Song Gu noticed something unusual during the Imperial Guards’ shift change at midnight.
The scattered footsteps and the sounds of scabbards brushing against bodies seemed normal, yet they were accompanied by faint rustling of leaves.
Swish, swish, swish…
“…!” Inside the tent, Song Gu’s eyes snapped open, now fully alert and clear, without a trace of drowsiness.
That was the new signal specifically taught by Your Highness—the sentries in the trees were sounding the alarm! Different sentries were hidden in various directions around the trees, encircling the entire camp. Sentries on the same tree were further divided into two positions facing different directions, overlapping their surveillance to cover blind spots, all organized according to the “Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches” system.
Based on the current commotion…
It was coming from the Bingzi direction.
Every hair on his body stood on end. Though the air still flowed normally, the night’s tranquility sounded to Song Gu as terrifying as a Net of Heaven and Earth being deployed.
He scrambled up, glanced around, tightened his grip on the knife he had bought with his own money, and crawled out of the tent.
As for why Song Gu had such a sharp reaction…
If someone had experienced the entire terrifying palace rebellion from beginning to end like he had, and successfully survived the chaos—someone who had truly faced life-and-death situations—that person would also be sensitive to similar strange atmospheres.
Song Gu’s temples were throbbing violently.
In the darkness, the convoy remained arranged in concentric circles: the tents of the old, weak, women, and children were at the center, surrounded by carriages, donkey carts, and mule carts, with the patrolling Imperial Guards stationed further out. It appeared no different from any other night.
But Song Gu didn’t dare let his guard down. He lowered his posture, almost crawling along the ground, and moved behind a carriage, intending to tug at whoever was sleeping outside on the carriage frame keeping watch—it didn’t matter who, as long as they could wake Your Highness.
However, Song Gu grasped at empty air.
The person on the carriage frame had already disappeared. Feeling the spot, the soft bedding still retained residual warmth—whoever had been there had left not long ago.
Song Gu froze for a moment, then observed his surroundings and began to understand.
According to Your Highness’s signals, the Imperial Guards with sharp hearing who were close by had probably already heard the warning. Perhaps the sentries were still relaying and spreading the message among themselves.
To those uninvolved, those sounds were merely the rustling of leaves in the wind.
He also spotted Mao Dalingtong crouching in the shadows not far away, accompanied by a slender figure he couldn’t clearly make out—but it was likely one of the Little Eunuchs, either Xiao Dezi or Xiao Chengzi.
Mao Dalingtong certainly wouldn’t dare delay and must have come to notify an important person first. But his bulky frame was too conspicuous, so it had to be the Little Eunuch who went to confer with him discreetly.
The situation was urgent, so Song Gu moved over as well and asked in a hushed voice, “What’s going on?”
It was important to note that their group was a large convoy of nearly two hundred people. Although nearly half were ordinary civilians, there were still a hundred Imperial Guards wearing cloth armor. Ordinary bandits wouldn’t dare target them.
…Secondly, the heavy carriages, donkey carts, and mule carts all bore the Dragon Mark insignia. Even if some bold bandits didn’t want a direct confrontation but still coveted their abundant supplies under cover of night…
This was clearly a royal procession. Who would be so recklessly bold? Robbing a prince? Do they not value their lives? Or the lives of their three generations of family?
Aside from these factors, the Imperial Guards hadn’t openly sounded any alarms or warned everyone to be on alert. Only the sentries had been alerted, discreetly relaying messages…
This implication was even more thought-provoking.
Song Gu was currently completely baffled.
Mao Dalingtong, crouching in the shadows, tersely provided an answer: “The scouts Youzi sent out earlier discovered a landslide prone area ahead that’s unavoidable—we have no choice but to pass through it.”
“So that’s why Mao Dalingtong slowed the carriage speed these past two days,” Xiao Chengzi suddenly understood.
“My original intention was to send more men ahead to clear the dangerous rocks before the convoy proceeds,” Mao Dalingtong said in a low voice. It was merely a precautionary measure, but he hadn’t expected to spot several suspicious figures.
“Didn’t catch them?” Song Gu narrowed his eyes and asked.
“They seemed very familiar with these mountains, disappearing after just a few movements,” Mao Tongling shook his head.
This made the situation much more serious. Even if they were just a few hunters fleeing in fright, their appearance at this dangerous spot just as the convoy was about to pass through, especially during such a sensitive time, made Mao Tongling’s nerves completely tense up.
The calmness of the journey these past two days was merely superficial.
He had specifically set up camp before the dangerous area tonight instead of leading the convoy straight through at dusk precisely because he wanted to test once more—
Whether there was anyone secretly trying to make a move.
“So that’s how it is,” Song Gu nodded slowly, shooting Mao Dalingtong an annoyed glance.
His bait had actually been quite crude—tonight’s camp was blatantly set up as a trap. Song Gu felt a belated fear: what if the thieves hadn’t intended to show themselves?
The dangerous area would have been safely passed tomorrow, but then those in the dark would have hidden even deeper! And the convoy might have relaxed, thinking there were no thieves… only to potentially face a sudden thunderous strike someday.
Song Gu was truly afraid that because of his rebirth, His Highness’s experiences might not unfold as they did in his previous life… or worse, what if he passed away early?
Pah!
Mustn’t curse His Highness.
Song Gu quickly cleared these ominous thoughts from his mind, but that didn’t lessen his annoyance—he still felt Mao Dalingtong had been too reckless.
Mao Dalingtong was still speaking quickly in a low voice: “The camp needs to maintain the illusion of complete unawareness.In secret, I’ve sent Youzi to lead men in surrounding them—Old Hua is there too.”
He added the latter part after noticing Xiao Song Zongguan’s dissatisfied look.
Old Hua was the veteran liaison Old Weiyong Bo had left for His Highness the Second Prince. This meant not only were the Imperial Guards’ forces being mobilized, but the manpower provided by Weiyong Count was also taking action secretly.
Song Gu’s expression finally improved considerably. He calmly instructed: “We can’t afford carelessness. If that turns out to be a diversion, we’d be in trouble. With many of our forces deployed, we must guard His Highness throughout the night.”
Xiao Chengzi grew anxious upon hearing this: “I must return quickly!”
Even though he had only been away from His Highness for a few steps, this loyal little eunuch was already growing restless. The thought that someone secretly harbored ill intentions toward his master so soon after leaving Jingcheng, and that they hadn’t been caught yet, made his face turn pale.
“—I’ll go.” Song Gu turned and calmed Xiao Chengzi with a steady, reassuring look.
He tightened his grip on the knife in his hand, finally abandoning all courtesy and humility toward Your Highness’s personal Great Eunuch in such a moment. A sharp, imposing aura and pride radiated from him—an oppressive force that made it hard to breathe.
A flicker of surprised admiration passed through Mao Dalingtong’s eyes.
He could tell that Xiao Chengzi was still a green, inexperienced youth, yet this young eunuch had already been through major events. Not only was he steady and composed, but his practiced stance with the knife also showed that he had, at the very least, killed a few people.
He was no empty shell.
“…” This was the full story that Xiao Song Zongguan had quietly recounted to Qi Chengming after waking him.
“Your Highness, we need to change locations,” Xiao Song Zongguan stated calmly. Though his words were brief, they were cold and forceful. “…Do not worry, this humble one will protect Your Highness.”
The earlier movement had proven that such small actions could be stealthily carried out under the cover of the carriage’s outline. However, the suspicious Xiao Song Zongguan couldn’t trust this carriage—
It stood out too conspicuously among the donkey and mule carts.
If there really were people targeting Your Highness, and they took advantage of the weakened defenses to attack the camp… the first target was obvious.
So, while someone needed to guard Your Highness’s side and maintain the camp’s facade of normalcy, Your Highness also had to be moved away from this target first, waiting nearby for the time being.
“I understand,” Qi Chengming replied, forcing a calm tone as he silently followed the crouching youth to quickly change locations.
Learning for the first time that a group of people might be trying to kill him, with danger so close at hand, Qi Chengming’s mind was a bit chaotic.
But chaotic as it was… he wasn’t afraid.
The thought that over two hundred people at the scene relied on him for their livelihood—Mao Dalingtong, Xiao Chengzi, Steward Song, Old Hua, and so many others who, at this moment, held sincere and resolute hearts to protect him—made Qi Chengming feel no fear.
His other source of confidence was the “Infrastructure System.”
Qi Chengming opened the character panel, first glancing at his health, which had returned to “7,” and the “fever” notation had disappeared.
Full health, good.
He then calmly opened the shop he had hardly paid attention to:
The small amount of points he had accumulated from completing tasks since crossing over—it was time to use them now. They could provide an extra layer of protection for himself.
Everyone had their own responsibilities.
Their duty was to strive to protect him, and his was to protect himself well, not causing trouble and thus stabilizing morale. Perhaps he could even buy something from the shop to assist the others?
Qi Chengming’s gaze slowly scanned the shop page.
Author’s Note:
Xiao Song Zongguan (racking his brain nervously): Your Highness never mentioned encountering any attacks on the way to the Fief back then?!
Could this disaster be something I brought about??