Chapter 44 She killed someone in order to survive.
Xie Xuanlan rushed all the way back home and broke into Congshan Academy. He did not see Jiang Congying, but only saw a maid wearing her clothes and pretending to be her.
The maid honestly explained, "After leaving the Wang residence, the fourth lady quietly got off the carriage midway without saying where she was going."
Since she suspected the Wang family, the place she went to must be related to the Wang family. In addition, she had reminded her a few days ago that the Wang family was colluding with bandits, so Xie Xuanlan had a bad feeling in his heart.
He turned and headed out when an attendant arrived to report the results of the morning court session. "Without your support, your lord was unable to defeat the General of the Cavalry. The task of suppressing the bandits was given to him, and the Prince of Huai was appointed as the military supervisor... Third Young Master, where are you going?"
Xie Xuanlan turned around and said, "Let's go to the Princess's Mansion first."
Princess Chun'an returned from court and had not even had time to warm up her seat. After hearing the purpose of Xie Xuanlan's visit, she raised her hand and splashed tea on his face.
Xie Xuanlan wiped the tea off his face, and his brows looked even clearer.
He repeated, "I am willing to help the princess go up to Ghost Crying Peak to suppress the bandits. I will leave now."
Princess Chun'an sneered, "Have you lost your mind? Just now in the court, I gave you a chance, but you ran away. The entire court laughed at me for wanting to cooperate with the Xie family. Now that Wang Zhaoshen has been ordered to suppress the bandits, you come to the princess's mansion to cause trouble again. Are you trying to play a trick on me?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "This time it's for real. I have a compelling reason to go. Wang Zhaoshen has hidden four thousand heavily armored personal soldiers at Guikuizhang, blocking the official road south of Yunjing. He's suspected of treason. Princess, please use this as an excuse. I'll send my troops and we'll leave now."
Seeing that he was anxious, Princess Chun'an calmed down and said, "I believe you?"
Xie Xuanlan took off his Yanzhi sword and held it before Princess Chun'an. Although the sword was precious, Princess Chun'an still felt it was not enough: "Unless you kneel down and swear on the lives of the entire Xie family."
Xie Xuanlan lifted his skirt and knelt down, a painful moment.
Then he said, "I will leave within one stick of incense. I owe the princess a favor."
Whether it was the possibility of obtaining evidence that Wang Zhaoshen was amassing troops or the favor owed to Xie Xuanlan, Princess Chun'an was very tempted and determined to take the blame for disobeying the imperial order. She asked Gan Jiu to pass on the message quickly and she got up and went into the room to change her clothes.
Prince Consort Xuan rushed over upon hearing the news. It was rare to see him still showing concern, but he disapproved of the matter: "If Wang and Xie secretly join forces and play you into a trap, the princess will be in great trouble."
Princess Chun'an said, "Xie Xiang might be able to do that, but Xie Xuanlan won't."
"Princess wants to gamble?"
"I'm not gambling, I just know people." Princess Chun'an said as if mocking her, "A noble and upright young man from aristocratic family disdains conspiracy and would rather die than lose his integrity, isn't that right?"
These were the words spoken by Prince Consort Xuan back then, and he was speechless.
Seeing her walking out with the command arrow in hand, he couldn't help but say as he passed her, "I'll go with you. If Wang Zhaoshen gets desperate, I'll have someone to look after him."
Princess Chun'an laughed and said, "Doesn't that mean I'm under attack from both sides?"
Prince Consort Xuan said, "In front of outsiders, we can put aside our grudges for now."
Princess Chun'an finally agreed to let him accompany her. Prince Consort Xuan had no time to change his clothes and only put on armor over his plain cloak. The group met up with the guards mobilized by Xie Xuanlan outside the south city gate and set off towards Guikuzhang.
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Cong Ying had her hands tied behind her back and her head covered with a black cloth, and she was forced to walk slowly forward.
As I passed the sentry post, I heard a rude shout: "Stop!"
The man behind him seemed to show some kind of proof and exchanged secret words with the sentry. The rude voice immediately turned respectful and flattering: "So it's the brother over there. How come you got a bird?"
The person behind him said, "The bird returned to its cage and got pecked. What bad luck!"
"No wonder you seem to walk so unsteadily. This bird has a nice figure. I bet you caught it yourself. It must be pretty, right?"
"You shouldn't ask too many questions about Mr. Long's goods."
The voice was young but dignified, naturally with an overbearing aura, and the flattering voice quickly let him go: "Brother, take care, eat and have fun!"
After passing two bends past the sentry post, a hand took off Cong Ying's veil. She turned around to say something, but was frightened by the hideous ghost mask.
The eyes beneath the mask curved into a chuckle: "I also think Wang Si is too vulgar. These sheep bones have a fishy smell."
Hearing that it was sheep bones, Cong Ying's expression softened slightly. "I had originally planned to pretend to be Wang Shiqi Niang's maid and sneak in under the guise of a messenger, but I'm not as well prepared as Your Highness. Not only do you have all the necessary clothes, you even know the code to enter the village."
Prince Jin: "I told you I can tell fortunes."
Cong Ying was no longer surprised by his great magical powers. At this moment, she just stared at his smiling eyes, frowning slightly because of the inexplicable familiarity.
She didn't mean to think of Xie Xuanlan, but...
"There are people ahead," Prince Jin covered her head with the black cloth again, "keep going forward."
The two men continued to walk upwards in the escorting posture. Cong Ying couldn't see the road, so he just focused on supporting King Jin with his hands tied behind his back to relieve the pain caused by his sick legs.
In fact, the descendants of the emperor do not need to go through such dangerous and painful experiences.
The Prince of Jin seemed to be able to read her mind, whispering to her, "The Prince of Huai County transferred these prisoners from the Ministry of Justice under the name of the Xie family. Ostensibly to build a private residence for Xie, but in reality, they were handed over to One-Eyed Dragon to lead them up the mountain as bandits, making them sitting ducks for Wang Zhaoshen. Wang Zhaoshen not only wants to gain merit, but also wants to use this opportunity to secretly hide his personal soldiers here. If these two are allowed to collude, the emperor will be in danger... So I'm not here just for you."
Although his voice was soft, every word he said was like thunder and lightning, and in just a few words he revealed the huge secret behind it.
Cong Ying's heartbeat quickened slightly: "Then what role did Your Highness play in this?"
"Do you suspect I'm involved in this?"
"Your Highness does know too much, but..." Cong Ying paused, "When I first saw Your Highness, I knew you weren't a sinister person. My judgment of people has never been wrong."
She just wanted to know what King Jin wanted, and what she could do in return besides affection.
Another thought occurred to her: "If Wang Zhaoshen intends to hide heavily armored soldiers here, then the treasures and girls the bandits looted earlier will be of use. I suspect Wang Shiqi Niang must know something about this and thinks this approach will be both concealed and convenient, so she sent Ah He and Wei Yin'er to the mountain together."
Prince Jin: "Then this time the Wang family is courting its own destruction."
In the previous life, there was also an incident of borrowing bandits to station troops, but it did not involve Aying and her younger sister who were in the back house.
Therefore, after he suppressed the mountain bandits, he no longer paid attention to Guikuizhang. It was not until later when the Prince of Huai rebelled and Wang Zhaoshen and the heavily armored soldiers hidden in the southeast Guikuizhang surrounded Yunjing that he realized the deep evil intentions of the Prince of Huai.
Some time ago, he had written a letter to remind Xie Xuanlan. He didn't want to interfere too much, but Aying was involved.
It seems that it is fate that he cannot escape.
After walking for a long time, judging from the sound of the wind, they seemed to have come to an open area. Listening carefully, they heard the heavy sound of ramming earth and chiseling wood.
"They are building an arrow tower," the King of Jin whispered. "Further ahead, we will reach the main camp of the village."
Someone else came to check his identity. Protected by the King of Jin's attire, and with his calm attitude and fluent responses, he encountered no difficulties and was respectfully invited into the village.
At this time, the bandits in the village were all ramming earth and building outside. King Jin removed Cong Ying's mask and pointed to a large area of mud and wooden houses in front of him. He said, "The two-story building behind the meeting hall is the residence of the One-Eyed Dragon. He is greedy and suspicious. His residence must have a secret passage that leads to the dungeon where treasures are stored and the girls are imprisoned, as well as to the outside of the village, allowing him to escape at any time."
Cong Ying nodded. "Wang Zhao is deeply involved in the capital today. The One-Eyed Dragon shouldn't be in the earthen building right now. Should we go to the dungeon first?"
The King of Jin had the same idea. As usual, the two men pretended to escort the escaped "Que'er" back. They entered the wooden building openly, walked down the winding earthen steps, and raised torches in front of the wooden gate.
The firelight illuminated the empty dungeon and the many pairs of frightened eyes in the dungeon that were reflecting tears.
One, two... too many to count, at least hundreds of them, ranging in age from seven or eight to thirteen or fourteen, some of them were bought from various places, some were stolen or robbed.
Cong Ying's hand, gripping the torch, trembled uncontrollably. Rage and a pallid sense of powerlessness mingled within her, until she heard a weak, hesitant voice: "Sister, is that you?"
Hot tears rolled down her cheeks.
She recognized her sister among a group of lamb-like girls.
Ah He's face was swollen and purple, and her voice was shaky. It was obvious that she had been hungry and beaten. But she didn't throw herself into her sister's arms and burst into tears as she did in the past. Instead, she said urgently, "It's terrible here, sister, please leave quickly. Sister, Yin'er is sick, can you take her away?"
Wei Yin'er suffered far more devastation than Ah He. She huddled in a corner, breathing slowly, with only her eyes still dark, reflecting the light of the torch.
She said to Congying, "Don't worry, sister. They kidnapped these girls. I heard they were going to entertain someone, so they just held them captive and didn't do anything to Ah He... Please take her away quickly, go down the mountain and report to the authorities. If you can save our lives, we will be very grateful... Please, sister..."
Zong Ying wiped the tears from her face and said in a deep voice, "It's too late."
Wang Zhaoshen has successfully requested permission to suppress the bandits, and it is unknown when he will lead his troops up the mountain. Moreover, this is the emperor's personal order. If he goes down the mountain to report to the authorities, which official can he report to?
"You must leave now."
Zong Ying turned back to look at King Jin, and seeing him nod, he said, "Let's go find the secret passage first."
The two men walked up the dirt steps and ran into a bandit who was patrolling. King Jin pulled out a dagger from somewhere, turned the blade, and cut the bandit's throat at a strange angle.
The bandit rolled down the earthen steps without closing his eyes.
Seeing the corpse, Cong Ying subconsciously clenched the torch.
Prince Jin was about to protect her behind him when he heard her say, "Your Highness, can you teach me?"
King Jin looked at her and asked, "You want to kill someone?"
Cong Ying said, "I want to give it a try. What if I can find a way for them to survive?"
The wrist of King Jin holding the dagger trembled uncontrollably.
This was a move he had mastered on the battlefield in his previous life, amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood. It was simple, sharp, and deadly. Although he still remembered the move in this life, he lacked the strength to apply it, and nearly broke his wrist.
He handed the dagger to Cong Ying: "Come, come to me."
On the cramped dungeon steps, King Jin held Cong Ying's hand, correcting her strength and angle over and over again.
Cong Ying was a clever girl. After she had swung her sword three times in a row and received the approval of King Jin, she took a deep breath and said, "I want to give it a try."
There were two bandits outside the wooden building where the one-eyed dragon lived. One of them was already dead. The other one saw that the other one had not returned yet and suspected that he was eating something inside. He was laughing and cursing as he was about to come down.
At the corner of the earthen steps, the light of the torch was distorted and stretched.
Cong Ying and Prince Jin exchanged a glance, and Prince Jin retreated into the shadows in unison, pulling the knife from the dead bandit, ready to help her at any time. Cong Ying, in turn, slung the dagger behind her back, pretending to drop it on the steps, and faced the approaching bandits with a look of panic on her face.
The bandit came down with a lewd smile: "Sure enough, he was eating inside and almost let one escape. Wow, she's pretty!"
He held the torch in one hand and tried to grab Cong Ying with the other. Cong Ying pretended to cry and struggle, and when he lowered his head, he swung the dagger and subconsciously closed his eyes.
She heard the sound of the blade cutting her skin, and hot blood splattered on her eyelashes and face.
Her angle was right and her strength was not weak, but there was a hemp rope hanging around the bandit's neck, which slightly blocked the blade. So although the knife cut his throat, it failed to kill him. At the moment Congying closed her eyes, he also swung the knife at Congying.
Clang!
Prince Jin drew his sword and blocked the bandit's knife, but unfortunately his strength was not as good as in his previous life, so he had to hold the blade with his other hand and try to pry it open.
Cong Ying realized that something was wrong and quickly stabbed the bandit in the throat again, killing him and causing him to fall down.
Blood was dripping from Prince Jin's hand. He leaned against the wall, gasping silently for breath, perhaps out of exhaustion or fear.
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have dodged and closed my eyes. I'm sorry..."
Cong Ying felt so guilty that she held King Jin's hand and tears fell uncontrollably.
Each one felt like a burn on his heart.
Prince Jin raised his other clean hand to wipe her tears and gently comforted her: "You've done very well... Let me hold you for a while, okay?"
He really hugged her and then let go, as if just to make sure she was okay, and then casually cut a strip of cloth to wrap around his hand.
Cong Ying also wiped the blood and tears from his face and said, "Let's go up and find the secret passage."
This time she would walk in front of Prince Jin, holding the dagger in one hand and supporting the sick and injured man with the other, groping her way up the stairs.
Suddenly, King Jin pulled Congying's arm and signaled her to be quiet.
From Ying's side, she heard someone walking into the wooden building while talking, causing the floor to shake. From the sound of more than one strong man, they were cursing angrily because the guards of the wooden building were gone.
Prince Jin straightened the mask on his face and signaled Cong Ying to hide back, as he was going to go upstairs.
Cong Ying grabbed him and shook her head rapidly. In the dim tunnel, her eyes were bright with tears and flashed with worry.
"It's okay." Prince Jin touched her face. "I can tell the fortunes, and I have my own way."
He must not let Ah Ying go up, and he must not fail. Because the King of Jin recognized the rough voice, it was the bandit leader here, One-Eyed Dragon.
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