Suiyang County is just a small county town, not large in scale, and the city walls are not high.
Su Wan's captain of guards found a place to climb in the southeast corner of the city, which was guarded by several soldiers.
She and Chu Mingyao hid in the shadows beneath the city wall, looking up. They saw Chu Yi and the captain of the guards each leading three men, silently creeping up.
With nothing else to do, Su Wan took out the long box Chu Yi had given her from her belt and opened it to take a look.
Inside the box was a roll of paper. She took it out, unfolded it in the moonlight, and the first thing she saw was the three black characters "Baohetang".
After Chu Yi took her to her residence at the county government office, he actually went to the archives to retrieve the land deed for Baohetang for her.
She was touched. She hadn't asked Chu Yi to do this, but he had done it for her.
Chu Yi had helped her several times already, and it would be self-deception to say she felt nothing at all. However, she also knew that no matter how good Chu Yi was to her, she had to keep her distance from him.
Chu Mingyao saw her staring blankly at the land deed, looked down at it, and said softly, "This is... the last part of the deed for Baohetang. When did you get it?"
Su Wan snapped out of her daze, brushed the snowflakes off the land deed, folded it neatly, and put it back in her bosom. She said, "Brother Chu helped me get it back. When Ge Fanghai took you to my place, he was doing this."
Chu Yi peeked out from the city wall and waved down.
Su Wan looked up and saw it, then quickly pulled Chu Mingyao up the steps to the city wall.
Chu Yi's attendants, dressed as city guards, stood atop the city wall, spears in hand. The captain of the guards approached Su Wan and said, "Madam, three men have already gone down. We're using ropes to secure you around your waist and lowering you down little by little."
These guards all knew how to climb the city walls, but Su Wan and Chu Mingyao didn't, so they had to slowly lower them down with ropes.
Su Wan glanced at the soldiers patrolling in the distance on the city wall and whispered, "Let's hurry."
The guards tied a long rope around Su Wan's waist, and together they lowered her down the city wall little by little.
Su Wan was suspended in mid-air, her body twisting and turning, occasionally bumping into the cold city wall. She didn't dare to open her eyes, her hands tightly gripping the rope, listening to the whistling wind in her ears.
She didn't know how much time had passed when the guard's voice rang out from below her: "Madam, you'll be on the ground soon. Stretch your feet down."
Su Wan then opened her eyes, stretched her feet down, and stepped onto solid ground. The guards waiting nearby stepped forward to help her untie the ropes, and the people on the city wall immediately pulled the ropes back up.
Next was Chu Mingyao, who also successfully reached the ground.
The rest of the people, one of Su Wan's guards and one of Chu Yi's attendants, climbed down the city wall. Chu Yi's attendants were also agile warriors, and under the guidance of Su Wan's guards, they all descended to the ground.
Su Wan looked up at the high city wall and asked a guard from Southern Chu beside her, "Has the Seventh Prince not come down yet?"
The guard said, "His Highness was on top, and he was the last to go down."
Chu Mingyao looked around at the people gathered around her and counted them, saying, "Only your captain of the guards and your seventh brother haven't come down yet."
Just as he finished speaking, a patch of firelight moved towards them from the city wall, and a man said, "Hey, what are you two doing...?"
Before the man could finish speaking, he suddenly let out a muffled groan and then fell silent.
The rope was thrown down from the city wall with a whoosh. Su Wan looked up and saw the captain of the guards holding the rope with both hands, pushing off the wall with his legs, and descending a considerable distance. Then, as he swung back down, he pushed off the wall again, repeating this several times, and landed cleanly on the ground.
Su Wan almost clapped and cheered when she saw the rapid descent, but thankfully she held back.
The captain of the guards released the ropes and said nervously, "We were discovered by a patrolling soldier, but fortunately the Seventh Prince acted quickly and killed the man."
"What about Seventh Brother?" Chu Mingyao asked anxiously.
“He’s dealing with the body. I’ll lead the rest of you,” the captain of the guards said to Su Wan. “We’re all down here now. They’ll soon find out there are no guards.”
Su Wan knew that there was no time to lose, so she quickly grabbed Chu Mingyao's hand and said, "Sister, let's go."
The group walked forward for a while, and the snow fell even harder. The snow on the ground was already above their ankles, and the wind whipped the snow into their faces. They could not see anything beyond about fifty meters.
Su Wan glanced at the clock in the apartment; it was four in the morning. Having tossed and turned all night without sleep, she was exhausted and hungry. Stomping her numb feet, she said to Chu Mingyao, "There's a military camp ahead. How are we going to get across with this much snow?"
Chu Yi's voice rang out from behind: "A snowy day is the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack."
Su Wan turned around and saw that Chu Yi had caught up, carrying a bow in his hand and a quiver of arrows at his waist. He asked, "There are less than thirty of us in total. How are we going to break through?"
Although she told everyone that they could only charge forward, she knew in her heart that doing so would be tantamount to suicide.
Chu Mingyao said to her, "Don't worry, little sister. Seventh brother has been studying military strategy since he was a child. He will have a way."
Su Wan gripped her collar with both hands and looked at Chu Yi, saying, "I'd like to hear your thoughts."
Chu Yi said, "There are about five hundred soldiers in this direction. They are only used to block ordinary people, not to resist a large army, so they have not set up camp at all. They just set up a tent every few feet, and as soon as the soldiers in one tent spot the enemy, the soldiers in the other tents move out together."
Su Wan nodded and asked, "And then?"
“If we thirty men charge together, we can easily break through this blockade.” Chu Yi twirled the scimitar in his hand like a pen. “But the enemies in the other tents will catch up soon, and we can’t run fast enough. We’ll be caught sooner or later.”
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