When Fan Changyu awoke, her entire body ached.
Her eyes fell upon the patched bed curtains. She propped herself up on her right arm and surveyed the small room – walls of yellow earth with wooden planks nailed over drafty spots, a single square table, and two stools, all old and worm-eaten.
She remembered losing consciousness while being held underwater by the bandit leader. Had someone rescued her?
Fan Changyu looked down at the unfamiliar clothes she was wearing. Her wounds had been bandaged, and her dislocated arm reset.
Supporting herself on the old bedpost, she tried to stand. As soon as she put strength into her back and waist, pain made her grimace.
Fan Changyu wondered why her waist hurt so much when she hadn’t been injured there. Perhaps she had bumped into something during the fight without noticing?
After all the chaos, her first instinct upon getting up was to look for her bone-carving knife. Finding it on a low stool by the bed along with the deerskin bracers Yan Zheng had given her, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Her fingertips brushed over the smooth, resilient surface of the bracers. As she was about to tie them onto her right wrist, sudden hurried footsteps sounded from outside.
Fan Changyu’s expression changed instantly. She quickly moved to the wall beside the door, peering through a finger-width crack in the old wooden door.
Outside seemed to be a small farmyard. Two armor-clad, sword-bearing soldiers stood under the eaves, while another strode into the courtyard.
Fan Changyu relaxed slightly. It appeared she had been rescued by the soldiers who had been chasing the boat along the shore that day.
She wondered why they were staying here temporarily.
“Is the Mar… Master here? The Jizhou Prefecture troops keep searching in this direction. We can’t hold them off much longer…” The soldier who had entered the yard spoke in a low voice.
Fan Changyu’s heart, which had just settled, leaped again. Weren’t they Jizhou Prefecture troops themselves? Why were they trying to hold off their people?
Another soldier in the yard replied, “Word came from Yansung Mountain. The Master went to question someone. You lead the men to guard the mountain pass first. I’ll report to the Master when he returns.”
The soldier who had come to deliver the message quickly left.
Fan Changyu leaned against the door, her whole body on alert.
She didn’t know who this “Master” they spoke of was.
But they were dressed as military soldiers, yet seemed to be at odds with the Jizhou officials within Jizhou’s borders… Could they be mountain bandits in disguise?
This realization sent a chill through Fan Changyu’s body.
Just then, the two soldiers outside began to chat casually. One said, “We can’t stay here long. If we run into the Jizhou Prefecture people, the Master’s identity will be exposed. When the Master returns, we should set out regardless of whether the woman inside has woken up or not.”
The other clicked his tongue and said, “I’ve noticed the Master seems unusually attentive to that woman. Last night when she had a fit during a nightmare, the Master was afraid she’d bite her tongue, so he put his finger in her mouth. There’s a big ring of bloody tooth marks on his index finger!”
Fan Changyu remembered having a nightmare last night. Hearing that she had bitten their so-called “Master,” she frowned.
She was about to eavesdrop for more information when the sound of a bamboo cane tapping on the ground came from outside. Peering through the crack, she saw an old woman with graying hair walking from under the eaves.
One of the soldiers guarding the door asked, “Do you need something, old lady?”
The old woman, carrying a stack of clothes in her arms, smiled kindly. “The clothes your young mistress was wearing when she fell into the water yesterday – this old woman has dried them for her and was bringing them to her.”
Hearing this, the soldier seemed reluctant to take them himself, perhaps due to propriety between men and women. He stepped aside and said, “Please, go in.”
As the old woman entered, tapping her cane to find her way, Fan Changyu silently and swiftly retreated to the bedside. She kicked off her shoes and lay down, pretending to still be asleep.
After entering, the old woman felt her way to the bedside and put down the clothes. She tucked the blanket around Fan Changyu and felt her forehead for temperature, talking to herself, “Good girl, your fever’s finally gone down. How unfortunate to encounter mountain bandits on the boat with your husband. You’ve suffered greatly, but it’s good you have such a caring husband…”
After her rambling, she felt her way to the brazier and added two more pieces of firewood before closing the door and leaving.
The soldier guarding outside had glanced into the room when the old woman entered. Seeing a curved shape under the blanket, he assumed Fan Changyu was still asleep and turned his attention back to his post.
As soon as the door closed, Fan Changyu opened her eyes.
After hearing the old woman’s words, she was even more certain these men were not real soldiers. If government officials had rescued her, why would they pretend she had encountered bandits on a boat? And why pretend to be her husband?
As for the “Master” the two lackeys outside had mentioned, Fan Changyu instinctively thought of Sui Yuanqing.
That guy was already one of the rebel prince’s men. After being wounded by Yan Zheng, he escaped into the river and was rescued by the Qingfeng Stronghold people. Now he was leading this group of bandits disguised as soldiers – who knew what evil scheme he was plotting!
The Jizhou Prefecture troops were nearby. She needed to find a way to break out and report this.
Not knowing how many bandits were outside, Fan Changyu didn’t dare act rashly. After some thought, she smoothed out the bracers and tucked them into her bosom like an armor plate, then tied the bone-carving knife to her leg, concealing it with her skirt. Only then did she get out of bed and kick over a bench, pretending to have fallen and made a noise.
As expected, the people guarding outside immediately pushed open the door. Inside, Fan Changyu was supporting herself on the table with one hand, looking as if she might collapse at any moment. She said with a pale face, “I need to use the outhouse.”
One of the soldiers said bluntly, “There’s a chamber pot in the corner of the room…”
His companion elbowed him, and he suddenly realized that this was a young woman, and one their lord seemed to favor. His words had been too crude, so he immediately shut his mouth.
Fan Changyu pretended to look uncomfortable and urgent: “Sir, my stomach hurts.”
This couldn’t be resolved inside the room. The two soldiers didn’t stop to wonder why Fan Changyu suddenly had a stomachache upon waking up. Since she was someone their lord had taken an interest in, they didn’t dare support her themselves. They could only call the old woman to help Fan Changyu to the outhouse.
The outhouse in the old woman’s home was behind the house. Fan Changyu let herself be supported by the old woman for a walk around, intending to figure out how many bandits were inside and outside the yard. To her surprise, she found only the two by the door.
This made things much easier.
As the old woman supported Fan Changyu back to the room, passing under the eaves, she suddenly and without warning punched the soldier on the right. The soldier was instantly dazed, looking at Fan Changyu in bewilderment with blood streaming from his nose before collapsing unconscious.
The soldier on the left was stunned. Before he could say a word, Fan Changyu, separated from him by the old woman and fearing she might hurt her, swiftly snatched the bamboo cane from the old woman’s hand. She swept it forcefully against the side of his neck. The cane broke in two, and the soldier also fell unconscious.
The old woman stood in place, confused and alarmed: “What happened?”
Fan Changyu didn’t know when “Sui Yuanqing” and the other bandits would return. Although she had acted quickly, her palms were still sweaty. She crouched in front of the old woman and said, “These men are bad people. The man who brought me here is not my husband. Granny, quickly get on my back. I’ll carry you out of here.”
The old woman was frightened and confused. As she climbed onto Fan Changyu’s back, she worriedly said, “Young lady, your arm is dislocated. How can you carry an old bag of bones like me?”
The old woman was very thin, so Fan Changyu could still manage to carry her with one arm. After quickly surveying the terrain outside, she said, “Just hold tight to my shoulders.”
The snow on the road hadn’t melted, and it wasn’t snowing now. It would be difficult to cover their tracks in the snow.
To avoid being caught, they had to find the Jizhou officials before the bandits caught up with them.
Fan Changyu remembered the soldiers’ earlier conversation about guarding the mountain pass. She assumed the Jizhou troops must be there.
She asked the old woman, “Granny, which is the quickest way to the mountain pass?”
Fortunately, although the old woman was blind, she was very familiar with the roads near her home. She said, “Follow the path in front of the door westward. When you reach a three-way fork, take the middle path.”
Having memorized the route, Fan Changyu began to jog, carrying the old woman on her back-
The scout had come to report on the bandit-suppression operation at Yansung Mountain. Fearing complications, Xie Zheng had taken his men outside the old woman’s courtyard to discuss the matter.
When he returned and found the two personal guards in the yard knocked unconscious, his expression changed. Pushing open the door to find the room empty, he thought Fan Changyu had been kidnapped, and his eyes instantly turned cold and deep.
One of the personal guards who had gone out with Xie Zheng noticed there was no blood on the ground. He crouched down to check the breathing of his two companions and quickly reported to Xie Zheng, “My Lord, they’re still breathing!”
As he spoke, he firmly pressed the acupoint under one of his companion’s noses.
The guard who had been knocked out by Fan Changyu’s cane slowly came to. Seeing Xie Zheng standing before him with a grim expression, he was so frightened that he immediately knelt, “My Lord, I deserve death!”
Xie Zheng examined the broken bamboo cane on the steps, his eyes seeming to be covered with a layer of frost.
Never before had anyone dared to kidnap someone from right under his nose.
He had sealed off all the main roads leading here and had only brought three personal guards to avoid disturbing the old woman.
Who could have been skilled enough to sneak past the cavalry at the mountain pass and get in here?
With suppressed anger in his eyes at being affronted, he asked, “Who kidnapped her?”
The guard said miserably, “It was that young lady who knocked us unconscious.”
Xie Zheng was taken aback. His handsome brows furrowed as he asked with a strange expression, “Why did she knock you out?”
The guard replied, “This subordinate doesn’t know. When that young lady woke up, she said her stomach hurt. Seeing her weak, this subordinate had the old woman support her to the outhouse. Who knew that when she returned, she suddenly punched An Zi unconscious and then snatched the old woman’s cane to knock out this subordinate.”
The personal guard who had gone out with Xie Zheng came back after checking the few rooms and said, “The old woman is also missing.”
Xie Zheng thought for a moment and understood that Fan Changyu must have misunderstood something and taken them for villains, which was why she had fled with the old woman.
He asked, “What happened in the courtyard while I was away?”
The guard who had been knocked out by Fan Changyu’s cane thought for a moment and said, “A scout from the mountain pass came to report that the Jizhou troops were trying to search the mountain again. But you were out at the time, my Lord, so I took the liberty of telling them to continue guarding and not let the Jizhou troops into the mountain.”
Xie Zheng lowered his eyes and muttered, “I see.”
She must have woken up by then and discovered that the people in the yard were wearing military uniforms but were not aligned with the Jizhou officials. She must have mistaken them for bandits.
Just then, another scout rode up the small path on horseback. He rolled off his horse and knelt on one knee, saluting, “My Lord, the young lady you rescued yesterday is heading down the mountain carrying an old woman. Should we stop her?”
Xie Zheng raised his eyes to look at the snow-covered mountain without speaking.
To eliminate the remnants of the mountain bandits who had fled to Yansung Mountain, he had dispatched most of the hundred light cavalry he had brought with him to Yansung Mountain.
He had rushed back this time thinking she was in danger. Now that she was safe, and with the urgent situation at the frontlines and Li Huaian’s presence in Jizhou in the eyes of the Qingliu faction, he indeed shouldn’t linger.
He said, “Withdraw the troops guarding the mountain pass. Return to Lu City.”
The scout accepted the order and mounted his horse to relay the message.
The personal guards in the yard took a moment to prepare, then went to the nearby pine forest to fetch their warhorses.
As Xie Zheng mounted his horse, he looked in the direction of the descending path. There was still a hint of reluctance in his heart. He attached the half-human skin mask he had prepared for this military expedition and said to his guards, “You all withdraw first. I’ll be back shortly.”
With that, he pulled on the reins and galloped towards the descending path, leaving his guards looking at each other in bewilderment-
Fan Changyu was walking on the path carrying the old woman on her back when she suddenly heard the chaotic sound of hoofbeats coming up the mountain. Not knowing whether they were bandits disguised as soldiers or real Jizhou troops, she considered for a moment before temporarily hiding with the old woman in the pine forest by the road.
To be safe, Fan Changyu said to the old woman, “Granny, please hide in this forest and don’t make a sound. I’ll go out to check. If they are government officials, I’ll come back for you.”
The old woman grasped Fan Changyu’s hand, repeatedly telling her to be careful.
Fan Changyu used a tree branch to erase their footprints as she backed out of the forest. Just as she reached the main road and was about to investigate whether there were still officers at the mountain pass ahead, she suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats behind her.
This time, the hoofbeats were singular, sounding like only one rider, but approaching extremely fast.
Fan Changyu had just thought about diving back into the pine forest when the rider appeared in her line of sight.
Fearing that if she led this person into the pine forest to search for her, he might accidentally find the old woman, and thinking that since it was only one person, she might be able to subdue him if she used all her strength, Fan Changyu gritted her teeth and continued to run forward.
The winding mountain road was rugged, and from this halfway point, one could even see the foot of the mountain.
When Fan Changyu saw a group of officials flying the Jizhou flag coming up the mountain at its foot, she was almost overjoyed. She ran while shouting, “Help!”
The Jizhou officials at the foot of the mountain heard her voice and looked up toward the middle of the mountain. Someone quickly responded, “Don’t be afraid, young lady. I’m bringing people to rescue you!”
Only then did Fan Changyu notice that among the mass of officials was a young man wearing a cyan-colored scholar’s robe – it was the kind-hearted youth who had given her a ride that day.
This scene of distant eye contact fell into the eyes of Xie Zheng, who was approaching on horseback, and it was truly a bit jarring.
He had a scar-like human skin mask on his face, covering one eye, making it difficult for even familiar people to recognize him.
Only a few zhang away from Fan Changyu, he still spurred his horse hard. As the warhorse charged forward, he reached out to grab her onto the horse’s back.
Fan Changyu reacted extremely quickly. After avoiding his grabbing hand, she no longer took the main road but directly slid down the steep slope beside the mountain path.
This steep slope led directly to the next section of the winding mountain road. It was faster than circling on horseback no matter what.
However, she never expected that the fake soldier chasing her would also abandon his horse and slide down after her.