Simply Trading

That was not particularly good news, especially for Feng Laixue, the Marquis of the Southlands. A few of the braver souls, or drunker ones, had commented that it was apt for the weather to turn out so bad, with him at the helm of the fief, rather than his aged father.

After all, wasn"t his name indicative of that? Laixue, as in Coming Snow?

Of course, as popular as he was among the local populace, none of those who gave voice to that opinion managed to get away unscathed. But the New Marquis did not seem overly concerned by that. And simply prepared for the worst in his usual quiet manner.

In many ways, Feng Laixue was the ant.i.thesis of his father, when it came to governance and war. He was cool and calm under even the most extreme conditions, and he relied on his calculations and his wits, over his emotions and his martial skills, to secure his victories in every campaign that he had been in.

Something that made some of the braver souls wonder if indeed he was his father"s son!

Of course, no one dared to whisper that where there was a chance that the Old Marquis, Feng Haojiao, could overhear. After all, he was not known as the Fire Mountain of the South for no reason. And he was said to be just as fit as he was, before he gave up his position and stepped aside for his son.

Even though the younger man seemed nothing like his father at all!

But there was something about Marquis and his family that most people did not realize. Or rather, it had been kept so close that hardly anyone realized the significance of the same. And that was probably why they were making such guesses with regards to Feng Laixue"s parentage.

After all, how many could still remember the Old Marquis" young wife? And which Sect she belonged to, before she married the old soldier, close to twenty-five years ago?

Then again, Xie Nianxue was not a native of the Southlands, and had from the far North, before her wanderings brought her to Changqing City, to fight in one of the many wars against the Barbarians. That was how she met the Old Marquis, back in the day.

Who knew that he would have to court her for close to thirty years, before she would agree to marry him? Or that she did not seem to age at all, in all of those three decades? But she was what inspired the Old Marquis to name his son thus, when Laixue was born.

To give her something else to long for, other than the snow-covered peaks of her homeland, far to the North.

Those in the know were adamant that she had laughed when she heard her husband"s decision. And that she had promised to give him other sons, for the sake of his consideration. Regardless if it was true or not, Feng Laixue was swiftly joined by his younger sister, Feng Xueli, within ten years.

And Feng Xueli, once she turned sixteen, was so beautiful that the aged Duke of the South, Li Guoyang, asked for her hand in marriage, as his second wife. And Li Changhai was born shortly afterwards.

About the same time that Feng Laixue"s his younger brother, Feng Sixue, was born as well.

With the two newborn children so close in age, and so closely related, it wasn"t much of a surprise when the two of them turned out to be almost inseparable when they were children. So much so that they would study, and practice martial arts together, uncle and nephew getting into so many pranks and escapades that they seemed almost joined at the hip!

That is, until circ.u.mstances finally forced Feng Sixue away, on his sixteenth birthday, to join his mother"s secretive Sect. Something that had been agreed upon, shortly after he was born.

And that, in turn, caused Li Changhai to turn up at Changqing City more frequently, to keep his grandmother, who obviously missed her young son, company more often.

Which was why Li Changhai was the only one with a different surname sitting with the rest of the Feng Family, during one of the secret planning meetings that was being held, to discuss the development of the Barbarian situation:

"I suppose the situation could be worse. They have started to dig in, and to hold their ground. So it is unlikely that they would try anything during the Winter. I have gotten our people to prepare the signal fires already, all the same. So we are unlikely to be surprised, even if they do try anything stupid."

The New Marquis was not at all shy, when he spoke to his father and mother. And it was rather clear that he had a good idea of what to expect, if the Barbarians really started attacking once Spring arrived.

"Not to worry about the City"s defenses here. The Guards have been training hard, and they have all the procedures in place. We are, however, short of capable commanders. Probably because you stole every good one away to your Black Saber Troop, the moment that they showed up," his mother sniffed as she looked his way.

"You can"t blame me for that, Mother. Who knew that the Barbarians would be coming so soon. I thought I might as well build up our personal army a little. Besides, they would be wasted in the City Guard if there wasn"t going to be any action."

The Old Marquis chuckled then, drawing the eyes of both his wife and his son. "Better set that aside now, or you"ll be arguing until dinner time, and we won"t get any work done," he warned with a broad smile on his lips.

Then he sighed, and nodded at Li Changhai.

"You know what? There are times when I wonder if we had made a mistake, allowing the Royal Prince to flee Changqing City when he did, all those moons ago. It is possible that the King had sent him here, to gather more information about the Barbarian Invasion.

"And to keep an eye on what we are going to do about that."

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