Thousand Miles of Bright Moonlight

Chapter 41

    Xie Chao was on horseback from morning to night, not daring to close his eyes for a moment. Mentally and physically exhausted, riding until he was half alive, he had barely shouted those few words before fainting.

    Yaoying took him back to the residence and asked the doctors to treat him.

    She entered the study and asked Xie Qing to fetch Qing County’s territory map.

    According to Xie Chao’s description before he lost consciousness, Li Zhongqian was ambushed in Qing County’s river valley  and was seriously wounded. They were encircled for several days, but help never came. Before he fell into a coma, he sent a few people who were adept at swimming to break through the siege to seek help.

    Xie Chao was one of them. They escaped through layers of the enemy’s blockade, but they were discovered on the way by the other side. Only he survived.

    Yaoying looked at the territory map and had doubts: “Why did Second Brother want Xie Chao to return to the capital to ask for help?”

    Zhao Tong, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince’s army were all closer to Li Zhongqian. Why did he choose to seek help from far away?

    Xie Qing had never been in battle and did not understand how to send troops to battle, frowned and pondered, not saying anything.

    Xu Biao grunted coldly and heavily slapped the desk with his hand missing two fingers, cursing: “Because the prince does not trust the Third Prince and Zhao Tong! If we ask the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince for help, the prince and the others will truly be completely wiped out!”

    He suddenly slapped his head.

    “I had suspected before. The prince was only escorting the army provisions this campaign and was far from the front line. How could he be ambushed? Someone must have betrayed the prince and lured him into a trap on purpose! Then, they went through the motions and didn’t send soldiers to search along the river. After finding a few corpses, they said that the prince had been massacred; they simply did not want to save the prince!”

    Yaoying’s hands clenched into fists within her sleeves.

    A trap. A trap again.

    Was Li Zhongqian destined to die on the battlefield?

    Even if she stopped him from going to Liangzhou a year ago, he still had to die in battle a year later?

    Just because Li Xuanzhen wanted to kill him, because he was the biggest threat to Li Xuanzhen, he was bound to die?

    She must save Li Zhongqian.

    No matter what price needed to be paid.

    Yaoying closed her eyes, calmed down, and organized her thoughts.

    Zhao Tong was a veteran general, neutral in stance, and did not favor any of the princes. He would not harm Li Zhongqian…. nor would he save Li Zhongqian.

    The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince’s minds were on the difficult to figure out side. The two would be killed in the future under the crime of rebellion by various officials. As to whether they really plotted rebellion or not, no one could say.

    If the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince joined hands to kill Li Zhongqian, Zhao Tong would only look on indifferently.

    Why did they want to harm Li Zhongqian?

    To seize the throne?

    Or to curry favor with Li Xuanzhen?

    Or, was it all a poisonous plot calculated by Li Xuanzhen? The Eastern Palace had already laid out an inescapable net, only waiting for Li Zhongqian to go south?

    Yaoying laughed.

    In this life, Li Xuanzhen had harmed Li Zhongqian, but did not use those low and villainous tricks like he did in the book, so she had naively thought that as long as they did not happen, she could resolve Li Xuanzhen’s hatred.

    After all, Li Xuanzhen was not a wicked and evil person.

    Yaoying failed.

    Li Xuanzhen wanted her to marry away instead of Zhu Luyun. He arranged for Tribal Chief Yelu to enter the palace to watch the Buddha’s birthday puja, and although he stopped her at the last minute, he still could not change the fact that he had schemed to get her to marry instead.

    Li De was cold, sensible, and ruthless. The only person on this earth who could make his heart waver was his first wife Tang shi. Li Xuanzhen hated Li De, but he was actually the most like Li De. For Zhu Luyun, he could lose all reason and commit all manner of crimes.

    She shouldn’t take any chances.

    Two knocks sounded at the door, and a soldier announced that Xie Chao was awake.

    Yaoying immediately went to see Xie Chao and asked him about the situation.

    She didn’t know if it was because of the medicine he just took, but Xie Chao was in a trance and unresponsive, so when he was asked something, it took him half a day1 to give a vague answer.

    The doctor said that Xie Chao was worn out.

    Xu Biao was so anxious that he jumped to his feet, pushed the doctor aside, grabbed Xie Chao’s collar, and roared: “Who was the one that ambushed the prince?”

    Xie Chao shook his head: “I don’t know either.”

    “You said the prince was injured? How many days has the prince been in a coma? How many of you are left? How many enemy troops are there?”

    Xie Chao was at a loss.

    “Idiot! What else do you know?” Xu Biao was so angry that he pounded his fist on the wall, shaking the beams of the room.

    Xie Chao did not dare to say anything.

    Several other personal soldiers looked at each other.

    Yaoying frowned lightly. Her eyes signalled to her own personal soldiers to pull Xu Biao away and walked to the bed. Lowering her eyes to look at Xie Chao, the corners of her large and slender charming eyes were slightly curved, brimming with autumn water2.

    “Why are you playing dumb?” She asked.

    Xie Chao lowered his head in shame.

    Yaoying had already guessed a few things, and had mixed feelings in her heart: “Did my elder brother instruct you…. not to disturb me no matter what happened?”

    Xie Chao trembled twice and struggled to kneel down on the ground: “Forgive me, Princess.”

    Li Zhongqian was seriously injured. Before he fell into a coma, he instructed Xie Chao to immediately find the chief historian to come up with a solution after returning to the capital, and not to alarm the Seventh Princess. When he saw the Seventh Princess at the post, he threw himself at her in a moment of desperation and asked for help. Now that he was clear-headed, he remembered Li Zhongqian’s instructions and did not dare to reveal too much, wanting to wait for the chief historian to come before strategizing.

    Yaoying sighed softly.

    It was a life-and-death situation, but Li Zhongqian still thought he couldn’t get her involved.

    The nine year old him was silent, the eleven year old him was violent and gloomy, and the twenty year old him was uninhibited and unruly. But no matter which Li Zhongqian he was, he always stood firmly before her, shielding her from the wind and rain and held up a clear sky that lasted through the years so that she could grow up carefreely in the midst of the chaos.

    “You were also following orders, what was your crime?” Yaoying sighed, “Let me ask you, how did my elder brother get wounded? Was he seriously injured?”

    She emphasized, “Elder brother’s life is hanging by a thread. At present, I am in charge of the wangfu, and the chief historian also acts under my orders. Whatever I ask of you, you will answer without concealing a thing. If you delay the matter, I will only ask you again.”

    Xie Chao thought about it and answered, “Princess, the people who ambushed us were from Southern Chu! They disguised themselves as water bandits and burned our provisions. The prince pursued the enemy and was struck by their poisoned arrows, paralyzed and unable to move in less than a cup of tea3. The Southern Chu troops took advantage of the situation to come back and launch a counterattack and the prince sustained a few cuts….”

    Speaking to this point, he secretly raised his eyes to look at Yaoying. Seeing that she, although pale, was neither frightened nor in a frenzy but had a calm expression instead, and stood steadily without moving, felt secretly relieved at heart and continued on.

    “Before the prince lost consciousness, he asked me and several others to dive out of the valley for help. The prince also asked me to bring word to the chief historian that the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince could not be trusted.”

    Yaoying returned to the study and unfolded the territory map for a closer look.

    The coastal terrain along the middle of the Yangtze River was complex, with the land of Southern Chu, Wei empire and several other cutthroat forces intermingled. The location where Li Zhongqian was ambushed was close to Huangzhou, which was occupied by Southern Chu.

    Xie Chao said that Li Zhongqian was seriously wounded, unconscious, and in danger, with only a few dozen of his own personal soldiers left.

    Southern Chu had trapped them within the river valley. It was impossible for them to escape and they could not hold on for much longer.

    Even on Xie Chao’s way back, Li Zhongqian might have already met some trouble.

    Yaoying remembered what he said before he left.

    He said he didn’t care about surrendering as long as he could come back alive.

    It was easy to say, but the situation on the battlefield was beyond his control. Moreover, he was unconscious. Since Southern Chu had disguised themselves as water bandits and launched a surprise attack, it was highly likely that they did not intend to leave anyone alive.

    Not long after, the chief historian arrived in a hurry after meeting with Xie Chao.

    Yaoying asked, “Which generals in the empire are trustworthy?”

    The chief historian wanted to speak but hesitated.

    Yaoying frowned and looked at him, “Uncle Hu, what did Elder Brother explain?”

    If he hadn’t instructed the chief historian on how to deal with it, why would Li Zhongqian have asked Xie Chao to return to the capital for assistance?

    The chief historian’s lips trembled a few times, and tears began streaming down his face.

    Yaoying was stunned.

    The chief historian wiped the corner of his eyes and spoke through sobs: “Princess, there is basically no trustworthy general in the imperial court! The prince asked Xie Chao to come back, not to ask this old slave to run around for his sake, but to remind this old slave….”

    Yaoying squeezed her fingers tightly: “Remind you of what?”

    The chief historian raised his sleeve to wipe his eyes: “The prince said that if he sent his personal troops back to the capital, it was to remind this old slave to escort you away, as far as possible, without a moment’s delay!”

    The sadness that she had tried so hard to suppress crashed directly over her like a crushing wave. Yaoying nearly couldn’t bear it and her body swayed twice. She had to lean against the writing desk before she could stand firmly.

    No backward moves.

    No bag of tricks.

    No allies.

    Xie Chao’s thousand-mile journey was not to seek help, but only to make sure she could escape faster and hide farther before news of his death reached the capital.

    That  was the only thing on Li Zhongqian’s mind before he lost consciousness from poisoning.

    Yaoying gritted her teeth, tilted her face up, and held back the tears that almost flowed out of her eyes.

    Now was not the time to be sad. Li Zhongqian’s life was at stake, and she had to find a way to save him. The longer she delayed, the less hope there was.

    Yaoying spread out the paper and put pen to paper.

    The chief historian cried: “Princess, you really must go now…. the prince has even sent Xie Chao back. If you don’t go, in case something happens, how can this old slave explain it to the prince?”

    Yaoying’s writing hand had been continuously shaking, “I will write a few letters to ask for help, you send people to deliver them. Let them take my token and let them take the residence’s best horses.”

    Knowing that she could not be persuaded, the chief historian nodded tearfully. When she finished writing the letters, she immediately asked some strong servants to send them out in separate groups.

    In the afternoon, Xie Qing received the first reply letter.

    Yaoying immediately took the letter and opened it. After reading it, she sighed in disappointment.

    She continued to wait.

    Several families returned the letters one after another. Some did not reply, and a few, after seeing the wangfu’s guards at their door, immediately shut their door tightly, refusing to receive the letter.

    Yaoying opened the letters one by one, and her face became paler and paler.

    The letters only had some comforting words.

    Li Zhongqian was the biggest opponent in the eyes of the Crown Prince’s advisors. No one dared to lend a helping hand.

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Buy me a kofi for faster releases.

1 Meaning a long time; not literally twelve hours. I like the sound of half a day over any other phrasing so I’ll retain that for the future. 

2 Words used to describe a girl’s beautiful eyes.

3 Stick of incense is roughly 10 minutes.

I’ll be very busy the next two weeks, so I’ll be on a tiny break to focus on finals, graduation, and other things. I will post the sponsored chapter Monday but in general, posts will resume after two weeks. I’ll also take this much-needed time to catch up once again on chapters. I hope you all understand!