Chapter 57 The sudden disappearance of valuables

That day, Li Siyan blew out the lights and went to bed early, because he needed to go back to the palace before dawn the next day, and then set out from the palace to Huanqiu to offer sacrifices to the sky. After the sacrifice, he would lead the civil and military officials of the court and officially embark on the journey to Mount Tai.

I calculated that this whole process would take at least a day. Li Siyan nodded and told me that he planned to let me stay in Furong Garden first and take me with him after he finished his business.

Of course I have no objection.

Li Siyan led his men back to the palace. I was in the courtyard watching Jinlian and Jinliu help me pack my things. Little Jinlian was clumsy and when she got to my jewelry box, she lost her grip and my treasured letter fell out of the small drawer. My pupils shrank and I shouted, "Don't touch it!"

Xiao Jinlian's hands, which were used to pick up things for me, trembled with fear and she looked at me helplessly: "My Lady?

My heart started pounding. I glanced at the corner of the guide sticking out from the ground and angrily yelled at Xiao Jinlian, "Why are you always so clumsy? Go get Huiyue!"

Tears welled up in Xiao Jinlian's eyes and she walked away with her head down.

Seeing her back disappear, I took a deep breath, picked up the pass and letter with trembling hands, and stuffed them all into the jewelry box. The next second, Huiyue walked in and bowed to me. "Jinlian is young, so it's inevitable that she's a little clumsy. I hope Your Majesty will forgive her. I will punish her myself."

I calmed myself down and said, "No need to punish her. From now on, don't let her touch my jewelry box. I don't care about the pearls, jade, hairpins and rings, but the letters from my family and friends are all in there. She can't touch them."

Huiyue didn't notice anything unusual and nodded in agreement.

After such a fright in the morning, I was still uneasy until night. Huiyue prepared a comfortable carriage for me and put my jewelry box in a small cabinet. Only then did I feel a little relieved.

The team going to Mount Tai included the emperor, his officials and his entourage, with more than a thousand people. The team had no end in sight and was like a long snake slowly moving on the official road.

My carriage was in the middle and rear of the team, mixed in with the maids and servants. Li Siyan was quite dissatisfied with this, but the ceremonial officer insisted on doing so, and he had no choice.

Yes, the ritual officials are the soul and commander of the Fengshan ceremony. No matter how domineering Li Siyan is, he is unwilling to force them at this critical juncture and has to compromise.

I think this place is nice. You can attack or defend, and you can chat with the maids from various mansions. It's as happy as a god.

But I soon felt bored. The journey was long and the boat and carriage were tiring. I was in poor health and easily dizzy, so I couldn't read or write in the carriage. I could only find someone to chat with to relieve my boredom. But the team was fixed, and there were only a few girls in front of me over and over again. After chatting for a long time, there was only silence.

Occasionally, I would stay in the market town for two days to replenish various supplies, but Li Siyan did not allow me to wander around, so he usually went out for social events and I wandered around the house alone.

These days are even more miserable than when I was in the Purple Palace.

"Where are we?" This is the question I ask most often in the later stages of my journey.

Whenever I asked about the direction, Li Siyan would take out an exquisite map and use a small stick to point out our current location. In a month and a half, I saw this sign slowly moving eastward, and then eastward, and finally arrived at the foot of Mount Tai at the speed of a turtle.

"Hurry up and shut up this Zen! I'm going to die if you keep wasting time like this."

On the second day of living at the foot of Mount Tai, I could no longer bear it and complained loudly.

This is an elegant little building. All the furnishings and expenses were carried from Chang'an all the way here, except for this bed - this pure and fragile bed has endured too much that it is unable to bear, and it makes creaking sounds in protest.

There was an indescribable smell floating in the air, the bed mattress was messy and tangled, and a suspicious white transparent object was lying on the table... Even a blind person would know what was happening here.

Today he was particularly passionate and fiery. All his tenderness and kindness were thrown away to the country of Fusang. Normally, he knew to serve a few appetizers first to whet my appetite before serving the meal. But today, for some reason, he just started by shoveling a huge meal of fish and meat into my mouth.

I was almost bleeding from the pain. In the middle, he picked me up briefly and walked around the room, whispering dirty words in my ear as he walked. The dirty words were so dirty that even a young lady who specializes in the flesh trade would be horrified to hear them. I had never heard such dirty words before. His words made my face flush red and I was ashamed and angry to death. But he was extremely excited. After the first time, he did it again.

What a sin, such a sin. Not only was I extremely carsick, but he tossed and turned me over and over, which made things even worse.

Li Siyan comforted me: "The return trip is not that urgent. I can take you on a leisurely stroll. Don't you love to admire the scenery and write poems? I'll get you a few large stone walls. You can write as much as you want..."

My old waist was still numb and painful. I felt annoyed when I saw the culprit and turned over dejectedly.

He cleaned himself up, put on his shirt, and walked pitifully to the side of my bed. He leaned over, reached out and brushed away the hair that was stuck to my face, and called me tentatively, "Yingying?"

Seeing that I still didn't respond, he lowered his head and kissed me on the side of my cheek, his words carrying subtle flattery and expectation:

"I'm going to the mountains. You stay here for two days. After I send those ceremonial officials away, I'll..."

I pushed his dog face away. Li Siyan was caught off guard and fell backwards to the ground. I struggled to get up, revealing a white and tender little arm from under the quilt. I grabbed his belt and handkerchief and waved it at his face: "Go away! You think I'm happy to keep you here!"

"Okay, okay, you take a good rest today. I'll go take care of other things first."

Although he said so, his eyes still strayed to the place where the quilt had slipped down... I immediately wrapped myself up tightly and glared at him: "Where are you looking at, you lecher!"

The dog emperor obediently withdrew his gaze, tied his belt, kissed me twice reluctantly, and then walked away looking back every few steps.

After he left, I cursed and asked Huiyue to prepare some water for me and wipe off the strange liquid on my body.

This guy has been getting more and more aggressive recently. If you didn't know me, you would think he beat me up.

After finally washing myself clean, I put on my clothes and lay down on the couch.

Yide came in and brought me two servings of fruit, both loquats. They were a rich golden color with an icy feel underneath. I ate one and it was sour and sweet, and tasted great.

Well... let’s not talk about other things for now, at least in terms of quality of life, Li Siyan has never treated me unfairly.

I handed Yide a loquat and said, "Have some too."

He thanked me quietly and put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly.

"His Majesty has just left, taking most of the guards and eunuchs with him. For the next two days, only the palace maids will be caring for Your Majesty." He said, "But don't worry, Your Majesty. His Majesty has left all of his most capable palace guards with you."

I glanced down at the small building and saw guards stationed every three steps and sentries every five steps, surrounding this exquisite courtyard like an iron barrel.

Looking at their faces again, haha, they were all old acquaintances who stood guard in front of the Zichen Palace every day.

"Is it necessary to watch me so closely?" I grumbled.

Yide shook his head and said, "Sister Huiyue said that people outside say that the Empress is deeply favored by the Emperor, and there are many villains who want to use her to blackmail people, so she must be closely guarded."

When I thought about it, it made sense. Li Siyan has made so many enemies, and there might be someone so foolish as to offend me.

After lunch, I dozed off and drifted off to a dream. I dreamt of two armies at war, drums and gongs beating. Just as I was wondering how the fighting had started, Yide, Huiyue, Xiao Jinlian, and the others rushed in through the door. Several hands shook me awake at once, screaming, "Your Majesty, wake up! There are bandits coming this way!"

"What?" I didn't react for a moment.

Hui Yue quickly tied my regular skirt on, her voice trembling. "They're numerous and powerful, and they're advancing and retreating with caution. Captain Wu is saying they might be private soldiers left behind by the late Crown Prince's lineage... We're afraid we can't resist them, so he told us to drive our horses and head towards the main army camp."

The former crown prince! It's the former crown prince again. My nerves in my solar plexus are throbbing. How did Li Siyan suppress the bandits? Such a large group of people quietly came under my nose, and in the end, I am the one who got into trouble again!

I asked her, "Where is the emperor?"

"Don't ask, Your Majesty. Those bandits are cunning. Seeing that the mountain pass is heavily guarded, they dare not move forward, so they turned to you, Your Majesty. If we fall into their hands, the consequences will be disastrous!"

At this moment Huiyue had grabbed me and was pulling me out desperately. I looked out the window and saw that the battle was really going on. Those rebels didn't even wrap their faces with scarves. It was obvious that they were determined to die.

What frightened me even more was that a wisp of black smoke was rising from the courtyard wall - they were going to set a fire!

"Go, go quickly!" My life was at stake! I rushed out the door, then retreated again, slapping Xiao Jinlian on the back as she fumbled around. "What are you hesitating about? Go!"

Little Jinlian cried, "Don't you want the Madam's jewelry box anymore?"

I hesitated for a moment, gritted my teeth and turned back. Under Huiyue's repeated urging, I stuffed the box containing the letters and the pass into a saddlebag, hung it around my neck, and hurriedly pulled her downstairs.

When I reached the door, a raging fire had already broken out. I lifted my nose and smelled a sudden smell of oil. They were not blackmailing me, they really wanted to burn me to death!

A loud laugh echoed from outside the door. "I will repay your kindness on the Golden Terrace and die for you, supporting Yulong! The thief Li harmed my lord, and Zhang Tai is powerless to kill him for revenge. The only thing he can do is let him taste the pain of being powerless! Wu Qingfu, when you defected to the enemy, could you have imagined this day?"

Captain Wu shouted angrily and fought with the man with a knife.

"Zhang Tai? I repeated the name: 'Leader of the Tiger Guards?'"

The imperial guards of this dynasty were divided into two camps, the north and the south. At the beginning, almost all the imperial guards of the northern court stood on Li Siyan's side, and the southern court was indecisive until the prime minister led his men to surrender after forcing the emperor to abdicate. Most of the six generals of the Eastern Palace were distributed in various places in Chang'an, and were later annihilated one after another. Only the Wuben Army and the Xiaoqi Army led by Zhang Tai broke through the siege, and their whereabouts have been unknown since then.

Hui Yue gritted her teeth and said, "I can't believe this bastard is still alive!"

I was also very angry. I thought to myself, what does it have to do with me if Li Siyan offends you? Just based on your rude behavior, you deserve to be beaten to a pulp by Li Siyan!

Thick smoke blocked several doors. Suddenly, there was a slight sound, and the wood on the window frame was slightly cracked by the heat. I was shocked and said, "Huiyue, the fire is burning too fast. It will burn through in less than an incense stick! Then we will all die in there!"

"Then shall we go out?" Little Jin Liu was at a loss: "It's still outside...ah!"

She suddenly screamed, and I turned around suddenly, only to see a machete piercing through the window paper and coming towards her face.

This is not a good sign. The entry of weapons into the house means that the rebels have torn through the defense line of the imperial guards. Going out at will now means death.

I looked at the raging fire again, not knowing what to feel. I did think about setting a fire and escaping... but not here.

If I die like this, it would be so frustrating...

I said to Huiyue in frustration, "My life is over..."

"Your Majesty, please don't say such things!" Hui Yue said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty is blessed with a destiny that allows you to survive even in desperate situations. It's impossible for you to die here!"

I said, "Why do I remember that I was destined to be at a dead end? Is there any other way out?"

Huiyue gave me a determined look, rushed to the stairs, and somehow something happened, but a hidden hole appeared on the ground under the stairs.

My eyes almost popped out of my head: "Oh my god, there really is a tunnel!"

The tunnel was very damp and not very long. It didn't take long to reach the end. The exit was in a stable not far away.

Xiao Jinlian and Xiao Jinliu neither knew how to ride a horse, so Huiyue asked them to find a place to hide. She then jumped on the horse and pulled me onto its back with incredible speed.

I said blankly, "Are you so good at fighting?"

She said calmly, "I've practiced."

There was no time to explain to me. She rode forward, followed by Yide, the guards, and two other palace maids who could ride horses. We broke through the rebel group like a sharp arrow and rushed towards the reinforcements.

Beside the official road, the emperor's elite troops and the remnants of the former crown prince were fighting each other. The small courtyard where I lived was engulfed in a sea of ​​fire. The air was filled with the smell of blood and oil, and palace maids were running around with their heads in their hands. The situation was worse than Huiyue had expected. What was even more terrifying was that Zhang Tai, who had been fighting with Captain Wu earlier, had already killed Captain Wu to the ground. At this moment, he was squinting his fanatical eyes and pointing his bow at us.

The road to the place where the imperial guards were stationed seemed to be thousands of miles long. The pursuers were chasing us relentlessly and arrows were flying everywhere. Zhang Tai was a famous crossbowman in the army in the past. His arrows never missed their target. Even after three years of exile, his skills had not diminished at all. In the time it took him to shoot a few arrows, the people around us gradually dwindled, leaving only Yide, a palace maid and two guards. Suddenly, I heard a soft "puff" sound in my ears, and another guard fell off his horse.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Huiyue stuffed the reins into my hand and said, "Your Majesty, run along the official road and don't look back." After that, she jumped onto the back of another horse, picked up the bow and arrow left by the guards, and fired at the pursuers fiercely. Gradually, she blocked the pursuers and put a long distance between us.

I no longer had time to wonder when she learned martial arts. I just pulled the reins and ran forward for my life.

But at this moment, an arrow suddenly hit the horse's buttocks. The horse felt pain, screamed loudly and went crazy, and actually deviated from the direction and ran into the depths of the dense forest.

I was horrified, my mind went blank. I pulled the reins hard, but the horse didn't listen to me at all. Mount Tai is a steep place with many cliffs and rocks. If I kept running like this, sooner or later I would...

Before I could even think of the consequences, my body suddenly felt lighter.

The shadows of the leaves passed by quickly in front of my eyes, and I felt my body falling.

At the critical moment of life and death, I subconsciously hugged the horse's neck tightly, and both I and the horse fell off the cliff together.

A moment later, I woke up in severe pain.

The horse was nowhere to be seen, and I struggled to stand up slowly from a pile of broken leaves. My arms ached as if they had been taken apart and reassembled.

There was no sound of metal clashing at the foot of the cliff, only the sound of wind and birds singing in the forest. I tried calling Huiyue a few times, but no one answered.

I was stunned for a moment, then I remembered that she took the risk of jumping onto another horse to lighten the burden.

Later, my horse got frightened and fell off the cliff... Fortunately, I was not seriously injured because of the horse's body and dense bushes that cushioned my fall.

I wonder how the fighting is going up there? When will Li Siyan come to rescue me?

Thinking of the Dog Emperor, I felt resentful again: he made enemies everywhere, and in the end, all the revenge was taken on me. Am I his substitute doll?

Last time I got stabbed in the shoulder, it was fine. I blamed myself for not dodging in time, but this time it was such a damn injustice. I still don't understand why these rebels wanted to pick on me. I was chased off the cliff for no apparent reason. Did they hate me for marrying a thief? Or did they hate me for telling Li Siyan that their beloved Crown Prince was actually infertile and even had his son adopted from his younger brother's family?

No matter what the reason is, I feel so wronged that it’s like snowing in June: they, the Li family, are pulling each other’s hair, what does it have to do with me, the Chen family!

I was extremely angry, but now I was isolated and helpless, so I had to go back to the emperor. I sighed resignedly and found a branch to support myself.

At this moment, something suddenly fell out of the broken sack. It was a black box.

I picked it up and suddenly my whole body was shocked.

etc.

Why should I go back?

I clearly already have a pass. If I want to leave, this disaster is the opportunity given to me by God. Now everything is ready. Isn't it enough to make Li Siyan believe that I am dead?

I was excited and confused at the same time, my heart was pounding.

Without even a moment's hesitation, I decided: God has given me the chance to escape Li Siyan, and I must seize it! Even if he finds me, it doesn't matter. I can just say I'm hiding from him, and he'll have to believe me.

Thinking of this, I felt full of strength, my legs and shoulders no longer hurt, I took out my pass, kissed it, and strode forward.

Maybe God was helping me. When I was worrying about what posture to use to fake my death, I saw a piece of green cloth beside the mountain stream. I tentatively went over to take a look and saw that it was an unfamiliar palace maid. It seemed that I was not the only unlucky person who accidentally fell off the cliff.

"Sister, are you okay?" I patted her pale little face.

The little palace maid opened her eyes slightly, her face pale. When she checked her nose, she found that she was dead.

I silently withdrew my hand and brushed her lifeless eyes.

"Rest in peace, and don't enter the palace in your next life."

I kowtowed to her three times politely, picked up a small bundle lying beside her, and said softly, "Sister, I don't mean to offend you, but the situation is urgent now, so I have to borrow your clothes. If I can escape one day, I will definitely offer you incense..."

After saying that, I quickly took off the expensive red Shu brocade on my body and changed into the ordinary palace maid costume in her bag. The costumes of palace maids nowadays are not much different from those of ladies outside the palace. After I changed my clothes, I turned into an ordinary woman again.

After finishing everything, I took a deep breath, smoothed my hair and turned around, only to see a thin boy staring at me blankly.

He said, "My Lady, what did you just say?

I was so frightened that my whole body trembled, and the red Shu brocade skirt around my arm suddenly fell to the ground.

"Yi... Yide." I called out in panic, "I... I was just changing clothes to hide from the pursuers... Don't think too much about it."

Yide took a step forward and I gave him a smile that was uglier than crying: "Why are you here?"

He said, "I saw the queen startled her horse, so I turned a corner with this sister and chased after her. We didn't expect there was a cliff here. I was lucky and hung on the branch, but she hit the back of her head when she fell, and then..."

"Are you okay?" I asked subconsciously, "Are you hurt?"

Tears welled up in his eyes and he shook his head gently: "It's nothing serious."

"It's good that she's alright," I said after a long pause, "Let's go back and get someone to bury her."

After being caught by Yide, I could no longer leave without caring about anything. After sighing inwardly, I stood up to leave, but Yide called out from behind me, "My Queen."

"What's wrong?" I said.

He looked at me and said seriously, "I just heard what the Queen said to her, and I want to know if the Queen really wants to leave?"

My heart skipped a beat again, and I immediately denied it, "You misheard! That's not what I meant."

Seeing the child about to speak again, I roughly grabbed his wrist and said, "Stop talking nonsense. It's getting late, and there are wolves in the mountains. It's better to go back quickly."

"My Lady!" Yi De said, "What if I can help you?"

"Help me?" I was stunned. "What did you say?"

He said, "I was born in the mountains and am familiar with the terrain. There's a faint sound of water here, and it's just rained. There must be a swollen river ahead. If Your Majesty wants to leave, I can ferry her to the other side. Then, she can throw her clothes into the water, so His Majesty will think she's drowned and buried in a fish's belly. Then she can escape."

"But without the pass, Your Majesty can't go far..."

"I have."

I said firmly, "Let's go and do as you say."