Jiu’er’s heart was anxious at this moment too. The situation was far worse than she had anticipated.
Ninth Imperial Uncle could not leave — if he left, Mu Mu would be in mortal danger at any moment. What were they to do?
“Miss Jiu’er, let me go and try to persuade the Eighth Prince to withdraw.” Yu Jingfeng stepped forward and came to her side, speaking in a low, steady voice: “But, Miss Jiu’er, you had all best prepare to evacuate.”
“Understood.” Feng Jiu’er gave a nod, then looked toward Ye Luosha: “Mu Mu’s current condition absolutely cannot withstand excessive movement — quickly have someone prepare the most comfortable carriage available. Right away!”
“Very well. I’ll see to it immediately.” At this moment, Ye Luosha followed her instructions entirely. After all, Mu’er’s injuries were now under Feng Jiu’er’s direct care.
Yet even with the finest carriage, these rugged mountain paths were rough and winding — it would be exceedingly difficult to ensure there would be no jolting at all.
Once there was any jolting, Mu’er’s injuries would likely worsen immediately. What then?
Both Ye Luosha and Elder Shi were in a difficult position. All they could do was prepare while waiting for good news from Yu Jingfeng.
If he could persuade the Eighth Prince to take a different route, there might still be a sliver of hope. If he could not… then the situation was absolutely grim.
……
The contingent led by Zhan Lingtian found the area before long.
“Your Highness, there are scattered tracks ahead.” A scouting guard turned back to report.
“Follow the tracks!” Zhan Lingtian sat on horseback and issued the command in a low, firm voice.
“Yes!” The guard gave a nod and immediately moved to lead the contingent forward.
Ahead, a shadow swept past. The guards instantly drew their longswords, blades leveled at the newcomer.
Yu Jingfeng landed not far ahead of Zhan Lingtian. Before the guards could seize him, he dropped to one knee: “Your subordinate Yu Jingfeng pays his respects to the Eighth Prince.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Zhan Lingtian’s eyes: “Yu Jingfeng, why are you here? Where is A’Jiu?”
“In reply to the Eighth Prince: my lord Prince is searching ahead with his men. Having learned that the Eighth Prince is also in this area, he has sent your subordinate to report and respectfully requests that the Eighth Prince redirect the search to another location.”
The Ninth Prince was conducting a search here and did not want the Eighth Prince searching the same area, so as not to waste manpower and resources — this, on the surface, seemed reasonable enough.
Yet Zhan Lingtian’s brow furrowed even deeper. His gaze fixed on Yu Jingfeng, a note of doubt crept in: “A’Jiu specifically sent you here just to tell me this news?”
Seeing the suspicion on his face, Yu Jingfeng paused briefly to think — and in that instant, his mind jolted. He understood where he had gone wrong.
Given his lord Prince’s proud and aloof nature, and that sliver of patience he possessed — how could he possibly do something so cumbersome as sending someone specifically to run this errand and notify the Eighth Prince?
His lord Prince would likely not even concern himself with such a trivial matter. Where the Eighth Prince chose to search was the Eighth Prince’s business. His lord Prince would never waste his own time and energy meddling in others’ affairs.
His lord Prince was truly always a cold and indifferent person — in all things except when it came to Feng Jiu’er.
The Eighth Prince knew his lord Prince well, which was why the Eighth Prince had now grown suspicious.
Yu Jingfeng was about to offer an explanation, but Zhan Lingtian’s expression abruptly darkened, displeasure evident in his voice: “Yu Jingfeng, this is absolutely not something A’Jiu would say! You are acting on your own authority to prevent my men from continuing the search in this area — what exactly are your intentions?”
“Eighth Prince, your subordinate has no ulterior motives. Perhaps… my lord Prince simply dislikes being disturbed by the Eighth Prince…”
“Preposterous! If A’Jiu wanted to be left alone, no one could disturb him regardless!”
The Eighth Prince’s fury ignited in an instant. With a sharp metallic ring, he drew his longsword, its tip leveled at Yu Jingfeng: “What scheme are you plotting? Where is A’Jiu? Have you colluded with the people of Yemingong to plot against A’Jiu?”
“Your subordinate would not dare!” Yu Jingfeng hastily lowered his head and replied, “Your subordinate holds absolute loyalty to the Ninth Prince and would never betray my lord Prince!”
“Words alone prove nothing. Where exactly is A’Jiu?” Most of the Feilong Shi’er Qi’s men were still outside searching for Feng Jiu’er, as was the Ninth Prince’s guard contingent.
And yet, over these past two days, the Ninth Prince had seemingly vanished — everyone had completely lost all word of him.
Not only had the Ninth Prince disappeared, but so too had Yu Jingfeng. Now Yu Jingfeng had appeared out of nowhere, yet the Ninth Prince was still nowhere to be found — who could not be suspicious?
“Yu Jingfeng, if you do not reveal A’Jiu’s whereabouts immediately, do not blame me for showing no mercy!”
The moment the Eighth Prince drew his sword, his guards snapped into formation at once, shifting into position and encircling Yu Jingfeng within a combat ring!
Cold sweat began to seep from the corners of Yu Jingfeng’s brow. He had not expected that a single moment of carelessness on his part would bring things to this.
“Eighth Prince, would you permit your subordinate to first go and inform my lord Prince?”
“Nonsense! To release a tiger back to the mountains is to invite future trouble!” Zhan Lingtian was completely unwilling to trust him. “Men, seize Yu Jingfeng! Once I have found A’Jiu, I will let A’Jiu deal with him personally!”
“Yes!”
……
“Palace Mistress, something is wrong — Lord Yu has gotten into a fight with the Eighth Prince’s men outside, and he has likely already been captured.”
“What?” The spy’s news hit Ye Luosha like a plunge into an abyss of ice.
Something had gone wrong on Yu Jingfeng’s end, which meant the Eighth Prince’s forces would be arriving before long. If Mu Mu were not injured, she would not be afraid even though she was short-handed.
But now, with Mu’er wounded in this state — what if something truly went wrong?
“It seems Ninth Imperial Uncle will have to go out himself before things can be explained clearly.” Feng Jiu’er turned to go back inside.
Even though Ninth Imperial Uncle was not the sort of person who was willing to speak and explain himself, his very presence was the best explanation there was.
As long as Ninth Imperial Uncle went out, the Eighth Prince should not continue to press the assault.
But before she could step through the door, a second spy came rushing up behind her: “Palace Mistress, a contingent of forces has been spotted approaching from the east — at least two hundred men or more. The night is deep and dark, and at the moment, we cannot make out who they are.”
Ye Luosha glanced back at Feng Jiu’er, who had already turned around. Feng Jiu’er’s palms tightened slightly — and then, yet another brother came racing up to report: “Palace Mistress, the forces from the east are setting fires. The blaze will likely spread here very soon.”
“Damn them! They actually intend to burn us to death in here!” Ye Luosha was so furious she wanted to charge out immediately and face them head-on!
“Your inner cultivation is damaged right now, and there is essentially no one here capable of fighting. There is perhaps only Long Yi — are you certain you really want to go out and fight them directly?”
Feng Jiu’er was not trying to mock her. It was simply that this was absolutely not the moment for recklessness.
Ye Luosha’s anger was overwhelming, but indeed — a tiger fallen to flat ground is bullied even by dogs!
The situation had erupted without warning. Not a single brother was at her side, Mu’er was gravely injured, and she and Elder Shi had exhausted their true energy channeling it into Mu’er. At this moment, she did not even have a shred of capacity to fight back!
How had she allowed herself and Mu’er to fall to such a state? And yet now, she was utterly without any recourse!
Sure enough, the faint smell of smoke had begun to drift through the air. This place was easy to defend and difficult to attack — but if one used fire, it was quite another matter entirely.
Could it be that they had no concern for whether the Ninth Prince might be here? Were they not afraid that something might happen to the Ninth Prince?