“I want to see the king!” he demanded, glaring fiercely at the guards at the gate.
The guards, used to seeing refugees like him, burst into laughter. “Get lost, get lost! The king doesn’t have time for you! What a joke.”
One of the guards gave Saman a hard kick, knocking him to the ground. He lay there, staring up at the sun, thinking, Good child... He remembered his grandmother's words. No one had ever called him that before, and no one had ever hugged him. He couldn’t even remember when he had started wandering, nor did he know his age—maybe eight, maybe nine. No one cared about him, much less praised him as a “good child.” As he thought of this, tears welled up in his eyes and fell into the cracked earth below.
“Let me in!” he suddenly jumped up and shouted. His sickly body could only produce a hoarse cry.
His outburst startled the guards. “Is this kid crazy?”
Ten guards surrounded him, their faces menacing, ready to beat him further.
“What are you doing?” A man with a long braid approached. He seemed to outrank the guards. Pushing them aside, he looked at Saman. “Where did this child come from?” His voice was calm, with neither mockery nor surprise.
“Brother Yun Zai, this kid says he wants to see the king!” replied one of the fat guards, laughing. “He’s probably sick. We were about to send him away.”
“I’m not sick! I want to see Zhan Bie!” Saman shouted.
“Zhan Bie? Who is Zhan Bie?” The fat guard laughed even louder. “You guys ever heard of him?”
The other guards joined in the laughter. “Never heard of him in my life!”
But Yun Zai’s gaze turned cold. “Which Zhan Bie?” he asked.
Saman wiped his mouth and shouted, “The great hero who went on a mission to Yunpei!”
Hearing this, the guards laughed even harder. “We’re all heroes here, but I’ve never heard of any envoy named Zhan Bie! Get lost, kid, or we’ll use you for target practice.”
The boy stood there, stunned, unable to understand. Who was a hero if not Zhan Bie? How could he have known that the hero his grandmother had spoken of was already under house arrest in the Guanghan Palace, having never even met the king? What was left of him now was just a hero’s dream!
Without warning, Yun Zai picked the boy up and slung him over his shoulder. The guards were taken aback. “Brother Yun Zai, what are you doing?”
Yun Zai tossed a small pouch of gold to the guards. “He’s just a kid. Let me take care of him.” With that, he carried Saman into the city.
On that very day, Yunpei quietly expanded its defenses, reinforcing the border. Within three days, the snow plains, Ruoshui, and Guazhou were drawn into the war zone, forming a defensive line that separated Fen Tian from Hu He. From a strategic perspective, they would not allow the war to touch Yunpei’s lands.
On the fourth day, Queen Guan Ying, Huang Bei Shuang, received a secret message from her spies: Someone from Hu He has come looking for Zhan Bie. The person is a nine-year-old boy, inquiring only to deliver news of his mother’s death. If he is received, he will enter Ning within three days. If not, he will be sent back immediately.
After much deliberation, Huang Bei Shuang gave the order to grant the boy an audience.
It wasn’t Yun Zai who escorted Saman to the Guanghan Palace in Ningdu. Along the way, several others took over, but the journey continued without stopping. Within three days, Saman arrived at the palace, wide-eyed in shock. Sitting by the throne was Huang Bei Shuang. She observed the small, frail boy, knowing that anyone who had come from the hell outside to the dreamlike peace of Yunpei would be similarly overwhelmed by its beauty, as if in a dream.
The boy collapsed to the floor, sitting dazed, staring up at the king on the throne.
“Bring Zhan Bie out,” ordered the king, leaning back in his chair.
Saman quickly looked around, and within moments, Zhan Bie appeared. Though his face showed signs of worry and exhaustion, he was still plump and well-fed. Having been under house arrest in Guanghan Palace for so long, his only real hardship was the lack of freedom. Pushed forward by the soldiers, Zhan Bie stood before Saman, looking at him in confusion.
Saman immediately knelt down, crying out, “Brother! Grandmother is dead!” As he spoke, he pulled from his sleeve the dark purple belt left by Zhan Bie’s mother, embroidered with the words “A child blessed by the heavens, named Zhan Bie.” It was indeed his mother’s belt. Upon seeing it, Zhan Bie grew agitated and lifted Saman by both arms. “Nonsense! My mother can’t be dead. She said she would wait for me!”
Saman burst into tears. “Grandmother is still waiting for you! She’s waiting for you beneath the yellow earth!”
At these words, Zhan Bie’s anger flared. He turned and pointed at the king. “It’s all your fault! You imprisoned me! If you had sent troops, Hu He wouldn’t be in this state!”
The king merely chuckled. “Hmph! If Tian Du’s army could easily conquer Hu He, my Yunpei troops could do the same! If you can only survive by relying on others, you might as well have died at the start!” With those words, the king’s cold retort washed over Zhan Bie like a bucket of ice water. Trembling with fury, he had nowhere to vent his anger. The king leaned back lazily. “Don’t blame me. Imprisoning you saved your life. Don’t forget—it was Tian Du that conquered Hu He!”
0 Comments