Your highness, the northern forces have broken through at Xiling, and resistance is crumbling in the face of their momentum! They are expected to reach the capital in a matter of days; what are your orders?
What…? Broken . . . through?
Shock painted the young general’s face like a stone carving, disbelief shining in vivid hues of bright gold. How? There’s no way… Bà’s been saying that everything’s fine! Sure, we’ve struggled in some parts and been in a stalemate in others, but…
The oldest of Sun Hao’s sons, now nineteen and capped just the previous month, had reluctantly been drawn away from the northern front lines for quite some time. Something stupid about his safety or something. Whatever. It was bullshit, anyway. Instead of pouting about it, though, Sun Fan had been keeping himself — and the men under his command — busy with constant training and drills, Fan sometimes travelling to nearby counties to see how things were fairing militaristically under others’ administrations. Although the people farther from the capital didn’t seem to be as well-informed as those he heard from in the meetings he was required to attend, the opinions he overheard from time to time were quite different.
There was discontent. A lot of it.
But his father was trying to do better lately, right? Uncle Youmei had come back a few years before, and although the process was slow, things were getting better and better. And Jin was heir now, and working with some of those stuffy politicians in his new responsibilities. With everything going so well and his father’s treatment of the borders… how could anything have gotten this bad? And with the advancement of the enemy forces so rapid, what could he do?
Something needed to happen, though. That’s what it boiled down to, and he’d just have to plunge ahead and find a way to repel them. There was no time for the meticulous planning favoured by his brother or tutor. If the enemy got here, then his whole family would be in danger. His mother, his father, every one of his brothers and sisters, their mothers, and not to mention all of the people protecting them. They were all family. Every southern-born citizen was a tiger, and even though tigers were solitary creatures, they were still family. And family protects each other from things that threaten to destroy it.
Shizai’s face hardened resolutely, his spine straightening and shoulders squaring. He didn’t care how foolish anyone would think him, or how dangerous this was. In fact, he more than expected to be stopped before he got very far, but unless his father’s or the Grand Commander’s seals were used to stop him, he’d plough ahead and meet the northern army head-on.
We’re strong, and braver than anyone else. We can repel at least some of those bastards. Even if we can’t… Even if we can’t, then we’ll give everyone else more time to gather together and beat them back. And Māma, Bà, Jin, Luqi, Chong, Qian, and everyone else can get away.
"Call the men together. Tell them we’re reinforcing the west immediately."
