I fell in Love With a Cold General {我爱上了一个冷酷的将军}

Chapter 26: The casualties of war

Those pair of curious eyes had been staring at Zhou Zishu for about ten minutes. The war still hasn't started. The atmosphere had starting to become less and less tense each second. Zhou Zishu was obviously very uncomfortable with that kind of stare; accidentally showing his soft side to Ashile Sun. This made Ashile Sun even more interested and attracted to him, and so he crossed his arms, giving him a flirty smile. Zhou Zishu was not used to this... Usually, he was the one who was acting all flirty and dominating to Wen-

Wen Kexing.

But now he has someone looking at him like that. Both of the sides troops were starting to turn impatient. This was the moment they had all been waiting for. Their two commanders seemed to be having an intense staring duel. Or, you wouldn't call it that intense, one was blushing and one was enjoying the moment of watching him squirm. Zhou Zishu didn't even realize himself that his cheeks were tomato red. Duan Pengju, witnessing everything happening right now with his eyes bulging out of his head, felt a chilling sensation running down his spine. This Ashile Sun is too scary... He could even provoke his Head General's calm and cold profile.

To be honest though, Zhou Zishu still couldn't forget anything about that little wife of his, the dumba$$, Wen Kexing. Sometimes, he just woke up in the middle of the night having plenty of nightmares about him. He just couldn't let go of him that easily... Those dreams will always start with a little gasp, and then ended up with sobbings. They could be hysterical, loud or soft. But mostly he kept them soft; as he didn't want to wake Jiuxiao up.

Jiuxiao stayed in the same room as Zhou Zishu; and he felt relieved. He didn't want to be all alone in the darkness. It sounds so horrifying.

But that was a waste of Zhou Zishu's effort; Jiuxiao was always woken up by him and he knows every single bit of this clearly, as he was the one who comforted him everynight if the mood struck him. He kept himself on guard and didn't fall asleep at all in order to wake Zhou Zishu up if he was having another nightmare again. Jiuxiao had heard him calling "A-Xing, A-Xing" while still half-asleep. Beads of cold sweat started dripping from his forehead, and Zhou Zishu had gripped the ends of the quilt that was covering him tightly. His head bobbed and turned left and right a few times, and his breathing was heavy. Liang Jiuxiao had shaken his body gently while rubbing his tired eyes. "Zishu ge, wake up. Its another nightmare again."

Zhou Zishu had let out a loud gasp, sitting up on his bed, and glanced around the room. His heart dropped seeing the one whom he wanted to see the most wasn't here with him. He hung his head and Jiuxiao had poured him a cup of tea from the hot kettle he had just heated up a few minutes ago.

"Zishu ge..." Zhou Zishu had pried the cup from his little hands and drunk it slowly. He coughed a few times after having it, and held his painful chest. His inner robes long sleeves were hanging from his wrists; making his pale white face looked like a dreary ghost. His slightly disheveled long black hair cascaded from his shoulders to the back of his ribs. His other hand was still gripping the ends of the quilt, then loosened a bit after he saw Liang Jiuxiao's concerned look on his face. "I'm fine, go back to sleep. Why are you staying up late for anyway?"

"I... was afraid that Zishu ge will get nightmares again.."

Zhou Zishu's head lowered, and his hand gave Jiuxiao the small porcelain teacup. "Don't worry about me. I'm used to it."

"Zishu ge, don't try to lie to me. I'm not a kid that can be easily lied to anymore, I understand your feelings and personality."

"Jiuxiao, do you think that A-Xing hates me..?"

Liang Jiuxiao had blinked his eyes several times and shook his head no. "No, Concubine Wen wouldn't hate you! I've heard from people that he was a nice, gentle and forgiveful person. He will definitely bless the Tang Dynasty from the Heavens."

"But.. if I didn't let him go alone out there and saved him on time, then-" Zhou Zishu's voice croaked upon saying those words. "Then he wouldn't die in vain..."

"Zishu ge, stop blaming yourself!" Jiuxiao was starting to lose his patience. He knew that his effort of persuading him will be wasted and unnoticed; but he couldn't bear to see Zhou Zishu kept weeping and pushing himself like this. Humans need to go on with their lives. "Zishu ge, the whole Tang Dynasty is counting on you! Have you forgotten about your responsibilities? Only for a mere concubine of yours? Did you forget that you want to avenge his death? Stop being a coward and face the truth! He's dead and you're probably not going to see him in this lifetime again!"

Those words hit hard. They sounded a bit too harsh.. It is reality though. Even Zhou Zishu couldn't deny it. Those words were undeniably true. Liang Jiuxiao had realized his mistake of talking back and being disrespectful to his Master. He knelt down to the floor and cupped his fists. "Zishu ge, what I had said just now is for your own good. Its up to you whether you wanted to punish me for being rude to his own Master. This servant won't avoid the consequences."

Zhou Zishu had given him a faint smile. "I know. I'm not blaming you. Even a 23- year old like you is wiser than me, an old man. You are indeed wiser beyond your years." His delicate hands pulled Liang Jiuxiao up from the ground. Those hands were greatly taken care of; eventhough they held a sharp object for at least twice every single day. People didn't know; but people as stone cold as Zhou Zishu could also have a more feminine side. Those hands of his were applied with lotion after he finished taking a soak in his bath water; softening the skin. "Go back to sleep. Its almost approaching dawn."

"Mn."

Liang Jiuxiao had placed the cup on the table and curled up into a ball on the corner, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep. Zhou Zishu didn't sleep just yet. His messy thoughts kept haunting him like a cat chasing a mouse's tail. He took his thick and warm blanket and it covered Jiuxiao's body gently. He was laying against the wall in an uncomfortable position, and Zhou Zishu gave him his pillow too, patting and placing it beneath Jiuxiao's head. Jiuxiao was probably tired already; he didn't even acknowleged Zhou Zishu's presence beside him.

Then he continued sleeping on his own bed.

A sharp arrow suddenly flew and was shot at Zhou Zishu's chest out of knowhere, making him snap back to reality. Zhou Zishu flinched, and blood started dripping from the corner of his lips. The horse neighed loudly, and his hands were starting to let go of the handle.

"Head General Zhou!!"