The message that Fang Yue delivered was from three days ago. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
The place they were at now was thousands of miles away from Death Valley in Wanren Mountain.
Su Rong immediately said to Ye Guixue, "Guixue, quickly look at the map. Is there a shortest route that leads to Wanren Mountain?"
Ye Guixue hurriedly opened the map. After studying it for a moment, he nodded to Su Rong, "There is a route, but it traverses steep mountains and is difficult for cavalry to traverse."
Unlike the shortest route they had previously chosen to intercept Han Yin, where horses could climb and cross over. This current path involved mountain climbing and cliff crossing, and traversing mountain streams and ravines. People could walk through it, but horses could not.
"If we take this path, how many days would it take until we reach our destination? How much faster is it compared to the normal road?" Su Rong asked.
"We can arrive in two days," replied Ye Guixue. "But if the princess chooses to take the normal road with her cavalry, they could also reach in two days."
Su Rong stared at the topographic map, discussing with him, "How about splitting the forces, infantry take the mountain path and cavalry take the main road?"
Ye Guixue nodded, "Doing so would increase our chances, at least one party would make it there first."
"Okay, let’s do it that way," Su Rong looked at him, "Guixue, can you and Qin Ruo, together with fifty thousand infantry, take the mountain path? Fen Ling and I will take the main road with fifty thousand cavalry."
After all, the mountain path was hard to navigate and required Ye Guixue to lead the way.
"Okay," Ye Guixue had no objections.
Su Rong turned to Qin Ruo, "I’ll give you Lan Zhi, she’ll bring a part of the secret guards to protect you."
Knowing the situation was urgent, Qin Ruo nodded, "Okay, Princess, rest assured."
Thus, the three of them decided to split their forces and set off towards Death Valley in Wanren Mountain.
At the same time, Fang Yue was playing a deadly game of hide and seek with the Nangong Family’s assassins in Death Valley, along with the Nanchu King, Zhou Gu, and Zhang Yun, as well as their secret guards.
Sudden appearances followed by killings had become routine, much like navigating a labyrinth, and they had been at it for several days already.
On this day, an ashen-faced Fang Yue said to Zhou Gu, "Fourth Young Master, Liu’an Prince’s private army of fifty thousand has surrounded Wanren Mountain and is searching it inch by inch. I’ve sent the news to the princess, but I don’t know when she will receive it. It could take two days or maybe three. After she gets the news, it’ll likely take another two to three days, or maybe even three to five days to get here. Do you think we can hold out for that long?"
"Even if we can’t hold out for that long, we must," Zhou Gu was fairly calm, staring expressionlessly at the distant mountains, "Right now, the best scenario would be a heavy snowfall. The snow would seal off the mountain, making the mountain roads difficult to navigate and keeping Liu’an Prince’s troops at bay."
Zhang Yun glanced at the sky and sighed, "There’s no snow."
The Nanchu King looked miserable, "I can’t believe Chu Qian has secretly raised fifty thousand troops. His ambition is truly rampant."
Zhou Gu turned to look at the Nanchu King, seeming immensely speechless, "Father-in-law, how did you end up in such a situation?"
Before he had thoroughly studied the situation in Nanchu, he never expected that it was full of pitfalls that could bury anyone.
The Nanchu King looked tired, "In those years, I had no wish to live, but for the sake of my ancestors, I gritted my teeth and persevered, like a walking corpse. It was only later when I learned that I had a daughter, that I barely managed to catch my breath. What can I do in five years? There’s too little I can accomplish. In those ten years when I was not involved, the Nangong Family was a major power as a family related to us by marriage, and even the Ye Xiang Residence had to give way. The royal lineage held the most power in Liu’an Prince due to his capabilities. This balance of power became a three-legged stand. All I wished for was stability in the court. I care not what happened to Nanchu after my death, for it will be beyond my control."
Zhou Gu looked at him, "Is this all the samurai you have around you? Look at us, we have almost toured the entire Nanchu from north to west and now to the east. I do not see your forces. All I see are the Nangong Family’s forces that have pursued us fiercely, and Liu’an Prince’s private army of fifty thousand. Your fifty thousand troops at Xiling are all too useless."
He was just about to explode with frustration. He did not know whether he should regret the reckless decision to break into the royal capital to steal the king. That rash decision had led to this precarious situation of life or death.
This rush was killing him.
If his grandfather and the Crown Prince knew that he was able to run around under the Nangong family’s surveillance with his father-in-law, they would probably praise him for being so accomplished.
But only he knew the anxiety that he felt. He felt like crying.
All the precious prescribed medicines from Zhangdu Forest that were supposed to save lives did not give him any peace. Fifty thousand soldiers, damn it. He could deal with the Nangong Family’s mad hounds, but how was he to deal with the inch-by-inch search by fifty thousand soldiers?
Could he hang himself on the southeastern tree?
He was not reluctant to lose his freshly minted father-in-law, he was reluctant to lose himself, the one dear to Su Rong.
Sigh.
The Nanchu King looked at Zhou Gu and said, "The power I built up during my time as Crown Prince was all destroyed by Zhenmin’s marriage to Dawei. I dispatched an assassin to kill the Dawei Emperor and disrupt the royal family, and nearly exhausted all my resources. Later, my father passed away, and I ascended the throne. Then the news of Zhenmin’s brutal death in Dawei reached Nanchu. I lost all wish to live. What more power could I accumulate? I was living day by day."
Zhou Gu was at loss for words, "In such case, it is understandable. You really have a hard life, my dear father-in-law."
At that time, Zhenmin’s marriage to Dawei to destabilize Dawei, was not only her effort. The Nanchu Crown Prince had utilized all he had built up to cause the chaos. Perhaps Zhenmin never intended to live after her marriage to Dawei─it was only when she realized she was pregnant that she faked her death to escape amidst the chaos.
For her to escape successfully and fool all, someone must have drawn the attention of Dawei under internal strife.
He wondered what the Emperor of Daliang was doing at that time? As the Crown prince, was he perhaps celebrating Zhenmin’s agreement to marry Dawei, thus securing his throne?
He looked at the Nanchu king with added respect, sat straight and said quietly, "No wonder you could win my mother-in-law’s heart after forcing her into marriage."
The Nanchu King was taken aback. Although the words were unpleasant to hear, they were the truth. He didn’t deny it. After all, no matter how many years had passed, that part of history was well-known to everyone--Zhenmin was the woman he took forcefully from Xie Yuan, but he could not keep her and she was married to Dawei.
In the face of nation and people, his personal emotions seemed trivial, making him hate Zhenmin’s sense of righteousness as well as the Emperor of Daliang’s selfishness.
So, when he heard that Su Rong chose Zhou Gu over Ye Guixue, though a few months ago Zhou Gu returning with her to reclaim the throne offered no advantages, she still chose him. While he felt helpless, he also felt relieved. After all, she was his daughter, carrying his bloodline. Had Zhenmin not pleaded with him back then, he would never have agreed to let her marry Dawei. He didn’t care if the world was turned upside down, whether it was Daliang’s or Nanchu’s. If Dawei wanted to fight, they could--they would all die together. But the Emperor of Daliang pleading pitifully for the sake of greater good, and Zhenmin, being a person with great sense of duty, what could he do?.
All the hatred towards the past buried in history was suffocating whenever it re-surfaced, causing him heartache that left him breathless.
Seeing the Nanchu King’s changing expressions, Zhou Gu gently placed his hand on his shoulder and comforted him, "Father-in-law, don’t worry, there is always a way. Xiaoqi has come. If she gets the news of us being trapped, she will surely come to our rescue. There will surely be a way for us to wait for her rescue."
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