Lan Yu and Song Yan turned around. Feng Jiu’er took one look, then smiled and said, “Lan Yu, I have a few words for you. Come with me.”
Lan Yu was still full of questions, but Miss Jiu’er’s words carried the weight of the Prince’s own wishes. Since Miss Jiu’er had summoned him, he had no choice but to go first and hear what she had to say.
…No one knew what Jiu’er quietly said to Lan Yu, but when he came out, his expression was not particularly pleasant.
The brothers had already begun preparing to set off. Lan Yu went to find Yu Jingfeng and said something — no one caught what it was — and the convoy moved on.
“My Lady, that Feng Jiu’er is clearly no good sort. Just now, this servant saw her enter the dense woods with a man — who knows what they were up to that couldn’t be seen in the open.”
Qing Ye, who stood beside Nanmen Rong, cast a scornful look toward Feng Jiu’er in the distance. “In this servant’s opinion, she refuses to let even the brothers in the Ninth Prince’s convoy go unmolested.”
Nanmen Rong also looked toward Feng Jiu’er, though at the moment there was nothing particularly revealing to see. She let the curtain fall and said coolly, “You are overthinking it.”
With A’Jiu nearby, who had any attention left to spare for anyone else? Though she intensely disliked Feng Jiu’er, and hearing others speak ill of her was admittedly satisfying, she had no interest in fabrications.
Qing Ye, realizing her flattery had missed its mark entirely, immediately lowered her head and said no more.
The convoy set off at once, and before long arrived at the fork in the road where Black Tiger Mountain and Sharp Wolf Mountain diverged.
Yu Jingfeng urged his horse forward and called out in a clear, commanding voice: “Halt! We make camp here!”
Make camp here? Why were they not going into the mountain? Setting up camp like this would delay their journey by at least two hours. They were traveling with purpose — not on a pleasure excursion. The sky had not yet darkened, and stopping this early was simply wasting time.
“Go find out what is happening.” Nanmen Rong said.
“Yes, My Lady.” Qing Ye immediately went to gather information.
Even Leng Yue, after receiving Emperor Ji’s instructions, spurred her horse forward to catch up with Yu Jingfeng and asked, “Why are we not continuing? We could travel at least one more hour.”
“On Miss Jiu’er’s orders, we are to make camp and rest here. We spend the night at this location tonight!”
Yu Jingfeng offered no further explanation. With that said, he went off with Long Yi to arrange the guard rotation for the brothers. The cooks also began setting up their equipment to prepare the evening meal.
After Qing Ye returned with her report, Nanmen Rong stepped out of her carriage immediately, fury plain on her face. She eventually spotted Feng Jiu’er’s busy figure in the crowd and walked straight toward her.
“Feng Jiu’er,” Nanmen Rong said, her displeasure evident, “we are on a journey right now — do you think we are here on a leisure outing? There is still such a long stretch of road before we even reach Black Tiger Mountain. What is the meaning of stopping here?”
“We received a secret report that there is an ambush waiting at Black Tiger Mountain, so —”
“If there is an ambush at Black Tiger Mountain, then take Sharp Wolf Mountain. Don’t you know that A’Jiu’s condition cannot afford too much delay?”
Nanmen Rong was genuinely furious. She could not abide Feng Jiu’er’s manner of pretending to understand things she did not.
“Sharp Wolf Mountain has a severe wolf pack problem. I am worried that —”
“You are timid and indecisive — how do you expect to protect A’Jiu?” Nanmen Rong’s expression darkened. “And so what if there are wolves on Sharp Wolf Mountain?” she demanded. “Does This Palace fear them?”
“Empress, I know you are not afraid, for you have countless brothers guarding you — those wild wolves could surely not harm you.”
“But have you given any thought to the brothers’ safety? If we go through there, the brothers may not all come back unscathed —”
“And what of it? To receive one’s lord’s pay is to shoulder one’s lord’s burdens. This Palace has compensated them more than adequately. Even if they die in battle for This Palace, that is an honor!”
Nanmen Rong had no patience for such talk. She snapped, “Once we cross this range of mountains, we reach Desert City. Desert City sits at the boundary between Phoenix City and the Southern Wilds.”
“Once we pass through Desert City and leave in the other direction, we enter the Southern Wilds — our destination is practically within reach. And you choose this moment to stop — what if something happens to A’Jiu…”
She did not want to say it aloud — what if A’Jiu suffered an accident — but surely Feng Jiu’er had thought of this too?
The Gu Poison was so unpredictable. Who could guarantee it would not suddenly flare up?
Something flickered through Feng Jiu’er’s bright eyes, though she still wore an expression of unease. “But what if the wolf pack injures the Ninth Imperial Uncle…”
“With This Palace present, who could lay a finger on A’Jiu? Never mind wolves — even tigers would not be worth a second glance to This Palace!”
Jiu’er said nothing to that. As for tigers — of course they posed no problem. Tigers were solitary animals; one or two would frighten no one. After all, they had a large group of people.
But wolves always came in packs. And a wolf pack was plainly far more dangerous than a few tigers.
“Is the Empress truly certain? What if, by some misfortune —”
“There will be no misfortune!” Nanmen Rong swept her sleeve aside and said with displeasure, “This Palace commands you to set out at once and pass through Sharp Wolf Mountain!”
Feng Jiu’er appeared to still be hesitating. Nanmen Rong’s brow furrowed, her expression sharp with anger. “Are you truly telling me you do not care about the poison in A’Jiu’s body?”
“How could I not care?” The Empress had indeed guessed correctly — their journey to the Southern Wilds was precisely because of the Gu Poison.
The Southern Wilds were renowned for their poison arts. Those who raised venom were everywhere there, and virtually all the masters of gu refinement came from that place. If you were a poison cultivator and had never set foot in the Southern Wilds, then your life had surely been unremarkable.
Since it was now known that the Ninth Imperial Uncle was heading to the Southern Wilds for treatment, it would not be difficult to deduce that he had been afflicted with Gu Poison. Feng Jiu’er therefore felt no particular alarm at Nanmen Rong’s knowing this — she simply continued to wear her expression of unease.
“Empress, I truly am afraid —”
“With such little courage, what right do you have to stand at A’Jiu’s side?” Nanmen Rong found her more insufferable every time she looked at her.
What on earth A’Jiu saw in her, she could not fathom. No figure to speak of, a face that was only passably presentable — and now it turned out she had no courage either. A green little girl like this at A’Jiu’s side was simply a stain on A’Jiu’s reputation.
“Set out at once. This Palace guarantees that A’Jiu will not suffer so much as a hair’s worth of harm!”
Feng Jiu’er was silent for a moment, then finally gave a nod. “Very well. We depart immediately — through Sharp Wolf Mountain to Desert City.”
The moment Feng Jiu’er issued that order, Yu Jingfeng rushed over, his face creased with worry. “Miss Jiu’er, are we truly taking Sharp Wolf Mountain? The wolf packs there are numerous!”
In truth, for a group of their caliber, wolf packs were not especially fearsome — every one of them was a skilled martial practitioner. The most critical concern right now was that the Prince was still gravely wounded. They could not afford the slightest mishap. What if a wild wolf managed to injure the Prince?
Yu Jingfeng’s worry was shared by all. Before long, word had spread through the entire convoy.
Yet Feng Jiu’er persisted in taking Sharp Wolf Mountain, insisting that Black Tiger Mountain held an ambush. At last, the entire convoy, after a brief rest, packed up everything and set out on the road once more.