The Road to Glory

Chapter 228: "Capture Him Alive"...

After a long while, she pushed the person off her and rose.

He had succumbed to the sleeping draught and fallen unconscious, his sharp, cold features unchanged—brows furrowed, lips pressed tightly together. Even in his stupor, he exuded a fierce wildness.

Wen Yu averted her gaze and, suppressing her discomfort, went to the bath behind the bedchamber to cleanse herself.

Fortunately, the drug had taken effect in time; otherwise, she might not have escaped tonight.

The rash had been intentional.

With the Liang army led by Gu Xiyun nearing the royal court, she needed to leave the royal palace with the Azure Guard. To do so, she had to make him remove the chain from her neck.

Since childhood, she had developed hives upon smelling animal fur. Though she couldn’t have live animals brought before her in the palace, her allies remained. It wasn’t difficult for garments sent to the laundry to return carrying traces of cat or dog fur.

Her sudden rash and the scratches on her neck had blatantly revealed her intentions.

That day, Xiao Li had glared at her with intense fury. After removing the chain from her neck and summoning the physician, Wen Yu deliberately requested a palace maid to dress her wounds daily.

The rash had made Xiao Li aware that her allies still lurked in the palace. His concession seemed driven by anger at her self-harm to achieve her goals, fearing to push her too far, yet also by a desire to uncover her hidden forces.

Both understood each other’s motives, engaging in a cold war akin to a duel between hunters.

Xiao Li continued residing in Zhaohua Palace, sharing meals and a bed with her, but he scarcely spoke a word.

Wen Yu didn’t initiate conversation either, often acting as if he weren’t there.

At night, he would silently but forcefully pull her into an embrace, his presence enveloping her completely. Struggling only tightened his grip, and in her frustration, their tussles left them drenched in sweat. Eventually, she erupted in anger, citing the rash’s heat as hindering recovery, and demanded he leave her chamber.

In the darkness, his expression was indiscernible, but he relented, climbing out of bed, pulling a quilt from the cabinet, and lying directly on the floor—not even retreating to the couch in the outer chamber.

After days of stalemate, Wen Yu released countless decoys: suddenly craving pastries and ordering the imperial kitchen to prepare them, instructing the maid applying her medicine to bring a soothing sachet next time, or claiming the chamber’s usual incense had run out and needed replenishment...

She let Xiao Li exhaust himself investigating, only to find nothing.

His gaze earlier today likely meant he had realized she was deliberately creating distractions.

Since he hadn’t uncovered her hidden agents, it signaled her successful preparations. He knew she would leave, but short of chaining her again, he had no means to keep her.

Wen Yu felt stifled by his stare and couldn’t resist taunting him, only to suffer for it tonight.

Thankfully, the sleeping draught had been smuggled in by the Azure Guard, sewn into her laundered clothes. After dissolving it in water, she coated the inner walls of all the cups in the chamber. Before retiring, she had watched Xiao Li drink from one of the tainted cups.The dosage wasn't heavy, so the effects shouldn't have taken hold so quickly. But the prolonged commotion between them on the bed had accelerated the drug's circulation—an unintended boon for Wen Yu.

Late at night, a sudden fire broke out in the royal palace, and there were signs of a prison break at the imperial prison. The Wolf Cavalry guarding the palace had to split up to provide reinforcements.

When Xiao Li was in Zhaohua Palace, he strictly forbade the Wolf Cavalry from entering. After the guards outside reported for a long time without any response from within, Zheng Hu rushed over upon hearing the news. Even his knocking yielded no answer.

Sensing something amiss, he forced the door open and managed to rouse Xiao Li.

The effects of the sleeping draught hadn't fully worn off. As Xiao Li listened to the Wolf Cavalry's report, a splitting headache seized him. Pressing his temples with one hand, his eyes still tinged with faint red, his entire demeanor turned grim. "Seal all palace gates. Not a single fly gets out tonight."

The Wolf Cavalry hurried off to relay the order.

Seeing Xiao Li in such a disheveled state, Zheng Hu cautiously asked after the guards had withdrawn, "Was it sister-in-law?"

Enduring the headache, Xiao Li threw off the covers and rose, his voice cold and fierce. "The four city gates of the royal court must also be held tight tonight."

Still weakened by the drug, his steps were unsteady as he got out of bed. He draped a large black outer robe from the bedpost over himself, concealing the ambiguous marks on his shoulders, back, and arms, leaving only plain white trousers underneath.

Seeing him falter, Zheng Hu reached out to steady him, but Xiao Li roared, "Go!"

Zheng Hu understood his fear—that Wen Yu might have already slipped out of the palace amid the chaos. If she had contacted the Chen Kingdom's reinforcements outside and coordinated an attack to breach a city gate under cover of night, their next meeting would likely turn them into sworn enemies.

Zheng Hu quickly replied, "Alright, alright. I'll go to the city gates first to relay the orders. I'll make sure sister-in-law doesn't leave the city. When she returns, the two of you can talk things out properly…"

After Zheng Hu left, Xiao Li struggled to the armor rack to retrieve his gear. Passing by the clothing chests, he accidentally knocked one over. The contents spilled out, rolling across the polished floor tiles with dull thuds.

One item circled back to rest at his feet.

Leaning against a taller wooden chest, Xiao Li looked down and froze instantly. The crimson in his eyes deepened, and moments later, his breathing grew shaky.

He slowly crouched down and picked up the small, round cat wood carving at his feet—its color had darkened over the year—clutching it tightly as he rubbed it with his thumb.

It was the wood carving he had made for her when Wen Yu left the Military Camp last year.

Nearby lay scattered wood carvings of a dog, a pig, and a fox, along with some stuffed animal dolls made of plush fabric.

That chest seemed to hold toys specifically meant for a child.

But why... were the carvings he had made among them?

In that moment, Xiao Li's mind went completely blank, lost in a daze for a long while.

He clutched the wood carving for an unknown duration before suddenly frantically rummaging through all the clothing chests in the hall.

Wen Yu's attendants were meticulous—clothes of different seasons and fabrics were neatly sorted and stored in separate chests. A Li's garments were also organized by season and month with impeccable order.

However, the robes made for A Li by the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau had already been prepared up to two years of age.Xiao Li could not discern the child's age from those tiny garments, but he did not find the white jade lock, nor the koi wood carving he had initially carved for Wen Yu.

Too many intense emotions weighed heavily on Xiao Li's heart, fermenting into a sour ache that burned behind his eyes amid the dramatic upheavals of this night.

He had so many uncertainties, so many whys.

Only by finding Wen Yu, only by asking her in person, could he obtain answers.

When the Azure Guard created chaos at the royal palace and imperial prison, Wen Yu had already left the palace.

As soon as the group arrived at the Secluded Courtyard secretly established by the Azure Guard outside the palace, Wen Yu instructed: "Notify the reinforcement troops outside the city to attack the city walls."

Tong Que was somewhat uncertain: "Are we leaving the city overnight? General Gu's forces won't arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. The Wolf Cavalry are skilled in combat - relying solely on the border reinforcements outside the city to protect you and the young princess's escape might not be sufficiently secure."

Wen Yu said: "If we don't make him believe that 'I' have left the city, I'm afraid the Wolf Cavalry will turn the royal court upside down searching for someone tonight."

Tong Que understood Wen Yu's meaning and hurriedly said: "This servant will immediately give the orders."

Having the reinforcements attack the city to cover their escape was false; making Xiao Li believe Wen Yu had fled the royal court was the real objective.

As Tong Que was leaving, another Azure Guard approached carrying the crying A Li: "Normally when the young princess is put to sleep, she sleeps through until morning. Tonight she woke up for some reason and has been crying terribly. She must have sensed that you've arrived, Your Highness."

Wen Yu hadn't seen her daughter for nearly ten days. Hearing the child's tender cries now, her heart felt as if squeezed by something. She said: "Give A Li to me."

The hives on her face hadn't completely faded yet, so she had covered her face with a thin veil when leaving the palace.

When little A Li was taken into her arms, even though she couldn't see her mother's face, smelling that familiar scent made her previously heart-wrenching cries gradually soften. Her strong little hands tightly grasped a corner of Wen Yu's sleeve as she pouted with hiccupping sobs, her dark grape-like eyes still rolling tears down her cheeks while making tender babbling sounds.

The Azure Guard who usually cared for A Li couldn't help but smile at the sight: "The young princess has missed you."

The veil not only concealed the fading rash marks but also hid the marks on Wen Yu's neck that hadn't lightened these past days. Fortunately, no new marks had been branded on her fingers these past two days. She wiped the tears from her daughter's eyes with her fingertips, patting her back gently as she soothed: "It's mother's fault. Mother shouldn't have been away from A Li for so long."

Little A Li continued hiccupping with sobs, both hands clinging tightly to Wen Yu, releasing the sachet she always held even in her sleep. Something hard inside fell out with a dull thud.

When Wen Yu looked down, the Azure Guard had already picked up the sachet. Since A Li had been clutching and rubbing it these past days, the knot had loosened, and this fall had partially dislodged its contents.

The Azure Guard smiled upon seeing it: "When the young princess left the palace, she kept holding your sachet. These past days she would cry whenever she couldn't see it. So there was the young princess's wood carving inside. Now that she's seen you, she's finally stopped treasuring this wood carving."Wen Yu took the somewhat aged carp wood carving and gently rubbed it with her thumb. In the past, when she placed A Li's cradle nearby to handle political affairs, A Li always liked to reach out and grab the sachet hanging at her waist. Later, whenever Wen Yu was not in Zhaohua Palace, she would leave the sachet containing the carp wood carving for A Li.

The Azure Guard continued, "Unfortunately, the situation was urgent that day, and we couldn't bring the other wood carving toys beside the young princess."

Hearing this, Wen Yu frowned slightly. She hadn't seen any of A Li's belongings in the cradle and had assumed they were all taken by the Azure Guard. She murmured very softly, "It shouldn't be..."

The Azure Guard didn't catch her words and asked, "Your Highness, what did you say?"

Wen Yu shook her head lightly and replied, "It's nothing."

He had been in Zhaohua Palace for so long without discovering the stored wood carvings. Now that she had left the palace, he probably wouldn't bother searching through her chambers again.

Xiao Li made a cut on his palm, and the pain completely dispelled the effects of the sleeping draught. After donning his armor and leaving the palace, he had just ridden to the palace gates when a Wolf Cavalry soldier came to report: "My Lord, a female cavalry unit from the royal court collaborated with reinforcements outside the city to launch a surprise attack on the eastern gate. Although the breach at the eastern gate has been secured for now, that female cavalry still managed to escape the city."

Zheng Hu galloped over from a distance, panting heavily: "Sorry, Second Brother. I rushed to deliver messages to all the city gates, but Sister-in-law acted too quickly. Before I even reached the eastern gate, I heard it had been attacked..."

Xiao Li sat astride his horse, his heart turbulent with mixed emotions, his expression particularly cold and grim.

The Wolf Cavalry soldier added, "Scouts have also detected a Liang army appearing a hundred li away. It appears to be reinforcements from Great Liang."

Zheng Hu exclaimed in astonishment, "So fast?"

Crossing from Hundred Blades Pass through the desert to Chen Kingdom would take at least half a month. They had only captured the royal court ten days ago, yet Great Liang's reinforcements had already arrived—it was truly baffling.

He turned to Xiao Li: "Second Brother, what should we do now?"

When Wen Yu was here, whether it was Chen Kingdom's border reinforcements or Great Liang's reinforcements surrounding them, they had bargaining chips to negotiate with the outside and didn't need to fight to the death.

Now that Wen Yu was no longer in the royal court, once the reinforcements from Liang and Chen surrounded the royal court completely, they would be the ones trapped.

Xiao Li ordered, "To the imperial prison."

When King Chen was brought out of the imperial prison again, he began trembling from afar at the sight of Xiao Li.

Xiao Li, however, ignored him and walked straight past.

King Chen didn't understand why Xiao Li had him brought out if he didn't seem intent on interrogating him further. After Xiao Li walked away, he turned his head to look back, only to be slapped on the head by Zhao Youcai: "Behave! What are you staring at!"

Only then did King Chen turn his gaze forward.

When Xiao Li appeared outside the cell holding Qi Simiao and other officials, Duke Yan and the others in the opposite cell were filled with panic. Duke Yan, gripping the wooden bars of his cell tightly, angrily questioned Xiao Li with a tearful voice: "Xiao, you traitor! What have you done to my son? Give me back my son!"

To prevent them from coordinating their stories, Xiao Li had ordered the prisoners to be held separately after interrogation.

The growing fear and suspicion among them meant that when he interrogated other officials later, a little intimidation was enough to make them spill everything they knew like pouring beans.

But at this point, he had nothing left to interrogate those officials about.Under the astonished gazes of Qi Simiao and a group of ministers, he drew his blade and severed the chains on the prison door. As he turned to leave, he said only, "Serve your princess well."

Qi Simiao and his colleagues and disciples exchanged bewildered looks.

Across from them, Duke Yan and his faction stared dumbfounded at the scene. Only after Xiao Li had departed did Duke Yan scream hoarsely, "That witch! That Wen Shi witch who was unfaithful to the king!"

Qi Simiao and the others shook off their shackles, casting cold glances at the aristocratic family ministers of Duke Yan's faction.

From the moment Wen Yu stepped forward in the great hall to protect them, whether the Chen royal house bore the surname Chen or Wen no longer mattered.

When Xiao Li gathered the Wolf Cavalry and fought his way out through the eastern gate with King Chen in tow, the reinforcements outside feared they might harm the king and had no choice but to let them pass.

Only after all the Wolf Cavalry who had entered the royal court had withdrawn, and the pursuing reinforcements had chased them for over ten miles, did Xiao Li toss the shrieking King Chen from his horse.

The reinforcements rescued King Chen, realizing that with their current forces, they couldn't hinder the Wolf Cavalry in open terrain. They sent only a small detachment to follow at a distance as a formality, so they could later report their movements to their superiors.

Xiao Li ordered a forced march. After putting some distance between them and their pursuers, he reined in his horse and instructed Zheng Hu, "Tiger, take the brothers and withdraw to Tiger Gorge Pass first."

Zheng Hu quickly asked, "What about you, Second Brother?"

Xiao Li's face appeared especially stern under the pale moonlight. "She left the city—she must be heading to join the Liang army. I'll intercept her along the way."

Zheng Hu said, "Then let the brothers go with you."

"Taking the entire Wolf Cavalry would draw too much attention. You withdraw westward. I'll take a dozen elite riders."

As Xiao Li turned his horse to leave, Zheng Hu called out to him again. Xiao Li looked back to see Zheng Hu scratching his head before finally blurting out, "Second Brother, when you catch up to sister-in-law, talk to her properly."

After Xiao Li and the dozen elite riders disappeared into the desert, Zhao Youcai said with some dissatisfaction, "The marquis didn't choose me. I still want to stay by the marquis's side. Does this mean I have no hope of becoming his personal guard?"

Zheng Hu smacked him on the head. "Have you forgotten you're one of my sister-in-law's people? If she sees you following my second brother, she might get angry and his chase would be in vain again!"

Zubbing his sore head, Zhao Youcai suddenly understood and cheered up. "So that's how it is! Thank you, Brother Tiger!"

Zheng Hu said disdainfully, "You seem clever, but when it comes to reading people, you're not even as good as A Niu!"

"May I ask who A Niu is?"

Zheng Hu patted his own chest. "My brother."

Zhao Youcai said sweetly, "Then from now on, he's my Brother Niu!"

...

Far away in Dingzhou, Tao Kui sneezed loudly. Rubbing his nose, he looked at the darkening sky, picked up the winnowing basket of drying medicinal herbs in the courtyard and placed it under the eaves. After entering the house, he squatted beside Doctor Tao, who was grinding herbs with a medicine roller.

Doctor Tao shooed his grandson away. "Go on, don't block the light."

Tao Kui moved aside a little, picking up a small branch to draw circles on the ground. After a moment of silence, he said, "A Niu misses Brother Marquis..."

He was accustomed to calling Xiao Li "brother." Doctor Tao always corrected him to say "marquis," so he simply combined them into "Brother Marquis." Xiao Li never minded what he called him, Doctor Tao couldn't correct him, and others wouldn't comment on his form of address, so he continued calling him that.Doctor Tao said, "The Marquis has entered the Western Frontier to capture that traitor Pei Song. It will likely take several months before he returns."

An elderly woman's call came from outside the courtyard: "Niu'er, bring some food to your Brother Song at Mudan Slope."

Tao Kui responded, "Coming."

The slope where Mudan was buried had been named Mudan Slope by the local villagers.

Mudan's death had deeply saddened Xiao Li's godmothers as well. Like Song Qin, they refused to leave this place, saying their old bones wouldn't be of much use elsewhere, and staying here would give Xiao Li peace of mind while he was away.

So Xiao Li had Doctor Tao and his grandson stay in Dingzhou as well. When his godmothers learned that Tao Kui was Xiao Li's newly acknowledged younger brother, and that he had the mentality of a young child, they doted on him intensely.

Thus, Tao Kui was called about ten times a day, with at least eight of those calls being to offer him pastries or sweet soups.

The other two times were to bring food to Song Qin on the mountain.

When the latest intelligence report from the Azure Guard reached Wen Yu's desk, she had just finished feeding A Li rice porridge.

A Li only had four small teeth, but she was extremely enthusiastic about eating various porridges. Occasionally, when the Azure Guard gave her pear pieces cut into small chunks, she would hold them in her hand and gnaw for a long time. Though she only left numerous tooth marks without successfully biting off any fruit flesh, she never tired of this activity.

As long as she didn't go a whole day without seeing Wen Yu, A Li was generally very easy to care for. She found everything novel, and could even entertain herself happily by playing with her own fingers and toes when alone.

After the Azure Guard responsible for looking after A Li carried her away, Wen Yu opened the intelligence report and showed slight surprise: "He withdrew his troops?"

Tong Que said, "The Wolf Cavalry has ostensibly withdrawn westward, but last night, the Azure Guard members disguised as you who left the city sent word back that a squad of over ten Wolf Cavalry riders has been pursuing and blocking them."

She paused before continuing, "The leader is undoubtedly Xiao Li."

Wen Yu's slender white fingers pressed against the intelligence report. Beneath her veil, the spot where the scab on her neck had fallen off still tingled faintly, reminding her of what he had clasped around her neck.

Her long eyelashes lowered slightly as she said, "Send reinforcements. Capture him alive and bring him back."