Chapter 201: The String Bridge Submerged

Chapter 201: Flooding Xianqiao

"Wu Tuyin went to all the trouble of scouring Xiaoxiang Prefecture for Red-Eyed Girls, all for his father Wulige. I've heard that Mengqin has an old custom—when a mortal falls gravely ill and cannot recover for a long time, one may seek Red-Eyed Girls to sacrifice to the Divine Lord Jiayi. Once the Lord receives the offering, He will bestow His blessing upon the afflicted and aid in their recovery."

At Jing Pass, Luo Yue was solemnly reporting the newly received news to Xie Nai, "However, the advance troops have sent word that Mengqin held an elaborate funeral several days ago—Wulige has already passed away."

The sunset glow blazed like fire, spreading across a thousand mountains. At this moment, the red clouds seemed to descend onto the lake, casting Xie Nai's cold, imposing figure in sharp relief. Standing beside him were Xie Xuanran and Lin Wen, both wearing grave expressions.

Xie Xuanran, who had not been seen for some time, wore a gray-blue casual robe, carrying an added air of composure befitting a young emperor. Lin Wen stood at his side, equally sharp-eyed and imposing, as composed as a still river and as steadfast as a towering peak.

Xie Xuanran and Lin Wen had arrived at Jing Pass two days prior. This time, Xie Xuanran was personally leading the expedition, accompanied by twenty thousand elite troops. Over the past few days, they had selected a contingent of elite vanguard forces from both the twenty thousand soldiers and the original four hundred thousand troops of the Prince of Lingnan, sending them to Xianqiao Town at the border between Jing Pass and Mengqin to gather intelligence. Today, word had returned—things didn't look good up ahead.

Luo Yue continued his report: "With Wulige dead, Wu Tuyin seems to have gone completely mad. According to the vanguard's intelligence, Wu Tuyin appears to be planning to inundate Xianqiao and bear down directly on our camp. Luo Bei and Lord Shen are currently evacuating the townspeople from Xianqiao, but it will take at least three days at the earliest."

Xianqiao Town occupied a strategically unique position—a natural stronghold. The Lingnan Army was currently stationed not far outside the town. However, it had one fatal weakness: the town was situated in a low-lying area and bordered the Tianshan Creek at the Mengqin frontier.

In ordinary times, this was manageable, but now was the late flood season. The Tianshan Creek had built up a year's worth of raging mountain torrents, held back only by a single creek bridge dam at Xianqiao. If Wu Tuyin truly intended to stake everything and blow up that dam, the entire town would be flooded, and the Lingnan Army stationed there would suffer catastrophic casualties.

"Treating the lives of the people like so much trash—Wu Tuyin is so ruthless and vicious, yet he still dares to dream of sitting on the throne of the world. How laughable."

Lin Wen let out a cold snort. Though Xianqiao Town was small, thousands of residents from both Mengqin and the Tianyuan Dynasty had long made their homes there. These people had lived intermingled for generations, trading, intermarrying, and long since become one family.

A sovereign's love should be one of universal benevolence, yet Wu Tuyin's madness would only leave him with a legacy of infamy in the annals of history.

"Send more personnel to assist Lord Shen in evacuating the people." Xie Xuanran instructed Luo Yue in a grave tone. "Additionally, step up patrols and defenses on the creek bridge dam—stay vigilant."

"Yes! I'll see to it at once!"

With that, Luo Yue hurried off.

With tensions between the two nations at a breaking point and war on the brink of erupting, Xie Xuanran still harbored some concern: "Imperial Uncle, what if Wu Tuyin truly finds an opportunity to blow up the creek bridge dam?"

"Your Majesty, there's no need to worry—he won't get the chance." It was Lin Wen who answered Xie Xuanran, speaking in a soft, reassuring tone: "Has Your Majesty forgotten? The peace-alliance Princess has been returned to Mengqin. There's still room to maneuver in certain matters."

In truth, when Xie Xuanran came to Jing Pass, besides the twenty thousand elite troops, he had also brought along the Princess whom Mengqin had previously sent for a marriage alliance.

In a clash between two armies, a delicate woman could not change much, so Xie Xuanran had already sent envoys to escort her back to her homeland yesterday.

"Ah..." Xie Xuanran gazed at the distant mountains and let out a long sigh. "If only this world had no wars, how wonderful it would be."

"Unfortunately, the tree wants to be still, but the wind keeps blowing." Lin Wen picked up Xie Xuanran's words, echoing the same sentiment.

"Imperial Uncle, where's Xiao Baiyu—" Xie Xuanran turned to look at Xie Nai. Earlier, upon hearing that Qin Jiao had been kidnapped and war was brewing at Jing Pass, Xiao Baiyu and He Zhao had put aside their wedding plans and rushed to Jing Pass a few days prior. Xie Xuanran had originally meant to ask Xie Nai where Xiao Baiyu was, but the moment he looked up, he saw Xie Nai pressing a hand to his chest, his face deathly pale. "Imperial Uncle, are you alright?"

Xie Xuanran grew tense with worry. "Has your chronic condition flared up again?"

"It's nothing." Xie Nai shook his head. "Xiao Baiyu examined me earlier—this condition is not caused by my old illness."

"Then what is it?" Xie Xuanran's gaze was filled with concern, but it was Lin Wen beside him who let out a soft sigh and said, "Your Majesty, your uncle is suffering from an affliction of the heart."

An affliction of the heart? At Lin Wen's words, Xie Xuanran immediately understood.

It was because of Qin Jiao.

Counting the days, it had been ten days since Qin Jiao was taken by Wu Tuyin. Among the various reports the scouts had sent back during this time, not a single one mentioned Qin Jiao—as if the man had simply vanished into thin air.

Xie Xuanran tried to console Xie Nai: "Imperial Uncle, don't worry too much. Heaven protects the good—nothing will happen to Qin Jiao."

People said that in worldly affairs, fortune and misfortune are intertwined; sometimes, no news is good news.

Xie Nai pressed a hand to his aching chest, furrowing his brow in silence.

Qin Jiao was Wu Tuyin's greatest bargaining chip, so his life was safe—of that, Xie Nai was certain.

But though Qin Jiao might keep his life, he could not necessarily escape physical suffering.

The Qinjiao flower he cherished at the very core of his heart was so delicate and fragile—if even a single petal were harmed, it would rend Xie Nai's heart...

With such thoughts, Xie Nai's expression grew worse by the moment. Xie Xuanran beside him was deeply worried, and at that very moment, he suddenly spotted Xiao Baiyu in white robes running toward them from the distance.

Before Xie Xuanran could even ask Xiao Baiyu to take Xie Nai's pulse, he heard Xiao Baiyu shout urgently:

"Something's wrong! Zhou Zhou is missing!"

Xiao Baiyu's characteristic calm and gentle demeanor had vanished entirely. His voice was frantic, and even the hands hidden in his sleeves were trembling faintly.

Xie Nai's expression shifted abruptly: "When did this happen?"

"Just now!"

Xiao Baiyu inwardly cursed his own carelessness. Ever since He Zhao learned that Qin Jiao had been taken to Mengqin by Wu Tuyin, from Xinglin Manor all the way to Jing Pass, he had been saying the whole way that he was going to rescue Qin Jiao. Xiao Baiyu had assumed he was just talking—after all, a rescue plan would have to be discussed by everyone together. But who would have thought that in the short time it took to prepare the medicine, He Zhao had vanished!

"Guards!" Xie Nai's expression was grim. "Search for him immediately!"

Yet the moment the words left Xie Nai's mouth, he suddenly felt a throbbing ache in his chest.

"Ugh...!"

Meanwhile, in Mengqin, Qin Jiao also suddenly clutched his chest and let out a pained groan.

"Are you alright?" Si Lu watched Qin Jiao with concern as he downed a bowl of bitter medicine. "Young Master Qin, you've been recovering from this injury for days now—why hasn't it gotten much better?" Si Lu said anxiously. "How about I go beg Wu Tuyin to have the shaman examine you again?"

"No need, I'm fine—don't worry." Qin Jiao smiled at Si Lu, thinking to himself, Wu Tuyin is deliberately torturing me.

That day, after Qin Jiao struggled through on his severely injured body at Wulige's funeral, Wu Tuyin had the shaman examine him again. At that time, Qin Jiao had heard with his own ears Wu Tuyin instructing the shaman to use the slowest-acting medicine, the most agonizing medicine—one that would neither let him die nor allow him to live comfortably.

At the end of the day, Wu Tuyin still hated him, yet was constrained by circumstances from killing him outright.

These past days, Qin Jiao had been confined in the Mengqin altar, facing Wulige's memorial tablet day after day. Si Lu would occasionally sneak in to visit him, telling him of the various events unfolding outside.

Seeing that Qin Jiao truly didn't seem to be in any dire condition, Si Lu quickly brought up the matter of Ha He. "By the way, Ha He was hanged from the sacred tree yesterday. Wu Tuyin's methods... were very cruel."

Before Qin Jiao could even offer a comment, Si Lu suddenly changed the subject: "Also, on my way here just now, I saw soldiers already moving explosives. If the creek bridge dam is truly destroyed, the people of Xianqiao Town will have little hope of survival."

"That won't happen."

Si Lu had previously revealed to Qin Jiao Wu Tuyin's plan to flood Xianqiao. Now, though Qin Jiao's voice was slow, his gaze was utterly resolute: "Xie Nai won't let that happen."

Even if there were only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Xie Nai would not abandon those people.

Moreover, the situation had not yet reached its worst.

Hearing Qin Jiao's words of unwavering faith, Si Lu suddenly tilted his head to look at him.

The altar's environment was hardly comfortable to begin with, and with Qin Jiao worn down by illness day after day, the young master had already thinned considerably. But at this moment, he tilted his head slightly upward, half of his dirt-smudged face bathed in light. Though his appearance was bedraggled, those bright eyes burned like twin flames—fierce and unyielding.

"Young Master Qin, why do you trust the Prince of Lingnan so much?" Si Lu suddenly asked Qin Jiao.

"Because he's Xie Nai." Qin Jiao answered swiftly, the words tumbling out without a moment's thought.

Qin Jiao's trust in Xie Nai had always been unwavering. He remembered long ago in Nanzhou, when Li Chengwei, the culprit in the Embroidery Tower case, had gotten away by diving into the river, the first thing Qin Jiao asked when he woke up from his coma was whether Xie Nai had caught him.

At that time, Xie Nai had also asked Qin Jiao, "Why do you think I can catch him?"

And Qin Jiao had answered without hesitation, "Because you are the Prince of Lingnan."

Qin Jiao unconsciously rubbed the Fengxue Bracelet on his wrist, thinking, because he's Xie Nai, I'll trust him no matter what.

Honestly, all these days in Mengqin, Qin Jiao had been missing Xie Nai every moment. Especially when the pain in his chest intensified, the ache of missing him grew clearer, and whenever the agony became unbearable, he'd run his fingers over the Fengxue Bracelet again and again.

Qin Jiao had always believed that pain and hard times were just temporary. Whether it was the people of Xianqiao Town or himself locked up, in the end, Xie Nai would bring them all home safe and sound.

"Young Master Qin, sometimes I envy you."

Seeing the sparkle in Qin Jiao's eyes, Si Lu gave a wry smile.

Qin Jiao turned to look at Si Lu, opened his mouth, then just said nothing.

As the two sat there in silence, a bunch of people suddenly flooded into the shrine. Leading them was Wu Fei, wearing a deep purple priest robe.

"The Chieftain wants to see you." Wu Fei pointed at Qin Jiao, then ordered his men, "Take him away."

"Wait!"

Si Lu's heart raced with anxiety, and he immediately followed.

Wu Fei did not stop Si Lu. After all, Si Lu held a special status in Mengqin—even his secret visits to Qin Jiao were turned a blind eye to by Wu Tuyin. Wu Fei, being a shrewd old fox, naturally wouldn't make things hard for himself over something so minor.

Si Lu walked with Qin Jiao to the main tent.

As they were still outside the tent, Qin Jiao saw a woman in foreign-style clothes lying on the ground, with a pink veil lying on the ground next to her.

"It's the Heqin Princess—she's been sent back."

Si Lu recognized the princess's attire. He had previously told Qin Jiao that with the two kingdoms about to go to war, the Heqin Princess would be sent back. So now, looking at the woman on the ground, Qin Jiao looked confused.

The Mengqin Princess had been sent back—why would Wu Tuyin summon him here? He didn't even know the princess...

But when Qin Jiao entered the tent, his eyes went wide in shock!

This princess—he knew her!!

"Hello there, Little Qin Jiao!"

When He Zhao's cheerful voice rang in Qin Jiao's ears, Qin Jiao's heart nearly stopped. "He Zhao!!?" Qin Jiao felt cold sweat soak his back. "How could it be you! Why are you in Mengqin? Aren't you supposed to be at Xinglin Manor getting ready for your wedding?"

He Zhao, dressed in a charming woman's outfit, saw Qin Jiao's utterly shocked expression and let out a hearty laugh. "I was planning to disguise myself as the Heqin Princess to rescue you, Little Qin Jiao." He Zhao explained, "You know my Lightness Skill is pretty decent, but as you can see... I got caught."

"You—you're being reckless!" Qin Jiao was so stunned he could barely stand, and thankfully Si Lu reached out to steady him.

"Where's the recklessness?" He Zhao's eyes sparkled like stars. "So? Isn't Little Qin Jiao happy to see me? Isn't it like a starving ox seeing grass—just pure joy!"

"You! What are you saying..." Hearing those familiar, nonsensical playful words, the tears Qin Jiao had held back for so long finally overflowed beyond his control.

Since being captured and brought to Mengqin, when Ha He had tried to kill him, he hadn't cried. When Wu Tuyin deliberately tormented him, he hadn't cried either. But now, seeing He Zhao so "carefree and heartless," Qin Jiao could no longer suppress the sorrow in his heart, his voice choking with emotion.

"I told you I'd have your back."

He Zhao said, dead serious: "Don't worry, I won't go back on my word. After all, I'm still waiting to toast you at the wedding feast."

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