Layer upon layer of clouds pressed down, and sure enough, snow began to fall again. The sky darkened rapidly—by the hour of Shen, it was already so dark that one could scarcely make out a person's silhouette.
Wei Chengjun had launched a mutiny, massacred all within the Governor's Manor in a bloodbath, dispatched his personal troops to take over the Citadel, and had already persuaded Wang Rong to help him secure the imperial court's recognition. It seemed the overall situation was settled—but the trial had only just begun.
"What are those men doing? Two thousand elite soldiers against three hundred—by any measure, it should be an easy victory. Why has there been no word for so long?"
"General, please be patient," the strategist said. "From the Hutuo River valley to Bingzhou, even by horse it takes three days at the fastest. By my reckoning, the scouts should bring good news by tomorrow."
"Better be so." Wei Chengjun's tone was unfriendly. "What about Wang Rong? Is the memorial to the court ready?"
The strategist felt somewhat helpless. Most military men came from rough backgrounds—even though Li Jichen had placed great emphasis on educating the next generation, Wei Chengjun and Li Zhaoji still scorned the Four Books and Five Classics. How was he to explain to Wei Chengjun that a document to be presented before the emperor had to pass through layer upon layer of review, that every word had to be carefully weighed—it was not like ordering a beheading that could be carried out the moment the command was given.
The strategist said tactfully, "Young Lord Wang is still polishing it. General, please be patient a while longer."
"You literati dawdle and dither—nothing but trouble." Wei Chengjun snorted. Only for the sake of his imminent ascension to Military Governor of Hedong did he grudgingly endure it. "Once I become Military Governor, and then take Tang Jiayu as my wife, I shall be like the Wang family—illustrious for generations, ruling Hedong in perpetuity. The Great Qi's mandate has run its course. If Tang Jiayu can unlock The Lingyun Chart, with the founding emperor of Great Qi's hidden treasure to bolster me, the realm will sooner or later be mine."
The strategist looked at Wei Chengjun but dared not offer any counsel. Yet Wei Chengjun's grand dream of unifying the realm soon hit a wall. A soldier came running in haste to report: "General, trouble! The rear courtyard is on fire!"
Wei Chengjun, interrupted, narrowed his eyes in displeasure: "Which location?"
"Golden Wolf Hall."
Wei Chengjun's expression changed drastically. Was that not where Tang Jiayu was being held? He rose at once: "Mobilize a hundred Tiger-Wolf soldiers and follow me."
When Wei Chengjun arrived at Golden Wolf Hall, he found that the fire looked terrifying but was mostly just smoke. Most importantly, the fire seemed to have started from inside.
Sure enough, Tang Jiayu was no longer in the room. Wei Chengjun ordered a search, and before long a soldier came running to report.
"Report, General—we've found something here!"
Wei Chengjun saw the guard's corpse dragged out from the corner of the wall and his expression turned grim. Tang Jiayu, with her pampered and delicate nature—could she kill a man? Suddenly, he froze.
Not good!
Wei Chengjun strode back to Iron Kite Hall, opened the secret coffer—and The Lingyun Chart inside was gone. Wei Chengjun's gaze turned sinister. Someone who could slip into the Governor's Manor unnoticed, was familiar with the layout of Iron Kite Hall, and knew the mechanism of The Lingyun Chart's coffer—it had to be an inside job. That morning, two Combat Maidens had escaped from the Tang residence. After Pang Cheng's defeat, Wei Chengjun had seen that Pang Cheng was beyond saving and had not finished him off. No doubt those two Combat Maidens had doubled back to the Tang residence afterward. Pang Cheng, with his last breath, had told them the location of The Lingyun Chart's coffer.
Hah. Courting death.
Wei Chengjun's face was terrifyingly dark. He gritted his teeth: "Pursue them."
.
The Governor's Manor in the darkness of night was terrifyingly vast. Wei Chengjun would rather kill the wrong person than let one slip through. The great manor was slaughtered until it was utterly empty—which only made it easier for Tang Jiayu, Zhanqiu, and Zhandong to create a diversion.
But Wei Chengjun was no fool either, and pursuers quickly came flooding in from all directions. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to escape. Zhanqiu shoved Tang Jiayu hard toward the inside, positioning her Hengdao across the moon gate. She clearly had no intention of leaving alive.
"Zhandong, take the lady and go!"
Tang Jiayu ran until she felt like she might cough up blood. Seeing Zhanqiu holding off the pursuers for them, she felt at a loss: "Zhanqiu?"
Chun Xia Qiu Dong had come to her side when she was seven years old. For all these years they were nominally servants, but in reality they were more or less friends. Though the friendship was only what Tang Jiayu unilaterally considered it to be—to them, she was merely a mission.
But Zhanqiu and Zhandong had killed the guards and protected Tang Jiayu all the way as she fled, and now Zhanqiu had unhesitatingly sacrificed herself to hold the rear. What exactly had Li Jichen given them, that even after his death, they would carry out their mission with such fearless devotion?
Tang Jiayu's emotions were tangled, but Zhandong was far more decisive. She merely glanced at Zhanqiu's retreating figure, then immediately pulled Tang Jiayu along and ran.
Zhandong led her through twist after turn, until they unexpectedly burst into a Buddhist hall. The Buddha statue gazed at the wind and snow with benevolent eyes, expressionless in sorrow or joy. Zhandong lifted the offering table and struck a floor tile hard. Dust cascaded down, and the Buddha statue began to move, slowly revealing a hidden passage within the cavity wall.
Soldiers had already pursued to just beyond the wall. Zhandong glanced outside. Opening and closing the passage took time—if she didn't draw the pursuers away, the passage would eventually be discovered. Zhandong stuffed The Lingyun Chart into Tang Jiayu's arms and pushed her into the passage, lowering her voice: "My lady, go quickly. This passage leads straight outside the city. The Wei faction doesn't know about this route."
Tang Jiayu clutched the scroll in her hands—the one said to be The Lingyun Chart—and asked, "And you?"
"I'll draw the pursuers away. If I don't come find you, then my luck has run out. Whatever you do, don't wait for me. Keep going forward—someone will be waiting for you at the exit."
"Search quickly! The footprints lead this way!"
The soldiers had already reached the Buddhist hall and could discover them at any moment. Fortunately, the passage entrance began to close automatically. Zhandong gave Tang Jiayu one last look, then leaped out of the Buddhist hall like a cat, deliberately making noise in another direction.
The footsteps outside grew chaotic, drowning out the sounds from the Buddhist hall. The Buddha statue slowly returned to its original position. Dim light spilled in from the side of the Buddha's face, dust dancing in the air, like a gate of life slowly closing.
Tang Jiayu looked back. The hidden passage twisted and turned, seeming to have no end. She couldn't help but wonder—at the exit, which faction would be waiting?
From one cage to another—what difference did it make?
Tang Jiayu gritted her teeth. In the instant before the Buddha statue was about to seal shut, she leaped out of the passage. She crashed hard onto the bluestone floor, the pain bringing tears streaming down her face. Ordinarily, even a single cough from Tang Jiayu was a matter of great concern, but now she didn't make a sound. She crawled under the offering table and silently memorized the spot where Zhandong had struck.
She hid The Lingyun Chart in her sleeve and waited a while. After confirming there were no footsteps outside, she tiptoed out of the Buddhist hall and ran toward where there were fewer people. The snow was still falling. She didn't dare leave footprints, choosing only paths that wouldn't leave traces. Moving and hiding like this, her progress was extremely slow.
Tang Jiayu was anxious inside. She didn't know how long Zhandong could hold off the pursuers. Once Zhandong was captured and Wei Chengjun discovered she was missing, he would likely return to the Governor's Manor to catch a turtle in a jar—and then escaping would be truly troublesome.
Whether it was because her anxiety had induced hallucinations, she couldn't tell, but she felt as though she had been here before. For instance, she had a vague sense that there ought to be a large stable to the west.
Since she had no other choice anyway, Tang Jiayu decided to gamble on her intuition. She ran toward the western courtyard, and sure enough, she actually found a stable. Many tall, fine horses were kept inside. Even though Tang Jiayu knew nothing about horses, she could tell these were no ordinary animals.
She had heard that Li Zhaoji was passionately fond of warhorses and would personally go to the Daibei pastures every year to select his mounts. It seemed the rumors were true—these must be Li Zhaoji's beloved horses. A stable hand was facing away from her, adding fodder to the trough. Tang Jiayu glanced at the mule cart piled with fodder not far away, then quietly and carefully hid herself in the haystack.
Wei Chengjun had killed all of Li Jichen's capable men, including the stable hands, but he couldn't bear to kill Li Zhaoji's treasured horses. So the heavy task of feeding the horses fell to Huo Zheng, a mere stable groom. After Huo Zheng finished feeding the horses, he continued transporting fodder. He walked back to the mule cart, paused almost imperceptibly, then drove off as if nothing had happened.
The Citadel was permanently garrisoned with elite cavalry, and where there were cavalry, there needed to be fodder. Transporting fodder was tedious, strenuous, and thankless work—how could those arrogant personal guards think it worth their while? Huo Zheng was out of favor with his superiors and had long been assigned this drudgery.
Li Jichen's original one thousand cavalry had been dispatched to reinforce Yunzhou. Now stationed in The Citadel was Wei Chengjun's Tiger-Wolf Battalion, numbering only a little over five hundred. With fewer horses, the usual portions were no longer accurate. Huo Zheng delivered fodder to the various stables and still had much left over. He drove his creaking little cart out of The Citadel through the Qixia Gate.
Tang Jiayu, hidden in the fodder, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Her guess had been right. Li Zhaoji loved horses as though they were his own life, and whoever was allowed to tend horses for him at the Governor's Manor had to be a trusted confidant. Wei Chengjun would never spare the lives of such people, so the stable hand she had seen must have been an outsider. The fodder on the cart was piled high as a small mountain—even if the Governor's Manor had horses in abundance, this was simply too much. So he was a low-ranking soldier who transported fodder, and the Governor's Manor was merely one stop on his route. Everyone inside The Citadel was a trusted confidant of the Military Governor—how could a lowly soldier like him be worthy of living there? He most likely lived in the outer city.
She had originally worried that if the fodder ran out, or if the stable groom noticed the weight was off, she would be exposed. Fortunately, Tang Jiayu's bad luck seemed to have run out. None of the situations she feared had come to pass, and every gamble she made had paid off. Tang Jiayu hitched a ride and smoothly left The Citadel, entering the inner city.
Bingzhou was a major military stronghold, with high walls and deep moats, multiple gates, and night watchmen striking clappers. It had three layers of city walls alone. The innermost was The Citadel, containing the Governor's Manor, government offices, the armory, and granaries, with heavy cavalry guarding its perimeter—it was the core of Bingzhou. The second layer was the inner city, where officials, commoners, craftsmen, and traveling merchant caravans lived together in a jumble, with shops and workshops standing in rows—it was the flesh and blood of Bingzhou. The outermost layer was the outer city, where the defending infantry and crossbowmen were stationed—it was Bingzhou's outer armor. Beyond the city walls, there was also a camp of light cavalry responsible for mobile patrols.
With such meticulous deployment, no wonder the Li family had gone from commoners to the number one traitors in just three generations. Tang Jiayu thought about how these were her enemies and couldn't help but sigh deeply.
The Tang residence was located in the inner city. Although Tang Jiayu did not often go out, she had a rough idea of the streets here. Peering through the gaps in the fodder, Tang Jiayu looked for an opportunity to get off the cart.
Although she was grateful to the stable hand for bringing her out of the Citadel, the outer city held only barracks—she had no desire to escape the dragon's den only to land in a tiger's lair. The most dangerous hiding place is right under the lamp, and Wei Chengjun would never think to look for her in the inner city. She would find somewhere to settle down first, and once the commotion died down, she would find a merchant caravan to take her to Chang'an.
The stable hand parked the mule cart at the mouth of the alley and walked into it himself, apparently to relieve himself. A heaven-sent opportunity! Tang Jiayu immediately crawled out of the haystack and crept out on tiptoe.
She had barely taken a few steps when a cold wind suddenly rushed at her from behind. The man she assumed was relieving himself in the alley appeared soundlessly behind her and seized her with one hand.
Tang Jiayu's shoulder was gripped so hard she felt her bones would crack. She knew she was no match for the man, so she didn't struggle pointlessly. Fighting to stay calm, she said, "I am a trusted confidant of the Military Governor, detained by the traitor Wei. I have urgent matters to report to the Young Lord. Leave your name, and as long as you don't leak word, once I leave the city, I will petition the Young Lord for your reward."
Huo Zheng stood in the shadows, gazing at the woman's luminous white neck ahead of him. "You're the female steward of the Commissioner's Office?"
Tang Jiayu said vaguely, "Since you know, why haven't you let me go?"
"I see. My apologies."
Huo Zheng released his grip, and only then did Tang Jiayu's shoulder feel like it belonged to her again. She discreetly rotated her shoulder, and before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, the man behind her suddenly made his move, pinning her against the wall. Tang Jiayu looked up in alarm and saw the man's face.
She had only caught a hurried glimpse of him in the stables and remembered only that he was tall and broad. She hadn't expected his looks to be striking as well—thick brows, large eyes, a high nose bridge, with a raw wildness that hit her in the face.
Huo Zheng had known all along that this woman was an impostor. The maidservants of the Commissioner's Office were all Combat Maidens from the Lark Battalion—how could someone with such delicate, tender skin possibly be a martial artist? But when he saw Tang Jiayu's face, he couldn't help but lose focus for a moment.
Huo Zheng's arm pressed against her chest, and no matter how hard Tang Jiayu struggled, she couldn't break free. She cursed inwardly—why did every one of these men have such brute strength? She could only put on airs and threaten him with a haughty expression: "I am the Military Governor's adopted daughter, already betrothed to Li Zhaoji. It was only because of my adoptive father's illness that it wasn't announced. He is the most jealous of men—you'd best let me go, or once he enters the city, you're dead."
Huo Zheng frowned, clearly dizzy from Tang Jiayu's convoluted identity. "You're saying you're Li Jichen's adopted daughter and also Li Zhaoji's fiancée?"
"Of course." Tang Jiayu lied without even blinking. "The traitor Wei seized the opportunity to try to take the Li family's place, little knowing that my betrothed is already on his way to Bingzhou. Wei Chengjun is a grasshopper after autumn—he won't be hopping for many more days. It's not too late for you to abandon the dark and turn to the light. If you're sensible, I'll have Li Zhaoji promote you to personal guard…"
Before Tang Jiayu could finish, the Citadel behind her suddenly blazed with fire. The urgent clatter of hooves merged with the cold north wind, like a thunderclap enveloping the inner city: "Search quickly! She can't have gone far!"
Wei Chengjun had discovered her! Tang Jiayu's expression changed drastically. Huo Zheng saw the shift in her face and understood in his heart that these men were after her. Listening to the hoofbeats, he roughly estimated there were about two hundred men. To mobilize such a force—even if Tang Jiayu wasn't Li Zhaoji's fiancée, her identity was far from simple.
Huo Zheng quickly glanced outside the alley and said, "They're coming. We need to go."
Tang Jiayu glanced at the supply cart. Huo Zheng read her thoughts and shattered her hopes with a cold remark: "Your hiding skills are so clumsy even I could see through them—how could you fool all these cavalrymen? Don't waste time. Run."
Only then did Tang Jiayu realize that Huo Zheng had spotted her the moment she climbed onto the cart. Her successful escape from the Citadel was only because he had deliberately covered for her. Furiously, she cinched her skirt tight and ran with all her might, yet still Huo Zheng found her too slow. He glanced at her flowing, beautiful eight-panel skirt with its wide swath of fabric, and, losing patience, hoisted her onto his shoulder and ran with her.
Tang Jiayu was jostled until the world spun around her. Huo Zheng wove through alleys, but unfortunately, just as he turned out of a dark passage, he collided head-on with a soldier coming to relieve himself.
The soldier froze at the sight of them, and they froze at the sight of him. Then the soldier shouted: "They're—"
The soldier's throat gurgled with blood as he fell to the ground, eyes wide, unable to believe he had died by a sickle meant for cutting grass. But his cry had already alerted the others. Huo Zheng hurriedly changed routes with Tang Jiayu, but they were cornered anyway.
Huo Zheng protected Tang Jiayu while dealing with their pursuers, but two fists are no match for four hands—especially when all Huo Zheng had was a rusty sickle. His wounds multiplied. He shoved Tang Jiayu hard, roaring: "One more street south is the city gate. Run forward, don't look back!"
Throughout this day, the word Tang Jiayu had heard most was run. Zhanqiu. Zhandong. Now him. Everyone told her to run. Tears flooded Tang Jiayu's eyes, her cheeks smudged with dirt, her former pampered life a distant memory. Though fear nearly choked the breath out of her, she dared not slow her steps. After running a short distance, she couldn't help turning back to ask: "What's your name?"
Tang Jiayu didn't know what use knowing his name would be. She wasn't really Li Zhaoji's fiancée, and she could barely save herself—how could she promise anyone a bright future? Tears blurred her vision. Through the howling wind and snow, she watched with her own eyes as a man she had never met before took blade after blade, blood spilling like a river, yet he held the mouth of the alley like a wall of stone, keeping the pursuers out of her world.
"Huo Zheng." His sickle was so badly chipped it could barely kill anymore. He wiped the blood from his lips with effort, clenched his fist, and charged screaming into the ranks of pursuers: "Remember, my name is Huo Zheng."
The cold wind cut like knives, lacerating the throat. Tang Jiayu dared not look back—she ran and cried at the same time. She ran until utterly spent, then looked up and finally saw the inner city wall.
On the gate tower, in bold strokes, hung the three characters "Xuanhe Gate." Freedom seemed within reach. But a burst of hoofbeats, like the frantic drumbeat of a death knell, stopped right behind her.
Tang Jiayu turned and saw the face she least wanted to see.
Wei Chengjun's expression was grim and sinister as he sneered: "Cousin, quite the capable one you are. I underestimated you. I planned to give you the position of legal wife, but you wouldn't take what was offered with grace."
His gaze turned savage. He ordered: "Catch her and bring her back."
The attendants at his side dismounted and flanked her from left and right. Tang Jiayu kept backing away, desperately thinking of what else she could do.
Suicide to show that one would rather be shattered jade than intact tile? What integrity could be more important than life! Go seek help from Wang Rong? With such a huge commotion tonight, if the Wang estate had not sent guards out, it was clear no one else would come out. Lower her head to Wei Chengjun, stabilize him first, and scheme for an opportunity later? Tang Jiayu did not care about her chastity, but once she was branded with Wei Chengjun's mark, when Wei Chengjun was defeated in the future, that was the true abyss waiting for her.
Tang Jiayu's mind was a chaotic mess, and she did not know what to do. In the confusion, she vaguely heard strange sounds. Tang Jiayu turned back and found it was not her imagination. About a dozen black-clad men climbed down ropes, descending from the sky like night owls. Using their height advantage, they drew their crossbows, and the soldiers who had come to seize Tang Jiayu fell in response.
From the pitch-black gate tower came the slow, muffled sound of a door opening, like a death knell.
Behind her, Wei Chengjun's position fell into chaos, and military horns sounded one after another: "Bad news, there is an inside man! Assemble, form ranks!"
But Tang Jiayu could no longer notice. She stared blankly as Xuanhe Gate opened from the inside, and a neat, grim cavalry unit slowly appeared in her field of vision. The wild wind howled, chaotic snow swirled, lifting the hood of the leader and revealing a handsome, sharp-featured youth's face.
It was just that the youth's eyes were bottomless and full of killing intent, completely ruining that overly beautiful face, like a death god arriving on the night, dangerous and cold.
Tang Jiayu's lips moved, and she murmured unconsciously: "Li Zhaoji…"