Romance of the Four Kingdoms

Chapter 97

Morning came to the city of Yemen. Exhausted soldiers were scavenging the littered battlefield full of corpses for better weapons and armour. The enemies Han provisions and supplies were of high quality than theirs and they could use all the help they could get. Other soldiers though were having their wounds healed. Mitsuko and her soldiers proved their worth to the citizens and soldiers of the bandit queen as they expressed their gratitude towards them for aiding with the defence of the city. In the main hall however Mitsuko and her officers minus Gyuki who was in the middle of being adored by many people including children who were playing around as they climbed him. His victory over the frightful amalgamation earned the trust of the people of Yemen. Standing in the throne room was Lu Zheng, Gai Shu on both sides of the throne along with Zheng Jiang sitting on it, however her breathing was noticeably heavier as she clutched to her stomach.

'My lady is it wise for you to return to your duties so soon? I mean our daughter-'

'I may be a mother now but I still have my duties to my people. I can't afford to wait for long. Now. Status report.' Zheng Jiang interrupted Gai Shu and looked towards Lu Zheng who bowed while keeping her face concealed behind a fan.

'My lady, salvaging operations are underway. We managed to scavenge quite a lot of supplies from our enemies to outfit our soldiers. Fortunately thanks to our defensible position and our allies we managed many soldiers were able to be spared and live to fight another day. I've had scouts deployed to keep an eye on the enemy in case they try another assault. I also believe our allies had managed to capture one of the enemy's special forces.' Lu Zheng explained as she turned her gaze towards Mitsuko's crew before Pang Tong cleared his throat.

'Hehe, indeed we have my lady. We put him away from the capital until further notice. Our intention is to get as much information as we can before we dispose of him. Executing someone like that one and sending the remains back is sure to cause a small amount of demoralisation considering his value and the threat he pertained towards lady Mitsuko of course.'

'And what kind of information are you planning to obtain?'

'Defence levels, structure of the army, their goals and objectives that kind of thing. After all the more knowledge we have the better we can prepare and act. I don't believe this will take too long however. The enemy itself must feel demoralised due to their overwhelming numbers essentially meaning nothing when our giant behemoth overcame theirs. They know we can go after them whenever we want. Once they spread the news of the defeat, it will be like an infection. Though I would recommend we regain our composure first before we move out as soon as possible. We cannot allow the infection to be treated which they will do, I recommend once our troops have recovered, we move out at once. Momentum is on our side after all.' Pang Tong advised.

'That is an easy thing for you to say strategist, but you are not the one in charge of people's lives.' The bandit queen replied. Lu Zheng turned her head towards her sworn sister.

'My lady?'

'That is to say we need to wait until we see what information becomes available, I trust lady Mitsuko your strategist will share all the information he would gather.' Mitsuko nodded.

'Of course. We'll let you know as soon as the information is extracted.'

'Good...glad to hear it. We'll reconvene once you get the information' Zheng Jiang dismissed Mitsuko and her officers as she and hers made their way deeper into the palace. Mitsuko and her officers retreated from the main hall and exited the palace.

'Heh well that seemed to go well. Though don't you think she looked a bit tired.' Pang Tong asked when they were away from the palace.

'She did recently just give birth. You should cut her some slack.' Mitsuko advised defending the queen, she could only imagine what giving birth felt like. Sounded painful to her. Pang Tong chuckled.