“He’s already been blinded by lust for power—how could he still care about feelings? Perhaps from the very beginning, he never had any romantic feelings for me. All his intimate behavior was meant to mislead A’na Ri, making her think there was ambiguity between him and me, provoking her jealousy so she would do things beneficial to his plans. Si Qin was exploiting A’na Ri’s deep feelings for him! From the start, he wanted A’na Ri dead. We didn’t harm A’na Ri for the sake of diplomatic relations between the Tatars and Great Zhou, but Si Qin’s original purpose was to frame us.”
The more Qin Yining spoke, the more terrifying she found it. Si Qin’s scheming was deep to an unimaginable degree.
Probably from when Si Qin went to Yang County and took advantage of the earthquake to kidnap them back, it was all for the purpose of achieving today’s goal.
Lu Heng said with a deeply furrowed brow: “This won’t do. Once Si Qin successfully ascends to the throne, his next step will probably be to use A’na Ri’s death as a pretext to make demands of Great Zhou.”
“But what should you two do?” Mu Jinghu’s expression became even more grim.
He was a person of pure heart who valued loyalty and emotions. Not only could he not conceive of or commit such conscienceless acts as Si Qin’s, even if others wanted him to harm people, he would find it hard to accept. Much less this kind of thing—killing a woman who deeply loved him for the sake of power and throne.
How could this be something a human could do!
“We can’t continue staying here. If they search the entire city, they’ll probably find this place soon,” Lu Heng said anxiously.
Mu Jinghu immediately nodded, placing the large bundle in his hands before Qin Yining: “First apply medicine to yourself and change into these clothes. It’s more convenient for you to go out dressed as a man.” He turned to call Lu Heng: “Let’s go outside first.”
Lu Heng nodded and followed Mu Jinghu outside to quietly discuss countermeasures.
Qin Yining removed her clothes, used old cloth dipped in water to roughly clean the blood from her body, cleaned her wounds, then took wound medicine and fine cotton cloth to hastily bandage herself. Finally, she changed into men’s clothing, re-combed her hair into a neat topknot, and put on a fur hat commonly worn by Tatar men in winter.
Qin Yining bundled up the silk and satin garments she’d removed, thinking to find a place to burn them. She reorganized the water pouch, dried food, medicines and other items in the bundle and rewrapped them before calling the two men back in.
Mu Jinghu said urgently: “I just went to scout the route and found that pursuing guards are already heading this way. We need to leave here quickly.”
Qin Yining hurriedly nodded and followed behind Mu Jinghu with Lu Heng, carrying the bundle.
When the three reached the alley entrance, they could hear in the distance the shouts of people searching civilian homes and the startled cries of residents—children crying, adults shouting, chickens and dogs running about in great chaos.
Even without understanding the language, Qin Yining could guess what these people were saying—nothing more than asking whether they had seen people like them.
Mu Jinghu quickly grabbed Qin Yining’s wrist and gestured for Lu Heng to follow.
The three quietly retreated and ran toward a more distant area.
In the deep night, turning left and right through the alleys, they could only hear their own breathing and footsteps, along with the sounds of guards searching in the distance.
Lu Heng said quietly: “We’ll definitely be caught if this continues. I see they’re searching house by house, not even sparing the wells.”
Mu Jinghu’s expression was also extremely grave: “Now the city gates are tightly closed and the searchers are right in front of us. Being caught is just a matter of time if this continues.”
“Do you have any other places in the city where we could hide?” Qin Yining asked.
Mu Jinghu shook his head shamefully: “I usually only stay in the palace with my master uncle. I never thought I’d come out to live elsewhere, so naturally I never acquired any property.”
“In the current situation, even if you had acquired property, it wouldn’t help.”
Finding a corner to hide in, Mu Jinghu frowned deeply with worry. Now even if he brought two people skilled in martial arts, they might not all escape unscathed, let alone Lu Heng who only knew the simplest riding and archery, and Qin Yining who was a woman and covered in injuries.
The three looked at each other helplessly. Mu Jinghu suddenly stood up to go out: “I’ll go draw those people away.”
“No.” Qin Yining grabbed him firmly. “I know your martial skills are excellent and those people are no match for you, but can you kill all the guards? Even if you were an iron plate, how many nails could you crush? We can’t be reckless—we must use strategy. Taking a step back, even if we can’t escape and get captured in the end, there’s no need to worry. They won’t kill Second Master Lu and me, because given Si Qin’s character, he’ll definitely exhaust all our value before giving up. He’ll use us to negotiate terms with Great Zhou.”
Mu Jinghu shook his head: “He will use you to negotiate terms with Great Zhou, but given Pang Zhixi’s current situation in Great Zhou, how could he have the ability to persuade the Great Zhou emperor? If the Great Zhou emperor doesn’t agree, wouldn’t you two lose your lives? I’d better go draw the people away so you can find a way to escape quickly.”
Lu Heng also held onto Mu Jinghu: “No, if you go now you’ll not only expose yourself but might also lose your life. If our lives are built on your sacrifice, we’ll never feel at peace for the rest of our lives.”
Qin Yining also said: “Young Master Mu, you had nothing to do with this matter originally. Saving our lives already exceeds all duty. While the pursuing troops haven’t arrived, you should hurry back. Now that such a big incident has happened outside, Tianji Zi must have noticed. If she discovers you’re missing, she’ll definitely suspect. Wouldn’t you then be betraying your sect?”
Mu Jinghu was a loyal and righteous person. Hearing the four words “betraying your sect,” his brow furrowed even tighter.
Qin Yining continued: “You should leave quickly. When it’s convenient, send word to Pang Zhixi telling him that Second Master Lu and I are still alive—that’s enough. You must not do anything more to avoid bringing trouble upon yourself.”
Mu Jinghu lowered his head and pondered for a long time, but still stubbornly shook his head: “No, I’ll stay with you. With me here, if worst comes to worst, we can still fight our way out. If you two are captured, then you’re truly captured.”
As they spoke, they continued shuttling through the alleys, constantly avoiding the pursuing troops.
But listening to their voices, they could judge that the distance between them had become very close.
“Young Master Mu, please leave quickly. If you don’t go now, even you won’t be able to get away,” Qin Yining urged anxiously.
Mu Jinghu gritted his teeth and shook his head again, pulling Qin Yining and Lu Heng to continue hiding.
However, this area was inhabited by the lowest-level poor people and slaves. The alleys were not only narrow and crisscrossing, but many roads were dead ends.
Mu Jinghu pulled Qin Yining and Lu Heng left and right, gasping as they came to the depths of an alley, only to discover there was no way forward. They hurriedly turned back.
Just then, the footsteps and voices of the pursuing troops had also drawn near. The three stood in the depths of the alley, watching in terror as firelight appeared at the alley entrance!