HXC Chapter28

Immediately after leaving the Shen Mansion, Ji Zhen abandoned his horse.

 

Firstly, riding a horse through the streets was too conspicuous, and he was afraid of revealing his whereabouts. Secondly, it had been too long since he had ridden, and his equestrian skills were truly poor. After only two hours, the inside of his thighs had been rubbed raw by the bare horse’s back, and it felt like a burning fire.

 

The distance to the ruined temple was still about three miles. Ji Zhen tried his best to ignore the skin injury and hobbled forward. He used his white cloak to cover half of his face, feeling his way along the path based on his memories from years ago—fortunately, he had been to the ruined temple many times and had not forgotten the route.

 

It was almost Youshi[mfn]5-7 PM[/mfn], and he couldn’t let Jiang Yunyu wait for him in vain.

 

Ji Zhen gritted his teeth. The sky’s canopy gradually extinguished its light, and the night wind, like shattered ice, poured into his cloak. His limbs grew stiff and cold, and even the injury on his legs were frozen numb. But no matter how difficult the road was, Ji Zhen had no thought of retreating. His elder brother was still suffering in prison, his life and death uncertain. What did his own pain amount to?

 

So this was the torment of having no one to shelter him from the wind and rain.

 

Ji Zhen’s eyes grew warm. Fearing that the hot tears might freeze on his face, he wiped them away fiercely with the back of his hand, then lowered his head and walked on, facing the cold wind by the light of the moon.

 

He lost track of how far he had walked. His head throbbed and spun, yet at last, he glimpsed the familiar eaves of the temple.

 

It was a little after Youshi by then. He was late.

 

The ruined temple was pitch-black. Only a few slivers of moonlight fell through the broken old door and the torn paper windows onto the dusty clay Buddha statue. On such a desolate and silent night, even a god who had not been worshiped for a long time looked a bit miserable.

 

Ji Zhen shivered, suppressing his fear as he slowly walked into the temple and looked around. All he saw were cobwebs and withered grass with no sign of a person.

 

He called out softly, “Jiang Yunyu…”

 

The only reply was his own echo.

 

“Are you there, Jiang Yunyu?” Ji Zhen’s voice was tinged with both panic and fear, bordering on a cry. “Don’t hide…”

 

They were no longer children who needed to play games of hide-and-seek.

 

But still, no one answered. Ji Zhen was annoyed at himself for not walking faster, and he punished himself by hitting his legs twice. He stood there, helpless and bewildered, not knowing what to do next.

 

A moment later, he started to move his mud-heavy legs toward the temple exit.

 

Zzzzzzt, a faint light was suddenly lit inside the temple. From behind him, a familiar, unruly voice sounded, “One more quarter of an hour, and I really wouldn’t have waited for you anymore.”

 

Ji Zhen spun around.

 

Jiang Yunyu stood in the faint glow of a fire stick. After half a year apart, he had grown a bit thinner and tanner, but it did nothing to diminish his confident and unrestrained demeanor. Instead, having seen real bloodshed, he appeared even more heroic.

 

This was the young general whom the world called the brave and valiant one, who had donned armor and gone to the battlefield to kill the enemy.

 

Ji Zhen stood there, stunned. In a moment, two lines of clear tears soaked his cheeks. No one at the Shen Mansion knew how terrified he had been these past few days. He had fully experienced the feeling of being isolated and helpless. Now, seeing his old friend after so many days apart, his heart was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t squeeze out a single word.

 

Jiang Yunyu strode forward, half-raised his arm, and then lowered it, simply using his sleeve to roughly wipe Ji Zhen’s face. He said with a hint of disdain, “Why are you crying? I was only hiding for a moment. It’s your fault for being so late.”

 

Ji Zhen sobbed, “I thought you had left.”

 

Jiang Yunyu mused, “I promised Brother Ji Jue that I would take you away. A great man’s word is as good as gold. Even if I had to wait until dawn, I would have waited.”

 

Hearing him mention his elder brother, Ji Zhen forced himself to rally his spirits and said with determination, “My elder brother is in prison now. If we’re to leave, we must take him with us.”

 

Jiang Yunyu was silent for a moment, then said in a cold voice, “There are only two ways to save Brother Ji Jue.”

 

Ji Zhen’s eyes lit up. “What ways?”

 

“First, break into the prison,” Jiang Yunyu said, looking intently at Ji Zhen’s darkening eyes and uttering even more treasonous words, “Second, help the Crown Prince seize the throne.”

 

The wind blew in, and the pale-faced Ji Zhen shivered, subconsciously glancing at the empty space outside the temple. He cried out in alarm, “Are you crazy? This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family.”

 

Jiang Yunyu was silent. But Ji Zhen suddenly understood what the other party meant—his elder brother had no other way out.

 

He shook his head in confusion. “Why would my elder brother, who was so loyal to the Great Heng Empire, end up like this? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he’s His Majesty’s own son…”

 

“So what if he’s his own son?” Jiang Yunyu said with hatred. “The Emperor is more ruthless than anyone. The Xue, Jiang, and Ji families were all his chess pieces, to be discarded after use. My Jiang family has a legacy of loyal service. If I hadn’t fought to the death on the battlefield and repelled the Xiongnu, I fear we would have also met a cruel end. It’s nothing more than ‘when the cunning rabbit dies, the hound will be cooked’.”

 

Ji Zhen’s eyes suddenly widened. The garbled words his father spoke before his death suddenly exploded in his ears, making his legs go weak and causing him to stumble.

 

Jiang Yunyu was quick to grab him. “Ji Zhen?”

 

Ji Zhen’s face was bloodless. He painfully covered his ears, trying to block out Shen Yanqing’s voice of “I don’t know.”

 

How could Shen Yanqing not have known? He was lying to him again.

 

“Ji Zhen,” Jiang Yunyu said loudly. “Listen carefully. I returned to the capital without an imperial edict. We must leave the city before dawn. If people in the capital discover that I’ve left my post without permission, not only will I be unable to protect you, but I also won’t be able to escape death myself.”

 

Jiang Yunyu’s voice trembled slightly. “I’m just asking you, are you willing to go with me to the northern desert?”

 

Ji Zhen’s chest tightened. He couldn’t forget his elder brother’s instructions in his letter, but could he truly feel at ease leaving his elder brother behind?

 

“You’re not willing?”

 

Ji Zhen’s thoughts were in chaos. “I…”

 

Jiang Yunyu gritted his teeth. “Could it be that you still can’t bear to part with Shen Yanqing?”

 

At the sound of those three words, Ji Zhen felt a deep-seated pain. As much as he had admired Shen Yanqing in the past, he now felt an unbearable ache.

 

His father’s death, his elder brother’s imprisonment, the fall of the Ji family, the dethroning of the Crown Prince—what part did Shen Yanqing play in all of this?

 

“Brother Ji Jue didn’t hesitate to remove you from the Ji family to spare you from being implicated. His only wish was for you to get away from this treacherous capital. Are you really going to betray all his hard work?”

 

Jiang Yunyu spoke with great weight. “Ji Zhen, don’t let my risking death to secretly return to the capital become a joke.”

 

Ji Zhen’s eyes flickered as he gazed at the gritting Jiang Yunyu, his heart filled with sorrow.

 

He shouldn’t have any more extravagant hopes for Shen Yanqing, and he certainly shouldn’t cut off the escape route his elder brother had painstakingly left for him.

 

Seeing Ji Zhen still hesitant, Jiang Yunyu said in a deep voice, “Once we are out of the capital, I will write a letter to the Jiang family and ask my father to find a way to meet with Brother Ji Jue in the Imperial Prison. As for the rest, we can make plans later.”

 

Hearing this, Ji Zhen bit his teeth hard, finally making up his mind. “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

 

Joy surged into Jiang Yunyu’s phoenix-like eyes. As if afraid that Ji Zhen would change his mind, he pulled him to the front of the Bodhisattva statue and said, “Say it again, in front of Guanyin.”

 

To extinguish all thoughts of retreat, Ji Zhen raised his five fingers as if taking an oath. “To the heaven above, and the earth below. I am willing to follow Jiang Yunyu to the northern desert, and forever…” He closed his eyes. “…never return to the capital.”

 

Cutting off his feelings and breaking with his past.

 

Their connection ends tonight.

 

He dared not profane the gods any longer.

 

—

 

“My Lord, the portraits of the Young Madam has been distributed to the search party overnight. The city gate guards are also checking everyone against the portrait before letting them pass, so we should be able to locate the Young Madam soon.”

 

As dawn was breaking, the people Shen Yanqing had sent out had searched all night but had not found Ji Zhen.

 

Ji Zhen had abandoned his horse, and the horse’s trail ended in the busy market. The guards had spent a lot of effort following the clues to the ruined temple, but there was no sign of Ji Zhen at all. In the following hours, Ji Zhen had completely vanished without a trace.

 

Shen Yanqing nodded, gesturing for his subordinate to continue his report. The brush in his hand did not stop, but the character he was writing was no longer “Quiet” but a dense repetition of the character “Zhen.”

 

“This subordinate found shoe prints in the ruined temple that do not belong to the Young Madam. Based on the length and width of the prints, we estimate they belong to a tall man. Furthermore, this person is extremely good at anti-reconnaissance. Before leaving, he wiped away all other traces. We don’t know why he deliberately left this set of footprints for us to find…”

 

The final stroke of the character “Zhen” lingered too long, letting a blot of ink spread. Yu He shot the reporter a glance, but the man carried on speaking regardless. “This subordinate believes that the Young Madam should be traveling with that man now.”

 

Shen Yanqing looked up, his dark eyes brimming with a coming storm. He considered his subordinate’s words and slowly said, “Deliberately left the footprints?”

 

The subordinate cupped his hands. “Yes.”

 

“Dispatch more people to blockade the forests around the capital, and check the portraits of everyone who pass through.” Shen Yanqing casually placed the small brush on the inkstone. “Have you found the Young Madam’s personal attendant?”

 

Yu He replied, “He is waiting outside.”

 

“Bring him in.”

 

Bound with ropes, Ji An was brought into Shen Yanqing’s study.

 

As soon as Ji Zhen left on horseback, Ji An hid in an inn in the capital, but he didn’t expect to be caught last night and brought directly to the Shen Mansion.

 

Ji An was a loyal servant. As soon as he entered, he said, “Lord Shen, just kill me. I will never reveal my master’s whereabouts.”

 

Shen Yanqing waved his hand, dismissing the others and leaving only Yu He.

 

He walked calmly to Ji An and said softly, “You are Ji Zhen’s attendant. I will not kill you, and I also don’t need to ask you where Ji Zhen went.”

 

Ji An looked at Shen Yanqing in confusion.

 

“Has Jiang Yunyu returned to the capital?”

 

Ji An was stunned and his face was full of surprise. Shen Yanqing’s guess was confirmed. His expression darkened as he continued, “Ji Zhen is going to follow him to the northern desert.”

 

It was no longer a question but a statement of certainty.

 

Seeing that Shen Yanqing already knew, Ji An’s eyes widened, and he said bluntly, “My Young Master and the Young General were childhood sweethearts. Their relationship was a match made in heaven. Now, it’s just following the will of providence. Lord Shen, you know in your heart how you treated my Young Master these past four years. Since you don’t care for him, you should let him find another suitable partner. That would be compensation for deceiving him. Why must you hunt him down and kill him?”

 

Yu He caught a glimpse of Shen Yanqing’s somber gaze and felt a sudden shock, his master was contemplating murder. He quickly stopped Ji An from saying more by scolding him, “The Young Madam’s sincerity for My Lord is as clear as the sun and moon. Don’t sow discord here. My Lord, don’t listen to his nonsense.”

 

Shen Yanqing’s lips were tightly pressed together. A moment later, he ordered his subordinate to drag Ji An out and lock him in the woodshed.

 

Yu He said, “My Lord, Ji An has a foul mouth, but he has been with the Young Madam for many years. Don’t let him get to you.”

 

Shen Yanqing said nothing. He walked back to his desk and picked up the small brush. On the new sheet of paper, he added one “Zhen” after another.

 

Just as Yu He was about to exhale in relief, he saw his master’s expression darken, as if anger was rising. The hand holding the brush paused, and then he coldly and fiercely threw the ink-stained purple brush away, splattering ink all over the floor.

 

“Pass on my order: do not give the Young Madam’s attendant any food. He will not be untied until the Young Madam returns to the mansion.”

 

Yu He swallowed hard, falling silent and not daring to offer any further advice.

 

The author has something to say:

The proud Top Scholar Shen broke down the defense three times from behind the scenes to in front of everyone: his fingertips trembling, he crushed the wooden box and then threw the brush away!