Chapter 541
She rode her white horse, which let out a terrified neigh, raised its hooves, and leaped out of the encirclement of the Nanrong soldiers, leading the troops to retreat.
Underneath the Ghost-face General’s mask, his eyes widened. The skin on his neck, visible beneath the mask, showed faint burn scars. He noticed from the corner of his eye that the deputy general beside him was drawing an arrow aimed at Bai Qingyan. Quickly, he pressed down the deputy general’s arm… the arrow flew out, embedding itself in the heavy shield protecting the Ghost-face General.
“General?!” The deputy general turned his head, looking at the Ghost-face General in confusion.
The Ghost-face General’s throat rolled. After a moment, his piercing black eyes turned to the deputy general. He said seriously, “Withdraw the troops! We can’t confront the Jin Kingdom now. If we force Jin and Yan to ally themselves with Beirong, it wouldn’t benefit Nanrong. Additionally, I hit the Yan Princess with an arrow. She surely won’t survive! Retreat now!”
“What the General said is indeed true!” The deputy general nodded, then shouted loudly, “Withdraw the troops!”
Bai Qingyan heard the signal for retreat from the Nanrong army. She turned her head towards them, only to see a man wearing a ghost mask and dressed in armor sitting atop a tall black horse. His posture was upright, and he radiated a cold and restrained demeanor. For some reason, he felt familiar to Bai Qingyan. Yet, despite the familiarity, there was an overwhelming sense of strangeness.
Bai Qingyan wanted to take another look, but the ghost-masked general had already turned his horse around and was retreating with the Nanrong soldiers.
When she turned back, Bai Qingyan furrowed her brows. She decided she must investigate the origins of this Ghost-face General of Nanrong when she returned.
Dong Changlan led Xiao Rongyan and their group back to Dengzhou City. By now, Princess Mingcheng had already lost consciousness. Xiao Rongyan carried Princess Mingcheng the entire way. Dong Changlan pressed Princess Mingcheng’s neck, striding quickly towards the mansion while shouting for the mansion’s physician and the doctors of Dengzhou City to come.
They placed Princess Mingcheng in a side room, and the mansion’s physician promptly began bloodletting.
The guards who had accompanied Xiao Rongyan and the Yan soldiers who had escorted the princess, along with an elderly nanny and a maid, were all detained.
Xiao Rongyan understood that this was a rightful measure. After rescuing the Yan Princess, the Jin Kingdom naturally needed to detain the Yan soldiers and maids for interrogation to figure out the circumstances.
Yue Shi and the guards accompanying Xiao Rongyan had gone through similar experiences before, so they knew how to respond appropriately.
After dealing with Princess Mingcheng, Xiao Rongyan made a deep bow to Dong Changlan. “Thank you, Brother Changlan, for saving my life!”
Dong Changlan ordered clean clothes prepared for Xiao Rongyan and personally led him to a guest room to change. On the way, he asked, “Brother Xiao, how did you end up with the Yan royal entourage?”
Though Dong Changlan was also suspicious of Xiao Rongyan, considering that Xiao Rongyan had aided the Bai family, he still treated Xiao Rongyan with courtesy.
“After finishing my business with the Rong people, I remembered Brother Changlan’s invitation to Dengzhou. I originally intended to visit you to see if I could contribute to and benefit from the mutual market you mentioned. Who would have thought that I would encounter the conflict between the Nanrong army and the Yan royal entourage? I overestimated myself, thinking that rescuing the Yan Princess might earn a favor from the Beirong royal court and facilitate future business dealings. Unexpectedly, I almost lost myself there. I’m deeply grateful to you, Brother Changlan, and to Miss Bai for your timely rescue!” Xiao Rongyan finished with another respectful bow to Dong Changlan. “Thank you, Brother Changlan, and Miss Bai, for saving my life!”
“Brother Xiao, there is no need for such courtesy!” Dong Changlan humbly supported Xiao Rongyan, “Brother Xiao, please go and bathe and change. My father will be delighted to hear of Mr. Xiao’s arrival.”
Xiao Rongyan smiled and nodded. After bowing again, he followed a servant from the Dong Mansion into the guest room to bathe and change his clothes.
Soon after arriving, Bai Qingyan instructed the Bai family’s guard to return to the Dong Mansion to treat their wounds. Not bothering to change out of her armor, she and Lu Ping headed straight towards the place where the Yan royal entourage, the princess’s nanny, and the maid were detained.
Taking advantage of their confusion and before they had thought everything through, she believed it was the best time to extract information.
Coincidentally, Dong Qingyue and Bai Qingyan both had the same idea and met at the entrance of the Dengzhou camp.
“Uncle, I will interrogate the maid and nanny of Princess Mingcheng. Uncle should handle the others!” Bai Qingyan said.
Dong Qingyue nodded.
Lu Ping stood by Bai Qingyan’s side. As soon as they pushed open the heavily guarded camp room door, they saw the nanny and maid huddling together, retreating in fear.
Seeing that it was the female general, the nanny quickly realized… Jin Kingdom had a renowned God of Slaughter, the eldest granddaughter of the King of Zhen. Seeing Bai Qingyan’s age, she guessed her identity and immediately knelt down, kowtowing. “Thank you, Princess of Zhen, for saving our lives. How is our princess? Please, Princess of Zhen, have mercy and allow this old servant and Xique to attend to our princess!”
The old nanny started to cry bitterly, dragging the terrified palace maid Xique to kneel.
Bai Qingyan could see that the old nanny was genuinely concerned for the Yan Princess’s wellbeing. She said, “Rest assured. The doctors are already attending to the Yan Princess. Before I allow you to attend to the Yan Princess, I have some questions for you two. Please answer truthfully, otherwise, I cannot permit you to serve the Yan Princess.”
“Princess of Zhen, please ask. This old servant will certainly speak without reserve.”
The maid quickly kowtowed, following the nanny’s lead. “I too will answer truthfully, without reserve!”
Seeing this, Lu Ping brought a chair for Bai Qingyan.
“The Yan Kingdom is sending the princess to Beirong for marriage. Since you have already sent envoys to Jin to request a passage, why not travel directly through Jin’s territory to Beirong instead of detouring into Nanrong territory?” Bai Qingyan asked calmly, seated.
“Princess of Zhen, we are just servants. We know nothing about the route. For the princess’s safety, only Master Peng, who led the entourage, knew the route. Even the personal soldiers escorting the princess weren’t aware! The route was decided by our emperor before departure. If the princess doesn’t believe us, you can send envoys to Yan. Our emperor will certainly give Jin a response!” the nanny replied quickly.
The words of Princess Mingcheng’s nanny were quite reasonable.
Bai Qingyan asked again, “Tell me how you encountered the Nanrong army.”
“This old servant was accompanying the princess inside the carriage, reading about the customs and culture of Beirong. Suddenly, General Peng, who was escorting us, ordered an about-face to retreat. Before we could retreat, Rong troops surrounded us from all sides, waving flags and charging on horseback, trapping us in a fierce battle. This old servant and Xique protected the princess inside the carriage. Then, a man in white, claiming to be Xiao Rongyan and an old acquaintance of our Ninth Prince, suddenly rushed in, saying he was there to save Princess Mingcheng! Seeing the carriage couldn’t hold, Mr. Xiao decided to take the princess to escape. As we got off the carriage, the princess was struck in the neck by an arrow…”