Prisoners of War

“Taken by My Ex After Becoming a Widow” by Feng Qu Liu Sheng

“You! Who are you!”

“Look up!”

The smoke had not yet dissipated, and tattered flags were scattered across the field. Youzhou City had just endured three days and nights of fierce fighting and was now a scene of devastation.

Soldiers strode arrogantly through the battlefield, clearing it, counting refugees and treasures, and tying rows of refugees together like ducks in a row. Their eyes darted greedily or fiercely over each person.

The refugees were naturally regarded as the spoils of the victors. They were sallow-faced, emaciated, and their hunched figures fully demonstrated the failure of this war. Together with the dilapidated capital city, they surrendered and were left to the mercy of others.

A young soldier patrolled around, looking at the gray and feeble crowd of old, weak, sick, and young people before him, his eyes revealing a condescending contempt.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

He raised the spear in his hand and pointed.

“You, the woman in the back! Come out!”

The soldier’s tiger-like gaze scattered the refugees like frightened prey, hastily revealing the girl behind them.

A slender figure appeared from behind the crowd.

The girl, dressed in white and fine clothes, was out of place among the ragged refugees. Judging by her attire, she seemed to be a young lady from a wealthy family. Although the war had left her somewhat disheveled, her temperament stood out in the crowd, and her radiance was still hard to conceal, like a bright pearl fallen into the dust.

The soldier’s hawk-like eyes stared at her, narrowing slightly. “Look up!”

The girl was neither humble nor arrogant, gently raising her chin. A little maid, who seemed to be her servant, clung to her tightly, glaring at the soldier as if facing a formidable enemy, but her trembling eyes could not hide her youthful timidity.

After seeing the girl’s face, the soldiers were silent for a moment.

After a while, the soldier who had spoken continued to ask loudly, “What’s your name?”

“Yu Zhao.”

Her voice was so light and gentle that it didn’t seem to come from a battlefield that had just experienced slaughter.

Having just gone through a fierce battle, the soldiers were already bloodthirsty and now urgently needed some other stimulation to offset the excitement brought by the slaughter.

The soldier licked his lips, looking at Yu Zhao greedily. “Take her away!”

The little maid desperately protected Yu Zhao, but she was pushed aside by a soldier who came up and thrust her with a spear.

Yu Zhao hurriedly helped the maid up and glared at the soldier, the peaceful expression on her face finally showing a hint of anger.

The soldier smiled as he met her gaze, raising his eyebrows with ill intentions, and pulled her over.

The two of them were separated from the refugees and forcibly taken away by several soldiers.

“What was your name again? Yu Zhao, right?”

Several soldiers rode their horses, cleverly surrounding the two of them, forcing them to follow their horses. “Where are you from?”

Looking at her delicate appearance, like an apricot blossom, she didn’t seem to be from Youzhou.

Sure enough, the beautiful and silent girl opened her mouth, her voice still soft.

“I come from Chang’an.”

The word “concubine” made the hearts of several grown men soften.

“Chang’an? Chang’an is a good place! The imperial city, under the Emperor’s feet, no wonder it can raise a tender and fair girl like you!” The soldiers laughed.

“Why did you come here from Chang’an? Didn’t you know there was a war going on here?”

Yu Zhao lowered her head and said nothing.

The soldier, sitting on his horse, turned half his body, looking at her unscrupulously. Seeing her silent again, looking completely docile, he liked her more and more, and his heart itched like it was being scratched by cat paws.

Suddenly, his face changed, and he abruptly reined in his horse, only then noticing the white flower in the girl’s hair.

“What are you wearing on your head?”

After asking, he realized it was a pointless question and immediately asked loudly, “Whom do you mourn?”

Yu Zhao lowered her eyes, her thick eyelashes like a forged feather fan, emitting a faint cold light.

Just as the soldier thought it was an unmoving decoration, the feather fan trembled slightly at this moment.

Yu Zhao’s eyelashes fluttered, concealing the sorrow in her eyes. “…My deceased husband, newly departed.”

The soldiers were stunned when they heard this, and then someone whistled, and whistles echoed one after another.

“Oh! A little widow.”

The laughter was lewd and nasty. The little maid next to her couldn’t bear it and raised her fair face to retort, but Yu Zhao gently pulled her back and shook her head.

She didn’t know which family’s young lady she was, but even as a refugee in distress, her every move still had the composure and integrity of a well-bred person. The inch of her neck that was exposed was like a peeled lychee, snow-white and delicate.

The soldier pressed his tongue against his back teeth, unable to take his eyes off her for a long time.

What about being a widow? Widows have flavor!

Thinking this way, the soldier leaned down and carefully looked at the girl’s face, seemingly wanting to break her composure. He raised his chin towards the refugees and said, “Do you know what will happen to those people?”

This was the confidence of the victor. His attitude was very proud, containing a blatant malicious intent. “The people of the defeated land naturally become our prisoners. The men are used as laborers, the old people are all killed, and the women are dragged into the military camp… You are lucky. Serving a few of us is much better than serving a crowd of people, right!”

Seeing Yu Zhao’s face turn pale, the soldier laughed .

After everyone joked for a while, the sound of galloping hooves suddenly came from the front. The soldier turned his horse and shouted in that direction, “What’s the matter!”

A loud voice came from afar, resounding for miles, “The General says that the city’s people must be organized by time，without delay. All gold and silver treasures must be handed over for registration. Anyone who injures the people or violates discipline will be punished by military law!”

After saying this, the sound of hooves quickly faded away.

The soldiers were silent.

When the sound of hooves could no longer be heard, they turned back and spat fiercely. “Damn it! We risked our lives and went through life and death. Not to mention taking a little gold, what if we slept with a woman?”

Another soldier sneered, “Come on, you still don’t know our General’s temper. He’s not as easy to talk to as the old General. He always means what he says. Last time, Xiao Liu almost killed someone, and he ordered him to be beaten with twenty military sticks, leaving him with torn skin and flesh!”

Someone then sighed, “Speaking of our General, he is also a leader among men, a young hero. He rode horses and shot arrows at the age of five, and followed his father on expeditions at the age of seven. When he inherited the old General’s war robe, everyone thought he was just a good-looking but useless embroidered pillow. Who would have thought that in just a few years, he would make great contributions, leading eight hundred elite soldiers to break through tens of thousands of Xiliang cavalry, and even cut off the head of the Xiliang young master, shaking the border in one fell swoop, making everyone afraid to look down on him.”

“He was already full of military exploits at the age of twenty, and the Xie family army has grown even more prosperous. Presumably, after returning to Chang’an, there will be a huge reward, and all the noble ladies of Chang’an will compete to favor him. He will be unparalleled in the limelight, unparalleled in the limelight.”

“The imperial court? Where is the imperial court now? Brother, are you stupid from fighting wars on the border? Now that the three kings are in rebellion, do you still expect the six-year-old Emperor to reward you? But, if you could serve the Empress Dowager behind the curtain for one night, that would be great. It is said that the Empress Dowager is not yet thirty and has a national beauty…”

The men laughed, not noticing that the girl’s always calm jade face finally changed greatly after hearing the three words “Xie family army.”