A few hours had passed since their arrival at the residence. Yunsheng went to the bathhouse, changed into a clean uniform, and allowed himself to rest, if only for a little while. The sleepless night and the long journey were taking their toll.
The stables were bathed in the setting sun's rays and the scent of hay. Yunsheng walked inside, stepping on the packed earth. His horse perked up, recognizing its master, snorted softly, and struck the ground with its hoof. The man ran his hand along its warm neck.
Footsteps approached. Yunsheng didn't turn around; he recognized by the gait that it was Houwei. The latter stopped at the entrance, leaning his shoulder against a post.
"Just checking on the horse?" he asked, taking a step forward. "Or preparing to run?"
Yunsheng turned around.
"How many days until the wedding?"
Houwei gave a brief chuckle.
"Mine or yours?"
"You know what I mean."
For a moment, silence hung in the stables. The sound of a stable boy moving buckets far in the back could be heard, along with the horses shifting their weight from hoof to hoof.
"In five days," he finally said after a short pause. "The Governor-General's wedding."
Yunsheng exhaled slowly.
"I saw you," Houwei said coldly. "I saw you leaving at night."
The commander tensed.
"Were you deliberately spying on me?"
"Do you think everyone is blind? Do you even realize what you're getting into? This isn't just a simple secret stroll. That is the Governor-General. And that is his future wife."
"She is not his," the words slipped from Yunsheng.
"Well, she is certainly not yours," Houwei replied coldly.
Yunsheng turned away, placing his hand back on the horse's neck.
"I can't stop," he said, much calmer now. "You know that."
Houwei stepped up almost right next to him.
"Don't go any further. Leave things as they are."
Yunsheng turned abruptly.
"Do you really think I can just stand by and watch her be given to him?"
Houwei looked at him for a long time, with absolute incomprehension and sorrow evident in his eyes.
"Why her?" he asked bitterly.
Yunsheng froze for a moment.
"Not now, Houwei."
"Then when?" He stepped closer. "For as long as I've known you, you've never chased after anyone, nor did you visit the Blue Houses with the boys. You always talked about a special someone." He placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to turn him around. "And now she appears—someone else's bride—and you lose your head."
Yunsheng slowly turned to face him.
"You don't know everything."
"Then explain," his voice almost cracked. "Explain it to me. Why her?"
The silence dragged on. Yunsheng looked away.
"I can't."
"You can't?" The man laughed bitterly.
Yunsheng clenched his jaw.
"If I start talking, you'll think I've gone mad."
Houwei looked at him intently.
"You are already acting like you have."
"There are things that cannot be explained in words," he said quietly. "How do I explain that she is that special someone?"
Houwei frowned.
"You didn't know her before that day. What are you talking about?"
Yunsheng shook his head.
"Exactly. How can I tell you that I've known her for longer than this life? That since birth, I have been reaching out for her? And imagine my surprise when the General's bride turned out to be her."
He fell silent abruptly.
Houwei stared at him for a long time.
"I don't recognize you at all." He shook his head in disbelief, and his gaze shifted, as if he were looking at a stranger rather than a friend.
They stood opposite each other, finding themselves on entirely different sides.
Yunsheng looked him straight in the eyes.
"Then step aside."
"What?"
"If you aren't going to stand by me," he said calmly, "then don't stand in my way."
It will be safer for you this way.
A heavy silence hung between them. Houwei nodded slowly, as if he had finally realized something for himself.
"So that's how it is," he said hollowly.
He took a step back, then another, before turning around and walking away.
Yunsheng was left alone.
"Five days..." he whispered.
He was just walking out of the stables when someone called out to him.
"Commander Yunsheng!"
The man turned around.
"I've been looking for you," the person exhaled, catching up to him. "The Governor-General ordered me to deliver this. It is a dispatch to Lianshui County. Directly for the garrison commander. Unescorted."
Yunsheng accepted the scroll.
"When do I depart?"
"Now," came the brief reply. "You will take a different horse. Everything necessary is already being prepared."
"Acknowledged."
Why now of all times? Why him?
Whatever it was—the order had already been given and there was still time before the wedding. He would try to return as quickly as possible.