Wu Yan was delighted that she had finally relented, and also thought her words made perfect sense. With the current chaos and killing, the Eagle God would surely be disturbed. Continuing with the wedding ceremony would be stained with the inauspicious aura of bloodshed.
“Ah Zi, the wedding can be postponed, but the bridal chamber cannot.” His eyes were as deep as an eagle’s. “Tonight, you must become my woman!”
Mo Zi’s face flushed red all at once.
“Duan Geshou!” Wu Yan looked at her shy appearance with satisfaction and commanded his beloved general, “Lead the shadow guards to escort the queen back to the palace.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Duan Geshou didn’t hesitate. Although blades flashed below, the king’s side held absolute advantage. “But can the queen stand up and walk?”
“Just carry her.” Wu Yan wasn’t fussy. “In extraordinary times, there’s no need to observe common etiquette. Ah Shou, I treat you like a younger brother. Mo Zi is your sister-in-law. I trust you completely—you must protect her thoroughly.”
Mo Zi covered her wound and stood up. “No one needs to carry me. I’m injured in the arm, not the leg. Let’s go quickly. I detest all this fighting. Skin split open, flesh torn, blood spattering everywhere—it’s terrifying.”
Wu Yan burst into loud laughter again. Ever since Mo Zi agreed to marry him another day, he was simply elated, his spirits soaring.
Duan Geshou thought to himself that this woman appeared delicate and soft, but was actually extremely resilient and unyielding. No wonder the king remained unable to forget her. Though he wasn’t like the Ke Na clan who only worried about their own interests and made Mo Zi’s Han woman identity seem more important than heaven itself, she too easily swayed the king’s emotions. If she harbored ill intentions, she could truly affect Daqiu’s situation. He thought of her disguised as a man in Yuling’s Left Prefecture and couldn’t help frowning. But he knew this wasn’t the time to speak. The king had already decided he must marry Mo Zi no matter what. Everything would have to wait until things calmed down.
He immediately selected dozens of shadow guards, ordered his soldiers to clear a path, and hurried out of the divine temple. He had originally worried that woman couldn’t keep up, but unexpectedly, every time he looked back, she was following close behind. Blood was dark red between her fingers, her sleeve red halfway up her arm, yet her expression remained composed.
Outside the temple were all Duan Geshou’s troops. The phoenix palanquin was outside, but when he invited her to board, she laughed.
“General Duan, is this the time to ride in a phoenix palanquin? Are you planning to let the common people witness the ceremony, or what?” After laughing, she mounted a horse. “Let’s hurry back to the palace to avoid any more accidents.”
Duan Geshou regarded her with new respect once again.
Just as they were about to depart, Ye’er actually ran out of the divine temple too. “Miss, the king ordered me to attend you.”
Mo Zi’s expression turned somewhat cold. “Ye’er, you’re no longer a maidservant. Don’t call me miss anymore—I cannot bear it. Since he sent you, do as you please.” Having finished speaking, she didn’t wait for anyone, pulled the reins, and the horse broke into a gallop.
Duan Geshou remained calm. With a wave of his hand, the shadow guards gave chase.
“Miss Ye’er, it seems you and I must share a mount.” His teeth flashed white as he smiled. “That’s fine. On the way, you can tell me some interesting stories about the queen.”
Ye’er glanced at him without good humor. “General Duan has such a relaxed attitude. Be careful you don’t fail in your duty and lose face for a great general.” Though her words were impolite, she extended her hand to him and sat in front. Duan Geshou shouted a command to his horse and chased after the one ahead. “Anyone who wants to seize the person I, Duan Geshou, am escorting—if you’re not afraid of death, come and try.”
Ye’er had some rapport with Duan Geshou. “Don’t underestimate this task, because your opponent is her.”
“Who?” Duan Geshou didn’t understand.
But Ye’er said no more.
Over a thousand troops entered the market streets. Every household’s main gate was tightly shut—Maer’s order forbidding anyone to go out had clearly spread throughout the entire city. Duan Geshou was secretly pleased. After this upheaval, Ke Na and the others would fall from favor before the king. It was time for the Duan clan to surpass them.
Suddenly shadow guards galloped back from ahead. “Reporting to the general, there’s thick smoke in the direction of the royal palace.”
Duan Geshou looked—indeed there was! Within the thick smoke was firelight too. He sent people to investigate further while ordering the troops to halt their advance.
Before long, shadow guards came to report that the royal palace had caught fire.
“How could there be a fire at this time?” Duan Geshou knitted his brows tightly. “Could it be another trick by Ke Na and his people?”
But Mo Zi urged, “Why must the general overthink? What kind of place is the royal palace? The security is strict. Even if Ke Na had powers reaching to heaven, he couldn’t control what’s inside. Hurry into the palace. I’m actually more worried staying on the streets—there’s still Maer’s Protectorate Army to deal with.”
When she didn’t urge him, it was fine, but her urging made Duan Geshou hesitate instead. With the royal palace on fire, by normal reasoning she should be anxious, yet instead she was eager to go there. Last night his grandfather told him that Song Mo Zi was extremely resistant to the wedding and that he should act with thorough consideration. And Ye’er also said not to underestimate her. Thinking of how in Yuling there was a valiant man by her side who still hadn’t appeared here—could there be someone in the palace ready to receive her and take her away amid the chaos?
Thinking of this, his eyes blazed like torches as he looked at Mo Zi.
Mo Zi frowned. “Why is the general staring at me like this? What do you mean?”
Ye’er spoke in a low voice behind Duan Geshou, “The royal palace can’t be entered now. Better to return to the Song Mansion. The queen’s younger sister is there, so the young marquis stationed several hundred soldiers surrounding it.”
Duan Geshou thought about it and felt this was a good idea. The Song Mansion wasn’t large. The young marquis’s men were certainly reliable, and adding the shadow guards and his thousand troops, they could defend it tight as a barrel. He immediately made up his mind.
“Change course to the Song Mansion!” After speaking, he paid attention to Mo Zi’s expression. The more displeased she looked, the more he thought the palace fire was suspicious, and the more determined he became not to yield to her wishes. At the same time, he sent people to the divine temple to inform the king of the change in plans.
“Your Majesty the Queen need not panic. We will only rest briefly at the Song Mansion. After sending people into the palace to investigate the cause of the fire, it won’t be too late to escort Your Majesty there. Who would dare delay the king’s bridal chamber?” Duan Geshou was valiant and also uninhibited. His bold gaze was quite presumptuous, with absolutely no reservations.
Mo Zi neither dodged nor avoided, looking into his eyes. “The general has troops at his command. Can I, a half-baked queen, persuade you otherwise? Moreover, the general need not put on a rakish act before me. I’m not someone who would secretly harm you.”
Duan Geshou’s mother was Han Chinese. Being exceptional made him the target of plots since childhood, so his personality was perverse and he didn’t easily grow close to people. Although Mo Zi had never met him, she had heard many things about him from Wu Yan.
Duan Geshou dropped all pretense from his expression, his demeanor solemn. This woman was too formidable—with one look and one statement, she made him no longer dare to take her lightly. Perhaps Grandfather was right. If she truly had Daqiu’s interests at heart, the hypocritical Xiang Consort’s small favors couldn’t compare at all, and Daqiu would surely win all under heaven.
Upon reaching the Song Mansion, Duan Geshou not only surrounded the outside so tightly not even water could leak through, but also arranged sentries every three steps inside, with patrol teams constantly interspersed. He even personally led the shadow guards to stay close to Mo Zi.
Seeing Mo Zi’s sleeve covered in blood, Dou Lu couldn’t help crying out, “Sister, you’re injured?”
Mo Zi made an affirmative sound and comforted her, “It’s nothing serious, just grazed by an arrow.”
But Dou Lu remained anxious. “Even a graze must be quickly cleaned and bandaged, and look at you in such a sorry state.”
Having said this, she turned to Duan Geshou. “May I take my sister to the bathing pool? Although her wound can’t get wet, she still needs to clean up.”
Duan Geshou stared at Dou Lu in a daze.
Ye’er pushed him. “General Duan, the county princess is the young marquis’s fiancée. Staring at her like this—isn’t that somewhat improper?”
Duan Geshou snapped out of his trance and coughed awkwardly. He didn’t have any improper thoughts, but he had never seen a woman of such stunning beauty as Dou Lu and was momentarily dazzled. Therefore, although he agreed they could go to the bathing pool, he still very calmly had people carefully inspect inside twice before letting them enter, and deployed all the shadow guards to secure the room.
Ye’er moved to help Mo Zi remove her outer robe, but Mo Zi pushed her away. “Dou Lu, you help me.”
But Dou Lu shook her head and didn’t come forward. “Sister, I’m afraid of blood. Let Sister Ye’er clean the wound for you, and I’ll do the bandaging.”
At first hearing, this seemed normal, but Mo Zi’s gaze shifted and she saw Dou Lu make a very slow, very slow motion of fingers touching lips.
Everything was strange. Dou Lu was leading her toward the bathing pool, and she had originally thought Yuan Cheng meant for her to return to the Song Mansion. Now thinking again, what he said at the time might have meant returning to the bathing pool specifically.
“Can’t even trust real sisters.” Though she thought this, she cooperated fully, saying, “Annoying! I’ll undress myself.” Halfway through undressing, she cried out in pain.
Ye’er, with her back to Dou Lu, hurried to extend her hand. “Miss, let me help after all.”
Mo Zi kept picking faults here and making cold remarks there, watching as Dou Lu slowly approached, stretching out her hand—a silver needle between her fingers—and tapped it toward Ye’er’s neck.
Ye’er turned around, touching her neck, but there was nothing. She asked suspiciously, “Miss Dou Lu, why did you tap me—” Suddenly her neck hurt intensely and she lost consciousness.
It turned out Mo Zi had given Ye’er’s neck another chop.
She caught Ye’er to prevent her from falling and making too loud a sound, then asked Dou Lu, “Poisoned needle?”
Dou Lu looked uncertain. “I don’t know. My brother-in-law gave it to me.” Afraid Mo Zi would think she meant Wu Yan, she added, “Brother-in-law Yuan. But I think Ye’er doesn’t look poisoned.”
“Brother-in-law Yuan?” Mo Zi found this amusing. “Who told you to say that?”
“It wasn’t me.” A person suddenly appeared in the room. A person as gentle and refined as jade.
“Brother-in-law.” Dou Lu called him slowly.
Mo Zi’s whole body trembled. She covered Dou Lu’s mouth. “If you dare say those two words again, we can’t be sisters anymore. Don’t fall for this guy’s trick—he’s ruining my reputation.”
Yuan Cheng laughed softly. “I already said it wasn’t me. You’re too suspicious. Come over. If this bath takes too long, even monks will come in to take a look, whether you’re the queen or the queen mother.”
He spoke with complete seriousness, but Mo Zi wanted to laugh. However, her steps were quick—she pulled Dou Lu and went right up to him.
Yuan Cheng looked her over from top to bottom, then turned and walked toward the wall. There was a wooden rack with dry soft towels on it. But beside the rack was a pitch-black hole.
A secret passage?!
“No wonder you come and go without a trace.” Mo Zi suddenly understood.
“No time to waste. Go down quickly.” Yuan Cheng had her go down first.
The hole was very narrow. Mo Zi alone filled it completely, and she couldn’t touch the bottom with her feet. But soon someone grabbed her calves and she was pulled down.
Torches crackled and burned. Mo Zi’s heart was still pounding, but she saw the faces of Zan Jin and Ding Gou and immediately smiled. Looking again, before her was a tunnel one person high and two people wide.
After Dou Lu came Yuan Cheng.
As soon as he came down, two men moved a large piece of earth to block the opening.