She sighed softly, but was no longer afraid. Life and death were preordained, what was the use of fear? It was better to keep a clear mind to evaluate the situation and possibly identify a way out. Otherwise, she’d be laying her neck down on the guillotine.
New developments occurred at this moment as several muffled grunts sounded from the cavern entrance.
Distracted, the two squads charging at the front looked back to see a group of armed men clad in gray, slaughtering their comrades resting at the entrance. The newcomers then made for the Dragon Riders in the field!
A bit of warmth returned to Qin Yining at this sight, was it Pang Xiao? Pressure instantly lightened on Jiyun, Cao Yuqing, Jingzhe, and the others. They slowly fought their way back to Qin Yining’s side.
The sneak attack from the men in gray scattered the unprepared Dragon Riders, but a familiar figure emerged from the throng. Escorted by the men in gray, it held a lantern aloft and rushed to Qin Yining.
“The Lu second master?” It was Lu Heng, the poor soul who’d been tricked by her fake map and apparently buried underground when the earthquake hit!
“Are you alright?” Lu Heng rushed up to her with a face full of worry. “Are you hurt?”
Qin Yining swayed on her feet, remaining upright only through the help of the equally injured Jiyun and Cao Yuqing. She shook her head, “I’m alright, what are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story, I’ve only just learned that you’re trapped here and immediately came with my people. The emperor’s men are outside, but I’ve restrained them. Let’s hurry and get to the surface. We can talk more then!”
Qin Yining nodded wearily. “Alright, get Bingtang and we…”
A deep rumble sounded before she finished speaking, combined with the sounds of rock fragments crumbling to the ground. The ground beneath their feet was shifting!
All sounds of fighting immediately ceased as everyone looked at each other, then peered around their surroundings with terror.
After a brief moment of quiet, an even louder rumble sounded out like a clap of muffled thunder. The ground shook violently, knocking everyone in the cavern helter-skelter.
“The earth dragon’s turning over!”
“Run, get out of here!”
……
Furious roars echoed and rang by her ears. Qin Yining didn’t know who’d grabbed her hand to sprint ahead and had no idea who gave her a helping hand when she stumbled and almost fell.
The wound on her back burned with a fiery pain, and the sticky, warm sensation was her blood.
Already fading in and out of consciousness to begin with, Qin Yining came to the end of her tether in the face of such violent geological movement. The shrieks of horror and groans of fissuring earth sounded further and further away from her, replaced by an uncomfortable ringing in the ears and an increasingly foggy consciousness.
The last thing she remembered seeing was Cao Yuqing hanging tightly onto her hand.
“Auntie Cao, go. Go now. Just leave me,” was the last thing she said before losing consciousness.
Chapter 465: Interrogation
The woods of the mountains were blanketed in darkness as rain poured down from the sky. Roads sabotaged by the earthquake were now reduced to mud. Massive thunderclouds loomed overhead as if pressing down on hearts, disquiet devolving to panic.
Pang Xiao raced posthaste to Qin Yining’s location with Huzi and four other Elite Tigers.
“Highness, slow down, the princess consort will be fine!” Huzi urged anxiously.
The prince’s lips were pressed into a fine line, his jaw tight and every knuckle on his clenched fists as prominent as could be. “Is the report we received to be trusted? Was the princess consort really kidnapped, taken to a cavern, and encountered another earthquake?”
Huzi swallowed hard. “From what I’ve heard, yes.”
Pang Xiao punched the air viciously, overcome with the urge to smite himself dead. He shouldn’t have let Qin Yining risk herself. So what about the treasure? Was it more important than her? Forget the silver—he wouldn’t trade her away for anything, not even the entire nation!
If Qin Yining was to be taken in exchange for such trivialities, Pang Xiao had half a mind to take his own as punishment!
He and his entourage quickly arrived at the location mentioned in the tip.
The downpour had flooded the roads, making it impossible to make out any footprints. At present, there were also a group of Dragon Riders clothed in silver and white digging away at the collapsed cavern.
Beneath a large, golden umbrella stood Li Qitian, dressed in deep blue casual attire, his hands crossed behind his back. Shielding him from the wind and rain was head eunuch Li Guanwen, standing upwind with an oil paper umbrella.
The sound of horses galloping caught the emperor’s attention. He and his men looked up to see who was approaching.
Seeing that it was none other than Pang Xiao, Li Qitian frowned involuntarily. His pupils contracted ever so slightly as he met the prince’s eyes, unable to suppress his apprehension and dread. Wait, he was the emperor—what had he to fear?
Li Qitian straightened his back once again; Pang Xiao and his entourage were now before him.
The prince hauled on Thundercloud’s reins to a sharp stop, eliciting a protest whinny from his steed. He unmounted his horse with a flourish, rainwater spraying from his soaked robes.
“Your Majesty.” Pang Xiao and his men knelt before the emperor without any regard for the muddy ground.
Li Qitian helped the prince to his feet with both hands and addressed him as if deeply pained. “I only received word when I arrived that née Qin was on her way to the capital when she happened upon a fissure. After burrowing her way in, an earthquake struck.”
This kind of description...
What, was the princess consort a mole? Would she just burrow into any hole she came across? His Majesty truly knew no shame!
Pang Xiao’s countenance remained impassive, but Huzi and the other Elite Tigers behind him were a hair away from throwing punches.
The prince’s voice dropped an octave when he spoke. “Disaster relief funds and supplies never arrived after the previous earthquake. Driven to desperate measures, some took to robbing those passing through the mountains. Née Qin was only assigned four guards and two maids to escort her back to the capital. If she were to be kidnapped by said bandits, who knows what would become of them.”
It was as if Pang Xiao’s imposing presence had sprouted large hands to squeeze the life out of someone’s throat. As emperor, Li Qitian shouldn’t have felt fear—yet, the prince’s cutting glare had him standing even straighter.
Though he felt a twinge of guilt, a voice inside him screamed that all land beneath the heavens belonged to the emperor, all men who walked the earth were his subjects. Be it riches or the lives of his subjects, everything was his for the taking.
As the saying went, there was no escaping death for whomever the emperor wanted dead.
Qin Yining was but a mere woman—if he ordered Pang Xiao to die, the prince wouldn’t dare to disobey. As something that belonged to Pang Xiao, it went without saying that the same went for Qin Yining.
There was no deep love between Pang Xiao and his wife. When she’d just arrived at Great Zhou, he hadn’t shown her any mercy. Hadn’t the prince carried her off and abused her within an inch of her life?
Now that she was dead, it was a perfect opportunity for him to get a new one. He should consider himself fortunate.
These thoughts gave Li Qitian a boost of self assurance and confidence, assuaging his guilt and unease. As a matter of fact, he very much wanted to ask Pang Xiao why Qin Yining suddenly decided to return to the capital—was she truly unwell, or was she feigning illness?
Did they secretly plan to take the treasure for themselves, which was why she just so happened to get herself buried inside that hole?
In the span of a single breath, Li Qitian’s thoughts spiraled a thousand
times over.
By then, Pang Xiao had already led Huzi and his four Elite Tigers to the hole and joined in the digging efforts. Seeing their commander take action, the twenty Dragon Riders searched for tools to help as well.
Li Qitian raised his voice to call to the prince. “Pang Xiao, come back. Leave the manual labor to them.”
The prince turned a deaf ear to his words and continued digging.
Seeing him ignore the emperor so brazenly, Li Guanwen rushed forward the prince and held his umbrella high to shield Pang Xiao from the rain. “Your Highness, His Majesty wishes to have a word with you. Why don’t you take a break? Leave the heavy labor to the others.”
Pang Xiao placed a foot on his shovel to stamp it into the earth. He didn’t even lift his head as he replied, “I must ask gonggong to thank His Majesty for his kind intentions. However, just as a raging fire must be put out as soon as possible, time is of the essence when it comes to saving lives, and every man counts. If His Majesty wishes to speak with me, he can wait until I’ve rescued these people.”
Having been rejected in a roundabout manner, he scanned Pang Xiao’s profile with conflicted emotions before coming back to his senses and returning to Li Qitian.
Though the emperor hadn’t heard what Pang Xiao said, it was evident that the prince meant to disobey his orders. Li Qitian’s face darkened as he moved to reprimand the prince.
Li Guanwen hastily interjected, “Your Majesty, the roads are muddy and the air clammy with humidity. You are in good health, but this can’t be good for you. Might I suggest you return to the carriage to rest and warm yourself with hot tea?”
Chilly winds happened to sweep by, leaving Li Qitian shivering from the cold. His hands also felt icy to the touch. “Very well.” He turned back to his carriage, his face a storm.
Pang Xiao saw Li Qitian leave out of the corner of his eye and turned all of his attention back to the task at hand.
Darling Yi, darling Yi, where are you?
Are you buried inside?
If so, that can only mean.......
No, no, no, she can’t be dead.
She’s so young—how can she be dead?
He was only digging with all his might to prove she wasn’t here!
“Your Highness!” Just then, Huzi gave a panicked cry.
Pang Xiao’s heart jolted. Throwing down his shovel, he rushed over to take a look. He was greeted by the sight of a dismembered arm, frightfully pale and dripping with fresh blood......
It was the hand of a man, not Qin Yining.
Even so, he couldn’t relax.
Having confirmed there were indeed people beneath them, he led the group onward and furiously dug like a madman, using shovels and their own bare hands.
The rain stopped.
Being drenched in rainwater, sweat, dirt and mud left Pang Xiao feeling rather uncomfortable, so he stripped himself of his clothes up to the waist like the other men. As the line of corpses grew, his face fell further. His mounting despair was matched by Li Qitian’s increasing rage.
“These are all Dragon Riders I’ve ordered to search for the treasure! Why are they here, dead?”
A shadow crossed Pang Xiao’s face. “Does His Majesty expect this subject to have the answers? This subject would very much like to impose a question of his own—why have your Dragon Riders kidnapped my wife?!”
Chapter 466: Excavation
Li Qitian never would’ve fathomed that Pang Xiao would dare talk back at him like this. I am the emperor, the most noble of all living beings! All under the heavens belongs to me! Pang Xiao is just a subject, how dare he adopt this tone in front of me! Does he want to rebel!
Feeling that imperial dignity had been affronted, Li Qitian leveled a furious finger at the prince. “Do you know who you’re talking to! Do you know who you’re accusing! Would We possibly send men to kidnap your wife!?”
Pang Xiao briefly underwent a titanic struggle with his emotions and ultimately succeeded in not hacking the man in front of him into two.
“Your Majesty.” He raised a cupped fist salute, a smooth motion from rain-drenched and mud-splattered muscles. Scars, large and small, criss-crossed honey-colored skin—souvenirs from battles gone by and records that evoked respect from others.
Pang Xiao’s tone wasn’t as shrill as the emperor’s. Rather, he continued in a calm, measured pace, “My wife kept me company through hardship and pain in the disaster zone. She went hungry everyday in incredibly poor conditions and spent her energy worrying over the people. Though she is just a woman, she possesses a benevolent heart that cares deeply for the people. Her only thought is to somehow do something for them, so she never complained in front of me.
“When she saw that people had no food or medicines, she sold off her dowry to buy provisions. She even diverted all of the production from her farms to the soup kitchens and refused to accept payment for the goods.
“Her help relieved much of the pressure on me and saved many citizens from the prospect of death. I say this not to flaunt her achievements as Prefect Gong, Magistrate Li, and the people of the old capital and Yang County all know this.
“She refused to set aside her work even when she fell ill. I was the one who forced her to travel back to the capital for recovery. She’s weak and frail, completely different from a rough and tumble man like me. I’m tough and can handle beatings and falls, but how can a fragile woman like her endure the cold, hunger, and destitute surroundings of the disaster zone?
“But I was wrong, truly wrong. If I’d known that letting her take this route would have her meet with kidnapping from the Dragon Riders and then be buried underground, I’d rather her stay sickly and feeble by my side. She’d at least be alive then! People call me a good man for helping Your Majesty conquer the world and being the sharp sword in your hand, but despite that, I couldn’t even protect my wife.”
Pang Xiao’s head hung and liquid dripped from his disheveled hair—no one knew whether it was rain or tears. It slid down the hard angles of his handsome face, dribbled from his chin, and landed on his well-defined chest.
His words elicited pity and sympathy from all those present. Here stood a hardy man with striking battle accomplishments, but he hadn’t even been able to protect his sweet, new wife. Those unearthed from the cavern were the Dragon Riders that Li Qitian had sent to search for the treasure. Who would believe that the emperor had nothing to do with the princess consort’s circumstances?
Li Qitian’s lips vibrated with fury, but he had no idea what to say. Just who did Pang Xiao think he was fooling with this act of ardent love?? If the prince really worried about née Qin’s health, why had he brutally carried the girl off in the very beginning and created trouble for her at every turn?
The emperor quite suspected that Pang Xiao was involved with the treasure disappearing in the first place and had purposefully sent Qin Yining to her death. It was a ploy to generate sympathy, so as to cover up his own shady deeds!
“You don’t need to be this sad,” the emperor rumbled. “We will refrain from determining your responsibility for the time being. The excavation shall come first. Discussion of this matter can wait until the truth has been uncovered and the situation made clear.”
“So Your Majesty means to say you’re certain that I sent out a woman to fight for the treasure?”
Li Qitian’s expression darkened. Indeed, no man would leave such an important task in the hands of a woman. He knew that the Qin girl was highly intelligent and different from a typical noble girl, but this wasn’t common knowledge.
His purposeful display of temporary leniency in exchange for later recrimination showed him as overly wily and harsh. In fact, it seemed rather low and base behavior in front of so many Dragon Riders.
“Forget it, We understand your dejection at losing your princess consort. We will pursue your impertinence no further, but you must be more mindful.” Li Qitian put one hand behind his back and pointed the other at Pang Xiao.
T
he prince couldn’t care less about debating the emperor. Rationally speaking, he knew that he shouldn’t argue with Li Qitian in front of others as well. Thus, he raised cupped fists in return and went back to digging at the cavern.
The soil was loose after the cave-in and continued digging slowly exposed the bodies of the Dragon Riders and Azure Justice. The men uncovered a few chests at the very end; the faint sheen of silver could be seen inside.
Li Qitian’s eyes lit up and he hastily ordered the chests be hauled away for inventory. Meanwhile, Pang Xiao discovered an opening in the wall not too far behind the chests. The faint sound of dripping water traveled out from it. He poked his head in and then turned back to call out to Huzi, “Bring me a lantern!”
The bodyguard roared up to the people on the surface to pass him a lantern and handed it over to the prince, who was stooped on the ground. Pang Xiao peered into the opening again. “Is anyone there? My dear?”
Rustling sounds traveled back from the hole and a weak, female voice answered. “Your, Your Highness? Is that Your Highness?”
“It’s me! Is it Bingtang? Where’s the princess consort? Come on out, who else is inside?”
Bingtang huffed back weakly, “I can’t move because my leg’s broken. Jiyun’s also with me. She’s hurt too.”
The highly anxious Pang Xiao hopped in with Huzi and rescued Bingtang and Jiyun. Jiyun was covered in sword wounds and fainted from too much blood loss, whereas Bingtang’s leg was more likely than not broken, as her face paled with pain everytime she moved.
Having heard that survivors had been found, Li Qitian approached them with his hands behind his back.
Pang Xiao grabbed one of Bingtang’s arms. “The princess consort? Where’s your mistress?”
Tears trickled down the maid’s face. “I, I don't know either. Someone came after us and the princess consort hid me behind the chest. She told me to find a way out, so I kept hiding. I saw someone dressed in a Dragon Rider uniform slash the princess consort and open a huge wound on the back of her shoulder. She bled so much. It was such a chaotic battle in the cavern.”
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