𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 || 敵の旦那様 (𝐁𝐋) ✔ [COMPLETE]

7. The Hunt

General Haoran was so blinded by anger that he almost forgot the mission at hand. To find where the mosquito bastard had run off to!

This was not the first time that he had come across this type of elopement scene. There were more than enough instances when spies from enemy encampments who infiltrated their camps or scouts would begin running off like there was no tomorrow once their mission was completed or when they realized that the Blazing Sun Army knew their plans. So elopement and chasing down possible culprits who were in a hurry to run away were not things he was inexperienced in.

However, he never imagined that he'd one day have to use his experience to chase after his own damn groom.

General Haoran began face-palming. It was as if he was paying for a lifetime of sins in his former life in the form of an ugly marriage. He shoved his worries away and began looking for clues on the potential hunt mission before any evidence could be destroyed by the natural conditions.

He reached out and touched the wedding robe that had fallen to the ground. It was still very wet, wetter than it should have been if human warmth had dried it for at least half the can-filling time (fifteen minutes). Which means he removed the robe soon after he was brought to this room. And clothes—by removing his wedding clothes and leaving them behind, he should be in his undershirt and inner trousers right now. Nobody would walk around in undershirts on the street...

No wait. This man will walk around naked if he can. Normal human reasoning wouldn't apply to him.

"Which means I'd have to check for people strolling about in their undershirts for the next two or three miles," he thought, and he gazed out into the lawn beyond the window. "On horseback, it'll take a good two hours to reach beyond the song trench and into the vendor's corner... On bare feet, it'd take about six hours.

His eyes widened as he was contemplating whether he went barefoot because he suddenly realized that it didn't rain the whole day today and any spy inexperienced enough to use such cheap gimmicks as dressing up brooms would definitely leave behind a footprint or two.

He immediately rushed to the window and saw that there were very clear footprints heading from the ground up in a certain direction.

His eyes lit up with a sense of triumph.

"Got you".

At the Blazing Sun Military Encampment, as General Haoran rode his horse at lightning speed and got down in a jiffy, his subordinates, who'd been making merry at the thought of their lonely general finally getting married, rushed at him extremely happily.

Their general actually made it out so fast after the nuptial night! It's not a lie when their ancestors told them that those who wielded their swords well on the battlefield were no worse when it came to wielding their swords on their beds too.

General, you didn't end up breaking the bed, did you?" One of his subordinates asked sheepishly.

The general whipped his head around and gave him such a death glare that he slowly retreated into the background, not daring to open his mouth for the rest of the night. He really wanted to disappear somewhere—as if the frustration he was facing was not enough—these idiots, really! He sighed. Whatever plans he had for containing the rumors and keeping them from spreading were now deemed impossible.

By tomorrow, the whole empire would know that Imperial General Haoran's groom had eloped on their very wedding night. The bare minimum he could do was catch the little bastard before the Imperial court summons him for an explanation—he was the groom and the one whose household the mosquito bastard belongs to now.

"Dispatch a troupe, preferably from the hunting division." He ordered, removing his red robe and throwing it aside: "Look for a man in his early twenties. Attire: usual undergarments and undershirts; build: thin and weak-looking".

All three of his lieutenants were present at the camp this time around too. They were all peers of the general and were still in the prime of their lives; hence, they did not have relationship commitments. Therefore, at such a joyous occasion, they did not have wives waiting for them at home; hence, they naturally spent their time fooling around with their comrades.

"General..." Lieutenant Shen Yue was concerned. "For you to come in the middle of your wedding night looking for somebody, is it perhaps a thief?"

"Does knowing his identity make a difference?" He asked coldly, his words directed at un-withholding: "I want this man found, that's all. Does the lieutenant have a problem with that?"

All three of his lieutenants snapped back to attention. This was not their best buddy Haoran coming here to have a friendly chat with them—this was their Imperial General. The moment their general addresses them as 'Lieutenant' instead of their given name, they just know that the general has serious business with them.

"What does his appearance look like? Any information about that?" Lieutenant Jiang asked after thinking for a while "Most of the beggars on the streets are often in their undergarments; it'd be hard to track them down with just that".

"He looks — stupid".

All three of his lieutenants froze. They had never witnessed their general so openly rebuking someone; he was so obsessed with his duty and honor that openly calling someone stupid was simply unthinkable of him.

"And... looks weak".

Whoa, what?! What is happening today? What in the hell was happening today?!

Lieutenant Bing Ze said, still not recovering from his shock, "I beg your pardon, general, but that information absolutely does not prove to be of any use in the hunt of a person."

"Right... but I'm not sure we can get a portrait of the person either." General Haoran clasped his hands behind his back in thought. He could get a portrait done if he wanted to, but there really wasn't enough time to get a portrait and such done. The imperial court would get to him before that.

"What about some kind of distinct feature only they would have?" Lieutenant Jiang spoke as he recalled a disappearance case he handled a long time ago: "Like a blemish, a scar, or maybe vocal differences?".

"He has the accent of a Westerner—one of the Silver Mountain."

As realization dawned on them, his lieutenants stared at him, shocked.

"As for distinct features, he has the burning ceremony mark by the name of Zhou Haoran."

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