Just as the usually refined Master Xie was screaming pitifully, four guards in black night clothes suddenly jumped down from the rafters. While still in mid-air, their large swords reflected the lamplight as they swept toward the two Japanese intruders.
The assassin aiming for Master Xie was immediately cut down, spraying blood all over the old man. Poor Master Xie, eyes wide open, was too terrified to scream anymore, his snow-white beard now speckled with blood.
The intruder fighting the guard captain fended off several sword strikes before realizing he was outmatched. He leaped up, crashing through the window into the courtyard. When he stood up, he found the yard already in chaos, with Japanese intruders and guards engaged in combat.
When the lights in the courtyard had come on, the gates had opened, and many guards had rushed in to fight the intruders.
The guard captain glanced at the blood-covered, speechless Master Xie and ordered two guards to move him aside. The dagger was still stuck in the bedboard. Master Xie stared at it, mouth agape, unable to make a sound except for a couple of choked gurgles.
The two guards ignored him, turning to face outward and protecting him from behind. The guard captain then opened the door and went outside. Seeing that his men had gained the upper hand, he felt relieved and shouted, “Take prisoners!” before joining the fight.
In just a short while, four or five Japanese intruders had been cut down.
The intruder who had jumped out the window was the leader of this assassination attempt. Seeing the situation was hopeless, he shouted a retreat order. The remaining Japanese gathered around him in a circle. The leader pulled something from his chest and threw it to the ground. With a puff, a cloud of smoke rose. The smoke spread quickly in the wind, soon enveloping the entire courtyard. With the guards’ vision obscured, the Japanese took the opportunity to jump over the wall and escape.
After a while, as the smoke gradually dispersed, the guard captain said angrily, “Leave ten guards to protect Master Xie in case the Japanese return. The rest come with me to pursue them.”
Thus began a chase, with the guards pursuing the Japanese to a small hill by the river. They saw the intruders escape into a cave halfway up the hillside.
Mian Tang had previously instructed that they had killed too thoroughly at Bandit Mountain last time, leaving no survivors. This time, it would be best to capture one or two alive for interrogation about Koto Island.
However, when the guard captain reached this point, he worried about potential ambushes in the cave. He ordered the guards to surround the base of the hill to prevent the Japanese from escaping while sending someone to report to the Princess Consort.
Mian Tang had stayed awake all night in the manor, hoping her suspicions about the mirror’s flash weren’t unfounded.
When the guard captain reported that someone had indeed attacked Master Xie’s residence, Mian Tang felt reassured.
She then sent someone to inform the Prince of Huaiyang, so he could dispatch men to capture the remaining Japanese in the cave.
Although Mian Tang felt she could handle this small fry herself with the help of the four Zhongyi brothers, she had recently been forced to admit she was “Little Dog.” If she risked her life again, her husband Cui Jiujue would likely not forgive her.
So, Mian Tang had the guard captain run to the military camp to inform the Prince of Huaiyang about the assassination attempt on Master Xie.
However, unexpectedly, the guard captain returned in less than half an hour, his face grim. He reported to her, “The road to the military camp is guarded by soldiers brought by the two imperial envoys from the capital. Entry is forbidden. Reportedly, someone has accused the army of harboring Japanese spies. The envoys have sent soldiers to investigate through the night, and no one is allowed in or out of the camp.”
Mian Tang’s expression hardened.
It was Huaiyang Prince’s habit never to tell her about his troubles in officialdom. But considering that Cui Xingzhou hadn’t returned home for several days, it was clear how troublesome these envoys were.
If they could capture the Japanese who attacked Master Xie and follow the trail to uncover locals collaborating with the Japanese, it would clear the suspicion from the Zhenzhou troops.
With this in mind, she decided not to delay further, momentarily forgetting Cui Xingzhou’s instructions not to put herself in danger. She ordered, “We can’t wait until dawn. The hillside is by the river, and the Japanese are skilled swimmers. We must prevent them from escaping by water under cover of darkness. I’ll lead a team to capture them tonight.”
At the base of the hill, the guard captain and Fan Hu refused to let the Princess Consort go up the mountain and risk danger. They said the Prince had instructed that if the Princess Consort endangered herself again, all the guards would suffer.
Mian Tang could only reluctantly agree to let them go up the mountain to capture the Japanese while she waited at the foot of the hill with a few guards for news.
Standing by the river, Mian Tang looked at the bright moon in the sky and felt the gentle night breeze. She estimated that after this incident, Master Xie would hate and fear the Japanese, and should no longer delay drawing the blueprints. If things progressed smoothly, they could completely quell the Japanese trouble in Beihai within a few months.
At this moment, Mian Tang heard Fan Hu running down the hillside, shouting, “Princess Consort, there’s no one in the cave!”
Mian Tang’s mind raced as she heard this, and she muttered, “Not good, this is a diversionary tactic…”
Before she could finish, there was a sudden splash behind her. A figure leaped from the river and, with lightning speed, dragged her into the water. Mian Tang knew she was in trouble and grabbed the attacker’s arm, trying to push away, but her effort was skillfully countered, and she was pulled underwater.
Perhaps due to her previous leg injury and near-drowning experience, Mian Tang always felt anxious when in water. It reminded her of the cold, helpless feeling when she fell into the water at Yangshan, and it always took her a while to recover and overcome her fear.
This time was no exception. Being unexpectedly dragged into the water, she immediately felt a wave of panic. Her body stiffened, and her hands flailed in the water.
However, in just a moment, she overcame her fear and held her breath. She could hear the angry shouts of the guards on the shore and the clashing of blades.
She understood that these Japanese, living on islands, were skilled swimmers, and she couldn’t match them in water.
But once out of the water, with her skills and the guards’ help, these sneaky Japanese wouldn’t have much advantage.
Just as she was about to swim towards the shore, she felt someone grabbing her foot and pulling her down. Mian Tang drew the short dagger she had brought, looked down to see a figure below her, and stabbed downward. Unexpectedly, the person was very agile in the water, forcefully pulling her foot to disrupt her movements while dodging left and right, managing to avoid all her attacks.
It was clear that the attacker’s skills were not inferior to hers.
After several failed attempts to stab her assailant, Mian Tang finally ran out of breath. When she opened her mouth, she swallowed a large gulp of water. The attacker took advantage of this moment to swing her left and right in the water. Suddenly, Mian Tang felt a sharp pain in her head as it struck a rock by the shore, and she lost consciousness.
Before darkness engulfed her, Mian Tang’s last thought was – “Oh no, when my husband finds out I disobeyed him and fell into someone’s trap, how angry will he be? Yier is still young, he can’t be without a mother…”
Then seawater began to flood into her seven orifices. In the suffocating deep sea, she seemed to sink into an endless quagmire, caught in dream after dream from which she couldn’t wake.
The scenes flashed by like a revolving lantern.
At one moment, she was riding horses with Liu Yu on Yangshan, the wind whistling in her ears. Ziyu was smiling gently at her: “Mian Tang, don’t ride too fast, be careful not to fall…”
Soon after, she found herself in dense mountain forests, with distant camps dotting the landscape – the lair of that dog Huaiyang Prince of Zhenzhou.
She was saying to Lu Yi: “The rainy season is coming soon, it’s time to let those bastards’ feet rot…” The brothers around her laughed heartily, and she stood on the mountaintop, laughing with boundless confidence.
In the blink of an eye, she was standing in front of Ziyu’s study. They had quarreled due to a misunderstanding. After calming down, she wanted to take the initiative to apologize to Ziyu and resolve the rift.
Unexpectedly, her sworn sister Yun Niang emerged from Ziyu’s study, disheveled. Seeing her, Yun Niang said tearfully and pitifully: “Mian Tang, don’t misunderstand. Ziyu was just drunk and mistook me for you. I couldn’t get away last night… Don’t tell him, I won’t compete with you… Last night, let’s just consider it a misunderstanding…”
Mian Tang felt a disgust rising from her heart, causing the blood in her chest to surge, and a wave of acid rose.
After spitting out several mouthfuls of bloody water, she struggled to raise her head, only to see several brutish men surrounding her, laughing: “Little woman, you dare to compete with the adopted daughter of Prince Sui for a man? Are you that desperate for a man? Today, after we cut your tendons, we’ll take turns pleasuring you, serving you until you’re completely submissive…”
As they finished speaking, the men began to undress, grinning maliciously.
Even if it meant death, she wouldn’t fall into these men’s hands. So, with her last bit of strength, enduring the intense pain in her limbs, she suddenly threw herself towards a broken mast, rolling into the surging river…
She could still hear those villains on the boat saying: “What should we do? Should we go down and fish her out?”
“Idiot, how could she possibly survive in that condition? When we return, we’ll just report to Prince Sui that she drowned…”
These dreams rose and fell, and after an unknown amount of time, Mian Tang finally slowly opened her eyes, only to feel a headache and quickly close them again.
When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a large, clean, rough wooden bed. By the window, blue sky and white clouds were visible, and the occasional cry of seabirds could be heard.
As she slowly turned her face, she discovered a baby-faced man with thick eyebrows and large eyes sitting by the bed, looking down at a sea chart. Hearing her faint moan, he looked up at her and smiled, saying, “You’re awake?”
Mian Tang made a sound of assent and raised her hands before her eyes. She found only a thin mark on her wrists, and when she flexed her hands and rotated her wrists, there was no pain or abnormality, as if they had never been injured.
She examined him carefully, certain that she had never seen this person before. But her last memory before falling into the water was of having her tendons cut by Prince Sui’s men and falling into the river.
Thinking of this, she hurriedly raised her hands with effort, but on her white wrists, there were only two faint red lines – shallow scars that had already healed…
Mian Tang felt confused for a moment, not knowing how long she had slept, and how the wounds on her wrists… had completely healed.
She turned her head again to look at the baby-faced man and asked puzzledly, “Are you one of Prince Sui’s men?”
The young man shook his head, looking confused, and slightly narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, saying, “Of course not… You… don’t recognize me?”
Mian Tang struggled to sit up and cupped her hands in a salute towards him, asking, “May I ask your honorable name?”