Yang Guiying stood atop the wooden platform with her arms behind her back, legs planted, and face frozen as the wind swept through the crowd. Silence filled the air. In the plains below the hill, the crimson remains of battle splattered itself against the grass. Though an audience of soldiers gathered below her, their eyes stayed on the scene of carnage.
The medical team, with nothing but stretchers and a dream, carted the dead bodies to a communal pile. Before laying each body in the pile, her team gave their best shot at identifying every slain soldier. They marked down the names of each identified person and the number of unidentified people.
Some people stood in silence, some stared off into the sky, and others cried, mourning the loss of their comrades. Nobody rushed the process, and Yang Guiying waited until the medical team set fire to the pile of corpses. With the army being wracked by disease, everyone understood the importance of the medical team’s procedure. Yang Guiying’s eyes reflected the dancing flames as the entire pile was engulfed within minutes.
“I promise. I solemnly swear. I will live by the ideals we fight under every day.
“I’ll put you all first.
“I’ll burden myself first.
“I’ll give luxuries to you all first.
“Because I want people like me, women like me, and dreamers like me to live the life of freedom I never could. I’ll continue to stand at the front of the army so you all can stand with your families.
“Today, we lost a great number of our comrades in our first engagement with Warlord Cao. However, I’m sure the land has still not drunk its fill of blood.
“For the future of our descendents, we mustn’t give up. We’ve pierced our spear into Warlord Cao’s leg. We must capitalize and continue.”
Her eyes shone. They followed the flames upward, traced the path of ash into the air, and pierced the heavens. Yet, despite giving cheer-inducing speeches after each conquered city, province, and warlord, she still felt the burden of thousands of souls weigh on her shoulders.
Under the cover of night, she and Murong An often paid visits to each other, camping out in each other’s tents. Yang Guiying, though rumored as a dragon, was still very much human. Her hands trembled and voice hitched as she slipped under the sheets with Murong An. As she did though, she stained the sheets and Murong An’s night dress with leftover ink on her fingertips.
Her lips trembled as she watched the black ink blossom across Murong An’s beautiful, and only, night dress.
“I’m... sorry for ruining your clothes, Murong... I was careless while writing... ” Yang Guiying led off with a long sigh, her breath shaky as tears began welling up in her eyes. She curled up, and a second later, words came streaming out. “You know, I hand-inked another hundred letters today, notifying the families of officers who died in the past month. I know why I do it... but... I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Murong. I’m… I’m afraid. How will I be judged in the afterlife? With the blood of thousands on my hands? They all trusted me...”
Murong An reached over and wiped the tears off Yang Guiying’s face. No mind-easing response came to mind, so she pulled her in for a hug.
“I... don’t know. I guess all we can do is live for the people,” Yang Guiying whispered as she shared a pained smile with Murong An. “We can cry together at night and continue fighting together by day.”
Squeezing Yang Guiying closer, Murong An felt a few tears of her own trace a path down her cheeks. Seconds of silence became minutes. Together, they held each other close before being swept away to dreamland.
By day though, their previous tenderness disappeared, replaced by fearlessness. They fought together to overcome the last three warlords who stood in their way. Warlord Cao, their current target, being the strongest among them.
Back in the command tent, Yang Guiying had wiped away any trace of her nighttime weakness. Cracking the quill in her hand, she sighed and massaged her eyebrows. “What’s the situation, Murong? How was there another betrayal? How many spies have we discovered at this point?”
Murong An bowed before sliding over a written report of the investigation. On it were details of the various spies detained, a written summary at the top added a more chilling comment: [Four this month alone.]
“Call over Vice-General Long Fei, I need to talk to him,” Yang Guiying massaged her eyebrows while leaning back in her chair. “We need to keep striking while they're weak. We can’t let these spies hamper us. They’re trying to buy time to regroup.”
Handed a battle plan, Murong An committed it to memory before tossing it into the fire and walking out.
---
“Cut!” Zhang Jingsong clapped as cheers from the other actors and actresses broke out. “Very good. Another great scene, you two. Xia Ruyun, your improvement is clear as day. Li Feiling, stellar as always.”
““Thank you, Director Zhang.””
Nodding to her friends watching, Xia Ruyun flashed a smile before disappearing into the makeup and costume tent. Done with shooting for the time being, she greeted Wu Linjie with a “Good luck, Vice-General.”
Wu Linjie, laughing, gave a mock salute. “Of course, I can only fight every day because I know you hold down my backline, Murong An.”
Rolling her eyes, Xia Ruyun patted him on the back as a question wandered into her mind.
What does ‘hold down my backline’ even mean...
Amused with Wu Linjie’s antics, she walked further into the tent and into a changing ‘room.’ The sound of her sigh filled the space as she relaxed her shoulders and sat down in the chair. Kicking the flap of the tent that divided the changing ‘room’ from the main area, she wiped her sweat and fanned herself.
One quick-change later, she ambled back out to the cast chairs and took a seat beside some friends. These past few months had been fruitful—even if tiring—and she’d integrated herself into the cast! Stumbles had happened, of course, but she had overcome them! Actresses like Chen Wenhui had become people with whom she could have fun idle conversations to pass the time.
That’s like... being friends! ... right?
And her name is Chen Wenhui... right?
She had, as well, built up some rapport with Wu Linjie. Amongst the cast—outside of Li Feiling—he had a decent case for her closest friend. The more she’d gotten to know him, the more he’d... become a tad more cognizant of boundaries.
Sure, he had his fair share of... accidents with people. The most notorious ending in a slap across his face, but... in general, he’d learned how to talk to women! He still had areas to improve, but the cast’s opinions of him—especially among the women—had begun to shift. An upward trend!
Today, though, an air of nervousness—and strange intensity—surrounded him. His shoulders remained tense and his acting cracked at a much higher rate than usual. Sitting in the cast chairs watching, Xia Ruyun knew the reason behind it, but she stayed quiet to respect his boundaries.
Why today of all days though, Wu Linjie?
---
“Leader, a... are you sure? You want to go back on the offensive? The men haven’t rested enough!” Long Fei gritted his teeth, kneeling on the floor with his head bowed. “I must protest. Though you and I may be able to fight, the common soldiers are still recuperating.”
“Give them more food and one more rest day. We must press our advantage, the other side must be rationing their food because we’ve surrounded them,” Yang Guiying grumbled as she wrote out orders. She paused and clenched her hand. As the sound of crumpling papers filled the tent, she raised her head. The flames roared as she tossed a few papers into the fire. “My heart tells me something’s wrong though, Long Fei. Keep your eye out for more spies. I’m afraid another murder will happen, and this time to someone higher-up.”
“I will keep that in mind...” Long Fei trailed off as a tired look flashed across his face. “I too would not like to clean up the blood stains of another friend.”
“You’re dismissed, find Murong An to coordinate the next offensive. I need to finish and send out this paperwork for the southern province today for it to arrive on time.” Yang Guiying began writing once more. As the sound of Long Fei’s footsteps retreated, she tapped her foot against the ground.
Left alone, she stared out the window of the tent. Sunset rays made her eyes glisten as her lips frowned.