Chapter 65: Secret Pursuit

Indeed, as the novels say, once a lady gets what she wants…

Eh?

Meng Jun’s heart skipped a beat as he secretly peeked out from the windowsill. Although it seemed something had changed with his mother, he glanced at Li Ruantang’s calm expression. Why wasn’t she anxious at all?!

Could it be that she had changed her mind?

The young gentleman’s mind was filled with various conjectures. He lingered for a while, then heard them discussing the Golden Elixir case, and immediately lost interest.

He returned to his room dejectedly, not even noticing Zhiqiu and Zhidong coming to greet him.

Meng Jun heaved a deep sigh and curled up motionlessly in his bedding. Zhidong brought some snacks and tea, but before he could lift the beaded curtain, he saw Zhiqiu gesture for silence.

Zhidong nodded in understanding. He tiptoed closer and gently placed the tray on the table. Before leaving, Zhidong glanced at the young master curled up in his blanket, looking gloomy.

He wondered what the lady had said to the young master to make him so dejected.

Zhidong pondered for a moment, then whispered to Zhiqiu, who was embroidering in the outer room, “I think it would be better to ask Lady Li to come over.”

“Let it be,” Zhiqiu replied. He had noticed the young master’s dejection, but given that something had happened in the household today, it would be better for them to keep him company for now, just to be safe.

In the bedroom, the young gentleman was angrily clutching the soft pillow he had received from Li Ruantang.

“Hmph, how can she change her mind so easily!” he grumbled.

He bit the soft pillow, pretending it was the frustrating Li Ruantang. “She was reluctant to let me go before. Indeed, as the novels say, once a lady gets what she wants, she won’t cherish it.”

“Won’t cherish what?”

The beaded curtain rustled softly. Before Zhidong could announce her, Li Ruantang’s cool voice came from outside the gauze window. She had just left the study, and Meng Xiaozhi had made an exception, allowing her to say a few words to the young gentleman before leaving.

Meng Jun was startled. He was about to get up when he suddenly remembered he was supposed to be angry. He let out a heavy snort, and fearing the lady outside might not hear clearly, he lifted the blanket, ready to repeat the snort.

However, his voice came out a bit too high. What was meant to be a cold snort suddenly sounded like a piglet’s squeal from a farm shed.

For a moment, silence fell.

The young gentleman’s face instantly turned red, and his prepared questioning tone crumbled.

Ugh, he couldn’t bear to live anymore!

“Jiu Jiu?”

Li Ruantang frowned slightly. The young gentleman before her was unlike his usual self, who would happily cling to her at the sound of her voice.

She looked at Jiu Jiu hiding in the blanket, unwilling to come out. Remembering the sound just now, she curved her lips slightly and said, “I’m leaving the capital tomorrow. If you don’t come out now, I’m afraid—”

“Leaving the capital?” The sulking Meng Jun hurriedly lifted the brocade blanket. His cheekbones still had a tinge of lingering redness, and his eyes were wide with surprise. “Where are you going?”

Before she could answer, he bent down to put on his shoes and pattered a few steps closer to the gauze window.

The figure standing outside the window smiled, “Naturally, I’m going on official business.” This matter was confidential, and she couldn’t tell the worried Meng Jun. She wanted to ruffle his hair, but was mindful of Meng Xiaozhi hiding in the shadows of the porch.

Li Ruantang looked steadily at the young gentleman who was anxiously looking up at her. “Don’t worry, I won’t be gone long.”

“Mm.” Meng Jun pursed his lips, looking at her expectantly, and hesitantly asked, “Then… will it be dangerous?”

“It might be a bit.”

Now that Prince Qing had received advance notice and left the capital, it meant there were still hidden rebels in the court. Therefore, her mission to lead troops out of the capital in pursuit was to be carried out in secret.

Li Ruantang didn’t dare make any promises to him. Moreover, if she couldn’t intercept Prince Qing at Shanlin Pass this time, as soon as she returned to her station, the Great Jin would likely be engulfed in war again.

At that time…

Li Ruantang’s heart tightened. Her Jiu Jiu was so naive. If Prince Qing successfully raised an army then, who would care about the safety of a mere male in the ensuing chaos?

Her eyes flashed with determination, but her expression softened. She reassured him, “At most, I might get some injuries. When I come back, will Jiu Jiu help blow on them to make them better?”

“You might even get hurt?!” The young gentleman’s nose tip began to bead with fine sweat from worry.

Thinking of the old scars on Li Ruantang’s back, Meng Jun felt increasingly uneasy. He nodded dazedly, his clear voice trembling slightly, “Then you must be careful. Although Mother doesn’t want me to marry you, don’t worry, during this time, I will definitely find opportunities to tell Mother all about your good points.”

“My mother is most reasonable, so when you return—” He held back his shyness and sadness, forcing a smile, “She will surely agree to our marriage.”

“Tang Tang.” The young gentleman called her softly, his eyes brimming with words he wanted to say. Those bright phoenix eyes, glistening with unshed tears, curved into a smile. “I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”

“…Mm.” Li Ruantang smiled, pressing her lips together. She was about to turn away when she seemed to remember something and turned her face to the side. “If anyone bullies you, just take out the white jade I gave you. Even though I’m not here, that jade symbolizes the Suan Qin Wang Fu, and Wei Dan will remain in the mansion, at your disposal.”

She restrained herself from looking again at the young man behind the gauze window. Before becoming his wife-master, she was already a general of the Great Jin.

Li Ruantang understood what she should and shouldn’t do. Just as she had already told Meng Xiaozhi her worst-case scenario in the study earlier.

“If this humble one cannot return to the capital smoothly, His Majesty might issue an edict for a marriage to comfort the loyal souls of Suan Qin Wang Fu. At that time, I beg Madam Meng to please intervene and find another good match for the Ninth Lang.”

She knew Meng Jun’s feelings and had never doubted his sincerity.

But if she were no longer there, the innocent young gentleman shouldn’t be the one sacrificed.

Her Jiu Jiu was so naive, he should be cherished and pampered for a lifetime.

Not thrown into the cold whirlpool of court politics, becoming a pawn of imperial grace.

The letter she had personally written was already placed on Meng Xiaozhi’s desk. Even if His Majesty had such intentions, with this letter, perhaps he would reconsider.

In any case, this was all she could do now.

As she turned past the hanging flower gate, Li Ruantang unconsciously slowed her steps. In her peripheral vision, the handsome young gentleman, wrapped in an outer robe, stood at the door, gazing at her from afar.

She let out a soft sigh and disappeared into the endless night.

*

After several nights of pursuit, each attempt ended in failure.

As they traveled further northeast, the fatigue of the soldiers became increasingly apparent.

Li Ruantang bit into a hard, dry steamed bun, already clear in her mind. Within this army, there were also Prince Qing’s spies.

In warfare, suspicion is most taboo. Yet now, she had no choice but to be suspicious. The adjutants beside her were all appointed by His Majesty, and the soldiers rushing about with them were all carefully selected elites, with the purpose of capturing Prince Qing in one fell swoop.

But now, they had failed repeatedly. Not only was morale greatly diminished, but if this continued, their rations would soon be exhausted.

If she couldn’t catch Prince Qing, she would surely not be able to return to the capital alive.

“General.” Vice General Wang bowed, bringing a topographical map. Mountains, valleys, and ravines were clearly visible. “Why does this map differ somewhat from the one we saw during the day?”

“In response to the General’s question, this topographical map was obtained by this subordinate’s men from the local government office. This area experienced a landslide some years ago, changing the terrain, hence the map has been updated.”

Li Ruantang frowned, looking again at the unfolded map. According to this terrain, it should have been a situation of catching a turtle in a jar, but after a day’s search, there was no trace of Prince Qing and his party.

She pressed her lips together in silence, and the several vice generals gathered around also fell into deep thought.

No trace meant they had found a hiding place.

Li Ruantang pondered briefly, then overlaid the two maps of the same size. The yellowed paper, illuminated by firelight, clearly showed several subtle differences.

“I see!” Vice General Wang, who had been staring for a while, suddenly had a realization. He pointed at several spots, “When we searched during the day, there were several ravines caused by landslides that were covered with weeds. The terrain there was unstable, with many rocks, so our brothers didn’t approach.”

“Prince Qing and his party must have taken this dangerous route to avoid our search!”

“Indeed, I saw it during the day too. Those ravines are deep and treacherous. One misstep and you’d be buried. It seems Prince Qing is truly desperate.”

“But General need not worry.” Vice General Wang pondered for a moment, exchanged glances with the other vice generals, and continued, “These ravines are wide at the mouth but narrow inside. If they were to hide, they’d have to go deep inside. We only just made camp at nightfall, so even if they escape from the ravines now, the only exit has already been guarded by the men General ordered to station there.”

“In this subordinate’s opinion, they’re simply at the end of their rope.”

“Even so, we can’t be careless. These past few days, Prince Qing has been escaping as if divinely aided. If we can’t capture them in one swoop and they continue forward, they’ll pass Shanlin Pass. Once they enter their territory, it won’t be as simple as pursuit anymore.”

Li Ruantang’s expression turned solemn as she made detailed arrangements for the troops. Every ten paces a sentry, with beacon fires as signals.

Outside the tent, the soldiers were dutifully on guard.

Li Ruantang didn’t sleep well that night. She tossed and turned several times, and after much thought, she finally sat up and spread out a letter paper by the last bit of candlelight.

In her many years of military service, this was the first time she had written a family letter. She wondered what expression her silly Jiu Jiu would have when he received this letter.

Just thinking about it softened Li Ruantang’s expression. She bent over the desk and wrote for a long time, but in the end, only wrote two simple characters: “Safe and sound.”

Before putting the letter into the envelope, she hesitated again. If the young gentleman eagerly opened it and found only these two characters…

Li Ruantang chuckled, as if already seeing his sullen expression. She pressed her lips together to suppress her smile, then picked up the brush and very seriously added one more sentence to the letter.

As the wax seal fell, Li Ruantang called for Vice General Wang and very solemnly handed her the letter. Before she could instruct which mansion to send the letter to, outside the tent, beacon fires were lit in succession.

Li Ruantang suddenly stood up.

“General, Prince Qing’s troops have been spotted at the exit!”

The vice general was extremely excited as she hurriedly reported. According to the previous deployment, Vice General Wang and her troops were left behind for support this time.

In the pitch-black night, torches lined up and quickly surged towards the exit.

Prince Qing’s troops seemed to have been weakened while hiding in the ravines. After several battles, many were begging for mercy.

Li Ruantang frowned slightly, feeling that everything was going too smoothly, especially since Vice General Yan, who had been following Prince Qing, was also captured.

She kept saying that a soldier could be killed but not humiliated, yet inadvertently revealed the direction of Prince Qing’s escape.

Now, Li Ruantang had few soldiers behind her.

She raised an eyebrow and gripped the reins tightly. The mountain wind blew painfully against her face.

Li Ruantang took the torch from the soldier behind her, sharply spurred her horse, and galloped into the deeper darkness of the night in pursuit.

“General!”

“It’s fine!” Her voice carried faintly on the wind, “You all return to the main camp first.”

Military orders were as weighty as mountains. The soldiers escorting the prisoners dared not disobey. They turned back as instructed. On the rugged mountain path, no one noticed that Vice General Yan, who was tightly bound, suddenly flashed a smug smile on her dejected face.