The General's Partner

1. Stranger

A young woman was lying unconsiously on a simple wooden bed. She looked pretty despite her pale visage. It had been two days since Fei Yang found her on his way to the river. It was a sudden decision to bring her back. He couldn't let a woman die when he could save her.
Fei Yang was the only son in Chu family. He lived with his sick mother in a simple house at the outskirt. Their village was located on the countryside near the border, so it wasn't surprising that their livehood was in bad situation.
Fei Yang family was especially in bad economy since the dead of his father. Due to sudden lost of her beloved husband, his mother was sick for a long time. To survive, Fei Yang had to sold their family land and worked in the market. Now Chu family only had a square of barren land which only had casava and potato plant.
"Ugh!"
The groan of unconsious woman attracted Fei Yang's attention. He stayed by her side and waited the girl to wake up.
"Are you okay?" Asked Fei Yang.
When she heard a stranger’s voice, the young woman suddenly opened her eyes and catched Fei Yang's arm and slamed him on the bed. Unfortunately, maybe because she just woke up from her fever, the move lacked of power. Fei Yang easily hold her hand and stabilized his ground.
"Who are you!" Asked the girl with her sharp eyes. Her voice sounded cracked from to her dry lips.
"Calm down! I helped you from the river bank yesterday. Now, you are in my house." Answered Fei Yang in calm manner.
"River bank?"
The girl seemed trying to collect her memories. Several seconds later, she took back her hand from the man's arm. Then, she scanned the room and made sure she wasn't in a danger.
"I am Chu Fei Yang, what's your name?" Fei Yang introduced himself while pouring a glass of water and gave it to the woman.
"I am... Yu Yue. Where am I?" She asked in hesitate voice.
"You are in Bai Village, southern part of the empire."
Yu Yue groaned silently. It was pretty far from the capital. She remembered she was escaping from some bandits that tried to kidnap her. Who knew that she would end up falling from a cliff. Thankfully she had good luck and fell to the river.
"Bai Village... the border?" Asked Yu Yue trying to confirm her location.
The man raised one of his eyebrow in wonder. Yu Yue seemed to be a noble woman from big family, she had noble atmosphere that took Fei Yang a second to recognise. It was very rare for nobles to know Bai Village, moreover about it's location. They just thought that Bai Village wasn't important enough for them.
"Yes. Where are you from?" Asked the man.
"I am... from Xijing city." Yu Yue needed several seconds to answer the question.
"Why would a lady from a big city end up in the border?" Inquired Fei Yang.
"I was kidnaped by some bandits, and fell from the cliff. I didn't know where was the specific location."
Fei Yang nodded in understanding. Even though the war had ended since two years ago, there were still a lot of poor people and bandits who roaming on the street. It wasn’t surprising to found woman and children being kidnaped. Moreover, Yu Yue was a pretty lady from a noble family.
“So, do you want to write a letter for your family? I can asked the village chief to help you send the letter.” Offered Fei Yang kindly.
“Ah! I have no family left… some peoples try to drive me out from my house. I suspect the bandits was paid by them to take me.” Murmured the young woman.
“I am sorry to hear that, but as you can see… our family is in bad situation.”
Fei Yang hinted that his family couldn’t support another person. They barely ate two times in one day and he still needed extra money to buy medicine for his sick mother.
Yu Yue looking him in blank expression, she realized that she didn’t bring much money when she went out before being kidnaped. She only had two taels and and a hairpin stucked in her hair.
“Can you let me stay for several days? I can take care for my meals… I will also clean the house and do the coursework.” Asked her in pleading tone. She didn’t care about their different status. She never did anyway. Her situation asked her to lower her pride.
“…”
Knocked knocked!
Before Fei Yang could answered her question, an old woman entered the room after knocking the already opened door. The door was opened by Fei Yang when he came to check her condition. He never close the door in order to avoid any suspicious eyes. Their village was especially harsh on dividing between woman and man. They could forces a couple to marry if something ambiguous as simple as holding hand was being found. He didn’t want to marry a woman just becaouse of something like that.
The old woman smiled at Yu Yue while holding a a bowl of simple porridge for her.
“Mother! I told you to take a rest, your body isn’t well enough yet to walk around.” Said Fei Yang, he took over the bowl from his mother.
“What are you talking about? Silly boy, mother told you that the lady will wake up today. She must be hungry. You didn’t prepare any food for her, right?” preached Mrs. Chu.
Fei Yang touched his nose in shame. He never thought that the sick woman would wake up this soon considering how high her fever last night.
“I don’t…”