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Chapter Twelve

Ahead lay a fork in the road. Guard Yang reined in the carriage.

“Miss Meng, we’ve shaken them off. Let’s wait here for His Highness and the others.”

Meng Yuning agreed and turned to look back. Sure enough, the main party soon came into view.

Mu Yun rode ahead and drew near, clasping his hands toward her.

“Miss Meng, please step down from the carriage first.”

Thinking that Prince Shen wanted to see her again, Meng Yuning climbed down.

Unexpectedly, the moment her feet touched the ground, Mu Yun ordered two guards, “Get up there and unload all the baggage.”

One of the guards climbed into the carriage and passed Meng Yuning’s bundle out through the window.

“Miss Meng, this is yours, isn’t it? Please hold on to it for now.”

Meng Yuning took it, puzzled.

“Guard Mu, am I changing carriages?”

“No. His Highness and the Little Prince will be riding in this carriage as well.”

The guard inside passed two more bundles through the window. Another guard took them and set them temporarily on the grass by the roadside.

Meng Yuning stared in surprise, then confirmed with Mu Yun once more, “His Highness and the Little Prince are going to squeeze into this carriage with me?”

Mu Yun patiently explained, “Yes. Physician Tang will be coming too. From this point onward, we’ll split up. You and His Highness will take another road.”

After thinking it over, Meng Yuning understood. While the soldiers escorting them were still weakened by the poison and unable to give chase, they intended to help Qi Jingyan slip out of their sight as quickly as possible.

This had never happened in the story. Meng Yuning did not know why circumstances had suddenly changed, but a change meant an opportunity.

With that thought, she grew unexpectedly excited. She quickly set her bundle aside and began helping the guard unload the baggage from the carriage.

Working together, they soon emptied the half-loaded carriage. Meng Yuning leaned in and looked inside, only then discovering that without the luggage, the carriage was surprisingly spacious. It should easily fit three adults and one child.

As soon as the carriage had been cleared, Qi Jingyan’s carriage arrived as well. Mu Yun and another guard helped him down and settled him into a wheelchair. Mu Shan then lifted the Seventeenth Prince down and placed him in Qi Jingyan’s arms. The little boy was still clutching his small tiger-headed quilt.

Mu Feng climbed into the larger carriage and brought out a rolled blanket. He then entered the carriage Meng Yuning had been riding in and spread the thick blanket over the seat on the inner side.

Without wasting a moment, Mu Yun first placed the Seventeenth Prince in the carriage, then helped Qi Jingyan inside.

After climbing down, Mu Yun clasped his hands toward Meng Yuning.

“Miss Meng, please get in.”

Meng Yuning agreed, picked up her bundle, and climbed aboard. She had barely settled herself when Physician Tang came up carrying a wooden box. He shoved it beneath the seat and sat opposite her.

Once all four of them were seated, Mu Yun gave the order.

“Set off.”

Guard Yang climbed onto the driver’s bench, flicked the reins, and guided the carriage onto the narrow road to the right, one barely wide enough for a single carriage.

Meng Yuning leaned out of the window to look back. She saw only Mu Yun, Mu Feng, and Mu Shan riding behind with roughly twenty guards.

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The remaining guards, along with Qi Jingyan’s spacious carriage and the carts carrying their luggage and provisions, continued down the original main road.

With Qi Jingyan no longer in that carriage, they had no one to worry about jostling. The group accelerated to the speed of a forced march, putting every ounce of strength into the journey.

Before long, the party of more than a hundred people had vanished from sight.

On Meng Yuning’s side, one guard stayed behind to erase their trail. He cut a bamboo stalk from the roadside and used it as a broom, sweeping over the road they had traveled. Dust billowed into the air, and once it settled, the hoofprints and wheel tracks were no longer easy to make out.

Previously, Meng Yuning had ridden alone in a carriage, lying down whenever she wished and sitting whenever she pleased, entirely at ease.

Now the carriage was full, and Prince Shen sat inside with a cold expression, saying not a word. Without realizing it, Meng Yuning grew restrained. She did not look in his direction, sitting slightly turned away as she watched the scenery outside the window.

The party hurried on in silence, traveling as quickly as possible while still keeping the ride steady.

The carriage wound through the turns of the narrow road. After traveling an unknown distance, they reached the bank of a river more than thirty feet across. In the distance, a medium-sized passenger boat was waiting, with someone standing at the bow and looking out.

Meng Yuning’s heart tightened. She turned to look at Qi Jingyan.

He glanced at her.

“Do not worry. He is one of our own.”

Only then did Meng Yuning relax. Looking carefully, she saw that the man was wearing a guard’s uniform.

When he saw them arrive, the man leaped from the boat to the riverbank and strode toward them. Once he came near, he dropped to one knee.

“Your Highness, everything has been arranged.”

“Good. You have worked hard.”

Mu Feng happily stepped forward and clapped the man on the shoulder.

“Not bad. You two certainly have quick feet.”

The man was delighted as well.

“Did you see all the markers I left behind?”

Mu Feng nodded.

“We did. We followed them all the way here.”

Only then did Meng Yuning realize that this man was one of the two guards who had secretly slipped away while everyone else had been gathering wild vegetables the day before.

“Come on, aboard!” Physician Tang called. He was the first to carry his box off the carriage and hurry toward the boat.

Determined not to hold anyone back, Meng Yuning needed no prompting. She shouldered her bundle and followed him onto the boat.

Mu Feng boarded as well, carrying the earlier blanket in one arm and the Seventeenth Prince in the other.

Finally, Mu Yun and Mu Shan helped Qi Jingyan down. Since his wheelchair had been left with the main party, they carried him directly aboard.

Five more guards followed. The rest mounted their horses and drove the carriage back the way they had come. The last guard remained behind as before, sweeping away all traces of their passage.

Once the guards had ridden off, the small boat gradually pulled away from the riverbank and drifted downstream.

There was only one cabin on the boat. Mu Yun and several guards remained on deck, some rowing while others kept watch.

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Meng Yuning sat at the cabin entrance with her bundle in her arms, gazing at the towering mountains on either side of the river, unsure where the road ahead would lead.

No one spoke along the way. After roughly two hours, just as Meng Yuning’s stomach began to growl with hunger, the boat finally reached the bank. By then, the sun was already slanting westward.

Another guard had been waiting on shore. Once everyone had disembarked, he pulled from the bushes a crude sedan chair made from bamboo poles, rather like a litter, and said apologetically, “The mountain paths are too steep for a carriage, and too difficult for horses. Please bear with us, Your Highness.”

Qi Jingyan said it was no trouble. Mu Yun and Mu Feng helped him onto the litter, while Mu Shan and another equally burly guard lifted it securely. They strode swiftly along the mountain path, which was hardly even a path at all.

The Seventeenth Prince watched anxiously as Qi Jingyan was carried farther and farther ahead. He pointed with his little hand.

“Brother.”

It was a chilly spring evening in the mountains. Mu Feng wrapped the Seventeenth Prince tightly in the tiger-headed quilt and held him firmly in his arms.

“Little Prince, the road is difficult. Let Mu Feng carry you.”

With that, he quickened his pace to catch up.

One guard took Physician Tang’s box, and another took Meng Yuning’s bundle. The rest silently followed.

The mountain road was rugged and extraordinarily difficult to traverse. Meng Yuning and Physician Tang were the ones struggling most, so everyone adjusted their pace for them. They walked and rested by turns, and after about an hour, Meng Yuning’s legs had begun to tremble. At last, they stopped at a platform halfway up the mountain.

Meng Yuning planted her hands on her hips and gasped for breath. When she looked up, she saw a wooden house glowing beneath the afterlight of the setting sun.

The two guards who had gone ahead the previous day came forward and opened the door. One of them explained, “Your Highness, few people come near this place. This wooden house must have been left behind by a hunter, and no one has lived here for a long time. We searched the surrounding area carefully as well. There are many rare flowers and herbs on this mountain, and they should include the medicinal plants Physician Tang is looking for.”

Physician Tang looked around, beaming.

“This place is excellent. If His Highness can rest for a month or so in this blessed land, your legs may yet be saved.”

Meng Yuning froze and blurted out, “Then are we still going to the Southern Region?”

“We are,” Mu Yun replied. “But we’ll wait until His Highness’s leg injury has healed somewhat before setting out.”

Bone and sinew required a hundred days to mend. Meng Yuning nodded in understanding.

“That makes sense.”

It was growing late. Mu Yun and Mu Shan carried Qi Jingyan directly into the wooden house. Curious about where she would be staying, Meng Yuning followed them inside.

The moment she entered, however, she was dumbfounded. Apart from the kitchen, the entire house contained only one room. Where was she supposed to sleep?

Qi Jingyan clearly had not expected this either. He looked toward the guard.

The guard wore an embarrassed expression.

“Your Highness, time was short. Of the places we inspected, this was the most suitable, but it has only one room. We had planned to cut some timber and build another, but we haven’t had the time. We can all sleep outside; we simply don’t know how to arrange things for Miss Meng.”

Mu Feng set the Seventeenth Prince down and spread the thick blanket he was carrying over the only wooden bed in the house.

Once he had finished, Qi Jingyan was helped onto the bed. He looked around, his expression calm.

“Let Miss Meng stay inside. Find a way to make her a bed. We’ll make do for tonight. We can deal with the rest tomorrow.”

Meng Yuning was even more bewildered.

Did that mean she was going to spend the night in the same room as Qi Jingyan?