When Wu Yan received the urgent report sent by Duan Geshou’s messenger, it was like being struck by five thunderbolts. Dou Lu disappearing, Chu Yu disappearing—he could bear these. But—

Mo Zi had disappeared!

He roared furiously toward the sky, drew the curved blade from the shadow guard beside him, and hacked the messenger to death. Even if Duan Geshou came, he probably wouldn’t show mercy. Because at this moment, he had completely lost his reason.

Mo Zi would never return! This intense intuition almost devoured his heart and soul, making it impossible for him not to break down! Only now, at this very moment, did he know she had become utterly heartless. Her saying she would marry him another day, her blushing shyness, even her injury—it was all an elaborate deception.

So being deceived really could tear one’s heart and split one’s lungs, break one’s intestines and shatter one’s feelings, leaving one disconsolate and wounded.

He had once deceived her, and for a long time too. He thought that at least his heart toward her was true, so as long as he coaxed her a bit, she would naturally change her mind and return. He had reserved the position of queen for her, given her all his passion and love, and even reserved the future throne for their son. All of this was his own presumption!

His secret scheming for her shipbuilding skills had filled her with grief and indignation. His relationship with her good sister Ke Na Yuexiang had killed her heart. Deception after deception—all revealed in one moment. That shock far exceeded the pain he now felt from being deceived. He finally understood her resolute determination then.

So she had changed. No longer straightforward, no longer purely good. Her eyes were guarded, her thoughts meticulous. She danced with flowing sleeves, her smile concealing daggers. Her words were aggressive, striking at vital points.

He had facilitated her transformation, and in turn had been played by her in the palm of her hand. Wasn’t this exactly what he deserved?!

Everyone in the divine temple was stunned by their king’s appearance. No one moved anymore, all staring at him in unison.

The golden-red dragon robe was stained with blood, the curved blade in his hand stained with blood, the redness in his eyes like blood too, yet his complexion was pale and ashen-cold, his expression suddenly seeming dead and defeated after the earlier fury.

Wu Yanqie reached up to remove his wedding crown and hurled it down forcefully, laughing loudly yet with unbearable grief. “Song Mo Zi is gone—you’re all satisfied now, aren’t you! She won’t return for the rest of this life—are you satisfied or not?! Fine, fine! You don’t want me to establish her as queen, so I will never establish a queen. With my blood, witnessed by the Eagle God, I make this poison oath.”

His right fist struck his chest where it hurt so much it felt like it would split open. Then he opened his mouth and spat out a great mouthful of blood.

Ke Na, Maer, Duan Ge, and everyone else heavily knelt on the ground, urgently shouting for the king to take care of his dragon body. Though there were differences regarding Mo Zi becoming queen, regardless, they were loyal to Wu Yan and placed great hopes in him.

Wu Yan fell backward.

The shadow guards hurriedly caught him and laid him flat on the stone steps.

Wu Yanle pushed through the crowd and rushed up, shouting loudly, “Royal brother! Royal brother!”

Wu Yanqie’s lips were white as paper. “Ah Le… how could she… be so heartless? It’s my fault!”

Seeing his brother heartbroken to this extent, Wu Yanle’s grief also came from pain. “Royal brother, don’t speak anymore. Just set your mind at ease. I’ll go chase her back! Even if she has a heart of iron and stone, seeing your painstaking efforts, she will…”

Wu Yanqie’s eyes closed tightly, and tears actually slid from the corners of his eyes.

Wu Yanle couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He turned and strode down the stone steps, saying to Duan Ge, “Grand Chancellor, I entrust royal brother to you. Please immediately send him back to the palace for treatment.”

Duan Ge Er Feng sighed. “External wounds are easy to treat, heart ailments difficult to cure. I can only hope the young marquis can bring Mo Zi back.” He immediately ordered the carriage forward and called for shadow guards to escort Wu Yanqie back to the palace.

Ke Na, Maer, and the others still knelt motionless.

Wu Yanle was in no good mood. “Why are you clan leader lords still kneeling? Each of you go home and reflect in seclusion. Maer, hand over the Protectorate General’s military tally—it will be temporarily kept by my two supervising officers. The Protectorate Army is disbanded. Without summons from the War Ministry, you may not assemble, otherwise you’ll be charged with treason. As for you lords, after royal brother recovers, punishment will be administered. Before leaving, clean up the divine temple to avoid angering the Eagle God and shaking our Daqiu’s foundation.” Having said this, he led his personal guards and Duan Geshou’s subordinates and departed with a flourish.

Maer rose with a panicked expression. “Lord Ke Na, things have come to this—what should we do?”

“Do as the young marquis said. Wait until the king’s spirits improve, then go bare our backs to plead guilty.” Ke Na’s expression was gloomy. “From now on, let the matter of establishing a queen follow the king’s wishes. This mouthful of heart’s blood from the king—may heaven preserve him and not damage his vital energy.”

Maer agreed. “We dare not speak much of this matter again. The king actually made a blood oath. However, that Song Mo Zi is also truly formidable—she could still escape from Duan Geshou’s hands.”

Now to Wu Yanle leading his men rushing to the south city gate, where he happened to meet up with Duan Geshou.

“How do you know they left through the south gate?” Wu Yanle asked.

Duan Geshou had originally thought the king would personally come to demand accountability, but unexpectedly it was Wu Yanle. However, he dared not conceal anything. “The soldiers guarding the city gate said they had my imperial gate token, but it’s clearly right here with me.” How humiliating—watching people enter the bathing pool with his own eyes, yet they still escaped. Thinking there was a secret passage, they ended up turning over a pile of bricks without finding anything. Even now, he was still wondering how exactly they got out of the mansion.

“They made a fake?” Wu Yanle frowned. “To be able to forge an imperial gate token—could it be Mo Zi? Forget it, let’s chase them quickly. Royal brother’s health is poor, so you and I will be responsible.”

“My lord, I’ve already sent vanguard cavalry to track them, and it would be best to issue a nationwide reward notice. Under heavy rewards there will be brave men—we can certainly make them have nowhere to hide.” Duan Geshou’s adaptability wasn’t weak. Unfortunately, his opponent was Yuan Cheng.

“I only fear that before the reward notice reaches the localities, Mo Zi will have already left Daqiu territory. However, it’s worth trying.” Wu Yanle summoned his subordinates to handle this matter.

Having left the city gate, Wu Yanle suddenly pulled back sharply on the reins, making the horse exhale and turn in circles on the spot.

Duan Geshou asked what was wrong.

“Being able to use the imperial gate token to exit through the city gate is equivalent to telling us which direction they went. Mo Zi is clever—could she not think of this?” Wu Yanle wasn’t stupid either.

“With the whole city under strict prohibition, how could they get out without the imperial gate token?” Duan Geshou said this but then pondered. “However, how they escaped from the Song Mansion is also quite puzzling. The shadow guards all claim they saw no one enter or exit. If the shadow guards weren’t the king’s most loyal warriors, I would suspect there was an insider among them.”

Wu Yanle was somewhat hesitant, but pursuit was certain. Whether or not Mo Zi left through the south gate, her companions definitely went in this direction. Capturing them might yield useful information.

So he said, “Right now we can’t investigate in detail who the insider is. The urgent task is to chase her back. The south is the only direction to exit Daqiu. The border adjacent to Great Zhou now has heavy troops stationed—however she circles around, she must pass through Feng Zhou to reach Yuling, then enter Great Zhou.” Wu Yanle issued orders for the deputy general to patrol each city gate to see if there were any unusual movements, while having Duan Geshou ride swiftly to Feng Zhou, fearing that fake imperial gate token might be put to use again.

He himself led a team of men to track southward.

“What about the waterways?” Duan Geshou asked. “I’ve heard she’s skilled with water and boats. Perhaps she’s traveling by water right now.”

“Royal brother was prepared early. All ports in the city have been sealed for three days. She can get out of the city but can’t get past the capital’s naval garrison. She must take the land route first.” Wu Yanle had thought of this too.

Duan Geshou nodded, agreed to meet at Feng Zhou’s great garrison, and led elite cavalry galloping out.

More than half a day after Wu Yanle’s departure, someone came to report that the guards at the north city gate had been drugged, one young soldier named A Ge had disappeared, and the door bolt wasn’t fastened—it seemed someone had left through the north gate, so the deputy general personally went in pursuit.

Wu Yanle sighed at this, but also knew they might not catch up, so he focused on his own side. Several times they nearly caught someone. Once they even clearly saw one person’s appearance—sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, imposing bearing, a sword emanating the cold clarity of moonlight. But these people had excellent martial skills. Rather than taking remote paths, they boldly traveled through market towns. Once they hid, they couldn’t be found. By the time he requested help from local officials, they had escaped again. Like this, the distance gradually widened, and finally near Feng Zhou, he lost their trail.

However, Wu Yanle was already certain they truly intended to cross the river from Feng Zhou, and Duan Geshou’s side had also made preparations. In his view, Mo Zi had no way of leaving Daqiu no matter what.

At this time, at a port town over a hundred miles from Feng Zhou to the west, after waiting two days, Zhong An finally saw the figures of Xiao Wei and Wei Jia.

“Mo Zi and the others arrived two days ago. Why are you so much later? I was about to send people to look for you.” He hurried to meet them, but noticing Xiao Wei’s poor complexion, he asked, “Did you encounter trouble along the way?”

Xiao Wei didn’t complain. Wei Jia grabbed the teapot and gulped down several mouthfuls. This young general born of a famous family couldn’t care about grace and refinement either. He slapped the table and called for the waiter to bring sliced beef and good wine, cursing in a low voice, “Damn it, I’ve grown this old without ever being chased like this, never been this hungry, never been this exhausted. Right now my eyes are blurry, my hands and feet numb. Even if there was a knife at my neck, I wouldn’t want to move. I must eat my fill of meat first. To think that all those grueling training sessions I used to think were deadly now seem like they were in a gentle pleasure land.”

“Yuan Cheng? Chu Yu?” But Xiao Wei neither sat nor rested.

“They’re all on the boat. There are more people, not fewer—you can rest assured.” After Zhong An finished speaking, seeing Xiao Wei mount his horse again, he said, “Bai Yu, catch your breath.”

Xiao Wei asked for the direction of the wharf and urged his horse onward.

Wei Jia grabbed chunks of beef and wolfed them down. “Don’t worry about him. He feels stifled inside and is determined to give Official Yuan some trouble. After we left the city and didn’t see Mo Zi and the others, Bai Yu immediately understood we were meant to draw away the Daqiu people’s attention. That’s nothing—after all, we came to carry out a mission, so we must take risks. He’s just angry that Official Yuan didn’t say anything, didn’t even discuss it, and used us as his pawns. I guess Bai Yu might be thinking, why should you surnamed Yuan not draw away the pursuing troops, while making me protect the flower sisters and the Yuling prince?”

Zhong An laughed. “Wei Jia, whose side are you helping anyway?”

Wei Jia shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. “What this side or that side? We’re all on the same side now. I actually quite admire Yuan Cheng. About the same age as us, yet through such great winds and waves, he seems like he’s in his own backyard, arranging everything in perfect order. On the boat there’s Mo Zi, below the boat there’s Yuan Cheng—I’m happy to follow orders and act. I’m a rough person, so I do rough person’s work. Bai Yu is different from me. Though he’s a military general, he’s also clever. Having a clever person trick him, of course he’s angry about it.”

Zhong An sighed inwardly—wasn’t that exactly the reasoning?