In the dim iron-smelting workshop, the residual heat of the blast furnace was slowly subsiding.
In the gloom, the Prince Heir and Zhang Xia sat across from each other in silence; neither knew if they would live to see tomorrow.
Zhang Xia found a clean cloth, washed it thoroughly, and looked toward the Prince Heir. "Could I trouble the Prince Heir to step aside? I need to wipe down the Commandery Princess's body."
"Alright." The Prince Heir, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, stood up and went to a dark corner, turning his back to Bai Li and Zhang Xia.
As Zhang Xia knelt on the ground and wiped Bai Li's body, she asked, "When did the Prince Heir and the Commandery Princess find out that Chen Ji was a Practitioner?"
The Prince Heir replied casually, "There was an occasion when Bai Li and I fell into a perilous situation. If he hadn't stepped in to save us, Bai Li and I would have likely lost our lives."
Zhang Xia lowered her head and said, "I once asked my cousin-uncle if he could teach me the Pathway of a Practitioner, but he told me I didn't have the talent to become one. Practitioners in this world are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns; it truly makes one envious."
The Prince Heir was taken aback. "Cousin-uncle?"
He quickly realized that the cousin-uncle Zhang Xia mentioned was the Vice Director of the Imperial Observatory, Xu Shu.
The Prince Heir said with a smile, "I used to have the same thought. However, my father said that the identity of a Prince Heir naturally conflicts with the Pathway of a Practitioner, so it is impossible to cultivate."
Zhang Xia found this a bit strange. "Naturally conflicts? What does that mean?"
The Prince Heir answered, "My father only said that officials of the third rank and above absolutely cannot successfully cultivate a Practitioner's Pathway. You cannot have both the fish and the bear's paw; walking down one path in a lifetime is enough, and one must not be greedy. Therefore, the official position of the Director of the Imperial Observatory in our dynasty is only a principal fourth-rank."
"How did His Highness know this? My cousin-uncle never mentioned such a matter."
"My father said that when he was young, he also wanted to cultivate, so he found a cultivation Pathway from the palace to practice in secret, and he indeed managed to enter the door. But after he was conferred the title of King, all his cultivation dissipated in an instant."
Zhang Xia sighed. "What a pity."
The Prince Heir laughed heartily. "My dad said the same thing—what a pity. But I plan to urge my father to have another son when I get back this time. That way, I won't have to be the Prince Heir anymore, and I can go become a Practitioner with Chen Ji."
Zhang Xia thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Actually, when I was young, I saw Chen Ji at Old Family Head Chen's sixtieth birthday banquet. He was sitting in the corner with his mother. His mother was very beautiful; even sitting in the corner, people couldn't help but look at her. At that time, he appeared dull and sluggish, completely different from how he is now. Time really flies; I didn't expect him to change so much."
"Oh?" The Prince Heir was puzzled. "I was there that time too. Why do I have no impression of you and Chen Ji at all?"
Zhang Xia closed her eyes and pondered for a moment. "The Prince Heir was sitting at the main table at the time. Before the banquet began, you took advantage of the moment Old Family Head Chen stood up to give a toast, secretly grabbed Prince Jing's wine cup to take a sip, and the spiciness of the liquor made you squeeze your eyes shut."
The Prince Heir was shocked. He wanted to turn his head back to look at Zhang Xia, but remembering that he shouldn't turn around, he quickly twisted his head back. "Wait, why do you remember it so clearly? Could it be that you have a photographic memory just like Lord Zhang?"
Zhang Xia gave an "mhm."
The Prince Heir was bewildered. "Does everyone in the Zhang Family have this ability?"
"No, only my father and I."
At this time, Zhang Xia straightened out Bai Li's clothes, then stood up to wipe her own body.
She spoke unprompted, "My father married my mother as if marrying into her family. The Xu Family had formerly instructed him that he was forbidden from taking a concubine, forbidden from divorcing his wife, forbidden from... anyway, there were a lot of rules. After I was born, I could freely recite the classics backward by the time I was a year and a half old. As a result, my mother suddenly allowed my father to take a concubine. Not only that, but the Xu Family also tried every means possible to send him women."
The Prince Heir suddenly understood. "To make Lord Zhang have another... boy like you?"
Zhang Xia smiled and said, "Yes, my mother and my father made an agreement. If they gave birth to another exceptionally gifted child, the child must be adopted by my granduncle as a grandson and take the surname Xu."
The Prince Heir knew that the granduncle Zhang Xia mentioned was the current Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Xu Gong.
Elder Xu's only son, Xu Shu, came back from the dead through a ritual at Yuanjue Temple. Now, he was wholeheartedly devoted to cultivating the Dao, never having married, and sat blankly in the Imperial Observatory like a withered log.
Elder Xu's actions were likely an attempt to find another person for the Xu Family, to continue a century of prosperity.
The Prince Heir lamented, "Noble families truly spare no effort for the sake of inheritance."
"I'm done wiping; the Prince Heir can come back now." Zhang Xia tied her hair up again, casually picking up an iron strip from the ground to use as a hairpin, replacing her conspicuous red jade hairpin.
The Prince Heir returned to Bai Li's side and sat cross-legged, burdened with anxiety. "Why hasn't Chen Ji come back yet? Let's hope nothing has happened to him."
However, right at this moment, Bai Li slowly opened her eyes. With a frail voice, she asked, "Brother, what did you just say happened to Chen Ji?"
The Prince Heir was pleasantly surprised. "You're finally awake! Let me feel your forehead... It's still so hot. You need to see a doctor and take medicine as soon as possible."
Just as he was about to pull his hand back from Bai Li's forehead, Bai Li suddenly grabbed his wrist. "Brother, where's Chen Ji? Don't change the subject."
The Prince Heir chuckled jovially, "Chen Ji went out to find medicine for you; he'll be back in a while."
Lying on the ground, Bai Li stared fixedly at the Prince Heir. "Brother, you're lying!"
The Prince Heir grew anxious. Of all times for Bai Li to wake up, why did it have to be now!
Before he could think of how to respond, they heard someone riding a fast horse hurrying past outside the iron-smelting workshop, shouting loudly, "The Deputy General has ordered! The Second Major Battalion is to assemble immediately and search every corner from house to house. Do not let a single out-of-towner slip by. Those out-of-towners are right here in the military town!"
The Prince Heir and Zhang Xia looked at each other in dismay, shock filling their eyes. "How do they know we are in the military town?"
The Prince Heir wondered, "Did Chen Ji sell us out? No, Chen Ji isn't that kind of person."
Bai Li said firmly, "It's impossible for Chen Ji to sell us out!"
Zhang Xia glanced at Bai Li and calmly analyzed, "If Chen Ji had sold us out, he would have directly informed those soldiers of our location; they wouldn't need to go to such great lengths."
The Prince Heir said, "That's true! I knew Chen Ji was reliable!"
Bai Li glared at the Prince Heir without speaking.
The Prince Heir smiled awkwardly, "I'm not as smart as Zhang Xia. What I just said was only a casual remark going along with her words..."
He got up, walked quickly for a few steps, and pressed his cheek against the wooden door of the workshop to eavesdrop on the movements outside.
At this moment, another cavalryman galloped past the door, shouting loudly, "Mister Feng has ordered! The First Major Battalion is to assemble and ride into the mountains immediately. You must intercept that out-of-towner before he crosses through Longwang Valley!"
Bai Li forcefully propped herself up. "It's Chen Ji!"
Zhang Xia nodded. "It is unquestionably Chen Ji. Longwang Valley is to the northeast, and we are in the southwest. Chen Ji definitely chose that direction on purpose, wanting to help us draw them away."
The Prince Heir scratched his head. "Your mind works so fast, just like Chen Ji's."
Zhang Xia cast him a glance and said calmly, "Chen Ji instructed us before he left that if a disturbance broke out in the town, we must immediately take the Commandery Princess and leave. If we are going to go, we have to go right now."
The Prince Heir said with certainty, "Let's go!"
He bent down, scooped Bai Li up onto his back, and started to leave.
Under the cover of night, Zhang Xia walked in front. She pushed the door open and peeked out. Upon confirming that the soldiers hadn't searched this far yet, she immediately led the way, sneaking toward the wooden fence.
"Who goes there! Halt!"
A voice echoed from behind the three of them like a sudden clap of thunder. The Prince Heir abruptly turned his head around, only to see two soldiers rushing over with sabers in hand from dozens of paces away. "We found the out-of-towners! They're over here!"
The Prince Heir's heart sank to the bottom of the valley.
The cavalryman from earlier had intentionally shouted loudly just to beat the grass and scare the snakes; in reality, the soldiers had long since set up hidden sentries on the streets, waiting for them to walk right into the trap.
He suddenly felt a wave of despair. Even with Chen Ji risking his life to help lure the pursuers away, they still couldn't escape.
As the Prince Heir, he couldn't even protect two people.
"Run!"
Carrying Bai Li on his back, the Prince Heir sprinted wildly toward the wooden fence alongside Zhang Xia.
Standing in front of the fence, he glanced back at the soldiers about to catch up and told Zhang Xia, "Step on me and climb over first, then catch Bai Li!"
Bai Li weakly said, "Brother... leave me here."
The Prince Heir furiously rebuked, "What kind of bullshit are you saying? How am I supposed to explain to dad and Chen Ji if I leave you here?!"
Bai Li said stubbornly, "Don't hesitate, you won't get far carrying me. Hurry."
However, right after her words fell, Zhang Xia, beside them, suddenly cried out in shock, "Zaozao?!"
The Prince Heir looked in the direction Zhang Xia was looking and saw, to his astonishment, a jujube-red horse standing not far beyond the fence. Standing at over eight feet tall, it exhaled visible breaths in the cold winter moonlight, the white mist shooting out like arrows.
A black shadow flickered atop Zaozao's head and landed in the grassy bushes beside it.
The soldiers were right upon them.
In the next moment, Zaozao let out a neigh. This fierce warhorse unexpectedly charged forward and vaulted right over the wooden fence that was taller than a person.
The massive warhorse nimbly spun around mid-air and kicked out forcefully. Its two robust hind hooves simultaneously struck the chests of the two soldiers.
With a loud boom, accompanied by the sound of shattering bones, the two soldiers' chests caved in, and they flew backwards for over ten zhang!
The Prince Heir and Bai Li were dumbfounded, while Wu Yun, hiding outside the fence, felt a profound sense of reverence!
So fierce!
The Prince Heir exclaimed in shock, "This Zaozao of yours..."
Zaozao obediently stopped by Zhang Xia and lowered its head to nuzzle her hair.
Zhang Xia smiled and pressed her cheek against it. "This is the horse my cousin-uncle gave me. He said Zaozao is of a dragon breed."
A dragon breed?
Even the Prince Heir of a powerful regional prince had never heard of such a thing!
After saying this, she mounted the horse and reached her hand out toward Bai Li. "Commandery Princess, get on the horse. The Prince Heir can sit in the very front. Zaozao has enough strength to carry the three of us!"
From the distance, the sounds of dense footsteps and battle cries drifted over. The Prince Heir and Bai Li hesitated no longer. They immediately mounted the horse, and Zaozao lifted its hooves to set off.
Looking ahead, the Prince Heir asked, "What if our way is blocked by a wooden fence? Carrying three people, Zaozao shouldn't be able to jump over it... right?"
With a thunderous crash, Zaozao had absolutely no intention of jumping over; without slowing down in the slightest, it simply lowered its head and smashed the wooden fence to smithereens.
"Where are we going now?" Zhang Xia asked while tugging on the reins.
The Prince Heir inquired, "Can Zaozao carry four people?"
Zhang Xia thought about it. "I don't know either... Zaozao, can you carry four people? Give a neigh if you can."
Zaozao responded with a neigh.
The Prince Heir fell silent for a moment. "Then let's head northeast and pick up Chen Ji!"
Zhang Xia frowned. "What if we don't manage to meet up?"
The Prince Heir took a deep breath. "At least we won't have any regrets!"
Zhang Xia said, "Then let's go!"
Bai Li echoed, "Let's go!"
Under the moon, there were no clouds, only a clear radiance. The fiery steed changed direction. They brought no worldly possessions with them, and they wished to leave nothing behind.
(End of Chapter)