Chapter 394: Untitled

There was no attempt to hide anything. One sentence left Su Zhao frozen.

It also made her understand that he had risked coming back for her because he feared she would be in danger. Otherwise, he could simply have left on his own. For a time, sorrow and joy tangled together in her heart.

She was hurt and angry that this man had deceived and used her.

Yet she was also overjoyed to know that she occupied a place in his heart.

His directness and honesty made it difficult for her to hate him even while grief and anger filled her chest. After spending so much time with him, she understood him to some extent. She knew this was simply the kind of man he was.

"Why Qingshan Commandery? Will Niu Youdao tolerate me?" Su Zhao suddenly asked.

For her to ask that meant her heart had already begun to move.

Yuan Gang said, "Given the situation now, once you leave, I don't have the ability to protect you. Of the people I know and trust, the only one with that ability is Master Dao. We can only go to Qingshan Commandery and find him. Don't worry. No matter where you came from or what your background is, as long as you're my woman, Master Dao will accept you. No matter how great the risk, he'll find a way to protect you. You don't need to worry about that at all."

It was exactly as he said. He truly had no other choice. It had not been long since he and Master Dao parted ways. If Yuan Gang were alone, he would never return and bring trouble to Master Dao.

The only reason he had no choice but to return to Qingshan Commandery was to protect her.

Su Zhao's emotions were complicated. Suddenly, she asked, "Do you like me?"

Yuan Gang did not know how to answer. Truthfully, he could not say that he particularly liked or disliked her. What had happened between them was only the result of a moment's impulse.

But he had to take responsibility for the mistake he himself had made. He also understood the two meanings hidden in her question. Whether she would go with him depended entirely on his answer. Yuan Gang struggled inwardly.

In the end, however, he still spoke the words against his true feelings.

"I do."

Su Zhao smiled. Then she began to cry. In an instant she threw herself into his arms, held him tightly, and wept with joy.

"All right! Even if Heaven falls and Earth collapses, no matter what happens in the future, I'm willing to bear the consequences. I'll go with you!"

Yuan Gang patted her on the back. "We can't delay. If we wait any longer, it'll be too late. We leave now."

He pushed her gently away, took her hand, and started toward the door.

They had only gone a few steps when Su Zhao suddenly stopped and pulled hard on his hand, refusing to move. Yuan Gang turned, confused.

Su Zhao shook her head helplessly. "We can't go. We can't get away. We can't leave."

Yuan Gang turned fully toward her. "Why? Is there still something here you can't give up? Something you can't let go?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I lied to you too. The truth is, I always knew you had been poisoned." Tears filled Su Zhao's eyes.

She cupped his face in both hands, repenting as she shook her head helplessly.

"Since you know I'm from Xiaoyue Pavilion, do you know what poison they made you take?"

Yuan Gang said, "No. But it doesn't matter."

Su Zhao said painfully, "The Spirit-Torment Pill! You may not understand. That poison erupts once every three months. Without the antidote, you can't survive it. The antidote is controlled extremely strictly by those above. Whenever you need it, even I can only obtain one dose at a time. If we cut ourselves off and can't get any more antidotes, what then? You should know what it feels like when the poison erupts. We can't leave."

Yuan Gang immediately reached into his clothes and took out three wax-sealed pills he had packed earlier at the Tofu House. He crushed one wax shell, exposing a black medicinal pill.

"Is this the antidote you're talking about?"

Su Zhao lowered her head and smelled it.

Then she looked up in surprise. "Three? The antidote is controlled extremely strictly. Where did you get so many?"

"You gave them to me before."

"..."

Su Zhao still did not understand.

Yuan Gang said, "That poison doesn't work on me. It can't control me at all. I never needed these antidotes, so I kept them."

"Really?" Su Zhao was overwhelmed with joy.

Yuan Gang said, "I have no reason to seek death. Stop wasting time. If we delay any longer, we won't be able to leave even if we want to."

Su Zhao nodded repeatedly. But when they reached the door, she stopped Yuan Gang again.

"Since you've already been marked, are you certain you can still walk out openly like this?"

Yuan Gang fell briefly silent. He could not quite guarantee it.

"According to the news I received, they probably won't alert the snake by striking the grass yet. They probably intend to wait until tonight, when all my people have gathered, before moving against me. We can adapt as circumstances change. There should still be a way out."

"All right. Then follow my arrangements..."

Su Zhao gave him several careful instructions before opening the door. Once outside, she beckoned Qin Mian over from where the woman had been pacing and watching in the distance.

When Qin Mian came near, Su Zhao instructed her, "An honored guest is arriving. Go to the rear entrance personally and receive him."

Qin Mian could not help asking curiously, "Proprietress, what honored guest?"

Su Zhao said, "Don't ask. You'll know when the person arrives."

"All right!" Qin Mian answered and left.

Only after confirming she was gone did Su Zhao quickly return to her room. She gathered a few belongings, then took Yuan Gang out with her. The two went straight to a secluded place.

Su Zhao pushed aside a false rockery used as concealment, and the two slipped one after another into a water tunnel. They left Among the White Clouds through the secret passage... Qin Mian paced inside the waterside pavilion at the rear entrance. She waited a very long time. Even by dusk, no guest had appeared.

When the honored guest finally did arrive, he did not enter through the rear entrance at all. He came into Among the White Clouds through the secret passage.

Only after someone notified Qin Mian did she learn that the guest had arrived.

Inside a hidden room, a man wrapped in a black cloak stood with his back to the door.

Qin Mian entered and hurriedly saluted. "Mr. Bai. I didn't realize the Proprietress had asked me to receive you."

"Call Su Zhao over," Mr. Bai said slowly from beneath the black cloak.

"Yes!" Qin Mian left to find her.

But Su Zhao was nowhere to be found. After asking around, Qin Mian learned that no one had seen Su Zhao or Yuan Gang leave Among the White Clouds.

Someone had seen the two heading in the direction of the secret passage, but no one could say for certain whether they had actually left through it.

Qin Mian returned to the hidden room and could only report the truth.

The lower half of Mr. Bai's face tightened beneath the cloak. "An Taiping came as well?"

Qin Mian said, "Yes."

Mr. Bai asked, "The two of them left through the secret passage?"

Qin Mian hesitated. "I can't be certain. Normally, the secret passage would never be casually revealed to An Taiping."

Mr. Bai turned and walked toward her. "Keep looking."

"Yes!" Qin Mian answered and turned.

The change came in an instant.

Bang!

Mr. Bai suddenly struck Qin Mian in the back with one palm. It was an ambush from beginning to end.

Qin Mian's entire body remained almost motionless, yet a blossom of blood burst from the center of her chest. Her eyes widened. Trembling, she slowly turned around. Disbelief filled her gaze as she looked at Mr. Bai.

"Why?"

Mr. Bai answered calmly, "An Taiping is Yuan Gang, one of Niu Youdao's trusted subordinates. Su Zhao has already been exposed. The line under your responsibility is too important. There cannot be another accident. It has to be severed here. Don't worry. The organization will take good care of your son. Go in peace."

Grief filled Qin Mian's face. With a thud, she fell backward onto the floor. Her body convulsed. Blood flooded from her mouth. Gradually, she stopped moving. Her eyes remained open in death... Night fell. At the Supreme General's Residence, Zha Hu hurried into a room.

Huyan Wuhen stood before a map of the State of Jin, holding two colors of small flags in his hands. From time to time, he planted one into the map, then pulled another free.

Not caring that he might disrupt the general's train of thought, Zha Hu urgently reported, "General, Yuan Gang may have escaped."

Huyan Wuhen slowly turned his head. "Weren't we watching him the whole time? Didn't they just report that he was still at Among the White Clouds?"

Zha Hu said, "The men watching the place never saw him come out. Also, the workers who went out for training still haven't returned. We had someone make casual contact with the Tofu House's manager. Shopkeeper Gao said the people running the stalls today were all workers who normally don't participate in training. That's highly abnormal."

Huyan Wuhen turned and walked to the desk, tossing the two colors of flags onto it.

"Did the news leak from our side, or from the palace?"

Zha Hu said, "Either is possible. It's also possible he sensed something beforehand. Those workers left for training early this morning, before we had even received the message from the palace."

Huyan Wuhen sat down behind the desk. "Good lad. He himself delayed leaving because he was covering everyone else, drawing attention and buying time for those workers to withdraw."

"His style of doing things is bold and open. All that conspicuous training in ordinary times laid the groundwork long ago for a large group of men to withdraw openly and aboveboard later."

"Good nerve. He even fooled me."

Zha Hu asked, "Should we search Among the White Clouds and see whether he's still there?"

Huyan Wuhen gave two cold chuckles. "Everyone beneath Heaven knows there's a den of debauchery in the Qi capital called Among the White Clouds. What a fine reputation."

"Soldiers gamble their lives on the front lines while the dignitaries in the capital frolic in a den of vice. What are the men at the front supposed to think?"

"There's no need to search it. I've disliked the place for a long time."

"Now that the palace has handed me an excuse, mobilize the troops and confiscate Among the White Clouds outright!"

"The man may already be outside the city. Pass down my military order. Send scouts to search. At the same time, contact the Office of Investigation and tell them to open their eyes and find him for me."

"The moment he's located, contact the nearest army and have them intercept him!"

"Good!" Zha Hu answered.

Inwardly, however, he understood something else. If the Huyan family had not married the Grand Princess, Huyan Wuhen probably would not have moved openly against the Prince of the Western Court so easily.

The general had no wish to become entangled in the imperial clan's factional struggles. This was Huyan Wuhen taking the opportunity to make his position clear...

The moment the military order went out, the capital was thrown into commotion.

Within the imperial palace, Bu Xun climbed a high pavilion and reported to Hao Yuntu, who stood at the railing.

"Huyan Wuhen has mobilized troops and surrounded Among the White Clouds. It appears he intends to confiscate the place."

Hao Yuntu said, "Everyone knows it belongs to Old Five. The Supreme General's way of handling matters is rather rough. He's openly slapping Old Five in the face. Old Five will be hopping mad."

Bu Xun quietly studied Hao Yuntu's expression. Some things were obvious without being said.

Huyan Wuhen openly turning against the Prince of the Western Court was precisely what Hao Yuntu wanted to see...

Just as Hao Yuntu predicted, the moment he heard his property had suddenly been confiscated for no apparent reason, Hao Yunsheng, Prince of the Western Court, rushed to the scene.

By the time he arrived, Among the White Clouds had already been surrounded by a heavy military cordon.

Nearby streets had been sealed off by troops holding blades and spears beneath blazing torches. Inside Among the White Clouds, everything was in chaos. People were constantly being dragged out. It did not matter how wealthy or powerful they were.

Every male guest who had been patronizing the place was forced to kneel in a row beside the street with both hands clasped over his head. The painted beauties hauled outside received the same treatment.

They knelt in another row on the opposite side of the street, their backs to the male guests across the road. Between the two rows stood soldiers with weapons leveled. Many of those kneeling were only half dressed.

At first, some of the male guests relied on their powerful backgrounds, while some of the women relied on the patron behind Among the White Clouds, and they shouted and protested.

Once they learned the troops were from the Valiant Cavalry, those with any sense immediately shut their mouths and behaved. Those without sense were beaten half to death on the spot.

After several bloody heads rolled to the ground, everyone was instantly cowed and began cooperating obediently. Those who died had died for nothing.

People foolish enough not to understand the situation generally did not possess backgrounds powerful enough to matter.

They simply had not understood whom they were facing and therefore did not know the height of Heaven or the depth of Earth.

Those who truly understood the stakes would never dare make trouble at a moment like this.

[End of Chapter 394]