Aoi's view.

As we travelled, I noticed one of the men always stayed away from the others when they were gambling and drinking. I found him a sort of attractive man, clearly upright in his behaviour, quick to step in and sort out problems amongst the men he was leading. He was one of the 10,000 men unit leaders who reported to the 100,000 men generals that had come along from my master's family.

I was not particularly curious about him, but he reminded me of someone I could not quite put my finger on. One day master and I were playing a card game for fun, and I caught him looking at us, "Do you think we should ask him to play with us?"

One of Xin's brothers looked at who I was talking about, "Wu Yuxuan? No, he doesn't play games or drink."

"Do you know why?" I asked, curious now.

"He said he lost something precious once because of gambling and drinking, so now he does neither," he explained.

"But we are doing neither, so why can't we ask him over?" I said, and we weren't; we were having a friendly game of go fish.

"Alright, then, go ask him," I was told, so I got up to go, but I was pulled down by Master.

"I'll go," he said, and he got up and went over and after chatting for a short time the man came over.

"Welcome to our game," I smiled and dealt him in.

"Thanks," he said, "I have wanted to play a game of something for a long time now,"

"So why haven't you?" I asked as I flicked out the cards.

"No-one has thought to invite me to the games that aren't betting games," he said regretfully, "It's alright though, I should never have let it get to the stage I did when I was younger."

"Sounds like you have a story to tell," I commented, "Do tell...I have the joker, so I start. Do you have a Queen?"

"Go fish," he said, and the game continued as he explained, "When I was younger, I was responsible for someone. I wanted to leave the army and live with her, I saw her has my wife, but I felt my pay was not enough to support us both and save up. Now I know if I had just given up my gambling and drinking it would have been more than enough."

"So, what happened?" I asked.

"I got involved in a gambling game," he said, "I had been on a winning streak all night so when this opportunity came up I took it thinking I could leave with her and live a simple life in the countryside."

"What were the stakes?" Master asked.

"A house and land," he said, "But to win it you had to put up something of equal value. In my case I put up the girl I thought of as my wife, and my previous winnings that night. What I did not realise was it was a scam. The person doing the game had done it repeatedly before. I lost everything important to me that day."

He looked defeated and crushed so I could see he was telling the truth.

"What happened then?" master asked.

"I went home, tied my girl up and gave her to the man," he said a tear falling down his face, "I could not face her, so I just left. After that, I gave up drinking and gambling saving my money. It took me 5 years, but I now have a home to return to, my brother and his wife look after the place."

"Did you ever look for the girl?" I wondered.

"Yes," he said, "I found her, but I was never allowed to buy her back. Her freedom had been granted and she stayed with the family afterward. I figured she was better off without me then. Why would she want to be with a dirty bastard like me anyway?"

"How did you end up with her to start with?" I wondered.

"I was 15 when she came into my care," he said, "She was a brat of about 5 years old."

I looked up at him then, the pieces fell into place. "I see, please excuse me," I said, and I ran away, I could not face him just then. But I knew I had to eventually. "So, the reason he left me was that he was trying to win a home for us. That idiot! Why did he not say so? My feelings would have been different to now." and it was true, I felt sorry for him, but the love that I had, had gone the week after he lost me in that game. He had no place in my life now, I was going home. "But I should give him and me closure on the matter, even if he was an asshole then, he meant well."

"Aoi?" Master called to me from outside our tent, "Are you alright?"

"Yes master," I said sniffing, I could not help the tears falling.

"Can I come in?"

"Yes master, I am dressed," I replied.

"Aoi," master said as he sat next to me on my cot, "Is he the man who you told me about?"

"Yes master," I nodded, "But he has changed so much from my memories. Now he is cleanshaven and tidy. Back then, he was always bedraggled and unshaven."

"What do you want to do?" master said after a time of silence.

"I have to confront him eventually," I said, "But I am trying to get my thoughts into order first."

"I see," master nodded, "Do you want me to go or stay?"

"Stay if you want," I said, feeling suddenly tired, "I am going to sleep on it first."

"Alright," master said, getting up and moving to his own cot and lying down, "Turn the light out when you want to. I am going to sleep now too. We have a big day tomorrow again."

Not long after I blew out the candle, and fell asleep, waking early the next day with a determination to face Wu Yuxuan before we separated from the army.

🍀A/N If you enjoyed this chapter, please take the time to vote by pressing the star. If you see any errors, please let me know, as this is unedited.🍀