Below the mountain, soldiers stood in three or four layers, numbering three or four hundred, surrounding the entire hill like an iron barrel. Also included were more than thirty yamen runners. At the very front of the army were General Xie on horseback and County Magistrate Ge Fanghai.
General Xie was talking to Chu Yi when he saw her appear and was clearly stunned.
He received word that someone was escorting Chu Mingyao to break through the checkpoints outside Suiyang City. Fearing Chu Mingyao would escape, he and Ge Fanghai gave chase. Unexpectedly, Su Wan appeared here.
"Thank... thank you, you bastard!"
Su Wan pointed at General Xie. She only knew that his surname was Xie, but not his given name, so she would just call him "Bastard."
"My husband considers you a confidant, but I never imagined you would collude with Southern Chu... cough."
She was halfway through her rant when she remembered that the Third Princess of Southern Chu was in the cave behind her and the Seventh Prince of Southern Chu was not far ahead. She quickly pretended to cough and stopped talking.
Chu Yi stood up and said, "Miss Su, you're too kind. I'll speak for you. Ge Fanghai, whose side are you on anyway? You even dared to hit me."
Ge Fanghai quickly jumped off his horse, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Seventh Prince, I am only acting on His Majesty's orders. It is you who are stirring up trouble here. If you let them go, our entire plan will be ruined."
Chu Yi said, "One of them on the mountain is my third sister, and the other is... the person I'm looking for. Of course I won't agree to you arresting them."
General Xie raised his hand to stop Ge Fanghai from continuing, and looked up to say, "Seventh Prince, let me make this clear: you absolutely cannot leave. Neither Magistrate Ge nor I will harm you. You killed so many of our soldiers, yet I will not pursue the matter, as long as you obediently return to Suiyang with us. Once the plan succeeds, you can leave freely without any hindrance."
Ge Fanghai also said, "Yes, yes, yes. I am a subject of Southern Chu, how dare I harm the Third Princess and the Seventh Prince? Stop resisting."
Su Wan said, "It's easy for you to say. You know perfectly well that the Western Rong army is marching towards Youzhou, and the people of Youzhou are about to be slaughtered, yet you still desperately try to stop us. I'm taking Sister Chu to stop the Western Rong's advance. If you have any conscience at all, let us leave quickly."
General Xie and Ge Fanghai exchanged a few words in hushed tones. General Xie then clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the mountain, and rode off with most of his soldiers toward the distant city of Suiyang.
Su Wan was puzzled when Ge Fanghai rode forward a few steps and said, "It seems neither of us is willing to compromise. Hehe, that's alright. Please rest on this mountain until our plan is completed."
Chu Mingyao also came out of the cave and stood beside Su Wan. Hearing Ge Fanghai's words, she said to Su Wan, "If they don't attack directly, keeping us here on this mountain is the same. It's no different from imprisoning us."
Ge Fanghai laughed and clapped his hands, saying, "That's right. As long as you don't go to Youzhou to stop the Western Rong army, it's fine for you to stay here. It's a pity that it's freezing cold here, and you'll probably get very cold. I'll have my servants bring you tents, firewood, and other things to keep you warm. You can rest here on the mountain."
Su Wan thought to herself, "They planted explosives in the general's carriage. If I don't tell my husband quickly, we're all doomed."
She ran down the mountaintop, squatted down in front of Chu Yi, and said, "Brother Chu, there are many fewer people down the mountain now. Can you break through?"
Chu Yi peered down and saw about thirty constables and thirty soldiers. He shook his head at Su Wan and said, "To be frank, all my followers are dead, and I don't have the strength to fight anymore."
Undeterred, Su Wan turned to the captain of the guards and asked, "And you?"
The captain of the guards said, "Madam, I have three men left here, all of whom are slightly injured. I'm afraid they won't be able to break through."
Su Wan was anxious, so she ran to the top of the mountain, went around to the back of the cave, and leaned on the rocks to look down.
Behind the hill was a steep cliff, six stories high. She felt dizzy just looking at it from the second floor, let alone the sixth.
Just as she was at a loss, she noticed a troop of cavalry galloping toward her on the snow in the distance, numbering about two hundred.
At first, she thought they were General Xie's reinforcements, and her heart pounded with even more panic. But as the cavalry drew closer, she was so excited when she saw the people galloping at the front that she almost jumped for joy.
"Ah Jin, Ah Jin!"
She stretched out her arms as far as she could, stood on tiptoe and shouted, wishing she could grow wings and fly down the mountain.
She knew Wei Jingzhuo hadn't boarded that deadly carriage; he had come to rescue her. After a night of trepidation, the weight on her heart finally lifted the moment she saw Wei Jingzhuo.
At the foot of the mountain, County Magistrate Ge Fanghai also heard her cries. Not knowing who "A-Jin" was, he rode his horse with several constables around the mountain to investigate.
Upon seeing a cavalry force approaching, led by a general in silver helmet and armor, wearing a butterfly mask, he was instantly terrified and turned his horse to flee.
General Jade Face, Su Wan's husband has arrived.
The constables, seeing their master pale with fright and not understanding what had happened, were about to call out to Ge Fanghai when an arrow suddenly flew by and struck Ge Fanghai squarely in the shoulder, knocking him off his horse.
When the yamen runners saw that their master had been shot with an arrow, they were terrified and ran away. The soldiers guarding the foot of the mountain, recognizing Wei Jingzhuo, reacted even faster and scattered in the blink of an eye.
Su Wan was overjoyed and ran down the mountain.
Wei Jingzhuo rode his horse down the mountain, dismounted, and opened his arms to greet her. Su Wan jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and saying, "Ah Jin, you're here. You're alright, that's wonderful, I'm so happy."
She choked up as she spoke.
Last night, she suffered a lot. She outwitted the yamen runners, ran with Chu Mingyao across the rooftops, and struggled desperately through the snow... She's a frail woman.
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