“Return your children? What are you thinking!” A Capital Guard grabbed Qin Yining’s hair and turned her face toward him, his dark face bearing an almost twisted smile.
These men came from military guard backgrounds and were loyal to Li Qitian’s subordinates. Though they couldn’t be considered ordinary people, they weren’t of particularly high status either. They had ambitions and were unwilling to remain beneath others. Normally, when they encountered people like Pang Xiao, they had to bow and scrape. Even if it was just a woman, as long as she married into a prominent family, they had to show some deference.
Today, being able to hold such a noble and beautiful woman as Qin Yining in the palm of their hands, making her crawl on the ground without dignity and beg for mercy from them, gave him an unprecedented sense of satisfaction!
“Let me tell you, the Son of Heaven has ordered us to capture you rebels alive. When we return to the capital, you’ll naturally be dealt with as rebels. If you’re smart, you’ll keep your mouths shut, otherwise we’ll gag you directly!”
Qin Yining’s hair was being gripped by the man, her hair bun already disheveled, long hair stuck to her cheeks with tears. Through the scattered hair and tearful haze, she looked at the person holding the two swaddling bundles nearby and finally forced herself to soften her tone.
“Fine, fine. You came here under orders and naturally need to bring this Princess and the young heir back to report, right?”
Sensing that the hand gripping her had loosened somewhat, Qin Yining gritted her teeth: “Even if we’re to be judged for crimes, given my Prince’s status, it would require the Emperor’s personal decision. The Prince has no other heirs – now there’s just this one son and one daughter. In the future, the heir will definitely be this child. If something really goes wrong, even if the Emperor wants to arrest Prince Zhongshun’s heir for punishment, he won’t be able to find anyone. You know the Emperor’s temperament!”
The Capital Guards and Li Qitian’s secret agents exchanged glances, all somewhat shaken.
“Forget it, we still need to keep them alive.” The man gripping Qin Yining finally let go. But he still wasn’t pleased, instead stroking Qin Yining’s tender cheek: “However, if you want us to treat your children better, you’ll have to give something in return, won’t you?”
His eyes greedily gazed at Qin Yining’s delicate face, tear-stained like a pear blossom in rain. Even in her disheveled state, pressed to the ground with scattered hair and tear-streaked face, this woman was still an existence these people could never hope to touch.
The Capital Guards nearby all burst into laughter.
“Right, right, exactly! This is Prince Zhongshun’s woman – we could never see someone this beautiful at home!”
Qin Yining gritted her teeth. Taking advantage of the man’s inattention, she raised her hand and delivered a fierce slap. She put no restraint on her strength, and having developed a strong physical foundation from years of outdoor living in her youth, her strength was much greater than ordinary women. This blow immediately made the man squatting in front of her making crude remarks see stars, and before he could react to what happened, he was already sitting on his backside.
But Qin Yining wasn’t finished. She pounced forward and gave him another punch to the eye socket: “Outrageous! How dare you be disrespectful to me! You think you’re worthy! If you have the ability, kill me right now and see how the Emperor will deal with you when you can’t hand over Princess Zhongshun in the capital!”
“You!” The struck man’s face bore a handprint, his eyes blazing with fury for a moment before he raised his hand and slapped Qin Yining across the face.
Qin Yining was immediately knocked down into the snow, her ears ringing as if she couldn’t hear anything.
“Wretched woman! We’re not letting you die, but that doesn’t mean we have to let you live comfortably! You’re still acting arrogant now – just wait for your execution!”
The man was about to strike Qin Yining again when Ji Yun and Bingtang had already struggled forward, their movements unimpeded despite having their hands bound.
Xie Yue, Jingzhe, Liao Zhibing and others were even more furious, all exerting their full strength to struggle, but they were powerless.
A secret agent who had been observing from the side stepped forward with a stern face: “Enough, that’s about sufficient.”
The Capital Guards and secret agents belonged to different departments after all, and the secret agents were the Emperor’s confidants. Though the Capital Guards had higher official ranks on paper, they still didn’t dare underestimate them. With a secret agent speaking up, the Capital Guards finally didn’t dare continue their misconduct.
The secret agent who frequently followed Li Qitian said: “The Emperor’s decree was to bring them back alive – all of Prince Zhongshun’s family members. So every person present, we must bring back alive. If anyone dies, and the Emperor suddenly remembers wanting to use someone but can’t, whoever was responsible for that person’s death will be held accountable.”
“Yes.” Everyone responded in unison.
Blood trickled from the corner of Qin Yining’s mouth. When that slap landed, her teeth had cut her tongue, and the bleeding still hadn’t stopped.
But at least now she could temporarily set her mind at ease – at least all these people’s lives were temporarily safe.
What Qin Yining felt heartbroken about were the two children in the swaddling clothes. In this freezing weather, if they were to travel to the capital, they would have to journey on the road. She could endure anything, could make do with anything, but the children couldn’t.
“Hand the children over to me to care for. I can’t escape anyway, so isn’t it troublesome for you to handle the children yourselves?” Blood from Qin Yining’s mouth dripped onto her clothes and the ground, blooming like red plum blossoms.
Both the Capital Guards and secret agents shook their heads.
“Princess Zhongshun has such noble status – how could you do such menial work? Don’t you still have wet nurses in your group? If not, we’ll just make do without feeding them until we arrive.”
“You’re despicable!” Qin Yining knew they didn’t dare harm her children – at least not until Li Qitian gave the word. Not one of them could be missing.
But these people wanted to make them suffer. It would be quite easy to torment them without actually killing the children.
Qin Yining’s curses not only didn’t anger these people but instead made them laugh heartily.
This mission had gone too smoothly. Everyone shouted as they tied up Qin Yining’s entire group like dumplings, stringing them together in a long line.
The Capital Guards left twenty men to assist the secret agents, while the rest formed ranks and rode off, returning to the capital ahead of them.
The Emperor’s secret agents and Capital Guards all had horses. They also arranged for the two wet nurses Qin Yining had brought to ride in the carriage, entrusting Xuan Ge’er and Yun Jie’er to them.
“You two, take good care of these children. Don’t let them starve or freeze to death, or we’ll kill your entire families to atone!”
“Yes, yes, yes, masters, rest assured. We’ll certainly serve them carefully.” The two wet nurses were already scared out of their wits. They were locals from Jingang who had survived thanks to Qin Yining and Pang Xiao’s kindness. Now having the opportunity to protect their benefactor’s children, they were actually happy in their hearts, but didn’t dare show it on their faces.
Seeing this scene, Qin Yining could finally relax a little. Normally when she needed rest, she would also entrust the children to the wet nurses, and when her own milk wasn’t sufficient, she would have them feed the babies. At least during this journey before meeting Li Qitian, the children’s lives could be guaranteed.
But Qin Yining’s group faced great difficulties.
Once Qin Yining was captured, Jingzhe, the Elite Tiger Guards and others could only surrender without resistance, not daring to fight back for fear of endangering their master’s life. The people Lu Heng had arranged, being unarmed, had already suffered heavy casualties. The survivors, seeing the situation was hopeless, quickly fled. Capital Guards on horseback had gone to pursue and kill them, so they were probably in great danger by now.
Currently, they were all tied to the same rope, a long line of people winding through the snowy roads. On both sides were Capital Guards and secret agents on horseback. Some scouted ahead, others brought up the rear, with tight security. Qin Yining simply couldn’t find any opportunity to escape.
In such weather, Qin Yining, who had grown up in the south, simply couldn’t adapt. Even sitting in a carriage, she still needed to wrap herself in quilts and hold warming bottles. Now her feet were frozen numb, yet she still had to stumble forward through the snow.
Looking around at everyone, Qin Yining was in slightly better condition. Jingzhe and the others had removed their thick cloaks for ease of fighting and were now dressed lightly. With the bitter cold wind, she was truly worried something would happen to everyone.
Fortunately, even Xie Yue among this group was robust despite his age. Though Qin Yining was a woman, she normally received much care from Bingtang. Though weakened for a while after childbirth, she had now recovered considerably. Ji Yun and Bingtang needn’t even be mentioned.
They gritted their teeth and persevered, traveling through wind and weather, sleeping rough and advancing through snow. Fortunately, not one person fell behind.
When they reached the capital’s city gates, it was the last day of the ninth year of the current reign.
The city stood majestically, with thick white covering the wilderness outside.
Both Qin Yining’s feet and hands had frostbite. Every step made the injured areas both painful and itchy. Seeing they had reached the city gates but still had no way to escape, another layer of gloom settled in her heart, making her feel even colder.
Once in Li Qitian’s hands, they would become Pang Xiao’s weakness. Qin Yining didn’t want to become a bargaining chip to threaten Pang Xiao, but with so many of her people captured, including her children, this was no longer something she could control as she wished. Even if she wanted to end everything, she didn’t have that privilege. She still had to stand at the forefront of everyone, being the one who could shield them.
“Enter.”
At the city gates, the Capital Guard cavalry still didn’t dismount. People on both sides pulled the string of prisoners, and everyone was dragged into the city in formation.
After sleeping rough in the bitter cold, their hair was already disheveled and their clothes dirty.
Passersby who saw this scene couldn’t help but discuss in low voices.
Someone seeing Qin Yining in the crowd whispered: “Oh my, which family’s criminal woman is this? She’s so beautiful. If she were sold as an official courtesan, that would be everyone’s good fortune.”
“Yes! Yes! Such a beautiful woman – we don’t usually get to see such people!”
“Bah! Show some virtue with your words!” Someone who recognized Qin Yining immediately scolded: “That’s Princess Zhongshun! Prince Zhongshun is fighting at the front lines, yet Prince Zhongshun’s family has been arrested and brought back. What does this mean! Have you forgotten who drove back the Tatars and didn’t let them set foot in the capital? If not for Prince Zhongshun that day, the Great Zhou would have perished! Now you see his family like this and still speak insults – are you even human?”
These words left everyone speechless.
Someone mumbled: “We just didn’t recognize her…”
“Even if you didn’t recognize her, you can’t speak carelessly!” A bold fat woman stepped forward, smiling as she asked the secret agents and Capital Guards on their tall horses: “Officials, what crime has the Princess committed? Look what state the Princess has been reduced to. Could you let the Princess drink some hot water to warm up?”