The pain was an old friend, a constant companion that Yi Long had learned to live with. He had tried to bury it, deep as a stone in the water, but it always floated back to the surface. It gnawed at him, night and day, carving a wound in his heart.
And as he looked at Liu Feng, his oldest friend and most loyal General, who had stood by him through countless battles, Yi Long saw that same pain mirrored in his friend's eyes. The pain of a father who had failed to protect his daughter.
"She is in torment, Your Majesty," Liu Feng voice was ragged as a torn cloth. "She cries and screams in her sleep. She sees their faces, their hands, their..." He choked on the words, unable to say more.
Yi Long felt a twinge of pity for his friend, mixed with a rising anger, a hot anger at those savages who dared to lay hands on what was not theirs, a sharp anger that cut at the old wound in his heart, the wound that never closed, the throbbing wound of a father who had laid his little princess in the ground.
General Liu had been spared that wound, but his daughter, his sweet and gentle daughter who had once played with Yi Long's own little girl in the imperial palace gardens, had been robbed of her peace.
"The crown prince is on the case. He has my command. No stone will be left unturned, no shadow unlit. The mastermind behind this vile scheme will be brought to light," Yi Long said, his voice hard as iron.
Suddenly, Liu Feng sprang to his feet and knelt before him, his forehead touching the floor. "Your Majesty, this humble servant begs you for justice," he pleaded, his voice a mix of rage and sorrow.
Yi Long felt a swell of emotion, he got up and reached out to his old comrade, lifting him up. He looked into his eyes and saw the fire of revenge burning in them. He nodded slightly and asked, "You already know who was behind it, don't you?"