Chapter 191 Missing (1)
Emperor Hongxing returned to the capital in a sorry state with more than a thousand people, even abandoning his ceremonial entourage. Upon receiving the news, Lü Tong was astonished and braved the heavy snow to personally lead a group of people out of the city to welcome him. Sure enough, they encountered the emperor and empress riding alone on two people, along with a hundred officials who were also in a disheveled state.
Lu Tong was taken aback and hurriedly stepped forward to greet Emperor Hongxing: "Your Majesty, why are you in such a disheveled state? Did you encounter a pack of wolves on the way?"
Emperor Hongxing helped the Empress down from her horse, his face unusually grim: "How did you know?"
Lu Tong hurriedly replied, "I sent an urgent memorial yesterday to Your Majesty, reminding you that there were signs of wolves heading north to Yunfu Mountain. Did Your Majesty not take any precautions?"
Emperor Hongxing subconsciously looked towards the cabinet, but he had not received Lü Tong's memorial.
The cabinet ministers looked at each other in bewilderment: "We have not received Lord Lü's memorial."
Lu Tong was taken aback: "Impossible! I even sent an urgent memorial by special messenger, how could I not have received it?"
Lu Tong was the Prefect of Jingzhao and was investigating the massacre in Linxia Village. Since it involved wolves, the urgent memorial was definitely genuine. Clearly, there was a problem with the handover at Tangquan Palace. A negligence led to today's disaster. Emperor Hongxing was furious: "Who was on duty yesterday to receive the memorial? Step forward!"
The emperor was furious; who would dare to protect someone at this time? The two clerks on duty in the Grand Secretariat yesterday were immediately pushed in front of Emperor Hongxing. The two prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling: "Yesterday was our turn to be on duty."
Emperor Hongxing asked, "Didn't you receive Lü Tong's memorial?"
Only then did Chen Jiayi, the clerk who received the memorial, realize the enormity of his mistake. His voice trembled with tears as he said, "Yesterday, I received the memorial. His Majesty and the Grand Secretaries went to the back of Yunfu Mountain for a stroll. After receiving the memorial, it was lunchtime, so I went to eat… After lunch, I met Zuo Jinliang and asked him to place the memorial on the Grand Secretary's desk…"
Another clerk, Zuo Jinliang, immediately felt a jolt of alarm in his mind and said, "After receiving Brother Chen's memorial, I immediately placed it on the Grand Secretary's desk. There was absolutely no mistake..." As he finished speaking, his voice gradually softened, and he suddenly realized what mistake he had made. He had accidentally knocked the memorial off the desk and hadn't noticed whether Lü Tong's memorial was folded inside when he put it back.
His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his throat. He wanted to slap himself. This was originally Chen Jiayi's job; he had kindly helped him put the memorial in the study, but he had ended up getting himself into such a mess.
Zhou Huaijin said sternly, "There are so many processed and unprocessed memorials on the table. Where did you put them? Let's assume you put them in the wrong place, but since they are urgent memorials, why didn't you inform me?"
Zuo Jinliang cried out that he was wronged: "Your Excellency has wronged me. I was just helping Chen Jiayi pass on the memorial. He did not mention that it was an urgent memorial from the capital. I should not bear this responsibility."
If he refuses to take responsibility, Chen Jiayi will have to take it himself, and he also cried out that he was wronged.
Emperor Hongxing coldly said, "Because of your negligence, so many people have died for no reason. I am too lazy to listen to your case. Drag it out and execute them directly."
The two men begged for mercy, their legs trembling with fear, but no one present spoke up for them. The Imperial Guards quickly came up and took them away.
Lu Tong never expected that such an important memorial would cause such a disaster because of the carelessness of the two clerks. Looking at the disheveled state of Emperor Hongxing and his entourage, it was clear that this pack of wolves was indeed very troublesome. Just as he was about to say something, he looked up and saw that there seemed to be a person tied to Pang Shi's horse. A three or four-year-old child was crying with a swollen face, tightly holding his brother's clothes with a helpless expression.
Lu Tong was taken aback. Weren't these Meng Shijiang and his younger brother? Why were they tied up?
Before he could even ask a question, Emperor Hongxing turned around and tossed Pang Shi a half-tiger tally: "We're almost at the capital. The Wolf King hasn't come after us. It must be Li Xiaoxiao who stopped it. Go to the Divine Machine Camp immediately and get three crossbows with a capacity of 800 shi each and a hundred rocket launchers. Hurry back and save Li Xiaoxiao."
The crossbow cart with a capacity of 800 shi was already the most powerful weapon in Da Wu. A single shot could penetrate a city gate that was a foot thick. Emperor Hongxing deployed three of them to save Li Xiaoxiao, which shows how determined he was.
Furthermore, ordinary arrows cannot harm the wolf king, so what about fire arrows? Perhaps it is afraid of fire?
Pang Shi took the tiger tally without saying a word, immediately changed horses and headed straight for the Imperial Guard camp in the capital, with ten trusted riders following closely behind him as he galloped away.
The snow fell even heavier. Lü Tong quickly gave the carriage to the Emperor and Empress, and then helped the Crown Prince and the eldest Grand Secretary Yang into the carriage. Aze's eyes were red and his voice was choked with sobs: "I want to sit with my brother."
Wan Quan went to hug Rui Rui, but Rui Rui seemed terrified, clinging tightly to Meng Guanqi and refusing to let go. Lü Tong couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with Lecturer Meng?"
Why was he tied up? Did he do something wrong?
Emperor Hongxing sighed, walked up to Meng Guanqi, and patted him on the shoulder: "I am just as worried about Xiaoxiao's safety as you are. Don't worry, no matter what the cost, I will definitely rescue her."
Nearly three hours have passed since the escape began. No matter how excited Meng Guanqi was when he woke up on horseback, he has now calmed down.
He knew that losing control and going crazy wouldn't help save Li Xiaoxiao; it would only make others worry more.
He tried to make his voice sound calm: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I know you will definitely go to save her, but I wish to go back with General Pang."
Emperor Hongxing frowned slightly. Meng Guanqi's attitude was resolute: "Your Majesty, I promise you that I will obey General Pang's command and will not act rashly. Xiaoxiao is my wife. She has encountered such great danger. I cannot stay in the capital to wait for news."
He knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Your Majesty, please grant me permission."
Emperor Hongxing was moved and quickly stepped forward to help him up: "Are you sure you won't do anything reckless?"
Meng Guanqi shook his head: "I know I am powerless and will be careful and thorough, and will not dare to be a burden to General Pang."
Emperor Hongxing knew that the couple had a very good relationship. If he forcibly took Meng Guanqi back to the capital, he was afraid he would not be able to forgive himself. Emperor Hongxing sighed and said, "Alright, then you stay here and wait for Pang Shi to return. Li Xiaoxiao has a life-or-death bond with him, so he will definitely rush back as quickly as possible."
Meng Guanqi nodded, and Emperor Hongxing gestured for Wan Quan to untie him. After untying the ropes, Meng Guanqi picked up Rui Rui and put her in the car: "You go home with Brother Aze. Brother is going back to find Xiao Xiao."
Rui Rui's tears fell like large pearls. He wanted to reach out and hug Meng Guanqi, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to find Li Xiaoxiao. Aze cried too when he saw this, hugged Rui Rui and said to Meng Guanqi, "You must bring Sister Xiaoxiao back!"
Meng Guanqi said firmly, "I definitely will!"
The snow fell even heavier, and most of those who had escaped together had no means of protection from the cold. Fearing that the civil officials would freeze, Emperor Hongxing left five riders to accompany Meng Guanqi to wait for Pang Shi, and immediately set off with the main force to the capital.
Once the main force had disappeared into the distance, Meng Guanqi patted the snow off his shoulders, led his horse, and headed back.
A member of the Imperial Guard stepped forward: "Lord Meng, where are you going? His Majesty has ordered us to stay here and wait for Lord Pang."
Meng Guanqi said, "I know, I just need to use the restroom."
The imperial guard said, "We are all men. If Lord Meng needs to relieve himself, why not do it by the roadside?"
Anyway, there were no pedestrians in the freezing cold, so nobody cared who relieved themselves on the roadside.
Meng Guanqi said coldly, "I am a graduate of the Hanlin Academy, how can I relieve myself by the roadside?" He pointed to a clump of bamboo not far away that was half covered by snow: "I'll go over there, you can wait here for a while."
The clump of bamboo was only about a hundred paces away from them. The imperial guards hesitated for a moment, thinking that the civil official was being fussy, but they dared not stop him and could only let him go.
Meng Guanqi led the horse around to the back of the bamboo grove.
The snow was so heavy that it felt like knives cutting into people's faces, and the imperial guards couldn't help but look around for places to take shelter from the snow.
Pang Shi needs to go to the Shenji Camp to deploy crossbow carts and also summon rocket launchers. You should know that it takes two strong men to push just one crossbow cart along the way. His Majesty is deploying three at once, and there are also a hundred rocket launchers whose ammunition and fuel need to be prepared. By the time he returns, who knows when...
The Imperial Guard A shuddered: "How about we find somewhere to take shelter from the snow? It would be considered fast if General Pang could get back within two hours..."
The Imperial Guard B nodded in agreement: "There isn't a single big tree along this road, only that clump of bamboo. Why don't we take shelter from the snow in that clump of bamboo?"
Even the Imperial Guard C couldn't stand the cold anymore: "Go, go, at least you can hold them off for a bit. Let's see if Lord Meng has finished relieving himself..."
After saying that, he turned around and glanced at the bamboo grove. To his horror, he discovered that a man and a horse had already run far away in the snow and were almost out of sight. Imperial Guard C shouted, "Lord Meng has run away! He's running back! Chase after him!"
Emperor Hongxing left them to keep an eye on Meng Guanqi because he was afraid that Meng Guanqi would recklessly go back on his own. But Meng Guanqi used the excuse of needing to urinate to escape!
The imperial guards, disregarding the cold, mounted their horses and galloped after Meng Guanqi.
At this moment, Meng Guanqi could no longer feel the cold. His limbs had almost lost all feeling, and only his heart in his chest was burning hot. He had only one obsession left—to find Li Xiaoxiao.
He was no longer afraid of that monstrous wolf king; he just didn't want to leave her alone in the freezing cold.
He spurred his horse and raced back as fast as he could, completely oblivious to the shouts of the imperial guards behind him.
He didn't know that his face was already covered in tears, which were blown by the wind into strings of ice shards and stuck to his face. He only remembered witnessing the wolf king grab her shoulder with a claw, her armor shattered, and blood gushing out.
He overheard her conversation with Pang Shi. She begged Pang Shi to take him away. How could she be so heartless as to not even look back at him? He didn't even get to see her one last time before Pang Shi knocked him unconscious and took him away.
He was her husband. A woman should take her husband as her heaven after marriage, but in front of her, he was so incompetent. He could only survive by relying on her when they encountered danger time and time again. He never thought that she would also have a time when she couldn't hold on. When the all-powerful and invincible Li Xiaoxiao was in mortal danger, he couldn't even stay there to accompany her.
How could she be so cruel? How could she let them all escape while leaving herself to face that monster? She was so badly injured, how could she possibly be a match for that wolf?
Meng Guanqi no longer cared how fast his horse was; if he were to fall to his death on the way back to find her, he would be perfectly content.
He had only one thought in his mind: to get closer to her, even closer. He wanted to hold her tightly in his arms and shield her from the wolf king, even if it meant being torn to pieces.
Meng Guanqi's reckless speed terrified the Imperial Guards chasing behind him. In terms of horsemanship, the Imperial Guards were naturally far superior to Meng Guanqi, but he was now on the verge of madness and no longer cared about his own life or death. The Imperial Guards dared not push him too hard, fearing that he might accidentally fall off his horse.
They could only keep a distance from his horse, and before they knew it, they were nearing the creek they had fled from.
The Imperial Guards couldn't help but feel afraid. Just half a day ago, the Wolf King had easily torn its colleagues to pieces, and even Li Xiaoxiao was seriously injured. If they went back, would it still be waiting there?
But they dared not stop. Although Emperor Hongxing had left them behind to supervise Meng Guanqi, he also wanted to protect him. If His Majesty found out that they had deserted in the face of battle, they would not escape the death penalty. So they had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow.
Finally, they saw the stream. When they left in a hurry, all their luggage was scattered all over the ground without being packed. More than a hundred carriages simply untied their horses and left. The carriages were haphazardly placed, blocking a long road, and it looked like no one had touched them.
This is quite normal. In the snowy weather, near the mountains, and just half a day ago there was a wolf fight, with human and wolf corpses scattered all over the ground and bloodstains on the snow, who would dare to come near?
Meng Guanqi's horse finally stopped. His limbs were completely frozen. After the horse stopped, he almost fell off its back and struggled on the ground for a long time before he finally got up.
He looked around in a panic. Yes, this was it. He could see the wolf carcasses still standing there, covered with a layer of glistening snowflakes. He estimated that it wouldn't be long before the heavy snow would completely cover the carcasses, making them invisible and impossible to find.
It was eerily quiet, a silence that was unsettling. Besides the wolf carcasses, there were also the remains of the unfortunate eunuchs and imperial guards who had perished.
Where is Xiaoxiao?
He looked around and couldn't help but call out, "Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao, where are you?"
The only response he received was the whistling wind.
Meng Guanqi called out as he stumbled around, searching everywhere—the carriages, luggage, baskets, and small mounds half-covered by snow. He looked at almost every possible hiding place, but found nothing.
He felt a mixture of fear and hope. Had she escaped because he hadn't found her? She was so clever and capable. Before everyone else had fled, she was hesitant and dared not fight to the death. But now that everyone else had run away, she had no more worries. Did she have a chance to escape from the wolf king's clutches?
The Imperial Guards following behind him arrived at this time. They had been worried that the Wolf King would stay here, but it seemed that he was safe now. Apart from Lord Meng, who looked crazy, everything in the snow had calmed down.
After confirming there was no danger, they immediately joined in the search.
General Li is such a capable person, perhaps she really can escape?
As long as her body isn't found here, there's always a chance.
They spent half a day escaping from here, and returned in less than half a day, so all traces are still relatively intact.
But as the search deepened, their mood grew increasingly somber. They found all the bodies of the victims, including eight complete corpses and twelve incomplete ones missing hands, legs, or heads. They found the severed limbs and pieced them back together for the deceased.
It was terrifying. In just a moment, the wolf king tore more than a dozen people apart. If General Li hadn't stepped forward to stop it, they might have been the ones lying there, torn to pieces.
The area with the most severed corpses and limbs seemed to be the place where Li Xiaoxiao and the Wolf King fought most fiercely. The soil in this area had sunken in, and blood stained the remaining snow and soil, making it a horrifying sight.
"Look here, there are footprints!" Imperial Guard A suddenly shouted. Meng Guanqi, who was frantically searching for Li Xiaoxiao, also heard it and quickly ran over, his eyes bloodshot: "What footprints?"
The Imperial Guard carefully brushed aside a small patch of snow with his scabbard, revealing a huge wild animal footprint: "These are the wolf king's footprints, and they're pointing forward!"
He ran forward several steps and found the next footprint, which was a good ten or twenty meters away from the previous one. If he hadn't been careful, he would never have been able to imagine that the wolf king could leap such a distance in one step. It was simply unbelievable.
Having unexpectedly discovered this pattern, the wolf king's remaining footprints became easier to find. They followed the trail and found that the footprints disappeared at the foot of the mountain, indicating that it had already gone up the mountain and left.
This unexpected discovery did not bring them joy, but instead weighed heavily on their hearts. The wolf king had actually left, and Li Xiaoxiao had failed to kill it.
"Look! Isn't that General Pang's horse?!" Imperial Guard C suddenly shouted, pointing to a dark figure under a clump of bushes.
The imperial guards rushed over immediately. A horse neighed, and the black horse suddenly stood up and limped forward two steps.
The Imperial Guard A rushed forward and took the reins. He examined the black horse closely and found a long laceration on its rump that reached its thigh. Fortunately, the cut was not too deep, which was why the black horse walked with a limp.
This horse was Pang Shi's beloved steed, which he left for Li Xiaoxiao to escape. Not only was it injured, but it also appeared by the mountainside. The imperial guards had already guessed something bad, and their faces were tense, not daring to say a word.
We must keep searching. If General Li has truly perished, we will surely find something she left behind.
Whether it's a severed limb or a piece of clothing.
Without a second thought, Meng Guanqi headed up the mountain. The Imperial Guards were both afraid and worried, but they still followed him with gritted teeth.
After walking less than three zhang, Meng Guanqi suddenly stopped. He bent down and picked up a small piece of cloth hanging on a dead branch.
This is a sachet that fell off after being hooked, but it's something Li Xiaoxiao always carries with her. It has a pink pomegranate flower on it, but the embroidery isn't very pretty or delicate; it's Liu Zhi's handiwork.
Her skills weren't good, but Li Xiaoxiao's were even worse, so she didn't mind hanging her embroidery on her waist.
With trembling hands, Meng Guanqi opened the sachet. Inside were two or three taels of silver, a dozen copper coins, and a folded piece of paper. Meng Guanqi knew without guessing that it was a drawing of a chick by Rui Rui, given to her as a gift.
The drawing was ugly and childish, but she smiled and put it into her pocket, giving Rui Rui a lot of encouragement.
Pang Shi's horse appeared at the foot of the mountain, and Li Xiaoxiao's sachet appeared on the hillside. It is certain that she escaped into the mountains, and she is very likely not dead.
Overwhelmed by extreme joy and sorrow, Meng Guanqi finally collapsed to the ground, still clutching her sachet tightly in her hand.
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