Chapter 35

Chapter 35

“I’m late.”

Du Lingjing observed the group. Though their expressions were cordial, each person bore injuries of varying severity. Hu Tinglan, the most gravely wounded, needed assistance to remain seated.

She stated directly, “There’s no time to waste. I’ve brought people with me outside. We must leave immediately!”

She explained that she had enlisted many along the way, and the mountain was now teeming with all sorts. “But as long as there are enough of us to create chaos, Shao Boju and his men won’t be able to eliminate us all, even if they intend to.”

These two sentences alone brought a glimmer of hope to the eyes of those who had been trapped there for so long.

However, Ruan Gong soon reported, “The situation outside isn’t good. The mountain is covered in fog.”

Du Lingjing’s brows furrowed. Fog in the mountains would make it extremely easy for them to get separated once they left, and summoning reinforcements would only add more variables.

Hu Tinglan and the scholars, however, had anticipated this. “If only it were an hour earlier. The terrain here is complex. We’ve relied on the mountain fog for concealment while hiding, but now that we need to leave, the fog becomes an obstacle.”

Everyone agreed that venturing out in the fog was not a good idea. “We’ve waited this long; one more day won’t make a difference.”

Du Lingjing felt quite uneasy, but she also knew that what everyone said was true. After much deliberation, she could only agree.

She instructed Ruan Gong to disperse their people to avoid being targeted, and as it was too late for her to descend the mountain, she decided to wait with the group until dawn.

As night fell, the fog grew denser, and the search parties gradually withdrew. The sounds of wild animals began to echo through the mountains.

Du Lingjing had never spent a night in the wilderness, having only read about such sounds in books. Hearing them now filled her with a mix of wonder and alarm.

But surrounded by familiar faces, she felt no fear. Tingjun even brought her a cup of water boiled from a mountain spring.

Cradling the warm cup, Du Lingjing noticed Mr. Liao examining her carefully, then gesturing with his hand.

“The last time I saw you in the capital, you hadn’t yet grown to your full height—only about this tall.”

Lord Hong, who had known her even longer, didn’t measure her height but remarked sternly,

“I’ve read all the books you’ve published, Sister Jing. Academic work requires even greater care.”

His severity made Du Lingjing fear she had made errors in her works, and she quickly stood up.

Mr. Liao shot Lord Hong a glance. “Why frighten the girl? Errors are inevitable. How many in this world could match Sister Jing’s meticulousness and dedication?”

Lord Hong fell silent, and for once, his usually stern expression softened slightly.

“Over the years, the books you’ve published—even when I occasionally visit rural private schools, I see students who can afford and read them. This was unheard of during my youth.”

The reputation of Du’s Mian Tower owed much to the support of the scholarly community, and Du Lingjing would never price her books beyond reach, raising the threshold of Mian Tower.

She accepted the praise modestly, inwardly surprised at Lord Hong’s unusual warmth—until his expression hardened again.

“But scholarship is a lifelong pursuit, for both men and women. With your father gone, you must apply yourself even more diligently.”

Du Lingjing: “…”

She bowed deeply. “Sister Jing will remember.”

The solemnity of the moment quieted the cave, until Feng Xiang, the grandson of Old Master Feng, stepped forward softly.

“I didn’t expect Sister Jing to remember me.”

Four years younger than Du Lingjing, Feng Xiang had not yet come of age but had already earned his provincial degree.

However, he hadn’t participated in the following year’s metropolitan exams, only traveling to the capital this year—where he found himself caught in this crisis, joining the others in gathering evidence against the Shao family before being stranded in the mountains.

Du Lingjing recalled his childhood shyness, and sure enough, after just one sentence, a faint blush colored his cheeks.

At nineteen, the young man stood straight and pale like a poplar sapling, now much taller than Du Lingjing. Yet his blush made him seem like the boy she once knew.

She smiled. “Of course I remember. I’m older, so it’s natural. But you were so young back then—how do you recall me?”

The question was casual, but he hesitated, his face reddening further. His bright eyes flickered toward her before shyly darting away.

Softly, he admitted, “I’ve bought some of Sister Jing’s books over the years and read them often. That’s how I remember.”

So that was it.

Du Lingjing inquired about a few titles and was surprised to learn he owned them all. She suspected he had purchased far more than just a handful.

Before she could press further, her gaze drifted to a young woman sitting alone in the corner. Thin and hollow-cheeked, the girl hugged her knees, staring blankly.

Was she the one who had informed Hu Tinglan of the Shao brothers’ crimes?

Before Du Lingjing could ask, Tingjun approached, saying her brother Hu Tinglan wished to discuss outside matters.

Du Lingjing joined him and shared all she knew. “The mountain is teeming with different groups now. Few among them are trustworthy.”

Hu Tinglan wasn’t surprised, but he hadn’t expected Shao Boju’s uncle, Shao Zun, to use the Earl of Rongchang’s situation in an attempt to propose a prisoner exchange with Marquis Lu Shenru of Yongding.

“So you’ve quarreled with the Marquis?” he couldn’t help asking.

Du Lingjing shook her head. “Not exactly. We simply had to go our separate ways for now.”

Relieved, Hu Tinglan exhaled slightly. The imperial marriage decree had arranged an awkward match, and a rift so soon after her wedding would have made her life difficult.

Since things hadn’t escalated irreparably, he asked cautiously, “So you don’t know what the Marquis truly intends?”

She admitted she didn’t. “But he came as well.”

Hu Tinglan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Sister Jing had parted ways with the Marquis’s household, each acting independently—yet the Marquis had come personally. What was Marquis Lu planning?

*

At the foot of the mountain, outside the residence where Du Lingjing had previously lodged with her companions, a man stood with his hands clasped behind him, the wind whipping around him. The night had grown completely dark, yet no one returned from the mountain path.

Chong Ping approached. “Marquis, with so many of Lady’s people missing, it’s unlikely they’ve come to harm. They must have found the missing members of the Fu faction.”

The man nodded, his gaze sweeping over the silent, unlit courtyard where she had stayed.

It seemed so.

He surmised she must have followed the trail left by the Fu faction, but to locate them so swiftly across the entire mountain—only she could have done it.

Lu Shenru let out a long sigh, his gaze briefly softening. Yet the memory of her letter, the medicine she had sent, and the way she had avoided him in the mountains—politely telling him to attend to his own affairs—made his expression turn cold once more.

He pursed his lips in silence. The wind whistling through the alley lifted the hem of his robe as he stood with his hands behind his back for a long while before finally calling Chong Ping.

“The Shao brothers have been driven into a corner. Tomorrow, we must guard against their desperate counterattack.”

Chong Ping tensed. “Understood.”

*

In the dense forest cave, the group had only slept for two hours at night before they grew restless.

Having hidden in the mountains with evidence of the Shao brothers' crimes for so long, today they would finally leave.

They had long sent word for their relatives and friends to go into hiding as well—such as Mr. Zhang, who ran a bookstore outside the capital's outer city. Du Lingjing had originally wanted to ask him if anyone in the capital or the northern Zhili region had bought or sold Song-era texts, but Mr. Zhang had closed his shop and disappeared.

Feng Xiang explained that Mr. Zhang had also helped gather evidence against the Shao family. Afraid of retaliation, they had urged him to hide early.

Once this matter was resolved smoothly, Mr. Zhang would naturally reappear.

And the group had been separated from their loved ones for far too long.

Before dawn, Du Lingjing, Hu Tinglan, Jiang Fengchuan, and the other gentlemen discussed further. By the time everything was arranged, the sky outside gradually brightened, and the group quietly left the cave, moving forward quietly.

Search parties were already combing the mountains, and occasional shouts echoed.

Using the remaining morning mist and the dense forest for cover, they emerged after about half an hour.

Following Du Lingjing's instructions, Ruan Gong had arranged for government soldiers, academy students, and the various allies Du Lingjing had gathered to wait at a gentle slope ahead—to avoid exposing their location.

Any faction could have spies among them, so keeping them all waiting there was the safest way to avoid detection.

Now, moving swiftly through the forest, they could meet up with the others in less than half an hour.

Everyone quickened their pace. The most crucial thing now was to stay together and avoid making noise that might attract unwanted company.

Yet, just as they had advanced a few hundred meters, their way was suddenly barred.

In the morning woods, the sun had just risen, and a thin mist still hung. The birds had long since flown away, leaving the forest deathly quiet.

Someone stepped on dry leaves, slowly emerging from the trees.

His eyes scanned the group, his eyes—weary from days of tension—now bearing a faint smile in the morning light.

“Gentlemen, we finally meet.”

It was Shao Boju.

His younger brother, Shao Wuxing, stood beside him, clutching a sharp dagger, while the Shao family's men, already lying in wait, quickly closed in.

The Fu Party members went silent. After hiding for so long, mere minutes away from reuniting with their allies, they were intercepted.

As the silence lengthened, Shao Boju's smile widened—though this time, his gaze settled not on the group, but on the one dearest to him.

He did not use his courtesy name, reverting instead to the youthful address from before they had taken adult names.

“Lan, I thought we were as close as brothers. Must it come to this?”

Hearing this, Hu Tinglan gave a low, bitter chuckle—though the movement pulled at the wound on his shoulder from Shao Wuxing's cold arrow.

He paled slightly. Shao Boju frowned. “You're injured?”

His gaze shifted to his cousin Shao Wuxing. The hawk-nosed youth's eyes darkened, but before he could explain, Hu Tinglan spoke first.

“After months of being hunted by your men, is it strange to be injured?” His laugh turned colder. “At least we survived. The officials your brothers killed weren’t even that lucky, were they?”

His unblinking gaze fixed on the face of the man who had once been his blood brother.

Even as the one now surrounding them, Shao Boju couldn't help but look away briefly.

He admitted it—the real officials couldn't be left alive if they wanted their own men to assume their identities. “But what choice did I have?”

At first, Shao Boju had discovered two court officials lost in a shipwreck on their way to assume office—fortuitously for positions that could resolve a difficult matter he was handling.

Their deaths still undiscovered, he spent a day considering before ordering Shao Wuxing to secretly arrange for two doubles to replace them.

He had expected the scheme to be exposed within a month—just long enough to settle his urgent matter before withdrawing his men.

Yet half a year passed without anyone noticing.

Officials posted far from home rarely communicated. With proper disguises, the deception was possible—especially in remote postings like county magistrates, where a three-year term could pass unnoticed, particularly if transfers were arranged.

Shao Boju admitted his greed. “Seeing it worked, I targeted others.”

This time, the official happened to be a marginalized Fu Party member. Though the position was minor, the term was ending—so after replacement, he could transfer the imposter elsewhere, securing a loyal subordinate.

The Fu Party official, worn down by over a decade in the same post, was already ailing. Shao Boju had Shao Wuxing monitor him, waiting for death to make way for their imposter. With his uncle Shao Zun above him, he desperately needed his own men.

But Shao Wuxing grew impatient. When the man lingered, he cut off his medicine on the journey to the capital.

The man’s daughter discovered this. In panic, Shao Wuxing abducted her—while the official, frantic over his missing daughter, succumbed soon after.

Shao Boju claimed ignorance, shooting Shao Wuxing a glance. “That oversight led to disaster.”

The whistleblower exposing the Shao brothers' crimes was that very daughter.

The young woman—Miss Huang—stepped forward, her face ashen, eyes bloodshot.

“What a convenient excuse! So this is how the esteemed Tanhu deceives people!”

Her voice was sharp. Shao Wuxing stepped forward. “You wretch—!”

Hu Tinglan immediately shielded Miss Huang, while Shao Boju stopped his brother.

Du Lingjing watched as Miss Huang's expression twisted further.

“Cutting off my father’s medicine? Claiming he died from distress? Saying I was merely taken?” She shook her head violently. “None of that is true!” Her glare burned into Shao Wuxing.

“My father was poisoned by him—and I... I was violated by force!”

The forest seemed to freeze.

The Fu Party members, already aware of the Huangs' ordeal, remained silent. Only Shao Boju frowned, turning to Shao Wuxing.

“You truly did this?”

“Brother, I—”

There was no need to say more, Shao Boju already understood. He fell silent for a breath.

Hu Tinglan cut in, “You didn’t know?”

Though it was a question, his voice dripped with mockery.

Shao Boju insisted he truly hadn’t known, but then turned his gaze to the young Miss Huang.

“I’ll have Wuxing grant you a title, as some kind of restitution—”

Before he could finish, Miss Huang burst into a sharp, bitter laugh.

“My father was killed because of you, and he forced himself on me—and now you think giving me a ‘status’ is enough? What sin did my father and I commit in a past life to be cursed with monsters like you brothers?!”

Her words spilled out, unstoppable, her thin frame casting a vast shadow in the dawn. She declared,

“Shao Wuxing kept me captive for over a year—his sins are beyond counting!”

She challenged Shao Boju directly, “How many others besides my father has he schemed against? Don’t tell me you knew nothing of that either?”

Shao Boju stood rooted.

Shao Wuxing had claimed those officials died on their own—they had only stepped in to manage things, replaced them briefly to handle urgent matters, leaving no trace behind.

But Miss Huang pressed, “Do you dare say you truly didn’t know?”

Shao Boju remained silent.

Shao Wuxing hadn’t confessed, but he had suspected—how else could the impersonations have gone so smoothly?

But as long as things went smoothly, why dig deeper?

With bigger goals—splitting from the Shao clan, building his own faction at court—he’d turned a blind eye.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Shao Wuxing burned to kill Miss Huang but didn’t dare strike with his brother watching.

Hu Tinglan, meanwhile, stared at his old friend, now the emperor’s favored Tanhu.

“You didn’t kill them yourself, but their blood is still on your hands. Turning a blind eye is just as guilty. To think I once called you brother.”

At his words, Shao Boju’s face spasmed. He neither defended himself nor ordered their release.

Shao Wuxing laid it bare.

“Brother, I was reckless before, but there’s no undoing it now. They know too much—we can’t leave them alive!”

No half-measures—kill them all and be done with it.

Du Lingjing’s fists tightened silently, her gaze shifting between Hu Tingjun, Hu Tinglan, and the other scholars.

Silent looks passed between them.

Everyone was there—except for two.

Jiang Fengchuan and Feng Xiang.

Du Lingjing’s gaze cut through the trees to a far slope, where she saw the two nod at her from afar.

Earlier, when leaving the woods, they’d prepared for an ambush.

Hu Tinglan had suggested splitting into two groups, with Jiang Fengchuan and Feng Xiang leading a few of Du Lingjing’s men to wait outside. If things went wrong, even outnumbered, they could stir chaos to cover an escape.

Shao Wuxing’s killing urge could no longer be held back.

Shao Boju’s hesitation finally broke. He asked Hu Tinglan one last time, “Must it really be life or death between us?”

Hu Tinglan’s old friendship had bled out with his wounds.

“Heaven’s way is fixed—it doesn’t favor the good or spare the wicked. What you cling to—bonds, power—is already lost.”

The second he stopped speaking, Shao Wuxing unsheathed his sword.

“Elder Brother!”

Shao Boju drew a deep breath, his last glance at Hu Tinglan.

“...No matter what, the Hu siblings live.”

The meaning was plain—the others had to die.

In an instant, Du Lingjing and the scholars looked to Jiang Fengchuan on the slope. They couldn’t wait—now was the moment for chaos and escape.

But before anyone moved, a voice cut through the trees.

“None of you move.”

Du Lingjing froze—

It was Chong Ping’s voice.

The next instant, soldiers poured in from all sides, surrounding them.

Shao Boju’s men, who had trapped the Fu Party, were now encircled—but so were Jiang Fengchuan and Feng Xiang, who had been lying in wait outside, now hemmed in by armed guards.

Chong Ping emerged from the forest’s depths, and behind him, cutting a path with his blade, a tall figure in dark brocade robes came into view.

“Lu Shenru.” Shao Boju’s eyes locked onto him.

Lu Shenru spared him only a glance. “Too late for murder and silence, Tanhu Shao.”

Every soul there—Fu Party or Shao’s men—now lived or died by his sword. A flicker of displeasure, and heads would roll.

The woods fell deathly silent, wrapped in a suffocating black shroud.

For Shao Boju’s men, Marquis Lu’s appearance spelled certain doom.

His uncle, Shao Zun, fearing the impersonation scandal would implicate the Shao family and Prince Yong, had sought to negotiate with Lu Shenru—to swap personnel discreetly and use the leverage to keep Shao Boju forever subordinate to the Shao clan’s main branch.

And to Lu Shenru, the Earl of Rongchang’s estate was crucial—he would never relinquish it.

At this point, Shao Boju had already lost.

But for the Fu Party, the marquis’s choice meant life or death.

If he opted for the exchange, they would be handed to Shao Zun and executed. If he exposed the truth, they might yet survive.

What he would decide, no one knew.

All eyes turned toward him, including Du Lingjing's.

Her eyes found his, and with just a slight dip of his head, he held her gaze.

Her heart skipped a beat.

The man furrowed his brows as he spoke, his voice low and deep, meant for her alone.

“Come here.”