Chapter 29 Chapter 29 My First Encounter with A Jiang in My Previous Life
Prince Consort Sun waved to the imperial physicians behind him, intending to have them collect her blood first, but unexpectedly, Princess Chaoyang stopped him, "Take her to the secret room!"
No one dared to disobey the princess's order. Prince Consort Sun glared at Hanyu unhappily and said, "What are you still standing there for? Didn't you hear the princess' order?"
In order to find out the princess's true intention, Hanyu followed them silently. Princess Chaoyang asked everyone else to leave and only left Prince Consort Sun and a trusted imperial physician to follow her into the corridor leading to the underground secret room.
Hanyu carefully examined the structure of the corridor and was surprised that the underground secret room in the princess's mansion was completely different from the dungeon in Prince Yin's mansion in style. Instead, it was somewhat similar to the tomb robbery hole under the temple. Could it be that the mysterious tomb robbery hole under the Goddess Temple was made by the princess?
Seeing her fall behind, Prince Consort Sun urged her, "Don't look around. This secret room is full of traps. If you don't want to die, follow closely!"
She had seen the bones in the tunnel and didn't want to become one of them, so she followed their steps silently.
I don't know how long I walked, but this corridor leading to the secret room seemed to have no end. The deeper I went into the corridor, the thinner the air inside became, making me feel vaguely suffocated.
Princess Chaoyang ordered others to extinguish the candles, and the dim corridor suddenly became pitch black.
"It's... so dark, how can we get there?"
Hanyu felt that the surroundings were eerie and scary, and it reminded her of the bones under the temple.
"Haven't we reached the Chamber of Secrets yet? Why is this place so gloomy and cold?"
"If you don't want to die, shut up!"
After Prince Consort Sun's threats, the princess's impatient voice was heard: "Stop talking nonsense and get those bugs out!"
"Yes! Your Highness, don't worry. I'll get it out right away."
Prince Consort Sun took out a glowing brocade bag from his body, and everyone could see the corridor ahead clearly.
"Your Highness was wise enough to know that the air in the tunnel was too thin to use candles, so he had me catch some fireflies beforehand. Thankfully, after a night, these glowing little bugs haven't all died yet."
He ordered the imperial physician to lead the way, holding a brocade bag filled with fireflies, while he carefully supported the princess and followed behind. He turned back and reminded Hanyu, "Follow closely, or you'll get lost and won't be able to find us. It's pitch black here, and a poisonous snake or two could pop out at any time. Watch your step, too!"
Hanyu asked, "Why is there a long corridor under the princess's mansion? Where does it lead to?"
Prince Consort Sun opened his mouth to scold Hanyu for being too talkative, but Princess Chaoyang interrupted him: "Since we need her help, and she is from the Snow Mountain, it's okay to tell her."
As soon as the princess finished speaking, Prince Consort Sun's attitude immediately changed, and he explained to Hanyu in a calm tone.
It turned out that Hanyu's guess was correct. This corridor was connected to the tomb robbery hole under the temple. It was secretly dug by Princess Chaoyang in recent years in order to seize the statue.
But hadn't Li Yu led his men to blow up the statue a month ago on the snowy mountain, and then had Yin Jinglong taken it back to Shangjing? Logically, the fragments of the statue should have been in his palace, so why did they end up with Princess Chaoyang?
Princess Chaoyang said, "The power struggles within the court are beyond the comprehension of a commoner like you. Regent Yin Jinglong's ability has been questioned by court officials due to his years of lack of achievements. His brother, the Grand General, has repeatedly served on the frontiers with distinction. Furthermore, he has the support of his father, the virtuous prince, and a host of clan members. Therefore, Yin Jinglong's position as Regent is in jeopardy."
"In order to consolidate his power at court, Prince Yin secretly formed an alliance with me. He promised to obtain the statue for me, and I also promised to help him lobby the royal family and clan members to ask His Majesty to continue to appoint him as the regent of Great Yin."
Hanyu suddenly understood. No wonder he was willing to risk dying in the snowy mountains just to steal the statue.
Princess Chaoyang continued as she walked, "To obtain the goddess's statue, I secretly began digging this passage ten years ago. It took several years to finally reach the underground of the Snow Mountain Temple. Due to the backlash of the goddess's power, the group of secret guards I sent out eventually disappeared, perhaps they all died on the snow mountain, with no remains left. I refused to believe it and wanted to keep trying, but just three years ago, General Yin Jingheng, under the order of His Majesty, led his army to the snow mountain. Those men also never returned, and even the great general disappeared on the snow mountain peak."
"Are you talking about the foreign invasion three years ago?"
Her memory went back to the year three years ago when she first met Ajiang on the bank of a cold river in the snow-capped mountains. Her father told her about the invasion of foreign troops that year.
The originally peaceful life of the tomb-guarding clan was disrupted by the sudden appearance of an unknown army. Unlike the previous groups of thieves, this time the invaders were thousands of Central Plains troops wearing armor and holding long swords.
For a moment, everyone in the tribe was in panic. After an urgent discussion, the tribe leader and elders decided to defend instead of attack.
"The Goddess Temple is located on the top of the plateau. The terrain there is high, the mountain roads are rugged, and there is snow all year round. It is an easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack place. In addition, we have the protection of the Goddess. Even the Iron Army will find it difficult to withstand the backlash of the Goddess's power."
"The clan leader is absolutely right. We only have a few hundred strong and young members of our clan. If we were to engage them head-on, it would be like an egg hitting a stone. Their goal is simply to seize the statue. We might as well hold off for now. It would probably take nearly half of their manpower to climb to the top of the snowy mountain with their thousand-man army. Moreover, we still have the power of the goddess. It won't be too late to take action after they have seized the statue."
As they expected, when those people were halfway up the snow-capped mountains, they encountered an unprecedented snowstorm. Many soldiers could not withstand the severe cold and fell asleep forever on the snow-capped mountains.
When they reached the temple on the top of the snow-capped mountain, there were only a few hundred people left. The leading general led this group of exhausted soldiers and continued towards the temple.
After all, these foreigners underestimated the power of the goddess. Within a hundred steps of the temple, most of the soldiers began to go crazy. Even the brave and battle-hardened general of the country showed backlash symptoms in front of a statue.
At that time, Hanyu and his father hid in the tribe and dared not take a single step out. During those days, the painful roars of soldiers could be heard day and night on the top of the snow-capped mountains, as if they were in pain from being ripped open alive.
Hanyu asked her father, "Will we die?"
Dad hugged Hanyu tightly, stroked her black hair, and comforted her: "It won't be us who die, Ah Yu, don't worry, Dad will protect you with his life."
The roars of the soldiers resounded through the sky until the morning of the third day, when it was completely silent. This happened to be the day when Hanyu was going to go up the mountain to worship the goddess.
Adie was worried about Hanyu's well-being and tried to plead with the elders to let her wait until the outsiders left before going, but was politely declined by the elders.
They threatened my father, "The worship of the goddess cannot be delayed. If we offend her and our tribe loses her protection, and outsiders invade our tribe, it will be a disaster for our entire clan! Can you, an old man on the verge of death, shoulder this responsibility?"
In desperation, my father begged the elders to send a few strong men to escort Hanyu up the mountain, but they refused again.
"There are only a few in our tribe who are as unaffected by the goddess's power as she is. Those warriors will naturally stay behind to protect the tribe. Do you really want us, a group of elders over fifty years old, to escort her up the mountain?"
Dad’s plea was in vain, so he had no choice but to reluctantly send Hanyu to the halfway point of the mountain.
Hanyu waved to him with tears in her eyes: "Father, please go back! Your body can't bear it if you go any further."
She saw her father suppressing his worry and sadness, forcing an unpleasant smile and saying to her, "Okay, Dad will be back soon. Remember what he told you. If you happen to run into them and there are still people alive, you must not approach them. You must escape quickly! The matter of offering sacrifices to the goddess is not a matter of short duration. Protecting yourself is the most important thing. Do you understand?"
Hanyu followed her father's instructions and deliberately avoided the most common road up the mountain. Instead, she chose a rugged path that went around the cold river. It was on the bank of the cold river that she found Ajiang, a man with amnesia, lying on the riverbank, dying.
The armor on Ajiang's body warned her that this man was from the foreign army that invaded the snow mountain. Hanyu remembered her father's reminder and wanted to leave, but unexpectedly Ajiang was still alive at that time.
He suddenly reached out and grabbed Hanyu's ankle, "Help me, I'm so cold."
Hanyu stomped her feet hard to try to shake him off, but he clung to her tighter and tighter like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw, and refused to let go no matter what.
She squatted down and checked his almost imperceptible breathing. Although his eyes were open, they were empty and lifeless.
Hanyu asked him, "Who are you? Why did you come to the snowy mountains?"
Ah Jiang shook his head: "I don't remember, and I don't know who I am."
"What about your companions? How did you get from the top of the snowy mountain to the edge of this frosty river?"
He still shook his head blankly, not knowing the answer to any question.
Hanyu saw that he didn't look like he was lying. Apart from wanting to survive, he seemed to have no other thoughts. Besides, she had also heard that the backlash of the goddess's power might make a person unclear-minded, with confused memories or even lose all memories.
She thought, maybe this person became like this after being injured by the power of the goddess?
So, the kindhearted Hanyu rescued Ajiang, who appeared by the cold river. Fearing that saving an outsider would bring punishment upon her father, she temporarily placed him in a thatched hut deep in the jungle by the river. He was freezing cold, the frigid river water seeping through him. His skin was like icy ice, and even his hair was frosted.
This thatched hut was hastily built by Hanyu for rest after he came down the mountain to offer sacrifices to the goddess. Unexpectedly, it came in handy at this time.
She hid the dying A Jiang in a thatched hut by the river and took care of him for several days. His body finally got better, but he still couldn't remember his identity.
Ah Yu thought that this was a good thing, at least no one knew that he was an outsider, and he would not be punished by the elders.
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