How could Qin Yining control her emotions at this moment? So many days of fear and anxiety—Pang Xiao’s accident, her near assassination by Tianji Zi, her father almost being arrested, and the household in chaos after learning of Pang Xiao’s incident.
All of this weighed on her shoulders, yet for the sake of not harming the child in her womb, she couldn’t even indulge in a good cry to vent her emotions.
The heartache in this was simply beyond description. Now that Pang Xiao was safe and sound, why should she continue suppressing herself?
Qin Yining buried herself in Pang Xiao’s embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.
Even so, she still restrained herself from wailing loudly. But her kitten-like whimpering made Pang Xiao’s heart ache even more.
“Good girl, don’t cry anymore. I’m fine now. If you keep crying, you’ll get a headache. Don’t cry anymore, alright?” Pang Xiao clumsily helped wipe her tears, but since he was covered in mud all over, his hands only made her face dirtier.
Ji Zeyu stood to the side, exhaustedly leaning on an iron pick while catching his breath. Seeing Pang Xiao and Qin Yining embracing, he couldn’t help but smile.
Li Qitian had just washed his face and looked at Pang Xiao with an inscrutable expression.
Ji Zeyu’s soldiers and the Elite Tiger Guards led by Huzi were now sitting or lying down. Seeing how Pang Xiao cherished his princess, they all grinned broadly, their dirty faces showing neat white teeth that looked somewhat comical but were full of genuine warmth.
After crying for a while, Qin Yining felt somewhat better. Standing straight, she realized she had become the focus of everyone’s attention and couldn’t help but blush and lower her head as she stepped back.
Pang Xiao’s large hand lovingly touched her cheek, successfully leaving three more muddy marks on her face.
Huzi, who had been watching the commotion for quite a while, burst out laughing: “My lord, look at yourself covered in mud before you start touching!”
This remark made all the men laugh.
Pang Xiao waved his fist at Huzi, then turned with a smile to bow to Li Qitian: “Your Majesty, this subject has behaved improperly. Please forgive me.”
Li Qitian smiled warmly and waved his hand: “It’s nothing. Why should we be so formal between us? Besides, you’re a young couple—it’s understandable.”
The soldiers held the emperor in the highest regard, so seeing him so approachable in person truly surprised everyone.
Huzi brought a basin of water for Pang Xiao to wash his face first.
At this time, Ji Yun, whom Qin Yining had sent down the mountain, hurriedly climbed up with two guards.
Qin Yining asked somewhat surprised: “Why did you return so quickly?”
Ji Yun’s expression was grave: “Princess, we couldn’t get down the mountain at all. The situation outside isn’t right—the base of the mountain is surrounded by many people. Those people claim they’ve come to capture Tatar spies. When they saw me trying to go down the mountain, they questioned me thoroughly, asking about the situation on the mountain and whether we had dug up anything.”
Everyone quieted down to listen to Ji Yun’s report.
Qin Yining asked: “Did you tell them anything?”
“No, seeing the situation wasn’t right, how dare I reveal what’s happening on the mountain? I only said the Princess had ordered me to go home and fetch some things.”
Qin Yining nodded and looked questioningly at Pang Xiao.
Pang Xiao looked at Ji Zeyu: “What kind of people dare come to Chong Mountain to catch spies at this critical moment? Don’t they know you’re here rescuing His Majesty?”
Ji Zeyu replied flatly: “Prince Li probably couldn’t wait any longer.”
“Prince Li?” Li Qitian narrowed his eyes.
Ji Zeyu said: “The Empress Dowager ordered Prince Li to supervise the state as regent, with the Empress Dowager ruling from behind the curtain. Perhaps Prince Li’s spies detected the activity on the mountain.”
This understated sentence clearly explained the stakes involved.
Prince Li held great power and didn’t want to let go.
As long as Li Qitian was truly buried in the underground palace, Prince Li might really ascend to that position.
Was this the reason there was no outside rescue at the scene?
Li Qitian’s face turned iron-blue: “No matter how many people are at the base of the mountain, are they stronger than the Huben Army? Ji Lan, I command you to immediately deploy the Huben Army to eliminate those rebels!”
Ji Zeyu bowed: “Your Majesty, apart from my position as prince consort not being divorced by the Princess Imperial and my noble title not having found a reason to be stripped away, I am nothing else now. The current commander of the Huben Army is the Marquis of Qingyang.”
“What!” Li Qitian ground his teeth and roared angrily: “This is simply absurd!”
Li Qitian knew all too well what kind of person the Marquis of Qingyang was. Now with the court situation tense and the Huben Army likely to head to battle at any moment, could someone like the Marquis of Qingyang serve as commander of the Huben Army?
“Was this the Empress Dowager’s decree?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Veins bulged on Li Qitian’s forehead as he clenched his fists tightly.
While he was trapped in the underground palace, not knowing if he was dead or alive, his wife didn’t come to keep vigil like Qin Yining, and his mother was actually busy seizing power, completely ignoring him! Didn’t she consider that if Prince Li developed ambitions, could he as emperor still live? Even if he survived, Prince Li would find ways to have him killed.
Those people at the base of the mountain using the excuse of capturing Tatar spies were proof of this.
Wait.
Tatar spies?
“Why do they say they’ve come to capture Tatar spies? Why not find a more reliable excuse? If Tatars have penetrated deep into the capital, what are the Great Zhou border defenses doing!”
“Your Majesty,” Ji Zeyu said again: “The Tatars have already broken through three passes in succession. The Longxiang Army has retreated to defend Tianmen Pass and urgently awaits reinforcements.”
Li Qitian’s head was practically buzzing.
In just twenty days, so many things had happened outside. If he didn’t emerge soon, would the Great Zhou be persecuted into ruin?
Li Qitian said in a deep voice: “I understand. We’ll discuss other matters later. Right now, finding a way to safely descend the mountain is what’s important.”
Ji Zeyu acknowledged and instructed his subordinate: “You go down and assess the situation. If encountered, say you were ordered to return to the Prince Consort’s mansion to fetch clean clothes for me. I still plan to continue fighting on the mountain. The news that His Majesty and Prince Zhongshun have been rescued must not be leaked.”
“Yes!”
The trusted aide immediately took the order and ran off.
Soon he returned defeated just like Ji Yun.
“Your Majesty, the people at the base of the mountain have begun tightening their encirclement up the mountain. Prince Li’s orders are not to let any Tatar spies escape—they plan to search inch by inch.”
Li Qitian ground his teeth until they creaked, squeezing out through his teeth: “What a Prince Li, what audacity!”
The mountain fell silent.
Both Ji Zeyu’s trusted men and the Elite Tiger Guards looked grave.
Everyone had been working continuously on the mountain for over twenty days, only able to rest in shifts, digging almost non-stop until everyone was exhausted.
Moreover, these people combined numbered no more than fifty, while those below who could surround the entire mountain must be numerous indeed.
With such a disparity in strength, if they truly confronted them head-on, their chances of victory weren’t great.
Everyone became tense.
The other side clearly preferred to kill a thousand by mistake rather than let one escape. If they forced a breakthrough, they truly might not be a match.
Pang Xiao shook his head and sighed: “The situation has actually developed to this point. It seems His Majesty getting down the mountain safely won’t be easy.”