Unyielding Love

Chapter 10

A man sat on the magnificent throne tapping his fingers incessantly on the armrest as he listened to the report from the eunuch who bowed.

"Your highness the southern border town of the empire have been raided by the neighbouring empire ".

"They want to start a war",the emperor growled.

The court who were present were filled with fear not because of how the emperor would react to the news but rather of the decision the emperor would make.

"Your majesty, the town is in the horrible state. They sent a letter declaring war".
A servant brought in the letter and the emperor read for moment then threw the letter across the room.

"Your highness, a war cannot be avoided now at least so we should prepare", a man dressed in blue robes who is the prime minister spoke out.

The discussion went on till the empress spoke out.

"We can send one of the Prince's to lead the battlefield, your majesty".

Some of the ministers nodded and one suggested,
"If his majesty permits you could send out the first prince on this. It would be the best way to build up his prestige".

The empress upon noticing the emperor wanted to agree panicked. When she uttered out the statement ,she meant anyone but her son.

"Your majesty", the emperor turned towards his wife.
"How about the third prince, he's been disregarded for too long. This could be a chance to build his prestige", the woman who was dressed in red robes and her head and neck adjourned with gold spoke out.

Fitting for an empress.

The emperor stared at her closely. He knew how scheming his wife was.

"But he's just a boy, your majesty", one of the ministers sputtered out.

"How about you send your brother who returned two months ago your majesty",the same man said

Everyone in the room knew that he empress wanted to send the boy to his death. He was after all unfavored.

Pain flashed across the eyes of the emperor but it was gone before anyone noticed but the empress noticed and sneered in her heart.

The emperor realized he has not given any fatherly love since the boys mother died.

"My brother just came back from long voyage so he won't be a good choice.
In a month's time when we clearly know the situation of the issue at hand, by imperial decree the third prince is to be sent to the front lines with the general".

The emperor spoke out getting up which in turn made everyone bow.

Xuan Luhan sat in his room staring at the beads with a smile. He and Nuo Hua would met in a weeks time since she was celebrating her birthday back at home.

Going out, he heard the servants talking about the southern border town of the empire that has been destroyed and people massacred by the neighboring empire.
Since that information didn't involve him, he didn't put his mind to it.

He decided to train his mental energy

What no one knew was that he had a Vermillion bird sealed in him, so sitting in his lonely courtyard,he meditated and entered his inner mind and stood looking at the huge bird.

The Vermillion saw that the boy had come it spoke.

"Is master ready for the next step in his training?"

"Yes, I need to get stronger now", the boy spoke in an overbearing tone.

The bird chuckled and they continued the training all in the boy's head.

Soon a servant came in to give the boy food. The servant who was the only one served the boy for a long time and though the servant didn't engage the boy in any conversation, the servant was one of the few people who didn't treat Xuan Luhan like mud water.

Since the boy was meditating the servant left the food on the desk not wanting to disturb.

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Nuo Shi was going to the Valley Bleak Pavilion that was north of the empire he was invited to go to on his carriage,but on his way he heard of what happened on the southern border from a man who was talking about it.

He grabbed the man by his collar,his face pale.

"You,what did you say?"

The man he held told him everything. When Nuo Shi heard everything he sent his servant and disciples he was traveling with to an inn then took a horse and his strongest disciple Yi Zie and rode to the southern border.

They rode day and night without stop but the horse he had couldn't bear the strain of the journey so he used his lightless technique and flew there and reached in two days.

He reached the town and houses were broken and burnt down .He told Yi Zie to ask around for some useful information. He saw guards around monitoring the place and people who survived sitting down wailing and saw people rescue other people from the rubble.

He searched the whole place looking for his brother's family but no use. Yi Zie came back with nothing and it was getting dark.

"Master, how about we camp for the night", Yi Zie who was a man in his late teens spoke.
He was tan and had mascular body. He had a gentle face.

The town was big so they camped with the guards and continued the search the next day.
The people who were pulling other people pulled a little girl from the debris. Most people they pull are either dead or fatally injured but luckily the person they pulled was neither dead nor severely injured,just unconscious and soon Nuo Shi came and saw his niece and took her saying he was a physician and they handed her over to his disciple for treatment.

Nuo Shi found his little nephew's corpse but didn't see his brother's corpse or sister in law's corpse in the house they used to live in.
They were probably burnt to death.

Nuo Shi went back to his camp and saw his nephew bandaged up by Yi Zie. When he was done, he took a wet cloth and wiped the girl's fair skin and skin of the dust.

"The master didn't find anyone other than the Nuo Hua and her brother".
The man's face was cold.

Yi Zie sympathized with his master for he has felt the feeling of losing relatives before.

"At least master's niece is alive. She's a strong one".

Nuo Shi sat by his unconscious niece and caressed her forehead.

It's been a week since the southern border town was raided, waiting for an even more destructive war to happen
Nuo Shi stayed and buried his nephew and helped the townspeople for a few days before leaving and heading towards the Valley Bleak Pavilion.

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Ciaos.