Yang Hu had barely chased for any distance when he saw the figure of horse and rider ahead completely disappear into the night, vanishing from sight.
Jiang Hanyuan galloped wildly, racing in one breath to Iron Sword Cliff more than ten li away. Reaching the end of the road, she finally stopped.
She released her horse, climbed to the cliff top, and stood at the cliff’s edge.
In the Yanmen Xixing Pass, the cliff faces were mostly black rock. On clear days, viewed from afar, they resembled rows of iron mountains. The slope where she now stood was the same, named Iron Sword Cliff for its towering height.
Tonight, dark clouds covered the sky with no moon overhead and no starlight.
Facing the deep autumn cold of the borderland night wind, she stood alone for a long time, then suddenly kicked off her boots, embraced a stone, and leaped down into the cliff below.
This was a place she had frequented since childhood. She had jumped from here countless times. Below was a spring pool, and at this moment, the water surface was pitch black, like a giant’s mouth opened from the earth’s surface.
She fell like a stone into the water, sinking straight down to the pool’s bottom, deep as the underground.
The world became completely silent at this moment, and her heart seemed to stop beating entirely.
She closed her eyes and curled tightly into a ball at the bottom of the water, like a fetus hidden deep in its mother’s womb, lying perfectly still.
After a long while, Jiang Hanyuan suddenly opened her eyes, released her limbs, and with her bare toes touching against the nearby rocks, her body rose swiftly from the bottom like a nimble snake.
With a splash, she suddenly broke through the water’s surface.
She casually wiped the water from her head and face, put her boots back on, whistled to summon Tianlong, mounted up again, and galloped away.
At dawn, Yang Hu led men to find this place. On the ground by the water’s edge, they saw a line of characters carved with a knife point:
“Do not seek.”
With Virtuous Prince Shu Yun still present, Jiang Zuowang privately summoned Fan Jing back for consultation.
Fan Jing was originally from Jiang Hanyuan’s maternal family and had come over more than ten years ago. He regarded Jiang Hanyuan as his young master, and his loyalty to her probably exceeded even that to Jiang Zuowang. Naturally, there was no need to hide this matter from him.
Only now did Fan Jing learn the purpose of Virtuous Prince Shu’s northern journey. The shock in his heart can be imagined.
“The Grand General agreed?”
He was utterly astonished. The words had barely left his mouth when he realized his mistake.
The other party held regency over the court, essentially no different from the emperor himself. With such matters, once broached—and with Shu Yun coming personally—what room did a general have to refuse?
Moreover, thinking further, though this matter was sudden, there was nothing particularly strange about it.
The founding High Ancestor of this dynasty had originally been a northern feudal lord. Decades ago, using the lands of Qin and Yong as his base, he established the foundation of the state during the great chaos of mutual conquest. Subsequently, the succeeding Sage-Martial Emperor was even more brilliant in talent and strategy. During his twenty-plus-year reign of southern campaigns and northern battles, he finally eliminated the last separatist power more than ten years ago, completely ending a century of war and division to unify the realm.
But simultaneously, the prolonged internal strife in the Central Plains had given the northern Beidi people an excellent opportunity for southern invasion.
At that time, the north was dominated by two great nations—Wei and Jin—divided by the middle reaches of the Yellow River, with Wei to the west and Jin to the east. Between Wei and Jin, there had originally been protracted tug-of-war confrontations, but later, as the Wei state continued to rise, the Jin Emperor hoped to ally with the northern neighbor, Beidi, to help resist Great Wei. Facing Beidi encroachment, he repeatedly retreated and fed the wolves with territory. In the end, not only did he fail to preserve his foundation, but the major territories of Shuozhou, Hengzhou, and Yanzhou, which had originally served as Jin’s northern gateway, all fell into Beidi’s hands.
After the internal strife was settled and the great undertaking completed, the Martial Emperor turned his attention to the northern borders, planning to march north and reclaim the important northern gateways of Shuo, Heng, and Yan territories. Unexpectedly, on the way to launch the northern expedition, his old wounds flared up, and he fell seriously ill, causing the plan to fail.
The Martial Emperor died several years later, and the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne as the Bright Emperor.
When the Bright Emperor was Crown Prince, he had indeed seemed mediocre among his brothers, but he had been magnanimous and virtuous since childhood, so his succession was what the people desired. Unfortunately, during his years on the throne, first there were continuous natural disasters, then princely rebellions occurred. The Bright Emperor was physically and mentally exhausted and had no energy to spare for the lost northern territories. Last year, he too died of a serious illness. The twelve-year-old Prince Jian succeeded to the throne, becoming the third-generation ruler of Great Wei. The following year, year, the era name was changed to Tianhe, making him the current Young Emperor.
The Young Emperor had not yet come of age and could not rule personally. Before the Bright Emperor’s death last year, he designated his third brother Lord Qi as Regent Prince, entrusting the Young Emperor to him and another assistant in government.
Though Fan Jing had been stationed at the border for many years, he vaguely knew that the current court situation was somewhat delicate.
Lord Qi had been enfeoffed as Lord Anle in his early years. His maternal family was noble, and when the Sage-Martial Emperor was alive, he doted on his son. Even when lingering on his sickbed, he had sent him to represent himself in inspecting the northern borders and rewarding the troops. That day, the bearing of that young Lord Anle had left a deep impression on Fan Jing. Though many years had passed, the scene remained vivid in his memory. However, regarding the regency, with his qualifications and age, probably not everyone was convinced.
In earlier years, when the court’s focus was not on the northern borders, Jiang Zuowang, who had guarded the frontier for over twenty years, was forgotten. But in recent years, as northern border problems became increasingly prominent, he naturally regained attention. With his current reputation, at this time, the Regent Prince’s choice of his daughter as consort had obvious purposes.
Jiang Zuowang remained silent.
Fan Jing hurriedly apologized: “Please don’t blame me, Grand General. It’s just that—”
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
“Fortunately… fortunately the Regent Prince… is talented, and with the General… they could be called a good match…”
Finally, he could only mumble these words, even feeling himself that this talk was weak and powerless.
Jiang Zuowang waved his hand: “You’ve been by her side for years. She’s probably closer to you than to me. Where might she have gone?”
Fan Jing immediately defended Jiang Hanyuan: “The General has been steady and capable since childhood. Nothing will happen to her. The Grand General can rest assured. Perhaps she just couldn’t think it through for a moment and went to clear her mind. She was originally going to Yunluo City this time—perhaps she went there again?”
Jiang Zuowang frowned deeply: “I didn’t expect Hanyuan’s reaction to this matter to be so strong. It’s my oversight. Go immediately with a few men to check Yunluo City.”
“Yes, sir!”
Fan Jing hurriedly departed. Jiang Zuowang remained lost in thought for a long time, then suddenly began coughing, his face showing pain as he gripped the table’s edge and slowly sat back down, his expression dejected.
Half a month later, on this day, the tenth month, day of Yihai, the autumn air was crisp and clear. The imperial Huguo Temple in the western suburbs of the capital welcomed a special day.
Imperial Guard General Liu Xiang had cleared the temple yesterday, driving away all idle people. This morning, he led five hundred imperial guards to deploy around the temple grounds and surroundings.
In terms of security strictness, not even a fly could hope to get over the walls.
The reason for such caution was that today was the birthday of the current Young Emperor’s mother, Empress Dowager Lan. The Empress Dowager advocated simplicity over extravagance and was devoutly Buddhist, serving as a patron of Huguo Temple. Therefore, Huguo Temple had painted a mural for her as a birthday tribute.
Today, the Empress Dowager brought the Young Emperor and the accompanying retinue to unveil the mural.
Not only that, but also accompanying them were various princes and officials led by the Regent Prince. At this moment, though all the people had already entered the temple, Liu Xiang still dared not relax in the slightest.
Everything inside and outside had been arranged properly, but taking advantage of a free moment, Liu Xiang still personally came out to inspect the front and back once more. Seeing that there were indeed no oversights, he finally felt at ease.
He hurriedly gave instructions to his subordinates outside the temple’s back gate and was about to enter to attend to his duties when he suddenly saw someone approaching from the end of the mountain path opposite. That person wore azure robes and black boots with a bamboo hat. Because the hat brim was pulled low and they hadn’t come close yet, he couldn’t see the face clearly, but judging from the figure, the person should be quite young.
Liu Xiang immediately signaled his subordinates to drive the person away. That person stopped beside the mountain path and said something to the approaching imperial guards.
Liu Xiang saw his subordinates return while the newcomer still hadn’t left. He became annoyed and strode over to him, shouting sternly.
“General, that person says they know you and asks you to come over—they have something to say.”
Liu Xiang was startled and looked at the other party over again.
The newcomer still stood by the roadside, their figure composed and quiet.
He really couldn’t think of who it might be. Frowning, he approached.
“Who exactly are you? Don’t you know the road is forbidden today? Leave quickly—”
The person opposite raised their arm and slightly lifted the hat brim, revealing the face beneath—young and clean, with clear, deep eyes.
“Uncle Liu, it’s me. Hanyuan.”
The newcomer smiled slightly at him and spoke.