Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 44

Liu Xin, Feng Zhong, and the rest regrouped what remained of their troops, dragging themselves dispiritedly to a pavilion not far from the city gates.

The pavilion was built high up, offering a clear view of the terrain below, including the entirety of the battle that had taken place that night.

Yan Hemei and Cui Jiu were standing on the grass outside.

Inside the hexagonal pavilion, already worn with age, a figure in flowing white robes sat with his back to them behind a stone table, gently playing a seven-stringed guqin.

“Chief Steward Cui, Lord Yan…” Liu Xin called out softly, anxiously.

Cui Jiu raised a hand to silence him.

Liu Xin’s anxiety only deepened, both for the failed operation and for how the nobleman inside might respond.

Truthfully, tonight’s outcome was far beyond their expectations. After the General Feiyu departed, Assistant Prefect Yan Hemei, who was overseeing the operation, hadn’t withdrawn their forces. Instead, he had dispatched people to monitor the Crown Prince’s movements, suspecting that the so-called Fourteenth Protector might be a ruse. After all, if Prince Yan were truly adopting a new son, how could the Thirteenth Protector Jing Xi know nothing of it?

Sure enough, after leaving the Golden Lantern Pavilion, the Crown Prince and the fake Protector clashed with Prince Yan’s people. During the escape, the fake Protector was captured by Gongsun Yu, while the Crown Prince fled the city.

They had thought the matter ended there.

However, unexpectedly, the Crown Prince had turned back midway to rescue the captured man from Gongsun Yu.

It gave them a golden opportunity.

They quickly gathered their forces and lay in wait outside the city, on the road the Crown Prince would inevitably pass through.

And they did manage to intercept him.

What they never expected was the terrifying strength and ferocity the Crown Prince displayed, breaking through the encirclement with sheer will and violence, carving a path of blood as he fought to protect the fake Protector. Even now, they couldn’t forget the image of the Crown Prince wielding Shan’a, his face covered in blood, like a demonic god from the underworld. Wherever he went, gods and buddhas alike fell before his sword. It was a massacre.

Only then did they realize that the fearsome tales from the Southwestern battlefield about the Crown Prince were not mere rumors.

The music from the zither inside the pavilion began with some urgency, but gradually settled into calmness before slowly coming to a stop.

Cui Jiu immediately turned and stepped inside.

“Eldest Young Master, Family Head Liu and Family Head Feng are here. They’ve come to beg your forgiveness. But, if I may speak boldly, although tonight’s operation ended in failure, that one also acted with recklessness and a lack of discernment. For the sake of some lowborn mountain rogue, he acted with such impulsive aggression, not only getting himself seriously wounded, but also forging a deadly grudge with Northern Yan. Clearly, over the years, the Crown Prince’s temper has grown increasingly erratic, unrestrained, and self-willed.

“Prince Yan is famously vindictive. Once he learns the truth, how could the Eastern Palace expect to come out unscathed? In my opinion, the Crown Prince has cut off his own retreat just to indulge in a moment of glory.

“As for that petty thief, yes, he has some looks, I won’t deny it. But fickleness is human nature. Even if the Crown Prince is temporarily bewitched by his beauty, how long can that last? As it stands, none of the Five Great Clans and Seven Noble Houses is willing to form a marriage alliance with the Eastern Palace. If one day the Eastern Palace truly takes in such a pretty but talentless, pedigree-less rogue, it will only become a laughingstock across the empire.”

No voice replied from within, only another soft pluck of a zither string.

Yet Cui Jiu seemed to take that as permission and turned to Liu Xin and Feng Zhong at the front of the group.

“The Eldest Young Master is benevolent and understands how hard you’ve worked. He will not hold you accountable for your failures tonight. But you must be diligent from now on. Do not betray his trust.”

The two of them offered profuse thanks, deeply grateful.

***

At the inn, a retainer was already reporting the fierce battle from the night before to Gongsun Yu.

“I don’t know who those two are, but for the gentry clans of Songzhou Prefecture to go to such lengths to wipe them out, deploying such a formation, it’s not a simple matter.”

Gongsun Yu asked, “What was the final outcome?”

“They were quite formidable. They managed to escape with the young master, although it looked like they sustained heavy injuries.”

Gongsun Yu nodded.

Just then, another retainer came to report, “General Gongsun, bad news. The Thirteenth Protector has just left with his personal guards, ignoring all attempts to stop him. He said he’s returning to Northern Yan ahead of you and won’t be traveling with the General anymore. Should we pursue him?”

Gongsun Yu said, “Did the Thirteenth Protector also say he was going back to tell the Prince about me?”

The retainer lowered his head.

Unable to help himself, he muttered, “That Thirteenth Protector is too arrogant just because the Prince dotes on him. Last night, it was clearly he who lost his temper and dismissed the General’s men, which led to his capture. Now he’s blaming the General for failing to protect him?”

Gongsun Yu said nothing. He only replied, “Pack up. We’re setting out as well. The Prince’s birthday is the eighth of next month. We mustn’t be late.”

***

Xi Rong insisted on riding. After regrouping with Song Yang, Zhou Wenhe, and the others who had entered the mountains earlier with the Ice Soul, they found a hidden cave to settle in. Only then did Xi Rong allow himself to lose consciousness.

Gu Rong immediately set to work extracting the arrow and treating his wounds.

The arrow had penetrated deeply, straight through the chest. Fortunately, it had missed the heart by a small margin. Gu Rong laid Xi Rong flat, knelt beside him, pressed one hand against his chest, used a white cloth with the other, and swiftly pulled the iron arrow free. With no proper medicine on hand, he quickly foraged for hemostatic herbs, ground them into a paste, applied it to the wound, and wrapped it.

Once everything was done, he sat quietly at Xi Rong’s side, staring blankly at that blood-drained, handsome face.

He had treated injuries even more severe and gruesome back in the war camps, but never before had his heart felt so hollow and untethered.

Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe stood watch as well, both visibly anxious. Song Yang, seeing how Gu Rong’s loose robe was also stained with blood and his face speckled with flecks from the arrow extraction, said, “Young master, go clean yourself up. We’ll take care of things here.”

Gu Rong shook his head slightly. He didn’t move.

Jiang Cheng stepped into the cave with sword in hand and said, “Those gentry clans have mobilized again with large numbers of troops. They’ve started combing the mountains and might find this place soon. Lord Song, Lord Zhou, this place may not be safe to remain in.”

Song Yang and Zhou Wenhe’s expressions changed.

They had guessed that Yan Hemei, Liu Xin, Feng Zhong, and the rest wouldn’t let it go, but they hadn’t expected them to act so quickly. Even finding the cave had taken great effort. If they left now, where would they find another suitable hiding place? The small mountain courtyard where Gu Rong used to live was clearly not an option anymore. And Xi Rong’s condition was far too serious, he couldn’t endure such bumpy travel.

Zhou Wenhe stood up abruptly and shouted, “Those dog bastards, if they really dare come here, I’ll fight them with my life!”

Song Yang grabbed his arm.

“This isn’t the time for hotheadedness. Even if you lay down your life, how many of them can you kill? And sure, you can throw your life away. But what about the master?” Then he turned to Jiang Cheng. “Can you estimate how long until they find us here?”

Jiang Cheng replied, “At most an hour.”

Song Yang’s heart sank. Clearly, there was no time to delay.

If they said an hour, they couldn’t wait until the enemy was at the doorstep to flee.

But even if they did flee, where could they go in the deep, isolated mountain with no clear destination? The entire mountain seemed to be a dead end.

Suddenly, Gu Rong, who had been silent all the while, looked up and said, “I know two friends. They live deep in the remote mountains, in a place rarely touched by human presence. The path there is impassable and nearly unknown. Let’s go to them.

“But the Ice Soul cannot go with us.”

Everyone was stunned at those words.

Gu Rong explained, “Your master is too badly injured to use the Ice Soul to cure the poison right now. And once it’s removed from water, it won’t last long. Besides, keeping both the person and the Ice Soul together is not safe to begin with.”

The Ice Soul was far too important. Song Yang had been carrying it on his person the whole time. Hearing this, he suddenly realized something and quickly untied the box wrapped in thick cloth from his body.

Once the thick cloth was unwrapped, Song Yang immediately saw that Gu Rong had spoken the truth. The blue lotus was still quietly in bloom, but the ice crystals within the box were clearly beginning to melt.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t help asking, “But if we don’t take the Ice Soul with us, where should we leave it? If it’s lost, wouldn’t that ruin everything?”

Gu Rong said, “Place it in the cold pond where your master was being treated before.”

“But that’s very close to your courtyard, young master. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I actually think the young master’s idea is excellent,” Song Yang interjected. “As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is often the safest. That cold pond is like the ‘darkness beneath the lamp.’ Those people would never imagine we’d put the Ice Soul right there. The pond’s low temperature is perfect for preserving the Ice Soul. If we take it with us and the master takes too long to recover, the Ice Soul could wither before he can use it to purge the poison. That would be the real failure.”

Besides, Song Yang also agreed with another point Gu Rong had made. Carrying the Ice Soul was like carrying a vulnerable weakness. In a crisis, they would be torn between protecting the Crown Prince and protecting the Ice Soul, inevitably distracted.

With the decision made, no one hesitated further. Song Yang personally assigned the skilled Jiang Cheng to hide the Ice Soul. The rest of them would leave first, taking Xi Rong to seek out the friends Gu Rong mentioned.

After all they’d endured together, no one doubted the credibility of Gu Rong’s so-called friends. After all, the young master had lived in the mountains for years, so his familiarity with the terrain and his connections far exceeded theirs.

Soon, however, a new problem arose.

Xi Rong was unconscious and unable to ride, so someone would have to ride with him. But Wuzhuo, his horse, allowed no one else near except Xi Rong. If they didn’t use Wuzhuo, other horses wouldn’t be as steady, nor would they be familiar with Xi Rong. And those horses might not even survive the rough, treacherous mountain terrain.

As for the two fine steeds they had taken from Gongsun Yu, both were badly injured from the battle and now lay collapsed.

“Let me try,” Gu Rong said as the group hesitated. He approached the horse and gently stroked Wuzhuo’s glossy mane. Surprisingly, the horse responded with gentleness, even nuzzling into his palm.

“Good boy,” Gu Rong praised, then stepped into the stirrup and mounted.

Wuzhuo didn’t buck him off. On the contrary, it swished its tail contentedly.

Everyone looked on, stunned and disbelieving.

Gu Rong reached down to stroke the horse’s head again. Once he was sure Wuzhuo had truly accepted him, he helped the others lift Xi Rong onto the saddle.

From the high ground, they could already see flickering torchlight in the distance.

Following Gu Rong’s directions, the group made their way deeper into the mountains. To avoid pursuit, they erased hoofprints at intervals and created fake ones at forks in the road. But they knew those tricks would only confuse the enemy for a while, so they didn’t dare let their guard down.

Around midday, Jiang Cheng returned after safely placing the Ice Soul and rejoined the group.

Lingyin Mountain was vast. Traveling through the deep forests truly felt like walking between the teeth of a beast.

By dawn the next day, they finally arrived at the secluded home of Gu Rong’s friends. It was a small mountain courtyard nestled in a peach grove, surrounded by winding streams, shrouded in morning mist. It looked like a paradise untouched by the outside world.

Gu Rong dismounted and went up to knock. Only after a long pause did someone answer.

Two white-haired old men stood at the doorway. When they saw the bloodstained youth standing in the faint morning light, they looked astonished.

“Rongrong?”

“What happened to you?”

Their eyes widened further as they took in the blood all over Gu Rong.

The more impatient of the two blurted out, “Who did this?”

Gu Rong replied, “I’m fine. It’s a friend of mine who’s gravely injured. I need to bring them here to stay for a few days.”

Their expressions eased slightly, although their eyes narrowed as they glanced at the group behind him.

Song Yang, Zhou Wenhe, and Jiang Cheng had already dismounted and were helping Xi Rong down.

After a night of hardship, Xi Rong’s forehead was plastered with sweat-soaked hair, his lips and face deathly pale, drained of all color.

The older of the two men showed a trace of displeasure. “Rongrong, you know we don’t take in outsiders. Yet you brought so many without even warning us first.”

Gu Rong simply said, “Just tell me, will you let us stay or not?”

The two exchanged a glance and then finally nodded.

“Fine. Let them in for now.”

Clearly familiar with the place, Gu Rong didn’t wait for instructions. He led the group into a clean thatched hut in the courtyard, directed Song Yang and Jiang Cheng to place Xi Rong on the bed, and began inspecting his injuries.

Outside the hut, the two elders stood by the window, peering in.

One of them muttered, “Old Cen, don’t you think there’s something off about this Rongrong? Did you see his expression just now? If we’d said no, he looked ready to burn this whole place down.”

The other man shot him a glare. “I’m telling you, this spells trouble. He calls them friends, but to me, they look more like a band of desperate fugitives. If Xiao Jingming finds out Rongrong’s been mixing with this kind of crowd out there, it’ll be the end of it.”