Flowers Bloom from Battlefield

"The Lin family has met with lots of misfortune," Fan Lanying said as she studied with Jun Hua in the school.

Jun Hua nodded. Part of it was her scheme, but the rest were from what Chun Maora had sown. She would be in jail for a long time and Jun Hua wouldn't even remember her anymore.

"Today's lesson is musical skill. How's your skill in this, Jun Hua?"

Jun Hua smiled sheepishly. She hasn't learned much about music. Hopefully, the teacher won't pick on her again. Unfortunately …

"Jun Hua you try to play this song."

Jun Hua awkwardly came forward and started playing the zither. The tunes she made were barely correct and some students even held their ears. Halfway through, the teacher stopped her.

"Stay behind until you learn to play correctly."

That day, Jun Hua kept on plucking the strings while Fan Lanying waited beside her. The girl said that she didn't have anything to do at home, so it was better to stay behind and help Jun Hua learn playing the zither. After all, in a few days' time, it would be their assessment day.

"You have to use less force and make your movement more… how do you say it? Swing I guess?"

Fan Lanying choice of words were truly making Jun Hua feel headache. She wasn't helping her that much and even until the end, she still could not play the song correctly. The teacher dismissed her since she too has been depressed by how poor Jun Hua was playing the instrument.

"How about you skip school and meet me at my home tomorrow? The math is so boring," Fan Lanying suggested.

Jun Hua thought about it for a while. It was true that she had grown tired of changing places with Yamin every Friday and getting surrounded with girls. Since she was about to finish her lesson soon, there's no harm in visiting her friend's home first.

"Sure then."

The next day, the girls in the academy felt heart-broken because Jun Min wouldn't be appearing. On the opposite, the teachers felt relieved because once Jun Min appears, he would surely create another chaos within the academy.

"Please excuse me for interrupting your home," Jun Hua said as she entered.

Madam Fan, Fan Lanying's mother, was there and she seemed to be happy for Jun Hua's visit. She was wearing a plain dress, but maybe because she was the wife of a general, she has an air of authority around her. She quickly ushered Jun Hua and her servants in as she ordered her own servants to call for Fan Lanying from her room.

"Jun Hua greets Madam Fan."

Madam Fan smiled. "You don't have to be so polite. Lanying is upstairs so you have to wait for a while."

"It is fine, Madam Fan."

Madam Fan stared at the girl before her. Jun Hua was still as pretty as before. She was only wearing a simple dress but it made her look exceptionally charming. Madam Fan truly wondered how can there be someone so pretty like her. She looked as if she came out from a painting.

Fan Lanying went down quickly when she heard about Jun Hua's arrival. The girl was wearing her training clothes and in her hand was a wooden dagger.

"Jun Hua, come accompany me in my training." She pulled Jun Hua's hands and went to the training room. Madam Fan only laughed at her daughter's action and proceeded to sip on her tea. She was glad that her daughter made a decent friend.

In the training room, Jun Hua refused to train with Fan Lanying. It was not because she was unable to, but because her skills were far above Fan Lanying's. If she were to fight the other party, it would look like bullying.

Fan Lanying also didn't force her as she started to practice her usual moves. Not long after she started practicing, someone came in.

"Lanying, you're still practicing? I thought you would stop when I left?" Laughter arrived in their ears. A young man around the age of 18 went in the room. He was wearing training clothes too with his sword hanging on his waist. His face was similar with Fan Lanying, but he was much taller than her.

"Big Brother!" Fan Lanying called out excitedly. She ran to his side and looked at him from top to bottom. "You have grown taller."

He rubbed Fan Lanying's head, messing up her hair. "Wasn't it you who had grown shorter?"

"Hey, Big Brother!" Fan Lanying pouted while secretly basking on her brother's affection.

He turned towards Jun Hua, "This is?"

"This is Jun Hua, my best friend," Fan Lanying answered. "And Jun Hua, this is my brother, Fan Ying. He's the captain of a small squad I guess."

Fan Ying almost choked on the air. "I'm the captain of a 100 people squad, Lanying."

"Oh yes, sorry about it," Fan Lanying stuck out her tongue.

"Nice to meet you Fan Ying," Jun Hua greeted softly.

Fan Ying nodded. "You don't have to address me so politely. I'm just one of the few captains under your brother."

Jun Hua was startled. Fan Ying was her subordinate? Wait a minute… She couldn't really remember him. She had thousands of soldiers under her belt and she only managed to recognize very few of them. Besides, if he has just been promoted, there was no chance to meet her before.

Looking at the doubtful face of Jun Hua, Fan Ying laughed. "You don't have to put up that face to me. I just joined his soldiers a few months ago."

Jun Hua nodded in understanding.

Fan Lanying's eyes flashed. "If you're under her brother then, Jun Hua can you ask your brother to grant my brother a promotion?"

Fan Ying: "…"

Jun Hua: "…"

Getting promotion was not that easy. The person in question must have done merits and have been in service for a long time for it to happen. In Jun Min's case, she had won exceptionally well in battles and gained a lot of merits thus her rank rose very quickly. It was not like she could not select people to be promoted if they were under her. However, she needed strong reasons for that.

Looking at the two faces that were staring at her weirdly, Fan Lanying laughed dryly. "Fine, I'm just kidding…"

Fan Ying laughed along. "Don't worry Lanying, there will be more chance for me to rise through the ranks."

"But you have been in the military for 4 years and still only a captain…"

"I'm just lacking opportunity," Fan Ying said simply.

Jun Hua listened in their conversation curiously. Given the aura that Fan Ying was emitting, she knew then that he was somebody capable. How was he not able to rise that quickly in these 4 years?