Love Sword

44

They are currently camping out in the middle of the forest, in order to hide from the army of the third prince, or should we say, the current emperor of Da Dong.

Li Jun sat at the main seat of the long table as the loyal ministers and commanders whom did not surrender to the third prince are sitting around him.

'Our food supplies are currently running low, your highness. However, we do have enough manpower and weapons to fight with the third prince. At present, the only worry would be our soldiers starving or the citizens falling victim to the horrific slaughter which is going to take place if we were to charge into the capital city immediately.' Said an old minister, he looks like he is suffering from a major fatigue due to the ongoing problems everywhere.

Minister Shu has been serving for the empire ever since he was 21 summers and have been trained to handle the well-beings of the people of the country since he was born.

A war commander on the side of Li Jun frowned. This commander is the most powerful commander and the most trusted one of the late emperor.

'Because our food supplies is running low and the fear of our soldiers starving, that is the reason why we should end this as soon as possible. Deaths during a war is inevitable, if a country is at war, the people are bound to meet disasters. If we drag this out even longer, the more people will suffer. I suggest we take action immediately, your highness.' He said sternly.

Minister Shu raised his eyebrows, the fatigue on his wrinkly face vanished impressively.

'Are you suggesting that we recklessly charge in and just kill? Have you gone crazy being in the military for so long?'

Commander Li shot up from his seat.

'And what? So you think pausing and not doing anything is better? It is just going to make things worse!'

'But y-...'

'Enough.' Said Li Jun.

Everyone shut their mouths and turned towards their prince.

Li Jun stood up and sighed, leaning his hands on the edge of the table.

'We cannot charge in, it is too risky. They could be laying out traps on us. But dragging it out can also be harmful to both our men and the people.' He said.

There was silence.

'Send some men out to gather as much food supplies as we can get. For now, we should lay low and don't act rashly. Send our top spies to their military base, extract all necessary informations and then evacuate as many citizens from the surrounding area as possible without alerting the rebels.'

'We have to end this war.'

———

The sun is slowly beginning the rise, Xiang Ning opened his eyes. That sleep was unexpectedly deep and comfortable. He turned his head upwards to see the zoomed-in face of Ping Shi.

The light morning sun seems to cast a gentle golden ray onto the side of his profile, causing his features to appear like it is glowing under the warm luminescence.

Only at this moment that we can realize just how much of a beauty this vicious spy of the Hu is. His eyebrows are thick and sharp, the tightly shut eyelids bent into the shape of a slanted spring leaf. His lips were thin with light pink, his cheekbones and jawlines were prominent from his well-trained physical health.

'Have you finished staring?' The closed lips of Ping Shi suddenly opened and the sentence fluttered out of it.

Xiang Ning's eyes widened in shock

The phoenix eyes in front of him opened slightly. A blush made its way onto the white cheeks of the prince, as he sat up, he realized that he had been sleeping on Ping Shi's chest all along.

The blush on his face grew even redder. He was about to move back when his waist was grasped by a strong arm belonging to Ping Shi.

The handsome man's lips are raised into a small teasing smirk.

'Careful, you're going to fall off.' He said in a strangely soft tone.

Xiang Ning turned around and noticed that he did indeed almost fall off a giant rock they were sleeping on. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned back towards Ping Shi.

Ping Shi straightened his face before letting go of the slender waist in his arm.

'You can't go back to your empire, nor can you go to my cabin. You'll have to live with my mother.'

Xiang Ning turned up to look at him in shock.

'Your mother?'

Ping Shi gathered their things and put it in a bundle of cloth. He nodded

'Yes, she is someone I call mother even though she is not biologically related to me.' He said.

Xiang Ning nodded slowly, seemingly pondering over what Ping Shi had just said.

He was then taken by Ping Shi towards the western side of the forest. There, he saw a small cottage hidden behind a waterfall. If you walk behind the giant waterfall, the cave inside leads you to an opening of a beautiful landscape of flowers and green nature.

In the middle of the place is a small cozy home made out of wood. The wooden house has smoke slowly drifting out of the chimney, an incredibly strong smell of soup made its way into the nostrils of Ping Shi and Xiang Ning.

Ping Shi held Xiang Ning's hand and quickly led him towards the front doorstep of the house.

He knocked three times on the door and it bursted open.

An elderly woman with the warmest eyes ever came into view. Her wrinkly eyes widened in disbelief as soon as she saw who came.

'Well look who finally shows up!' She said with a playful frown.

Ping Shi's lips quirked into a wide smile as he held his arms out. The woman buried herself into the arms of the young man with a hearty giggle.

Xiang Ning could make it out that this woman is very special for Ping Shi as he had never seen Ping Shi smile so happily towards anyone before.

Ping Shi turned towards the prince at his side which made the elderly turn as well.

The old woman's lips formed a teasing smile as she side eyed the young man she calls her godson.

'A'Tong, who is this?' She asked with a hidden playful tone as if to tease Ping Shi.

To Be Continued...