The canyon battle quickly ended with Chief Eunuch Huang Jin of the Directorate of Ceremonial leading the Imperial Horse Guard’s Strong Men Battalion in gunfire.
After the dense gunshots, not only was Emperor Jiajing’s just-lit candle extinguished, but Wei Caiwei, who was treating injured palace ladies at the foot of the mountain, was also startled.
Wei Caiwei looked toward the direction of the gunshots, her heart suddenly racing wildly, feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
By this time the imperial physicians had arrived at Qionghua Island. Wei Caiwei handed the patients over to the imperial physicians, mounted a horse, and galloped toward the western mountains.
In the western mountain’s dense forest, when gunshots rang out, several guards at the front of the chase pursuing Lu Ying had already been shot and fallen—the Imperial Horse Guard’s Strong Men Battalion were elite soldiers selected from various palace guard units with precise marksmanship. They were also the only army in the palace led by eunuchs, responsible solely for protecting the emperor.
The guards who were shot and fell shocked the guards behind them so much they didn’t dare move. Lu Jing and Prince Jing were also stunned.
Lu Ying had found backing and seized the opportunity to order the guards to release Wu Xiaoqi and her other five subordinates. All six ran together toward the dense forest where Wang Daxia was hiding.
The furious Prince Jing ordered his men to go into the forest and kill Wang Daxia, but these guards ran in the same direction as Lu Ying’s group. Huang Jin, thinking these men were chasing Lu Ying, continued ordering the Imperial Horse Guard to fire.
Bang bang bang!
Another volley of gunshots rang out. This time the distance was greater and mountain rocks blocked the way, so no one was hit, but the deterrent effect worked. No matter how Prince Jing urged them, the guards remained where they were.
Prince Jing could only watch helplessly as Lu Ying’s six-person team ran to rescue Wang Daxia.
Now, Wang Daxia was swinging through the dense forest like a monkey, clinging to climbing vines to avoid crossbow fire. When gunshots rang out, the guards in the forest didn’t know they were fired by Imperial Horse Guard personnel, so they didn’t stop their pursuit and continued aiming arrows at their prey, Wang Daxia.
With over a dozen men surrounding him, they had already used arrowheads to gradually force Wang Daxia out of the dense forest.
Below the dense forest was the foot of Qionghua Island’s mountain, where the terrain was flat with only a row of willows along the shore. Wang Daxia had nowhere to hide, and the hunters’ victory was in sight.
Driven to desperation, Wang Daxia still had a strong will to survive: Wei Caiwei and I still have our three-year agreement—if I die, Physician Wei will become a true widow.
After being forced out of the dense forest by an arrow, Wang Daxia charged toward the lakeside willows, planning to take a gamble and jump into Taiye Pool to escape. He was a good swimmer.
However, the hunters also saw his intention and raised their crossbows to shoot at him in unison. Wang Daxia could only roll behind a rock to avoid the arrows, staying completely still.
If he ran, he’d be shot on the spot; if he didn’t run, when the hunters surrounded him, it would still be death.
What to do? Wang Daxia was caught in a dilemma.
Just then, hoofbeats came from the east. Wang Daxia lay on the ground looking over—someone was riding a white horse, galloping through the colorful evening glow. As the sun set in the west, even her flying hair was plated with a dazzling arc of light.
It was Wei Caiwei.
Wei Caiwei saw Wang Daxia fleeing wildly from the dense forest like a stray dog, with guards in hot pursuit, using arrows to force him under a rock where they were closing in. Wang Daxia was like meat on a chopping board.
Her dead ghost husband was in mortal danger! About to be shot full of arrows!
Wei Caiwei had no idea what Wang Daxia had done to cause the guards to hunt him down. She only knew Wang Daxia couldn’t die—she had to save him at any cost.
In her desperation, Wei Caiwei couldn’t care about anything else and shouted loudly: “His Majesty has decreed! Stay your hands!”
To save Wang Daxia, Wei Caiwei was willing to take risks, even committing the crime of falsely transmitting imperial edicts.
The hunters were all Prince Jing’s manor guards. Even Lu Ying’s words, or even Lu Bing’s words, wouldn’t work on them, but who dared disobey the emperor’s decree?
Defying imperial orders was treason—no one could bear that responsibility, not even Prince Jing and Lu Jing.
So when the hunters heard this, they all put down their crossbows and didn’t turn Wang Daxia into a porcupine.
Wei Caiwei rode up on horseback. To fool everyone, she pretended to be calm, slowed her horse, and said to the hunters: “I bring His Majesty’s oral decree to take Wang Daxia before the throne for questioning.”
The hunters examined Wei Caiwei, saw the medicine pouch on her shoulder, and immediately became suspicious: “You’re a palace physician? How could His Majesty possibly have a female physician deliver an oral decree?”
Wei Caiwei had spent sixteen years in the palace in her previous life and was very good at making up stories: “I’m a palace physician recruited by Chuxiu Palace. A palace lady from Chuxiu Palace accompanied His Majesty today. She drank too much, so I was summoned to prescribe sobering medicine for her. That’s why I was also before the throne today. His Majesty saw chaos at the foot of the mountain with everyone talking at once, so he ordered all relevant parties brought to Guanghan Palace for questioning. As for why he sent me—aren’t you Prince Jing’s manor guards overstepping your bounds?”
Wei Caiwei didn’t know today’s chaos was caused by Wang Daxia treating Prince Jing as a lecher. She could only speak half-truths, vaguely, and when parts couldn’t be explained logically, she used imperial authority to pressure people.
The selection wasn’t over yet, but one palace lady had already won the emperor’s favor ahead of the others. Of the forty-nine palace ladies who attended the chrysanthemum banquet, forty-eight returned—this news had spread everywhere, and these guards had basically all heard it.
Their suspicions of Wei Caiwei lessened somewhat, but the guards didn’t dare simply let Wang Daxia go: “This person falsely accused Prince Jing of being a lecher—a heinous crime deserving death. How can you, a woman, handle this cunning big man? We must personally escort him to Guanghan Palace.”
Wei Caiwei acted so convincingly that even Wang Daxia was fooled. He quickly argued: “I slandered? I saw with my own eyes Prince Jing using a telescope to peep at palace ladies at the chrysanthemum banquet, and even—”
Wang Daxia, mindful that Wei Caiwei was a woman, didn’t want to directly mention that root of trouble, so he changed his words: “Even that thing was standing up so much his robes couldn’t cover it. When I discovered him, he tried to kill me to silence me, but I subdued him in one move, gagged him and tied him up. But Prince Jing refused to admit it and bit back, saying I was the lecher. How could a nobody like me have a telescope? The accuser has become the accused—even if this case goes before the throne, I’m in the right.”
Hearing this, Wei Caiwei understood the general situation. So the lecher Wang Daxia mentioned was Prince Jing! Prince Jing’s disappearance was because Wang Daxia had tied him up!
No wonder Prince Jing’s manor guards wanted to hunt him down.
Wei Caiwei forcibly calmed her emotions and said with feigned composure: “Right and wrong, black and white—His Majesty will make the sacred judgment. I’m just a messenger. If you want to follow, come along to Guanghan Palace.”
Anyway, this group wouldn’t dare act before the throne.
Wei Caiwei led the way in front, with over ten guards escorting Wang Daxia up the mountain. They happened to encounter Lu Ying, who had come to rescue Wang Daxia.
Seeing Wei Caiwei calmly riding her horse while Wang Daxia was captured but still alive, Lu Ying breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Ying looked at the crossbows in the guards’ hands and remained uneasy: “Eunuch Huang from the Directorate of Ceremonial has come. Everyone put down your weapons and stop fighting to avoid disturbing His Majesty. You can follow along, but you must immediately put down your weapons.”
The arrowheads glowed with an eerie blue light—Lu Ying had to be cautious. Once they went up the mountain, they’d be showing their backs to these people. Having come this far, especially at the very end, they had to be more careful and couldn’t be careless.
The guards didn’t trust Lu Ying: “Why can you carry weapons?”
Lu Ying said: “We’ve been serving before the throne for half a month. How would you Prince Jing’s manor people know? Of course protecting His Majesty requires weapons.”
The guards exchanged glances: “When we reach Guanghan Palace, we’ll naturally put down our weapons.”
Lu Ying pointed toward the dense forest: “His Majesty has already sent Eunuch Huang to settle this matter. Did you hear the gunshots just now? Those were fired by Eunuch Huang’s Imperial Horse Guard Strong Men Battalion. Eunuch Huang ordered that except for us Embroidered Uniform Guards, everyone else must immediately put down their weapons. Do you want to defy Eunuch Huang’s orders?”
Actually, Lu Ying had only focused on running to rescue Wang Daxia and hadn’t had time to hear what Huang Jin said. Having spent so much time with Wang Daxia, she had been influenced by him—even the always upright and stern Lu Ying had learned to lie.
The guards put down their crossbows and removed their sabers and swords.
With backing, Wang Daxia immediately became cocky, sweeping away his earlier wretched state like a stray dog: “What about hidden weapons? Don’t think I don’t know.”
The guards rustled and shook out a small pile of iron lotus seeds, throwing knives and other hidden weapons, and even pulled short knives from their boot tubes.
Lu Ying gave a look, and her subordinates confiscated all the weapons.
With weapons laid down, the team moved forward. Just then, voices from the Imperial Horse Guard calling for Lu Ying came from the dense forest—Huang Jin was worried something had happened to Lu Ying and couldn’t explain it to Lu Bing.
Hearing this, the guards became suspicious again: “Just now this female physician said she brought His Majesty’s oral decree to bring all relevant parties to Guanghan Palace for questioning. Why are the Imperial Horse Guard people still looking for Commander Lu? Aren’t we supposed to be going up the mountain?”
His Majesty’s oral decree? Lu Ying was confused—she had only seen Huang Jin arrive. Where was any imperial edict?
Lu Ying looked at Wei Caiwei, who silently mouthed “fake.”
Lu Ying was greatly shocked! Wei Caiwei had just falsely transmitted an imperial edict! If this was exposed before the throne and Prince Jing used it as leverage to bite back, Wei Caiwei would be guilty of deceiving the sovereign—a capital offense!
Lu Ying made a decision.
She stopped walking and with lightning speed, her left hand slashed the throat of the guard who had just questioned her while her right hand gripped a just-confiscated short knife, stabbing it toward another guard’s heart.
She killed two men in one breath. Lu Ying swung her blade toward a third person while saying to her shocked subordinates: “Act quickly—we can’t leave a single one alive!”
Wang Daxia was first to react, picking up a crossbow and repeatedly shooting at the guards. Wu Xiaoqi and the others also came to their senses. Though they didn’t understand why Lu Ying was doing this, they chose to trust their superior.
When Huang Jin arrived with the Strong Men Battalion, he saw over ten corpses lying on the ground. Lu Ying was using a handkerchief to wipe blood from her Embroidered Spring Blade. She sheathed her sword and bowed to Huang Jin: “Old sir, these Prince Jing’s manor guards wouldn’t listen to my advice and repeatedly hunted Wang Daxia. We could only kill them on the spot.”
Wang Daxia presented the crossbow to Huang Jin: “Old sir, these people were extremely vicious. They coated their arrowheads with deadly poison that kills on contact with blood. Fortunately, I seized their weapons first and fought back. Otherwise, weapons have no eyes—it wouldn’t matter if I was hurt, but if Commander Lu had been accidentally killed, I’d have no face to meet Commander Lu.”
Author’s Note: This chapter comes with 200 red packets—wishing everyone a happy weekend~ Be happy! I know everyone has been overwhelmed by waves of melodrama lately, but even more melodrama is coming. Level 10 melodrama warning—everyone needs to be mentally prepared!