The War Bride

12 | Lies and Loyalty

"Find his weakness."

Back in her bedchamber, Luwen fiddled with the writing brush in her hand, dipping the tip into the ink stone repeatedly. Her mind wandered off into the distance, pondering over how she should reply to the matriarch.

The old hag was probably enraged that another of her assassination plans had failed. Again.

Eventually, Luwen wrote a few words. "I'm working on it, but he's an extremely cautious man. He doesn't trust me, especially not after the incident yesterday."

She rolled up the slip of paper and handed it to her maid to send it off to the matriarch through a trained raven. Although she wrote the report formally, she indirectly criticized the matriarch for her poorly executed plan. Dai Yichen may be younger than his older brother–the previous lord–but he was more stronger, ruthless and watchful of his surroundings. He never let his guard down in front of anyone.

A day later, the matriarch's reply came. "Your time is limited. Earn his trust."

Luwen let out a noise of frustration, running her uninjured hand through the back of her neck and across her forehead. The reminder was akin to hands wrapping around her throat, suffocating her till she couldn't breathe.

She could imagine the matriarch's tone–harsh and unsympathetic. She didn't care about Luwen's life, deeming her as a puppet. All she wanted was to kill the lord of the Dai clan and seize control over them.

Her obsession with them was an enormous problem.

But in the first place, what led her to initiate a war?

A year ago, the matriarch announced her sudden plan to invade the lands belonging to the Dai clan, citing her reasons to hoard more land and resources. Ever since then, the Xia clan began their preparations for the war in secret; by training their people and procuring better armors and weapons.

However, as far as Luwen knew, their clan wasn't in a perilous state. Land, food and human capital weren't scarce on their land. Even if they were boycotted by other clans for their notorious reputation, they were self-sufficient in agriculture and other commodities. Whenever necessary, they would conduct their businesses in the underground black markets.

Luwen bit her bottom lips. A strange feeling gnawed at her insides. She sensed that this might not be the complete story, that the matriarch was hiding something, and there was more to this than what met the eyes.

After all, a woman's mind was unpredictable.

Luwen paced back and forth in her room, deep in thought. When her maid delivered lunch for the day, she pulled down her sleeve to hide her wound and sent the maid away quickly. Refusing to let the matriarch's spy notice her injury.

Everyone knew about the fight at the tavern, but they didn't know Luwen went against her orders and shielded the lord. If they did, her actual body would be in danger. The matriarch would be livid and brutally punish her by disallowing her soul return to her own body.

If that happened, Luwen would be truly dead to the world.

Her appetite diminished, but she didn't wish to leave her food untouched. It would be inconsiderate of her to starve this already delicate body of hers. She must respect this body she was currently inhabiting.

When she tried to pick a fried lotus root with her chopsticks, they fell back onto the plate and she frowned. She was right-handed, but her arm was hurting and hindering her movements.

A weary sigh escaped her lips. She hated feeling weak, helpless and dependent on others, even if there wasn't anyone who could offer their help to her now.