Chapter 15: Fondness Invites Trouble
The following morning, Fei Li felt complicated. Lu Qinyi was the General of the South, what stood between him and winning this war, accomplishing his life's purpose of uniting the South and North. He was a loose cannon, his schemes proving difficult for even Fei Li to navigate. A dangerous man, a troubling enemy. Yet he was also the one who danced around his orders to save him, nursed him back to health with meticulous care, even going as far as to comfort him whenever he had nightmares. He felt that Lu Qinyi was quite genuine to his words, it seemed he truly respected and admired Fei Li.
He stared out the window. Across the snow-filled courtyard, Lu Qinyi leaned back against the door to Zhao Mei's room, his cloak pulled around him. It seemed they were talking from other sides of the door as his mouth moved from time to time, even seeming to laugh occasionally. This man who chided his friend for upsetting the other and stood in the cold of the winter morning to help them make amends. This man who went against the grain and spoke for the lives of soldiers, who saved even the lives of enemy soldiers. A truly strange person and one he... honestly couldn't bring himself to hate, even if they stood on other sides of this war.
At this time, the door finally opened and Zhao Mei came out from her room, as refined as always, arms folded over her chest. Lu Qinyi offered her something, likely one of the roasted chestnuts he seemed to like carrying around to snack on. He smiled as she accepted it, his arms behind his head as he walked beside her, the two leaving the courtyard together. Fei Li tapped lightly on the cover of the closed book on his lap, watching the sun glint off the snow, glittering on the blanket of white in the now empty courtyard. As far as enemies go, Lu Qinyi wasn't a bad one to have.
There were another couple days of peace, with only idle and polite interactions between the generals in passing. But that could hardly last for long, as either the world would disturb it or Lu Qinyi would. It seemed Lu Qinyi had grown stifled by the peace before the world did as he had suddenly decided to join Fei Li for a meal. Fei Li didn't have much to say about it since Lu Qinyi could hardly be convinced otherwise. He only half listened to Lu Qinyi's blabbers about some soldiers who had been found to have been sneaking out to enjoy extra wine together. They had gotten too drunk and fallen in the snow, consequently getting caught as well as catching a cold. According to Lu Qinyi, Zhao Mei had been merciless in their punishments, having their alcohol confiscated, punished to cleaning duties and forbidden from drinking for the next month. If they didn't perform to her standards, it would be extended to two. Although this kind of blabbering was standard and as spirited as usual, Fei Li felt Lu Qinyi was acting off. He would pause every so often, his smile dimming just slightly as he stared at Fei Li before quickly continuing on.
"Is something the matter, General Lu?" He finally asked, met with a bitter smile from the other.
"You could say that." It seemed he had no intention to explain any further than that, but as it turned out, he didn't have to. Yang Xun entered the room without bothering to knock, not even glancing at Fei Li as he saluted Lu Qinyi. He was particularly serious today.
Yang Xun hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to the other before finally working up the resolve to get to business. "General Lu... We need orders. What's your decision?"
Lu Qinyi's smile slid away as he let out a slow sigh, tilting his head back to rest it against the top of the chair back. Although he remained in this position, he didn't forget to take a letter from his robes and toss it to Fei Li. "Their lives aren't worth the same as General Fei here. Write the refusal."
"But General Lu, Commander Xiao..."
By this time, Fei Li had skimmed the letter. His own army had managed to capture a handful of the Southern Army's men, most significant of which was Commander Xiao Jianyu. They demanded an exchange, the commander and these men for General Fei. Before Fei Li had been captured, he had done everything he could to dig up any information that could help him against Lu Qinyi. Thus, he knew some information about those Lu Qinyi was close with. Although he hadn't been able to find out much about Lu Qinyi's sister, he had been able to learn about his parents, but they were nothing notable besides their nobility. He knew Lieutenant Yang was friends with Lu Qinyi from childhood, whereas Lu Qinyi had met Lieutenant Zhao after becoming a soldier, forming a friendship later on. All three held an unshakable friendship by the time Lu Qinyi was named general. He appointed them as his left and right lieutenants immediately after he had taken his title. Besides these two, there was another Lu Qinyi seemed to get along particularly well with. He seemed to have a fondness for one of the Division commanders, Xiao Jianyu.
Lu Qinyi laid the back of his hand over his eyes as if that would help the sting in them, his tone tinged with misplaced annoyance. "Do you really have to question me right now? Do you truly need me to explain that a commander, even one who is my friend, isn't worth giving up General Fei? Write the rejection and find someone to take the position of Commander of Division Four." He knew better than anyone how much his army needed the time to recover, how much that accident burning down one of their storage holds had cost them. He also knew better than anyone how much he didn't want Jianyu to die. But the people around him could only shallowly understand both of these, unable to see the watery depths that drowned Lu Qinyi.
Yang Xun fell silent. He could only pity Lu Qinyi and Xiao Jianyu. Finally, he gave a slight bow of respect and left to somberly fulfill Lu Qinyi's orders.
Lu Qinyi didn't speak nor move for a long time and Fei Li didn't disturb him. It wasn't like he could comfort him since he was the cause of all this, anything he did say would come across as mocking. He struggled for a moment with whether he should do something but ultimately decided to fall back to his usual response of none at all. After some time passed, Lu Qinyi finally asked in a quiet voice, "He was targeted because of our friendship, wasn't he?"
Fei Li pressed his lips together before nodding slightly. "He was."
"I thought so. Not even the Northern army can be so lucky as to happen across Commander Xiao while he was out on patrol and capture him. Your army must have put quite the efforts towards pulling that one off. Seems they really want you back. You should feel touched, General Fei." Although his words were light, his tone was worn.
If Lu Qinyi was insistent enough in keeping General Fei hostage, even at the cost of his friend and some of his men, there was likely a good reason. Since it had been months, his soldiers should have had a chance to recover. So Fei Li deduced there was something else weakening Lu Qinyi's army, resulting in them still needing to buy more time. This could give his army the advantage in an attack, however the Northern army were nowhere near as good at handling the winter of the South. As they press in from the border into Southern territory and its cover of unforgiving snow and cold, they would be at a disadvantage. This likely meant the armies were back to equal and both would struggle to engage as is. It wasn't like Fei Li had the chance to communicate with his men to give orders anyway but a mind like his was always strategizing. With that, his mind fell back into the present issue... what to say to Lu Qinyi. "My... condolences. It seems my subordinates are both too impatient and too efficient." Fei Li knew this was a poor attempt as far as comforting goes but Lu Qinyi's lips turned up faintly still, his hand falling from his face to look at Fei Li.
"That has to be the most awful condolences I've ever heard. Aren't you the one this is all over anyway? What are you doing comforting your captor for refusing to release you?"
Fei Li shot him a glare. "You're right. I truly shouldn't have bothered having an ounce of pity for you."
Seeing Fei Li bristling at his jabs lifted Lu Qinyi's mood slightly. After a moment, he seemed to return to his usual self, a careless smile on his face. "Truly a mistake on your part. To take pity on someone like myself is to invite trouble for yourself."
"The pity is gone and I'd like to uninvite the trouble. Leave my room." Fei Li muttered with a shooing gesture.
"Fine, fine. I can't believe I'm being ordered around by my own prisoner. I truly shouldn't have spoiled you so much." He said in good humour as he left. Fei Li could only shake his head but as the door shut he couldn't help frowning slightly. Lu Qinyi just sentenced his friend to death. What was he really feeling under that careless facade he'd woven? But that was for Lu Qinyi to know and for others not to find out.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
mehasacupcake
mehasacupcake Some shorter chapters as things slowly start to pick up. Let the fun begin!
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