05

HuaYan has been living in the Ye household for now four months. Lately her mother had been visiting her every days, she completely recuperate from giving birth. She stayed from dawn to evening and was very serious in taking care of HuaYan like a loving mother.

Nursering HuaYan diligently. All the workers of the Ye household, from cooks to maids, knew that their miss will grow up well and were rather concerned that she might become spoiled. They often gossiped about how the miss would be later, some thought Huayan would be a haughty brat and some thought that her mother's generous character will rub off on her. Either way, they all knew she would be loved.

HuaYan believe she had arrived in ancient Chinese times but soon found out during her first outing, in spring, when the weather warmed up, that the moon was very different. She who always looked at the moon through her lonely nights knew it was obviously not the same anymore. It was bigger. She was really surprised, it was as if the moon would crash on earth anytime and she was fascinated by the sight. It was not exactly the same solar system. Was it a parallel world...?

She also did not know why she got to keep the memories of her past life. Wasn't it creepy to have the mind of a grown woman in the body of a frail baby?

What would be the reactions of her parents if they knew they were raising an adult.

She was really weirded out by this at first but one day, as her mother was faintly singing to her a lullaby, she swore to forget her past life as a loner and focus and this new opportunity. She had nothing to lose anyway.

She was calmly watching her mother's eyes. They were pitch black and reflected the candlelights of the dark room. She held out her small hand and gently played with the loose strands of hair of An Duo. The latter smiled at her daughter's touch. "What a sweet child..." she said, "Mother loves you!".

HuaYan was taken aback at first but let out a giggle. An Duo looked at HuaYan with puppy eyes, her daughter was so cute!!

She wanted to cry on the spot, how could her daughter be so cute?! When she first saw her newborn, she laughed at her puffy red face, now that she grew a bit she could see her face's features clearly.

Her eyes were big and of a bright brown, almost orange. Similar to honey under the sunlight, comparable to an hibiscus flower.

Her small rosy nose complemented her chubby cheeks and when we attentively looked, a mole could be seen right under her lower long lashes.

An Duo thought that their daughter would grow up to be a beauty and it made her more eager to protect her. She closed her hand to form a fist and tightly held it up to enhance her will power. "Yes!" She swore to protect her small, lovely family.

Her husband was currently occupied with court matters, the emperor was sickly and it caused a great commotion in the palace as the nation's borders were constantly at stake with the neighboring countries. The inhabitants of the countryside didn't feel protected enough.

Between the king who is sick and the country which is constantly in danger of being invaded, they no longer knew who to turn to for support. The officers alongside the king were too busy with the potential selection of a new regent and in this uproar the General Hui Ye and his army was managing everything.

Thus he no longer had any time to spare to his daughter HuaYan and wife An Duo.

This saddened him to not be able to care for his family but he didn't have a choice. His duties were also to protect them of any harm so he wouldn't stop.

He was really grateful that their delimited frontiers had high walls, this and his troops secured the whole perimeter. Archers were constantly on guard and ready to shoot at anything trying to get through the stronghold.

In the camps near, he often spent his free time reading the letters his wife sent him. She was describing everything their daughter was doing. Both of them looked like fans girls, always excited about whatever HuaYan was doing.

In one of An Duo's letter, she explained how HuaYan's front teeth were growing, comparing her with a little rabbit. She mocked her daughter for always looking in the mirror, saying that HuaYan was a little cute narcissist and faked being worried about her future marriage. "I fear that our little princess will only look at herself, how can she marry if she only loves her own reflection?"

On other letters she was describing all of HuaYans preferences" Our princess loves the moon, whenever we are out in the garden, she pulls on my clothes as if I was a horse, so I can turn around and face the moon."

Those "reports" on HuaYan always cheered up the general Ye, the conflicts between the Fa dinasty and the Pei kingdom only worsened. The Fa were now directly attacking the borders. Ye's troops had to retreat numerous times.

But fortunately the current King Pei was getting better and the attention on him quickly spread to the incoming Fa threat.

The second year of the dragon, the imperial and dukes soldiers all gathered to help and with general Ye's commands, as a war chief, they invaded the Fa country. The conflicts couldn't be solved with words and what was left to do was to directly eliminate the threat instead of defending. The best defense is always attack after all.

The war only lasted 3 months as they didn't waste their time and sent an unity of competent, strong soldiers to kill the royal Fa family, among them was the general Ye. The Fa soldiers lost their king and let place to disorder in their tactics. They didn't last long without clear orders and were all decimated by the Pei army.

Their ally didn't dare help, to get away from the Pei wrath.

General Ye spared all children, women and elderly people and placed a bunch of people to take care of the new Pei lands. He also discovered the roots of the conflicts during his stay. The fields were ruined because of a massive invasion of caterpillars, leading to hunger and death of the weak and poor. He did not understand why the king Fa persisted on attacking instead of asking for help, they must have had something to exchange for food.

He signed and mounted his horse, he wanted to immediately return to his wife's side and relax but he had to report to the Pei emperor before. His eyebrows twitched from nervousness. He didn't see his daughter for 8 months and she probably did not remember him.