Chapter 216: "You're All I Have Left..."
As Gongsun Chou and Pei Yuan hurriedly pulled Pei Song down the city tower, they saw Xiao Camp soldiers flooding through the city gates in massive numbers.
From the long street behind them, a Hawk Hound galloped urgently to report: "Minister—the southern gate has fallen—"
The Xiao Army had attacked the northern and eastern gates, while the Liang and Chen camps assaulted the southern and western gates.
The fall of the southern gate meant Liang Camp troops had also breached the city.
Luodu was completely lost.
Gongsun Chou glanced back at the endless stream of Xiao Troops pouring through the gates and suddenly halted: "Quickly escort our lord to break through the western gate!"
Seeing Gongsun Chou stop, Pei Song finally regained some clarity from his grief-stricken stupor over Qin Yi's death. His eyes, red as blood, fixed on Gongsun Chou: "What about you, Master?"
Meeting his gaze, Gongsun Chou's weathered eyes held resignation and peace. He smiled: "This old servant shall guard Luodu's gates for my lord."
With Pei Song's hopes of unifying the realm and ascending the throne shattered, these words acknowledged him as sovereign, vowing to defend the capital to the death.
How could Pei Song not understand? He shouted: "Losing Luodu today doesn't mean I can't retake it tomorrow! Come with us!"
He moved to drag Gongsun Chou along, but the surrounding Hawk Hounds silently restrained him with mournful determination.
With enemy troops closing in, someone had to remain and rally the scattered Pei forces to buy them precious moments.
Watching Pei Song struggle against the Hawk Hounds, Gongsun Chou's eyes reddened before he turned resolutely away, waving a hand: "Get our lord to safety!"
"Forgive our impudence, my lord."
At Pei Yuan's words, the Hawk Hounds immediately forced Pei Song toward a carriage.
Clenching his jaw until blood filled his mouth, Pei Song stared fixedly at the aged figure directing the remaining Pei troops against the overwhelming army. As the Hawk Hounds tried pushing him into the carriage, his veined hand gripped the doorframe. Tears falling from crimson eyes, he roared an oath: "I swear I'll retake Luodu and appoint you Imperial Tutor!"
Gongsun Chou stood with his back turned, murky tears rolling down his cheeks.
When Xiao Troops swarmed the barbican like tidal waves, he stood among the Pei soldiers, raising his sword and shouting: "Our lord overthrew the corrupt Liang! He holds the Mandate of Heaven! Defend Luodu for our lord!"
But his cries were soon drowned in the clamor of battle.
The moment the southern gate fell, Zhao Bai led an Azure Guard squad into the city, heading straight for Jiang Yichu's residence according to prior intelligence.
They found the place empty.
After searching the entire estate, an Azure Guard reported to Zhao Bai: "Commander, we've checked everywhere. Neither the consort nor the young lady are here."
Zhao Bai's face turned frosty. As she turned to leave, a white feather in the flower bed caught her eye.
Her expression shifted. Picking up the feather, she murmured while studying its alignment: "This points... west?"At that very moment, an Azure Guard rushed in from outside to report: "Commander, a squad of Pei's cavalry is escorting several carriages toward the west gate!"
Zhao Bai tucked away the white tail feather and strode outward, declaring, "It must be the Crown Princess Consort and the others. After them, quickly!"
—
The tightly shut west gate of Luodu swung open, and a cavalry unit charged out. Their ink-black capes nearly enveloped them entirely. As their warhorses galloped, two gleaming curved blades, shaped like sickles, emerged from within their dark robes. Nearby soldiers fell like weeds, their lives reaped in an instant.
With such a ghostly cavalry leading the way, the Chen troops besieging the west gate stood no chance.
Chen Wei, in charge of the west gate's defense, immediately ordered, "Send word to the other three gates—Pei Song is breaking through from the west!"
Messengers mounted their horses and raced off to seek reinforcements. Chen Wei continued, "Form the shield wall!"
The cavalry advanced in a V-shaped formation, protecting several green-canopied carriages at the center. The entire group resembled an unstoppable spearhead, tearing through the breached gap in the military formation and swiftly pushing toward the outer edges of the army.
The shield wall was only assembled as the cavalry neared the edge of the formation. From the gaps between the massive shields, dense clusters of over ten-foot-long spears protruded. Yet the cavalry showed no signs of slowing. Only when their warhorses were almost upon the spears did the black-caped Hawk Hounds twist their curved blades, slicing through the obstructing spears as if cutting tender bamboo shoots.
With no further hesitation, the Hawk Hounds urged their warhorses to crash into the gaps of the shield wall. Though nearly ten soldiers braced each giant shield from behind, the joints between shields were weak points. Instantly, the warhorses trampled through, creating breaches.
As the Hawk Hounds rode into the shield wall, their sickle-like curved blades rose and fell, cutting down swathes of soldiers behind the shields. Blood sprayed into the cold wind, a grim testament to how effortlessly they harvested lives.
Witnessing this from afar, Chen Wei’s eyes blazed with fury, his face darkening. He raised a hand and shouted, "Crossbowmen, ready!"
Pei Song’s breakout from the city included carriages—there had to be something unusual about them. It was entirely possible Pei Song himself was inside.
Earlier, within the military formation, firing arrows risked hitting their own troops. But now that the enemy had broken through, they could unleash a net of arrows.
Crossbowmen drew their bows and loaded their bolts, aiming densely at the cavalry and carriages that had breached the defenses. Suddenly, a frantic shout came from behind: "Do not shoot at the carriages!"
Chen Wei turned to see Zhao Bai galloping toward him with a hundred or so Azure Guards.
He recognized Zhao Bai and explained, "Lady Zhao Bai, Pei Song is breaking through here!"
Zhao Bai’s expression was grim. Reining in her warhorse before Chen Wei, she said, "Pei Song has taken the Crown Princess Consort and the Young County Mistress with him in his escape!"
Although Jiang Yichu had been taken into Pei Song’s Stargazing Pavilion and granted the title of Madame, the Liang officials were unaware of her past with Pei Song, assuming his actions were meant to humiliate the Wen family.
A year earlier, Grand Tutor Yu and other former Liang ministers had managed to escape Pei Song’s grasp, largely thanks to Jiang Yichu’s efforts.
Now that Jiang Yichu and her daughter were in the carriages, whether out of respect for their status or their past contributions to Liang, they could not be allowed to come to harm.
Hearing Zhao Bai’s words, Chen Wei had no choice but to order the crossbowmen to avoid the carriages and target only the cavalry.
But with this constraint, the arrow barrage ultimately failed to block the cavalry’s escape route.Zhao Bai led the Azure Guard, followed by the cavalry from the army, and continued the pursuit.
The Azure Guard were all skilled in horseback archery, capable of firing arrows at the Hawk Hounds in black capes even while galloping at full speed.
However, the Hawk Hounds protecting Pei Song’s escape were no ordinary fighters either. As they fled, they remained vigilant of the pursuers behind them, deflecting most of the incoming arrows mid-gallop.
The chase persisted for over ten miles until they reached a fork in the road. The Hawk Hounds split into three groups, each escorting a separate carriage down different paths.
Just as Zhao Bai was about to order her forces to divide and pursue, a sharp whistle suddenly sounded from the carriage on the right path.
Her expression shifted instantly. She recognized it as a signal from the maid who had successfully infiltrated Jiang Yichu’s side—now risking exposure to relay information. Without hesitation, she shouted, "Pursue the carriage on the right!"
The other two groups of Hawk Hounds, having just split off, immediately turned back to intercept.
A young cavalry officer trailing the Azure Guard yelled, "Commander Zhao Bai, continue the chase! We’ll handle them here!"
Seeing the officer and his troops block the fork to engage the other two Hawk Hound groups, Zhao Bai shouted "Good!" from her saddle and pressed forward with the Azure Guard.
Amid the thunderous hoofbeats and rumbling wheels, a woman dressed as a maid was suddenly pushed from the carriage surrounded by Hawk Hounds. A dagger was buried in her neck, and blood had already soaked most of her robes.
The pursuing Hawk Hounds ignored her completely, galloping mercilessly over her fallen body.
"Qing Ling!"
Zhao Bai’s eyes widened in fury, instantly reddening in the biting cold wind.
With a dagger in her neck and trampled under the Hawk Hounds’ hooves, there was no chance the Azure Guard member could have survived.
As Zhao Bai galloped past the corpse, she could only force herself to take one agonizing glance, her breath trembling with rage.
And that was all the time she had.
Pei Song’s intention was to hinder their pursuit with the gruesome fate of that Azure Guard.
They could not stop. If they did, Pei Song might abandon the carriage after the next mountain bend and hide in the hills with the Consort and the County Princess.
Losing them now would make it nearly impossible to recover the Consort and the County Princess later.
Pei Yuan had been riding alongside the carriage. His left arm had been nearly crippled in his earlier confrontation with Xiao Li, leaving him to rely solely on his right hand.
He kept a close watch on the situation behind them. As they approached a mountain bend, he saw Zhao Bai and the Azure Guard closing in again, seemingly undeterred by the fallen Azure Guard.
Though the carriage was drawn by two horses, its speed could not match that of riders at full gallop. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Azure Guard caught up.
His expression darkened as he called into the carriage, "Master, Han Yang’s forces are gaining on us."
The carriage jolted violently along the rough, fast-moving road, shaking the entire compartment.
Pei Song sat on one side, his hands still stained with the blood from the Azure Guard’s neck. He meticulously wiped them with a silk handkerchief, but the stains refused to fade entirely. His eyes, half-lowered, concealed some of their crimson intensity as he ordered, "Send men to intercept."
Outside, Pei Yuan acknowledged, "Yes."
Across the carriage, Jiang Yichu huddled with her daughter. At the mention of "Han Yang," a flicker of hope pierced her overwhelming despair, compelling her to instinctively glance toward the carriage window.
That slight movement caught Pei Song’s attention, and he lifted his gaze.Jiang Yichu froze instantly, as if facing some ferocious beast across from her.
Her face was deathly pale, bloodstains still marked her skirt, and her entire body trembled faintly as she pressed her daughter tightly against her chest, not daring to let A Yin see the blood splattered across the carriage walls and floor.
A Yin remained remarkably obedient, neither crying nor fussing.
Long ago, Jiang Yichu had noticed her daughter's reactions had grown somewhat dulled—so traumatized she didn't even know to cry when frightened.
Only when utterly terrified or deeply distressed would she open her mouth, emitting tiny sobbing sounds from her throat while large teardrops fell one after another.
Her heart ached as if shredded by knives, yet the man opposite still believed that allowing her daughter to return to her was already an immense act of mercy.
Now he gazed at her with bloodshot eyes and a fragile smile, as if having reached his breaking point yet clinging to his pride, unwilling to reveal this vulnerability as he asked: "Does Elder Sister truly wish to leave me so badly?"
Jiang Yichu found herself speechless. The sight of the blood on Pei Song's hands reminded her of the moment he had drawn his dagger and plunged it into the maidservant's neck.
That maidservant had served her for nearly a year, and had just died right before her eyes!
Pei Song studied Jiang Yichu's paper-white complexion and already knew the answer without her speaking.
The blood vessels in his eyes were so red they seemed to have cracked the whites, and following Jiang Yichu's gaze to his own hands, he smiled self-deceptively: "I haven't cleaned the blood from my hands properly, have I frightened Elder Sister?"
He continued wiping with the silk handkerchief, as if lost in some performance, soothing gently: "Don't be afraid, Elder Sister. That maidservant was a spy. I was careless—never imagined that even a mute servant carefully selected from thousands would turn out to be someone else's planted agent."
"Once we cross the Western Frontier, we'll be safe. Have you ever seen the landscapes beyond the Western Pass, Elder Sister? There are vast deserts and oasis, herds of cattle and sheep, even jade-green silks... You'll love it..."
Listening to his words, Jiang Yichu only felt excruciating pain. She hugged her daughter tightly, as if clinging to her only support, murmuring: "Let me and A Yin go. I only beg you to let me and A Yin leave..."
The forced smile on Pei Song's face finally collapsed, the curve of his lips stiffening. After a long silence, he spoke, though it was unclear whether to Jiang Yichu or himself: "It cannot be, Elder Sister... You're all I have left..."
As his words faded, the entire rear carriage wall suddenly shuddered, as if struck by something.
From outside came Pei Yuan's loud shout: "Protect the Lord!"
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