"You're right." Having observed Qin Yining the entire trip, Uncle Alham and his people had long since committed themselves to her. They had utmost faith in everything she proposed.
Alham promptly turned to address his tribesmen. "We weren’t heavily pursued, which proves Utkin Khan didn't arrange for many of his men to wait for us in the desert. Someone as two-faced as him will surely be making a great show out of avenging that demon Anari, so if the soldiers pursuing us through the desert were few, that means he stationed men outside the desert."
The group nodded at his words, with some panic percolating through the crowd. "What if he really has sent soldiers after us?"
"That's simple. We'll send two of our quickest warriors to scout the road ahead while the rest of us proceed slowly while searching for water. We'll decide what to do next once the scouts return with intel."
"Alright, as you say then!" The tribesmen assented unanimously.
Alham then explained what he had said to Qin Yining, who smiled and nodded. "You are a war veteran with experience. I’m not so informed on such matters, so I leave the arrangements entirely up to you."
Filled with delight, Uncle Alham turned and appointed two men to scout the road ahead. The group quickly fell back into order, refraining from spreading out in a long line. Rather, the one thousand of them gathered together in a rhombus formation, ready to react to danger at the drop of a hat.
They carefully and slowly pressed onward. Because of Alham's words, every member of the group cautiously scanned their surroundings and listened hard, as if a wild beast were about to spring forth at any second and take a bite out of them.
After an hour of travel, the sun had begun to set.
The initially high-strung group relaxed slightly over time; even Qin Yining wondered if she had been worrying about nothing.
Just as she considered whether she should let everyone stop for a rest or not, they heard a sudden shout to their left, a voice gravelly from thirst scraping like a dull knife against rough stone tiles.
"Soldiers have come for us! Soldiers have come for us!"
Off into the distance not too far away, a group of nearly a hundred soldiers on horseback charged at them. Wielding large sabers, they laughed madly and jeered at the ‘refugees’ who’d just reached the end of the desert.
Some began to panic.
Alham barked in the Tatar tongue, "Stay calm and slash the horses' legs! Let's show them what we're made of so they know the Minuo are not made of cowards!"
Over the course of their journey, they’d devised various countermeasures for several different scenarios. Those who had battle experience had taken the time to teach the others how to fight off enemies.
Though a large group of men dashed at them brandishing cleavers, the group that had endured the tribulations of the desert forced themselves to calm down. Instead of panicking, they changed formation to face their enemy.
Qin Yining guarded Lu Heng and his kneeling horse with a cleaver in hand. With pursed lips, she fixed her sharp eyes on the enemy's movements, looking so prepared to rush into battle that Uncle Alham couldn't help nodding at her ferocity.
Only roughly one hundred and fifty soldiers were stationed in this crucial area. Siqin hadn’t deployed many men here, as this exit was the furthest one from the borders of Great Zhou, according to the calculations of the khan and his strategists. Unless these people lost their minds in the desert, they wouldn't have come all the way here.
Since it was so remote that it was the least likely place for the group to go to, this location wasn’t as heavily staffed as the others. Never did they predict that these death-seeking madmen would actually come to the place they were supposed to least likely to head for.
The soldiers leered at the Minuo as if they were scanning glittering silver sycees, frisky livestock, and an endless array of beautiful women. The khan had declared the ones who captured Anari Khan's killers would be promoted and enjoy a life of riches; they would be awarded a thousand taels of silver and a hundred pretty ladies.
They looked so giddy it was as if they had been injected with adrenaline, for the Minuo tribesmen before them cut such sorry figures that they barely batted an eye at their sorry opponents.
Chapter 510.2: Hope
Their cockiness cost them dearly—battle cries rang across the grassy plains as great gusts of wind carried the thick stench of blood with them.
The Minuo emerged victorious from the skirmish, but at a great cost. They’d destroyed the one hundred soldiers and reaped their many horses, weapons, dried rations and water as spoils of war, but nearly two hundred of the tribesmen met their end here.
"If it wasn’t for the desert wearing us out with thirst and hunger, and our lack of weapons or battle equipment, we wouldn't have had to sacrifice so many of our people," noted a teary Uncle Alham.
Everyone mourned together. As Qin Yining watched them clean up the battlefield, she couldn't help but droop and wipe her tears away. The only thing worth celebrating was that they had obtained even more horses, weapons, water and rations. Furthermore, they had successfully made it out of the desert.
After pulling themselves together and exiting the desert, they took another headcount.
Qin Yining sipped a mouthful of water to wet her parched throat before conversing with Alham. "Uncle Alham, I'm certain those soldiers set up camp nearby. We should rest up and recover our strength, then think of a way to raid their camp. There must still be soldiers keeping watch there, but we have the element of surprise on our side. We’ll also be well rested, so we have a good chance at victory. Once we defeat them, we can replenish our rations and supplies."
Alham nodded rapidly. "We think the same. We came all this way through the desert to give our people a future. Why would we turn down provisions? What do you say, brothers?"
"Yeah! We don't need to feel bad about stealing from that dog of a khan!"
"Rob them, rob them!"
The grief they felt from losing their tribesmen turned into rage—spurred on by the memory of their deceased family members who had died horrible deaths at the two khans’ reign, they were willing to do anything that caused trouble for the royals.
"Alright! Let's put our heads together and think how we can cause some trouble!" Uncle Alham was a man of action—he quickly wove his way through the crowd to summon the squad leaders for a meeting.
They came to a decision to leave the physically weaker members behind with the able-bodied women, while Alham and Caganbhara led a group of three hundred to strategically ambush the camp.
When the two scouts returned, Alham, Caganbhara and three hundred tribesmen set off for the location they described.
In the meantime, Harbhara took charge and waited in place with Qin Yining, Lu Heng and the other remaining members of their party. Qin Yining was concerned, but she was ultimately an outsider when it came to matters of the battlefield—she had to trust Uncle Alham's experience.
She helped Lu Heng off his horse with the help of two young women and proceeded to melt snow in a jar over the fire, waiting for the boiled water to cool before feeding it to him.
Over the past few days, the weakened Lu Heng had been floating in and out of consciousness. Getting the water past his tightly sealed mouth proved to be a struggle since it kept trickling out of the corners of his lips.
Qin Yining dried his chin with her handkerchief again and scrunched her brows in worry. If Lu Heng's situation didn't improve soon, he was going to be in great danger. They had to quickly get to safety and procure medicine for him.
She located a clean handkerchief and soaked in water to wipe Lu Heng's face. He had been in such poor health as of late that his cheeks were sunken in; his stubble scratched at her hand as she carefully cleaned his face. Then, she washed the handkerchief clean before moving to wipe his hands.
Perhaps it felt too cold, for Lu Heng began to stir from his slumber.
"You’re awake?" Qin Yining rejoiced. "How are you feeling? Drink s
ome water. We’ve made our way out of the desert!"
Her voice was so full of delight that Lu Heng couldn't help laughing as he looked at her, his voice raspy as sandpaper. "I know, I can feel that my face is clean." Why else would they have the water to spare for washing up if they hadn't left the desert?
Qin Yining laughed and served him warm water. "We’re no longer low on water. Have some more—I boiled this and left to cool. It’s clean, and you’ll recover quickly if you drink more."
Qin Yining helped Lu Heng to sit up and drink, then softened rice biscuits in hot water for him to eat. He tried to stay alert as he ate and inquired about how the tribe fared.
Qin Yining told him about Alham and Caganbhara leading an ambush on the soldiers' camp, to which he smiled and nodded. "I have no need to worry if you and them are the ones in charge."
"Is that why you passed out with nary a concern?" Qin Yining joked with mirth, which inspired an answering chuckle from Lu Heng.
He felt considerably better after drinking plenty of water and eating warm food. Though he was drowsy, he didn't immediately fall asleep. Instead, he remained wrapped in his thick cotton robes and insisted Qin Yining to update him on what had happened in the past few days until lethargy finally won out.
As the sun rose from the east, Uncle Alham returned with the goods. They’d succeeded in ambushing the camp and procuring an abundance of food and horses.
When the group heard the news, they cheered and began making their way to the camp.
As Qin Yining watched the Minuo tribesmen celebrate, she heaved a long sigh. "Let us rest for today. We can discuss our travel route tomorrow."
Chapter 511.1: Negotiations
Tense all journey, Qin Yining could finally relax after following the tribesmen to the camp. Upon her arrival, she found that Uncle Alham had already led a group in tidying the site up. But most importantly, there was a stream close to the camp!
Though it was still wintry outside and the stream frozen over, none of that mattered for the group that’d just escaped the desert. No one cared that the premises had been a war zone moments before. Cheering raucously, they chiseled away at the frozen water surface. Some folks immediately tossed large chunks into small pots for heating back at camp.
Tents of varying sizes soon sprang up all over the campground.
Qin Yining was assigned a tent for herself and left Lu Heng in Harbhara and Caganbhara’s care. She ran off to chisel some ice and grabbed one of the camp’s pots, intending to freshen up after boiling the water.
To the tribe, Qin Yining was the hero who’d rid them of Anari and the one who’d gotten them out of the desert alive. All proper respect and obedience was her due, so when they saw that she wanted to boil some water, they all rushed to help her despite their own exhaustion. They even fetched some of the stored firewood for her.
After trudging in the sands for half a month, this was her first chance for a hot bath. She scrubbed herself clean before washing away all the filth from her clothes. By the time she completed her thorough ministrations, her hair was already half dry. Towelling it further, she coiled it into a simple bun and tossed on a hat, leaving her tent and walking to Lu Heng’s.
“Is Second Master Lu resting?”
The tent’s entrance quickly lifted, permitting a rush of hot steam to escape outside. Harbhara stuck his head out, beaming at Qin Yining as he tried out some words in clumsy Great Zhou, “You’ve come!”
Qin Yining nodded with a smile. The boy shifted to the side to make space for her, giving room for the princess consort to enter the tent with a quick bend of her body.
A wooden bucket rested on the floor, full of dirty water. They hadn’t had the time to empty it out yet, but the men were all dressed neatly. Lu Heng had changed into a fresh set of clothes and his eyes were lowered as he leaned on a bed of dry hay and wooden planks. Damp hair that still dripped with water hung loosely down his shoulders.
Qin Yining noted the sight with a frown and grabbed a towel. “How can you be so careless when you’re not fully recovered yet? Aren’t you afraid of getting even sicker, going to bed with your hair wet like this?”
She hesitated for a moment before reaching out to dry his hair.
Lu Heng’s heart raced. In fact, he had just finished cleaning up and was planning to dry his hair later. Sick people didn’t have much strength to begin with, so after cleaning and changing, he couldn’t even muster up the energy to lift his arm.
He didn’t expect that Qin Yining would actually do it for him!
“My thanks.” Lu Heng’s voice was hoarse. He didn’t say any superfluous words, and his tone was weak.
“There’s no need to be so polite. We finally managed to exit the desert and our homeland’s just a few steps away. Wouldn’t it be a shame if you aren’t careful and worsen your illness at this stage?” Qin Yining swapped out the wet towel for a dry one and continued to carefully dry his hair.
Since her own hair was mostly dry, she took off her hat and slid out the silver tassel comb from the side of her bun. She ran her fingers through his hair to smoothen it out first before carefully combing through it, delicately going strand by strand.
Lu Heng closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle pressure from Qin Yining’s fingertips as she ran the comb through his hair. Even his scalp and back of his neck tingled with pleasure as his eyelids grew heavy.
What a wonderful feeling it was, that she would care about him. Even though he knew deep inside that Qin Yining didn’t hold the slightest trace of romantic affection for him, Lu Heng’s heart was still fully content.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. We’ve conquered the desert twice, I won’t die like this.” Lu Heng said softly.
The princess consort tidied his hair and finished it off by binding it with a ribbon. She tucked the comb back into her hair before putting on her hat again.
“Indeed, we’re both of tough stock. We’ll be fine. When we have the chance, I’ll fortify your body with something nutritious. If only Bingtang was here, you would recover so much faster!”
Qin Yining’s smile dimmed as she thought back to that fateful day of their parting. It wasn’t even a certain thing if Bingtang and Ji Yun were still alive.
Discerning her thoughts, the Lu second master gently comforted her. “Don’t worry, with how much the prince loves you, he won’t sit on his hands and do nothing after your capture. He certainly would’ve rushed to their rescue, and none of your subordinates are weak targets. They’re definitely all fine.”
Qin Yining’s heart turned warm as she thought of Pang Xiao. “You’re right, they should all be fine. We’ll all be fine.”
She helped Lu Heng lie down and used a cotton jacket like a quilt, laying it over him. “Rest well, we still need to discuss our future plans tomorrow morning. I can’t speak the Tartar tongue and Uncle Alham can only understand simple Great Zhou words, so it’ll be a lot easier with you as the interpreter.”
Lu Heng laughed softly, his features glowing with warmth. “Alright, I’ll try and recover as quickly as possible. Things really have been hard on you these days.”
Qin Yining shook her head with a smile. “As long as everyone can live peaceful, happy lives, all this is nothing.”
“True, nothing can be more important than life and death. Your Highness, you are a stunning woman.”
Qin Yining’s face flushed from his praise as she smiled. “If I was that stunning, I wouldn’t have dragged so many down with me. Alright now, you should sleep.”
Chapter 511.2: Negotiations
Lu Heng’s heart ached as he looked upon her beautiful face, much skinnier after days of being tossed around by sandstorms. However, this distress was something he couldn’t openly show. From her tone, it sounded like she still felt guilty for the fallen Minuo?
When he’d been bathing earlier, he overheard Harbhara and Caganbhara mention that almost two hundred tribesmen had died from the soldiers’ pursuit. More had given their lives to take down this camp,
and some lay mortally wounded.
The casualties also gnawed at his heart. However, in their dire straits, it was an enormous victory just for the Minuo to have defeated Siqin’s soldiers. After all, not only were those soldiers cavalry, they were also specially-trained elites.
In comparison, the Minuo troops were just ordinary herdsmen and even consisted of quite a few women. They were truly an outstanding and valiant tribe; no wonder that they had once been a large, strong tribe of over 40,000 people.
Anari had likely persecuted the Minuos to the depths she had because she was afraid of them growing too strong and threatening her authority.
Lu Heng truly wanted to comfort Qin Yining, but right now, he was really too tired. Lead weighed down his eyelids, and even his quick mind was turning sluggish. His lips vibrated as he arduously forced out, “it’s not your fault,” before his eyes shut, succumbing to the sleep.
Seeing him fall asleep, Qin Yining felt his forehead, tensing when she noted that it still ran a slight fever. She watched over Lu Heng until midnight before finally retiring to her own tent to rest.
The next day, Uncle Alham gathered all of the squad leaders to the central tent for a meeting with Qin Yining, Harbhhara, Caganbhara, and Lu Heng, who was practically a ball with how many layers he was wearing. He’d gotten up early to drink a bowl of soft, glutinous rice porridge and take the last of his medicine, making him much more alert than yesterday.
Qin Yining dimpled when she saw that he had come. “What a reliable friend you are, waking up early just like you said you would.”
“I slept enough yesterday.” Lu Heng smiled.
Uncle Alham grinned as he clapped Lu Heng’s shoulders, speaking in Tartar, “It looks like you really are a lot better now, my boy. So it seems all the care the princess consort gave to you along the way was worth it in the end. If something had still happened to you, I’m afraid Her Highness might join you in falling sick.”
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