Li Fuxiang received a carrier pigeon from the hands of the Jinyiwei. Gao Yuexing watched as he tied a blank piece of paper to the pigeon’s leg and then released it.
The pigeon flew into the sky, skimming over the pine forest. Before it could fully leave their sight, an arrow suddenly shot through the air, piercing the pigeon’s abdomen and bringing it down.
The Jinyiwei and the cavalry of the Xiaoqi Battalion behind them collectively turned pale. “Your Highness, there might be an ambush in the mountains.”
Li Fuxiang’s arm around Gao Yuexing’s shoulder tightened.
Before he could speak, Gao Yuexing solemnly said, “Don’t even think about sending someone to take me away. I’ll stay by your side until the very end.”
Knowing it was useless to refuse, Li Fuxiang compromised, “Alright, we’ll descend the mountain together.”
A coachman appeared before them, presenting Li Fuxiang’s divine weapon and saying, “Your Highness, I’ve already sent someone ahead with the carriage. Shall we take the mountain path?”
Li Fuxiang handed a horse to Gao Yuexing.
Gao Yuexing mounted it without needing assistance.
The group proceeded on horseback, taking the small path down the mountain.
They all hoped to return to the city safely, but deep down, they knew it was unlikely.
During the months Li Fuxiang spent deep in the Hucha Sea, he developed the habit of leading by example.
When it came to real combat, he never allowed himself to be surrounded by layers of subordinates.
Gao Yuexing rode side by side with him on the mountain road. Looking ahead, the scenery gave off a faint sense of invincibility.
Listening to the wind rushing past her ears, Gao Yuexing said, “I think I’ve figured out why Miss Chen died.”
Li Fuxiang didn’t respond, only glancing at her with an expression that subtly conveyed his curiosity.
Gao Yuexing began her careful analysis. “Two years ago, after Miss Chen delivered the letter to Qingliang Temple, her mission as a pawn and messenger was already complete. Those people no longer needed her alive. She fell into the lotus pond at the foot of the mountain near Qingliang Temple and nearly drowned. Coincidentally, you passed by and saved her life.”
The lotus pond outside Qingliang Temple was scenic, though not often visited.
Miss Chen had truly been just one step away from death.
Could Miss Chen not have known she was being targeted? Whether she slipped or was pushed, she couldn’t possibly have been unaware. Even if she didn’t realize it at the time, upon returning home and thinking it over, anyone with half a brain would figure it out.
So, after piecing it together, Miss Chen made her move. The next day, she made it widely known in the capital that she had been saved by Li Fuxiang when she fell into the water. She even risked her reputation, insisting that she must marry Li Fuxiang—even as a concubine.
For an unmarried, unremarkable woman like Miss Chen, finding an excuse to kill her might not have been difficult.
But once she became associated with Prince Xiang and turned herself into a laughingstock in the capital, every move she made would be watched by countless eyes.
First, the Emperor himself began keeping an eye on her.
Who would dare let her die after that?
Thus, Miss Chen clung to life for two years. It’s said that she once even stopped Li Fuxiang’s horse in the street, but unfortunately, she failed. When Li Fuxiang spotted her from afar, he actually turned around and took a long detour to avoid her, unwilling to even come close.
A concubine—just a plaything.
Miss Chen herself had agreed to it; what else could others say?
Had the person Miss Chen set her sights on not been Li Fuxiang but any other rich playboy in the capital, she might have truly found someone willing to save her.
Li Fuxiang said, “At the time, I didn’t know…”
Hearing his words dissipating into the wind, Gao Yuexing understood his meaning.
Li Fuxiang continued, “If only I had stopped and listened to her say a few words.”
Gao Yuexing, however, replied, “You’re overthinking it. Miss Chen wouldn’t have told you the truth… She’s the daughter of the Chen family, the eldest daughter of Minister Chen of the Ministry of Personnel. What she did is inseparably tied to her family. If Miss Chen truly wanted to speak, the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Court would have been more than willing to handle her grievances. And besides, there’s even the Drum of Petition outside the palace. Given her status, meeting the Emperor wouldn’t have been an impossible task.”
Miss Chen, exploited by her family, still wholeheartedly protected the Chen family.
In truth, she only wanted to escape danger.
By entangling herself with Li Fuxiang in an ambiguous and controversial relationship, Miss Chen managed to live peacefully for two more years.
Until the abbot of Qingliang Temple set a trap, pulling her back into peril.
Perhaps the abbot could no longer bear the wait. As he said, over two years, he had watched his disciples suffer tragedy after tragedy, each one dying silently under the blade, their deaths going unavenged. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave behind the mountain, not even a gravestone left to mark their passing.
Though monks are meant to be detached from worldly concerns, few could truly reach such extremes.
Miss Chen’s death was what finally raised suspicions.
It was through her death that Qingliang Temple’s secrets began to surface.
The abbot caused Miss Chen’s death, and knowing he was guilty, he willingly took his own life.
A lifetime of cultivation was rendered meaningless.
Yet what Gao Yuexing couldn’t understand was—what was in the letter hidden beneath the golden Buddha’s lotus seat?
In the end, the letter still ended up in the abbot’s hands.
Why had the abbot refused to hand over the letter in exchange for the lives of the temple’s monks?
What exactly was written in that letter?
The perpetrator had yet to be caught.
As Gao Yuexing was lost in thought, in the direction opposite to theirs, a sharp signal arrow shot into the sky.
Gao Yuexing leaned low against the horse’s back and turned to look behind her, hearing the Jinyiwei report, “Your Highness, it’s a signal. The carriage we sent ahead down the mountain has encountered them.”
The bait they had thrown out had been taken.
But soon enough, the enemy would discover the carriage was empty.
Li Fuxiang said, “The Xiaoqi Battalion is guarding that side. They won’t escape easily.”
Both sides had planned for this.
Li Fuxiang had, and naturally, so had the opposition.
The phrase “a cunning rabbit has three burrows” wasn’t just an old saying.
Li Fuxiang warned, “Watch the road ahead, especially underfoot.”
As he spoke, he urged his horse a step ahead, leaving Gao Yuexing, who had been riding shoulder-to-shoulder with him, behind.
No matter how hard Gao Yuexing pushed to catch up, she always fell just one step short, unable to close the distance.
Suddenly, at the front of the group, Li Fuxiang reined in his horse to an abrupt halt.
Immediately, everyone stopped.
Someone stepped forward to investigate. “Iron caltrops.”
Iron caltrops, tools used to trip horses.
The mountain path had already been prepared in advance.
The horses stamped nervously, their hooves uneasy.
Li Fuxiang made a decisive call: “Abandon the horses.”
At his command, both the Xiaoqi Battalion and the Jinyiwei slashed their reins and removed the saddles. The horses, freed, darted into the surrounding forest, scattering in all directions.
Gao Yuexing watched all this with a heavy gaze.
How many of these horses would survive depended entirely on luck.
Experienced horses, the clever and fortunate ones that made it safely down the mountain, might find their way back to the capital by retracing their path.
Li Fuxiang, ever attentive to Gao Yuexing, put an arm around her shoulders and said, “We’re moving too.”
Gao Yuexing hadn’t expected such peril on this journey. She was adorned with a collection of trinkets—hairpins, bracelets, and the like. Her light blue mian skirt was beautiful, but in these circumstances, it was nothing but a hindrance.
She removed all her jewelry, wrapped it securely in a piece of torn fabric from her dress, and tied it tightly, fearing that if anything fell along the way, it would provide a trail for their pursuers.
Li Fuxiang unsheathed his divine weapon.
The fine blade, with its crescent-shaped tip, gleamed like a pool of autumn water.
As he cleared the path, he said, “I know staying at Qingliang Temple would be the safest choice right now, but I can’t afford any delay with the letter in my hands.”
The string of prayer beads from the abbot was now looped around Li Fuxiang’s wrist.
Gao Yuexing finally asked, “What’s in the letter?”
Li Fuxiang replied, “I don’t know. I can only guess. Do you want to hear it?”
Gao Yuexing nodded. “Let’s hear it.”
Li Fuxiang said, “Do you remember the rebellion of Prince Wen? That year, we were both still young.”
How could Gao Yuexing not remember?
The prelude to Prince Wen’s rebellion had officially begun with the appearance of Xiaoshan.
The death of Consort Xu’s son, the true Fifth Prince—Li Fuyou—was caused by the jackals raised by Prince Wen’s heir.
Li Fuxiang explained, “Prince Wen’s rebellion was not something planned overnight. It had been in the works for a long time. But for his plan to succeed, he couldn’t rely solely on himself. He needed connections both inside and outside the palace, within and beyond the court—every piece was indispensable.”
Gao Yuexing added, “But I haven’t heard any news that all of Prince Wen’s supporters were eradicated.”
Li Fuxiang cut down a bush blocking the road and continued, “The Jinyiwei Commander, Xi Heng, was sent to Xuzhou to investigate Prince Wen. But Prince Wen was incredibly cautious, rarely exposing any flaws. At that time, the Emperor, in a fit of rage, grew tired of playing cat-and-mouse with them. He decisively issued an order—kill.”
Prince Wen’s heir died in an assassination carried out by the Jinyiwei.
Prince Wen himself followed shortly after.
Because their deaths came too soon, the roots weren’t entirely uprooted.
Those who remained burrowed into the shadows, hiding in the filth and darkness. Sensing the danger, they either concealed themselves or fled.
Li Fuxiang continued, “Before I left the capital, the Emperor finally uncovered evidence of the Marquis of Pingyang’s involvement in Prince Wen’s rebellion, bringing this matter back into the light. The Marquis of Pingyang was secretly interrogated and claimed there was a list of officials in the capital who conspired with Prince Wen. But that list had long since disappeared.”
Gao Yuexing asked, “Could it be this letter?”
Li Fuxiang replied, “I suspect it is.”
Gao Yuexing said, “If that’s the case, then the Vice Minister of Personnel can’t escape involvement.”
Li Fuxiang added, “If it is, the ones after our lives aren’t limited to Vice Minister Chen of the Ministry of Personnel. However many names are on that list, there are just as many people eagerly hoping we perish in these mountains.”
Their situation was truly hanging by a thread, surrounded by peril.
Gao Yuexing thought deeply for a while and murmured, “I remember my father once told me this case would be simple to resolve…”
Li Fuxiang paused, then said, “What your father probably meant was that we just needed to find the culprit. He likely didn’t expect us to stir up a hornet’s nest by coming up the mountain.”
Gao Yuexing said, “Father will probably blame me for this.”
Li Fuxiang replied, “My father will likely be furious too… but I figure, since we’re already here, we might as well see it through.”
Gao Yuexing agreed, “You’re right. I support that.”
Li Fuxiang cautioned, “Be careful.”
The deeper they went, the denser the forest became, and the more difficult the path.
Gao Yuexing glanced back.
Li Fuxiang’s subordinates had already dispersed in different directions.
Gao Yuexing asked, “Did the abbot know that the letter was a list of traitors?”
Li Fuxiang replied, “He opened and read it. I think he must have known.”
Gao Yuexing frowned. “But I still don’t understand.”
Li Fuxiang said, “Stop overthinking it.”
Gao Yuexing persisted, “But in the Chen residence, the shoe print on Miss Gao’s window clearly belonged to a woman.”
Li Fuxiang said, “Doesn’t that just prove that Chen Jingchen’s inner courtyard wasn’t clean either?”
Gao Yuexing speculated, “Perhaps Miss Chen was killed on Chen Jingchen’s orders, but why would they throw this mess onto your head?”
Li Fuxiang covered her mouth. At the same time, everyone stopped moving.
Gao Yuexing used her gaze to ask: What is it?
Li Fuxiang leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Pursuers.”
Immediately after, Gao Yuexing also heard the dense sound of horse hooves echoing along the mountain path.
And the barking of hunting dogs.
Great. They even brought dogs.
Cold sweat seeped from Gao Yuexing’s palms.
Yet Li Fuxiang still had the leisure to tease her. “Guess what kind of big shot it takes to gather a force like this right under the Emperor’s nose?”
Gao Yuexing replied seriously, “Stop joking. I brought some medicine.”
Li Fuxiang asked, “Oh? What kind of medicine?”
Gao Yuexing said, “Something that can disable the noses of those dogs.”
Li Fuxiang smirked. “Good stuff.”
Gao Yuexing rummaged through her pocket and handed him a small paper packet. “Do you think we’ll make it down the mountain today?”
Li Fuxiang reassured her, “Don’t worry. We’ll circle around a bit. My Xiaoqi Battalion is here. I’ll protect you.”
The nearest Jinyiwei spoke up, “Miss Gao, don’t worry. With the Jinyiwei here, even at the cost of our lives, we’ll ensure your safety. Besides, our commander will be here soon.”
“Xi Heng?”
Gao Yuexing’s eyes lit up, and she wanted to ask more, but Li Fuxiang pressed her head down and crouched. “How do we use the medicine?”
Gao Yuexing explained, “Sprinkle it where we’ve stopped. It’ll temporarily confuse the hunting dogs’ sense of smell, but it won’t last long—about half an hour at most.”
Li Fuxiang nodded. “That’s enough.”
The small packet of medicine was passed among the group, and after enough had been sprinkled, the empty packet was handed back to Gao Yuexing.
It was already used up.
Gao Yuexing carefully stored the empty packet and said, “Let’s get out of here and go as far as we can, quickly.”
Li Fuxiang wrapped an arm around her shoulders, practically lifting her off the ground.
As Gao Yuexing’s gaze swept around, she suddenly froze. She noticed that Li Fuxiang’s hand, the one holding his blade, was faintly trembling.
The injury he had sustained as a child, the one that had never fully healed.
Gao Yuexing placed her hand over his and said, “Let me do it.”
Li Fuxiang’s tone was firm. “No.”
Gao Yuexing wouldn’t back down. “You’re tired. Let me handle it.”
Li Fuxiang said, “I haven’t closed my eyes yet. Keep moving.”
Whoosh—
An arrow shot through the dense forest, grazing Li Fuxiang’s ear before embedding itself firmly into a tree trunk.
Li Fuxiang immediately pressed Gao Yuexing to the ground.
The arrows came from a single direction.
It seemed the pursuers, frustrated by their hunting dogs’ inability to pick up a scent, had grown desperate.
Li Fuxiang ordered, “Don’t stop.”
If the arrows delayed their pace, their pursuers would soon catch up.
The group continued moving in an orderly manner.
Wave after wave of arrows rained down, growing more frequent. They spread out, creating gaps between them, but inevitably, some were hit.
The arrowheads could not be removed.
Pulling them out would leave blood trails on the ground, and the scent of blood would only make it easier for the hunting dogs to track them.
Quietly, more and more people moved to cover Li Fuxiang’s rear.
Before Gao Yuexing realized it, a muffled groan came from close behind.
She and Li Fuxiang turned simultaneously.
They saw their group behind them, scattered yet ensuring that any arrows aimed their way were blocked.
One of the soldiers who had been hit was from the Xiaoqi Battalion.
Li Fuxiang didn’t know that back when this soldier was heading to the battlefield for the first time, he had sat in a camp tent, drinking and chatting with his brothers, expressing disdain for the prince in his words.
The arrow had struck the soldier squarely in the back.
The man coughed softly and said, “Your Highness, there’s no need to say anything. Just keep going forward without worry.”