汗血 has been missing for days? Are you sure?" Prince Xi'er asked his stable man.
"Yes, prince. I have not seen the horse at all when I fed the other horses." The stable man said.
"How about my brother? Has anybody seen him lately?"
"It seems he has been missing as well. He must have sneaked out of the palace."
"Send me General Lam."
Prince Xi'er ordered General Lam, his most trusted General, to send some troops out to scout for prince ZiShu, and take this wonderful opportunity to rid his brother. There were only a handful of 汗血 horses in the Song territory. And the horse was easily recognizable because the animal's sweat is bloody red. So prince Xi'er instructed his staff to look for 汗血 horses, and if they found the horse, they would find prince ZiShu and Wen Ke Xing. And they could eliminate both of them once and for all.
He was right. Words came back that people saw a Sweats Blood horse hanging outside a tavern for a couple days. They found the tavern and followed that path to the Song-Jin border.
Prince Xi'er was not dumb, he told his people that their best times of action would be on rainy days. His brother had great martial arts skills and his horse was trained for battles. His combat sword could cut through any weapons. However on rainy days, he was just a disabled man who could not even walk without crutches. And it was autumn, and the next few days were all rainy days, based on the imperial meteorologist predictions.
There would be more blood shed coming.
~ ~
After prince Ke of Jin returned to his homeland, he did not waste any time. He used his excellent memorization skills to draw out all of the Song fortification maps, their locations, he wrote down the military placements, their numbers, their weapons, he even provided a detailed list of how many food reserves they had, and where those were kept. Having studied Song's books and learned their culture, he could tell the Jin people's weaknesses in their education system, agricultural system, war tactics, and he planned to gradually change them to make the Jin better and improve themselves. He had great dreams and he would make them come true.
About five days later, at the Jin court, they discussed when it would be a good time to attack Song, as prince Ke needed to get his revenge against prince Xi'er for the numerous assassination attempts.
"Did the espionage team come back with any news about the Song recently?" The Jin leader asked his court.
"My lord, our spies found out that the elder prince had been missing for several days. If we fight the Song now, they would have to assign another general to lead the battle, and we would have a greater chance to win the war. Prince ZiShu is nowhere to be found."
Hearing that piece of news, prince Ke's heart suddenly stopped beating. His face gradually turned pale.
Qian Qian was very observant and noticed the change on the prince's face right away. Nobody else did.
"This is great news. Few generals are invincible like prince ZiShu. If he's unavailable, we will definitely win the war. Let's get our troops ready, we shall attack the day after tomorrow." The clan leader ordered.
~ ~
That night, in his room, prince Ke walked back and forth. He could not sleep. Then he went to the stable to check on his Sweats Blood Horse and to brush the animal. The staff had reported that the beast had a reduced appetite lately. "I know you miss Ah Xu just as much as I do." Lao Wen said to the horse and gently rubbed his ears. Then he went to the armory to clean his Platinum Sword. Somehow the blade didn't look as shiny as it did when Ah Xu gave it to him a few days ago. Perhaps even the weapon missed its master. Then he went back to his room and looked at his Friendship Fan. The ink seemed to have faded, was that even possible? Then he took out his dowry pouch and sniffed it. But it was almost odorless, as though its scent had been emptied and replaced with yearning and loneliness.
