Yan Han then sighed, “What I’m most worried about is actually not this, but how both Xuan’er and the emperor have fallen for Princess Fengyi of Shangxia. It’s giving me a headache, I fear that the two of them will act out ‘brothers mulilating each other’ over a girl.”

Ning Zezhi was shocked. “Several days ago, I also heard His Majesty mention this in the court. He said General Chiyun ran to Shangxia of his own accord to capture Princess Fengyi and even wanted to have him executed to make an example. However, it’s been days without His Majesty mentioning this matter again. By the way, His Majesty still doesn’t know about General Chiyun’s real identity yet, does he?”

Yan Han sighed. “I was afraid he’d really punish Xuan’er, so I already told him about it. When I reflected back on it afterwards, it was indeed worrying.”

Ning Zezhi cupped his hands. “Your Majesty can rest assured. His Majesty the Emperor is a wise monarch, I know he won’t make things difficult for General Chiyun because of this. My heart has been thrown into chaos today, so please allow me to take my leave and meditate on it.”

Upon leaving the palace, Ning Zezhi headed straight for Commandery Prince Yan’s estate.

The instant he saw the expression on Ning Zezhi’s face, Chiyun Nan immediately knew the purpose of his visit. “Prime Minister, I see you’ve been told of Chiyun Yuexuan’s identity.”

Ning Zezhi sobbed, “I boast that our relationship has been that of a close one, yet you hide this from me for over twenty years. You have handled this matter improperly, Prince Yan.”

Chiyun Nan looked embarrassed. “The empress made a request that I could not reveal his identity to anyone else. I couldn’t do otherwise. If it hadn’t been for Xuan’er causing a big trouble this time, I wouldn’t have broken my promise and made this secret known.”

Ning Zezhi let out a long sigh. “Now that General Chiyun risks turning against His Majesty over Princess Fengyi, the situation has become so serious that I don’t know how it will end anymore.”

Chiyun Nan thought otherwise. “Xuan’er is just a bit rash. Let’s leave the juniors to resolve their own matter. I believe that His Majesty the Emperor is a wise and principled person; not to mention there’s still the retired emperor, we don’t need to worry about it. What we need to care about is how to let Xuan’er accept his identity.”

Ning Zezhi said, “I’m a mixture of joy and sorrow right now, ahhh! You also know that Yuetong is my only child ever, but she actually left me such a big pleasant surprise. My wife will be overjoyed when she knows this. About how to get Xuan’er to return to his roots, that must be discussed more thoroughly.”

——

Sitting inside the carriage, Tuoba Lan lifted the curtain. “General Huyan, how many more days until we arrive at Xingzhou? I wonder what my father make me deliver a qin so far away for.”

Huyan Qi tilted his head sideways. “We’ll be there in three days.”

Tuoba Lan was excited. “I didn’t think I could see Princess and General Chiyun again so soon. I think they are a good match. General Chiyun is handsome and strong, Princess is gorgeous; they are perfect for each other.”

Huyan Qi smiled. “So Princess still needs to thank you then, Miss Tuoba. General Chiyun wouldn’t be able to take her away if not for you.”

Tuoba Lan really laughed. “People who love each other should be together, shouldn’t they?”

Huyan Qi shook his head. “Aren’t you afraid you’d do bad things out of good intentions? As far as I know, Princess has been very cold to General Chiyun.”

Tuoba Lan pouted. “I don’t care! I only know that General Chiyun would be very sad if he can’t be with Princess.”

Huyan Qi smiled wryly. “You girls only know how to judge a book by its appearance.”

As Huyan Qi was talking to Tuoba Lan, a cloud of dust kicked up in the distance on the main road. Over ten fast horses were approaching them head-on. Then, the people on the horses stopped in front of Huyan Qi.

The leader of this group was Gao Chenghao. He jumped off his horse and cupped his fists. “What a coincidence to meet you here, General Huyan. Where are you going if I may ask?”

Huyan Qi replied with a cupping of his fists. “I’m under order to escort someone to Xingzhou. Why aren’t you in Nanjin? Do you have something important to do in this small area, Your Highness?”

Gao Chengyao snuck a glance at the carriage, just in time to see Tuoba Lan lifting the curtain. “I’ve just finished my business in Xingzhou and am going back to Nanjin. Miss Tuoba has something to do in Xingzhou?”

Tuoba Lan angrily let go of the curtain. “Do I have to report to you where I go? If you’re not in Xingzhou, then I actually don’t have to worry about the safety of Princess.”

After Huyan Qi led the cavalcade to leave, Gao Chenghao sank into contemplation. Losing track of the treasure had taken way his morale and sense of goal. He initially planned to go back to Nanjin and forget all about the treasure as well as Murong Zhining.

He originally wanted to try his best to forget about the humiliation given by Chiyun Yuexuan. Not only did the guy laugh at him for being unable to find the treasure, he also forced him to live a pitiful life without his manly function. The most infuriating was that Chiyun Yuexuan even took away his beloved woman.

It suddenly dawned on Gao Chenghao that he had only been running away. The defeat he suffered in the hands of Chiyun Yuexuan beat him down and deprived him of his bone-deep penchant to sully beautiful women. The unreconciled Gao Chenghao clenched his fists. It was time to awaken his beastly nature, and his chance for payback was right here.

——

Tuoba Lan lifted up the curtain of the carriage. “General Huyan, it’s getting dark. Why aren’t you finding a place to rest?”

Huyan Qi replied, “There are no inns nearby. We probably still need to travel for two hours to find one. You’re tired, Miss Tuoba?”

Tuoba Lan poked out her head to look around. “I’m not tired, but I feel a little uneasy for some reason.”

The guard who scouted the road ahead galloped back to report, “Reporting to General Huyan, the road about 3 miles ahead is blocked by boulders. We need some manpower to open up the way.”

Huyan Qi turned to look at Tuoba Lan. “I will go check out the situation. Please wait in the carriage without worry, there are guards in the surroundings.”

After Huyan Qi rode his horses for over a mile, he suddenly realized something was off; this was likely to be the ‘diverting the tiger away from the mountain’ stratagem. He ordered the others to keep going and open the road, while he himself rushed back to Tuoba Lan.

Huyan Qi could hear the sound of fighting from a ways away. When he arrived, he saw the dozen guards arranged here collapse one after another as they were surrounded by a group of masked men in black. Tuoba Lan’s carriage had been hijacked and led to a small path off the main road.

Huyan Qi was about to give chase when the horse under him suddenly reared and fell to the side – someone had shot an arrow at his horse. Huyan Qi rolled off and flipped up on the spot.

The other group didn’t want to fight them to the death. They only injured all of the horses so that they wouldn’t be able to catch up.

In the chaos, a masked man tossed over ten bamboo tubes on the ground. Thick pungent smoke sprayed out from the tubes, making people cough nonstop. Using the smoke as their cover, the masked men escaped towards the small path on horseback. Huyan Qi could only watch as the carriage disappeared and helplessly stamp his foot.

When the road-opening guards returned, Huyan Qi took a horse and led people to chase down the small path, only to see Tuoba Lan’s carriage not so far off on the roadside while the person supposed to be inside was missing. It was dark, and there were several branching paths at the end of this small path. The surroundings were nothing but dense fields of sorghum taller than a person. It was impossible to track down the kidnappers.

Huyan Qi sighed. One mistake ruined everything and Tuoba Lan was taken while under his charge. Huyan Qi knew very well the gravity of the situation. He quickly made decisions to send a person to report to Tuoba Zhi in Xingzhou, and split the rest into several groups to track down the paths so as to find any trace of Tuoba Lan’s whereabouts.

Lian Kun’s estate.

After the person sent by Huyan Qi reported the news to Tuoba Zhi, Yuan Dong anxiously rubbed his hands. “I have truly been careless this time, giving those thieves a chance to take away Lan’er and Phoenix Chant.”

Murong Zhining consoled him, “Please don’t blame yourself, Uncle. No one could have expected that Gao Chenghao would be so insane. Since he kidnapped her for a purpose, her life won’t be in any danger. We can think of a way to rescue her.”

Chiyun Yuexuan punched the table. “I should never have spared that mad dog. Princess is right, Miss Tuoba is in no danger for the time being. Now we need to remain still and wait for Gao Chenghao to put forward his conditions. Everybody must stay calm to keep a clear head.”

Three days passed with everyone waiting in perturbed emotions, but there was still no movement from Gao Chenghao. Tonight, Murong Zhining, Chiyun Yuexuan, Tuoba Zhi, Yuan Dong, and Lian Kun gathered for a discussion. Huyan Qi and his men took on the duty to guard the courtyard.

Tuoba Zhi frowned. “Gao Chenghao and Lan’er should have arrived at Xingzhou already. Why hasn’t he made any conditions to us yet? Will this be dangerous for Lan’er?”

Murong Zhining’s expression was solemn. “Gao Chenghao must be trying to create psychological pressure on us, making us impatient so that he can take advantage of us.”

In the middle of their discussion, a loud “dun” resounded like something hitting on wood. Chiyun Yuexuan rushed to the yard and pulled out an arrow deeply lodged into a tree trunk with a folded piece of paper at its tip.

They went back to the room and opened the paper, which wrote: ‘At midnight tonight, Murong Zhining is to come alone to the western suburbs to be exchanged for Tuoba Lan. If anyone else comes along, I’ll take Tuoba Lan’s life.’

Chiyun Yuexuan clenched his hands that were covered in sweat. “I should have taken his dog life in the first place. Indecision invariably leads to more trouble! Ning’er, I won’t allow you to take this risk. We can think of another way.”

Murong Zhining’s attitude was firm. “Gao Chenghao only wants the treasure. I won’t be in any danger. This is the only way to save Lan’er.”

Tuoba Zhi shook his head. “Gao Chenghao is cunning and deceitful. If you fall into his evil clutches again, the situation will become even harder to control.”

Murong Zhining persuaded, “Just let me go, I have my own way out. In any case, Gao Chenghao’s purpose isn’t to take my life.”

Chiyun Yuexuan furiously roared, “Princess, it’s my life you’re wanting to take here!”

Overwhelmed by this roar, everyone looked at him in unison.

Murong Zhining flushed red in embarrassment. She lowered her head. “I’ve made up my mind. You shall all abide by my words. As long as Lan’er escapes safely, I can find a way to escape myself. You guys must believe in me.”

In Murong Zhining’s room, Chiyun Yuexuan sat there, refusing to leave.

Murong Zhining reassured him, “General, rest assured that I’ll come back safely. Stop wearing such a bitter face, alright?”

Chiyun Yuexuan was enraged. “What you’re facing is a beast, Princess. You think he’ll let you reason with him? Absolutely impossible!”

Murong Zhining was even more resolute. “You also know that Gao Chenghao is an unchecked beast. If he kills Lan’er, how will I ever live with it for the rest of my life? It’d be worse than just killing me directly.”

Knowing that Murong Zhining couldn’t be persuaded otherwise, Chiyun Yuexuan remained silent.

Late into the night, draped in a lavender cloak with a lantern in hand, Murong Zhining appeared at the western suburbs. Gao Chenghao, who was hiding in the dark of the trees, smiled when he confirmed that no one else had followed her here.

Gao Chenghao walked out from the shadow, malice was visible in his eyes as he stared intently at Murong Zhining. “Princess truly never disappoints me. You’re a courageous woman, I like it.”

Murong Zhining put on a charming smile and said, “I’ve come alone as you requested to exchange for Tuoba Lan. Please act according to our agreement and release her.”