Chapter 56

By the time Mu Wanqing brought people over to reinforce them, the fight was almost over.
Shen Yong’s guards and the men from the escort agency had the upper hand; the enemy was retreating in disarray, right toward Mu Wanqing’s position.
Mu Wanqing gave a small wave and Officer Zeng led the officials forward to assist, executing a flanking maneuver to encircle them.
Before long the other side was routed.
A group surged forward and bound the bandits’ hands and feet.
Shen Yong was furious. He leveled his weapon at the bearded ringleader. “Speak. Who exactly are you?”
The big-bearded bandit clamped his lips shut, preferring death to betrayal.
But not everyone was as steadfast as he was.
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk.”
The big-bearded man glared viciously. “Old Seven, shut your mouth.”
Old Seven’s face flushed bright red. “Boss, something’s wrong. We were told the target was a retired official, do these people look like that?”
They’d been beaten to a pulp.
Mu Wanqing strolled over at a leisurely pace. “Who used you?”
The bearded leader’s eyes widened the moment he saw her face. “You… you…”
His shock caught Mu Wanqing’s attention. “You know me? Let me guess, you were aiming for me, and thought you’d make a tidy profit on the side?”
The bearded man fought to calm himself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mu Wanqing’s gaze chilled. “Then kill them all. Root out their lair, kill their families, cut the weeds at the root, leave not a single one.”
She was a pro at scaring people.
“Yes.”
The bandits were petrified. The bearded man, half furious, half terrified, shouted, “You’re a girl, how can you be so cruel?”
Mu Wanqing glanced down at herself: dressed in men’s clothes, every detail flawless. How had he worked out she was a girl?
“Funny,” she said. “You kill and rob in the name of justice, and when I threaten to kill I’m the vicious one? Fine, watch me be vicious.”
She flicked Shen Yong an eye; Shen Yong made a show of drawing his long sword. Seeing his life hang in the balance, the bearded man panicked and cried out, “Wait! I want to speak to your leader, only with him here will I tell the truth!”
Shen Yong was impatient. “Then what are you waiting for? Speak.”
“I want to speak to the one calling the shots…” The bandit’s voice cut off as he stared at Mu Wanqing in amazement.
Shen Yong stepped forward and introduced her from behind. “This is our leader.”
The bearded man gaped, convinced they were setting him up. “What joke is this? She’s just a kid, how could that be?”
Mu Wanqing slightly furrowed her brow. “Why waste words on him? Kill him, he’s annoying.”
The bearded man hadn’t expected her to be so quick to kill; shaken, he cried, “You’ve offended someone. Do you know whom you’ve offended? If you don’t want to die, release us!”
Mu Wanqing let out a short, amused laugh, brazen. “Do you know who I am?”
“Isn’t she just the daughter of a retired official? A fifth-rank corrupt official who embezzled a fortune, this is robbing the rich to help the poor, standing up for the underdog…” The bandit’s face went pale and his heart thudded, but his mouth stayed stubborn.
“Have you seen this token?” Mu Wanqing waved the token before him. She watched him for a moment; his eyes were vacant, not an act.
“Looks like you haven’t. No wonder, how would ordinary folk have seen the Fifth Prince’s token?”
The bearded man jumped. “What did you say? The Fifth Prince’s estate?”
No way, they’d hit the wrong target? They’d gone and angered a prince?
Mu Wanqing’s lips curved into a wicked smile. “Yes. We’re the Fifth Prince’s secret guards, sent to eliminate rivals, assassinate enemies, do the dirty work that can’t see the light of day…”
She spoke with such solemn nonsense that Shen Yong and the others could only stare up at the sky in disbelief.
Here we go again, blame the Fifth Prince.
Fifth Prince, you have no idea how many fires you’ve been made to carry.
The bearded man suddenly realized he’d been dragged into a struggle among the powerful and wilted. “No, no, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
Mu Wanqing insisted on pouring it on. “As for me, I may look like I’m only a teenager, but actually I’m ninety-six this year, known as the so-called ‘Tianshan Child-Lady.’ I overcooked my cultivation and turned out like this, but killing you lot would take me no more than a moment.”
Officer Zeng turned his head away and did his best not to laugh at her babble.
The bearded man regretted everything. “We were used. If you’ll spare my family’s lives, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Alright, speak.”
The bearded man dared not withhold anything and launched into a rambling account. It went like this: they were mountain bandits. Not long ago they’d heard a tip that a retired official was returning home with his wife and children, carrying with them a lifetime’s worth of plundered wealth. They were simply doing heaven’s work...
Mu Wanqing felt a little disgusted, couldn't he just state the facts? Why the need to clothe it all in moral righteousness?
“Give me a break. Save the pious speeches for yourselves and get to the point.”
The bearded man added that he’d also heard there was a girl who liked to dress as a boy among the party, a peculiar little prize a certain decadent nobleman had set his sights on for marriage into his household.
Once the bandits decided to rob them, they certainly didn’t want any trouble afterward. They planned to make the matter clean, and by that he meant dealing decisively with the girl in question.
Mu Wanqing raised an eyebrow. “Dealing decisively” meant killing them all, then. Probably not their first time committing such deeds.
In that case, there was no reason to spare them.
“But how did they find us? I wasn’t even here.” She didn’t understand that part.
The bearded man looked puzzled too. “We thought that was the convoy, the carriages were identical.”
Mu Wanqing’s mouth twitched. So they’d picked the wrong target.
Thank goodness. This convoy was far better armed, not only were there guards, there were bodyguards.
An escorting exile party like theirs, with only Officer Zeng’s officials to rely on, might not have stood a chance.
Her mind spun. “Guard Jiang.”
Everyone turned to Shen Yong in unison. Shen Yong was silent for a moment, sighed without a sound, and raised his right hand. “Present.”
Sorry about this, Fifth Prince. It’s not that I wanted to set you up, truly, there was no other way.
Mu Wanqing instructed, “Bring these men to the authorities. Tell them these fellows dared to openly rob the Fifth Prince’s party, there must be a hidden hand behind it. Make them investigate thoroughly and punish this group severely. If they find anything useful, pass it on to the Fifth Prince’s residence.”
“Yes.”
Lowering her voice, Mu Wanqing said, “You can hint at a lead pointing to the Jin heir.”
“You suspect him?” Shen Yong had been thinking Fifth Prince at first, after all, the Fifth Prince’s family would brook no slight.
“I haven’t made many enemies. Apart from the Jin heir, there’s the main branch of the Mu family.” Mu Wanqing had mostly pushed those worries aside, but some people simply wouldn’t leave things alone, so let them squabble. “If you get the chance, send word back that Mu Jinyao has already fallen into the Jin heir’s hands.”
If you poke both sides, let them tear each other apart, consider it a generous gift from me to both parties.
“Understood.” Shen Yong could only sigh. Of all people to anger, they had to pick this ancestor.
He left with his men, escorting the bandits away. The rest went through the loot, fortunately it was mostly sturdy brick tea and bolts of cloth, not easily ruined.
The farther northwest they traveled, the harsher the conditions became. The roads grew worse and worse, pitted and jarring.
Some stretches were narrow, treacherous mountain paths where even carriages struggled; the travel was perilous.
The inns got shabbier, the courier stations’ roofs leaking, sometimes rain woke them at night, and the chill was bone-deep.
The food was worse: no fresh vegetables or meat, just dry steamed buns day after day.
Constant hardship left everyone exhausted, even with a carriage to ride in.
Suddenly someone cried in delight, “Ah, it’s snowing! The snow is so beautiful.”
Officer Zeng’s expression changed. “Notify every carriage, keep up and don’t fall behind. Move quickly, reach the next station as soon as possible.”
Even the worst courier station was preferable to sleeping out in the open; at least it would shield them from wind and snow.
The snowfall thickened, white flakes swirling across the sky.
Mu Wanqing sat inside her carriage, lifting the window to peer out at a landscape dressed in silver, a world of white.
The snow on the ground deepened, and the horses found it harder and harder to pick their way.
Huh, someone is walking through the blowing snow. Is that Second Brother?
She hurriedly opened the carriage door and a blast of cold swept in, making her shiver.
“Second Brother, it’s freezing out there, what are you doing here?”
Mu Ziang rubbed his hands together; a few flakes clung to the tip of his nose. “You’re traveling alone in a carriage. This storm scares me.”
Even with a coachman, he couldn’t be sure the coachman would protect family as kin would.
Mu Wanqing handed him a cup of hot tea. “Have you gone to check on Father and Mother?”
“Elder Brother has gone ahead to look after them.” Mu Ziang shrugged off his heavy fur and took a sip. It was red-date ginger tea; warmth spread through his stomach and comforted him.
He couldn’t help complaining, “What rotten weather. The sun was out when we left, and then suddenly this blizzard, we weren’t prepared at all.”
Mu Wanqing drank only ginger tea now. The cold seeped into her bones despite layer after layer of clothing and a small hand warmer in her hands.
“I just want to get to Liangcheng soon and settle in.”
Then they could light a kang bed and be truly warm.
Mu Ziang grabbed a pastry and munched at it. “How much further?”
Mu Wanqing didn’t know, she hadn’t seen a map of the Greater Qi. “Officer Zeng says about another half month.”
They’d traveled from autumn into winter, stopping and starting; they were actually a month ahead of Zeng’s estimate.
The stove in the carriage burned bright. The alternation of cold outside and warmth inside made Mu Ziang sneeze. “I didn’t expect the weather here to be so harsh. Good thing you prepared; every household having a carriage might have saved a lot of lives.”
He wasn’t exaggerating, the clan now praised Mu Wanqing as their savior.
The siblings chatted idly, and after a while Mu Ziang offered, “Zhang San, let me take the reins for a while. Come in and warm yourself.”
The air outside was simply too bitter; no amount of layers could stave off that chill. Stay out there long enough and the body stiffened.
“Thank you, Second Master, I’m fine.” Zhang San was Mu Wanqing’s steady coachman, he followed wherever they went and was honest and dependable.
Mu Ziang laughed. "Don't stand on ceremony, hurry inside, I'll take care of it."
"Ah!" Zhang San suddenly cried out.
"What's wrong?" Mu Ziang snapped open the curtain.
Zhang San looked pale with fright. "The wagon wheel tracks in front are gone, it looks like we lost the convoy."
Mu Wanqing and her brother exchanged a look; their faces drained as they slid open the window and peered left and right.
Feathering snow blotted out the world, wiping the view clean. Not a single carriage could be seen anywhere within sight.
"Stop here and wait."
They waited quite a while, but no escort appeared behind them.
All right. Mu Wanqing confirmed they had broken away from the main body and were lost in the blizzard.
That was bad news.