The morning sunlight spilled across the earth, the thin mist was dispersed, and the dew-stained grass leaves slowly unfurled.
On this crisp autumn morning, a small boat was sailing downstream along the river. In the small vanguard boat were three people, two men and a woman, who appeared to be Dai Li and Qin Yanzhou, who had escaped from the tilting multi-story boat, and... Bai Jianping.
Bai Jianping sat cross-legged at the bow of the boat, resting his chin on his hand, in a daze.
The situation had been urgent last night, the firelight had dimmed as the boat sank, and the surroundings were pitch black. It was difficult to distinguish the people who had fallen into the water from those who had escaped by boat, and the scene was in utter chaos.
Not long after the two ships collided, he woke up as if from a dream, immediately abandoned everything, and set his mind on finding the mistress. Not to mention, he was lucky and quickly found her—
At the time, the mistress was boarding a small boat.
He immediately boarded the same boat with her, and later there were water bandits trying to board the boat, the chaos of which need not be mentioned. Anyway, by the time he came to his senses, he realized that in addition to him and the mistress, there was only one soldier on the boat.
The small boat circled the two sinking multi-story boats, and soon after they met the second young master. The space on the vanguard boat was limited, so the soldier had to take another boat.
Later, the river mist thickened, and in order to avoid the water bandits, they somehow got separated from the other boats.
Having held it in all night, Bai Jianping finally couldn't help but ask, "Mistress, you actually did this on purpose, didn't you? You clearly knew early on that you would encounter water bandits blocking the way, but why didn't you reveal anything to me? I have served the Marquis for more than ten years, am I not worthy of your trust?"
Dai Li shook her head and said, "Platoon Commander Bai is mistaken. They are not water bandits, they are believers of the Green Lotus Sect."
Bai Jianping's body shuddered.
Dai Li smiled and sighed: "That small leader of the Green Lotus Sect is cunning and highly suspicious. If I set up a trap with great fanfare, he definitely wouldn't come. At first, more than forty people traveling by water wasn't a lot, and later less than thirty people sharing a large multi-story boat was indeed few, but how can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den?"
"But..."
Dai Li added: "It's not that I don't trust you, quite the opposite, it's precisely because I trust Platoon Commander Bai to this extent that I dared to act so boldly. You see, aren't we all safe and sound now, everything is fine."
Bai Jianping felt that this made sense, but something still didn't seem right.
Dai Li ended the previous topic, "Zhou Zhou, let's dock here, and then we'll walk to find a place with people nearby."
Bai Jianping turned around and saw that the mist had cleared a lot, and the river was bright and open. Let alone people and boat shadows, even birds were rare. Their small boat sailed downstream, leaving light ripples on the peaceful river.
The young man rowing the boat heard this and slowly steered the small boat to the shore.
Bai Jianping sat at the bow of the boat, he was the first to get off, and then turned back to help Dai Li ashore. And when he went to help Qin Yanzhou, he didn't expect that the young man had just stood firm when he suddenly struck him on the back of the neck with a hand chop while he was turning around.
This blow was fast, ruthless, and accurate, making Bai Jianping's eyes widen. Before the shock in his eyes could dissipate, he fell forward with a "boom".
Dai Li turned back to the boat and took out a hemp rope prepared in advance from an inconspicuous box.
Qin Yanzhou suddenly said, "Mom, I plan to take off his clothes before tying him up, this will buy us more time, so leave the rest to me."
Dai Li: "..."
Dai Li looked at her serious son, touched her nose, and felt that this child was not purely cold in nature, but also had a lot of bad ideas in his stomach.
Well, like his father.
Dai Li: "Okay, I'll leave it all to you, I'll wait for you ahead."
After Dai Li left, Qin Yanzhou took Bai Jianping to a place far away from the water bank, and then stripped him clean, not even leaving a pair of underpants.
After tying his hands firmly, he pulled out a rope and tied him to a tree trunk, and finally Qin Yanzhou took away the pile of clothes, but left a small dagger not far away, out of Bai Jianping's reach.
This was the only thing he left behind.
Wild beasts lie low during the day and come out at night, and this place is not far from Xin Commandery, so there is no need to worry about this naked Platoon Commander Bai being carried away by wild beasts.
*
After the golden crow rose to the middle of the sky, it slowly slanted westward.
Horses' hooves rumbled, and a hundred iron cavalry kicked up dust on the official road. The leading man was burly and stalwart, with deep eyebrows and eyes. He was majestic and upright while riding, making people look at him with awe. Any merchant caravan they encountered quickly made way.
He was travel-worn, his eyes were full of red blood vessels, and he hadn't shaved for an unknown amount of time, with a layer of stubble on his jaw.
At the city gate, commoners were whispering:
"Have you heard? There's a bandit infestation on the Min River between Wuwen and Xin Commandery!"
"How could I not have heard? My third granduncle's brother-in-law is a boatman, and he said that a multi-story boat collided on the river last night, and a loud noise was heard from far away. Tsk tsk, these water bandits from who knows where are really rampant, but they were unlucky, kicked an iron plate, and capsized in the gutter."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It is said that there was a noble on the hijacked multi-story boat, and the noble brought many private troops on the trip, all of whom were strong and powerful, no less than the soldiers of the government office. When these two groups of people met, didn't they break each other's heads? In short, the water bandits didn't gain any advantage."
"Heh, you speak with such certainty, but how do you know the water bandits didn't gain an advantage? Those white stripes on the waves floating on the river are the most cruel and familiar with water nature."
"Do you think I'm lying to you? Of course it was the floating corpses on the river that 'said' it! And today, when it was just dawn, I met a few men soaking wet on the road. I reckon they are mostly private troops of noble families."
The commoner touched his chin regretfully, "I thought they wanted to take my donkey cart to Xin Commandery, so I could take the opportunity to earn a few copper coins, but I didn't expect them to just ask for directions and then turn back. I guess they are going back to the place of the incident."
Qin Shaozong listened to the floating whispers and looked in the direction of the sound. It turned out to be two coachmen gathered together talking in low voices.
They were now at the west city gate of Xin Commandery, waiting to enter the city, and must have come from the east like him.
Qin Shaozong thought for a moment and immediately made a decision, "Mo Yanyun, you lead a team of men to enter the city first to visit the local governor, and I will lead men back."
If nothing unexpected happens, his wife was supposed to arrive in Xin Commandery today, which is why he rushed straight here. But looking at it now, he was a step too late, and some things had already happened.
Mo Yanyun received the order and led a team of men into the city.
Qin Shaozong turned his horse around and planned to lead men back. As a result, after riding for less than a mile, he met a... beggar.
At first, Qin Shaozong didn't pay attention to this person. After all, the person had disheveled hair, was bare-chested, and only had a piece of ragged sackcloth that was about to fall off wrapped around his waist. He wore a pair of extremely sloppy straw sandals that exposed his big toes, and coupled with his rough skin and dark complexion, it was really hard to shake off the identity of a refugee.
But as it happens—
"Marquis!" A sound like a cuckoo weeping blood.
Not to mention Qiao Wangfei beside him, even Qin Shaozong, who was often unperturbed, was startled.
Gazes fixedly looked over.
"Old Bai?" Qiao Wangfei was dumbfounded and kept asking questions, "How did you end up like this? I heard that there are water bandits making trouble nearby, could it be that those water bandits are so poor that they even begrudge leaving a set of clothes?"
Bai Jianping was overwhelmed with mixed feelings, but just then a breeze blew past. He immediately stopped caring about spilling his bellyful of sorrow and hurriedly tugged down the torn sackcloth around his waist, which had been blown up by the wind.
But his buttocks were still chilly.
A merchant caravan passed by, and a child sitting on a cart said to his father beside him, "Daddy, that man is not wearing pants, shame on him!"
The father hurriedly covered the child's mouth, "Children's words carry no harm, please don't take offense, sir."
Bai Jianping: "..."
"Bai Jianping, where is Madam?" Qin Shaozong asked in a deep voice.
Bai Jianping tugged at the rag he had managed to beg from a traveler while giving a concise report of last night.
He started from when Dai Li came looking for him to say there was something wrong with the incense burner in her room, and then talked about the boat collision and the melee that followed, and finally how he was knocked unconscious.
Bai Jianping was both aggrieved and shocked. After explaining everything, he couldn't help but ask: "My Lord, why do you think Madam did this?"
He had thought about it all day and still couldn't figure it out.
Her husband was rising step by step, the backyard was peaceful, and Madam's position as the legitimate wife was as stable as Mount Tai; while her own son had made extraordinary contributions in the army, making all the gentlemen look at him with new eyes, and the soldiers praised him incessantly.
Her future was bright, so why would she abandon the light for the darkness?
No, you couldn't say she abandoned the light for the darkness. If the person killed last night was indeed the leader of the Green Lotus Sect, then Madam could never have joined the Green Lotus Sect.
Qin Shaozong's face grew colder and darker, "Where did you wake up this morning? Take me there immediately."
A clever soldier hurriedly gave his clothes to Bai Jianping, who didn't care about being in public and put on the top first, then quickly pulled on the sackcloth to serve as pants.
Qin Shaozong rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
Bai Jianping got on his horse, "My Lord, that place is by the riverbank, an area unreachable by official roads. The last stretch into the mountain forest cannot be ridden on horseback. And when I woke up this morning, I didn't find any trace of that small boat, so it's not impossible that Madam and the Second Young Master took the waterway."
Hearing this, Qin Shaozong called Qiao Wangfei's name, "There is a ferry crossing in both Xin Commandery and Wuwen County. You are fully responsible for the search of these two ferry crossings. Remember to be careful and would rather catch the wrong person than let them go."
Qiao Wangfei cupped his hands and took the order.
Qin Shaozong added: "Hu Bao, lead people to strictly screen the city gates in the southeast, northwest, and four directions of Xin Commandery."
Hu Bao took the order.
The team was divided into another part.
When Bai Jianping trekked over the mountains and ridges on foot, it took him almost a whole day to reach Xin Commandery. Now they rode horses, first taking the official road, then abandoning the horses and entering the mountain forest, taking less time.
However, by the time Qin Shaozong arrived at the place where Bai Jianping woke up in the morning, the sky was already completely dark.
They held torches and walked with the fire.
The flames illuminated a corner of the forest, and everything under the firelight was ordinary. Ordinary bushes, ordinary dead leaves, ordinary vines, everything was as ordinary as could be.
Bai Jianping hesitated for a moment, but finally said: "My Lord, it is dark now, why don't we take a short rest? The only towns nearby are Xin Commandery and Wuwen. It's only been a day, Madam and the Second Young Master couldn't have gone far. Let's rest and build up our strength first."
Qin Shaozong looked around the forest, his eyes narrowed slightly, "Is there a village nearby?"
Bai Jianping really knew the answer to this question.
When he heard that Dai Li was taking the waterway, he felt inexplicably uneasy, so he studied the map for a long time, looking all the way from the Min River to the geographical terrain and population gathering places near the waterway.
Because of this, even though he was thrown into the wilderness, he was still able to walk to Xin Commandery as quickly as possible.
Bai Jianping raised his hand and pointed in a direction: "There is a small village just behind that mountain. I happened to meet a convoy today and asked them about the size of the village. They said the village is very small, with no more than fifty households."
A small population meant that once a stranger entered the village, the whole village would know about it in no time.
Bai Jianping tried to persuade Qin Shaozong again, "My Lord, if we don't rest, the soldiers and horses won't be able to hold on..."
The men were fine, but every one of the military horses ridden by the Xuanxiao Cavalry was a top-quality breed. He had followed Qin Shaozong in battles across the country on horseback. Compared to the prominent families sitting high in the temples of Chang'an, Bai Jianping, who came from a humble background, cherished horses very much.
Qin Shaozong said indifferently: "The ones in the team are basically the soldiers escorting Madam."
He took the official road and met the land-traveling team that had separated from Dai Li midway. Qin Shaozong then changed shifts, and the soldiers and horses that had followed him from Chang'an all stopped to rest, and the ones accompanying him were replaced by the more than a hundred people from the land-traveling team.
It could be said that except for the generals, everyone else had rested and was not exhausted.
Bai Jianping choked and tried to persuade Qin Shaozong to take care of his health.
Qin Shaozong turned a deaf ear, called ten people, and ordered a squad leader to lead the team to the small village overnight.
"This place is in the middle of nowhere. If Madam doesn't go to the small village, the only options are Xin Commandery and Wuwen. And Xin Commandery is closer than Wuwen, and it is already strictly guarded. Once Madam and the Second Young Master enter the city, it won't be easy for them to leave quietly. A bow kept drawn for too long will lose its strength. It's just one night, why don't you take a rest? If you fall ill, My Lord, there will be no one to command, which will instead delay the progress." Bai Jianping tried to persuade him earnestly.
Qin Shaozong let out a breath of stale air and finally said, "Let's rest here for the night."
Bai Jianping was overjoyed.
They returned to meet up with the squad guarding the horses. The soldiers scattered to gather firewood, built a fire by the official road to keep warm, and made do for the night in the wild.
Qin Shaozong leaned against a tree and sat down. His face was weathered and his eyes were bloodshot. It had been two days since he last slept. The soldiers around him were sleeping haphazardly, some even snoring, but he didn't feel sleepy at all.
The fire burning in his heart was still burning, not stopping for a moment, as if it was going to burn holes in his internal organs.
Qin Shaozong looked up at the bright moon in the sky.
The bright moon hung high, its light shining brightly, shining on him, but not only on him.
So far away, out of reach.
Qin Shaozong slowly closed his eyes, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist, his long fingers tapping it rhythmically.
It takes three days and two nights to travel from Wuwen to Xin Commandery by waterway. If she continued to travel west by boat, she would arrive at the Xin Commandery ferry crossing this afternoon.
But she probably wouldn't take the waterway.
The reason was simple. After she disappeared, Zhang Danchen, who was on another tower ship, would definitely send people to look for her on the Min River. And the vanguard boat had no sails, so its speed couldn't compare to a boat with sails. If she continued on the waterway, she would inevitably be caught up by those behind.
As for the village, although he sent a team of people there, Qin Shaozong privately felt that the chances of that fox going there were very small.
A village with fifty households was too small. Any stranger entering could not hide the news, so it was definitely not a good place to go.
He took the land route, which was the official road, from Chang'an through Wuwen County, and finally to Xin Commandery. After meeting that land-traveling squad, every large or small team he encountered next was strictly inspected, but there was no trace of her. From this, it could be seen that the fox definitely didn't go in the direction of Wuwen.
If she didn't turn back, she could only go to Xin Commandery, and then change her route from Xin Commandery to other places.
But just to be safe, he had to have people search the nearby mountains tomorrow.
His only advantage was time.
*
Dai Li and Qin Yanzhou arrived at Xin Commandery at noon.
Instead of going straight to the ferry crossing to transfer, Dai Li took her son to a medical clinic first.
Qin Yanzhou had not rested for a single moment last night. Between scaling heights to scout the enemy's movements, charging into battle with his blade drawn, and eventually falling into the water, he had been through a lot. When Dai Li later examined her son, she found two blade wounds on his body. Consequently, as soon as they entered the city, she took him straight to the medical clinic to get his injuries treated first.
Once they left the clinic, the famished mother and son made a detour to an eatery to appease their rumbling stomachs.
As winter approached, the days grew shorter and the nights longer. By the time Dai Li and Qin Yanzhou emerged from the eatery and purchased two new sets of travel gear for their long journey, the sun was already setting in the west. It was simply too late to leave the city now.
Exhausted, Dai Li massaged the space between her eyebrows. She had slept very little the night before, and her son had not rested at all. Thus, she made a decision: "Let's stay at an inn for the night and set off early tomorrow morning."
Following her "disappearance," the main convoy would undoubtedly search the river for her, perhaps even sending word to the overland group to join the search. Since all their time would be consumed by the search effort, they certainly would not head straight for Xin Commandery.
By the time they regrouped with Bai Jianping, she and Zhou Zhou would be long gone from Xin Commandery. As for the reinforcements from Chang'an, she had previously estimated that they were still about two days away...
Therefore, leaving tomorrow morning would leave her and Zhou Zhou with more than enough time.
Or so Dai Li thought to herself.