Chapter 56

Amidst the ancient path overgrown with wild grass, the setting sun slanted down, and a weary old horse slowly approached, with a person almost lying on its back.

Sujingxian, covered in wounds, felt that he would collapse at any moment, yet he was still fleeing. It was already a miracle that he had made it this far.

"Changsheng, if you are captured, you must find a way to survive."

"If you can't hold out, try to tell them everything."

"You can start with things that don't matter, then gradually tell them what you know and what you can fabricate."

"Try to be as evasive as possible, and make as many demands as you can, even the most trivial ones."

"This way, they will gradually believe you, and you can buy some time."

"Nobody will blame you for this."

I can't hold on much longer, he muttered to himself, almost delirious, as he buried some blood-stained bandages in the soil.

A moment later, the mastiffs, following the scent, dug up the waste he had hastily buried.

"Can he keep running like this? He won't be able to hold out, will he?"

A man in a green robe on horseback.

"If he collapses halfway, all our efforts to help him escape will be in vain."

"Don't worry, we have already thoroughly examined his condition before he left."

"At worst, we can arrange for some 'well-intentioned patriots' to assist him when he gets closer to the city."

"The higher-ups have increased their investment, and we need to expedite operations in both Xuzhou and here."

"The cause and effect of this incident have been determined by the authorities in Luoyang to be the result of the Southern Dynasty rebels' long-term planning."

"Perhaps through this, we can root out the rebels and clear the way."

"Is it preliminarily classified as the Southern Dynasty rebels' instigation? This is the response of the conservative faction around the Grand Chancellor."

Zhang Dekun, the留守 of Luoyang, who was in his residence, had just drunk a cup of sweet wormwood tea and couldn't help but applaud.

"Although we can't remove the Grand Chancellor, this is enough to provide a pretext for most people."

"With this, the precedents of the Zhou Emperor and Emperor Xian can be maintained."

"It just depends on whether the Grand Chancellor's sons will agree."

As a nephew whom the Grand Chancellor greatly appreciated, Zhang Dekun was very clear about his position. With the Grand Chancellor in his prime and his numerous descendants in their prime, his greatest value was to serve as a mediator between the founding heroes of the dynasty, like the Duke of Jiangxia, Li Daizong, and the virtuous princes of the Tianbao, Qianyuan, and Taixing eras, like the Duke of Hanzhong, Li Yu.

Therefore, he had the most appreciated, neutral, and detached stance, which could provide a role in maintaining the balance for a family of ministers who were just one step away from the pinnacle of power.

Thinking of this, he suddenly frowned. It seemed that the other possibility in the alley needed more manpower and resources to be resolved quickly. He hoped that the pursuit he was leading would not become a pretext for the two major factions around the Grand Chancellor to vie for power.

In that case, even a single cavalry commander like Jin Qiude would not be enough.

"Someone!"

He called out loudly.

In the inner residence of the imperial city of Luoyang, reserved for the most favored and important ministers, Gao Qian, a member of the Council of State and a Censor-in-Chief, sat silently with a cup of tea as the Minister of War, Yang Sizhuan, visited.

"Lord Gao..."

But Yang Sizhuan was undeterred and continued to urge him.

"Your Excellency, as a pillar of the state, you must not be misled by the ambitious and impatient younger generation."

"The Grand Chancellor will make his own decisions, which are not for us to interfere with."

Gao Qian finally managed to say this slowly, and Yang Sizhuan became anxious.

"Lord Gao, this is not the time to be self-righteous. The Grand Chancellor still has the ambition of Wei Wu, but his descendants already have the mindset of Wei Wen."

He raised his voice, his face flushed.

"But the shift in the fate of the empire cannot be achieved by mere flattery and persuasion."

"The hearts of the people in Luoyang and the empire are not as simple as they seem."

"The central provinces have not been fully subdued, the frontier regions remain defiant, and the threat from the Southern Dynasty is still close at hand."

"The current emperor's legitimacy is not so easily abandoned."

...

The dark, uneven ditch, filled with the stench of mud and other foul odors, reminded me of some unpleasant memories of Luoyang.

The city was still on high alert, being a heavily garrisoned area and a front line in a certain sense, with various daily security measures in place.

I had to crouch or lie in the mud several times to avoid the increasing footsteps and shouts overhead.

I was relieved that there were no bloody limbs or organs floating by. Suddenly, a pile of things was dumped on my head. Although I dodged quickly, I still got covered in the stench.

I hope she can escape, I consoled myself, not very confidently. The last thing I saw was her gathering her remaining strength, jumping back onto the wall amidst the smoke and heat.

She also cut down the traitor who had been shot in the back by an arrow, like a butterfly with broken wings, falling back down.

I shook my head, trying to push the image of her looking at me from a distance out of my mind.

I need to take care of myself first. The Red Tiger's desperate charge was surprisingly effective, not only scattering the pursuers but also causing a fire in the ambush on the opposite street, which spread to the market.

Even if the government troops were slow, they couldn't ignore this. Even with inside help, they couldn't explain it away. The search for suspicious individuals was already underway.

The uneven ditches finally disappeared, and I slipped into the river. The swimming skills I had developed in the southern seas were equally useful in the calm, small river. The water was still cold in early spring, and the moss on the riverbank was slippery, but these were no obstacle to me.

The flowing river washed away the dirt and most of the stench from my body. The small boats that occasionally stopped to ask questions became my best cover. I was right not to climb onto the boats, as I saw several times people being detained and questioned because of unfamiliar faces or accents.

Some of them, with questionable identities or guilty consciences, were chased or fought back, but the result was usually either being captured by the well-trained government troops or becoming a floating corpse in the river.

To avoid the noise on the shore, I almost got lost in the web of canals. By relying on rough memory and the sounds of people on the shore, I finally found my direction and didn't succumb to the cold in the unnamed canal.

When I saw the familiar scenery on the shore, I was suddenly choked by a current. After coughing up the water, I saw something familiar hanging on a pillar of a riverside house.

"Damn it..."

The probability of encountering the same person twice in a day in such a large city is so slim. In my previous life, I might have bought a lottery ticket or taken a bath with pomelo leaves to wash away this persistent bad luck.

To be honest, I've never had good luck with this woman. Danger and violence always follow her, and I feel like I'm slowly sliding into a pit of self-destruction.

When she saw it was me, she seemed to drop her last bit of resistance and lost consciousness, sliding off the pillar and slowly sinking into the river.

Alright, I took a deep breath and dove down. In the not-so-deep, dark riverbed, I saw her with her arms outstretched, as if reaching for warmth, her eyes closed, her black hair flowing in the distorted current, like a flower blooming in the water.

I couldn't help but think of the lyrics of an old song:

"Like a flower in the water, beautiful but unattainable."

"Like the scent of a flower in the wind, fleeting and ephemeral."

The pain of a beautiful woman's death had already happened once before me. Could it happen again? With this conflicted feeling, I endured the pressure and dizziness, swam to her, and embraced her cold body, kicking off the soft riverbed and swimming upwards.

It felt good to be back in fresh air, but the body in my arms was gradually becoming cold and stiff. Then, I saw the dark shadow of a pagoda and felt relieved. It was not far from Puning Temple.

However, swimming with someone made the last stretch particularly difficult. I slipped off the stones on the shore several times, my fingers hurting terribly, but I didn't know what I was holding on to.

I am a greedy person, but to see a girl I liked die in front of me was something I couldn't bear. After a long time, the sky had darkened.

When I almost collapsed onto the water steps at the back of the temple, I first pulled open her torn chest, revealing her still full breasts, and listened for a heartbeat, which was almost non-existent.

I pressed her chest, opened her pale lips, and blew air into her, but there was no response. I felt like crying and cursing, "Damn it, is this the result of all my efforts?"

I wanted to push her body back into the river, but then I thought that at least I could prevent her from being desecrated by others.

With my last bit of strength, I knocked on the back window of the temple room.

Soon, the window opened, revealing a small face, both anxious and angry. I managed to smile at her, then collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to get up.

A moment later, listening to the sound of the official boats patrolling the river, I was wrapped in a blanket, suppressing sneezes, feeling the warm, spicy water in my stomach, and still feeling scared.

The girl behind me was applying medicine, rubbing ointments on the places I couldn't reach. She suddenly hugged me from behind, as if she had found something lost, like the time we huddled together in the forest, relying on each other's body heat for warmth.

Then I heard her sobbing.

"I promise, I won't put you in danger again."

I felt guilty, looking into her tearful eyes, and hugged her tightly, as if trying to melt her small body into mine.

Her body suddenly stiffened, her pupils dilated in fear, and she opened her mouth but could only make choking sounds. I tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry, whatever it is, I'm here."

---

(End of the page)