Chapter 50: After you come down the mountain, you have to remain a widow for three years.
After running around for two days and one night, he finally couldn't stand the sleepiness anymore and fell asleep at the table.
When the Prince of Jin regained consciousness, he saw her soundly asleep. He couldn't bring himself to make a sound, so he simply stared at her, swallowing even his coughs. However, this pleasant atmosphere didn't last long. Xie Xuanlan returned, and seeing the Prince of Jin's philandering demeanor, he narrowed his eyes and was about to taunt her. But the Prince of Jin raised his chin in Ying's direction, his gaze silently condemning him, and Xie Xuanlan held back his words.
He made a gesture to King Jin as if he was digging out his eyes, then turned and left.
After about half an hour, there was a faint noise outside the earth building. King Jin listened carefully and sighed helplessly in his heart: It is really not easy to stay quietly with Aying for a while.
This time, Xie Xuanlan pushed the door open and rushed in, bringing a gust of cool wind. He shouted, "Jiang Congying, don't sleep anymore. Get down the mountain right now... Wake up!"
I was startled awake from my deep sleep. My eyes hadn't even adjusted yet, but my heart was already pounding. "What's wrong? What happened?"
She stood up, stumbling dizzily, and bumped into a warm, strong embrace. It was Xie Xuanlan's scent, and she felt a sense of relief. She spoke in a deep, drawn-out voice, "Wait a minute, my legs are numb..."
Xie Xuanlan helped her sit back down, lifted his robe, and knelt before her. While massaging her legs and abdomen, he explained succinctly, "The covenant written by the Prince of Huai to the One-Eyed Dragon fell into the hands of your lord. Your lord ordered it to be copied and sent up the mountain, demanding that the Prince of Huai confess his guilt. The Prince of Huai suspects there's a traitor in the mountain and is searching everywhere. He might even burn the mountain down. It's not safe for you to stay here. Get down the mountain now. I'll send someone to show you the way."
His grip was so strong that Zong Ying instantly woke up and broke out in a cold sweat: "How could I fall into your hands!"
Xie Xuanlan: "I don't have time to think about this right now. You go first."
Cong Ying turned to look at the King of Jin. Seeing his brow furrowed slightly, he wasn't entirely confident. She knew this was indeed a serious problem. Just as she was about to say something, she felt a deep, hard pressure on her leg and abdomen's Sanyang acupoints. The pain instantly made her straighten her back. "Hiss—it hurts!"
Xie Xuanlan snorted coldly, "It's no use looking at him. When Prince Huai comes, I'll kill him first and take you, my sickly benefactor, with me. Will you feel relieved then? ...Are your legs still numb?"
After a brief moment of pain, a warm current quickly flowed along the place where Xie Xuanlan had pressed, washing away the numbness in her legs like a waterfall breaking through ice. Holding onto Xie Xuanlan's shoulders, Cong Ying slowly stood up, took two steps, and nodded, "I can walk now."
Xie Xuanlan threw his cloak around her and said, "Let's go."
In the half hour he'd spent, unable to bear the thought of disturbing her, Xie Xuanlan had gathered Ah He and the other girls, preparing everything for Cong Ying's departure. He assigned all his attendants to them, leaving only two scouts and messengers with him. Cong Ying was startled, "San Lang, aren't you coming with me?"
Xie Xuanlan said: "I'm not a traitor, so of course I won't leave."
Cong Ying said anxiously: "Prince Huai has gone mad. If you let us all go, won't he suspect you? No way——"
Xie Xuanlan scoffed impatiently, "If he saw the Prince of Jin, I'd be at a loss for words. Don't stay here and cause more trouble. Be careful when you go down the mountain and don't get caught."
From the gloomy look on Ying's face, she knew that it was useless for her to stay any longer, but she couldn't bear to abandon him.
Seeing this, the King of Jin calmly advised, "Let's go, Ying. As long as you and I go down the mountain together, he won't dare get into trouble. Even if he has to hang on for a breath, he can still crawl back to find you."
Xie Xuanlan: "..."
Although it was already mid-spring, the night wind on the mountain was still bitingly cold, carrying with it the fresh smell of blood and the ghostly cries of monkeys and beasts, which stirred panic and grief in people.
After walking two steps from Ying and looking back, she saw Xie Xuanlan walking away alone with his hands behind his back. She didn't know what kind of shocking change he would have to face alone. Finally, she couldn't help but turn around and run back, hugging him silently.
"you--"
Feeling the sob in her throat close to her chest, Xie Xuanlan couldn't bear to say the harsh words. He hesitated to put his hands on her back, but restrained himself and let go.
He said, "It's too early to cry now. When I really die, you will be a widow for three years. Then you can cry properly."
Cong Ying's grief suddenly turned into anger, and she punched him hard in anger: "Do you know how to speak? If you die on the first day, I will remarry in the Prince of Jin's Mansion the next day!"
Xie Xuanlan sneered: "You picked a short-lived ghost, aren't you afraid of people saying you're unlucky? You ungrateful wolf, get out!"
Having said that, he turned around and left.
Congying just wanted to give him a few words of advice, but he insisted on making things so unpleasant that Congying was so angry that he walked down the mountain while pulling out the annoying branches from the roadside.
She was tolerant and gentle, almost aloof, rarely angry, and certainly never sulking. This current irritation struck the King of Jin as quite novel. Thinking of his past life, when he hadn't had the good fortune to witness it, he couldn't help but sigh with melancholy. This world was truly different. Just now, Xie Xuanlan had resented Ah Ying's protection, but he envied the Xie Xuanlan of this life even more, the one who had the ability and right to protect her, and even more so, the anger of her closeness.
They were taking the same route that Xie Xuanlan had taken to go up the mountain. It was short and hidden, leading directly to the dense forest in the south.
When they were about to reach the foot of the mountain, the guard who had been exploring the way forward turned back and gestured for everyone to hide where they were. Everyone evacuated on the spot. Ah Ying hugged Ah He and took the other girls to hide behind the bushes.
Two fast horses galloped past the forest path at high speed, with no time to look around. However, with his sharp eyes, he not only saw that their uniforms showed that they were Wang Zhaoshen's subordinates, but also saw an inch-long bright red command arrow exposed in the arms of the leader.
"It's the messenger from General Huoqi," Cong Ying whispered to the Prince of Jin, "Your Highness, who do you think Wang Zhaoshen is sending this letter to? Prince Huai or Sanlang? What will the letter say?"
The King of Jin replied, "I don't know."
Cong Ying's expression was somewhat disappointed: "Isn't Your Highness good at fortune-telling?"
The Prince of Jin gave a helpless, forced smile, knowing she was desperately trying anything, so he consoled her, saying, "Now that the evidence against the Prince of Huai has spread, I suspect Wang Zhaoshen is planning to team up with Xie San to trap the Prince of Huai and shift the blame onto him. The Wang and Xie families were once old friends, so it would be easy for them to team up and plot against him."
Cong Ying thought for a moment and said, "If that's the case, Saburo is still safe."
Prince Jin was glad that he had not told her beforehand about Xie Xuanlan shooting Wang Zhaoshen to his knees on the city wall. Otherwise, with her sharp mind, it would have been difficult for her to fool him so easily.
He coughed weakly, covering his lips with his hands, and said to Cong Ying, "Let's get down the mountain quickly before daybreak."
The path forked at the foot of the mountain. One led north to the official highway, where one might encounter the princess or Wang Zhaoshen's army. The other led south to the dense forest. Originally narrow only for woodcutters, it had been trodden through by yesterday's bloodbath, a path etched with blood that seemed especially sinister under the cold moonlight.
To avoid Xie Xuanlan's suspicion, their whereabouts could not be exposed. Zong Ying breathed a sigh of relief and turned to support the ailing Prince Jin. "It's better for us to go south, which is more hidden. I'm sorry, Your Highness, I have to bear the risk and hardship."
The King of Jin was grateful for her care and asked with a smile, "Aying, are you afraid of ghosts?"
From Ying: "The ghosts in the human heart are scary, but outside of the human heart, well... a man should not talk about strange things or supernatural things."
She tried her best to appear calm, but her fingers subconsciously grasped the Prince's sleeve, and her shoulders tensed. This reminded the Prince of Jin of an anecdote from his past life.
One year during the Ghost Festival, someone in Yunjing City was causing trouble, using rumors of ghosts. He led the Fengchen Guards to arrest them in the middle of the night, but was splashed with blood by the sorcerer. He swaggered back home, his face gloomy. He heard from his mother that Ah Ying was still waiting for him with the lights on. He returned to the courtyard, full of anticipation. Unexpectedly, Ah Ying's expression suddenly changed the moment she saw him, and she slammed him outside with a clang.
At that time, he thought his mother was just trying to be nice and that Aying actually didn't like him. But now that he thinks about it, that's not the case.
Perhaps she was afraid of the blood all over his body, and she also blamed him for the way he proudly shouted when he entered the room: "Today I killed thirteen evil ghosts and captured six fierce ghosts alive. The Yama Palace is really bustling!"
Hmm...it seems he wasn't innocent back then.
Now the Prince of Jin had learned his lesson and comforted her softly, "New ghosts are afraid of evil ghosts, and evil ghosts are afraid of visible ghosts. With the visible ghost guarding you, ordinary ghosts won't dare to bother you."
Zong Ying remembered that he was the one who had faked his death in a coffin. He was about to say something when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a green shadow passing through the forest. His hair stood on end, and he almost screamed out in shock. The King of Jin also saw it and shouted, "Who are you? Come out!"
The accompanying guards rushed forward to surround them and were about to attack them in a group when a head popped down from the tree: "A Ying?"
Cong Ying could barely speak clearly. After a long while of trying to identify her, she exclaimed, "Senior Sister Yiyun, why are you here?!"
Yiyun jumped down from the tree and, chewing on a salty pancake, confided her story to Aying: "...The princess confiscated the covenant letter from me and said she wanted to recruit me as her personal guard. I refused, and the annoying court lady next to her kept scolding me. In a rage, I knocked her out and ran away."
As he spoke, he broke off a piece of salty cake and handed it to Cong Ying: "The princess's food is good, would you like to try it?"
Taking it from Ying, he chewed it without any appetite: "And then?"
"Then I wanted to go back to the mountain to find you, but I ran into the people sent by the General of the Cavalry plotting with the princess, and I overheard a few words."
Yiyun recalled carefully, "The General of the Cavalry asked the princess to give him the original copy of the treaty. In return, he and the Prince of Huai would bring Xie San's head to the princess. With Xie San dead, the Xie family would have no successor and would eventually fall. Yes, that's what the messenger said."
The more Cong Ying listened, the paler her face became. "Did the princess agree?"
Yiyun said, "The princess didn't answer immediately. I saw the patrol coming, so I had to get away first."
Cong Ying turned to the Prince of Jin and said, "Wang Zhaoshen isn't trying to ally with the Third Young Master to attack the Prince of Huai. Quite the opposite. He's trying to strike a lucrative deal. He'll first promise to kill the Third Young Master, then obtain a letter of alliance from the Princess. He'll then use the letter of alliance to buy renewed cooperation with the Prince of Huai. This way, he can pin the crime of colluding with bandits on the Third Young Master, and then blame the Princess for his death... This man's intentions are truly sinister!"
Prince Jin had been worried about this just now, but he didn't want her to be tied down and delayed, so he lied. Unexpectedly, he met Yiyun, and the lie was exposed before he even left Guikuzhang.
The King of Jin had no choice but to say, "Xie San might not have noticed it. Let's go back to the city first and then make a long-term plan."
More than an hour had passed since Wang Zhaoshen sent his messenger up the mountain. How could there be any time for long-term planning? Cong Ying became more and more afraid as she thought about it: "His intentions are pure. What if he doesn't notice... I have to go back and remind him."
The situation that King Jin was most worried about finally happened.
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