The afternoon sun was warm on Lin Yue's face as she gathered pig feed for the village. Tensu Town was a small brigade outside of Tokyo. The people lived by earning work points through the system put in place by the government. Every job completed gave out points instead of money. At the end of the harvest season, just before New Year's Day, the leader of the Brigade would give out rationed food supplies and coupons based on the number of points earned by the family unit. Lin Yue's family had three son's, her father Lin Jinkai, and her mother, Fu Ping. Her brothers, Lin Junkai, Lin Yuqin, and Lin Muqin, did the majority of the work in their family. They would harvest grain in the fields, heard sheep, haul lumber and fire wood, repair homes, and build livestock pens. Their parents managed their own fields while Lin Yue's only job was to gather animal feed and take care of the animals they raised for the brigade. The Lin family had the most land to use for farming and decided to lend it to the brigade to grow livestock and grains for the government. It was a move that allowed the family to retain their ancestral home and build a smaller home near the fields to see to the animals better.
Lin Yue hummed as she worked. She had noticed the troops training on the opposite river bank earlier and had even waved a greeting to their captain, who nodded back in acknowledgement. She didn't notice the man creeping up behind her with a fallen limb.
Mo Jinchen froze for only a fraction of a second before he yanked off his military jacket and boots. He had witnessed the vicious attack on the lovely woman harvesting pig feed. He had noticed her right off when she arrived to work. Her cute little wave and bright smile had lifted his mood and that of his troops. She came here about the same time every day to harvest feed for the brigade he would soon manage. She was diligent and gentle. Her blue black hair was always neatly braided and pinned in a bun with a cherry wood pin. Today she wore a soft blue conservative cheongsam with a long skirt that brushed the ground and unique sleeves that covered her arms but a top layer split away with darker blue embroidered hems. The man had struck her over the head with a limb from a tree and picked her up. Mo Jinchen locked eyes with the man and he sneered with hate before throwing her into the river and running away.
"Catch that man!" Mo Jinchen barked as he nose dived into the river. It felt like and eternity, but was a matter of seconds. Mo Jinchen pulled her up to the surface by her delicate wrist. She wasn't breathing, so without thinking, he began mouth to mouth resuscitation. He had her coughing up the water before he even reached shore. "Its alright, miss. I'll take you to shore." Mo Jinchen didn't bother trying to speak to her right away, he had to get her out of the water and dry. His Lieutenant was waiting for him with an older couple and warm blankets.
"Yue-yue!" The woman ran forward and took her from his arms. "She needs a doctor, the attacker struck her head with that limb. Lieutenant, send a notice to the brigade. I want the whereabouts of everyone who lives in the Tensu Brigade. They must provide at least two witnesses to verify. Have the young miss taken to the hospital, her head was bleeding in the water, make sure she gets treated."
The older man stood before Mo Jinchen now. "Captain Mo. I am General Lin Jinkai, I thank you for saving my daughter." General Lin bowed to Mo Jinchen. "I was just doing my duty sir. I could have stopped it if I was on this side of the river." Mo Jinchen waved away the thanks from the older man. "Due to the circumstances and several witnesses, I must apologize and take responsibility. I had to give miss Lin artificial air. She wasn't breathing when I got her above water." General Lin nodded and turned to watch his wife care for Lin Yue. "Visit us another day, we will discuss marriage at that time."
The family left with Lin Yue. It was at that point that Mo Jinchen noticed the three men standing around the mother and daughter. They each had strong resemblance to Lin Yue, almost identical. It was then that he remembered that the Lin family was a legend in the military. General Lin got his wife pregnant once, and she gave him four children. Three sons and a small daughter they thought wouldn't survive because she was so small.
His new bride was the pampered daughter of the most feared man in the army.
His vice-captain, Feng Dai walked over to his side. "Sir, the culprit escaped. We are questioning the civilians as I speak."
Mo Jinchen turned away from the departing family and looked at his vice-captain. "Send a message to my father. General Lin Jinkai's family has just been attacked. I will report the incident to him myself. A long with a marriage report." Feng Dai saluted him. "Sir!" She left to complete her tasks while Mo Jinchen bent down and picked up a broken cherry wood hair pin.
His eyes softened and a smile graced his cold lips. He had been wanting to approach the Lin family with the hopes of marrying miss Lin Yue after he got to know her better. The girl was a kind soul with a bright and compassionate heart. She would make a good wife. But this was not how he wanted to start their marriage. He wanted to court her and ask General Lin for her hand. He wanted her to notice him, the way he noticed her. He gripped the hair pin tightly in his fist. Lin Yue was a treasure he couldn't bare to touch, yet someone wanted to kill her. They would pay dearly for their mistake. A wolf howled in the distance. The civilians who came to see what happened shivered in fear, but not Mo Jinchen. He glanced towards the mountain.