Chapter 79 Remembrance: Li Hengba
Feng Luodi sat with Situ in the stateroom, a game of chess between the two of them. Cheng s.h.i.+fei stood beside Feng Luodi, acting as her tactician. However, despite their best efforts, Feng Luodi"s pieces were wiped off the board in less than 15 minutes. She gritted her teeth and stared at Situ, who sipped his tea calmly.
“You…are good.”
“Good game.” His tone as nonchalant as it could be.
Feng Luodi glared at him. His moves are always in antic.i.p.ation of something else, it"s as if he"s always playing for the future! Worst of all, I can"t recognise the potential dangers at all!
“Must be burdensome for you to have to play with me, General.” Feng Luodi"s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Situ shook his head. “Not at all, seeing as how s.h.i.+fei is guiding you along.”
Cheng s.h.i.+fei was the tactician of the army, a man with a gentle demeanour. He smiled warmly. “You speak too highly of me, General. I"d still caused the lost of Miss Feng in the end.”
“General Cheng was a good tactician, but my skills were too poor to carry out his ideas.” Feng Luodi pursed her lips, and got out of the seat. “Come and play instead, General Cheng. It"s best if you could win him.” Feng Luodi was upset, having lost nothing less than 10 games in the span of a morning.
Cheng s.h.i.+fei smiled lightly, and took the seat. “I"ve never won General Situ in chess since the day I met him.”
“You can do it today! Believe in yourself.” Feng Luodi poured him a cup of tea and encouraged him. Situ stayed quiet, his gaze trained intently on Feng Luodi.
Unfortunately for Feng Luodi, Cheng s.h.i.+fei surrendered before ten minutes was even up. “General, your prowess on the board is as deadly as ever.” He looked bemusedly at Situ. “I could tell that you"d treat our match very seriously, General. Was it perhaps because of Miss Feng watching our game?”
Feng Luodi ignored the underlying meaning in his words. “He just wants to show me the difference between the two of us.”
Cheng s.h.i.+fei was stunned for a second, not expecting such a reply. He burst into laughter. “General, it seems like you still have a long way to go ahead of you.”
Situ looked up at Feng Luodi who avoided his gaze, and raised an eyebrow. The distance would be much shorter if she stopped pretending to be clueless about everything.
“My turn!” Feng Luodi gritted her teeth, and challenged Situ again.
The game went on, but a soldier came to the tent. “General, the Third Prince of the Huns wishes to see you.”
“Li Hengba?” Cheng s.h.i.+fei laughed. “Finally, he"s here. We"ve been waiting for a long while now.”
“Let him in.” Situ ordered.
“Yes, General.” The soldier turned to leave.
Feng Luodi stood up hurriedly. “I"ll head back first, then.”
“No need for that.” Situ pointed to a screen behind him. “Just wait behind there for a while, we"ll continue after I"m done.”
“But…” Feng Luodi glanced at Cheng s.h.i.+fei, but the General did not object. Sighing quietly, she stood up and moved behind the screen, cradling her cup in her hands.
Before long, the soldier returned with a man in a heavy cloak. The man, Li Hengba, took off the hood of his cloak and greeted the two Generals, clasping his hands together. “General Situ, General Cheng, it"s been a long time. I"ve been missing the two of you dearly.”
“Missing the days where you got destroyed, huh?” Situ exposed him immediately.
“Hah!” Li Hengba ignored the taunt in his words. “I see that you"re still the same man as I knew.”
“What business do you have with us, Third Prince?”
Li Hengba smiled. “I heard that my eldest brother had disturbed you a few days ago, even after I"d reminded him many times that the rumour about the legendary weapon is nothing but smoke and mirrors. I"ll like to apologise on his behalf, General Situ.”
Situ waved his hand casually, and leaned back in his chair. “No need for that. I"m sure you"ll know better than anyone else the source of the rumours. Please, just cut the pointless talk.”
Li Hengba hid his discomfort quickly, and waved his hand generously through the air. “I see. My explanations would be pointless, if you already have someone in mind, General.” He laughed a little. “But I"m not here for that today, General. I"m here to talk about something much more important than that elder brother of mine.”
“Oh? What"s that?” Situ looked at Li Hengba. “If there"s something so important, shouldn"t you be discussing it with those brothers of yours?”
“They can"t compare to you, General.” Li Hengba chose his words carefully. “The people of the North all know of your heroic deeds and prowess, General. Although you"re currently limited by your position as the mere Duke of Anping, I"m sure the North can be yours and yours alone, if you so desire.”
Feng Luodi listened to their conversation intently from the other side of the screen. Is this Li Hengba inciting Situ to join forces with him, so that they can split the lands of the North between the two of them? I"m sure he has the ability to do so, but I"m also sure that he wouldn"t.
Situ sneered. “So you"re saying that the Huns are willing to submit to the rule of my kingdom?”
Li Hengba shook his head. “The Huns are a tough nut to crack. Why don"t the two of us extend our horizons? If we work together, Xianbei, Fuyu and the rest of the other countries will be ours to split in less than three months.” He looked intently at Situ"s expression.
Situ looked at him stoically for a few seconds, before giving a short, sharp laugh. “I"d forgotten to inform you of something, Third Prince.”
“What is that?” Li Hengba"s heart leapt to his throat.
“I"ve spent more than ten years of my life in the camps and on the battlefields, and I grow tired of it. All I want to do now is to return to Chang"an, and settle down with a lovely wife and children of my own. Of course, I"ll return to the North to check on things every now and then, such as now.” Situ spoke earnestly. It was, after all, a reflection of what he was feeling.
Feng Luodi heard his words, and she bowed her head, not knowing what to feel.
Unfortunately, Li Hengba did not believe in his words. “Please do not joke about such important matters, General. You have a bright future ahead of you, General. Surely, you wouldn"t waste that all on a family? Since when have you been possessed with cowardice?”
Situ smiled. “How is something as important as a marriage a joke? It"s just a shame that you wouldn"t be able to attend my wedding if I was to have it in Chang"an.”
“Are you speaking the truth?” Li Hengba"s face turned sour. He glanced at Cheng s.h.i.+fei, but the other general was stoic. “It was an earnest invite for the best of our futures, General. Surely, you don"t have to reject me in such a manner.”
“I"m afraid that nothing could be done about it.” Situ shrugged. “This world will never belong to anyone, save the people. It"s best that you forget about your ambitions as well.”
“I see. It seems that I have thought too highly of you. I shall take my leave.” Li Hengba turned and stalked out of the tent.
As soon as he left, Situ snapped his fingers and two of the Covert Guards appeared in front of him. “Follow him. Stop him if he intends to send a message to anyone.”
“Yes, General.” The Covert Guards sounded off and disappeared together.
“General.” Cheng s.h.i.+fei"s sombre expression made Feng Luodi nervous. Is he going to convince Situ to go with Li Hengba"s plans?
“Hmm?” Situ shot him a look.
Cheng s.h.i.+fei"s serious expression did not change. “You have to invite me to your wedding! Anyway, when is it going to be?”
Feng Luodi turned away from the two of them, and exhaled loudly. What kind of an army is this? Why are all of the generals and officials such…weirdos?
Situ shook his head regretfully. “I"m afraid you"ll have to wait. The bride has yet to agree.”
“I see. I"ll be waiting for the good news then.” Cheng s.h.i.+fei flashed a grin at Feng Luodi.
Feng Luodi continued looking at the ceiling. Nope…I didn"t hear a thing! I didn"t hear a single sound! And my heart definitely did not skip a beat!
Cheng s.h.i.+fei turned his bemused gaze onto Situ and mouthed quietly. You"ll have to work harder, General!
Silence ensued for a moment, and Situ suddenly flashed a grin at Cheng s.h.i.+fei. The temperature in the tent fell a few degrees, and Cheng s.h.i.+fei shuddered.
“Let"s resume our special training tomorrow, shall we?” Situ smiled.
Feng Luodi woke to the ringing of hoa.r.s.e shouts in the air and the stomping of feet in unison the next morning. She flew out of bed.
“Is there an earthquake?” Feng Luodi glanced around, and groggily tried to put on her shoes. “Wait a moment, that sounds like the soldiers doing their morning routine…but why do they sound much louder today?”
Feng Luodi got ready for the day and headed out of the tent. She slowly made her way to the training field, but was surprised to see that the usually alert soldiers looked dejected and weary. What is happening? They"d looked fine just last night! When she arrived at the training field, she saw the field full of soldiers engaged in their exercises, weights tied to their bodies for added difficulty. On the other side, Situ and the other officers sparred barehanded, their armour glistening in the morning sun.
That was the first time Feng Luodi saw Situ fight barehanded. His moves were powerful and swift, beating each of the officials with ease. Every time an official lost to Situ, another would take his place. Before long, all of them were panting and weary, save Situ who always looked ready to take on another fight. His eyes were sharp and decisive, and sweat started to bead on his forehead. Feng Luodi swallowed audibly, and quickly turned her attention away from Situ. Smacking her hand on her forehead, she tried to clear her mind.
It was Cheng s.h.i.+fei"s time to rest, and he spotted Feng Luodi by the sight of the field. Walking over to her, they made casual conversation.
“Morning, Miss Feng.”
“Good morning, General Cheng.” Feng Luodi smiled and gestured with her hand. “Seems like everyone is feeling very energetic today morning, huh?”
Cheng s.h.i.+fei laughed a little. “The general has resumed our ‘special training", or so he likes to call it. It"s been almost two years since we"ve last gone through this, and we are all more than a little rusty.”
“It"s alright, you"ll probably get used to it in a few days.” Feng Luodi winked mischievously at him.
Cheng s.h.i.+fei raised an eyebrow. “I thought you"d be on our side, and appeal to him on our behalf.”
Feng Luodi shook her head. “Situ always has his own reasons for doing things – reasons that all of you believe in as well. If I do indeed appeal to him to go easy on you guys, it"ll be a disrespect to all of you.”
“You"re right.” Cheng s.h.i.+fei laughed earnestly, but his tone quickly changed. “But I"m sure he"ll stop the training immediately if I was to tell him that you"d wanted to hunt with him. I"m sure you"ll sacrifice a little for us, wouldn"t you?”
He took off his helmet, and strode towards Situ.
Feng Luodi was stunned for a second, and quickly ran away from the training field.