Before Yunyi could recover, another arrow shot toward her. This time she wasn’t so fortunate—though she tried desperately to dodge, she was still struck in her already injured left shoulder and fell from the horse’s back. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Shimin reached back to grab her. Fearing capture, Yunyi hastily leaped down from the horse and rolled several times on the ground. At this moment, Li Jiancheng rushed to Li Shimin’s side and asked nervously, “Second brother, are you alright?”
Li Shimin touched his neck and said, “Thank you for saving me, elder brother. It’s just a flesh wound, nothing serious.”
Li Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief and patted his shoulder, “Good that you’re fine. If anything happened to you, I’d have no way to explain to father.”
While they were talking, Yunyi forcefully cut off the arrow shaft in her shoulder, her face contorting grotesquely from pain. “You ambushed me?!” She had been cautious everywhere yet still fell into the trap. This Li Jiancheng was truly hateful!
“Speaking of ambushes, how could we compare to you!” Speaking thus, Li Jiancheng waved his hand forcefully, “Capture this woman! Whoever catches her gets a reward of a hundred taels of silver!”
The residence gates were tightly closed, and the surrounding blue stone walls were several zhang high. When she was uninjured it was manageable, but now wounded, it was impossible to leave. Yunyi endured the pain while defending and retreating inward, while from both sides arrows continuously shot at her—all arranged by Li Jiancheng who had secretly instructed archers hidden on the walls.
Before long, Yunyi was covered in wounds. If this continued, she would certainly die here. No—she still didn’t know whether the poison on the dagger had taken Li Yuan’s life. She absolutely couldn’t die like this. She had to survive, had to find a way to live!
Thinking this, Yunyi endured the severe pain and picked up a dropped bow and arrow from the ground, then hurled it at the crowd. Though it couldn’t injure anyone, it caused Li Jiancheng and the guards to scramble in confusion. Taking advantage of their reaction time, Yunyi ran toward the back courtyard at top speed, fresh blood continuously dripping behind her…
“Chase her!” Li Jiancheng shouted with a dark expression. The guards followed the blood trail all the way to Yuehua Pond in the back courtyard, where the blood abruptly stopped at the shore, but no trace of the person could be seen.
The guard captain said to Li Jiancheng who arrived shortly after, “Reporting to Young Master, we’ve lost the assassin’s trail here. She very likely jumped into the water.”
Li Jiancheng shouted, “If that’s the case, why aren’t you hurrying to search the water!”
“No need.” Li Shimin, who had come with Li Jiancheng, took a wind lantern from one of the guards and illuminated the lake surface, shaking his head. “This woman is severely wounded and has lost much blood. If she entered the water, the pond would definitely change color. I suspect she’s hiding somewhere.”
Li Jiancheng thought briefly and said, “Station guards to watch this place closely. If there’s anyone in the pond, capture them immediately. Also, search the entire residence thoroughly. We must catch this audacious assassin and absolutely cannot let her escape.”
Under Li Jiancheng’s orders, the Governor’s residence was guarded with utmost strictness. Not even a bird could hope to fly out, let alone a person. He hated Yunyi to the bone and was determined to capture her!
Yunyi had disappeared near Yuehua Pond, so the area around the pond naturally became the focus of the guards’ search. They wished they could turn over every inch of ground. A bit beyond Yuehua Pond were the firewood storage and some servants’ quarters. In front of the firewood storage, a servant happened to be chopping wood, with many split logs piled beside him about half a person’s height, and some logs scattered around because they hadn’t been stacked properly. The servant suddenly saw so many people approaching with weapons and stood there at a loss. After a while, he finally reacted and asked cautiously, “Brothers, what’s… what’s happened?”
After searching the firewood storage without results, the guard captain stared at him and asked, “Why are you still chopping wood so late?”
The servant quickly replied, “I wasn’t feeling well a few days ago and accumulated a lot of unchopped wood. The kitchen has already urged me several times. Today I felt better, so I thought I’d hurry and finish chopping the wood to avoid running short later.”
The guard captain made no comment on his words and asked, “Have you seen a severely wounded woman?”
The servant shook his head blankly, “Before you brothers arrived, I didn’t see anyone else.” Speaking thus, he probed, “Brothers, has something happened?”
The guard captain glanced at him coldly, “Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t ask. In any case, if you see such a woman, report it immediately. There’ll be benefits for you then.”
The servant nodded repeatedly. After the guards disappeared from sight, he shed his previous dull and timid demeanor and walked several steps in the direction they had gone, listening carefully. After confirming these people hadn’t turned back midway, he returned to where he had been chopping wood and moved the wood piles on the ground one by one. Under the wood pile, a person was clearly hidden. By the moonlight’s silver glow, one could see that person was covered in bloody marks—it was precisely Yunyi, whom the guard captains were seeking. And this servant was none other than Shen Moping, who had originally entered the Governor’s residence to work alongside Yunyi.
“Master, they’ve left. It’s safe now. Master? Master?” Shen Moping called several times without getting a response. Looking carefully, he saw that Yunyi had already fainted.
Taking advantage of no one being around, he quickly helped Yunyi into the firewood storage, then hurried back to his shared sleeping quarters to retrieve previously hidden spare clothes. Fortunately, among them were one or two of Yunyi’s old outfits. He then took an old garment of his own that he didn’t wear, preparing for emergencies. After arranging everything properly, he quickly returned to the firewood storage and tore the old clothes into strips to bandage Yunyi’s wounds. However, the left shoulder injury troubled him—the arrow shaft had already been broken by Yunyi, leaving only a short section protruding. It was difficult to extract, and moreover, he currently had neither physician nor medicine. If blood flowed unstoppably after removal, Yunyi’s life would be hard to preserve.
Just as he was troubled, Yunyi slowly awakened and said with difficulty, “Have they… all left?”
Shen Moping quickly said, “Yes, this servant sent them all away. Master, please rest assured. But Master, why didn’t you inform this servant before taking action? With this servant helping to cover for you, you wouldn’t have been so severely injured.” Speaking toward the end, his eyes couldn’t help but redden. Though he hadn’t witnessed it personally, Yunyi’s wounds were sufficient proof of how thrilling and dangerous the previous battle had been. If that arrow had been just a bit lower, it would have immediately taken Yunyi’s life.
Yunyi weakly shook her head, “If you had also gone, we truly wouldn’t have anywhere to hide now. Besides, since we decided to do this, we… expected it would be like this. It’s just a pity that I couldn’t kill Li Yuan with one stroke. That poison…”
Shen Moping knew what she was worried about and said, “The poison we coated on the dagger is a rare toxin from the Western Regions. Ordinary physicians don’t even know this poison’s name, let alone how to neutralize it. Li Yuan will surely die. As soon as we confirm news of his death, we’ll immediately return to Luoyang.”
“That’s all we can do.” After saying this much, Yunyi’s complexion became even worse than before, showing a greenish tinge beneath the pallor, and her body trembled slightly.