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

56. Bachelordom

When General Haoran woke up the next morning, the bed was empty, as it had been for over two and a half decades but this time even colder in its vacancy.

Fu Lin had left.

He had probably taken off to the Silver Mountains by now. The Emperor had decreed he be returned at the very crack of dawn because his existence posed an imminent threat to the Empire as he could be reckoned a hostage in their hands or maybe he'd try for implicit forms of revenge.

General Haoran blinked his way through the bleary sunlight and looked to his left. On the crumpled sheets was a strand of jasmine left behind.

The General crushed the strand under his hand, intending to throw it away. But paused slightly. The petals were really jaded and withered. 

It was time now.

General Haoran got up and reviewed the contents of the correspondence report the Emperor handed to him. It seems the spy that was dispatched to infiltrate and obtain information regarding the entryway had gotten caught by the border patrols of Silver Mountains. It was unlikely that he'd make it out alive and had only been able to hand in a minimalist summary with some vague clues concerning the entryway.

Probably because he couldn't find the entrance by himself and could only put together what little information he assimilated, given the Silver Mountains' tight defence.

But then why would the Emperor rush into the divorce and spur a war, when things remain so uncertain? Haoran crinkled his brows. It seemed His Esteemed Self had greater plans than he let on. However, Haoran knew better than to not doubt his liege's actions.

He began getting ready; braiding the front of his hair to the back and gathering all of his locks into one handful. Replacing the traditional Zhou Manor robes with gold and black infused steel armour. Opening the shelves and chests, the General's trash-can sized palms drew out his black stone-forged imperial sword, unable to be carried by the likes of anybody but him. He tried nicking his finger lightly with its tip–its edge had gone blunt.

He'd have to sharpen it today. He liked his blade sharp and smooth, the feel of it cutting through skin like silk.

As he turned his head away to walk out, his eyes fell on the dying strand of jasmine. It was crushed and unsightly to look at and yet he sighed as he twirled it around his gathered hair–the only messy item on his impeccably attired person.

He rode his way to the military camp and got down on the battered sand of the training grounds. The sound of his long and heavy sword grating against the rough floor woke the whole camp up to an image they thought they wouldn't see after the peace treaty was signed. Their General in military attire.

It was light armour, but definitely military attire nonetheless. But what had them gawking more was the strange thing dangling off of his pony tail... it couldn't be jasmine 'flowers' on their General's head, could it?

Disregarding the curious gazes coming his way as he strolled his way past the other camps into his own, the last thing he expected was to be hit with a shower of flowers. General Haoran froze as petals of different colours and fragrances surrounded him, falling on his shoulders and sliding down his military garb, making him look like the main counterpart of a comical show. One of his lieutenants even walked over and opened a ceramic flask of liquor before him.

"Congratulations on your divorce!"

General Haoran's face twitched as his gaze fell on the three fools before him, busy with throwing flowers at him and clinking wine jars. Every damn time, they somehow or other embody being the pioneers in the art of pissing the General off, any attempt at nonsense creative than the one before.

"So, General!" Bing Ze smirked. "Now that you're a bachelor once again, you can marry that beauty, huh? Hahaha."

"I too am glad." Lieutenant Jiang bowed before him solemnly. "I'm relieved that the General doesn't have to resort to cheating anymore."

"How joyful it is." Shen Yue was almost in tears. "That you can unite with the one you love after such a desperate move."

General Haoran threw his steel knuckle pads disdainfully. If only.

He then placed his sword on the table. "It was only a matter of time."

All three of the lieutenants abruptly let their merry vibes smother, a rather petulant and heavy cloud of darkness surrounding them now. "So, it was a pre-arranged deliverance," Lieutenant Jiang said, "we surmised as much and had our suspicions but decided we would wait for the General to disclose matters directly."

"Indeed." General Haoran took out the correspondence letter he got from the Emperor and laid it down on the table. "His Esteemed Self is not somebody whose grand plans run rampant as common knowledge after all."

Shen Yue asked shocked, "Does that mean–"

"Yes." He met their gaze evenly.

"We're going into war."

Understanding that the situation was terse and critical than they expected as the trio immediately gathered around him, their eyes on the paper he had scrolled out. "This..." Jiang muttered and looked at the General waiting to confirm his conjecture.

"That's right," he affirmed. "These are clues to the Silver Mountains entryway, the gem we couldn't acquire despite all our efforts. His Majesty got these for me and I want the input of somebody familiar with the grounds closer to the inner Empire. Particularly Bing Ze, you were once the troop leader of a regiment stationed near the mouth of the Silver Mountain moat."

"Yes, General," he responded and looked into the contents of the paper. "These clues; Grey-brown in colour, natural existence and has the capacity to contain over a steed at a time, and over the ground. Could it locate the muddy Bu-ta River by the moat?"

"All rivers of Silver Mountain," Fu Lin had once said, "collectively flow into a waterfall by the lopsided hill within the Empire. All waters from outside are naturally barricaded by underwater rocks and I once almost killed myself when I hit my head upon the barricade once."

"I don't think it's the river," Haoran said. "It has to be something else... the rivers are naturally sealed and can't be an entryway."

"What about caves?" Shen Yue eyed the list. "Oh, but... Silver Mountains only ever has black caves. It's infamous for its black caves after all."

General Haoran's eyes widened. Fu Lin's dreamy voice whistled past his ears as he recalled,

"I have this habit of walking all over the Empire." He had giggled saying so when they were having an everyday conversation. "Because everybody knows and calls me the useless prince and I'm generally jobless I often go on explorations. So I once walked all over the edge of the Empire and got lost. It took over a day for the patrol to find me curled inside the place. Apparently, it was a cave that was supposed to be sealed; a brown, ugly one."

"That's the one." The General's eyes glowed under the shadows enshrouding the tent. "The brown cave is the entry point."

* * * * * 

Don't forget to vote, comment, share and follow! 

(ﾉ'ヮ')ﾉ*: ･ﾟ More angst on the way ladies and gentlemen, so please grab 'em popcorns and get ready! Have an awesome day ahead. 

Regards, 

Koto.