The emperor was busy when, all of a sudden, a servant rushed in on horseback and collapsed at his feet with a loud thud.
Such an abrupt display usually meant assassins or rebellious troops, prompting the guards around the emperor to swiftly draw their swords.
The servant adjusted his crooked hat with trembling hands and stammered while gasping for breath, “Your Majesty… the little prince, he… he went down the mountain!!”
The emperor: “…Went down the mountain? What mountain? What’s he up to?”
The servant shakily pulled out a handful of gold gourds from his pocket and said, “The little prince suddenly dumped a chest of gold just now and deliberately scattered it over the broad area in front of the palace. The gold rolled down all three hundred jade steps. He ordered us servants to pick it up, but we were careless. As we were gathering the gold, we turned around and suddenly realized the little prince was gone… Then we heard from the guards at the back mountain that the little prince and Deputy Commander Ding had ridden horses down the mountain, one after the other.”
He had fled.
The emperor immediately lost interest in the hunt.
He deployed soldiers to give chase, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand—why did Li Fuxiang run?
Clearly, he had always been obedient and well-behaved. Did he secretly harbor resentment all along?
The emperor’s greatest sorrow wasn’t the escape itself but the realization that the ten years spent in the Xiaonan Pavilion were irreparable. Now, at ten years old, Li Fuxiang no longer needed a father’s love. This child—he could never truly raise him to be close.
The emperor calmly gave the order—pursue him.
Even to the ends of the earth, he must be brought back.
The emperor’s only consolation was that Ding Wenfu had followed him. At the very least, the boy’s safety was assured.
With an extensive and nearly inescapable search, the emperor mobilized almost all the soldiers at the hunting grounds. Before dawn, they found a marker left by Ding Wenfu at an abandoned temple at the foot of the mountain.
This proved Li Fuxiang had stopped there.
The emperor personally hurried to the site.
The guards detained a few beggars from the temple for interrogation. From them, they learned that Li Fuxiang had indeed rested there. Among the beggars’ belongings, they found the luxurious clothes Li Fuxiang had worn when leaving the palace. According to the beggars, Li Fuxiang had exchanged his expensive garments and jade ornaments for a set of tattered clothes, a shabby dog-skin cloak, and a few pieces of hard, dry food. He stayed barely long enough to complete the exchange before leaving in the middle of the night. He had also abandoned his horse by the river, knowing that traveling on horseback would make it harder to stay hidden.
The emperor wanted to know which direction he had gone.
The beggars pointed westward.
This matched the clues left by Ding Wenfu.
He had gone west.
He was moving farther and farther away from the capital.
The group mounted their horses and pursued him westward.
Ding Wenfu had no choice but to leave markers along the way. He didn’t dare report back, as Li Fuxiang’s cunning had exceeded all expectations. Ding feared that if he lost sight of him even briefly, he might never find him again.
A relentless pursuit.
The imperial guards were on horseback, while Li Fuxiang was on foot.
The guards numbered in the thousands, while Li Fuxiang was just one person, accompanied only by Ding Wenfu, who acted as a scout and informant.
Even so, Li Fuxiang managed to evade the massive force for two full days. Several times, the guards thought they had him cornered, only to find, when they closed the trap, that they had caught nothing but a wisp of tail fur.
The emperor’s initial worry, heartbreak, and sadness gradually turned into frustration.
Would they have to wait until he reached the city gates to capture him?
The city gates had been sealed, and entry or exit required official documents. But with Li Fuxiang traveling on foot, who knew how long it would take him to reach the gates? Worse, if he decided to hide in the mountains and refused to come out, a mountain-wide search would be a monumental task. Even more troubling was the fact that Li Fuxiang was no stranger to hardship. His willingness to trade his fine clothing and jewelry for a beggar’s rags and food signaled his determination to escape.
He had said before: he wanted to live.
If he could survive ten years of struggle in the Xiaonan Pavilion, he was more than capable of surviving outside the palace without worrying about food or shelter.
The chase led to a bustling town at the foot of Mount Xiao, where Li Fuxiang had concealed himself, though his exact location remained unknown.
Finally, the emperor could bear it no longer. With a wave of his hand at the post station, he issued a decree summoning the second daughter of the Gao family to appear immediately.
In the past, the emperor would consult his ministers on such matters. He had always been seen by the people as a benevolent ruler. Though his word was law, as long as no explicit decree was issued, there was always room for negotiation. But this time, the imperial edict was sent with urgency, carried by a court eunuch who rode day and night, delivering the decree straight to the Gao residence.
The resplendent yellow decree weighed heavily on Gao Jing’s head. Helpless, he could only watch as his daughter was taken away on horseback, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
Madam Gao, clutching her pregnant belly, chased to the door. “…What’s going on? What happened?”
Gao Jing only had time to say, “Take care of yourself,” before mounting his horse and following after them out of the city.
Gao Yuexing, pressed onto a horse, felt the wind rush into her collar. She had no idea what was happening, yet she still found herself leisurely admiring the scenery of the countryside along the way, her mind gradually wandering.
The eunuch delivering the decree rode through the night without stopping, bringing Gao Yuexing directly to the emperor.
The emperor had already set up a high platform in the town. Torches illuminated the night sky, casting a fiery glow over half the heavens.
When Gao Yuexing arrived, the emperor said nothing. He personally took her in his arms and carried her step by step to the highest point of the platform.
Gao Yuexing looked up at him.
The emperor, who had endured who-knows-what over the past few days, appeared haggard, but the ferocity in his demeanor shone through, making him seem nothing like the calm and kind ruler she had seen in the golden hall.
The emperor stopped at the platform’s highest point, set Gao Yuexing down, and whispered, “Stand still.”
The platform, hastily constructed, swayed precariously beneath their feet.
The emperor stood behind her, holding her shoulders. He remained silent for a long time, seemingly waiting for something. After about half an hour, he saw a faint glimmer flash three times on a distant rooftop. It was Ding Wenfu’s signal, indicating that Li Fuxiang had arrived nearby.
The emperor, his voice steady and full of authority, called out:
“Child, if you’ve decided to leave, I won’t stop you. But as father and son, I must leave you something in this lifetime. I know you care for nothing—wealth and glory mean nothing to you. You prefer sleeping on the streets and eating coarse food. Fine. Since you are fond of the second daughter of the Gao family, today I shall forgo my reputation as a benevolent ruler and act as a tyrant instead.
“I hereby grant this—six-year-old second daughter of the Gao family—to you. From this moment forward, the second daughter of the Gao family is banished from the capital and may never return unless she dies. She will accompany you in your life of hardship and survival!”
When Gao Jing arrived, he overheard the emperor’s words and nearly fell off his horse.
A crowd of eunuchs swarmed around him. “Lord Gao, please, don’t be agitated. His Majesty isn’t serious—don’t take it to heart.”
Gao Jing shook off the group and strode forward.
The emperor had already noticed the commotion and cast a fleeting glance in that direction, but he didn’t linger. Gao Jing understood that His Majesty wouldn’t be persuaded. If… if Li Fuxiang truly refused to appear, would he really sacrifice his daughter?
Gao Yuexing, hearing the emperor’s words, roughly pieced together what had happened.
—Could it be that Li Fuxiang had run away?
If he ran, so be it. But the emperor had deployed thousands of soldiers, and they still hadn’t managed to bring him back?
The night wind was cold, yet her heart burned with excitement.
She still remembered the year Li Fuxiang turned sixteen, when the Fox Hu Tribe tribe launched another invasion. General Zheng Qianye led the troops to the frontlines, taking Li Fuxiang along. The emperor had intended for this to polish his image by gaining some battlefield prestige, ensuring he wouldn’t remain a mediocre prince all his life. Zheng Qianye, deeply fond of his grandson, kept him safe at the most secure positions in the rear.
But fate is unpredictable.
While Zheng Qianye was at the frontlines, the supposedly secure camp at the rear was ambushed.
Li Fuxiang, along with the three thousand light cavalry protecting him, broke through enemy lines on a snowy night. Instead of retreating, he advanced westward into a desperate situation, directly striking at the Fox Hu Tribe homeland. The Fox Hu Tribe sent a massive army to surround and intercept him, yet they couldn’t even catch a glimpse of his shadow.
Even as a child, during one impulsive runaway incident, he had managed to evade tens of thousands of imperial guards. They could do nothing against him.
A Jiaolong finds its rain and clouds; it is never destined to remain confined to a pond.
All of this was a sign.
The absurdity was that tens of thousands of imperial guards were no match for one Gao Yuexing.
Just moments after the emperor’s words echoed from the platform, a lone figure emerged from the alley ahead, stepping out of the night’s shadows.
Clad in a patched, gray, ill-fitting outfit, with sleeves and pant legs rolled up several times, he wore a tattered black dog-skin cloak draped carelessly over his shoulders. In one hand, he carried a forked bamboo pole with a bag of dry rations tied to its end.
His hair was tied at the top of his head with a ragged strip of cloth, with a few loose strands falling down, which he brushed aside with his fingers.
He walked quietly into everyone’s view. In the deep stillness of the night, under the silent tower platform, he knelt before the emperor.
“Your son knows his mistakes and begs for Father Emperor’s forgiveness.”
The emperor’s eyes reddened with fury.
No one knew that just the night before his escape, Li Fuxiang had affectionately leaned against the emperor’s sleeve, playfully asking for a few extra snacks.
It was all an act.
It was all fake.
From the very beginning, it had all been self-deception!
He, the mighty emperor, meant nothing in the eyes of his son—less than a girl he had barely known for a few days.
Upon returning to the Xiaoshan hunting grounds, the emperor immediately had him sent to the hot springs.
After only two or three days on the run, Li Fuxiang was already covered in dirt and grime. Several maids carefully cleaned him, washing him thoroughly before dressing him in clothing infused with fragrant dew and incense, restoring him to the appearance of a clean and refined young master.
It had to be said that Li Fuxiang had been living quite well in the emperor’s Qianqing Palace over the past few months. Not only had he grown half an inch taller, but even his previously coarse, yellowish hair had transformed. Now, it felt as smooth as silk, though its color was still somewhat pale.
Gao Yuexing was outside the hot spring, sipping hot tea as she waited for him.
When Li Fuxiang stepped out, freshly dressed, his entire body seemed to be enveloped in a lingering mist.
Gao Yuexing stared at him for a moment, then smiled and said, “You’re not happy in the palace, are you?” Without waiting for his reply, she continued, “If it weren’t for me, you’d have been free by now. Why do you bother with me? If you’re willing to take me along, I wouldn’t mind sleeping on the streets and eating coarse food with you.”
The emperor was just beyond a screen in the adjacent room.
So was Gao Jing.
Every word Gao Yuexing spoke carried clearly to their ears. Both ruler and minister were deeply shaken.
Li Fuxiang looked at her and slowly shook his head.
He thought, She has her parents and family. She has people more important than me to accompany her.
He could endure losing her but couldn’t selfishly drag her from her life of wealth into the mud, forcing her to abandon her parents and never return home.
Gao Yuexing extended her arms toward him. “Come here.”
Li Fuxiang tentatively rested his head on her lap. Seeing that she didn’t reject him, he relaxed and let down his guard completely, leaning into her embrace.
Gao Yuexing gently stroked his soft, smooth hair and said, “Did you hear what His Majesty said today? He said he’s granted me to you. The emperor’s word is golden, and an imperial decree is irreversible. From now on, we’re rightfully together.”
Hearing this, the emperor furrowed his brows. Something seemed off.
At the time, on the high platform, he had spoken those heated words in anger, never expecting Gao Yuexing to interpret them this way.
Even Gao Jing hadn’t considered the emperor’s words from such an unexpected angle.
For a moment, the awkwardness between ruler and minister was forgotten as they exchanged a look—one shocked, the other alarmed.