How could Li Qitian not know that descending the mountain wouldn’t be easy? Though Pang Xiao spoke the truth, Li Qitian always felt there was mockery in his words.
Now on this mountain, there were no trusted confidants he could rely on. Only Ji Zeyu was barely reliable. Though Pang Xiao had never harbored murderous intent toward him in the underground palace, he hadn’t shown much respect either. Moreover, Pang Xiao had witnessed the most wretched side of his entire life, making him feel that his imperial dignity could never be established in front of Pang Xiao.
How was his current predicament any different from being in the underground palace? He was still begging for survival, still having to depend on others to live.
Li Qitian felt both conflicted and bitter, not knowing how to choose between imperial dignity and survival, or how to behave to maintain some semblance of dignity.
Qin Yining had by now cleaned her face and re-combed her hair.
Seeing everyone’s grave expressions, with Li Qitian’s face particularly telling, she thought for a moment and understood the crux of the matter.
Since Pang Xiao hadn’t taken the opportunity to kill Li Qitian in the underground palace, it meant he recognized that keeping Li Qitian alive brought more benefits than harm. Since they had already reached this point, she might as well see it through to the end.
With this thought, Qin Yining said: “It’s best to make a decision quickly. If their people charge up here, it’ll be too late to hide.”
The situation on the mountain was clear at a glance, and they were surrounded on all sides. With both Li Qitian and Pang Xiao rescued, naturally both needed to be hidden. But where could two grown men hide?
Li Qitian frowned in difficulty, looking around for suitable hiding places.
Ji Zeyu said: “Your Majesty need not worry. At worst, the Prince and I will lead our brothers to escort Your Majesty and fight our way out.”
Pang Xiao shook his head. “Our hearts are the same as Duke Dingguo’s in sharing Your Majesty’s burdens, but forcing a breakthrough isn’t a foolproof strategy. Your Majesty doesn’t just need to get down the mountain—what we need to do is get Your Majesty back to the palace and make Prince Li obediently surrender his regency powers.”
Ji Zeyu pondered briefly, then nodded in agreement: “You’re right. I was being hasty.”
Li Qitian frowned deeply: “To make Prince Li surrender power, the one who granted the power must reclaim it.”
“When something happened to Your Majesty here, the Empress Dowager only resorted to this desperate measure for the stability of the dynasty. If the Empress Dowager learns Your Majesty is safe, she will immediately reclaim the power,” Qin Yining analyzed. “So Prince Li absolutely won’t want Your Majesty to successfully meet with the Empress Dowager.”
“This makes it even more difficult.”
Everyone sighed collectively.
At this moment, Huzi, who was responsible for scouting ahead, ran over: “Your Majesty, my lord, Duke Dingguo, the lights from below are getting closer. It’s best to decide early.”
Pang Xiao pressed his lips together and slightly narrowed his long phoenix eyes, already having an idea in mind. However, given his position, speaking these words now might deepen Li Qitian’s misunderstanding of him.
Qin Yining then said: “To meet the Empress Dowager, we must first secretly escort Your Majesty away from the encirclement without alerting Prince Li. So fighting our way out won’t work.” Looking at Li Qitian, she said somewhat hesitantly: “Your Majesty, this subject’s wife does have an idea, but it’s rather presumptuous.”
A gleam flashed in Pang Xiao’s eyes as he looked at Qin Yining with curiosity.
Li Qitian was anxious, and at this critical juncture, how could he care about such matters? Firmly grasping the throne again was most important. There was the ancient precedent of enduring hardships to achieve revenge—what did he have to fear?
“Princess Zhongshun, please speak freely. I won’t blame you.”
Qin Yining nodded and moved closer to Li Qitian, Pang Xiao, and Ji Zeyu to explain her plan.
Listening, Pang Xiao couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. There truly were such wonderful coincidences in the world—they really did have telepathic understanding and had thought of the same thing.
After hearing the plan, Ji Zeyu nodded seriously: “I think this could work. It’s just that Your Majesty will have to suffer some indignity.”
The corner of Li Qitian’s mouth twitched. According to Qin Yining’s words, he would gain another dark mark in his life’s history—truly a complete loss of face.
But if he didn’t listen to her, he couldn’t think of a second feasible plan.
After deliberating back and forth for quite a while, Li Qitian finally sighed.
A great man must be able to bend and stretch!
“Very well. I’ll follow your advice.”
Seeing Li Qitian agree, Qin Yining called Bingtang and Ji Yun over to give them some instructions.
Both wore serious expressions as they went to prepare.
Pang Xiao and Li Qitian exchanged glances, smiling bitterly and shaking their heads as they went to change clothes.
In just a moment, two tall, broad-shouldered “matrons” were freshly created.
Since Xiao Man and Xie Yue, who were skilled in disguise, weren’t with Qin Yining and Pang Xiao, fortunately they had the capable hands of Ji Yun and Bingtang. They shaved the two men clean, changed them into women’s clothing and cloaks that Qin Yining had prepared in the carriage, styled their hair like married women, and even added hair ornaments. Though the clothes didn’t fit and the two made particularly masculine-looking servant women, in the darkness of night, as long as they didn’t speak and kept their heads down, they could pass inspection.
“Later I’ll pretend that worrying about my lord has caused me to have pregnancy complications. Duke Dingguo, concerned that something might happen to me and he couldn’t explain it to his brother, will escort me down the mountain. Your Majesty and my lord will disguise as servant women I brought along, all staying in the carriage to care for me.”
Qin Yining supported her waist with both hands, her prominently protruding belly now serving as the perfect excuse.
“I believe that since they’re here to capture Tatar spies, they won’t fail to recognize my face and Prince Consort Ji’s. Moreover, even if Prince Li has ambitions, he wants legitimacy and won’t make things difficult for a pregnant woman like me.”
Li Qitian nodded repeatedly as he listened.
The plan was good.
It was just that having to disguise himself as a woman to save his life, complete with rouge and powder, made him feel waves of frustration.
Most importantly, even dressed as a woman, that boy Pang Xiao looked better than him!
Li Qitian felt indescribable emotions. As an emperor, he was inferior to others in every way.
Pang Xiao nodded: “Your Majesty, I think this method is excellent. You can return to the prince’s mansion with us later. As for how to deal with Prince Li, we’ll discuss it after returning to the mansion. If my wife and I can’t think of a good solution, my father-in-law is still at the mansion.”
Qin Huaiyuan, known as the Intelligent Pan An, could be said to be a model of clever mind and ingenious strategies. With him there, it seemed like any difficult problem could be solved.
However, for Li Qitian, who had just issued an edict dismissing Qin Huaiyuan from office for no good reason, seeking out Qin Huaiyuan when in trouble was truly slapping his own face.
But what other choice did he have?
Now that Pang Xiao dared invite him to the prince’s mansion in front of so many people and promised to help him think of solutions, Li Qitian knew that Pang Xiao truly had no murderous intent toward him.
At least not now.
That Pang Xiao was willing to help was already very good. Li Qitian couldn’t demand more.
With this thought, Li Qitian nodded: “Excellent.”
Qin Yining then turned to instruct Bingtang and Ji Yun, who had changed into men’s clothing: “You two will pretend to be foot soldiers later, staying here with everyone to continue digging. Remember to make your faces dirty so no one notices anything amiss.”
“Yes. Don’t worry, Princess. We understand,” Bingtang nodded with a smile.
Qin Yining said: “Don’t worry. Since Prince Li has designs on the throne, he wants legitimacy and still cares about his reputation. He definitely doesn’t have concrete evidence that Your Majesty has been rescued, or he would have already attacked the mountain.
“You continue digging here, acting urgently concerned about the rescue. When Prince Li’s people come up the mountain, they won’t harm your lives—otherwise he couldn’t explain it publicly. At most they’ll cordon you off and search the mountain. When they find nothing, that’ll be the end of it.
“You’ll have to suffer through one night on the mountain. Tomorrow morning, Prince Consort Ji and I will return to the mountain to continue digging with you. Then Prince Li’s people will have to withdraw.”
“Yes, Princess,” Bingtang and Ji Yun responded in unison.
Huzi also nodded with the Elite Tiger Guards, not forgetting to praise with a smile: “The Princess truly deserves to be the daughter of the Intelligent Pan An—simply a female Zhuge Liang!”
The Elite Tiger Guards all nodded in agreement. They already worshipped Pang Xiao and greatly respected Qin Yining. During Pang Xiao’s ordeal, the Elite Tiger Guards had witnessed many of Qin Yining’s capabilities and already deeply admired her. Now that Qin Yining could think so thoroughly, they weren’t surprised at all.
Ji Zeyu instructed his trusted men: “You must not reveal even half a word of the true situation on the mountain.”
“Yes,” his trusted men all responded solemnly.
Qin Yining quietly descended the mountain with Pang Xiao, Ji Zeyu, and Li Qitian, avoiding others as they settled into the carriage.
The very spacious carriage compartment felt crowded because, besides Qin Yining the pregnant woman, it also contained two tall, broad men.
Ji Zeyu sat sideways on the driver’s seat, serving as Qin Yining’s coachman as the carriage raced along the gentle slope down the mountain.
In just a few breaths, they encountered a troop coming up the mountain head-on.
Those people all wore the uniforms of the Five Cities Military Commissioner’s Office, their torches illuminating the surroundings brightly. Seeing a carriage coming down toward them with Ji Zeyu as the driver, the group was momentarily stunned.
Ji Zeyu frowned and shouted: “Make way!”
People who had experienced battlefields possessed imposing presence. These pampered individuals in the capital naturally couldn’t compare to border troops. Shouted at by Ji Zeyu, they felt somewhat intimidated.
The leader remained relatively composed and bowed: “Prince Consort Ji, may I ask who is in the carriage…”
Ji Zeyu raised his whip, the tip cracking through the air right in front of the man, startling him into closing his eyes.
However, Ji Zeyu was measured—having no intention to actually harm the man, the whip didn’t touch his skin.
“Princess Zhongshun is having pregnancy complications. I’m taking her down the mountain for medical treatment! Why don’t you move aside?”
“Prince Consort Ji, we’re here on Prince Li’s orders to capture Tatar spies. If we let spies escape, we won’t be able to explain ourselves later. Please understand and allow us to search the carriage.”
Ji Zeyu’s expression darkened. This time showing no mercy, he lashed the man’s shoulder: “Impudent! The carriage contains Princess Zhongshun—how can you search whenever you please! The Princess is having pregnancy complications. If something happens to her, how many heads do you have to compensate!”
The man gasped in pain, clutching his shoulder with a pale face, unable to speak.
Seeing Ji Zeyu being so domineering, his companions couldn’t help but taunt: “Could it be that the carriage really is hiding Tatar spies, which is why Prince Consort Ji won’t allow us to search?”
“Audacious!” Ji Zeyu’s eyes narrowed, already looking murderous, frightening the searchers into retreating several steps.
Just then, Qin Yining lifted the window curtain and weakly clutched her belly: “Prince Consort Ji, please calm your anger. Let them take a quick look and be done with it. The carriage interior is clearly visible—where could any spies be hiding?”