Chapter 125

Racing at full speed with Xie Eleven and the others, Fan Changyu arrived at the estate at last.

But she was still one step too late.

The entire estate was engulfed in flames. Several Blood-Clad Cavalry guards lay sprawled dead before the main gate, their blood-soaked uniforms stained crimson. The blood smeared across the steps looked bleak yet strangely vivid in the firelight.

Holding onto a sliver of hope, Fan Changyu rushed into the estate, searching frantically.

“Qianqian?”

She searched room after room without finding anyone. Finally, outside the kitchen, she found the cook unconscious from a blow to the head. Hoisting the woman up, she helped her out of the burning compound.

While Xie Eleven was counting the bodies of the fallen Blood-Clad Cavalry at the gate, he discovered that one of them still had a faint breath left. He quickly fed the man a life-saving pill.

The man weakly opened his eyes. Seeing familiar faces, he hurriedly explained what had happened.

“Someone disguised as Blood-Clad Cavalry attacked the estate. We couldn’t distinguish friend from foe and lost the advantage…”

Xie Eleven asked, “Where are the Imperial Great-Grandson and his mother?”

The man feebly pointed in a direction.

“East… they went east…”

Xie Eleven immediately reported this to Fan Changyu.

Fan Changyu ordered a small group to remain behind and clean up the aftermath while the rest continued the pursuit eastward.

The estate was located on the outskirts of the city. A citywide lockdown and thorough search were impossible. If they failed to catch up now, they might lose all trace of Yu Qianqian and her son forever.

Anxiety burned in Fan Changyu’s chest. After mounting her horse, she cracked her whip sharply and galloped eastward.

Every member of the Blood-Clad Cavalry had once served as a scout. Seeing the bandages on Fan Changyu’s arm already soaked red with fresh blood, Xie Eleven tried to reassure her.

“Commander, don’t worry too much. There are fresh wagon tracks on the road. They abducted the Imperial Great-Grandson and his mother in a carriage. We can still catch them.”

Fan Changyu said nothing.

Her lips remained pressed tightly together.

Yu Qianqian was one of the few true friends she had. Little Bao was even more important. Xie Zheng had already entered the capital; she could not allow anything to happen to them.

After chasing for more than ten miles, a sudden volley of arrows shot out from the dense forests lining both sides of the official road.

Fan Changyu immediately raised her blade to deflect them.

The accompanying Blood-Clad Cavalry were all elite soldiers. None were injured, but several horses were struck down by arrows.

Xie Eleven gritted his teeth.

“They must have heard our horses approaching and left men here to set up an ambush in advance!”

Fan Changyu glanced at the dozens of Blood-Clad Cavalry remaining after the attack.

“I’ll take some men and continue the pursuit. Deal with the ones hiding in the woods.”

Xie Eleven knew recovering the Imperial Great-Grandson and his mother was the highest priority.

“Commander, be careful!”

Fan Changyu led part of the Blood-Clad Cavalry straight through the barrage.

Arrows hissed out from both sides of the forest. They merely raised their swords to deflect what they could.

Anyone unfortunate enough to be hit rolled into cover and joined Xie Eleven’s forces in clearing out the hidden enemies.

Using this method, Fan Changyu finally broke through the rain of arrows with part of her force.

Following the wagon tracks, they continued the chase.

After only a few more miles, they finally spotted them.

More than a dozen riders were escorting a carriage at high speed along the road.

Fan Changyu shouted, “Any skilled archers? Avoid the carriage and loose your arrows!”

She had studied several military texts. Though she couldn’t recite them word for word, she had spent years in the army and fought in more than ten battles large and small.

In pursuit, momentum often mattered more than anything.

With enough momentum, one could break the enemy’s courage before even reaching them.

Once they were within range, firing arrows while pursuing was undoubtedly the best way to create pressure.

Under the suppression of arrows, the enemy carriage could not outrun unburdened warhorses. They were forced to send seven or eight riders back to intercept Fan Changyu’s group.

Long-handled weapons held a distinct advantage on horseback.

Fan Changyu swung the unfamiliar blade hanging at her saddle in a sweeping arc. The Shadow Guards charging toward her were forced to veer aside before they could even get close.

The carefully selected Blood-Clad Cavalry were far superior to the ordinary soldiers who had accompanied Fan Changyu out of the city before. Though their martial skills could not compare to Xie Five’s, they were not easily defeated.

Several of them working together could hold down a single Shadow Guard.

This was far better than when Fan Changyu had once faced more than a dozen Shadow Guards alone.

Seeing that most of the intercepting Shadow Guards were tied down by the Blood-Clad Cavalry, Fan Changyu slapped her horse’s flank and charged toward the carriage ahead.

One Shadow Guard riding beside the carriage suddenly drew a bow and fired at her.

Fan Changyu sliced one arrow in half. Because her horse was running at such speed, she flattened herself low against its back.

Seeing he could not hit her, the Shadow Guard switched targets and fired at her horse.

When her horse collapsed after being struck, Fan Changyu was less than twenty feet from the carriage carrying Yu Qianqian and her son.

Clenching her teeth, she threw out a rope, lassoing the corner of the carriage roof.

As she leapt from her falling horse, the pull of the rope carried her flying toward the carriage.

The Shadow Guards riding around it swung their blades at her.

Fan Changyu rolled across the roof to evade.

The place where she had just been lying was split apart, nearly half the carriage roof shattered.

A terrified cry from Yu Qianqian came from inside.

Gripping the rope, Fan Changyu swung down, kicked the driver clean off the carriage, then lifted the curtain.

“Qianqian, don’t be afraid! It’s me!”

Inside the carriage, Yu Qianqian was gripping the window frame with one hand while clutching Yu Bao’er tightly with the other.

Still shaken, she stared at her.

“Changyu?”

Fan Changyu had barely answered when a Shadow Guard riding alongside the carriage slashed horizontally at her.

She hurriedly leaned backward.

The blade struck the carriage door instead.

Fan Changyu kicked upward into the man’s armpit.

The Shadow Guard froze for a moment.

The next instant, he felt as though half the ribs in his chest had shattered from the kick. Clutching his side in agony, he tumbled from his horse.

Sitting upright again, Fan Changyu grabbed the reins and tried to turn the carriage around.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let them take you away!”

Yu Qianqian glanced through the carriage window at the relentlessly pursuing Shadow Guards.

“This won’t work, Changyu. Take Bao’er and ride away!”

Before she could push Yu Bao’er toward Fan Changyu, one of the carriage horses was shot through the front leg.

The horse screamed and stumbled forward.

The entire carriage flipped over.

Yu Qianqian and Yu Bao’er were thrown from the carriage.

Fan Changyu protected both mother and son with her own body, but her back slammed violently into a rocky cliff beside the road.

Pain instantly drained the color from her face.

For a long while, she couldn’t even stand.

After dragging across the ground for some distance, the overturned carriage tilted over the edge of a cliff.

Finally, the carriage and the wounded horse tumbled into the abyss below.

Yu Qianqian struggled upright.

She saw that the clothing on Fan Changyu’s back had been torn apart by the rough stone. Touching it, her hand immediately came away wet with blood.

Tears spilled from her eyes.

“Changyu, how are you?”

Fan Changyu laboriously opened her eyes.

Seeing the remaining Shadow Guards approaching, she braced herself with her blade and forced herself into a half-sitting position.

Staring coldly at the nameless Shadow Guards now less than thirty feet away, she ordered:

“Run!”

The Blood-Clad Cavalry fighting the other nine Shadow Guards had begun to gain the upper hand through superior numbers.

If Yu Qianqian and Yu Bao’er could reach them, there was still hope.

Yu Qianqian knew she had no martial skills.

Staying behind would only burden Fan Changyu.

With tears in her eyes, she took one last look at her friend before ruthlessly grabbing Yu Bao’er’s hand and running toward the Blood-Clad Cavalry.

Yu Bao’er kept turning back.

His childish face was streaked with blood from his scrapes.

In his eyes reflected the image of Fan Changyu under the setting sun, using all her strength to rise while leaning on her long blade.

The hand not held by Yu Qianqian was clenched tightly into a fist.

Back outside Lu City, Fan Changyu had fought sixteen Shadow Guards at once.

She had only lasted so long because they had been trying to capture her alive.

Today, already injured and now facing five Shadow Guards fighting with lethal intent, the battle was incomparably harder.

One of the Shadow Guards noticed that four companions had occupied Fan Changyu and immediately broke away to pursue Yu Qianqian and Yu Bao’er.

The mountain road was steep.

Yu Qianqian’s elaborate dress hindered her movement.

She stepped on her skirt and fell.

Panicked, she pushed Yu Bao’er forward.

“Bao’er, run!”

But Yu Bao’er refused to abandon her.

His small body acted as a human crutch as he tried to help her stand.

By then, the Shadow Guard had caught up.

At the same time, a furious shout erupted from the Blood-Clad Cavalry.

“Commander!”

It was Xie Five and Xie Seven.

No one knew how they had received the news, but they had arrived on horseback.

Realizing there was no way to take both Yu Qianqian and her son back today, the Shadow Guard’s eyes turned fierce.

Without warning, he swung his blade directly at Yu Bao’er.

Fan Changyu was still trapped by four Shadow Guards and could not break free.

Perhaps because a mother’s strength emerges in desperate moments, Yu Qianqian lunged toward Yu Bao’er without a moment’s hesitation.

The blade struck her back.

Blood sprayed across Yu Bao’er’s face.

“Go… quickly…” Yu Qianqian said through the pain, managing only those two words.

Looking at his mother lying in a pool of blood, Yu Bao’er froze completely.

That man really intended to kill both him and his mother?

The Shadow Guard was also stunned when Yu Qianqian took the blow for Yu Bao’er.

Remembering Qi Min’s instructions, his expression darkened.

He quickly pulled out a bottle of medicinal powder and poured the entire contents onto the wound on Yu Qianqian’s back.

When Fan Changyu saw Yu Qianqian cut down, she let out a furious roar.

Several consecutive strikes forced back the four Shadow Guards surrounding her.

Using the momentum of her charge, she swept her blade horizontally and sent the Shadow Guard who had wounded Yu Qianqian flying.

Despite having almost no strength left, she still tried to pick Yu Qianqian up and run.

But Yu Qianqian weakly grabbed her hand.

Through tear-filled eyes, she pleaded:

“Take Bao’er… take him away… They won’t kill me, but they’ll kill Bao’er…”

Fan Changyu looked at the entire bottle of wound medicine spread over Yu Qianqian’s back.

Though she didn’t fully understand what was happening, she knew Yu Qianqian was telling the truth.

Summoning the last of her strength, she scooped up the seemingly stunned Yu Bao’er and ran toward the direction from which Xie Five and Xie Seven were approaching.

The four Shadow Guards who had been fighting Fan Changyu pursued them.

Two of them picked up Yu Qianqian and retreated.

The other two flicked up their sleeves and shot several hidden arrows toward Yu Bao’er in Fan Changyu’s arms.

Without hesitation, Fan Changyu shielded him with her own body.

“Commander!”

Fortunately, Xie Five and Xie Seven had already arrived.

Though Xie Five had lost the use of one arm, he leapt from his horse and used his remaining arm to swing his blade, knocking aside the incoming arrows.

Xie Seven responded by drawing and firing several arrows at the Shadow Guards.

The thunder of hooves echoed from the end of the road.

Xie Eleven and the others had finished eliminating the Shadow Guards hidden in the forest and had arrived with reinforcements.

Seeing enemy reinforcements appear, the remaining Shadow Guards no longer wished to continue fighting.

They pulled out smoke bombs and hurled them forcefully onto the ground.

Dust and smoke instantly filled the road.

By the time the smoke dispersed, the Shadow Guards had vanished without a trace.

Xie Eleven hurried over.

When he saw Xie Five and Xie Seven, he called out excitedly,

“Fifth Brother! Seventh Brother!”

Then he turned and noticed that half of Fan Changyu’s back was covered in blood.

His expression changed immediately.

“Commander, you’re injured?”

Xie Five and Xie Seven looked equally grim.

Before leaving, Xie Zheng had specifically instructed that after his departure, the Blood-Clad Cavalry was to follow Fan Changyu’s orders in all matters.

He had only been gone two days, and she was already injured again.

The person concerned seemed unconcerned.

“Just superficial wounds. It’s nothing.”

Looking at Yu Bao’er in her arms—silent, unmoving, as though his soul had left his body—she frowned.

“Bao’er, don’t be afraid. I’ll find a way to save your mother.”

Yu Bao’er buried his face in her shoulder.

No crying could be heard.

But his teeth chattered, and his small body trembled uncontrollably.

Without a carriage, they had no choice but to return on horseback.

Frightened out of his wits, Yu Bao’er clutched Fan Changyu’s clothing the entire journey and refused to let go, so she carried him with her on the same horse.

The estate’s defenses had already been as secure as an iron fortress, yet Qi Min’s people had still found a way in.

After careful thought, Fan Changyu decided to hide Yu Bao’er within the military camp.

No matter how capable Qi Min was, surely he couldn’t move freely through a military camp as though it were unguarded territory.

She had just settled Yu Bao’er into the camp when a messenger from Tang Peiyi arrived, saying that Tang Peiyi wished to see her.

Fan Changyu knew that such a large-scale deployment of the Blood-Clad Cavalry outside the city could never have escaped Tang Peiyi’s notice.

Before leaving, Xie Zheng had said that if they truly reached a dead end, they could persuade Tang Peiyi to support Yu Bao’er.

But clearly, they had not yet reached that point.

For a moment, Fan Changyu had a headache over whether she should reveal Yu Bao’er’s identity to Tang Peiyi.

After dismissing the messenger with the excuse that she needed to have her injuries treated first, she summoned the female physician Ah Hui to tend her wounds.

Ah Hui applied medicine for as long as she cried.

Golden tears fell nonstop.

The sight made Fan Changyu feel extremely embarrassed, and she repeatedly reassured the woman that she wasn’t in pain.

Ah Hui replied,

“The Commander is a true hero and does not cry easily. But these injuries hurt even me just by looking at them. I’m crying on your behalf.”

Fan Changyu couldn’t help laughing.

Still, Ah Hui bandaged her so thoroughly that once the wrappings covered her upper body, she looked nearly crippled.

Remembering that she was about to meet Tang Peiyi, she decided not to ask for the bandages to be redone.

When Fan Changyu was finally carried on a stretcher by two personal guards to see Tang Peiyi, she gave him quite a fright.

He immediately rose from his seat and walked over.

“What happened to Commander Fan?”

Fan Changyu looked pale and listless.

“There are serious bandit problems outside the city. This subordinate went out to suppress them and accidentally fell from a cliff.”

Tang Peiyi had summoned her specifically to ask why she had left the city.

Now that she had volunteered an explanation—however obvious the lie—he found it difficult to interrogate someone covered in injuries.

He merely said,

“Jizhou already conducted a bandit suppression campaign before the New Year. What kind of bandits could injure Commander Fan to this extent?”

With a pale face, Fan Changyu answered,

“The terrain in the mountains was complicated. I wasn’t careful and fell…”

She then began coughing violently as though her lungs were about to burst.

Tang Peiyi could only wave a hand.

“Enough, enough. Hurry back and recover! You’re a stubborn child. If you were seriously injured, sending word would have been enough. Yet you insisted on having people carry you here. Now the entire army will probably think I’m bullying the wounded!”

Lying on the stretcher, Fan Changyu weakly cupped her hands.

“This subordinate takes her leave…”

She had never been good at lying.

Feeling guilty, she hadn’t even dared meet Tang Peiyi’s eyes.

Tang Peiyi glared at her.

“Forget the formalities. Get back to your own tent and lie down!”

Only after being carried out of the command tent did Fan Changyu secretly let out a sigh of relief.

At least she had managed to muddle through today’s ordeal.