”

“Yes.” The young man dared not to hesitate, immediately ran off and left the study, he has heard before that Lieutenant General Su’s temperament is not good, one cannot really believe everything about rumors, not only is it not good, but, worse than that, it is simply tyrannical!

Chapter One: The soul travelled to a different era, Part 4 of 4

After half a month. Behind the mountain, the training ground of the General Manor. At high noon, the sun in summer is already intensely hot, the central area of the training ground does not have any place to shelter in the shade, a thousand soldiers after a six-hour drill, could finally take a break. Because there are still battle drills in the afternoon, the soldiers did not return to the mountain camp to rest, in small groups of threes and fours they were hiding in the shade, enjoying the cool air, sounds of laughter were heard from time to time.

“Really?”

Everyone had this look of disbelief on the face, a veteran soldier waved his hand, his face serious, said: “Why would I lie, kitchen Xiao Zhao is my fellow villager, he himself told me! She must eat three catties[1] of beef, ten eggs, a catty of rice, and five cucumbers.”

“I don’t believe it!” A young and robust soldier pounded his strong chest proudly replied: “I’m so strong, I can eat that much, but how can a woman possibly eat all that much!”

The veteran soldier patted the young soldier’s thick shoulder, threw a sidelong glance at his strong build, clicked his tongue and laughed: “This you do not understand, perhaps the woman is a 200-catty big, fat person! Also, about her meals I’m not talking nonsense. You go to the kitchen to find out. Ask there, everyone knows about that!”

The young soldier finally believed him, murmured back: “Ah, so this is why! No wonder the general threw her out to live in the rear court.”

The young soldier’s voice trailed off, immediately a group of soldiers laughed out loud. The veteran soldier continued to quip: “I think the emperor most likely, seeing that the general always refuses to take a wife, simply bestowed him a big, fat wife to encourage the general.” He laughed after having said that, but noticed that the few people around did not laugh and were looking behind him, staring panic-stricken, and afterwards they all hastily bowed their heads.

The veteran soldier’s heart felt cold, darn, standing behind him would not be …

“Everybody stand up.” A growling roar resounded, the dozen of people enjoying the cool air under the shade quickly got up, stood ramrod straight, no one dared to move.

Man in horse stance (mabu); photo by ocean silver taken from ymaa.com

Su Yu’s cold eyes swept on one by one over the nervous faces of the soldiers, and finally stopped in front of the veteran soldier’s face, slowly, coldly barked: “Everybody under the sun, on horse stance, for one hour!”

“Yes.” The whole group went on to do the horse stance under the scorching sun, wailing unceasingly in their hearts, but nobody dared to show any expression on his face. The rest of the soldiers who were unaware of what happened were baffled to see several soldiers struggling to maintain the horse stance under the sun, and the lieutenant general’s livid face as he walked towards the direction of the rear court.

Wretched woman, she wanted to get their attention using this method?! Very well, he’d like to see how much she can eat, and if she could not eat anymore, then he’ll tell her how stupid she is!

In the farthest corner of the rear court, sturdy branches were cut down, two white strips of cloth tied high above the tree trunk, a pair of upright, slender hands are firmly grasping branches, with blue veins showing on the back of the hands, following ragged breaths rhythmically relaxing. A wisp of petite figure is suspended mid-air, relying on the strength of the arm it is moving up and down.

“Seventeen, 18, 19 … twenty!” Gu Yun was gasping for air, sweat from her forehead streamed down her cheeks and hair, her white unlined garment was practically soaking wet.

Twenty! She finally can do twenty, who would have thought that she would be deliriously happy to be able to do twenty pull-ups, even less than half of the number she could do previously. While mocking herself, Gu Yun suddenly heard outside of the door the sound of extremely light footsteps.

Gu Yun released her hand immediately, jumped down, on the same moment her feet landed on the ground a tall figure filled with fury appeared in the courtyard.

Su Yu in spitting anger entered the courtyard, originally he wanted to lecture properly this woman called Qing Mo, forbidding her from playing such tricks in this manner, however upon entering the courtyard, he immediately froze. In the small courtyard, the low shrubs and wild, overgrown weeds were cleared out thoroughly, leaving only a green meadow. On the edge of the meadow, there were large and small sacks, filled with stuff inside he could not even guess. On a high bough, a strip of cloth is hanging in mid-air, swaying with the wind, if this woman wanted to hang a swing she need not hang it so high.

Just underneath the “swing” was a small, white figure partly kneeling her hands bracing on the ground, the woman got up slowly, with a gentle and beautiful face, and a delicate body, she’s no different from any ordinary rich family’s young daughter, except for her pair of cold and indifferent eyes staring intensely at him at this moment. Su Yu momentarily got distracted, he nearly forgot why he came there in the first place.

The androgynous Gu Yun

What does the woman clearly want to do, standing in the courtyard in broad daylight wearing only such clothes, who is she trying to seduce?

Furthermore her hair is not strung together, using a strip of white cloth tying it at the back of her head, appearing neither female nor male, an androgynous look.

Gu Yun gently raised her eyebrows, sneered: “Obviously your manor is not providing enough clothes.” They only gave her two sets of clothes, she kept the long trousers, but she tore her cheong sam and out of the cloth made sacks which she filled with sandy soil.

After two weeks of physical exercise, she already can nimbly move about this body. Next in the plan is the weight-bearing exercises to increase her strength, she needs more sandbags, this man in front of her just about came in time.

In her plain white dress almost completely wet with sweat, under the blazing afternoon sunlight, her graceful figure is partly visible. Su Yu lowered his head, growled, “Damn it!” He rushed out hurriedly.

Gu Yun was briefly startled, what was he up to? Leaving after coming here and bellowing angry words? She laughed in spite of herself, shook her head, gently leaped high, caught the branch overhead, took a deep breath, intending to do a round of twenty pull-ups. Who knew after doing ten, she would again hear bustling sound carried by the wind of footsteps nearing, Gu Yun a bit impatiently frowned, what does this man actually want?

Gu Yun lightly jumped down, the scene that she saw almost made her laugh out. It is still that young, tall and strong man just a while ago, except that this time his arms are holding a pile of assorted clothings, the colorful clothes against the backdrop of his swarthy skin and livid face, it really is very funny to watch.

Su Yu went straight to Gu Yun, in front of her he threw under her feet the female clothes he was holding in his arms, coldly he scoffed: “So is this enough?!”

So he actually went looking for some clothes for her, this man is interesting. Gu Yun looked again at the man’s face, young, handsome, transparent face, around twenty years old, a faint trace of overbearing aura. His profile and that of the cold man she saw the last time are somewhat similar, but unfortunately the man is too young, all his expressions are revealed in his face. Discerning facial expressions was particularly one of her investigation skills.

These clothes are enough for her to make a lot of fitness tools, Gu Yun feeling pretty good deliberately quipped: “I personally prefer them plain, remember it for the next time.”

“Where do you think this is? How does the General Manor let you be impudent?!”

Gu Yun’s arrogance has provoked the fiery temper of Su Yu, he vigorously stepped forward reaching out his big hands to her right shoulder, Gu Yun’s cold eyes flashed, immediately she turned around quickly, crouching her body, grabbed a dark purple tunic, purposely said: “Ah, this is a nice piece.”

Su Yu was stunned, unexpectedly he just let her dodge away. Watching her small back while selecting for herself suitable clothes for a woman, Su Yu twitched his mouth, withdrew the hand he extended, he lets it pass, what kind of a hero is one anyway who fights with a fragile woman. What he did not know is that at this time this so-called weak woman is twisting in her hands the clothes into a long rope, if he will put out his hand again, she would hit him back.

Sensing that the man behind her took a step back, Gu Yun slowly loosened her grip on the long rope, she turned around, smiled and nonchalantly asked: “Who are you?”

“Su Yu.” After saying this, Su Yu proudly stood there, as if everyone should know who the lieutenant general Su Yu is.

Gu Yun tilted her head to the side and replied: “Fine I know the name. Continue.”

She did not know him?! Su Yu was both embarrassed and somewhat annoyed, he replied: “I am the master of the General Manor!” Batting her eyebrows, Gu Yun smiled and said: “You are the General Manor’s master, then who was that ice block man the last time?” He must be the ice block man’s younger brother.

Ice block man? Su Yu gawked for a moment, then he unexpectedly laughed, this name is really apt for his brother, but nobody dares to say that to his face. His mood a bit cheerful now, Su Yu laughed: “He is my eldest brother.”

As expected, this man in front of her is even more angry, his fury written across his face, but compared to his elder brother, he was far worse. She straightened up, looked up at the sky, it is almost high noon, she’s not in the mood to continue chatting with him, so Gu Yun directly asked: “Why did you come to my courtyard? What exactly do you want?”

Su Yu finally remembered that he was here to mete out punishment. It is at this exact moment a more than 50-year-old kitchen servant carrying a big tray of meals appears in the gate of the courtyard, having seen Su Yu, he promptly and respectfully called out: “Third General…”

Su Yu glanced down at the pallet holding three large bowls, one bowl is overflowing with rice, another bowl is full of eggs, and the third bowl full of beef, in the side are also five fresh cucumbers. This amount of food, two young soldiers can finish all he estimated, while she only reaches up to his chest, so thin that the wind can blow her over, but actually only a bowl of eggs can choke her to death!

Convinced that Gu Yun was just using this means to attract attention, Su Yu, who finds repugnant the tricks of a scheming woman, replied, his tone increasingly getting cold: “I’ve heard you want to eat a lot of things in a meal. I’ve come to specially see this. The General Manor can keep feeding people, but never tolerates waste of the rations. If you could not finish eating all these, starting today, you’ll go without food and water for three days!” She would go hungry for three days and three nights, see if she still dares to play her tricks.

So, actually it turns out that he came to do this, he treats a woman with disdain to make her somewhat flustered, Gu Yun coldly replied: “And if I can eat it all?”

“Impossible!” Up to now she wants to quibble!

Her bright and shiny eyes gleamed, Gu Yun slightly lifted her head, provocatively said: “Do you want to make a bet?”

Su Yu coldly replied: “What bet?”

“If I lose, you make me do something I’ll do it, you say one I dare not say two, absolute obedience.” Gu Yun said this very casually, because it is absolutely impossible, she does not even know “obedience”, what is that, but she cannot lose anyway. Looking towards Su Yu, her smile is sly, “if you lose, I want to move freely inside the General Manor.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Su Yu did not want also to immediately rebuff! But, a woman freely moving in the General Manor, it is absolutely impossible!

Damn it! Did he not fall for it?! Looking at his eyes full of arrogance, Gu Yun rolled her eyes, deliberately knitted her brows, and gasped: “You do not dare? Ah right, you as master cannot do this one, I better not embarrass you.”

Sure enough, after hearing these words Su Yu promptly shouted: “I cannot do it as master?! Who are you kidding?!”

The old servant inwardly groaned, oh no, the crabby temperament of third general has shown up again, he cannot be duped ah. “Carrying things to give her regularly in the past!” Unfortunately, Su Yu did not hear the voice of the old servant, pointing to Gu Yun’s arrogant smiling face, Su Yu angrily said: “It’s a bet! You eat right now!”

The fish has swallowed the bait, Gu Yun in a very good mood took the tray, picked up a cucumber, took a nip, happily ate it slowly. After finishing one, Gu Yun in no hurry in eating her dinner, took another, slowly and leisurely chewing it, the more she was taking time, the more vicious and sinister Su Yu’s face became, just as she was picking up the third cucumber, Su Yu could not bear it anymore, groaned: “eat faster.”

Gu Yun remained unmoved, she laughed while gnawing the cucumber: “You haven’t set a time limit.”

Su Yu replied impatiently: “An hour[2], you don’t finish eating in an hour you lose.” If she continues the way she’s doing now, she might be eating till midnight!

He thought she would argue with him, but who knew Gu Yun would put down the cucumber, raised her face plastered with a glittering smile, her voice cold which can make a person wince, “You’d better concede defeat.” After having said that, she picked up the large bowl filled with eggs, took all the eggs out, one by one she calmly broke each egg into the large bowl.

Su Yu frowned, to his surprise the eggs were actually raw!

She picked up the bowl filled with beef, stirred the beef into the bowl with rice, Su Yu realized that the pile of beef when mixed with the rice, beef and rice together is easier to swallow, but even if so, she still has two large bowls of rice and beef mixture to eat, Su Yu with both hands clasped in his chest, calmly waited to look at her embarrassed look of surrender. Unfortunately, the minutes ticked by, Gu Yun calmly enjoyed the food, Su Yu’s face was getting more and more dark, she, she, she, when all is said and done, is she or is she not a woman!

After a stick of incense, Gu Yun contentedly set down the bowl, drank up the remaining egg fluid, picked up the half-eaten cucumber, while playfully gnawing, laughed: “I think it’s almost time our bet should take effect.” He did not know if he was too angry at Gu Yun or too shocked of her big appetite, Su Yu’s hands loosened, tightened, tightened and loosened again, finally he angrily replied: “I concede defeat, you can walk around the General Manor, but you cannot take one step out of it!”

After saying that Su Yu left in a huff, Gu Yun waved her hand at his departing angry figure, brazenly laughed: “if you have time come and take a sit.”

At present she simply wants to inspect the terrain of the General Manor to prepare her escape in the future. Once her body is a bit stronger, she must leave, could it be that by then she still has to ask his permission? What a joke!

[1] 1 catty = 0.5 kg

[2] bange shichen (半个时辰), lit. means half a time; Su Yu allowed Gu Yun within half of shichen to finish eating. Shichen is equivalent to two hours. (Source: Wikipedia)