Xiaoying said, “Since we’ve already promised to help Consort Yi, how can we let my attention-seeking Second Brother claim the first victory?”

The terrain ahead featured a ditch that, if used properly, could delay the Second Prince’s troops for a brief moment.

She would use this time difference to rescue Consort Yi.

After hearing Xiaoying’s deployment plan, Meng Zhun immediately took action.

Years of tacit understanding meant that even when the young lady proposed the most outrageous and bold plans, they could implement them without batting an eye.

Operations like intercepting imperial troops were something they had become quite proficient at.

When the Second Prince led his troops to a mountain ridge, he discovered that the path required crossing a ditch, but the wooden bridge spanning it had been cut in half.

The stream wasn’t deep, but crossing would require dismounting and wading through water. With the cold weather, forcing the noble Second Prince to wade through water would be more difficult than killing him!

Feng Qiting couldn’t help but curse under his breath. However, remembering his mother’s instructions, the Second Prince didn’t dare slack off and waved for his men to prepare to help him cross the river.

Just as he dismounted to cross, arrows suddenly flew from the darkness, barely missing the Second Prince’s ear, frightening him so badly that he fell into the water with a splash, shouting that there were assassins!

But with dusk approaching, they couldn’t see the surrounding forest conditions and could only retreat to the edge of the ditch, using shields to protect the Second Prince.

At that moment, a ghostly figure wearing an eerie mask flashed across the opposite bank of the bridge.

This terrified the Second Prince, who screamed again in horror.

In his childhood, he had been frightened by opera martial performers and despised these ghostly face masks. Now, with one suddenly appearing in the gloom, he shrieked several times.

Meng Zhun, wearing the King of Hell mask, hiding in the forest, couldn’t help but spit in contempt: Is this a prince? He can’t compare to the Crown Prince or even the Third Prince! If the next emperor of Dafeng were someone like this, it would truly be disheartening!

Xiaoying had mentioned that her second brother was afraid of ghosts, so Meng Zhun, wearing the mask, would occasionally appear to frighten him into not crossing the river. As long as they delayed for some time, Xiaoying’s plan would succeed…

Meanwhile, Yan Xiaoying, though not wearing a mask, had covered her face with black cloth and was racing toward the riverside campsite.

That Huo fellow wasn’t by the campfire; judging from the faint sounds coming from the carriage, he was likely inside.

Xiaoying took a bow and arrows from Xiaowu’s hands and shot three arrows at the carriage. One hit the campfire, causing sparks to fly, while the other two arrows struck the carriage door frame.

That Huo fellow emerged at the sound, quickly drawing his curved blade to protect his vital points, and ordered his men to search the area.

When a masked person stood in the shadows, it immediately aroused vigilance.

The Huo fellow quietly said to Tang Mi in the carriage, “Hide well, don’t come out.”

Tang Mi seemed very frightened: “Be careful, Lord Huo…”

The man appeared to be moved by the lady’s concern, his expression softening momentarily before he warily eyed the mysterious masked person and gestured with his finger.

His two burly men exchanged glances before charging toward Yan Xiaoying.

Xiaoying drew the Miao blade given to her by Swordmaster Xiao and engaged the two men in battle.

Her original plan was to fight briefly before pretending to flee in defeat, luring them to pursue her and drawing away most of their forces.

Unexpectedly, when her Miao blade clashed with their curved swords, the techniques she had been practicing seemed to awaken from hibernation, becoming unstoppable.

Though fighting against two opponents, Xiaoying felt their moves were too slow, and she handled the fight with ease.

Recently, Yan Xiaoying had been sparring with masters like Xiao Tianyang and Feng Yuan, who stood at the pinnacle of martial arts.

What advantage could she possibly gain from fighting such experts?

This had given Xiaoying the false impression that her martial skills were regressing rather than improving.

Being beaten by masters certainly damaged her confidence, but once she crossed swords with practitioners of merely above-average skill, she suddenly realized how much progress she had made!

The current Xiaoying had undergone a profound transformation, now able to fight two opponents effortlessly.

What Xiaoying didn’t know was that Xiao Tianyang truly adored her natural talent.

Although she adamantly refused to become his disciple, Xiao Tianyang treated her like his future daughter-in-law and held nothing back, teaching her everything he knew.

Combined with the Miao blade personally forged and calibrated by Ye Zhanxue, her strikes were dazzling, with even the blade’s wind capable of inflicting injury.

Xiao Tianyang had specifically cultivated techniques to counter the Wei Country’s Chen family style. When executed with the sharp Miao blade, the attacks were fierce and overwhelming, with such a fast tempo that the two men were forced to retreat continuously.

That Lord Huo hadn’t expected a mysterious expert with such agile skills to suddenly appear.

His keen eyes fixed on the masked person, noting that their figure resembled a woman’s, which made him suspect this was the same expert who had killed Silver Fragments at Yuxiu Village.

Having driven back the two strong men, Xiaoying grew even bolder, forgetting her original plan and provocatively beckoning to Lord Huo.

She truly knew how to provoke anger—Lord Huo was infuriated by her contemptuous gesture and charged forward with his curved blade.

When they engaged in combat, as their blades clashed, Xiaoying immediately realized she was in trouble.

This man not only had fierce blade techniques but also profound inner strength. The impact made Xiaoying’s wrist go numb, forcing her to retreat two steps.

However, in the following exchanges, Xiaoying avoided direct confrontation, using small grappling techniques combined with her blade work, sticking close to the tall man like a leech, never engaging him head-on.

This loach technique was something she had practiced extensively with Feng Yuan. Against someone unfamiliar with the routine, once entangled, they couldn’t break free.

The man was irritated by her persistence and cursed her unorthodox technique!

Xiaoying continued to provoke him: “Your Great Wei expert Silver Fragments was also entangled by me until he couldn’t handle it anymore and jumped off a building to end it. Why don’t you surrender, and I’ll let you go!”

Hearing this, Lord Huo’s killing intent spread, and his techniques became even more vicious.

Xiaoying glanced toward the carriage from the corner of her eye while listening for distant sounds. Feeling she couldn’t hold out for many more exchanges, when the moment seemed right, she suddenly leaped backward.

Xiaowu, hidden in the darkness, followed Xiaoying’s previous instructions and shouted: “The troops of our Dafeng’s Second Prince have arrived! Surrender yourselves immediately!”

Lord Huo also heard the distant sound of hoofbeats and knew that if surrounded, escape would be difficult. He quickly waved for everyone to retreat, mounted his horse, and escorted the carriage away, leaving a trail of dust in the darkness.

Seeing the carriage leave, Xiaoying ran to where it had been parked, removed her mask, and whispered to a dark shape on the ground: “Did you escape?”

A black cloak on the ground was lifted to reveal Tang Mi lying underneath.

Earlier, when Xiaoying had been combing Tang Mi’s hair, she had left instructions that if the opportunity arose, she would shoot arrows at the carriage to distract the Wei people. At that time, Tang Mi should put on the black cloak from the carriage and hide underneath it.

She hadn’t expected the opportunity to come so quickly.

What surprised Tang Mi was that the young lady’s martial skills were so impressive, engaging those men to the point they paid no attention to the carriage, allowing Tang Mi to successfully hide underneath it.

Now, with the cover of darkness and the Second Prince’s troops approaching, Lord Huo had no time to check the carriage and hastily led his people away.

But though those people had left, the Second Prince’s troops were about to arrive.

The sound of hoofbeats seemed about to envelop them at any moment. Xiaoying pulled Tang Mi up and asked: “Can you climb trees?”

Tang Mi was bewildered. From childhood, she had learned zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but tree climbing had never been part of her education.

Fortunately, Xiaowu was there. He quietly told the consort not to worry, then lifted her onto a tree branch and covered her with the black cloak. With the branches as camouflage, unless someone shone a torch directly at her, she would remain undetected.

Meanwhile, Xiaoying and Xiaowu climbed up a large tree to observe the situation below.

At that moment, the soaking wet Second Prince arrived with his men. Seeing the extinguished campfire and chaotic wheel tracks on the ground, he realized he was too late!

“Damn it, this is really… achoo!”

In the bitter cold wind, the Second Prince, with his wet trousers, shivered on horseback, his chattering teeth clicking, barely able to curse coherently.

They didn’t linger by the riverside for long, instead following the wheel tracks and continuing their pursuit.

After waiting a while, Xiaoying helped Tang Mi down from the tree.

Though still shaken, Tang Mi maintained her composure and knelt solemnly before Xiaoying: “Some debts of gratitude are beyond words. Your kindness, Young Lady, I will forever keep in my heart.”

Xiaoying helped her up and asked: “Where will you go now?”

Tang Mi smiled sadly: “Back to the palace, of course, to present myself before His Majesty.”

What remained unsaid was that after successfully returning to the palace, having preserved Dafeng’s national face and prevented war between the two countries, she would find a silken cord and a roof beam, taking her own life to protect the reputation of the Tang family and the imperial family.

Seeing her melancholy smile, Xiaoying raised an eyebrow: “So your talk of not expressing gratitude was just empty words! I thought you truly meant to repay my kindness! Are you expecting me to collect the debt in King Yama’s hall after I die?”

Tang Mi anxiously pursed her lips: “Benefactor, your kindness can only be repaid in the next life…”

Xiaoying waved her hand: “Enough! Consort, this is defaulting on a debt. Who knows if we’ll be human or horses in the next life? I never save people for free, and I was counting on you to return the favor in this lifetime! Come on, I’ll arrange a place for you!”

Tang Mi was stunned, thinking she would be sent to a nunnery to become a nun.

Xiaoying glared: “What nunnery? We’re going back to the Imperial Temple to find the monks!”

Since she had disappeared from the Imperial Temple, they would return there.

When the time came, they would say she had been pushed into a dry well by villains and knocked unconscious. She had never left the Imperial Temple at all.

After Consort Yi regained consciousness, fearing the bandits might still be around, she had hidden in fear.

Tang Mi listened with wide eyes, hesitating: “Would His Majesty believe such a ridiculous story?”

Xiaoying rolled her eyes dramatically: “A consort abducted by villains versus a consort who fell and passed out—which story would give the Emperor more face? Our Emperor values his dignity; he’s not a fool who doesn’t care about appearances!”

Tang Mi was shocked by Xiaoying’s crude yet cunning nature.

This young lady, who resembled the Crown Prince, had such a temperament, completely different from His Highness the Crown Prince.

Yet could such a spirited young woman serve with her beauty and accompany the gloomy and taciturn Crown Prince?

Now that they had a plan, getting back to the Imperial Temple in the city at night was the next problem.

Fortunately, Xiaoying had already thought of a solution.

Meng Zhun hired a donkey cart for them and bought two sets of farm women’s clothes.

After putting them on, Xiaoying smeared some mud and ash on Tang Mi’s face and body. Soon they resembled two dusty “thousand-year eggs.”

With blue cloth head coverings and baggy coarse cloth clothing, the two young women’s beautiful faces were successfully concealed.

Meng Zhun drove the donkey cart, which was loaded with half a cart of pumpkins. Bringing the two women into the city was remarkably easy; the city gates were strictly controlling exits but lenient with entries, making it easy for those selling goods to enter.

As the cart entered, they could see squads of soldiers galloping toward the city gates, heading out of the city.

Among them, one of the squad leaders was none other than Tang Qingyue, the legitimate grandson of Tang family patriarch Tang Hongsheng. He was Tang Mi’s eldest brother, looking anxious and serious as he hurriedly left the city.

When Tang Mi saw her brother, she lowered her head, unwilling to be recognized.

Women clever enough to win the Emperor’s favor so quickly in the palace were invariably intelligent. She probably knew her brother’s character was similar to her grandfather’s—not particularly respectful of the clan’s women, so she didn’t expect any help from him.

When they arrived outside the Imperial Temple, the temple gates were tightly closed, making entry difficult. Meng Zhun found a suitable spot and began selling pumpkins.

Finding an opportunity, Xiaoying asked Tang Mi who that Lord Huo was.

Tang Mi, thinking he must have sailed away by now, finally said: “He… is Huo Buxun…”

Xiaoying blinked, remembering what Feng Yuan had told her about the Wei royal family: “He’s the Wei Emperor’s brother? That fierce Wei general—Duke Huo Buxun?”

It turned out the Huo brothers were born to the old Wei King’s favorite consort. Unfortunately, they were persecuted years ago and fled to Dafeng. With the help of friends, both brothers had studied at academies in Dafeng.

In her youth, Tang Mi had also studied at the women’s school next to the academy and, by coincidence, became acquainted with Huo Buxun.

At that time, she was cautious and reserved, ignoring Huo Buxun’s advances. However, this man was so bold that he paid silver to join the Tang family’s outer courtyard as a guard for two months, and that was how he secretly became acquainted with Tang Mi.

At this point in her story, Tang Mi’s face showed a genuine smile, unlike her usual polite expression, seemingly reminiscing about the beautiful past.

“Back then, I only hoped he would succeed in his studies, pass the imperial examinations, and honorably propose to the Tang family. But later, I realized how absurdly extravagant my hopes were… he was a prince of Wei…”

Laughably, at that time, her feelings had grown deep, and she was unwilling to wake from her dream. She had been willing to elope with Huo Buxun, to hide their identities and become an ordinary, happy couple.

But later, Huo Buxun had a chance to claim the throne and needed to return to Wei before the other princes. In his haste, Huo Buxun ignored Tang Mi’s desperate pleas and abandoned her.

Huo Buxun’s last words before leaving were for Tang Mi to wait for him; once he established himself, he would return for her.

Xiaoying bit into a honey date and quietly asked: “Then… when your family forced you to enter the palace, you were willing?”

Tang Mi properly adjusted her sitting posture on a stone, smiling slightly: “Who said I was forced? I entered the palace voluntarily.”

Xiaoying didn’t believe her: “How? Did you get over him so quickly?”

Tang Mi’s smile faded a little: “My grandfather heard about my wild idea of wanting to live an ordinary life. So he had my brother take me to the farmland to pull weeds and plant rice seedlings. Every day, if I didn’t finish working an acre of land, I wasn’t allowed to eat. At first, I didn’t know how to do the work and couldn’t finish an acre no matter what, so I couldn’t eat. By the time I had my first bite of food, three days had passed. I thought, perhaps if I persevered a little longer, he would come back for me. So I endured for a month, but the weather grew colder, the water more freezing, and leeches would attach to my legs in the fields and wouldn’t let go. I fainted in the field and fell into the water, nearly drowning…”

Tang Mi recounted this traumatic experience with a detached tone, as if observing someone else’s story.

“Later, I woke up lying under a large tree at the edge of the field. I saw a woman nursing her child while also pouring water for her husband, who was eating lunch in the field. Just for being a moment late, she was viciously slapped by her husband, who cursed her for being lazy and ruining his good fortune. I heard this woman had once been the village beauty, and her husband had practically worn out his knees begging at her door to marry her. The woman was barely twenty, yet her eyes were full of wrinkles, and she had to hold back tears while asking her husband to hit her more lightly for the sake of their child… At that moment, I realized that the story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, when brought down to the fields, becomes so vulgar.”

With that, she smiled and said, “I thought I had seen through love and would have no more attachments after entering the palace, but who knew that karma was already determined? The sins I committed in my youthful arrogance, not one could be escaped…”

Xiaoying listened quietly, then stuffed a honey date into Tang Mi’s mouth: “The laws of this world can never fairly judge every sin of mankind. You keep talking about heavy sins, but what exactly have you done to harm others? Didn’t you make up your mind to become the Empress of Dafeng and no longer suffer other people’s tempers when you entered the palace? Then cheer up and plan your future well! Don’t waste the life-saving kindness I’ve shown you!”

Tang Mi was amused by Xiaoying’s constant debt-collecting manner and couldn’t help asking: “Then you… as the Crown Prince’s concubine, what kind of future are you planning? Do you know that your appearance is extremely similar to my cousin, the Crown Prince?” The implication was that this position had no future.

Xiaoying sighed: “My relationship with him is quite ordinary!”

As they were talking, Xiaoying’s eyes lit up because she spotted a familiar person riding past the temple.

The Third Prince, Feng Qiwu, was about to head out of the city when he was suddenly hit in the face by a date pit. The pain made him pull his reins and look around angrily for the attacker.

When he recognized that the dirty peasant woman who looked like a thousand-year egg was Lady Ying, he jumped off his horse and asked: “How did you end up here?”

“I should be asking you that—where are you going alone without guards?” she countered.

Feng Qiwu glared: “To Five-Li Slope to find you, of course! The Crown Prince went mad and nearly beat Second Brother to death!”

Xiaoying was startled: “Why would he beat the Second Prince?”

Feng Qiwu scratched his head: “I don’t know either. I only found out this morning that Second Brother went to Five-Li Slope to arrest assassins and returned soaking wet. When he came back, he had a mask and claimed someone was playing ghostly tricks to scare him and obstruct his pursuit of the assassins. But Second Brother is skilled and immediately wounded and captured the masked person. Just as Second Brother was telling me about it, Elder Brother suddenly appeared and started beating him…”

Xiaoying frowned upon hearing this. The mask was the one her adoptive father had accidentally dropped last night.

This Second Prince, probably feeling embarrassed about returning to the palace soaking wet and empty-handed, had picked up the mask and made up a story, arresting a villager to serve as the bandit.

Unexpectedly, before he could embellish his tale further, he encountered Feng Yuan.

Feng Yuan would recognize Xiaoying’s mask. Suddenly hearing Feng Qiting’s version of events, if he misunderstood that Xiaoying had been injured by the Second Prince, not killing him would already show brotherly affection!