Chapter 76

General Feng
Nevoria

“Did she manage to get in?” General Feng asked his favorite assistant, Yin Xue.

“No, My Lord. She was stopped at the gate before she could get any further.”

General Feng breathed in relief. If Yang Liu had budged into the pavilion, she would have found out that the place he kept his mother in was a facade of what it really was; a treasury house of all the wealth they had laundered from the army. The emperor valued the army a lot, thus anything that was asked for by his military servicemen, he always opened his hand to supply it without question.

A lot of riches for the servicemen, who would notice a few things that disappeared bit by bit overtime?

General Feng had a lot of treasures, some through bribery, his investments, payments for his work and so on. He purposed to accumulate wealth for their greatest mission because after General Feng took over Huticah, the country would never be as small or suffer in the hands of other nations as a pawn.

“For so long, I refused to court Yang Liu because I knew it would come to this betrayal. Can you believe it? She professed that she would die for me, yet between her nation and I, she chose them." Nevoria and it's people were liars and sick in the mind as their emperor.

"Should we sort her out, My Lord?" Yin Xue was a no mercy man, always looking for drama so he could fix people out.

General Feng shook his head. "She had wishful thinking concerning us but when it came to sacrifices, she was not willing to go the extra mile. Let it be, I expected her to act this way, anyway.”

Given the choice, Feng Chang An did not desire much in his life. A normal life as a nobody would not bother him. He would fend off well with no complaints, however what life threw at him left him with no choice but to hunger for power. Change would not come unless righteous leaders like him took over.

He exited his mother's pavilion and stood on the porch, looking over his group of about thirty men, well trained and able to help him achieve his goals. They were prepared and had waited for a time like this.

Since the emperor was not well, the Grand Dowager Empress was running the empire temporarily. The grandmother sought to keep the affairs of the emperor running as if he, himself, was present. Thus, she allowed them to still proceed with the plans of assassinating the king of Huticah as planned before the Gurio attack happened.

Who knew the emperor’s mind if she canceled the assassination mission? If the Grand Dowager decided to delay the mission of General Feng, she would probably be accused of colluding with the enemy by the dragon when he woke up. He was a delusional man with trust issues.

However, all this was all good for General Feng and his men. Attempting the coup on Huticah with the emperor sick gave them the freedom to do as they pleased with no interruptions because by the time the emperor recovered, it would be too late for him to do anything or have a say.

They had done the ceremony of the farewell bid at the palace and left as if they were headed for Huticah, but they had planned to meet again at his mother’s pavilion for their last minute plans before leaving.

“We have waited for a day like this. This week, we shall take over Huticah and remove the treacherous king who is abusive, self absorbed and lacking the virtues of a king,” General Feng stated. “If all goes as planned, I shall swap out the key to the Kingship Bestowing chest so you can replace the tag of Hu-go with mine."

"Yes, My Lord!" They shouted.

"Afterwards, when Hu-go has been convicted, don’t kill him even if I will tell you to do so, under pretense to scare him. What I really want is for you to chase him away in a way that is harsh that he would fear for his life and seek help from the lair of the devil.” That part would be interesting to watch. “When I take over the throne, we can all move our families to Huticah and claim our land, the South can thereof abandon the disgusting Nevoria and go back to their homeland. Without the South Wing, Nevoria will be missing a leg. Let’s see how they will survive that way!”

“My Lord, what about Crown Prince Hu-go’s new wife?” Yin Xue inquired.

“We shall seek to solve the miscellaneous issues like women, thereafter,” he dismissed.

Yang Liu had just jumped off their wagon. He didn’t need another headache in his life. But he had to give it to her, that if it wasn’t for her he would not have managed to get enough access to the emperor. Whether the dragon admitted it to himself or not, he had a soft spot in his heart for his sister.

General Feng raised his fist. “To the conquest of Huticah!”

“We shall conquer it!” His men shouted back.

They then embarked on their plans and everything went according to the scheme. King Tobba believed him when he gave the silly excuse that he had come for a few days to attend the infamous wedding of the Crown Prince and the Princess of Furia.

King Tobba seemed taken aback, but was nevertheless, appreciative of the kind act from his son. All his life, General Feng had given him the cold shoulder and avoided any filial piety to exist between the two of them. General Feng couldn’t forgive the act of King Tobba raping his mother just because he believed she was the woman who was the kin to his soul.

Not willing to marry him, she had run away pregnant to Nevoria and hid away at her uncle's. There, she gave birth but lost her mind just after the birth. No one could explain why she had lost her mind at that time up to this day, except General Feng, who felt it was because he was a curse to her.

He hated the monstrous Tobba, perhaps even more than the dragon. The difference between them was the fact that the emperor could not hide his hatred, whilst General Feng had been doing so all his life. But what is the most lethal between a disease that breeds in darkness, unknown to the victim, compared to one that is known and can be addressed? General Feng chose to tuck his feelings underneath his heart and tie them away with a bow but this way they spread faster than a flowing river.

“Son, here, I will toast to you.” King Tobba raised his cup to General Feng. They were celebrating the upcoming wedding by having a dinner festival with the advisors of the king.

Hu-go gave a jealous glare to General Feng from where he sat at the opposite end of the tent.

Huticah thrived because they were migrants in nature, thus it was hard for the foreigners to assassinate the king because once in a while he changed his location. Due to this, they barely built buildings but relied on tents for the most part.

General Feng held his own metal cup towards his father. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Good! We are glad you have chosen to visit your own people for the first time. Today I have spent the day showing you around, and you have seen all the riches your father possesses. Know that it is all yours and Hu-go’s.”

General Feng nodded and they both drank to it. The advisors did the same to honor Hu-go.

"Welcome, First Prince!" They each said as they drank to him. 

General Feng squinted and almost spat as he took his second sip. “What bitter wine this is, father. Or is it only mine?”

King Tobba laughed and this resulted in his advisors laughing alongside him, everyone interested in this new son of his. “We have good wine, the bitter the better!” King Tobba said.

“It cannot be compared to the wine of Nevoria.” General Feng waved his hand and Yin Xue rushed in with a red ceramic pot of wine.

“Please pour that wine for me, I am too weak for the strong wine of Huticah. Forgive me, father.”

“No problem, Son.” King Tobba simpered and reclined back on his fur seat.

The dragon throne of Nevoria was made of precious stones and glamor, while the king’s seat had lots of fancy fabrics of animal skin decorating it because heavy stones would make it inconvenient to migrate.

“Does father want a taste of my favorite wine?”

King Tobba pointed his maid to get the pot of wine from Hu-go in his place. He then  took it from her and chugged it into his other cup.

“Your Majesty, we have to test it,” she protested.

“How dare you? Can my son harm me?”

The maid knelt away and hushed, seeming intimated.

“Father, it is best they test it.” General Feng took the side of the maid before Hu-go suggested it. If he pressed on the idea of testing and not Hu-go, it induced reverse psychology.

“I know my son would not kill me,” he grinned and took a gulp of the wine.

“Summon the dancers to perform for us! We must celebrate the wedding of my son in grandeur!” King Huticah laughed and General Feng forced a smile. The foolish man did not know it, but that night would be his last.

Poisoned into silence, as he slept, he breathed his last. Tooth for tooth, he died in the like manner he killed the fallen dragon, life ending in the deepness of the night. .

S.V