Northern Qi, City of Jinyang

In the early morning hours of a beautiful day marked with cloudless blue sky, a battle raged on the outskirts of the city of Jinyang. Among the chaos of the ongoing battle, a lone figure stood out among the rest. He was tall and imposing, his eyes continuously scanning the battlefield for the next opponent who dared to approach him. His shining silver armor was marred with streaks of blood and dirt, as was his hand which clutched a long sword tightly. What stood out the most though, was the mask the man wore over his face. The mask depicted a grotesque monster, with long fangs curling upwards at the mouth and a pair of horns set on top of its head. What face lay behind that fearsome mask, only his army knew. Around him, men from both sides of the battle either lay on the ground or fought with the opposing side, but this man only searched for one opponent in particular. At last, his eyes landed on his prize, and  a triumphant smile rose over his face underneath his mask as he spotted the brilliantly colored armor of the Goturk leader. The two leaders’ gaze met, and a smirk turned up the corner of the masked general’s face.

He will be easy prey.

The only reason why the Goturk leader was still alive was only because he had sent his men ahead of himself in an attempt to weaken the Qi army first. A foolish tactic, one that had so far proved to be a complete failure. The masked man swept onto a riderless horse that ran past him, and headed straight for the Goturk leader. The other man saw him coming, and a look of fear flashed across his face before he charged ahead to meet him anyway. Their weapons clashed with a loud clang in the morning air, but it wasn’t long before the masked man swept his weapon under the man and sent him tumbling to the ground off his horse. His enemy froze as the masked man pressed his sword to his neck.

“It is true.” The foreigner gasped, “You are indeed undefeatable.” The masked man chuckled and pulled off his mask to look at his fallen enemy directly.

“Perhaps you should have considered that fact before attacking my country.” He suggested. The turkish leader laughed as he looked at the man’s face clearly for the first time.

“If only you were a woman!” He said, “Then you could be kept away from the battlefield.” A smirk turned up the corner of the general’s lips again.

“Unfortunately for you, that will never happen.” He declared before plunging his sword into the man’s chest, killing him instantly. He rose to his feet and turned to look at the fighting soldiers.

“Your leader is dead!” His voice carried loudly over the battlefield, “Continuing to fight will be futile!” A great roar of delight rose from the soldiers of Northern Qi as they realized they were victorious, and slowly, the turkish soldiers were either killed or surrendered. The formerly masked man stood surveying the battlefield, and slowly felt exhaustion settle into his body. His arms grew heavy, and slowly, his sword slipped from his hand and hit the ground with a loud clang. His vision blurred in the glare of the rising sun, and although he felt his strength seep out of his body as the adrenaline from the battle faded, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from collapsing onto the grassy ground below.

“Your Highness!” The voices of his men reached his ears, but the general could not find the energy to answer. Pain throbbed across every inch of his body as the numbness that had settled in from the battle faded away. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep, even though a tiny voice in the back of his head reminded him of the irrationality of doing so on a battlefield. Then, a different voice reached his ears.

“Highness!” A girl’s voice, loud and clear over the murmurs of the soldiers, brought the general’s mind out of the darkness it had been falling into. Slowly, the general made out the figure of a young woman running headlong across the grassy field towards him, ignoring the startled looks from the soldiers she ran past. She fell to her knees next to him, her small hands gripped his shoulders urgently.

“Your Highness!” She patted his cheeks sharply, “Don’t fall asleep! You must stay awake!” The general stared at her, confusion filling his chest.

Who is she…?

The question rose to the tip of his tongue, but he was so tired, he couldn’t put a voice to his query. Instead, a soft chuckle of amusement bubbled in his chest.

A woman who dares to run straight into a battlefield full of men? How interesting.

The general’s eyes fluttered closed, the woman’s face fading away along with her urgent voice.

On a sunny day in the battlefield on the outskirts of the territory of Northern Qi, the Prince of Lanling, Zhang Yixing, fell in love.

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Author's note: Hello! I know I have another Lay story running at the moment, but I'm having a little writer's block on that and the idea for this historical fanfic came to my mind in the meantime. According to the poll I put out, Lay was the winner, so here he is in my newest historical fanfic! As I said in the foreword, this story is based on the real life historical general, Gao Changgong, but instead, I'm putting Lay into his shoes and making him the Prince of Lanling instead. Please give this story lots of love! 

Photo credit: zhouhua00 at LiveJournal