Chapter 47 Taking a back road back to the capital
Ye Wanning's heart sank to the bottom: "What do we do now? Can Zhao Feng stop him?"
"Difficult," Pei Zhi shook his head. "Although the Zhenbei Army is brave, it has been suppressed by the imperial court in recent years, which has damaged its strength. It seems unlikely that it can stop the prince's army. More importantly, we don't know if the prince has the other half of the rubbing of the military tally."
"A rubbing of the military tally!" Ye Wanning suddenly remembered something. "We can use the rubbing to mobilize the armies of other vassal kings in the Western Regions and have them attack from the rear. This might slightly relieve the pressure on Yumen Pass."
Pei Zhi's eyes lit up: "Great idea! But who will deliver the rubbings? The Western Regions are far away, and it's too dangerous during this time of war."
“I’ll go,” Ye Wanning said.
"No!" Pei Zhi immediately objected. "How can a woman like you go to such a dangerous place? Besides, your injuries haven't fully healed yet."
“I must go,” Ye Wanning said. “This rubbing was left to me by my mother. Only if I go will those vassal kings have any chance of believing it. Besides, I’m familiar with the Western Regions; my mother took me there several times back then.”
Pei Zhi understood Ye Wanning's personality; once she made up her mind, she wouldn't change it. He sighed, "Alright, I'll go with you."
“No, you can’t go.” Ye Wanning shook her head. “The court can’t do without you. You must stay in the capital to stabilize the situation.”
After arguing for a long time, Pei Zhi finally agreed that Hei Feng would take several capable Shadow Pavilion guards with him to accompany Ye Wanning, while Pei Zhi himself would stay in the capital to coordinate supplies and reinforcements.
Before setting off, Pei Zhi placed a jade pendant in Ye Wanning's hand: "This is a token of the Shadow Pavilion. If you encounter danger, take it out, and the Shadow Pavilion branches in various locations will help you. And this too." He then took out a small compass, "This is specially made; it can guide your direction and warn of danger."
Ye Wanning looked at him, her heart warming: "Don't worry, I will definitely come back safely."
Pei Zhi hugged her tightly: "Be careful, I'll be waiting for you to come back."
Ye Wanning nodded, fighting back tears, and turned to leave the Pei residence. She knew that this journey to the west was not only related to the safety of the country, but also to her and Pei Zhi's future. She had to succeed.
The journey westward was far more difficult than imagined. Just a few days after leaving the capital, they encountered a sandstorm, and the carriage became stuck in the sand and could not move.
“Miss, this can’t go on,” Black Wind said. “We need to find a place to hide.”
Ye Wanning lifted the curtain and saw a small post station in the distance. She quickly said, "Let's go over there!"
The post station was deserted, except for an old postman who was dozing off. Seeing them arrive, the old postman jumped up and greeted them, "Sir, would you like to rest?"
"Okay, get us some food, then find us a place to stay," Ye Wanning said.
The old courier responded and left. Ye Wanning sat at the table, feeling that something was off about this post station: the map on the wall was from last year, the water in the water vat had a strange smell, and most importantly, she saw a silver pot in the corner that could only be found in the Western Regions.
“Black Wind, be careful,” she whispered. “There’s something wrong with this post station.”
Black Wind nodded and gave his subordinate a wink. Sure enough, something happened in the middle of the night. Ye Wanning was awakened by a strange noise. She quietly went to the door and saw the old courier talking to several people dressed in Western Region attire: "They're in the innermost room, carrying a very valuable box..."
Ye Wanning was startled and quickly returned to her room, hiding the rubbing in the sole of her shoe. She then gave Hei Feng a meaningful look. Not long after, the door was kicked open, and more than a dozen Western Region men rushed in, brandishing knives and shouting, "Hand over the rubbing!"
Hei Feng and his men immediately drew their swords to fight back. Ye Wanning seized the opportunity to jump out of the back window, but two more Western Region men blocked her way. Although she had learned self-defense techniques, it was still difficult to fight two against one. Just then, one of the Western Region men suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.
Ye Wanning turned around and saw a young man dressed as a soldier, holding a bow and arrow, staring coldly at her: "Who are you?"
“I am Ye Wanning, sent to the Western Regions on the orders of Prime Minister Pei.” Ye Wanning then asked, “And you?”
"Zhao Feng." The man snorted coldly, "Marquis of Zhenbei."
Ye Wanning's eyes lit up: "Oh? So you're General Zhao? That's exactly who I've been looking for!"
Zhao Feng remained expressionless: "I didn't receive any news that anyone from the imperial court was coming."
Black Wind rushed out: "Miss, are you alright?" Upon seeing Zhao Feng, Black Wind warily stood in front of Ye Wanning.
“One of us,” Ye Wanning quickly said. “This is General Zhao.”
Zhao Feng frowned: "You guys go into the city first."
Once inside the military camp, Zhao Feng finally believed Ye Wanning's identity.
"Tell me first, things have been quite turbulent in the Western Regions lately," Zhao Feng said to Ye Wanning. "The vassal king's army is launching a fierce offensive, and we're almost at our breaking point."
“I’m here to help you.” Ye Wanning handed him the rubbing. “With this, we can mobilize the armies of other vassal kings and attack from the rear.”
Zhao Feng took the rubbing, his eyes lighting up: "Great! With this, we're saved!"
"Things are not that simple." Just as they were preparing to contact other vassal kings, someone suddenly reported that the vassal kings' armies had bypassed the Jade Gate Pass and were heading straight for the capital!
Ye Wanning and Zhao Feng were both dumbfounded. The prince was incredibly audacious; he actually dared to attack the capital!
"We must go back to provide assistance!" Zhao Feng said.
“I’ll go with you.”
Ye Wanning and Zhao Feng led their troops and immediately headed towards the capital. She only hoped they could hurry, very quickly, so that Pei Zhi could hold out in the capital until they could return.
Ye Wanning knew that an even greater disaster was about to strike!
“Miss, this won’t work,” Black Wind said. “There are too many of the vassal king’s men; we can’t break through.”
Ye Wanning knew it was true. She said, "Let's find a way to bypass it and go straight back to the capital."
Ye Wanning and Zhao Feng discussed for a day and came up with a plan: Zhao Feng would lead the main army to continue engaging the vanguard of the vassal king, while Ye Wanning would lead a small group of people to return to the capital via a back road.
The path was difficult to traverse, rugged and treacherous, and often teeming with wild animals. Ye Wanning and her guards proceeded cautiously. Three days later, they finally saw the walls of the capital city.
However, when they saw the situation in the capital, they were all stunned: the city gates were tightly closed, and the city walls were covered with the flags of the Western Regions princes, indicating that it had already been captured!
Ye Wanning burst into tears. Where was Pei Zhi? How was he?
"Miss, what should we do?" Black Wind asked.
Ye Wanning wiped away her tears: "Let's go in and see what's going on inside!"
Under the cover of night, they scaled a dilapidated section of the city wall and entered the city. Inside, it was filled with ruins, with only a few scattered Western Region soldiers patrolling.
"The Pei residence is over there." Ye Wanning turned her head and pointed to a large courtyard not far away. "Let's go take a look!"
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