Phoenix Rising

068

"What an exhausting day!" Mingshen declared, strolling into the commander's tent at the Nanmen army camp. "I swear sometimes training missions are more tiring than actual battles, because people spend too much energy fussing over tiny details that don't actually make any substantive difference to things."

"Did you send another batch of scouts to check the training ground and its vicinity like I told you to?" Zhenghuan asked, looking up from the map of the border and its neighbouring desert that he had been studying. "What did they say?"

Zhenghuan had tried to convince the general to shift the training mission, but because he was unable to substantiate his request, the general refused, citing the need to keep to schedule in order to maintain discipline within the camp. General Du was typically inflexible that way, which sometimes grated on Zhenghuan's nerves. However, he knew better than to defy the general, who was still his superior first and father second.

Although he still didn't know why Zi-ning was so adamant that there was danger in the upcoming mission, he still chose to trust her regardless. The best he could do now was to ensure that the checks were thorough, and that any potential hazards were rooted out before the mission began.

Mingshen shook his head. "Nothing. Everything is as it should be, no sightings of any of the Eagle Warrior's men anywhere," he replied. "Why do you seem so worried about this particular mission? It's only routine training."

"No particular reason. Just have a gut feeling that something might go wrong, that's all. It never hurts to be careful."

"It'll be fine. The men have completed their armour and equipment checks and gone to rest for the night. They should be on track to set off at dawn as planned. Are you going along?"

Zhenghuan was technically not a commander at the Nanmen camp, so he was not obliged to participate in any of their military exercises, but as the Shadow Lord, he could pretty much do anything he wanted.

He took another look at the map. The border had been relatively peaceful lately, so there really was no good reason to be suspicious of anything. He wondered if it was because of the tiny seed of doubt that Zi-ning had planted in his mind, but there was a sense of uneasiness gnawing away at the back of his mind.

Eventually, he shook his head. "No, it's fine. The king's messenger should be arriving tomorrow, so I should be around to receive him. Send someone you trust along with the battalions who are participating in the exercise and inform me immediately if something crops up."

"Sure thing," Mingshen said. He picked up a handful of melon seeds from a small bowl on the table and began popping them into his mouth one by one. "By the way, I received an update from the intelligence network about that girl you asked me to investigate—Yuchi Ling-er. She's staying at the Silver Moon inn, booked a room for an entire month so it doesn't look like she's going anywhere soon. Other than taking on various odd jobs around town, there's nothing special about her. Doesn't seem to even have any friends—except for Han Yongxing, who has gone looking for her twice on his days off but she's turned him away both times. Ah, unrequited love."

Mingshen sighed dramatically, pretending to drive a stake through his heart.

"Do you want me to continue keeping tabs on her?"

Zhenghuan pondered for a moment, then he nodded. "There's something about this girl that feels very familiar, but I can't quite place my finger on it," he murmured.

He was certain he had never seen that face before, yet he could not shake the feeling of familiarity—why?

#

Bright and early the next morning, the king's messenger arrived from Huangcheng as expected. When the official reached the Anyang city gates, word had been sent to the Du manor and the entire household gathered at the front hall ready to receive this honoured guest. Zi-ning had also been told to come, since the edict that was being delivered had everything to do with her.