When the wet paper was peeled away, Qingyang was like a drowning small beast, gasping violently for air, breathing in the air she thought she would never encounter again. Her pretty face was flushed red and purple, her chest heaving. Never before had a moment made her feel so fragile—fragile like foam on someone’s fingertip that would shatter with the lightest flick.
At this moment Qingyang finally clearly recognized the situation and buried her resentment deep in her heart. But in her heart she still didn’t want to lower her noble head. Seeing a boat stopped by the river, she stood proudly, straightened her slightly disheveled dress, and was about to step toward the bow of the boat.
“This boat is to mislead pursuers. We’ll still have to trouble the princess to join us in finding other ways to escape Shu territory!” Yang Qin reminded from the side.
The Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong had already left the Shu capital four days ago to take up his post in Yuzhou. News of the upheaval in Jinling might very likely have already reached Yuzhou by now, and the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong could learn of this matter at any time.
Han Qian not only worried that Shu ruler Wang Jian would renege on the marriage, he even worried that after learning of this, the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong’s attitude would also become ambiguous, and he might impulsively detain them to observe how the situation developed.
Furthermore, if the wedding delegation of six to seven hundred people fled south together, taking the land route without enough fast horses would be slow. And taking boats first south along the Tuo River to Luzhou, then entering the Yangtze River via Luzhou—no matter how fast they went, it would take at least four days and nights before they could possibly enter the Wushan gorges.
But in fact, once Princess Qingyang went missing, no matter how slow the Shu palace and the Marquis of Changxiang’s household were, they would inevitably notice before nightfall. Then they would only need to dispatch fast cavalry to notify counties and prefectures along the route to send troops to intercept them. They might not even reach Luzhou before being stopped.
Of the six to seven hundred people in the wedding delegation, most had the task of merely misleading the direction of Shu army pursuit. The others also had to break into smaller groups and scatter their escape toward eastern Sichuan, then find ways to cross the mountain ranges and escape back to Great Chu.
As long as they successfully delivered Princess Qingyang to Tanzhou, solidifying the identities of Shu ruler Wang Jian as father-in-law and the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong as brother-in-law, even if some people were captured by Shu forces, they could send people to bring them back afterward without fear they would suffer cruel treatment.
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“What? Qingyang left the palace and was abducted, and the wedding envoy Han Qian has also vanished without a trace?” At this moment the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong also found it difficult to maintain his elegant scholarly bearing. His wide sleeves swept the inkstone, ink, and brush holder from the desk before him, scattering them on the ground with a clattering chaos. He couldn’t be bothered to clean up the mess on the floor, staring at the messenger in disbelief and demanding, “Don’t tell me Qingyang and Han Qian can fly into heaven or burrow into earth! Have all the scouts and outriders of the Hidden Dragon Bureau been eating shit? The entire wedding delegation has fled—not a single one remains!”
“The Chu deputy wedding envoy Guo Rong remains at the southern courtyard of Jinhua Tower, holding the princess’s token and letter. In the letter the princess says she learned of the upheaval in Jinling and worried His Majesty would renege on her marriage to the Third Prince of Great Chu, so she escaped from the palace and asked wedding envoy Han Qian to escort her out of the capital!” the messenger said.
“Nonsense! How could this letter possibly be written by Qingyang? It’s fake! Qingyang was abducted by Han Qian—Qingyang couldn’t possibly have written such a letter!” The Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong roared in fury. He never imagined Qingyang could be abducted from the national capital.
The Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong had only arrived in Yuzhou city yesterday—the twelfth day of the first month—to assume the position of prefect. He had only managed to summon the chief administrator, marshal, registrar, military commander and other principal ministers last night when scouts that Shu forces had infiltrated into Chu territory delivered to his desk the news that Emperor Tianyou had died and Han Daoxun had been executed by being torn apart by chariots.
And today—in the original plan the day Princess Qingyang would depart from the Shu capital with wedding envoys Han Qian and Guo Rong to return to Great Chu on the Lantern Festival—he had only dispatched messengers to the Shu capital to report the news from Jinling three hours ago when a messenger racing on fast horses from the Shu capital told him Princess Qingyang had eloped to Chu under wedding envoy Han Qian’s escort?
Only if the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong’s brain was plastered with shit would he believe Qingyang’s feelings for Yang Yuanpu were sincere and deep enough to elope! The facts before his eyes clearly showed that Han Qian had learned of the upheaval in Jinling one step ahead. Worried he would be detained, not only did he flee without notice himself, he also used sudden illness as an excuse to lure Qingyang out of the palace and abduct her.
That a princess of a nation could be abducted so quietly from her own capital, and two days had passed without finding any trace of Han Qian and his group—the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong was so angry he didn’t know what to say.
Sometimes the truth or falsehood of matters wasn’t most important. The messenger naturally couldn’t judge anything, only truthfully reported the current situation and reaction in the capital:
“The sovereign has ordered Guo Rong and other members of the Chu delegation remaining in the capital detained and imprisoned. But the Great Chu wedding delegation still has nearly seven hundred people who have split into more than ten routes, scattering along water and land routes fleeing toward eastern and southern Sichuan. The sovereign is furious and has dispatched two thousand reconnaissance cavalry from the Hidden Dragon Bureau to pursue along the routes. He has also ordered prefectures and counties along the way to send troops to capture the Chu envoys. So far they haven’t traced the princess’s whereabouts…”
The Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong pondered for a moment. He wasn’t certain whether his father had already guessed Qingyang had been abducted and was furious, or mistakenly thought Qingyang had eloped to Chu and was furious. He instructed the guards in the corridor, saying: “Go invite Cao Gan here for me.”
With the upheaval in Jinling, the death of Chu Emperor Tianyou, and the Crown Prince Yang Yuanwo’s succession, the situation in Chu suddenly became confusing and unclear. No one knew what would happen next, but the current situation was extremely unfavorable for Yang Yuanpu of Chu’s Tanzhou.
Going even further, at this point they shouldn’t be considering who could achieve final victory in Chu, but rather how long it would take for Liang forces to seize Jingxiang, Huainan, Xuchu and other areas north of the Yangtze while taking advantage of Chu’s internal chaos.
If Chu lost all its territory north of the Yangtze and its interior was beaten into a rotten mess, if they continued the marriage alliance with Chu’s Prince Tan Yang Yuanpu, wouldn’t their brains be plastered with shit?
Of course, they couldn’t rule out the possibility that Chu’s Prince Tan Yang Yuanpu and Chu’s Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan could join forces to attack Jinling at the fastest speed, then the two of them divide the spoils, each occupying a corner of Great Chu while both still preserving strength not inferior to Shu. In that case the marriage alliance would still need to proceed.
In other words, regardless of anything else, regardless of whether the letter Qingyang left behind was true or false, right now they had to detain Han Qian and his group and stop Qingyang to observe the situation.
Once they successfully delivered Princess Qingyang to Tanzhou, solidifying the identities of Shu ruler Wang Jian as this convenient father-in-law and the Marquis of Changxiang Wang Yong as this convenient brother-in-law, even if some people were captured by Shu forces, they could send people to bring them back afterward without fear of cruel treatment.
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Outside Yuzhou city, the river waters were vast and open. A black-canopied fishing boat stopped on the river surface with two people sitting at the bow fishing in the river.
At this time a fishing boat casting nets to catch fish passed by and stopped, as if neighbors from a fishing village had met in the middle of the river. The boat approached to exchange greetings.
“The Marquis of Changxiang has dispatched two batches of scouts from Yuzhou city, both searching outward along the Qian River. They must have calculated we would take the Qian River south, then return to Xuzhou from the southern foothills of Wuling Mountain, but they haven’t realized we’re still lingering here. And the Marquis of Changxiang also gave orders that only after seeing you in person would he permit his subordinates to open killing. It seems he has at least some awe and respect for you, my lord!” Yang Qin wore a straw rain cape with bare feet showing cracks, looking no different from a fisherman on the river. Crouching at the bow, he reported to Han Qian sitting in another fishing boat.
“…” Qingyang sat listlessly in the black-canopied boat cabin, watching the mighty river waters outside the fishing boat, thinking how could the scouts and outriders of the Hidden Dragon Bureau and Yuzhou be so stupid, being led by the nose to keep searching the outer perimeter, never realizing this dog thief Han Qian had actually been staying on the inner side all along, even sticking close to their search perimeter and gradually moving outward bit by bit?
“Copies of the Marquis of Changxiang’s ‘Memorial Advising Against Administering Southern Ba’ have already been delivered into the hands of those several Wuliao chieftains. Several Wuliao stockaded villages are all willing to escort you back to Xuzhou, but I feel your whereabouts still cannot be known by these Wuliao stockaded villages,” Yang Qin said. “We’ve separately organized three teams transporting illegal salt. As long as we confirm the Marquis of Changxiang and Cao Gan have no other moves, you, Lady Xi, and Princess Qingyang can blend into the salt smuggling teams tomorrow morning and head south!”
In her heart Qingyang loudly cursed this dog thief Han Qian as utterly shameless. The “Memorial Advising Against Administering Southern Ba” could be said to be mostly from this dog thief’s own hand. After her elder brother wrote it, he even took it to this dog thief for polishing. Who would have thought this dog thief would turn around and send copies into the hands of the Wuliao people of southern Ba to provoke the southern Ba Wuliao people’s hatred toward Yuzhou!
However, that near-death experience when leaving the Shu capital now forced Qingyang to hide carefully and bide her time. She was very clear that if she made any rash moves, this dog thief would absolutely kill her with cruel ruthlessness!