Chapter 91 Long time no see, Susu.
Wu Zhao worked tirelessly, day and night for two days, changing horses several times, before finally reaching the military camp at top speed.
His lips were chapped, and he gulped down two large bags of water to calm his burning throat.
"General!" Seeing Li Pan's figure galloping towards him like the wind, his eyes reddened, and he knelt down on the ground. "It is my fault for failing in my duty and failing to protect the lady!"
"Explain yourself!" Li Pan grabbed his collar, his eyes blazing with fury. "What do you mean, 'Madam is missing'? Where did she go?"
Wu Zhao didn't dare to delay and immediately explained the whole story.
Three days ago, a commoner sought an audience with Lou Xueying, saying that someone had entrusted him to deliver a secret letter to the general's wife. Lou Xueying had someone accept it, and upon opening it, he found that it was from a county magistrate in Hedong, who claimed that among the surrendered generals recruited by Li Pan, there were spies from the imperial court. They were only feigning surrender to gain Li Pan's trust and would launch a counterattack from within when he was off guard.
The magistrate knew all this because he had a relative who served under that surrendered general and had previously feigned surrender along with his superior. However, after Li Pan conquered Hedong, the magistrate felt that the imperial court had no hope of suppressing the rebels, and that it would be best for him to surrender as soon as possible. Therefore, he wanted to ask Lou Xueying for a favor, hoping that Li Pan would not pursue his relative's wrongdoing in consideration of his voluntary report.
Li Pan gritted his teeth: "Who's feigning surrender?"
"The letter didn't specify, but the magistrate said he was afraid that if he gave the name directly, the general would immediately take action, and his family's lives would be in danger. So he wanted Madam to give a promise in person before he would reveal who it was," Wu Zhao said. "Actually, Madam and I both felt that this matter was somewhat suspicious, but since it involved the general's safety, we dared not take it lightly... Madam is in the prefectural government office, while the magistrate is in a small county town more than a hundred miles away. I suggested bringing the magistrate along, but Madam was worried that the round trip would take too much time. The general is almost at the capital, and what if the surrendered general makes his move at that time, catching the general off guard..."
"So she went by herself?!" Li Pan was furious. "What were you all doing?! And what was Lou Boyu doing?!"
"Madam took me and a troop of light cavalry, nearly a hundred men! Just in case something happens, we can cover her escape!" Wu Zhao's eyes were bloodshot. "As for Lord Lou... for some reason, there were disturbances everywhere those days. Perhaps it's because he's close to the capital and has a particularly strong attachment to the court, refusing to accept the general. There were frequent disturbances, and Lord Lou was busy dealing with them, so he really couldn't leave..."
Li Pan clenched his fists, veins bulging on his neck, and kicked over the campfire stand next to him!
With a crash, the firewood scattered on the ground, sparks flew, and flames roared on the ground, illuminating Li Pan's scarlet eyes.
Behind him, the setting sun was like blood, and weary birds returned to their nests, emitting sharp cries.
Wu Zhao took a deep breath and continued, "My men escorted Madam to the county government office. The magistrate was very excited to see her. I hoped he would have a public meeting with Madam, but he wrote another note and gave it to her. After reading it, Madam said she wanted to speak with him alone and asked my men to wait outside. I had no choice but to lead my men to search the county government office first, but we found nothing suspicious. We then searched the magistrate before allowing him to speak with Madam alone. Unexpectedly..."
Unexpectedly, the two had been talking inside for quite some time without coming out. Wu Zhao knocked on the door, but no one answered. Startled, he broke down the door and found the room empty!
But there were always people guarding the area, how could it just disappear into thin air?
Wu Zhao hurriedly led his men to search again, and finally found a bookcase that had been moved inside the house, underneath which was a secret passage!
The entrance to the secret passage was previously blocked by a bookshelf. They had even checked the bookshelf to see if there were any hidden weapons, but they never expected there to be a secret passage underneath!
Wu Zhao led his men into the secret passage, only to find the exit was a dry well on the edge of the county town. Lou Xueying had already vanished without a trace. Everyone searched the surrounding area thoroughly, and after finally finding a clue, they rushed over, only to find the county magistrate's body, which had been left to commit suicide.
"The person behind the scenes deliberately misled us, delaying us for half a day... I dared not conceal this, the other brothers are still searching, I came alone to report to the general!"
There was a deathly silence all around.
The soldiers froze in shock, holding their breath and not daring to look directly at Li Pan.
The fire burned at Li Pan's feet, crackling and sputtering a spark. Light and shadow flickered across his face, and his tightly clenched knuckles made a soft, crisp sound.
"Where are the magistrate's family members? And his constables?!"
"We've investigated. The magistrate's family has long since left the county. The yamen runners know nothing about the magistrate's affairs, and the surrounding residents are also completely unaware. As for the messenger, we questioned him beforehand; he's indeed just an ordinary citizen who took money to deliver a message." Wu Zhao kowtowed and said, "It is my incompetence; please punish me, General!"
"Would punishing you be of any use? Would it bring her back?!" Li Pan felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, his heart pounded, and he felt as if he could no longer stand. Even being wounded in battle had never terrified him. He would rather be the one with swords drawn and his life hanging by a thread than see her suffer such torment!
“Liang…Chong…” He practically spat out these words through clenched teeth, as if they still carried a hint of the metallic smell of rust.
Besides Emperor Jinghui Liang Chong, who else would go to such lengths to kidnap Lou Xueying!
He took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and his voice trembled with anger, yet it was also resolute and unwavering: "Send down the order: postpone the attack on the city tomorrow. From Hedong to the capital, both by land and water, send people to block and check all the passes!"
Liang Chong is in the capital. If he takes Lou Xueying hostage, the only way to get him there is to bring her to the capital. Even if they seize the initiative, with a hostage, they can't possibly match Wu Zhaoxing's speed in changing horses overnight. If they can block all the major roads as soon as possible, they might be able to stop him.
"How do you know, General, that they definitely brought Susu to the capital?" Lou Zhongyan recovered from his anger and gritted his teeth. "There are rumors lately that the Emperor has taken advantage of the chaos to flee south incognito. Although we don't know if it's true or not, if it is, wouldn't we be heading in the wrong direction?"
Li Pan sneered: "He won't flee south."
The purpose of fleeing south was to prolong his life. If Li Pan were to attack the capital, he would inevitably have to spend a lot of energy dealing with the affairs of the capital. Emperor Jinghui would only be able to make a move south when Li Pan was too busy to deal with everything.
But now that he has kidnapped Lou Xueying, Li Pan cannot ignore it. If he still tries to escape south, it would be like finding a pursuer for himself, and then the escape would lose its meaning.
Therefore, Lou Xueying can only be a hostage.
"So what are your plans now, General? What if new clues are discovered in Hedong when Wu Zhao arrives? Will you go there to investigate personally?" Lou Zhongyan asked.
"No, I'll stay here and not go back to Hedong." Li Pan's face was grim as he turned to look at the distant city wall.
As the last rays of sunlight faded, the winding, majestic city wall resembled a towering, cold skeleton of a beast.
"You think you can lure me away from my mountain with Susu? I won't fall for it." He said, emphasizing each word. "And Susu will never allow me to lose my composure because of her."
-
Lou Xueying opened her eyes.
These past few days, she's been constantly in and out of sleep, feeling weak and unable to move. Sometimes she wakes up during the day, sometimes at night.
She was too weak to struggle, unable to speak, and had no idea where she was.
When she first woke up, she was trapped inside a carriage.
The carriage was cramped, and she was almost curled up inside, her hands and feet bound, and her mouth gagged. An indescribable medicinal taste filled her mouth, and she felt as if all her strength had been drained away; she couldn't even lift her head.
If it can't move, then it won't move.
She quietly pondered what had happened before she fell into a coma.
At that time, she led her people to meet with the county magistrate, intending to find out who the spy was. However, the magistrate glanced at the guards behind her, went back, wrote a note, and handed it to her.
The note said that there were spies among her guards. Although he hadn't seen them with his own eyes, he knew from his relatives that one of the guards, who had a mole on his lip, had also become an inside agent for the court.
Lou Xueying looked at her guards with great suspicion. There was indeed one with a mole on his lip, but this person was usually normal and did not seem like a spy. Moreover, would the magistrate's relative be so open with his words that he would tell him everything?
She didn't immediately believe it, but considering the possibility of something going wrong, she still agreed to meet with him alone.
Wu Zhao led his men to search the house and the magistrate thoroughly to ensure there was no danger before allowing them to enter.
Lou Xueying was on guard, but no matter how wary she was, she never expected that the county magistrate, who looked pale and thin, would actually know some martial arts. Without even an opening remark, he delivered a heavy chop to her head, and she immediately fainted.
When I woke up, I was already in the carriage.
At first, she was terrified, but after realizing she couldn't break free, she gradually calmed down.
Although she didn't understand how the magistrate had led her to escape from nearly a hundred guards, that didn't matter anymore.
At least, as she said before, she was actually the least likely person to die. Since she couldn't die, there would definitely be many more opportunities later.
She guessed that she had been given some kind of drug, otherwise how could she have lost all her strength?
As she expected, every now and then someone would stop the carriage, open the door, and force-feed her medicine. She could not resist and had no choice but to accept it.
But this time when she woke up, she wasn't in the train carriage.
She was trapped in a long and narrow place. She could stretch her legs out, but her head, feet, and arms seemed to be pressed against the walls, as if... this place was specially made for one person to lie down.
Her mouth was gagged, and the hot breath she exhaled hit the wooden board in front of her and bounced back onto her face.
She wondered, "Where exactly is this place?"
Is it a box? Why does it seem to have a faint, strange smell?
The travel speed has also slowed down considerably, and the ride has become much bumpier.
She couldn't help but wonder how many days had passed and whether Li Pan knew about her accident. What would he do if he found out?
She was now quite certain that there were no spies at all, and that it was all just a trick by the county magistrate to deceive her. She felt a pang of regret for trusting people so easily, but then she thought, at least there were no spies, and Li Pan would be fine, which was great.
Li Pan... Li Pan shouldn't be thrown into a panic just because she's missing, right?
One night, they whispered among themselves and agreed that if one of them were to die, the other must remain calm and composed, without acting rashly. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people were at stake, and the slightest misstep would be a grave sin.
Lou Xueying closed her eyes.
Was it Liang Chong who did it...? It probably was. Oh well, she knows him fairly well. Maybe if she meets him, she can find a chance to escape.
She drifted off to sleep again.
When I woke up again, I was woken up by someone making noise.
She was still powerless and tightly bound, but through the heavy wooden planks, she could hear the sounds of arguing outside: "How dare you disobey General Li's orders? Are you hiding something you can't show to anyone, that's why you're so afraid?"
General Li?
Lou Xueying was stunned for a moment, then began to struggle fiercely.
But she was limp and powerless. Her so-called effort was nothing more than a few slight twists and turns, without even the sound of clothes rubbing together.
She tried to call out, but no sound came out.
"Your Honor, please understand!" came another voice from outside. "This...this cart is carrying a coffin! I'm transporting my younger brother. The deceased must be respected, how can we...how can we open the coffin! This will prevent the deceased from resting in peace..."
A coffin? Lou Xueying was stunned. She was lying in a coffin?
"What time is it now? Who would come to the capital for no reason?" the searching soldier sneered. "I think there's something wrong with this coffin! Open it!"
"My lord!" The coffin trembled, as if the man had thrown himself upon it, pressing down on it and weeping, "I live in the capital region, and my younger brother was doing business in Hedong. Who knew he would die in the war! I only want to bring him home, I have no other request! Please, my lord, let my brother rest in peace!"
"What's all the noise about?" another deep male voice approached. "Is that your brother lying in there?"
Lou Xueying recognized the voice as that of a deputy general surnamed Ding who was beside Li Pan. She struggled even more violently, sweating profusely with anxiety.
What younger brother? There's no younger brother here! There's only Lou Xueying here!
Hurry up and open the coffin!
“Sir, it’s absolutely true, it is indeed my younger brother!” the man said. “Sir, do you not even spare the dead?”
Deputy General Ding said coldly, "The general has ordered that all checkpoints, all people, and all objects, dead or alive, be thoroughly searched! Open the coffins!"
The coffin shook again, and the man groaned, apparently having been thrown aside.
Lou Xueying's eyes welled up with tears as she listened to the sound of the coffin lid slowly being pushed open; she almost cried with joy.
However, it was completely different from what she had imagined about seeing the light of day again.
Only a very faint ray of light pierced through the cracks in the wooden planks in front of her; the entire scene before her remained dark.
She listened blankly as the sound of the coffin lid rubbing against her head slid over her head, and the sound of something colliding reached her ears through the wooden planks.
"Hmm, it really is a dead man." The soldier pinched his nose and examined him. "General, he looks to be in his twenties. He must have been dead for some time."
"My brother—" the man wailed, "Even in death, I cannot rest in peace; my body must be exhumed and examined. How can this be—"
"Cover it up," Deputy General Ding sighed. "Fellow villager, I'm sorry, but we are under orders and have to conduct a thorough investigation. It's not our wish for innocent people to be harmed in the war..."
No! Don't cover it!
She's right down there!
Lou Xueying used almost all her strength to slam her head against the coffin wall!
The sound of the coffin lid being closed stopped.
"What's that noise?" the soldier asked suspiciously. "Did it...come back to life?"
"Stop uttering such disrespectful words," Deputy General Ding scolded. "You must be clumsy and have bumped into something again. Hurry up and finish covering it!"
The coffin lid was finally closed.
Lou Xueying lay in the now pitch-black partition, her heart sinking to the bottom.
-
After an unknown amount of time, the coffin was opened again. The body on top was removed first, then the wooden planks in the middle were flipped open, finally revealing Lou Xueying, who was pressed at the bottom.
She was in a daze when someone lifted her by the back of her neck, removed the gag from her mouth, and let the bitter medicine slide down her throat. After confirming that she had swallowed it, she was thrown back into the coffin like a dead fish, her mouth was gagged, a wooden board was placed on top, her body was placed on it, the coffin lid was closed, and the coffin was taken away.
When she woke up again, she found herself no longer in the coffin.
There was nothing around, only four mottled walls. The door was closed, but the crack in the door was large enough to allow the moonlight to shine in from outside.
Where is she?
She wanted to observe carefully, but she was still weak and powerless. No one untied her ropes and cloths. She lay on the cold ground, staring blankly at the ceiling.
After a long while, a rustling sound of a lock being opened suddenly came from the doorway.
Someone's coming!
Lou Xueying raised her eyes almost instantly.
After the door opened, two figures, one tall and one short, appeared in front of her.
She knew both of them.
The shorter one was the one who kept feeding himself medicine and pretending to be transporting the corpse.
And the taller one...
The shorter man bowed and said, "Please, Your Highness."
Lou Xueying watched in shock as the person, bathed in moonlight, approached her step by step and then half-squatted down in front of her.
"Long time no see, Susu." He sighed, the hard armor on his shoulders gleaming faintly in the moonlight. "Everyone says they've been looking good, but how did you end up like this?"
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