Chapter 121 Part 2

 

After the princess and Ashina set out to marry, according to the rules, the two could not meet on the way. She was protected by a reliable and strong palace guard, and the ceremonial officers would also travel with her, sleep with her, and stay by her side day and night. Surrounded by so many people, even if Ashina wanted to, it was impossible for him to openly break into Lu Wenjun’s night residence.

In order to allow Ashina to return to Beiting as soon as possible, the wedding procession took the relatively shorter but more desolate and dangerous North Road. Xuyu had travelled this road once when she first came to Chang’an.

Li Yan was still cautious at this time. Even though Chengping had managed to marry Lu Wenjun and had a very important hostage in his hand, he still did not immediately specify where they would meet. He only said through Li Meng that he hoped to meet outside Yingchou Pass, and the specific location would be decided when the time come.

Naturally, Li Meng also conveyed his master’s message that hoping that Master Pei Er would understand. It was not that he did not believe in Master Pei Er’s sincerity, but he had no choice but to do so out of self-protection.

The meeting was arranged outside Yingchou Pass, and this location was in line with Xuyu and Pei Xiaoyuan’s expectations.

Yingchou Pass was three hundred miles northwest of Chang’an, garrisoned by a stationed military force. After passing through the pass, the northern route would pass through a vast ancient plain, surrounded by dense forests, steep cliffs and deep valleys, making it an ideal place for hiding or escaping.

According to the pre-arrangement, on the eve of the procession’s arrival at Yingchou Pass, Lu Wenjun would be discreetly taken out of the posthouse, and replaced by a palace maid with a similar figure to Lu Wenjun who had been trained by Yuan Zhi as a spy and was dedicated to special affairs. The next day, the palace maid would hide her weapons, cover her face with a veil, and get on the carriage to follow Ashina out of the pass.

Yuan Zhi rehearsed the entire replacement process repeatedly and made careful arrangements in advance so as not to arouse suspicion from Ashina or anyone else.

Xuyu’s purpose of following behind was to pick up Lu Wenjun as soon as possible and send her back to the grand princess.

After setting off, everything went normal in the first few days on the road and no accidents occurred.

Xuyu didn’t know whether Chengping’s reason for proposing marriage was true—merely coinciding with the arrival of news that the old Khan was critically ill—or if it was simply a pretext of his own design. But after setting off, what she was most worried about, that he would force himself to meet or get close to Lu Wenjun, did not happen. According to the report she received, Ashina focused solely on pressing forward with the journey each day, appearing preoccupied. When they stayed in the posthouses along the way at night, he always followed the etiquette of the Central Plains and lived in in separate quarters without overstepping propriety, despite having once shared physical intimacy with Lu Wenjun.

Chengping seemed to have no intention of getting close to Lu Wenjun, which made Xuyu somewhat feel relieved. This not only ensured Lu Wenjun’s safety—preventing her from giving herself away due to nervousness—but also made it easier to deceive him after the switch at Yingchou Pass. As long as they could retrieve Lu Wenjun at the pass, the rest would be left in Pei Xiaoyuan’s hands.

Four to five days after leaving Chang’an, Xuyu and her party arrived at their destination in the evening.

A dozen miles ahead was Yingchou Pass, and beyond that, there were vast expanses of ancient plains and dense forests. Tonight, the wedding procession ahead stayed at Yingchou Posthouse. She, on the other hand, stayed at a temporary camp a few miles behind, waiting to pick up Lu Wenjun in the middle of the night, and then turned around and returned to Chang’an with the person.

It was getting dark, and she sat alone in a makeshift tent waiting for news.

To prevent the fire from causing unnecessary trouble, the camp was kept dark. The guards, holding swords in their hands, patrolled around her tent in the moonlight.

Without fire, there was no way to keep warm in the mountain forests on an early winter night. When the wind howled, the cold was no different from the dead of winter. The hand warmers brought from the previous posthouse had already become cold. Yang Zai’en, who was traveling with her, was afraid that her hands would be cold, and took out a large fox fur cape from the trunk, put it on Xuyu’s shoulders, and softly urging her to cover herself with it and take a rest first.

“These past few days, we’re travelling in a hurry. Eat and sleep in the open air. Princess, please rest assured and take a nap for a while. When Princess Funing is safely retrieved, this servant will wake you up.”

Xuyu did feel a little tired.

She didn’t know why, maybe it was because of the winter weather, but she was easily sleepy these days. But on a night like this, how could she possibly fall asleep? Even if everything had gone smoothly on Lu Wenjun’s side, even if there was nothing to worry about, she could not shake her unease. Once this night passed, that man would leave the pass. And then, he would likely have to face Li Yan’s heavily guarded forces alone, with nothing but his own wits and blade. The thought left her restless with worry.

She believed in his ability. But believing in him and caring about him were two completely unrelated feelings, not contradictory.

From the day he returned to Yongning Mansion, the two of them agreed on this plan. After she entered the palace, until tonight, it had been nearly a month. In order to confirm the rumor that “the princess and prince consort have a rift and prince consort’s position may be in jeopardy”, she endured it and never met him again. He also did not take the initiative to ask her to meet privately. The only contact between the two was the exchange messages through other people.

A few days ago, Pei Ji also sent three memorials to plead guilty for his nephew’s affairs. If it weren’t for the imperial decree that stated he could not to leave his post without permission, he would have come on his own. He also asked Prince Ning to protect him, insisting that there must be a misunderstanding, and begged the emperor to investigate again and not to convict him too early. The emperor finally seemed to waver a little, but he was still angry and still did not restore Pei Xiaoyuan’s daily activities and position. What the future holds was even more uncertain.

According to the plan, he should “bribe people to quietly leave Chang’an to come here to keep the appointment, try to sneak through the checkpoint, and discuss important matters with Li Yan.”

Xuyu knew he should be nearby, but she didn’t know where. Was he resting under an old tree covered with frost, or was he taking advantage of the moon to travel, exhausted and walking on the rugged ancient post road?

Thinking that he would go out to face the enemy tomorrow, she suddenly felt an uncontrollable frustration and longing in her heart.

She wanted to see him, very much.

It had been so long since she last saw him. Almost a month had passed, but for her it felt like a year.

Just when she was feeling restless and wanted to walk out of the tent to relieve her stuffy feelings, she suddenly heard Yang Zai’en’ familiar footsteps again. Through the tent door, she could only hear him whisper, “Princess, Prince Consort is here.”

Xuyu’s heart suddenly trembled, and she stood up from the mat, quickly opened the tent and stuck her head out. This scared Yang Zai’en, who had not yet reacted. He hurriedly took a step back and pointed her the direction.

There was a forest of wild bamboo ahead. The moon was faintly visible through the bamboo shoots. Under the forest, which was reflected by the moonlight like light snow, a figure stood quietly.

She suppressed the sudden surge of joy in her heart and almost ran towards him.

He seemed a little surprised by her reaction, and quickly took a few steps towards her.

“Why are you here?”

After meeting each other and following him into the bamboo forest, she resisted the urge to throw herself into his arms and hug him, instead asked in a low voice.

“You’re going to pick up Wenjun tonight, and I’m also preparing to leave the pass. I happened to pass by and came to see you.” He lowered his head slightly and looked at her and replied.

So he hadn’t come to see her specifically before leaving the pass. A faint sense of disappointment flickered through her heart. When she recalled the day they separated a month ago, when he woke up and raised his arm towards her, but then lowered it for some reason, the feeling of disappointment grew stronger and even turned into melancholy.

She couldn’t understand why such a trivial, perhaps entirely meaningless, gesture from that day had lingered in her mind. And now, at the most inopportune moment, it surfaced again.

But she quickly pushed aside these unwarranted thoughts. Following his words, she looked around the campsite outside the bamboo forest and said, “Don’t worry. Everything on my side has been arranged properly. There are plenty of people here, and nothing will go wrong. But you—once you leave the pass, you’ll be alone. You must be extremely careful!”

Pei Xiaoyuan knew that the person in charge on her side was Zhang Dunyi, who was sent by Han Kerang. He had served on her side several times before and was indeed trustworthy.

He was silent for a moment, nodded, then looked up at the moon hanging above the bamboo forest.

“That’s good. I’m fine, it’s time to go.

“It’s windy and cold at night. There’s still some time before the people was picked up. There’s no need to wait, go to sleep first.” He unconsciously instructed her in a very gentle voice.

Xuyu’s melancholy mood just now disappeared in an instant.

She nodded and saw two figures standing faintly outside the bamboo forest in the distance. She knew that they were his attendants waiting.

She watched him turn around and was about to leave, then suddenly called him, went up to him, and touched his hand.

He was not wearing enough clothes. In weather like this, he only wore a padded jacket and a cloak.

Just as she thought, his hands, which were always dry and warm, now felt as cold as rough stones. It was probably because of riding horse and the night wind.

She took off her fox fur cloak and put it on him.

“No need. It’s hard for me to move around in this. You can wear it.”

He took it off, wrapped the fox fur back around her shoulders, and then carefully tied its tie. She was once again submerged in the fox fur, leaving only her face exposed. She held his hands, which were busy tying her tie, in her own palms, and brought them to her mouth, blowing a few warm breaths on his fingers.

He finally laughed. Xuyu felt that he hadn’t laughed like this for a long time. There was no moon in the forest, but his eyes were clear, and when he laughed, they seemed to be shining with starlight.

His hands were really too cold. She felt bad. She looked back in the direction of the campsite, took his hand, and led him to the darker corner of the forest. Then, she guided his hands under the collar of the fox fur coat and put them into her soft and warm clothes.

“Warm your hands! It won’t be too late to go after your hands are warmer!” She stood on tiptoe, put her lips close to his ear, and whispered.

Fortunately, it was dark enough here, so he couldn’t see that her cheeks were actually slightly hot from embarrassment.

At first, Pei Xiaoyuan remained completely still, his hands stayed passively inside the warm and soft clothes. For a brief moment, they remained motionless—until, like the first stirrings of spring awakening the earth, his fingers trembled slightly before slowly withdrawing. Yet, he did not pull away entirely. Instead, his arms moved past her sides, threading beneath them to hug her.

Just like that, he held her in quiet stillness for a moment. Then, suddenly, with a brief yet forceful squeeze, he tightened his embrace—only to release her the next instant. From under the warm fur coat that was filled with her body temperature he slowly withdrew his hands and arms.

“Princess doesn’t need to worry! I’ll go first.”

He said softly, then quickly walked out of the forest and left immediately with his two attendants.

Xuyu’s cheeks were still a little hot, so she stayed in the forest for a while. Only when her mood had completely calmed down did she straighten her clothes and return to the tent.

She lay in the tent with her clothes on, eyes closed, quietly waiting for Lu Wenjun to come back. At about midnight, she suddenly heard Yang Zai’en’ voice sounding outside the tent again.

Only this time, he seemed a little panicked.

Just now, a confidant in the posthouse in the front sent a message that Lu Wenjun suddenly changed her mind and refused to leave, arguing that if the substitute was discovered early, the plan would fail. Since she had already come out, she might as well stick to the end.

“What should we do?” Yang Zai’en was at a loss for a while.

Xuyu quickly came to her senses from her surprise. Without much hesitation, she made a decision quickly.

After a moment, she quickly gathered up her long hair, changed into the clothes of a palace eunuch, abandoned her carriage, rode on her horse, and rushed towards Yingchou Posthouse ahead.

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