Chapter 205: Clear Path
The sound of air being torn apart, carrying the scent of blood, assailed them!
Leading the charge was Yu Qianshan, the head of the Eastern Palace Guard Commander.
He swung his sword, cleaving through the curved saber that lunged at him, and stood before Wen Jia, his voice deep as he commanded.
“Quick! Escort the Princess away!”
Wen Jia clutched Yu Qianshan’s blood-stained wrist guard, tears streaming down her face.
“General… Niu Niu is in their hands! We must save Niu Niu. I implore you, save her!”
Yu Qianshan’s silver armor was stained with blood as he swung his sword, knocking aside the mask of an assassin.
“Princess, please retreat for now. The young mistress is not here.”
Wen Jia’s face, streaked with tears, was ashen.
The night wind, carrying the stench of blood, churned and rolled in, nauseating, the sounds of fighting rising and falling in the darkness.
Supported by Dong Xu, she weakly boarded the carriage.
Gazing into the vast darkness, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief, trembling and weeping.
“Niu Niu… where on earth are you… Mother is coming to find you…”
Her mournful cries were torn to shreds by the night wind.
As the carriage curtains billowed, she saw Yu Qianshan plunge his sword fiercely into a death warrior’s shoulder blade.
Before long, the sounds of combat within the earth temple subsided.
Yu Qianshan’s sword tip pressed against the throat of a dying death warrior, his boot crushing the opponent’s knife-wielding hand, his voice as cold as ice.
“Speak! Who ordered you to spread false news?”
The death warrior’s throat convulsed violently, coughing out a smear of blood, revealing two rows of blood-stained teeth.
“If you have the guts… if you have the guts, kill me…”
“Alas, this General prefers not to let you die easily. The Eastern Palace has plenty of methods to make you wish you were dead, but unable to die.”
The death warrior trembled all over, his pupils contracting, as if he had witnessed the most terrifying sight in the world.
Yu Qianshan sneered, bent down, and had someone pull the death warrior up, slowly releasing his hand, and stuffing a letter bearing the Eastern Palace emblem into his palm.
“I’ll spare your life. Take this letter to your commander.”
The man scrambled away, stumbling as he mounted his horse and fled in disarray into the depths of the night…
–
At the head of Vermilion Bird Street, Li Huan arrived with his men, and the Xizi assassins retreated in haste.
“Chase—”
With his command, his personal guards immediately scattered in pursuit.
Li Huan picked up a wolf-headed curved saber left by an assassin, his face grave.
“Open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against. The enemy is in the dark, and I am in the light; it is truly impossible to defend against.”
Xiang Yang approached and reported, “Your Highness, these death warriors came from the west of the city…”
At this moment, a Xizi envoy pushed through the crowd, adjusted his golden-rimmed felt hat, staggered forward, placed his hand on his left chest, and bowed his head in greeting.
“I am E Er Qi, Chief Clerk of the Xizi Left Tent. I pay my respects to Prince Duan, and thank Your Highness for the life-saving grace.”
Li Huan returned the bow, “Envoy, you must have been startled. May I ask why your delegation has come here?”
E Er Qi replied, “Replying to Prince Duan, we were ordered by the High Priest to bring Xizi specialties such as spices, dried meat, and furs, and were on our way to the Princess Protector of the Nation’s Mansion to pay our respects to Her Highness the Princess…”
As he spoke, he pointed to several scattered leather boxes beside the carriage.
Li Huan sighed upon hearing this, “Envoy, you have traveled a long way and worked hard. My fifth Imperial Sister has not yet completed her mourning period; her grief is difficult to express, and she is perpetually melancholic. Since you are from Consort Wan’s maternal family, your visit now may slightly alleviate my Imperial Sister’s pain from losing her loved ones. I shall send someone to escort the envoy to the Princess’s Mansion…”
Wen Jia was in mourning for her mother, and Niu Niu’s whereabouts were unknown.
Li Huan could not help but sigh.
E Er Qi’s eyes were slightly moist, his hand resting on the totem on his chest, and he bowed his head sadly.
“Thank you, Your Highness…”
“Report—!”
As the two were conversing, a guard suddenly pushed through the onlookers, knelt on the ground, and reported loudly:
“Reporting to Your Highness! The Princess Protector of the Nation was at the earth temple west of the city and was… was abducted by Xizi assassins…”
Li Huan was greatly alarmed and ordered urgently.
“Prepare horses! Head to the west of the city!”
“Issue an order to intercept all carriages and horses leaving the city!”
–
An abandoned kiln at the foot of the northern slope.
The light of the torches cast a crimson glow on the broken pottery shards.
Yu Qianshan stepped on the creaking wood shavings and walked towards the kiln opening.
Behind him were a group of Guard Commander soldiers, pushing wooden carts laden with paulownia wood boxes, still bearing the wax oil markings of the Xizi Merchant Caravan from that day.
Mu Er Ji, the commander of the Xizi Wolf Guard, stood at the carbonized kiln opening, his sash knife reflecting the firelight.
“Halt!”
Yu Qianshan stopped, stood firm, and called out loudly in the night.
“I have brought what you wanted. Where is the person I want?”
Mu Er Ji gave a chilling laugh and raised his hand, whistling.
A strong man dragged a bulging snakeskin bag from the kiln opening and walked to Mu Er Ji’s side.
Blood seeped from the mouth of the bag, winding into a dark red trail on the blue stone slabs, looking shocking.
Mu Er Ji rasped, spitting out a mouthful of saliva.
“Leave the gunpowder, and you can take the person.”
Yu Qianshan scoffed, his boot tip crushing a piece of broken pottery.
“If it’s a dead person, I won’t be able to report back properly.”
“Naturally, it’s alive.” Mu Er Ji raised an eyebrow and kicked the snakeskin bag with his boot.
Struggling sounds and muffled whimpers immediately came from the bag. Looking at the curled-up little bundle, it was only about the size of a five or six-year-old child.
Mu Er Ji said, “The person is here. I also want to see the goods.”
Yu Qianshan gestured, and the soldiers opened the lids of the boxes.
From the gaps in the box lids, a dark yellow powder seeped out, with a cold, bluish-gray sheen—
It was the characteristic color of gunpowder.
Mu Er Ji narrowed his eyes and was about to step forward to inspect the goods when he saw Yu Qianshan suddenly snatch a torch from an attendant, approach the gunpowder boxes, and say coldly.
“Release the person first!”
Mu Er Ji’s expression darkened.
After a moment of hesitation, he waved his hand, “Alright, justice.”
Two strong men heard the command, grabbed the rope of the bag, and threw it forcefully to Yu Qianshan—
Yu Qianshan glanced at him and bent down to cut open the bag.
However, what poked its head out was not Niu Niu, but a monkey with its limbs bound and its mouth stuffed with burlap.
“You’re asking for death!” Yu Qianshan’s eyes widened in fury, his hand on his saber hilt, about to erupt, when Mu Er Ji had already flung three bone-penetrating nails from his sleeve, aiming straight for his face!
Yu Qianshan spun to evade, and suddenly heard the sound of dense tiles shattering from all around the abandoned kiln—
Dozens of masked death warriors descended from the roof, wielding curved sabers, roaring as they charged forward.
It was clearly an ambush.
Mu Er Ji’s saber light was chilling, “You refuse the path to heaven and insist on crashing into hell, kill them for me!”
Seeing that the enemy had superior numbers, Yu Qianshan made a swift decision.
“Retreat!”
Amidst the clash of blades, the Eastern Palace Guard Commander fought and retreated, quickly withdrawing outside the kiln.
Seeing Yu Qianshan leap onto his warhorse, Mu Er Ji raised his hand and stopped the death warriors who were about to charge out.
“Don’t pursue a cornered enemy, quickly retrieve the gunpowder!”
“Yes!”
The death warriors pushed the flat wooden carts into the kiln. A personal guard pried open the upper layer of gunpowder, only to find oiled paper in the middle.
Beneath the oiled paper, it was actually yellow sand!
“Commander Mu Er Ji, the gunpowder has been swapped.”
Mu Er Ji walked over and plunged his sash knife into the filling inside the box.
Every box was filled to the brim with yellow sand.
“Not good!”
He realized something was wrong and rushed towards the kiln cave where Niu Niu was held—
But he saw four guards lying in pools of blood, the iron lock broken, the wooden door ajar, and the interior was already empty!
All the death warriors inside and outside the kiln had been dispatched to surround and kill Yu Qianshan.
The guards here were weak, and Niu Niu had been abducted!
“We’ve been tricked! A diversion! Chase, quickly chase—”
He roared, brandishing his saber, and madly pursued in the direction Yu Qianshan had left.
Suddenly, a deafening “boom” was heard!
A fire starter was accurately thrown into the pile of yellow sand.
The explosion shattered the sky.
The tiles on the roof of the kiln rained down.
“Commander Mu Er Ji, there are thunder fire bombs buried beneath the yellow sand.”
“You dare to play me for a fool!”
Mu Er Ji covered his head and hid behind the ruins, watching the receding horses’ hooves in the smoke.
Suddenly, he came to his senses again.
“Something’s wrong! Someone else abducted the child!”
–
On the distant official road, Yu Qianshan, beaming, removed his helmet, holding a waist token cast with a Xizi totem, smiling so widely his eyes disappeared.
“Brothers, you did a splendid job. Upon our return, we will surely be able to ask the Crown Prince for a generous reward!”
“Huo! Huo!”
The guards raised their sash knives, shouting in unison in the night.
The autumn wind whistled past the wild grass.
At this moment, around a bend in the mountain path, inside a carriage with its curtains lowered, the real Niu Niu was sleeping soundly in Yaoguang’s arms, clutching half a osmanthus cake.
On the low table before her, a small golden skull bearing the mark of Old Mausoleum Swamp glowed faintly.
Yaoguang tossed the skull into the air and caught it steadily, looking rather pleased.
“As expected of this young master, the name ‘Spirit Thief’ is indeed well-earned!”
The attendant in green beside him smiled slightly, wiping the cake crumbs from Niu Niu’s mouth.
“Seventh Young Master’s skills are swift. You can now report back to the Imperial Envoy.”
–
The candlelight in Tan Qiu Courtyard flickered until late into the night.
Xue Sui sat by the carved wooden lattice window, her fingertips holding an unfinished medical book.
Ling Yu cooed softly, pacing before her, occasionally spreading its tail feathers, brushing against her hand holding the scroll. As if sensing its mistress’s unease, it obediently hopped onto her shoulder, nudging her earlobe with its beak.
Xue Sui chuckled softly and stroked the pigeon’s feathers.
“Silly little one, Elder Sister is fine…”
“Is Ling Yu hungry? Let Elder Sister get you some supper.”
The woman and the pigeon sat quietly together in the candlelight.
The waiting time was extremely long…
Dusk seeped through the window paper, a new moon hung at the eaves, and finally, the sound of Jinshu’s hurried footsteps could be heard in the corridor.
She lifted the curtain and entered, her face beaming, “Young Lady, there is news from Seventh Young Master…”
Xue Sui quickly stood up and asked, “How is it?”
Jinshu curtsied and approached, lowering her voice, “It has been accomplished.”
The worry that had been in Xue Sui’s heart all night finally subsided.
Jinshu also breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “However, Seventh Young Master finds it inconvenient to escort Niu Niu back to the Princess’s Mansion himself. He plans to hand her over to an Eastern Palace scout, and after it is officially cleared, she will be transferred back to Shangjing.”
“That is indeed stable,” Xue Sui nodded.
After a moment’s thought, she added, “I wonder how things are with the Crown Prince…”
Before she could finish speaking, a pigeon flapped its wings and swooped down, landing on the bamboo pigeon stand. It shook its tail feathers, then hopped to Ling Yu’s side, pecking at its neck feathers with its beak, appearing affectionate.
The two pigeons touched heads, making soft cooing sounds, as if wishing each other peace.
Xue Sui’s gaze sharpened, and she quickly stepped forward to retrieve the letter tube.
The handwriting on the letter was not Li Zhao’s, but it carried a familiar scent.
“Mission accomplished, do not worry.”
Li Zhao: Ping An, do not worry about me.
Reader: She is not worried about you? She is worried about whether the matter has been handled well…
