Things developed exactly the way that Pang Xiao had thought they would.
……
Within the august and stately palace.
A middle-aged man, dressed in golden imperial robes, of average build and benevolent features used both hands to lift up a kneeling Pang Xiao. His voice was filled with delight.
“Please do rise, sage younger brother. You’ve been out to war for so long. Us brothers haven’t talked in many moons. Your brother has truly missed you!”
Pang Xiao took a few steps back to stand beneath the dais and responded respectfully, “Your subject feels the same. Have you been well, Your Majesty?”
“Well, absolutely well, apart from missing you dearly. You’ve handled Great Yan beautifully. The ceremony of surrender and transition is just far too mundane with so much miscellany. We didn’t want you to further tire yourself and decided to have you come home. You don’t blame Us, do you?”
“How would I ever, Your Majesty?” Pang Xiao smiled. “I can’t be happy enough! You know best that anything that’s a hassle or burdens the brain is an incredible bore to your subject. If I had the effort to spare to do all that, it would be better spent on a few cups of fine wine!”
“Haha! That’s true!” Li Qitian laughed heartily. “You’ve gone through a lot on this excursion. You’ve also spent more than enough time in the battlefield. Your family misses you dearly, and you should spend more time by their side. Besides, recent times have been far too exhausting for you. We plan on temporarily having the Minister of Bureau of Military Personnel, Zuo Jinwei, act as the commander of the Valiant Tigers. You can stay in the capital and rest with peace of mind. What say you?”
This was taking back his command!
Pang Xiao looked down and respectfully performed a grand gesture of greeting. “Your Majesty’s orders are a perfect match to this subject’s heart. I thank Your Majesty greatly for the imperial favor.”
It appeared that Li Qitian hadn’t expected Pang Xiao would agree so easily. He blinked, then smoothly curved his eyes with the force of a smile. “Good, very good! We will bestow upon you a hundred acres of fertile fields, a hundred taels of gold, and ten beautiful women for concubines. You must rest well during this period. Great Zhou still requires your efforts!”
“Your Majesty need only to give the order. Your subject is more than willing to dash my brains out on the ground in service.” Pang Xiao respectfully thanked the emperor again.
He’d still been the commander of the Valiant Tigers when he entered the palace.
But by the time he’d left, he’d been stripped of his authority and had relinquished his command token. He was an idle prince with just a title and no official position.
Apart from his personal guards, eunuchs bearing rewards also trailed behind him. The entourage was capped off by ten beauties of varying shapes and sizes.
Huzi frowned and whispered to his master. “Your Highness, how will the fourth miss react if she finds out that you already have ten imperial concubines before she’s even set foot past the door?”
Way to seriously put his foot in it!
Pang Xiao was expressionless, but he was as annoyed as could be.
Once he returned to the manor, he had the servants settle in the ten beauties and went to pay his respects to his mother, maternal grandfather and grandmother.
As Pang Xiao reunited with his family, he was left unawares that Ji Zeyu had exited the capital from the northern gate. The marquis was supposed to lead his men to the north to battle the Tatars, but made a large circle after leaving the city and headed straight for Great Yan in the south.
......
“Miss, take this hand warmer. Don’t catch a cold again!”
In the spacious carriage, Jiyun shoved a bronze hand warmer into Qin Yining’s embrace.
The girl quickly cupped her ice cold hands around it before feeling much better. She smiled. “I don’t catch colds that easily! Don’t worry, my health is much better now. I just hadn’t anticipated that Great Zhou’s winters would be so frosty. It’s rather difficult to be traveling in conditions like these.”
Ten days ago, the Commandery Prince of Yan had set off for Great Zhou with his family and the first batch of surrendered officials and their families.
As the Yan dynasty was to the south, snowfall was rare and usually didn’t stick to the ground. But the closer they drew to the Great Zhou capital, the chillier the days became. When they finally reached the city of Liang and crossed over into Great Zhou territory, a silvery landscape greeted their eyes. Snow sparkled from leaves and branches all around.
Such frigid weather was hard for southerners to acclimate to.
Thankfully Qin Yining had spent some time living near the border when she was young, so she found it easier to adapt compared to other members of her family.
A disturbance flared up at the head of the convoy at this time, making all of the carriages slow down.
Qin Yining looked forward quizzically. “What’s going on?”
“Let me go take a look.” Jiyun hopped off.
On this trip, Weichi Yan, his women, and the palace servants brought up the rear. The Duke of An was in front of him, then Advisor Gu, and finally the Qins. There were more than a dozen carriages in front of the Qins.
Jiyun craned her neck around, only to be greeted by a sight that drained the color from her face.
A large group of burly men dressed in animal pelts and wearing masks were charging over the glittering, white snow. They crashed fecklessly into the convoy with swords and clubs, hacking at whoever they saw. They especially dragged out all the woman to run them through into the ground!
“Miss, get off the carriage, hurry! Hurry! It’s bandits!” screamed Jiyun.
Chapter 290: Swept Apart
Qin Yining froze, unable to react!
She never thought that a convoy of surrendered Yan officials would run into a group of bandits!
The trip had been very smooth up until now. As they’d surrendered, they had a contingent of Valiant Tiger escorts that was only a hundred men strong.
Most of the Valiant Tigers had already left to return to the Great Zhou capital ten days ago. Weichi Yan wasn’t allowed any troops with him at all, just a few loyal attendants.
The Qins were a bit better off. The emperor emeritus’ Silver Masks had lost their former master, but didn’t have a new one due to lack of trust from above. They were now beholden to Qin Huaiyuan, but most had been sent out on missions. There were only four following the caravan — five if they counted Cao Yuqing. How would that number possibly protect the everyone?
Qin Yining scrambled to put on her soft-soled boots. Another group of bandits came swinging at the front on the backs of horses, murderous light glinting coldly off their blades.
There were old, young, women, and infirmed all traveling together. A din rose of screams, shrieks, and agonized wails. People scattered helter-skelter, while others whipped their horses into a frenzy and steered their carriages elsewhere.
The entire convoy was swept apart. The three carriages in front of the Qins had panicked and run off in some unknown direction.
Through the carriage window, the Qin fourth miss happened to glimpse that Cao Yuqing had leapt onto née Sun and Qin Huaiyuan’s carriage. A crisp snap of the reins sent the carriage careening off into the northwest.
As for Jiyun, still standing in front of their own carriage, the guard was adroitly dodging the first arrow that was coming their way. “Miss, be careful!”
The enemies were firing arrows! This was a slaughter without discretion. They weren’t here for the goods and neither did they want to leave any survivors!
Inside the carriage, Qin Yining quickly turned a square table onto its side and grabbed a shrieking Qiulu and Bingtang to take shelter behind it together.
“Jiyun, you be careful!” Qin Yining tried to curl up as much as possible. Continual thuds rang out, as arrows embedded themselves into the carriage ceiling and walls. Her
hands also shook a few times when the square table also took several hits.
Qin Yining’s horrified eyes were as wide as saucers. She screamed anxiously, “Jiyun, hide! don’t mind me!”
Outside the carriage, Jiyun tumbled several times over the snowy ground and made it to the shelter of a large tree with much difficulty. However, a dense rain of arrows forced her to keep her head down.
Unfortunately, Qin Yining’s groom was shot dead by a random arrow. When he toppled over, his grip loosened on the whip and reins.
Qin Yining’s silvery-white Ferghana horse, a gift from Pang Xiao, spooked and struggled free of its halter, galloping frantically into the distance from sheer fright. The horses pulling the carriage also spooked and charged haphazardly, overturning the carriage from their maddened efforts.
The world turned upside down for Qin Yining, Qiulu, and Bingtang and they fell into a heap.
The bandits seemed to have run out of arrows by now as they’d raised their weapons again, throwing themselves into the fray.
Qin Yining hastily pushed her maids. “Get out, run!”
“Miss, I’m scared!” Qiulu sobbed out.
“You have to run even if you’re scared! We’ll be sitting ducks if we stay here!”
Qin Yining was the first to scramble out of the wreckage of the carriage and met the eyes of a bandit flailing her way. She shrieked, whirled around, and ran. The burly man chased after her in hot pursuit, brandishing his sword.
Bingtang and Qiulu trembled in the carriage, peeking through a crack to see that Qin Yining had lured a bandit away. They heaved and sobbed from fright, clapping hands over their mouths so that they wouldn’t make a sound. They didn’t dare linger any longer and ran out when there was a lull in attention.
Qin Yining was wearing a solid outfit of thickly padded cotton, as well as a cape with a chinchilla collar. Calfskin boots adorned her feet, so she found it easy to run.
She wasn’t a fragile, delicate noble girl to begin with. She’d spent her youth hunting and picking medicinal herbs in the mountains. Though her injuries had harmed her constitution, untapped reserves of potential exploded in the face of fleeing for her life. She’d hiked her skirt up and sank ankle-deep into the snow with each step, but she still managed to leave the burly man far behind her.
Whilst during the chase, the man hacked at another two closer targets, which gave Qin Yining an opening to hide. She took quick stock of the terrain and ran to where the snow was a mess from footprints, charing up the mountain.
Chaos reigned in the clearing.
By now, the escort of a hundred Valiant Tigers were slowly regaining control of the situation, thanks to their valor and usual exercises with Pang Xiao. Under Lian Shengjie’s urging, they launched themselves to the front of the convoy, wanting to take the leader of the bandits alive.
Up on the road ahead, a chestnut battle horse blazed proudly against the sky. A beautiful man in snow-white fox fur was mounted on it. He was appraising a silvery-white Ferghana horse that an attendant was bringing over, no flicker of expression on his face save for a slowly tightening frown.
Whitecloud.
A horse that Pang Zhixi loved dearly. What was it doing in the Great Yan convoy?
“Milord! Let’s retreat!”
“That’s right milord! The Valiant Tigers don't have a fierce name just for show! We may not come off worse for the wear if we fight them, but we’ll easily reveal our identity!”
Ji Zeyu’s gaze darkened, coldly considering the raging Valiant Tigers tearing through their enemies. He truly didn’t want to engage them face-on.
“Team one, stay. Avoid the Valiant Tigers and search the mountain. Kill any Qins you find. The rest, come with me.” Ji Zeyu raised a hand and turned his horse around, taking Whitecloud’s reins and galloping off with it in hand.
His attendants and lieutenants looked at each other, perplexed.
So the marquis was here for the Qins? But in the mess of the ‘bandits’ killing without abandon, they had no idea how many Qins they’d killed.
Corpses lay scattered all over the ground. Crimson blood dotted the landscape as numerous fresh flowers.
The Dragon Riders who’d remained behind carefully avoided the main group and tracked footsteps into the mountain.
Lian Shengjie was beside himself at the tragic sight of dead and moaning injured on the ground. Some lucky enough to escape harm were clutching other bodies and wailing.
“Hurry! Count and see how many are still alive! Oh my heavens! How am I supposed to explain myself to the emperor? Is the commandery prince still alive? And the Qins…”
As the Valiant Tigers picked up the wreckage, yet others searched for survivors. Some headed into the mountain, just so happening to pick the direction that Qin Yining had gone in.
…...
Not daring to delay, the Qin fourth miss had tucked her hem into her belt and tightly pulled her cape in, sprinting madly into the depths of the mountain.
If it hadn’t been wintertime, there wouldn’t have been any snow to record her footprints. She was rather confident of her ability to shake off pursuers in the forest.
But alas, snow was everywhere right now. Not only did she leave traces behind, it crunched wherever she set foot. An occasional branch hidden beneath the snow would snap crisply as well.
She seemed to catch two male voices behind her, “Up ahead! There’s sounds of footsteps!”
Breathing almost stopped spontaneously. Throwing weariness to the back of her mind, she made for the most difficult and hidden depths of the mountain.
By now, she was supremely grateful for her childhood experience. It enabled her not to panic after entering unfamiliar territory, and not to run her energy reserves dry when being chased.
Based on her experience, she continuously made her way further into the woods. The layer of snow on the ground diminished until only a few icy shards were left. Finally, even that gave way to damp ground with faint, white smoke rising off of it.
Qin Yining was delighted. There must be a hot spring beneath the surface!
Chapter 291: Deep in the Mountains (I)
Truly, the heavens didn’t want to consign her to doom!
With the hot spring beneath her, she wouldn’t have to worry about covering her footprints anymore!
Qin Yining ran along the snow-covered ground for a while, purposely leaving a set of tracks going in the other direction. Then, she pushed off a shrub to land in a patch of soil covered in pine needles, taking a few careful steps forward.
White steam wafted out from the ground, warming even the soles of her feet. Afraid of leaving new footprints and seeing that the way ahead was carpeted with snow again, she shoved her cape into her waist and adroitly climbed up a large, tall pine tree. Picking a denser patch of leaves, she settled herself on a more-or-less sturdy branch.
The crown of the tree shook slightly when she did so, shaking some snow loose. However, it melted into nothingness as soon as it touched the ground.
Finally, Qin Yining dared take in a few deep and silent breaths.
Footsteps sounded as she did so.
She quickly held her breath and focused, forcing herself as rigid as a block of wood. She didn’t dare move at all and became one with the pine.
Two masked bandits came into view not too far away. One was wielding a steel blade, the other a wooden club as thick as a wine jug. Their heads were lowered as they tracked the footprints on the ground, advancing on the decoy trail that Qin Yining had just left.
They came back before long, likely because the trail abruptly disappeared. No other prints were to be found after searching the area covering the hot spring. The two were walking around randomly as they looked for clues, so it didn’t take long for the scene to be an utter disarray of their own footprints. The trail was cold.
The two met each other’s eyes and cursed loudly.
“How could a wench just shake us off like that!” The northern accent marked him as someone fro
m Great Zhou.
“The marquis told us we had to find and wipe out all the Qins. I have no idea if we’re chasing one!”
“Doesn’t matter if we are or not, we can’t let her easily get away like this.”
“There’s no way she really vanished! Let’s keep looking, maybe she’s hiding in a tree?”
……
The two started searching all the nearby tree cavities and naturally occurring caves and holes.
To everyone’s surprise, they did find a patch of snow that had fallen in, revealing an enormous water hole below. That looked to be the source of the hot spring. A faint, pungent odor emanated from it, and there was no guessing how deep it was. Only a dense shroud of mist could be seen, the mist turning the snow around the hole into ice.
The two didn’t dare inch any closer, deathly afraid as they were of the snow beneath their feet suddenly giving way. What if they too fell into this water hole of unknown depth? There was danger lurking around every tree in the mountain. They were already so far in that not even the hunters dared venture into this area.
They circled around the danger zone and looked closely at the surroundings again.
Qin Yining was just fine where she was, perched on the tree. She waited two hours before cautiously sliding down the tree, finally assured that the two weren’t returning.
She didn’t dare remain here either, turning instead to head deep into unexplored forest. She broke of a branch of withered leaves, paying attention to clear away her traces as she ran.
This circumspect journey continued until nightfall, upon which she really was too tired to run anymore.
A tree trunk made for a good spot to lean against. She heaved for breath as she looked around. Everywhere looked the same to her. The only bearings she could get were whether she was going up or going down.
Winters in the north pierced straight through to the bone; body temperature dropped rapidly whenever one stopped moving. Qin Yining shivered whenever the wind blew past her sweat-soaked back.
She assessed the surroundings, dragging her weary body to the leeward slope of a large tree. The trees roots formed a semi-circle in this spot. A branch jutted out strikingly overhead, forming an overhang, and two large rocks were on either side of her. They managed to break the wind slightly. The bonus was that there was no snow on the ground.
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