Chapter 75 The Lady's Whereabouts
"Young lady, young lady? You haven't paid your fare yet." The old man reminded Dai Li when he saw her looking blank.
Dai Li snapped back to her senses, quickly paid the bill, and hurried towards the ferry.
It was early afternoon, and there were many boatmen soliciting passengers at the ferry crossing. Dai Li didn't choose a large, sturdy boat, but instead headed towards the smaller ones.
"Boatman, are you going to Xiagu? I have a close relative there who is seriously ill and doesn't have much time left. I have to go and see him off on his final journey. If you are willing to set off for Xiagu immediately, I will pay for the boat fare for five people on my own, how about that?" Dai Li didn't dare to ask for too much, for fear of revealing her wealth and attracting envy.
The boatman perked up instantly upon hearing the last sentence, "To Xiagu, let's go now!"
Dai Li boarded the ship.
The boat was small, consisting of nothing more than an arched houseboat. Inside, two cabins were formed by burlap partitions.
These small boats can only carry a limited number of people; including the boatman, they can carry a maximum of five. If there are more people, they are prone to capsizing in large waves on the river.
Because of Dai Li's urging, which was tantamount to chartering the boat, the boatman did not pick up any more people. He retrieved the anchor, pushed hard with the oar, and the boat slowly left the shore.
Dai Li peered through the rolled-up linen sheet in front and saw that the first inner cabin was empty. The linen sheet inside was slightly blown up by the wind, and a slit in the middle revealed what lay inside.
There are people in this cabin.
Dai Li sat in the first inner cabin.
The boatman looked her over and, seeing that her hands were empty, asked curiously, "You're not carrying any luggage? From here to Xiagu, it will take two days and one night if the weather is kind."
Dai Li looked helpless: "I didn't have time to think about it. When I heard the news, my head was buzzing. By the time I came to my senses, I was already on a donkey cart out of the city and almost at the ferry. I figured I still had some money and some travel expenses, so I decided not to go back."
The boatman was quick-witted, and since he was someone who made a living on a boat year-round, there must have been plenty of provisions on board.
He immediately probed, "Young lady, I have some leftover food on my boat. How about I sell you some?"
Dai Li was secretly delighted; she had just dozed off when this unexpected windfall came her way. "Of course, that's great!"
Dai Li, who was chatting with the boatman, did not notice, or rather, did not see from her current field of vision, a sailboat approaching in the distance.
The linen sail billowed in the wind, propelling the boat forward swiftly. As they neared the shore, the strong man rolled up the sail, dissipating the wind and slowing the boat down.
The boat docked, but before the burly man could set up the connecting planks, a tall, slender figure leaped from the side of the boat and jumped directly onto the shore.
“Hey, take it easy,” the burly man said.
The figure walked forward without looking back.
The burly man clicked his tongue in amazement, "What a capable young man! I wonder which family's young master he is, out here for his training."
The two ships passed each other and gradually drifted apart.
*
The horses' hooves thundered across the dirt road, their momentum overwhelming. Large herds of horses galloped along the official road, and pedestrians quickly gave way. But some carriages soon realized that avoiding them was futile; the horses were coming for them.
The newcomer reined in his horse, sat high on it, and looked down at the coachman, the sword at his waist glaringly conspicuous.
"Have you ever carried a lone young woman to the ferry?" the cavalryman asked.
The donkey cart driver shook his head repeatedly. In this world, one shouldn't argue with someone carrying a knife. He spoke frankly: "No, I went to the ferry this morning to wait for the goods. I just loaded all the goods onto the cart and didn't see any women."
The cavalry then left, and this scene unfolded along the official road, stopping all returning carriages.
Qi Yu's men scattered to question the carriage returning to the city, and Qi Yu was no exception.
He stopped a donkey cart, asked the same questions as his men, and said, "...This woman is a wanted criminal. Anyone who can provide clues will be rewarded. Otherwise, anyone who harbors her will be punished the same way."
The driver shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, I didn't see any single woman on my way there, I..."
Before he could finish speaking, the driver suddenly felt a movement behind the car. It turned out to be the strange customer who had paid him the fare who jumped out of the car.
"Qi Yu".
Suddenly called out, Qi Yu turned his head at the sound of the voice, and a bright light shone directly on him, making him squint. It was then that he realized there was another person carrying on the back of the donkey cart.
The man wore a black mask, so his face was not visible, and his voice was hoarse and not very pleasant.
Qi Yu was stunned and carefully examined the other person.
Many members of their sect wear masks, and those who possess them are not ordinary believers. Once the mask is on, the face is obscured, and unless one knows the person well, they are unrecognizable.
However, this isn't absolute; besides facial features, one can also recognize a person by their voice. For example, if an embroiderer speaks in a normal voice, she is easy to identify.
Besides this, there is another person...
"A guiding light?"
Qi Yu dismounted. "You're back? I hadn't heard from you for a while, and I was thinking of going to look for you. But Di heard that it wasn't necessary and said you would come back sooner or later."
Instead of answering him, Mingdeng asked, "Are you looking for a young woman?"
The donkey cart driver was fine, Qi Yu waved him away, and then said to the man in front of him, "Yes, looking for someone. You must know this woman, you might have even seen her before. She is Lady Dai, the former favorite concubine of the Marquis of Wu'an."
Mingdeng asked, "Didn't we invite her to join the church? Why are we still searching for her everywhere?"
Qi Yu sighed, "We weren't careful enough, and she took advantage of the situation and escaped. I heard that on the way back from Bai Ri City, Marquis Wu'an set up many obstacles on the river in an attempt to intercept her. During those rounds of searches, Lady Dai was very cooperative. Everyone, including Di Ting, thought she was sincerely joining the sect. Who could have imagined that she was just trying to lower our guard?"
The young man beneath the mask slowly raised an eyebrow. "She ran away?"
"That's right! At the beginning of the ceremony, she drugged two of her personal maids and ran away." Qi Yu didn't stay until the end and still didn't know where Dai Li's sleeping pills came from. "The embroiderer said that her medicine was not lacking, and she didn't know where she got the sleeping pills. Could it be that there is a traitor in our sect?"
Mingdeng: "It's hard to say."
Qi Yu glanced around, as if trying to curry favor with him, and said in a low voice, "You haven't been replying to my messages, and I think Di Ting seems a little displeased. When you see him, he'll definitely ask you for details, so you'd better explain clearly."
In Qi Yu's view, explaining something is not exactly simple, but it is not exactly fraught with difficulties either.
If he were the one to report, he would surely say that he was ordered by Fan, the governor of Yanzhou, to assassinate Marquis Wu'an, but was unfortunately captured. In order to save his life, he had no choice but to cooperate with Marquis Wu'an, using him as an excuse to eliminate Yanzhou.
Although everything was done out of necessity, it ultimately ruined the grand plan, and Qi Yu guessed that he would inevitably be punished.
Mingdeng seemed completely unconcerned and returned to the previous topic, "You took people to the ferry, so you've confirmed that she went to the ferry?"
"I'm not sure," Qi Yu said. "But it's been less than two hours since she came down the mountain. If she goes into the city, she'll most likely stay at the post station tonight. With the Third Young Master's help, if she dares to stay at the post station, we'll definitely be able to find her before noon tomorrow."
"Is the Third Young Master you mentioned Xie San?" Mingdeng remained silent for a moment.
“It is Xie Yuanxiu.” Qi Yu said with a smile. “It’s quite a coincidence. This Xie San has definitely taken a fancy to Madam Dai. During today’s celebration, he even sent someone to sneak into her room to deliver a gift, but they found nothing there. It’s thanks to this incident that we realized he had run away.”
The bright lamp lowered its gaze.
Qi Yu couldn't see his expression, but looking into those cold, dark eyes, he could only sense that the other person was in a bad mood.
“I will go to the ferry with you,” Mingdeng suddenly said.
Qi Yu was stunned. "You're coming with me? That's not a good idea. You've finally come back. Why don't you go back and report for duty first?"
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a little longer,” Mingdeng simply said.
Qi Yu thought to himself that the other party might want to redeem himself, so he didn't say anything more and just called over a subordinate and ordered the other party to give up the horse.
Continue to the ferry crossing.
They continued to intercept the coachman along the central road.
"...You've seen it?!" Qi Yu was overjoyed, then asked the old man a series of questions, "When was it, and what were the circumstances?"
If Dai Li were here, she would definitely recognize the old man who was caught as the same rickshaw driver she had hitched a ride with earlier.
The old man dared not hide anything either, and told the whole story, finally saying, "...She said she was going to Jiulu County."
Qi Yu did some quick calculations.
It had been more than half an hour since Madam Dai arrived at the ferry, so she must have boarded the boat.
“She has already left, and the speed of a boat going downstream is far beyond what a horse can achieve. We should go back and report to Diting, and hear his arrangements,” Mingdeng suddenly said.
Qi Yu pondered for a moment and felt that it made sense.
Di Ting had ordered him to track down Madam Dai, and now that the mission was complete, he should indeed return to report for duty.
*
“…It can’t be Jiulu County.” Upon hearing Qi Yu’s words, Di Ting shook his head and said, “What she said is not credible. Since she mentioned Xia Gu during the conversation, she most likely went to Xia Gu.”
However, after saying this, Di Ting shook his head with a smile: "But Jiu Lu County cannot be ignored either; she has many schemes up her sleeve."
Xie Yuanxiu stood to the side.
He was overjoyed after receiving the message from the servant and went to visit again.
It was almost dusk, but Xie Yuanxiu still showed no sign of leaving: "Jiulu County is very close to here. I will send a team to rush there overnight and thoroughly investigate the post stations in the county."
"As for Xia Valley, which is a bit further away, we will use both land and water routes. We will send people to travel east by light boat and enter through the north gate; we will also send another team to set off from the south of Tianshui County and take the southern route to Xia Valley." Xie Yuanxiu became more and more excited as he spoke, "With a pincer attack from the north and south, my sister will have nowhere to go and will have no choice but to obediently return home."
“What if she didn’t go to Xiagu, but to a county further east?” someone suddenly asked.
This was the first time Xie Yuanxiu had ever heard such a jarring sound, and he subconsciously frowned while feeling extremely disappointed.
Although what the other party said made sense, the fact that this person said it like that when he suggested inviting her home was like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head.
The excitement I felt earlier dissipated almost instantly.
“It doesn’t matter if she goes to another county or prefecture. The church’s followers are all over the state, and she only has one copy of the oracle. Sooner or later, they will find out where she is,” Di said.
Xie Yuanxiu disliked the word "sooner or later," and he wished he could find her tonight so they could spend the night together again. Regarding the search, Xie Yuanxiu offered suggestions: "Besides Xiagu and Jiulu, we shouldn't overlook the other counties to the east either."
"The Marquis of Wu'an and the Governor of Qingzhou have just taken over Yanzhou. If they send troops to search for someone now, will the Northern Lands and Qingzhou see it as a provocation?" Mingdeng asked calmly.
Upon hearing this, Xie Yuanxiu paused for a moment.
He had gained the support of the Qinglian Sect, but with his elder brothers still alive and his position as governor of Sizhou not yet secure, it was indeed unwise to provoke the Northern Lands and Qingzhou at this time.
Di Ting glanced at the person beside him, "Go in disguise, keep a low profile, this matter shouldn't be a big problem."
Xie Yuanxiu's expression improved considerably. "I will send people to Xiagu and Jiulu overnight."
Listen attentively and nod.
After chatting for a few more minutes, Di Ting asked Xie Yuanxiu to go back first. After the other party left, only he and another person were left in the room.
With no one else around, Di Ting removed the silver mask from his face, revealing a casualness rarely seen in front of outsiders. "Why have you been out for so long this time?"
Mingdeng: "The Marquis of Wu'an is difficult to deal with; it took a lot of effort just to get him back."
"Are you injured?" Di Ting looked him over.
The young man, dressed in a black robe, looked travel-worn, yet his posture remained as upright as a pine tree. At first glance, it was impossible to tell whether he was injured.
Mingdeng said, "It's alright."
“Diting, I want to lead a team to help find the missing person.”
"Mingdeng, you've been by Marquis Wu'an's side for so long, what happened during that time?"
Two voices rang out simultaneously.
Di Ting raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so concerned about this matter?"
“I bear part of the responsibility for the capture of Yanzhou. If I hadn’t been captured alive by Marquis Wu’an and used as a pawn to attack Yanzhou, Fan Tianshi wouldn’t have lost his life, and the sect would have lost a good ally for nothing,” Mingdeng said.
Actually, the young man prefers the name his mother gave him, Qin Yanzhou, to the name "Guiding Light".
*
On the Jin River, the river wind blows the sails into the shape of a crescent moon, and the multi-story ships sail on the waves.
After a long cry, a gyrfalcon with white and brown feathers tilted its wings and began to dive.
A tall figure emerged from the cabin, casually raising his hand. A gyrfalcon weighing over four pounds swooped down and landed on his long arm; the man's bent elbow merely twitched slightly.
Qin Shaozong pulled the thin strap off the gyrfalcon's leg with one hand, took the small bamboo tube attached to it, and then flicked his arm and tossed it up.
The gyrfalcon spread its wings again, circled once in the air, and landed on the mast crossbeam to begin preening its feathers.
The group of people who heard the falcon's cry came out from the inner cabin.
"My lord, is this a letter from the front? Have you found the person?!" Mo Yanyun asked impatiently.
Lord Junhou's quiet departure from Bai Ri City was a risky move. Yanzhou was newly acquired, and there were many things to deal with, not to mention the nearby Qingzhou official, whose true or false obedience was unclear.
Once the Lord departs, many instructions will not be delivered in a timely manner, and some vacant positions vacated by Yanzhou officials may be taken over by Qingzhou officials.
But there was no use in rushing him. His superiors were like that; once they made up their minds, nothing could change them.
After reading the letter, Qin Shaozong said, "That kid finally disembarked in Tianshui County."
Sweetwater County?
Mo Yanyun was very good with maps and instantly located Sizhou: "What is he doing in Sizhou? Could he be from Sizhou?"
Qin Shaozong did not explicitly state that Qin Yanzhou had a powerful backer. However, he had many astute men under his command, and ever since he released Qin Yanzhou and sent people to secretly follow him, some of them had discerned a hidden meaning.
They were all in the same group, so it was inevitable that they would gather together to chat. As they talked, everyone found out. However, Mo Yanyun was the first to directly tell Qin Shaozong.
Feng Feng silently moved to a spot further away from Mo Yanyun.
Qin Shaozong knew his subordinates' character very well, and he was also well aware of their frequent small gatherings. "Xie San also appeared in Tianshui County recently and even paid a visit to the Qinglian Sect members."
Feng Feng stroked his chin.
If that's the case, wouldn't Sweetwater County have two opposing forces?
"We'll be in Sweetwater County in three days," Mo Yanyun prayed. "May the heavens be kinder and let the wind blow even stronger."
*
After a long and arduous journey on the small boat, Dai Li arrived at Xia Gu at noon on the third day.
She considered herself to be in good health, never getting carsick or seasick, rarely getting sick, and always having a good appetite. But this time, after getting off the boat, Dai Li felt like her soul was still floating on it.
Small boats are light and go fast with the current, but precisely because they are light, they are not as stable as large boats and are prone to rocking.
Dai Li walked for a while in a daze, then randomly found a donkey cart and rode into the city.
Xiagu County is indeed quite large; even if the other party knows her destination, it would be impossible to find her in a short time.
In other words, she is safe today.
After entering the city, Dai Li went straight to the pawnshop, sold some jewelry to get money, then had a big meal to treat herself, bought some things, and finally went to choose a place to stay for the night.
She took a comfortable bath in the dormitory and then slept soundly for days.
Unaware that the night was at its darkest at the end of the Yin hour, several boats sailed from the west and finally stopped at the ferry crossing north of the county.
Author's Note: I'm here! [Sprinkling flowers]
I need nutrient solution.
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