With the shouts, a dark mass of soldiers rushed in. One squad surrounded Liu Chen completely, another squad charged into his barracks, and even more troops encircled his quarters entirely.

Liu Chen stood with his back to the cliff, arms spread wide, laughing heartily. “You turtle’s son! Just because I didn’t go pay respects to you, this castrated goods, you’re settling personal scores? You rootless Fifth Rank eunuch, who gave you the authority to dismiss me from my post!”

“Liu Chen, don’t be stubborn! Someone saw you harboring a wanted criminal!”

“Harboring who? Di Yiwei? Then find her and show me!”

The soldiers rushed out of the barracks, shaking their heads at Huang Ming and Xiao Chang.

The two men’s expressions darkened slightly.

They had been observing and tracking Lou Xi for many days. Last time when he returned from Liu Chen’s place, his expression was off, then he went to Niutou Ridge a second time. So the two brought troops to follow.

After all, the one who understood Di Yiwei best was naturally Lou Xi. If anyone could find her, it would only be him.

“Search!”

Soldiers rushed into each tent.

On the cliff face, rope swaying back and forth, Di Yiwei was plagued by injuries and illness, her cold not yet recovered, climbing very slowly.

The sounds of searching grew closer and closer.

Xia Houchun, following behind her, suddenly cupped her bottom with one hand.

Di Yiwei reflexively swung her blade backward—a completely instinctive reaction. By the time she saw Xia Houchun’s face clearly, it was too late to pull back.

Xia Houchun tilted his head to dodge, caught her blade with his other hand and clenched it between his teeth. The hand supporting Di Yiwei’s bottom swept around, gathering her into his arms, then with a light bounce, he easily hoisted her onto his back. Bending his body, like an agile large cat, he shot upward several zhang in the blink of an eye.

The rogue deliberately leaned his upper body slightly backward while climbing, so Di Yiwei, not wanting to fall, could only hold tight to his neck.

Di Yiwei gripped the thick, drooping flesh on his neck. Looking up was cliff, looking down was also cliff. Though humans were clearly like ants in such a place, she inexplicably felt at ease.

Chi Xue’s martial arts weren’t great but her lightness skill was good. She nimbly followed behind, climbing along. When they were still about a zhang from the cliff edge, they heard a thunderous crash from the supply depot—someone had broken down the door. Immediately someone shouted: “There’s a door back here!”

Both Xia Houchun and Chi Xue quickened their movements.

Someone climbed over the surrounding wall and saw the swaying rope.

“They’re up there!”

Someone followed climbing upward. Chi Xue was about to cut the rope when Xia Houchun casually broke off stones from the cliff face. Di Yiwei caught them and hurled them down below.

The topmost person got a hole opened in his skull and fell screaming.

Xia Houchun praised: “Good aim.”

It sounded simple, but in the darkness, with swaying rope and swaying people, hitting so accurately wasn’t easy.

But Di Yiwei felt quite regretful. “If I still had my tobacco pipe, smashing people would be more satisfying.”

“You should quit that!” Xia Houchun disapproved. “Don’t you know that stuff’s harmful?”

“A puff after meals, happy as an immortal…” Di Yiwei squinted her eyes.

“A few more puffs and you’ll ascend to immortality early.”

Di Yiwei chuckled sullenly, coughing continuously.

Below, flames flashed and countless fire arrows shot toward the cliff.

A cold gleam flashed as Chi Xue severed the rope.

Xia Houchun suddenly said: “Let me show you something fun.”

The falling half-section of rope was caught in Xia Houchun’s hand. With one hand gripping the rope and scrambling upward, he whipped the rope like a long lash with the other hand. Fire arrows were caught by the whip and scattered in mid-air, sparks flying everywhere like a brilliant fireworks display.

“Pretty?”

Di Yiwei’s brown eyes reflected the long night’s starfire.

Countless tiny lights streaked past like meteors.

Her voice hoarse, she lazily drawled: “Beautiful—”

Looking down, she saw that the fat man who seemed to lift weights effortlessly actually had dense beads of sweat seeping from his neck.

After all, carrying someone while climbing a cliff and still wielding that heavy rope to deflect fire arrows was quite draining.

She smiled and used her sleeve to wipe the sweat for him.

Xia Houchun’s body seemed to tremble slightly. Suddenly he gave a low roar, his entire form expanding like a hunting leopard stretching its body. With a roll, he shot up the final section of cliff.

Feet touching solid ground, he exhaled a long breath and reached back to pull Chi Xue up.

The three stood atop the cliff looking down, watching the crowd scatter to avoid the arrows, crying out in alarm, noisy but distant.

Xia Houchun cleared his throat and spat down at the center of the crowd below.

The three disappeared from the clifftop. Below, Huang Ming furiously shouted, ordering some to pursue up the cliff and others to capture Liu Chen. But Liu Chen, catching his guards off guard, knocked down the sentries and broke out of camp with a squad of his loyal followers.

Huang Ming grew even more furious and ordered pursuit, but saw that Xiao Chang remained calm throughout, gazing upward.

“Why is the Deputy Commander neither urgent nor angry?”

“What’s to be urgent or angry about?” Xiao Chang’s lips curved in a cold smile as he raised his hand to release fireworks. “Do they really think the mountains are high enough for birds to hide? In the end, they still can’t escape my palm.”

…

On the winding mountain path, snow was trampled to pieces by horse hooves that bore both yellow sand and black earth. The ground trembled slightly with the hoof beats as the mountain ranges ahead waited silently beneath the vast sky.

Tie Ci shook dirt from his hair and glanced at nearby Mount Fu.

…

Dust clouds rolled along the road all the way to the Western Ning Pass in Liaodong. Zhao San galloped toward the traveling palace.

Three li from the palace, he was discovered by guards and brought before Prince Da’an.

After hearing his account, there was no reaction from behind the curtain. Zhao San uneasily raised his head and heard the person say: “You may go.”

Zhao San pressed against the ground, unwilling to leave, trembling as he said: “…Your Highness… Your Highness… are the Young Master and Mu Si… are they still well…”

The person behind the curtain calmly said: “They’re still alive.”

Before Zhao San could ask more, he continued: “However, this time you won’t be seeing them.”

Not giving Zhao San a chance to inquire further, he ordered guards to take him away for detention. Zhao San felt uneasy but helpless, looking back frequently as he was led away.

The person behind the curtain murmured after a long while: “Since they’re mutually in love, why desperately seek to break the engagement?”

After a pause he laughed again. “If it’s truly so, it’s also a good thing.”

The advisor standing beside the curtain said: “Your Highness, if this is truly the case, I fear the Eighteenth Prince’s assassination mission will be like a fish entering the vast sea—difficult to achieve success.”

Prince Da’an rubbed his shoulder while saying: “Everyone says Tie Ci is worthless, but I see she absolutely isn’t. A worthless person wouldn’t think of luring her lover’s father into a trap for complete annihilation while her own lover is imprisoned.”

The advisor said in shock: “You mean these secret reports from Zhao San were instructed by the Crown Princess?”

“With Zhao San’s nature, he wouldn’t betray Murong Yi. Now who else could command him to say these things but that Crown Princess?” Prince Da’an said. “She tempts me with meteoric iron because she knows I personally came to receive it last time. She reveals her feelings for Murong Yi to further entice me to follow behind Murong Yi to monitor and pick up scraps.”

He sighed: “I originally didn’t believe in such deep-rooted love, but now I’m starting to believe it a bit. A dignified Crown Princess, alone at the frontier, actually dares use herself as bait to lure me, a feudal prince with real power commanding great armies, all just to save her lover… Little Eighteen really has some ability.”

“Then do you think this assassination matter should be called off?”

“Why call it off?” Prince Da’an raised an eyebrow.

The advisor was stumped by the question.

Aren’t you afraid those two will collude?

But seeing the expression on Prince Da’an’s face, he vaguely guessed this lord’s thinking.

The assassination would proceed as planned. If Murong Yi could disregard feelings and successfully assassinate, His Highness’s evaluation of him would reach new heights.

If betrayal occurred, His Highness wouldn’t lose anything either. The Crown Princess was indeed luring His Highness, but couldn’t His Highness also lure the Crown Princess? Now the Crown Princess was alone at the frontier, Di Yiwei had disappeared, the Yongping Army had fallen into Huang Ming and Xiao Chang’s hands, and Di Yiwei’s previous troop deployments to strengthen border defenses had all been scattered and reassigned by Huang Ming and others, with all energy devoted to searching for Di Yiwei. Under such circumstances, luring and killing the Crown Princess to throw Da Qian into chaos—wouldn’t that be an excellent opportunity?

Prince Da’an stood up.

“After all, Murong Yi is still my son, and the Crown Princess counts as half a daughter-in-law. If the future daughter-in-law wants to kill her future father-in-law, what harm is there in the future father-in-law agreeing!”

…

On the yellow earth road, snow was more than a foot thick, reflecting the cold gleam of iron armor.

Cavalry always created an earth-shaking sensation when advancing. The dark steel torrent spread across the narrow earthen road—all black except for the black and red colors guarded in the very center.

That was the Liaodong royal banner—black background with a red three-legged phoenix. Phoenix was the ancient totem of the Murong clan. To avoid suspicion of overstepping boundaries, they later adjusted the phoenix’s form: golden hooked three claws, five-colored magnificent patterns.

Where the royal banner was, there was the King of Liaodong.

And beneath the royal banner was Prince Da’an’s carriage. Feudal lords used five-horse teams with painted carved wheels, hung with layers of curtains. Besides the driver, there were attendants on left and right, with great armies guarding front and rear—the proper ceremonial procession for a prince’s journey.

So undoubtedly, inside the carriage could only be Prince Da’an himself. After all, even the princess consort couldn’t use this carriage—she could only use her phoenix carriage.

The curtains were layer upon layer, no human figure visible. Only occasionally through gaps in the curtains could one glimpse a corner of the brocade wide robe inside.

From time to time came low coughing sounds.

Or occasionally when a window curtain lifted slightly, one could see a section of snow-white fingers playing with a small jade ornament.

…

In the dense mountain forest, the trio was still fleeing.

Fireworks lit up in the distance behind them. Di Yiwei looked back.

Dead branches constantly crushed underfoot with fine, crisp sounds, mixed with Di Yiwei’s uncontrollable muffled coughing.

Xia Houchun walked ahead, his broad body like a wall, blocking wind and cold.

He constantly pushed aside thorns, seeking good paths to travel.

Chi Xue suddenly coughed violently—a strange sound. Both Xia Houchun and Di Yiwei turned to look at her, but Chi Xue had already stopped, pressing her chest and smiling: “It’s nothing. Just felt a sudden tightness in my heart.”

Xia Houchun suddenly turned back and barked: “Who’s there!”

The thorn bushes ahead rustled as several pitch-black figures emerged. Xia Houchun’s broad-backed blade was about to fly out when the other party already called quietly: “Is that the Commander!”

The blade stopped mid-air. Xia Houchun didn’t step aside.

Di Yiwei: “Old Xie?”

“Ah, Commander!” The man was stunned, then broke into a joyful smile. “You’re safe—that’s wonderful! We’ve been searching all night for you!”

Xia Houchun asked Di Yiwei: “Your man?”

“Phoenix Ridge garrison commander, Deputy General Xie Dasen.” Di Yiwei introduced.

“How did he know we went up the mountain?”

“I heard from Old Liu. Old Liu escaped and found me, then I brought people up the mountain to search. Commander, you finally came out! Why didn’t you contact us when you were at Liu Chen’s place? We’ve been waiting for your orders for a long time!” Xie Dasen was very enthusiastic and talkative. While turning to lead the way, he said indignantly: “That castrated Huang Ming comes to Phoenix Ridge three times a day, using the search for you as an excuse to extort and blackmail us plenty. If they weren’t blocking us, I’d have hammered that old turtle to death long ago!”

He turned to look at Di Yiwei earnestly: “Commander, don’t worry about all that. Lead the brothers and fight! Everyone was caught off guard that day and got manipulated by Huang Ming. Later when we came to our senses, we all said the Commander couldn’t possibly be a traitor selling out the country. We’re all your people. Just say the word and we can gather together to drive out those power-hungry villains! The Di Family Army is yours, the Yongping Army is yours—no one can take them away!”

Xia Houchun frowned.

Though the Di Family Army was Di Yiwei’s, publicly saying such things was improper.

Di Yiwei made a noncommittal sound, unclear whether she agreed or not, then suddenly asked: “Liu Chen didn’t come?”

“Huh? No, he’s at my camp, resting. Got a small injury while escaping—I told him to rest. Commander, don’t worry. Once you reach my camp, I’ll definitely keep you all safe…” Deputy General Xie suddenly looked at Xia Houchun with some suspicion. “This gentleman is…”

Di Yiwei said: “Someone so impressed by my talent and martial prowess that he’s sworn to follow me to the death.”

Xia Houchun rolled his eyes but didn’t contradict her.

Deputy General Xie glanced at the two and said: “Commander, the place I prepared for you is hidden but can’t accommodate many people. This gentleman is also an unfamiliar face—if he enters the camp and gets discovered…”

Before Di Yiwei could speak, Xia Houchun glared: “What, leaving me out? What important place can’t I go? Didn’t you hear I’ve sworn to follow your commander to the death?”

“Hey you, you’re being unreasonable.” Deputy General Xie also got angry. “Isn’t this about worrying for the Commander’s safety?”

“Bah! Your Commander has been under my protection all this time. Aren’t I delivering her to you alive and kicking now? How would she become unsafe once she enters your camp? What kind of deputy general are you?”

“Commander, this man is being completely unreasonable!” Deputy General Xie turned to complain to Di Yiwei. “You can’t keep such troublemakers around you.”

Di Yiwei coughed and slowly said: “Ah.”

Deputy General Xie looked at her eagerly.

Di Yiwei also looked at him: “Huh?” After a pause, she urged: “Let’s go!”

“Oh!” Deputy General Xie hurriedly turned to lead the way. After walking a few steps, he realized the Commander had completely ignored him!

What did that mean?

Protecting that rogue fat man?

Deputy General Xie was bewildered and angry, but couldn’t turn around to continue arguing about this issue, so he could only bury his head and lead the way.

Xia Houchun squinted and blew his whiskers.

Chi Xue suppressed her laughter on the side.

The mountain range was vast. In the dark night it was hard to distinguish directions—they could only vaguely see winding lights in the distance at the mountain’s base, presumably the great army searching the mountains.

Everyone walked in the opposite direction from those lights.

After winding around for most of the night, they saw lights again, right at the nearby mountain base. Deputy General Xie pointed over there and smiled: “Look, our camp is perfectly quiet.”

Di Yiwei suddenly said: “We’re going straight into your camp. What if there are disloyal people in your camp who inform on us?”

Deputy General Xie was stunned and said: “Commander, rest assured. My camp is solid as iron—everyone is most loyal to you.”

Di Yiwei said in surprise: “Huang Ming and Xiao Chang are such fools that they didn’t plant their own people in every major camp?”

Deputy General Xie chuckled: “Those two have been like ants on a hot pan ever since you disappeared—how could they think of so much? Besides, not everyone can be like you, Commander—good at scheming with far-reaching vision.”

Di Yiwei squinted and chuckled.

Perhaps because they were almost there, the atmosphere of their conversation gradually relaxed, and Di Yiwei was in the mood for small talk.

“Old Xie, how many years have you been with me?”

“Reporting to Commander, fifteen years.”

“Fifteen years… In this camp, besides Lou Xi, you’ve been with me the longest.”

“When this subordinate first came to the Commander’s side, you were only a garrison commander.”

“Yes, so many years in a flash. How is your wife?”

“That old woman is fine. Thanks to the Commander’s care, business in Yongping City is doing well. She’s currently arranging Second Son’s wedding.”

“Second Son is getting married too? Which family’s daughter did he court?”

“The daughter of the Wang rice merchant family in the city—their second daughter.”

“I think I’ve seen that girl—a famous beauty. Your Second Son has good fortune.”

“All thanks to the Commander’s care…”

“…So has your Second Son’s syphilis been cured?”

“…”

All four people stopped in their tracks.

Ahead was a shallow ditch, and beyond that lay the Right Army’s main camp at the foot of Phoenix Ridge.

Behind the ditch, all four people’s breathing was light and subtle.

Xia Houchun and Chi Xue instinctively held their breath. Deputy General Xie forgot to breathe. Only Di Yiwei breathed the same as before—irregularly, with no change.

She was like a rock on a beach: witnessing towering waves, tides beating empty cities, sun rising and moon setting, seas drying and stones cracking. Day after day, year after year, silent yet internally persistent.

Indestructible, unharmed, undefeated, unbroken.

She continued speaking earth-shattering words in her slightly hoarse, lazy, flat tone.

“Has your old woman’s flesh trade made enough money to open branch stores this time?”

“For Old Man Wang to marry off Yongping’s number one beauty to your rotten-crotched son, did his moldy rice all get into Phoenix Ridge camp’s grain stores?”

“Commander… Commander…” Deputy General Xie began trembling. He didn’t dare move because somehow a cold dagger was already pressed against his neck, its chill making goosebumps rise grain by grain on his neck. “Commander… listen to me… I haven’t…”

“I not only know about your woman’s flesh trade, I also know Deputy Commander Qiu’s wife loves money, and I know Southern Guerrilla Commander’s youngest daughter being courted by a young master from a wealthy family’s distant branch in the capital has Old Nan quite excited…” Di Yiwei whispered lightly behind his ear. “Everyone has weaknesses. These weaknesses can be grasped by me and by others. Feelings are real, but faced with reality and interests, people change. You know? This is why I didn’t contact any of you.”

Everyone had private desires and attachments.

Everyone’s private desires and attachments were visible to her.

The only one she trusted was Lou Xi. He had no relatives, no friends, didn’t love money, wasn’t lustful, didn’t pursue desires, didn’t socialize. He was a complete diamond whose brilliance shone only for her.

So she watched all the bustling activity across Yongping’s land while carelessly overlooking him beside her.

Then she suffered severe backlash.

So she understood: people without desires often have one greatest wish and are often more obsessive than those with many desires.

From then on, she trusted no one.

Not even another comrade who had similarly followed her for years and shared life-and-death experiences.

“Commander… those are my family’s problems… but that doesn’t mean I’d betray you!” Deputy General Xie said hoarsely. “You’ve forgotten—when Huang Ming surrounded you, I was the first to protest on your behalf!”

Di Yiwei smiled slightly.

That made sense.

But her nose was very sensitive.

As soon as Deputy General Xie appeared, she smelled a faint rank odor.

Eunuch smell.

Eunuchs like Huang Ming who’d been castrated for years had a rank smell like polecats. To mask the odor, they used heavy camphor incense, but combined together it created a smell that could devastate people.

Di Yiwei had a keen sense of smell and a deep impression.

It was deep into the night, yet Deputy General Xie still carried traces of this smell when he appeared, meaning he’d spent a long time with Huang Ming during the day.

Regardless of why they were together—even if just picking their feet together—she wouldn’t let it pass.

Better to kill wrongly.

She believed Deputy General Xie’s original protest on her behalf was sincere, but she also believed subsequent threats and inducements would make a person’s indignation disappear forever.

Human hearts were the most fickle and changeable things in this world.

This was the conclusion she reached during those dozen days and nights in the prison cart.

Also, when she escaped earlier, fireworks lit up behind them. Then, not long after, Old Xie connected with her.

Those fireworks—at the time she wondered, who were they notifying?

Some things are really better not to know.

“Old Xie,” she said gently, “as brothers-in-arms, I’ll personally send you on your way.”

Deputy General Xie wept tears streaming down his face, his voice breaking: “Don’t! Commander, don’t! I’ve wronged you, but spare my life and I can still help you escape! You don’t know what’s down there…”

Before he could finish, Di Yiwei’s dagger gently pushed forward.

His voice cut off abruptly as blood sprayed out with a splashing sound, filling the ditch red.

Deputy General Xie’s body heavily fell into the stream. The pale pink rivulet immediately turned deep red, gleaming eerily under the moonlight.

Xia Houchun said: “Why did you kill him so quickly? He could have been used as a hostage. He was clearly about to say something about what’s below…”

“What kind of hostage could he be? Is Huang Ming his father or his son?” Di Yiwei said flatly. “If the soldiers are still loyal to me, then no hostage is needed. If the soldiers aren’t loyal to me, having him as hostage would be useless.”

Xia Houchun made a tsk-tsk sound, his expression saying: This woman is ruthless.