CH 61

October 26, 2022Merchie

The freezing night wind whistled past his ears.

Qi Changyi’s cheeks felt as though they were being sliced by an icy knife; he was so cold that he was about to lose consciousness.

The pair arrived at the northern end of the city. A dark figure was standing near the high wall, and when he spotted the two, he hurried over to receive them.

“General, Your Highness.”

It was only until the man got closer that one could see what he was wearing: the uniform of the imperial guards, along with a soldier’s blade at his waist.

“We cannot stay here any longer, come with me!”

Zhao Litang got off the horse first. When he turned around to help Qi Changyi down, Zhao Litang saw that he was staring at the man’s clothes, his expression slightly worried.

Zhao Litang explained, “Don’t be scared, this is one of my former subordinates. Now, he’s a low-ranking official in the Imperial City. You can trust him. Hurry and come down, the patrolling guards will be here soon; we need to leave the city as soon as possible.”

As he spoke, he tried to grab Qi Changyi and carry him off the horse. But unexpectedly, Qi Changyi avoided his outstretched arm. Instead, he grabbed Zhao Litang’s hand with his own, and carefully turned his body to climb off the horse.

His dismounting looked extremely clumsy, and Qi Changyi almost fell to his knees upon landing. Fortunately, Zhao Litang supported him, and he managed to stand properly.

“Thank you, Brother Tang.”

Qi Changyi pulled his hand back, and quietly thanked him.

Zhao Litang was slightly stunned, but it didn’t matter too much at the moment. He quickly led the little prince toward the other man.

The three of them were nearing the city gate. The northern end of the city was already sparsely populated, so usually, there weren’t many people milling about. Because of this, there were fewer soldiers stationed here as well.

The man gave Zhao Litang and Qi Changyi a set of imperial guard uniforms each.

“In a moment, when the imperial guards arrive, all you two need to do is mix in with my group and follow me. Don’t look up and don’t say a word. Although these soldiers probably won’t recognize you, we’d best be careful.”

After putting on the uniform, Zhao Litang would easily be able to blend in; his tall, strong physique would render him completely unrecognizable amidst the crowd of soldiers.

But the robe was so big on Qi Changyi that it looked comical; the sleeves and pants were far too long. He had to roll them up several times to ensure that they wouldn’t drag on the ground; he resembled a small child that had gone to play dress-up with their parents’ clothes.

Zhao Litang stared at the short, thin Qi Changyi, who was floundering around in the loose robes. His eyebrows creased with worry, “Is this really going to work? It seems too risky, how about we…”

Before he could finish speaking, the fiery glow of torches suddenly appeared in the street in the distance; the imperial guards had arrived.

“General! It’s too late for a change of plans! Quickly, come on! Now that it’s come to this, this is your only chance!”

The three of them donned their armor. Under the cover of darkness, Qi Changyi and Zhao Litang melted into the small group of northern city guards.

Zhao Litang’s subordinate turned out to be the lead guard of a squad. He walked to the front of the small convoy, leading Zhao Litang, Qi Changyi, and a few others towards the city gate.

“Stop right there! What are you doing?! Don’t you know that the city gate is locked for the night? Nobody is allowed in or out!”

The guards stationed at the gate stopped them.

“We’ve been ordered to leave the city to find the assassin.”

The soldiers at the gate all exchanged looks with one another.

“Leave the city? We’ve clearly been ordered to seal the capital! Whose orders are you following?”

Zhao Litang’s subordinate cupped his hands and bowed, “Naturally, it was an order from Lord Pei. If you dare keep us here any longer, we’ll see if you can handle the consequences!”

The torchlight in the distance was slowly growing brighter, lighting up the sky above the imperial capital. If they weren’t able to leave the city now, the imperial guards would catch up to them!

“Look! Lord Pei has also led soldiers here in pursuit of the assassin. The Lord wanted us to leave the city first to search. If you wait for him to come here, and he finds out we haven’t left yet…”

The guards at the gate immediately became terrified.

“H-hurry up and open the gate!”

The city gate was pushed open, and the small convoy marched out of it in a neat, orderly fashion. Once they stepped out of the gate and into the darkness, they disappeared without a trace.

The guards stationed at the gate all heaved a sigh of relief. They had been one step away from a colossal blunder. They definitely couldn’t afford to anger Lord Pei, or they wouldn’t even have a complete corpse after they died.

When the mighty army of imperial guards finally arrived, there was no black-clad figure waiting at the northern city gate.

The troops all spread out and arranged themselves into two neat rows, their torches raised high in the air.

Pei Zheng came out from behind on horseback; the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves was the only sound that could be heard in the eerie darkness.

“Did you see anything suspicious?”

The guards at the gate were trembling in fear as they collapsed to their knees, “Replying to my Lord, except for the squad that just left to patrol the outside of the city, we didn’t see anything suspicious.”

The reins were pulled taut; the horse neighed loudly in pain as a long tear appeared at the side of its mouth and began to drip blood.

Pei Zheng dismounted, walked up to the guard who had just spoken, and stared at him with cold eyes.

“Left to patrol outside the city?”

His voice was even more frigid than the freezing wind that was blowing on their faces.

“Y-yes sir, they said they were following the Lord’s orders…to leave first to search outside the city…this lowly one didn’t dare to refute it…so we…let them leave…”

Pei Zheng’s voice was filled with fury, “How many people left the city?”

“Ten…or eleven…no, it was twelve…”

“Useless things!”

Before that guard could finish speaking, Pei Zheng grabbed the sword of the person next to him. Cold light flashed, and several soldiers at the gate didn’t even have time to cry out before they all fell into a pool of their own blood.

Pei Zheng’s palm had been cut earlier, so the blood had already congealed. The moment he gripped the hilt of the sword, the wound began to bleed once more.

“Who was the one told me there was a black-clad man at the south of the city?”

If he hadn’t been misdirected to the south, how would they have been given a chance to escape?!

These useless things! They couldn’t even prevent a little prince from leaving! All of them deserve to be killed!

The blade in Pei Zheng’s hand was covered in fresh blood. His eyes burned malevolent red, and he squeezed the question out through gritted teeth.

The man who had reported to Pei Zheng immediately fell to Pei Zheng’s feet with a thud, before he kowtowed frantically and spoke in a trembling voice, “My Lord, this lowly official is incompetent, and was deceived by criminals. This lowly official…will accept the Lord’s punishment!”

Pei Zheng sneered, and raised his sword. Just as he was about to swing downward, the soldier kneeling on the ground was suddenly kicked to the side.

The cold blade rammed into the ground, leaving a deep, splitting crack in the ground.

Cheng Feng cupped his hands and stood beside Pei Zheng. He bowed his head and said, “Master, this subordinate understands how you feel, but it would be better to leave him alive for now, and have him pursue the assassin to redeem himself.”

The soldier hurriedly knelt down again, “I hope my Lord will give this lowly official a chance to redeem myself, this lowly official will do his very best to find the assassin and bring him to justice!”

Pei Zheng clenched his hand tighter and tighter. The bloody wound on his palm dripped uncontrollably, and a small red puddle had already appeared on the ground.

He knew that Cheng Feng wasn’t only interceding for that guard. More importantly, he was helping him come back to his senses and cool his head.

The brutality and despair in his heart had blinded his mind. He was often unable to control his violent thoughts and tendencies.

He had already killed several people in a row. If he continued like this, he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from killing everyone here.

He closed his eyes, took several deep breathes, and allowed himself to calm down and regain his sanity.

Pei Zheng tossed the sword to the ground with a clatter, before flicking his sleeves and mounting his horse.

“Hurry up and fuck off.”

“Yes, sir!”

The kneeling soldier stood up, ordered someone to open the city gate, gathered a large group of guards and rushed out.

Torches glowed against the cloudy darkness, scattering and receding further into the distance.

Cheng Feng stood beside the horse. He tore off a corner of his sleeve, and tied a simple knot around Pei Zheng’s palm to staunch the bleeding.

The figure on the horse gazed past the city gate, his eyes gloomy and devoid of light.

Qi Changyi was sitting in a carriage; they were speeding away from the capital as fast as they possibly could.

He lifted the curtain. Under the dim moonlight, he took one last look at the Imperial City’s towering gate.

That place had been like a cage; he had been imprisoned in it, and tied to it for all his life.

He had been very happy during his first few years of living there. He had his Mother Consort and Royal Father by his side. He was favored, and everything was so bright and beautiful. He laughed as he rode on his Royal Father’s shoulders. He buried himself in his mother’s arms and acted spoiled.

But later, that happiness vanished.

His mother died, his Royal Father no longer loved him, and after suffering from a serious illness, he gradually became different from normal people. Everybody laughed at him for being an idiot. He endured all the humiliation and pain, pressed on, and did his very best to continue living his life.

Because his mother had told him that she would always be with him, even in the darkest, most terrible times. Even though he couldn’t see her, she could still see him, so he should greet each day with joy in his heart.

So even when he was all alone in that remote, cold little palace, he remained pure and kind. No matter what painful hardships he faced, his face was always full of brightness and vitality.

Fortunately, that happiness returned once more.

It all stemmed from one person: Pei Zheng, the Prime Minister, who was called cruel and ruthless by others.

He had never been “Lord Pei”; he was always “Brother Pei”.

His Brother Pei was sometimes very nice, so nice that Qi Changyi could bury himself in his arms and act spoiled. But more often than not, he wasn’t so nice.

But none of it mattered. After being humiliated and neglected for so long, if he showed him a touch of warmth, Qi Changyi would be pulled back toward Pei Zheng, unable to free himself. To him, Brother Pei’s kindness was more than enough.

But later?

Later, this little bit of happiness faded as well…

The carriage turned a corner, and the Imperial City disappeared from his view.

The wind outside was strong; Qi Changyi couldn’t stop shivering as his eyes gradually turned warm.

He let go of the curtain and lowered his head. A soft sob escaped him.

“Changyi, if you’re tired, you can sleep for a bit. By dawn, we’ll be far beyond the Imperial City’s walls.”

The small man didn’t move. His shoulders shuddered slightly. After a while, he lifted his head. His eyes were red from trying to hold back his tears.

“Brother Tang, where are we going?”

“To the borderlands, somewhere very, very far away, somewhere that Pei…other people won’t be able to find you. No one there knows who you are. No one will bully you, and no one will laugh at you. They will all treat you very well.”

Zhao Litang clasped his ice-cold little hand, “You only need to focus on becoming healthy again, and living for a long, long time. You’re not allowed to think about those bad things anymore, okay?”

The tears beaded at Qi Changyi’s eyes finally fell, droplet by droplet, dripping like small pebbles onto his robe.

He was still clutching that ruined lantern. He had hugged it so tightly that its paper surface had wrinkled slightly.

They traveled by carriage all night, and finally arrived at a small town far way from the imperial capital.

The coachman found a small inn for the two to hide at for the time being.

Zhao Litang brought Qi Changyi out of the carriage first, wrapped the small man in another layer of clothing, before taking him into the inn.

The innkeeper gave them the best guest room, but that didn’t mean much; naturally, it was incomparable to Qi Changyi’s residence in the palace.

“Changyi, we can only settle for this right now. We can’t live in very nice places right now, or we’ll stand out too much.”

“Brother Tang.” Qi Changyi called, “This is already very nice. I know that we have to be careful not to be discovered, right? This is a nice room, and the bed is soft and comfortable. Thank you, Brother Tang.”

Sometimes, he was too considerate. He was so considerate that Zhao Litang didn’t know if the little prince could refuse anything or act spoiled. Or had those vivid emotions already been revealed to others?

“No need to thank me. Rest well, I’m going out to take a look.”

“Okay.”

Qi Changyi closed the door. The sadness and misery on his face couldn’t be hidden any longer.

He slowly walked to the hard bed and laid down. He placed the ruined lantern beside his pillow, before covering it and himself with the blanket.

He hadn’t been able to rest at all during the carriage ride; a wave of drowsiness washed over him.

The small man turned over under the blanket and hugged the broken lantern in his arms. With tears sparkling at the corners of his eyes, he feel into a deep sleep.

Notes

Poor baby, let’s give him a big hug ;-;

Thanks for reading~~