The Ageless Dream

12.1 Handing Invitation (47)

The night on he very same day, a large portion of the Qin army in Hann searched the entire state. The citizens were alarmed to know a Zhao official is mingling with them.

Dong Li Hua stood outside the tent to wait for Huang Zhao's arrival. She is worried as to why he didn't return for two days. Lan Hu is sitting next to her and Jie Ming had fallen asleep on a rock because of drowsiness.

"That is... Huang Zhao?" she saw a figure ahead nearing them, wearing a silver mask.

"Ah Li." the man whispered, keeping a strange smile that made her frown. Dong Li Hua started to hesitate whether to come close when Huang Zhao stepped out of the shadows. The place drastically changed into a familiar dark room. Her hands tied while her clothes turned like the tattered red brocade. Huang Zhao is standing amidst the pale moonlight permitting inside the room, his lips curved into a seductive arc.

"Huang Zhao, where are we? What-?" her eyes widened to see Du Feng standing behind Huang Zhao. He whispered some few words to him before Huang Zhao leaned down to Dong Li Hua. "Du Feng? Why- how... Aren't you dead? Huang Zhao, what are you doin?"

"There is no Huang Zhao." he removed his silver mask to reveal his familiar face. Du Mingluan pinched her chin forcefully, his gaze full of hatred and bloodlust. "Because of you, Brother died. Because of you, Qin State grew stronger. Because of you, hundreds of thousands of lives will die in unjust. But for what? For a bracelet? You are heartless, Ah Li..."

"No... This- its written in history, I have nothing to do with it!" she tearfully said, her chests growing suffocated.

"Listen to yourself!" Du Mingluan slammed his palm on the wall behind her. His threatening gaze made Dong Li Hua stifle a sob. "Nothing to do with it? Those weapons, who created them? That formation, who forged it? Answer me, who did all of it? Hm?"

"I-its me. I didn't..." Dong Li Hua breathlessly said and closed her eyes furiously but when she opened them, she is inside a warmly lit room. The coldness before was gone, replaced by the warmth of the person embracing her.

"Ah Li." a familiar magnetic voice said. Dong Li Hua was frightened and she struggled to break free.

"Let me go! What else do you want?! I did it! I killed them! Please, leave!" she tried pushing him but her strength is far too weak compared to him.

"What's wrong with you? Killed them? Who?" the man asked in confusion and faced Dong Li Hua. "Ah Li, its me. Huang Zhao." he cupped her face and wiped her tears with his thumbs.

Dong Li Hua's heart paced fast. She is nervous and afraid, what if this man is Du Mingluan? What if he is not Huang Zhao?

"You just had a nightmare. Why do you have to wait for me outside and not sleep? It's a good thing I came back to place you here." Huang Zhao faintly smiled but Dong Li Hua avoided his gaze. "You don't have to be afraid, alright? Im here for you."

After a long silence, she recovered and calmly leaned on the headboard while Huang Zhao sat there to wait for her response. Dong Li Hua stared at him intently before raising her hand, touching his cheek first before holding the rim of this mask. Huang Zhao saw through her plan and moved back. She failed to remove his cover.

"No need to be that wary." Dong Li Hua tittered from his reaction though she really desired to get rid of that mask. "You left two days ago without saying goodbye. There are some information I wasn't able to tell you. Was Jie Ming found?"

"En." he nodded. Huang Zhao set aside his guard; he nearly exposed his appearance. However, what he doesn't know, Dong Li Hua realized something important after that. "Jie Ming is dead. There are signs of struggle around her body and her throat was slit. Someone must have done it but we don't know why. Her corpse was found outside the west gate of Hann. Its already decomposing and perhaps left there in two days."

Hearing the news, Dong Li Hua unconsciously gripped the bedsheet tightly. Jie Ming died in unjust, she will make sure to find the culprit! "Huang Zhao, Jie Ming did not strangle Xiao Hu." she started; her gaze becoming unusually cold. "Du Mingluan did all of this."

"Du Mingluan?" Huang Zhao is a bit surprised. He tried to recall what happened weeks ago. "I suspected it was him but we lack evidences. He indeed got away form the day Du Feng died. But Im sure I gave him a deep wound right through his chest. I thought he will die so I left him and hurried to rescue you. However, he disappeared on his spot. The battlefield is quite far from any villages or cities. It's impossible he survived."

"Huang Zhao." Dong Li Hua sighed. He seemed to not accept the truth. She has figured it out already but a smart man like him not able to understand the clues? Its an utter disbelief if he doesn't get it. "There is a spy in Qin army. How else did they get Xiao Hu since she is only walking nearby this tent? How can Du Mingluan leave the battlefield without being traced? How can he survive if there are no nearby households he can ask for help? How can Du Mingluan move freely within Hann without being detected? And base on where Jie Ming's corpse was found, he headed to Qin. Someone is definitely helping him."

The young man can't speak. From his fathomless dark eyes, Dong Li Hua can see a new emotion spilling out. It was reluctance, pure reluctance. She heaved a deep sigh knowing Huang Zhao is not willing to accept that fact. The person who can help Du Mingluan, a Zhao State general's younger brother, is perhaps someone powerful to order around soldiers or bribe them not to speak.

One man came into her mind. Within the officials here in Hann, such as colonels to generals of the first rank, the wealthiest once can freely manipulate the soldiers. The first rank general Meng Tian came from a family who did a lot of contribution to Qin. He is considered the most resourceful among them.