6 News from the Battlefront
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Even though he could somewhat infer it, the bad news hadn’t reached the snake king’s ears yet, letting him focus completely on recovering from his injuries and preparing for returning to the mortal realm to make true on his promise and marry Ling Ling.

On the other hand, her family that had originally been living a quiet life in their estate not far from Kishin’s southern capital Sandin was about to be confronted with their own bad news.

In the mortal realm, three years had gone by at this point. Ling Ling had turned from the five-year-old little girl into an eight-year-old slightly taller girl but not much had changed about her life other than that. She would still be running around in the garden every day and cling to her older sister Jin Jin whenever she got the chance. Sometimes, she came to check on the Magnolia tree to see if that soldier had returned yet but she never got lucky. Still, she persister in her belief that one day, she would become that man’s wife so she put a lot of effort into listening to her mother when she explained the things a good wife would need to do.

It was at one of these moments that the incident happened: A group coming from the border traveled down the road leading to the gates of Sandin, the hooves of their horses stirring up clouds of dust that hovered in the air and only dispersed after the men had long disappeared in the distance. Their armors had long been covered in dust but it couldn’t hide the gashes left behind by weapons.

The guards at the gate of the Yang family’s gate couldn’t help but straighten up when they saw this group head toward them. General Yang had been at the border fighting the neighboring kingdom for many years already and hardly had the opportunity to come back and see his family. In fact, the last time he had been at home had been eight years ago for the birth of his youngest daughter and even that had been a great kindness bestowed to him by the emperor who put much emphasis on the importance of familial ties.

Still, news from the border reached the capital city and the Yang family every now and then. In recent times, it had seemed as if their army was about to have a breakthrough, making the people hopeful that the war would soon be over and peace finally restored, allowing the soldier to return home to their families. Unfortunately, it had been quite some time since the last letter reached the Yang family, making all the people in the estate wonder what exactly was happening. But it seemed that news had finally arrived!

The guards were in a good mood at first but that soon changed when the soldiers arrived in front of them and their grave expressions could be seen. They gulped and cupped their hands. "Welcome to the General Yang’s manor. Do you bring news from the battlefront?"

The man in front took off his helmet and nodded. "Yes. Please have Madam Yang notified of our arrival."

The guard nodded and they had one of the servants go in to inform the General’s wife. He did not mention his own thoughts about the visit of the soldiers. Anyway, those were only his own conjectures. Maybe he was wrong. He sure hoped he was.

The servant rushed inside, hurriedly nodding on the door where Madam Yang was currently making her daughters recite a book. "Your Ladyship, people from the border arrived to bring news."

Madam Yang closed the book and handed it over to her older daughter. "You continue to read to her."

Jin Jin nodded. "Of course, mother."

Madam Yang got to her feet and walked over to the door, opening it while taking a deep breath. "Show them to the hall."

The servant nodded and then rushed back out while Madam Yang sorted out her robe and then went toward the hall herself, taking her maid along. She had been waiting for the latest news for a long time already so this should be a happy occasion. Somehow, she couldn’t help but have a forbearing feeling though as if the news she would receive would not be the good ones she had hoped for.

Back outside, the servant bowed to the man at the front of the group from the border region. "Please let me show you inside. Her Ladyship has been informed."

The man nodded and then waved for the others save for two people to wait outside. The three of them then followed the servant into the estate, their expressions still just as grave as when they had arrived.

They stepped into the hall behind the servant right when Madam Yang and her maid arrived as well. All three men bowed their heads, feeling apprehensive. The news they were about to bring up … they really wished they wouldn’t have to. Unfortunately, there was no way to change what had happened. They could only try to pass on the information gently.

Madam Yang looked at the men’s expressions, the sinking feeling that she had becoming even worse. "Don’t tell me the war will not end soon? Have things at the border gotten worse?"

The man at the front pressed his lips together and then bowed. "Your Ladyship, why don’t you sit down first?"

Madam Yang wanted to ask further but finally did indeed sit down, holding onto her maid’s hand tightly. "So, why don’t you tell me what has happened now?" She looked at the man, trying not to lose her bearing. If it was not that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, then there was only one thing that could have happened that would make these people look at her like this. "What about my husband?"

The man lowered his head again, taking a deep breath. "General Yang …" He cleared his throat. "General Yang led a team to fend off attackers from the gate of Bevochim. It was a crucial operation to allow the other parts of the army to circle our foes and finally take their leader captive, allowing for the negotiations to take place. Unfortunately … General Yang was not able to come back. I’m sorry. Your husband has fallen."

Madam Yang’s grip on her maid’s hand tightened as soon as she heard the name of the gate of Bevochim. She didn’t know too much about the situation at the border but her husband had told her once that this was a place that might play a pivotal role in winning or losing this war. He had also mentioned how it was notoriously difficult to fight in the terrain surrounding it. Defending the gate was easy when you held it but venturing further out would be certain to lose many lives.

How could he have done it?

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before she finally relaxed her grip and forced herself to look at the three men in front of her. "What about his remains?" No matter her feelings, this man was not just her husband. He was a General of the realm of Kishin. He had to do what needed to be done. And as his wife, she could only hold on, no matter what this meant for her and her family.

"He has been brought back."

"Very well. I will have the mourning hall set up. Please excuse me for a moment so I can go and make the preparations." She got up and left the room, her face paling as soon as the door closed behind her.

Her maid looked at her, worry in her eyes. "Your Ladyship …"

"Go and tell everyone to prepare for the funeral and mourning period. I will go and tell the girls."

The maid hesitated for a moment but then still bowed. "Yes, Your Ladyship." With that, she left.

Madam Yang took a deep breath and then went back to the room where the two girls were sitting, looking at the book together. It seemed they had run into some trouble. They were furrowing their brows while looking at one of the pages.

Madam Yang smiled faintly. These girls … they had always been sensible. They would have made great wives sometime in the future and their father would have been proud of them when he saw them. But now, Ling Ling would never even meet him and even Jin Jin could hardly remember him. The life they could have had … it might be impossible to achieve.

Jin Jin looked up when the door closed and wanted to ask about the character she couldn’t recognize but she fell silent when she saw her mother’s expression. After a moment, she couldn’t help herself but ask. "Did something happen?"

Madam Yang went over, sat down next to the two of them, and reached out to pat their heads. "News from the battlefront has arrived. Your father … he saved the kingdom. It’s a pity that he could not save his own life as well."

Jin Jin lowered her head while Ling Ling just looked at her mother in confusion. This father of hers … he was nothing but a character from exciting stories to her, much like the saints and gods of their country. She did not quite understand why her mother and sister were acting like this but she felt that she shouldn’t say anything.

Madam Yang sighed when seeing her daughters like this. "Don’t worry too much. I’m sure we’ll get through this somehow." She looked over at the window, wondering how exactly things would turn out.

Her husband was dead now, their son had died years ago in the war as well. Without a man in their family, things would be difficult going forward. With her husband, they would lose all their income. They might be compensated by the emperor but how long would that last?

"Ah, I just hope we’ll have enough money left over when the two of you have to get married. How will you find a husband if there is no dowry?"

This time, Ling Ling reached out and grabbed her mother’s hand. "Don’t worry about it, mommy. I already know who I’m going to marry. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind."

Madam Yang laughed and patted her daughter’s head. "You, ah! Are you still not done pretending?" Still, hearing her daughter say that, she felt a bit better.

Yes, things were not looking good. But at least the three of them were still alive. They would have to tighten their belts and make some adjustments but they would pull through. When her girls had gotten married someday in the future, their lives would become easier again. They just had to hold out until then.

I'm declaring today to be last week's Sunday, lol. Honestly though, sorry about posting late again. The last week was pretty wild and I'm actually behind on my work schedule QAQ I still did a bit each day on the chapter and finally finished just now. It's another new chapter so it took really long. There is one more new chapter ahead but I've started on that already and hope that I'll manage to finish in time. After that, I should finally get to the part where I just need to revise the old chapters which will take less time so I should manage to post on time.

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