189. Escape
In the darkness of night and amidst the heavy snow, Baili was no longer as lively as she once was. Her hair was disheveled and her white clothes were stained with dust.
The apricot tree, the wildfire, and the man who held her horse were all left in the past. There would be no more surprises tomorrow, and there would be no need for light in her eyes when she looked up again.
Han Tong stood on the mast, looking at Baili from afar for a long time without saying a word. He didn't expect that the Secret Service would use Baili to threaten him. Who betrayed him?
Yunyang held up a torch, illuminating Baili's face with its light so Han Tong could see more clearly. "Master Han, in the spring of the twenty-fourth year of Jianing, you secretly appeared outside Prince Jing's mansion, glanced at the princess, and then left. On the Lantern Festival of the twenty-fifth year of Jianing, you secretly waited at the City God Temple, glanced at the princess, and then left. In the twenty-sixth year of Jianing... you saw the princess a total of twelve times, seven of which were on her birthday, and five of which were on the Lantern Festival and the Double Ninth Festival. Why do you think this happened?"
Han Tong's pupils contracted. He thought he was very secretive when he went to visit Bai Li, but he didn't expect that he was still seen by others.
This means that someone has betrayed him. Even Ayun doesn't know when he secretly visited Baili, and it is even more impossible for the guy who plotted against him tonight to know.
Yun Yang looked at Han Tong with a half-smile. The flickering torch illuminated his face, half bright and half dark, making it look particularly ferocious. "Master Han, my Secret Service monitors the entire world, and no evil spirit can escape detection. It's only a matter of time before we bring you to justice. Why don't we make a deal now and save the princess's life?"
Bai Li, upon hearing Yun Yang's words, looked up at Han Tong, high up on the mast. She told Chen Ji that he had secretly looked at her four or five times, and that was the number of times she had caught him.
And in a corner that she had never noticed, the other party had secretly visited her so many times.
Han Tong stood tall on the mast and asked from a distance, "Tell me, how do we save them?"
Yun Yang said with a smile: "Master Han, your life in exchange for the life of the princess."
Han Tong was silent for a long time: "Do you think I'm so stupid? I have nothing to do with her. Did your secret service make a mistake?"
The next moment, Jiaotu pulled out the short knife from his sleeve and cut a gash on Baili's thigh, and blood immediately soaked his trouser legs.
But the white carp's expression did not change. It just stared blankly at the river, as if it could not feel the pain.
Han Tong moved slightly, but then stopped.
Jiaotu turned to look at Han Tong and said, "Come down and change people. You come with us. My Secret Service has allowed your people to take her away."
Jin Zhu glanced coldly at the two men's backs. He knew that they were lying again. Even if they were the Twelve Zodiac Animals, they did not have the power to let the princess go, not even the Prime Minister.
He looked at Han Tong, not sure whether Han Tong would surrender. He looked at the wound on Bai Li's leg.
But Jiaotu swung the knife again to cut Baili's arm, but when the knife was about to fall, his wrist was caught by Jinzhu.
Jin Zhu said with a gloomy face: "That's enough. The princess is a royal family member after all. His Majesty hasn't said whether to kill them or not, so don't be so presumptuous."
Jiaotu glanced at him sideways: "Are you trying to meddle in other people's affairs?"
The Golden Pig sneered, "I just thought you might do something stupid and lose your zodiac position, or even your life, so I'm kindly reminding you."
Jiaotu snorted and slowly put away the knife.
Yun Yang looked at Han Tong again and said loudly, "Sect Master Han, do you really not want to exchange the princess's life?"
However, Han Tong just looked at Bai Li quietly for a long time. When he saw the wound on Bai Li's leg and his stubborn expression that made him silent, he immediately dug his nails into his palm and blood oozed out.
But he ultimately didn't trade his life for another's. He simply said grimly, "Do you think I'm that foolish? There's no such thing as exchanging lives; it's just dying together. The Secret Service will surely be rewarded handsomely in the future for what they did today."
After saying that, he looked at Baili again, turned around, jumped, dived into the icy river and disappeared.
Yunyang and Jiaotu were stunned, while Baili lowered his head slightly.
The Golden Pig said to the Rabbit, "Hurry up and bandage the princess's wound. Who came up with this stupid idea? What kind of relationship does the princess have with Han Tong?"
Yun Yang looked back coldly: "If there is no relationship, why would he secretly visit the princess so many times, saying
Do you believe that they don’t matter?”
Jin Zhu retorted, "Who is Han Tong? He's a powerful figure who has dominated the underworld for many years. He has countless followers under his command. How could he risk his life for a momentary emotion?"
Yun Yang sneered, "Someone just broke into the prison and took the Crown Prince away. I don't know where he's hiding. You saw Han Tong secretly summon a speedboat just now, clearly intending to send someone away. I'm sure it was the Crown Prince."
Bai Li turned to look at Yun Yang. Prison break? The prince? Who did it?
An answer popped up in her mind, just like the answer that popped up in her mind every time subconsciously. However, she was very sure of it before, but now she denied it.
Jin Zhu pretended to be confused and said, "Han Tong just summoned a boat, and this is related to the prince?"
Yunyang glanced at him sideways and said, "Just wait and see, and you'll know."
"Waiting for what?"
"Wait for Zhang Zhuo, Master Zhang."
…
…
The roads were slippery due to heavy snow. The soldiers from Luocheng Prefecture cursed as they escorted the grain and fodder to the dock. Their ears and hands were red from the cold, and their toes were also freezing.
Someone murmured, "It's snowing so hard! It would be so nice if I could just go home and have a drink, cuddle up with my wife and children, and sleep on a warm bed. Why did the prefect insist on transporting grain today?"
"Yeah, it's snowing so heavily, why not just wait until it stops? Why do you have to take such a long detour?"
"Stop talking, the dock is just ahead. Finish your errand quickly and go home to sleep... Keep your voice down, the prefect is here."
Next to the grain team, the prefect was riding on a horse in a red official robe. He had a red fox fur cloak draped over his shoulders and was holding a copper hand warmer in his hands. He looked worriedly at the brightly lit dock in front of him, feeling that something was wrong.
Zhang Zhuo thought for a moment and said, "Wait, the food supply will stop for a while!"
The palace soldiers turned around in confusion and had no choice but to stop all the ox carts.
Zhang Zhuo waved his hand and said, "We won't be transporting grain today. Let's transport the grain back to the granary!"
The palace soldiers were in an uproar. The lieutenant general shouted, "Sir, we have been walking here since dusk and are about to reach the dock. Why don't we transport it?"
Zhang Zhuo looked at him coldly and said, "How about you become the fifth-rank prefect?"
The guard shrank his neck and said, "My humble servant is talking too much."
Zhang Zhuo waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"
However, at this moment, a laugh came from the roof: "Master Zhang, where are you going?"
Zhang Zhuo suddenly looked up and saw Yunyang and Jiaotu standing on the eaves of a house by the road, looking down at the long grain transport team.
As he was speaking, countless Jiefanwei appeared from the alleys near the grain team, with their hands on their waists and swords, surrounding the grain team!
The palace soldiers wanted to draw their swords to confront him, but they heard Yun Yang say nonchalantly: "Not many people dare to draw their swords in front of my Secret Service."
The soldier's expression froze and he let go of the hand awkwardly.
Zhang Zhuo said in a deep voice, "What? You want to rob my grain transport? Even the Secret Service cannot arbitrarily interfere with the official grain transport! Article 7 of Volume 18 of our Daning Law states that anyone who interferes with or steals more than 25 strings of tax grain will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane, tattooed with the words 'stealing official money, grain and other property', and exiled 3,000 miles away!"
Yun Yang smiled and said, "I know that Master Zhang knows the laws of Daning by heart, so there's no need to use them casually to scare people. We've also received news that your grain convoy may be harboring a suspect. Master Zhang, since you know the laws by heart, do you know what the crime of harboring treason is?"
Jiaotu sat on the eaves and asked with a smile, "Master Zhang, if you protect the rebels, will your entire family be executed as well?"
Zhang Zhuo stared coldly at Yun Yang. "You claim I'm harboring treason. What evidence do you have?"
Yun Yang smiled and said, "It's easy. We can find out by searching the grain train. Let's do it!"
"Wait!" Zhang Zhuo glanced nervously at the grain cart, raised his right hand high, and stopped Jie Fanwei in his tracks: "This is the imperial grain. Who dares to touch it?"
Yun Yang raised an eyebrow: "Why, Master Zhang, you won't cry until you see the coffin?"
After saying this, he took out the royal flag from his bosom and said, "Master Zhang, do you know what this is? My Secret Service, holding the royal flag, can patrol the country on behalf of the emperor and execute first and report later!"
Zhang Zhuo said in a deep voice
"It's true that you hold the king's banner, but you can't act recklessly. I remember you two made a big mistake a while ago. If you make the same mistake again this time, I wonder if you will lose your position as the zodiac sign?"
Yunyang and Jiaotu looked at each other, with hesitation in their eyes.
They were not afraid of being exiled or reported to the civil officials, but the Prime Minister would never give people the chance to make a third mistake.
Seeing a turn for the better, Zhang Zhuo hurriedly added fuel to the fire. "You two hold the royal banner, so you can search the grain carts. But if you find nothing, I will report you to the emperor. If that happens, I'm afraid your fourth-rank official positions will be in jeopardy!"
Jiaotu covered her mouth and laughed, "Master Zhang, why are you threatening us so nervously? The more you threaten us, the more I feel that there are criminals hiding in the grain team. Master Zhang, you've made things worse."
Yun Yang waved to Jie Fan Wei: "Search!"
Jie Fanwei directed the palace soldiers to unload the bags of grain from the carts and pile them in the snow.
As time passed, all the grain trucks were unloaded and no one was seen hiding in the trucks.
Yunyang paced back and forth on the eaves anxiously, shouting, "See if there are any Tibetans in the sack!"
Jie Fanwei drew his sword and stabbed the grain sack. Jiaotu turned around and suddenly saw a sneer of sarcasm on Zhang Zhu's face. He immediately felt something was wrong: "Wait, stop stabbing. The grain sack is so small, there's no way anyone can hide there!"
But it was too late to give the order now. More than twenty bags of grain had been punctured, and the grain was flowing out and scattered all over the ground.
Zhang Zhuo laughed heartily, stroked his beard, and said, "Gentlemen, are there any criminals among the rations?"
Yunyang and Jiaotu landed lightly on the ground. Jiaotu shouted, "All the soldiers, take off your helmets and check them one by one to see if there are any rebels hiding among them!"
Zhang Zhuo stopped pretending and said lazily, "Take off your helmets and show them to the adults. Let them have a good look."
Yunyang and Jiaotu didn't trust others, so they personally identified the palace soldiers one by one, but there was no trace of the prince among them.
Yunyang whispered, "It's over."
His heart gradually sank to the bottom. He felt that nothing had gone smoothly since he came to Los Angeles. What went wrong?
Jiaotu asked doubtfully, "Could it be that he ran off to another place halfway?"
Yun Yang said in a fierce voice, "Search! Even if we have to turn the entire Luo City upside down tonight, we must find the prince!"
The Jiefan Guards retreated like a tide. Zhang Zhuo coldly looked at their backs and said loudly, "Two masters from the Secret Service, this time we really may not be able to become zodiac animals."
…
…
In front of the gate of Tuola Temple, thirty-two monks chanted scriptures while carrying a huge Sumeru throne back into the temple.
They rang the copper vajra bells, lowered their eyes and brows, as if everything that happened in Los Angeles tonight had nothing to do with them.
Once they entered the temple, the monks carried the Sumeru throne and the statue of Avalokitesvara to the main hall.
A young monk closed the eight vermilion-lacquered doors of the main hall, keeping all the wind and snow out.
At this time, Zhang Xia, dressed in fiery red clothes, walked out from behind the sutra curtain, raised his hand and instructed the young monk, "Let them out."
The young monk looked at the elderly abbot and waved, "Do as you are told."
The young monk put his hands together and said, "Yes."
The novice monk came behind the Free-spirited Guanyin and opened the place where he usually kept things.
When sculpting a Buddha statue, monks would first leave a cavity behind it. During the consecration ceremony, the abbot would place the seven treasures and eight jewels, sacred flowers and plants, scriptures, jewels, grains, and metal lungs and livers inside the cavity. This ritual is called "Zangzang." On a daily basis, the Tuoluo Monastery uses this method to transport gold, silver, and money, escorted by 32 official monks for safe and secure transportation.
At this time, the Prince, She Dengke, Chunhua, Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er were all hiding inside. There were actually five people hiding in that huge statue of Guanyin.
The elderly abbot said softly, "Miss Zhang Er, please lead your friends out of the city through the secret passage within the temple. From now on, our Tuoluo Temple no longer owes any karmic debt to the donor Xu Shu. We hope he will cultivate diligently, avoid worldly affairs, and return to the Forty-Ninth Heaven soon."
(End of this chapter)
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