Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 145: A Stinging Defeat

Chapter 145: A Stinging Defeat

[Suggested song for this Chapter – Last Blood, Gregory Tan]

"Yaaaah!" Arughtai turned and leapt to the floor of the valley, surrounded by his closest men, the rest of his army flowing behind them, following on their leader’s heels.

Lieutenant Ju and his men leapt into action, fighting to prevent the enemy from escaping while the rest of the Imperial army descended from the hillside of the ravine.

The valley floor was too narrow for archers and the dust made visibility limited, so the fighting was in close quarters with swords, spears and daggers. It was desperate, bloody fighting, the most awful sort, where you could see the whites of your enemies eyes as you struggled to kill one another.

Commander Bai and his men chased their enemy into the depths of the ravine. The Commander stood on a rocky ledge, using his vantage point to search for Arughtai.

It was incredibly difficult to make anything out among the clouds of dust stirred up by the boulders, mixing with the smoke from the burning bamboo.

He could see that the bulk of Arughtai’s men were pressing south. They were densely packed together, but he thought he could see the Mongol leaders in the centre of the swirl of men, not fighting, but protected, a respectful space left around them by their men.

The dust parted for a moment, giving Bai Li a clear view across the battlefield.

At the same moment, a tall and thickset man in the helmet of a Mongol leader looked up and saw him.

The man’s eyes were narrow, his eyebrows thicker than his eyes, his face broad and weathered. Their eyes met across the battlefield and the man stared impassively back at him. Arughtai, Bai Li was almost certain.

He pulled an arrow from his quiver, raising his bow, but the moment had passed, and the man was obscured by smoke again.

"Dammit!" he growled, leaping from his position to join the fighting on the floor of the valley.

"Follow me!" he called to his Sergeant, and the two men pressed their way through the hand-to-hand combat towards the dense mass of enemy soldiers.

Ju Rong finally found him, and he and his men joined their Commander, who had reached the outermost soldiers surrounding Arughtai.

Bai Li commenced the bloody work of carving his way through the men towards their leader.

"Press through to the centre, Rong. Arughtai’s there, I saw him," he panted, as they fought side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder.

But it wasn’t enough. No matter how many men they killed, another came to take his spot.

"They’re slipping away from us, Rong," Bai Li pressed his sleeve to his brow, trying to stop the steady stream of sweat that was pouring into his eyes despite the late-winter chill.

"Mm," Ju Rong could barely speak from exhaustion, but his Commander was right, the enemy men were starting to stream through the southern end of the ravine in greater and greater numbers, disappearing into the distance, running for their lives.

"Chase them down!" ordered Commander Bai. "Don’t let Arughtai escape!"

The Commander and his unit tried to run through the mess of bodies, boulders and the burning remnants of bamboo, to pursue Arughtai, but they were hampered by the remnants of his army, who fought passionately to enable their leader’s retreat.

When at last the dust cleared and Bai Li could see a clear path to the south, his foe was nowhere to be seen.

Frist Brother emerged from the mess, dusty and bloody, despite having agreed with Bai Li not to participate in the fighting.

It was virtually impossible to stay out of the battle on a rugged and unorthodox battlefield like this one.

"He’s gone," cursed Bai Li with frustration.

"Yes, but so is half of his army, Commander," said Mei Renlong. "Congratulations, Commander Bai, you’ve won a great victory," First Brother bowed.

"Congratulations Commander!" rose a great cheer from his men across the ravine.

As one, the soldiers all dropped to one knee and bowed to their Commander.

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The Emperor received the news of Commander Bai’s great victory within hours of the battle.

Bai Li knew how important rapid and detailed communication was to his Majesty, so he made sure to send word to his Lord the moment he could access pen and paper.

He made the report as comprehensive as he possibly could, sending it across three birds so he could share as much detail as he could fit, of their strategy, position, numbers and victory, with the Emperor.

Meili happened to be in the study as the sealed messages were rushed in to the Emperor for review.

She watched his face surreptitiously as he read the messages, desperate for any news of Bai Li.

From the moment he read the first message, the Emperor’s face lit up.

Over the course of the second message, a rare, pleased grin could be seen, and Meili dared to hope it was good news for the army and their leader.

As the Emperor unfurled the third message, he laughed out loud with delight.

"A great victory against Arughtai!" he laughed. "Hah! What excellent news! A complete and utter rout! The man has lost half his army and ran from the battlefield with his tail between his legs! Hah, hah, haa!" he laughed with glee like a little boy.

Tricky sensed his pack leader was pleased about something, and he ran across to his side, mouth open in a lolling grin.

The Emperor leaned down and gave him a vigorous rub on the head, and Tricky looked up at the man adoringly.

"Meili, Meili, your Commander Bai has won a very important battle! More than anyone will have expected from him," he told her.

She smiled with pure delight to hear that he was safe, and the Emperor was reminded of her feelings for the man.

The victory was not, she suspected, more than the Emperor had expected of Bai Li. She had somehow intuited that the Emperor expected big things of Bai Li and thought that he could deliver them.

"This will set a cat among the pigeons," the Emperor chortled, rubbing his hands together. "Your First Brother has also proven himself a worthy successor to your Father."

This would completely upset the Prime Minister’s plans to defeat Arughtai using his man, thought the Emperor. Although his second son had an old friendship with Commander Bai, so this news would be very welcome to the new Crown Prince.

He looked speculatively across at Meili, narrowing his eyes in such a way that her eyes widened with alarm.

She was the key to controlling both men. Both wanted her and would stop at almost nothing to get their way. It would be the undoing of their friendship, he knew.

He had thought his little chess piece was a pawn, but it turned out that she was actually a queen.