Zhang Zu Rui’s group was not exactly inconspicuous, so Fu Xi Yan did not have much trouble finding them. Near evening, he heard news at a tea stall outside a small town. The idle patrons were still enthusiastically describing the convoy. If nothing else, the moment Fu Xi Yan heard about a battered carriage covered in patches, he knew he had followed the right trail.
Zhang Zu Rui knew this was the first day of a long journey and that Madam Zhang and the others were still adjusting, so the group did not travel too far and stopped directly in the town for the night.
When Fu Xi Yan found them, they were eating in the inn’s main hall. The large chunks of lamb had been cooked only passably, but smelled wonderfully fragrant. After entering, Fu Xi Yan greeted General Zhang and the others, then sat straight down beside Pei Yuan Jin.
Pei Yuan Jin naturally handed him a pair of chopsticks. Fu Xi Yan accepted them and began eating, as casually as though he had been part of the convoy all along.
Seeing that there were only three people at the table even after he joined them, and that neither the Flower-Guarding Unit nor Yu Su Huan was present, Fu Xi Yan worriedly asked, “You still haven’t told her?”
“I told her,” Pei Yuan Jin said.
Jiang Xiu said, “Grief followed immediately by great joy is extremely hard on a person. I prescribed something to calm her spirit. Once she sleeps properly, she’ll recover somewhat.”
Fu Xi Yan asked Pei Yuan Jin, “How much did you tell her?” He had not dared ask about the Prince of Longnan being confined to a wheelchair. He assumed the prognosis was not good. After all, the prince’s body had already been treated by the Little Divine Doctor Yan Xie. Fu Xi Yan did not know whether Aunt Yu could bear hearing the rest.
Pei Yuan Jin said, “That he’s alive.”
Fu Xi Yan initially thought that was far too little, like watching only the trailer for a television drama. But after considering it carefully, he realized those few words outweighed a thousand others.
He leaned closer and quietly explained that the Prince of Longnan planned to meet them in Ji City, then asked what Pei Yuan Jin intended to do.
Pei Yuan Jin frowned slightly.
The Northern Lands branch had lost contact. As Young Master, naturally he had to investigate.
Investigating meant going to Mengwu. Abu’ersilang’s true identity was that of a minor tribal chief in Mengwu. He controlled a merchant caravan made up of his clansmen, ordinarily traveling between the Northern Lands and Mengwu while earning money and collecting intelligence. But Mengwu lay north of Yujing, in precisely the opposite direction from Ji City. Going there and back would take ten days to half a month.
Their original plan had been to escort Yu Su Huan to Yujing to reunite with the Prince of Longnan, then continue north into Mengwu themselves.
Seeing Pei Yuan Jin hesitate, Fu Xi Yan suggested, “What if we first take Aunt Yu to reunite with the Prince of Longnan?” He had already considered this before setting out, which was why he had deliberately asked Wang Ku about their movements over the next several days. If they left now, they should still catch them.
Perhaps he had watched too many television dramas and developed lasting trauma from them. Whenever he saw lovers separated by distance, he worried the next time they met would be on opposite sides of life and death. So, following the principle of seeing a good deed through to the end, he felt the safest choice was to deliver Aunt Yu directly to the Prince of Longnan and let the family reunite. Besides, the Flower-Guarding Unit together with Wang Ku could handle most experts. Keeping them together was safer than splitting them up.
Pei Yuan Jin said, “All right.”
Then both men looked at Jiang Xiu.
If they left, Jiang Xiu naturally had to go too. The problem was that after so much continuous travel, nobody knew whether Yu Su Huan’s body could bear another trip.
Jiang Xiu slowly ate his lamb. “An illness of the heart still needs medicine for the heart.”
That meant he did not object.
Fu Xi Yan said, “Let’s ask Aunt Yu. If she doesn’t object, we’ll do it this way!”
Of course Yu Su Huan would not object. If Fu Gui Gui had been capable of carrying a person, she would probably have mounted her and flown there immediately.
There was no time to waste. Fu Xi Yan went at once to discuss the matter with Zhang Zu Rui.
When they rescued the Prince of Longnan, Zhang Zu Rui had already guessed what would happen next and was pleased with the idea. “His Highness has suffered greatly over these years. With the Princess Consort beside him, he’ll certainly be much happier. I only worry that Wen Hong Xuan has eyes and ears along the road.”
Fu Xi Yan said confidently, “Unless the person they send is Zheng Jiao Jiao.”
Although he had never met the man, all the speculation from before, the whole shan mo da yan clue and the idea that Mo Xiao Ran might equal Zheng Jiao Jiao, had left Fu Xi Yan intensely wary of Zheng Jiao Jiao.
Mentioning Zheng Jiao Jiao made Zhang Zu Rui remember Wen Hong Xuan, once his comrade-in-arms and now walking a separate road. Cooperation between Wen Hong Xuan and Mengwu could at least be described as mutual exploitation. Joining hands with Borrowing from All Living Beings, however, was what the Prince of Longnan called “willing self-degradation.”
That was also the contradiction between them that could never be reconciled.
Zhang Zu Rui warned, “Zheng Jiao Jiao has a close relationship with the King of Mengwu. If you go to Mengwu, be extremely careful.”
Fu Xi Yan did not find that surprising.
Zhang Zu Rui and the others had only been in the Northern Lands for so many years. Zheng Jiao Jiao had already lived there before they arrived, back when the region was still under Mengwu rule. It was perfectly normal for the two sides to have a good relationship.
Fu Xi Yan sighed. “I wonder what benefits the King of Mengwu promised him to make a Martial God run around doing this much work.” Mo Xiao Ran was the same. As a master of the Puppet Path, he spent all day appearing in imperial palaces. Fu Xi Yan had no idea what he was after either.
Naturally, Zhang Zu Rui could not answer.
They rested at the inn overnight. Before dawn the next morning, Fu Xi Yan and the others quietly departed. This time, they squeezed into the intact carriage. The conspicuous broken-down one was left with the Zhang family for luggage, treated as payment for the food and lodging they had enjoyed at the Zhang residence over the previous two days.
On the road, Fu Xi Yan used medical treatment as an excuse and seemingly casually brought up the symptoms of both the Prince of Longnan and Liu Huan.
Yu Su Huan listened beside them but did not look surprised. In her mind, if the Prince of Longnan had awakened but refused to see her, he had to have his reasons. Disability had already been among her guesses.
Jiang Xiu had a tiny amount of interest in treating this kind of difficult and complicated condition, but not much. What he truly could not stop thinking about was still the Jadeite Soil.
Fu Xi Yan remembered the list in his robes. The Prince of Longnan had not given him anyone suitable to target, so he would simply have to find another route. For example, the Mengwu royal court?
The Northern Lands and Mengwu were allies anyway. If he rounded generously enough, dealing with Mengwu counted as dealing with the Northern Lands. Emperor Jianhong would surely recognize the points, right? The sentence had a question mark, but in Fu Xi Yan’s mind it was absolutely a statement.
Finding Zhang Zu Rui had been easy. Finding the Prince of Longnan took considerably more effort, mainly because Fu Xi Yan and the others were unfamiliar with the Northern Lands and took several wrong turns. In the end, they relied on Fu Gui Gui to lead the way and found Wang Ku while he was scouting ahead.
Looking at Wang Ku’s shiny bald head, Fu Xi Yan suspected Fu Gui Gui had navigated by the reflected light from his scalp.
Whatever the process, a good result made it worthwhile.
When Wang Ku saw Yu Su Huan appear from the carriage, he became so shocked and delighted that he did not know where to put his hands or feet. Pressing his palms together, he chanted, “Amitabha. Ku Wa pays respects to the Princess Consort!”
Yu Su Huan beckoned him closer. Once he reached her, she sighed. “Why did you become a monk when everything was perfectly fine? His Highness and I had already agreed that we would arrange a marriage for you.”
Wang Ku gave an awkward laugh and rubbed his bald head. “At first it was to escape pursuit. Later I simply got used to it.”
“Would you return to lay life?”
Wang Ku answered without the slightest hesitation. “Whatever the Princess Consort says!”
Yu Su Huan smiled happily, then asked softly, “Where is His Highness?”
Wang Ku immediately abandoned all his poor-monk formalities and volunteered, “I’ll lead the way!”
Because they had a group of soldiers with them, the prince’s party had avoided towns and villages and traveled through the mountains. But mountainous terrain was limited, and they were now about to emerge. Wang Ku had been sent ahead as a scout, while the Prince of Longnan and the others were still waiting farther up the mountain.
The moment Yu Su Huan heard news of the Prince of Longnan, her entire body seemed to regain energy. She stepped directly out of the carriage and started climbing the mountain on foot.
Seeing that the mountain path was indeed too narrow for the carriage, Fu Xi Yan left it at the foot of the mountain with the Flower-Guarding Unit and Jiang Xiu. He and Pei Yuan Jin followed behind Yu Su Huan, climbing upward step by step.
Spring had arrived. Wildflowers bloomed densely across the mountain, yellow, red, blue, purple. Their riot of color seemed almost as though it had blossomed directly out of Yu Su Huan’s heart.
Fu Xi Yan initially followed very closely. Later, Pei Yuan Jin gently tugged him back, and Fu Xi Yan knowingly slowed his steps. After another short while, he heard movement from the people farther up the mountain.
Yu Su Huan’s stamina was ordinarily only average, yet today she walked faster and faster. At the end of the mountain path, amid the dense trees, a thin seated figure appeared.
Even from a distance, even with his back turned to her, Yu Su Huan recognized him at a glance. He was the man who had once made her life blaze with incomparable color.
She stepped through the grass and dead branches covering the ground.
Hearing the movement, the man slowly turned his head.
Yu Su Huan gradually came to a stop. She had walked so quickly, almost desperately, yet now that she was near him, sudden timidity seized her and she no longer dared take another step. She had seen this exact scene in dreams far too many times. Every time she drew too close, the dream dissolved like a bubble.
She thought, This time I need to restrain myself. Let the person in front of me remain a little longer.
The Prince of Longnan looked deeply at her, his eyes faintly reddening. Then he suddenly smiled. “I regret that I did not listen to my lady’s advice back then.”
At last, Yu Su Huan gathered the courage to take that step. She reached out, and the Prince of Longnan gently took her hand.
Their hands tested one another, as though each needed to confirm that the other was real. Yu Su Huan held his hand tighter and tighter, then suddenly lunged forward and threw herself into his arms. At last unable to contain herself, she burst into loud, helpless sobs.
The Prince of Longnan held her and gently stroked her back.
Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin tactfully stopped where they were, leaving the space ahead to the lovers reunited after so many years.
“Wu…”
Fu Xi Yan heard a quiet sob nearby. Turning, he saw Wang Ku secretly wiping tears with his sleeve.
Fu Xi Yan patted his shoulder. “Don’t cry. Aunt Yu already promised to find you a wife.”
Wang Ku said, “If none of this had happened back then, my children would already be old enough to run around.”
Fu Xi Yan comforted him, “Then just pretend your child ran away.”
Wang Ku: “…”
On the other side, Yu Su Huan cried for a while before barely managing to stop. She lifted her head. “What did you just say?”
While wiping away her tears, the Prince of Longnan said gently, “Back then there were rumors that Wang Yu was wildly ambitious, but I did not take them seriously. Later, Consort Chen came to ask you to speak on his behalf. You said Wang Yu looked guilty, as though he were planning something enormous. I should have listened to you.”
Yu Su Huan remembered as well.
She had not interacted much with Consort Chen. But after rumors spread that Wang Yu also intended to fight for the throne, Consort Chen, who had always remained neutral, defended him at an imperial banquet. That made Yu Su Huan wary. Unfortunately, Wang Yu had disguised himself too well in ordinary life, and her warning failed to attract enough attention.