The Secret Princess – Fan Fiction by AC Chapter 22: Band of Brothers
♥Author♥Angel♥Chua♥
Adapted from Princess Agents drama series and original novel by Xiao Xiang Dong’er – Chu Qiao Chuan Biography
Band of Brothers (proofread done)
The East mountains where Ximeng continent resides is home to vast mountains, perfect sunsets, cruel snowy plains, dark forests, and harsh deserts. So is the people’s culture was divided into different kins and tribes forming factions, defectors, rebels, outliers, outlandish savage fighters, and barbaric warriors as the continent also houses the sagest tribal leaders, powerful spiritual healers, mystical underground forces such as the underworld league of spies.
The beauty lies in its imperfection, the unpredictability of its people in the absence of strong regime controlling its borders and its gateways to the outside world, the freedom to do all the things that you have not done made Yuwen Yue halt any step going back to his homeland and settled in just by living simply by himself. He never has this kind of freedom, never experience the true eyes of the ordinary people, learned to live within your means having nothing, learning to truly apply and test his principles, unlocked rejections on his new world and becoming a servant in the body of a master’s heart has truly reached his golden wisdom. His aristocratic nature was exposed to a fuller, wide and bigger world may have broken some of its codes of expressions, and yet Yuwen Yue’s character remained intact. Yuwen Yue, as it delves deeper to his new world is like an iron that sharpens its blade of knowledge and enriches his experience like a book worth reading.
Its been one year since the icy lake tragedy and a lot of changes have already taken place including his lifestyle, the people he works with but when it comes to his heart, it did not. Yuwen Yue never forgot about his Xinger. He is the master of the eyes of God and knows how to source information very well. Yuwen Yue is a master of all spies and disguised himself effectively that no one ever suspected he is the missing heir to the Eyes of God. He is full of wisdom and clear tested strategies, but he learned that kind of position and power were only going to work if you have the resources available ready for his disposal, the people to deploy and the power he inherited to use it anytime and anywhere he needs.
For now, Yuwen Yue knows how should a master act in times of limited resources, to blur some lines of defense, discover more cunning abilities to get people into believing he is able without having anything to show any rewards, to punish or to bother people to accomplish his tasks. What he knows by the book was now a deep well of experience and never choose any shortcuts neither cheats to avoid the steep road to walk, but he learned from it until he knows how to run.
He thought its time to go back and pick up the pieces he left at the frozen lake and build a solid foundation from there, it is autumn, and his journey is long and full of dangerous roads. Yuwen Yue loves to write letters and so his room is full of letters, not paper snow letters,. Just an ordinary piece of paper without the master’s seal of the eyes of God, just plain Thank You note and words of farewell statement to his wealthy landlord running his own lodge with his son. He owes them because they never let Yuwen Yue feel he is below their family nor treated him a slave.
Zuo Zong the temple Shaolin master who never lets a day pass by without seeing his so-called master. However, Yuwen Yue never acknowledge it. Sometimes it makes him mad but lonely too if Zuo Zong is absent. So at times, Yuwen Yue visits Zuo at the temple to check if he is still alive. Those wealthy Lords of the East and peddlers he met and work with, the beautiful peasant girls he met but none of them were able to replace Xinger in his heart.
He intends not to see these people anymore because he showed himself to them as a nobody and so quietly leaving the place to become somebody going back to where his family who were so easy to disown him. He is not sure what is the real situation yet when he goes back to Wei where one can only expect chaos, wars, famine, plunders of Yan Xun, weakened cities, fortified walls, given his condition he is ready with his body and mind all set, completely healed and healthy. So he chose to leave at night, but he has to deliver the letters this afternoon. He packed up only the things he needs, some cold weapons such as small daggers he bought. The unique bow he made out of driftwoods and arrows he recycled out of the bird’s feather from Yuwen Parrot. He treasures it a lot. It comes only a handful, very colorful and not even a sword on his side to protect himself. The only thing, he has his night owl to guide him on his journey going back, the Yuwen parrot is also ready to go. Like a king with no crown, Yuwen Yue walked out of the lodge and started to walk to the streets. Almost done suddenly a man in his humble outfit came to him.
“Master!”
Zuo Zong on his usual greetings saw Yuwen Yue to surprise him, but for Yuwen Yue its never a surprise.
Yuwen Yue on his usual indifferent attitude towards Zuo Zong did not mind him walking beside him.
Zuo Zong asked: “Master how’s the weather and that thing you are carrying?”
“I am not carrying anything, and Yuwen Yue hid something inside his clothes.”
“I see,”
Zuo Zong with some strange sadness he felt something is not quite right as he looked down and continued to walk with him so quiet.
Yuwen Yue felt the pressure on air as if he had to explain what is happening as Zuo Zong, not on his usual talking like his parrot he took out from his pocket and gave it to him: “Zuo Zong, I want you to have this.”
Yuwen Yue gave the only handkerchief he kept left from his pocket before the frozen lake incident. A memorabilia of his Xinger, a memory of his sentimental heart.
Zuo Zong never saw anything like it, a white thin soft and made with high-grade fabric, never worn out, looks expensive, he opened the handkerchief and embroidered in a gold thread are in Chinese characters revealed the true name of the owner. His eyes opened very wide like he saw a ghost or something and thought: “I was very right!”
Yuwen Yue looked at him he noticed that Zuo Zong did not have any sense of his distance anymore he is just staring at the handkerchief and was left behind his back.
Yuwen Yue expected this thing to happen. He gave the handkerchief to the temple master to reveal himself he has to go back to his duties as his vacation is an overstay. This is also to make Zuo understand where he is going. And it is going to happen after he is gone. Yuwen Yue planned to sneak out tonight to leave the short note to him. He is the last addressee to deliver when everyone is already in their dreams. He left him there like they always had been doing, no goodbyes just are gone.
At nightfall, Yuwen Yue is off to go to Shaolin temple to deliver that short note to his closest friend like a brother to him, but Zuo Zong cannot even feel if it really was. Yuwen Yue’s aristocratic manners still show in the outside, but in the inside, he maintains that soft spot.
About to trespass the premises of the Shaolin temple when suddenly someone planted some traps to its perimeters and Yuwen Yue on his casual neat powder blue peasant clothes started to dance with the traps revealing his superb martial arts and passed them all his head high and confident. After few minutes of tumbling jumping and leaping the ground Yuwen Yue clapped his hands to dust himself off, and as if the job is done, he found a more playful master just waiting for him he went close to him to pick up something Yuwen Yue left on the ground and read quietly and said: Impressive! And Zuo Zong clapped his hands. Yuwen Yue locked his brows and looks very cold at him.
Zuo Zong looking angry he said: “Master, you can’t leave me here, and you cannot pass this road, its either you kill me or keep me.” Zuo Zong looks determined.
Zuo Zong on his usual fighting stance started to form his martial arts. Yuwen Yue does not have any plans to kill someone tonight, he just wants a peaceful escape but Zuo Zong pick a fight with him, and they started to fight. Yuwen Yue controlled the amateur fight, he has been practicing with Zuo Zong during their free time and seems Zuo Zong became even better. Suddenly Zuo Zong stopped the fight stepped back then did a kowtow and said: “Master, do you think I don’t deserve to become your follower?”
Yuwen Yue raised his brows, but in the inside, he feels mercy at his heart as Zuo Zong is making him remember his master-servant mindset but refuses to stick to the clothes of being aristocratic, Yuwen Yue suddenly falls on his knees to let him rise and halt the kowtow gesture. Zuo Zong is very young at his early twenties, and he is still immature, but his attitude can pass to become Yuwen Yue’s person. Yuwen Yue looked at him at his eyes and said: “I cannot guarantee any good life ahead, but you may go with me as you wish.”
It seems Zuo Zong hit that soft spot in Yuwen Yue’s heart, he is ready as his master was. And after that, Yuwen Yue this time was surprised. Each one of the savage fighters in the lodge that day he was forced to fight came out with their packed bags as well and said to him:
If Zuo Zong goes, so is the swift dagger warrior, from the tribes of the Far East and threw a twin dagger and cut the leaves from a nearby tree.
“I too,” said the rapid blade warrior, from the tribes of Wu he bowed with his sword in front of Yuwen Yue.
“Me too,” said the flashing spear warrior, from the tribes of Shi he jumped to Yuwen Yue and stick his spear to the ground and bowed his head in front of Yuwen Yue.
Another one leaped from his back, a Shaolin junior monk and said: “you will need a staff warrior, at your service young master” and he bowed.
And more came to him and offered their service, it seems that if Yuwen Yue will make an enemy with them tonight, even if you are a former master of all spies you are likely to be reaped early on their sickle, it’s not nice and wise to refuse these warriors bowing in front of him. He only sowed one seed of kindness, and its fruit became a field of warriors waiting for the time of their life of adventure with Yuwen Yue to lead them to the good path.
Yuwen Yue seems did not have many options to choose, but one and that is to just accept this fate. With the right kind of leader, he knows these warriors will experience the best time of their lives. And on the other hand, Yuwen Yue does not know what lies ahead, so it is safe to take it with him a band of brothers full of talents. With Zuo Zong who is very good at espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination and not to mention a master of kungfu martial arts he can assume to be his person and can be trusted for his governmental or personal affairs.
Yuwen Yue kneel down to meet their bowed heads and put his right arm in his left chest and loudly said: “I cannot promise you a bed of roses what is ahead are thistles and thorns, but I am loyal to few and ruled by no one.”
The warriors suddenly went overjoyed and hugged each other, and they stood up as Yuwen Yue also stood up and encircled him. All the warriors tossed their hands in the air as if they have already won a battle, and that battle was to gain Yuwen Yue to become their leader. There were fifty or more men who went with Yuwen Yue’s journey back to his homeland that night and everyone followed him even if he had nothing.
These warriors follow a leader with no arms or horses, not even food to eat. On the treacherous and uncertain roads they walked together, they became closer, and you can say like they were all treated as brothers. Yuwen Yue an advance planner and thinker, he set up some ranks inside his so-called walking cavalry. Men with no horses, men with no honor, men with nothing but courage, talents to defend or offend, men who are ready to die at any moment. Yuwen Yue gathered all of their present arms and shared their own possessions. They call themselves a “band of brothers” and Yuwen Yue, their “Master brother.” Yuwen Yue formed their own banner creed and to every warrior has a handkerchief tied to their arms where they cut a small wound and scarred it to form the ancient Chinese inscription 越 which mean Yuè to exceed, to climb over, to surpass to accommodate more. While everyone else wound is at the right arm, Yuwen Yue’s difference being the Master brother or band of brothers leader, his wound was drawn in his left arm near to his scarred past chest wound. Some said he choose the left arm near his heart to remind him always of what he told that day to his brothers who joined him in his personal journey: “he is loyal only to the few and ruled by no one. Yuwen Yue’s person Zuo Zong will have the same creed in his left arm to follow his Master brother.
Zuo Zong was in charge of tactical movements and was given five brothers to accompany him on his spying tasks. The swift dagger warrior also has five men under his accountability, the rapid blade warrior has ten men, the flashing spear warrior has ten men and the stick (or staff) warrior Shaolin junior monk was given five men. He is the Shaolin monk whom Yuwen Yue strangled before and warned not to speak anything about Zuo Zong and their fight at cloud mountain where Zuo almost fell. Yuwen Yue promoted him and even trained him who calls him the stick warrior as he needs to grow up and when he is mature Yuwen Yue said his name will be called the staff warrior. He is the youngest of all the ranking master junior brothers whom Zuo Zong is also close. The rests were assigned to become the cold warriors where Yuwen Yue did not assign any ranking brother to them yet. Yuwen Yue trained and converted some of their hands to hold the bow and arrows, they were not all skilled at this type of cold weapon, but he told them: “it cannot be learned, it can only be felt.”
And Yuwen Yue pointed at his pulse and closed his eyes, his ears picking up only the hunting wind, the cold wind, and then on a forward movement he set up his left arm straight. With a steady aim and forms his right arm an angle bend, a squeaky stretched sound is heard coming from the bowstring. Close to his face and the tip of the arrow in front is perfectly pointed at, ready for the aim. At the back arm, he pulled the heavy feather arrow to travel at a long distance. At the tick of his pulse, he released the arrow. He opened his eyes and saw everyone was frenzied at the moment. All eyes on his bull’s eye target, a thing they did not expect to see, was a huge kingbird on the ground.
The cold warriors went to see the eagle and assume it is dead, but to their surmise, the eagle was taken down but not wounded. And when they saw that part of arrow everyone was amazed. Earlier Yuwen Yue showed them a very deadly arrow on its pointed tip but when it hit the air, the pointed arrow was detached and no harm done to the kingbird. The Yuwen Parrot in the cage tweeted it said: “Master brother, great, master brother, master brother.” No one knows how its done, only the Master brother has this advance skill and his own weapon to decide whether to hunt and kill or hunt to heal.
Yuwen Yue picked up the kingbird eagle and put it in his left arm, the bird attached its claws to its arms, it is heavy, its wingspan may have measured three meters long on both wings. Yuwen Yue knows where its hurt is coming from, he picked its left thigh, and the bird squawked a bit, then it can now move both of his feet suddenly testing its wings to fly.
The cold warriors said: “what a nice view,” Yuwen Yue wearing his powder blue fighting peasant clothes, sleeveless V-neck exposing some muscles in his arms and flat black leather shoes with leather strings crisscrossed on both of his feet. Hair tied not too high or too low, cold dark eyes, perfectly shaped brows, straight stature and god-like aura around him.
These cold warriors spent days and nights at Yuwen Yue’s cruelest coldest training ever, like when he was doing the training with Yue Qi his seventh Yue and his maidservant Xinger. He gave away some Yuwen household skill secrets: “The Pulse” and the “The Palm.”
Counting days and nights the band of brothers traveled far on the scorching heat of sand dunes and deserts. They put their own tents whenever twilight falls and pack up during the day and continue to move on their way to the western mountains. They hunt food as a practice at daytime while others prepare it. There has never been a day that these warriors enjoyed their journey and though not seems everything was put on their table and have to pick up everything with the sweat of their foreheads however they slept with their heads full of knowledge and wisdom. The band of brothers came from different backgrounds of the Far East and western tribes composed of Manchu (Jin tribes) warriors, Han Chinese warriors, and Mongol warrior elements and without a leader who knows how to unite diverse cultures, it is impossible to utilize their talents.
Then after a few days and nights of the journey through the Great Wall of China, Yuwen Yue observed that it was built but seems not yet fortified and completed. Yuwen Yue marked one of its first time to pass an unfinished wall facing the sea. Located at the south of Yanbei mountains facing the north of Bohei Sea. The band of brothers made their pitstop for a few days and nights at its shores. They put up their mobile tents and started to create some bonfires and firepits around its shores. Yuwen Yue discovered that some of his Han warrior brothers are skillful at swimming and fishing and knows how to build their fishnets and baits they also taught Yuwen Yue how to survive at sea. The band of brothers has spent their time here longer than the other mountains and deserts they passed. The Mongol brother made some of the fresh catch dried in the sun for a few days, and they sprinkled with Himalayan salts. They taught their brothers how to make the fresh catch have a longer shelf life and their product: salty dried fishes and other seafood such as shrimps, octopus, seaweeds, and squid.
Master, seems you are busy? Zuo Zong came to Yuwen Yue’s tent, on his hands is a tray of food, grilled salmon fish, a fresh catch from the sea.
Yuwen Yue sitting in a carpet like a buddha position in front of the small table, looking cold as he was momentarily interrupted on his writing. Zuo Zong went straight to his master and put down the grilled fish. Yuwen Yue smelled the delicious grill aroma of the fish and started to become hungry, he put aside his writings. Zuo Zong sat in front of Yuwen Yue, and they faced each other. Zuo Zong saw what Yuwen Yue is writing and said: Master, did you notice the unfinished wall here?
Yuwen Yue suddenly started to talk about military principles and strategy to Zuo Zong, and he said: This is a good stronghold in the future and a foothold to behold where the East ends and stepping to the south of Yanbei mountains.
Zuo Zong does not have any idea what Yuwen Yue went through the Yanbei mountains yet, it remains untold on what happened in the frozen lake. From where they stay is somewhat near and far to its distance. Zuo Zong is an intelligent spy sooner or later even without Yuwen Yue telling him his tragic story, Zuo will soon find out who is Xinger, the very reason why his master came to the icy lake and was circulated in the news he went missing and suddenly his body is found and announced to be dead. Zuo knows this is fake news and he knows Yuwen Yue knows about it by now and this is why he is going back to his Yuwen household.
Yuwen Yue cut that moment and said: “What a good smell” looking at the fish Yuwen Yue started to pick up his chopsticks, his eyes looking hungry. Zuo Zong got the look and said: “Ciao” and smiles at Yuwen Yue.
A beautiful afternoon, the skies are clear, and at the break of the day is majestic sunset and hues of golden clouds of yellow-orange and red twilight in the sea, a breathtaking view.
♥♥♥
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Ohhhhh and so the journey begins… I am sooo excited and I am glad that Yuwen Yue decided to take these loyal and faithful warriors with him… he will definitely need all the help he can get when he announces his presence to the world! So he is going back to the Icy Lake huh…. oh my gosh now I am wondering if he and Xinger will meet there…. but wait.. doesnt seem like Xinger remembers him…. I am loving the storylines. Keep it up and thanks for taking us on an adventure!
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Even if I am surprised with my hands just typing all this words, and just looking at my outline because my hands are unstoppable I had to cutt it there halfway, I might wrote more than what is in my outline here hehehe, anyhows thank you, yes, Yuwen Yue plans to start it all over in the icy lake but lets see whom he meets next.
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Well type away my friend because it seems like your gifted hands already knows what your mind is thinking and just letting it flow. I guess right now you seem to have the writing fever so its lots of wonderful stuff that is coming to pass from your writing. Yes I will definitely wait to see who he meets next…. Thanks for the constant updates!
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Just wow! Amazing story line…waiting for the continuation and next chapters!
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Thank you Jarwine. More to come
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Wow, cant wait for the next chapter.
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Wondering what will be Yue Qi and Zou Zong reaction is
… Our Master is full of knowledge, what a man! 
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What will be their reaction when they meet again I mean…
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Even me as the writer have no idea, but definitely moving
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Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in reality used to be a amusement account it. Glance complicated to far introduced agreeable from you! By the way, how could we keep up a correspondence?
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Thanks – AC
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