Chapter 71: Why Run Away
Yaoying and her party rode furiously through the night.
Behind them was only the endless field of snow. The Eldest Prince’s pursuing soldiers did not catch up.
The next morning, they stopped at a secluded mountain road to rest.
Xie Qing counted the men and horses and reported to Yaoying, “No one was left behind.”
Yaoying nodded, took out several pre-written letters, and handed them to several soldiers: “I have already asked people to send letters to Liangzhou, but those letters may not be delivered safely, and no one may take them seriously even if they are delivered. Take my letters and go to Xiao Pass, Huangu Pass, Tong Pass, and Liangzhou, find the soldiers on guard, and tell them to be on the alert and prepare for battle.”
She took out two more letters and handed them over to two other soldiers, “Go directly to Jin City. Run non-stop and ride through the night. Go to the Jin City’s Commander-in-Chief’s residence and find a scholar named Du Sinan. Tell him that if he wants to have great success as a minister, his chance to make his mark has come. If Southern Chu retreats, he will be famous all over the world!”
The soldiers looked at each other and said, “What if they do not believe?”
The princess was only a woman, moreover, a princess who had married far away. If she suddenly sent out a letter, what soldier would take it seriously?
Yaoying urged her soldiers to leave, “Whether they believe you or not, they will be more alert once your letter is delivered. Do not delay. Leave at once!”
The soldiers still hesitated to leave: “Princess, our duty is to guarantee your safety; other matters are not our business. Now that you are not out of danger, we cannot leave you behind!”
They were Li Zhongqian’s carefully selected guards for Li Yaoying, loyal only to Li Zhongqian and the Seventh Princess. Even if the sky was about to fall, they had to guard by the Seventh Princess’ side.
Yaoying raised her hand and brushed back the hair at her temples. After a night of riding, her hair was down and disheveled, appearing in a sorry state, but her eyes were clear and calm: “Facing a powerful enemy, the nation will not survive. Which is more important, you really cannot tell? There is no time to delay! Go!”
The soldiers exchanged a look, lowered their heads, and refused to move.
Yaoying had a dizzy spell and staggered twice before straightening up: “The situation is urgent now, and you may not arrive safely. I am now trusting you with the future of Great Wei and the lives of tens of thousands of people.”
She bowed to her soldiers.
“Whether you live or die, you are the most devoted soldiers of Great Wei! If you return to Chang’an alive, I will toast to you!”
In the wind and snow, her delicate body trembled gently, looking so charming and pitiful.
And so determined.
The soldiers gritted their teeth, and with tears in their eyes, cupped their fists at her. Taking a letter with them, they climbed onto their horses and rode away.
Yaoying looked at their distancing backs, and the fatigue from the night hit her. Hands and feet slightly trembling, she suddenly coughed, and blood spilled from her lips.
“Princess!”
Xie Qing immediately picked her up.
Yaoying laid in his arms, shivering all over, choking up several mouthfuls of blood.
The soldier handed over a water sack, and Xie Qing fed Yaoying a few sips of water. He flusteredly wiped away the blood from her lips with his sleeve, and in fear of hurting her, he took his sleeve and gently wiped her chin.
Yaoying rested for a moment, then struggled to stand up. She leaned against her horse, and gasped a few times: “Cannot delay… cannot delay for even a moment…”
Bemutai set off a day before her, and she was afraid it would be too late.
Yaoying gaze fell to the other leftover personal soldiers.
“You all… follow… Send people in each direction to report… Whoever is the first to arrive safely, immediately go to the other Passes to inform! “
The soldiers answered with tears in their eyes and carried her to her horse, before turning around and speeding off in different directions.
The horses’ hooves pounded, and mud-splattered snow flew up behind them.
At last, there were only a little over ten guards left around Yaoying. Xie Qing drew his long sword and said with a stern face, “We cannot send any more people out! Princess, we are the only ones left beside you! Yelu tribe’s pursuers may catch up at any moment!”
Yaoying leaned against her horse and smiled distressedly, “Ah Qing… No matter how many guards are left around me… it’s all the same…”
The Yelu tribe could not catch up with them. When Bemutai encouraged the Eldest Prince to murder Yelu Khan and the warriors loyal to the old Khan and his brothers, the Yelu tribe was already destroyed.
No, it should be said that the moment Bemutai became the adopted son of Yelu Khan, the Yelu tribe became Bemutai’s meal.
Before, she thought that the real reason for the overnight destruction of the Yelu tribe was the Eldest Prince’s greed.
Now, she understood that not only the Yelu tribe, but all the tribes of Helong would perish overnight.
No one could escape.
“I cannot escape.” Yaoying closed her eyes, “He already sees me as his prey. I cannot escape.”
The son of an eagle, the descendent of a wolf. In just a few years, the Golden Northern Rong1 swept across the grasslands like a storm, dominated the Northwest for more than a hundred years, and successively destroyed the Royal Court and the Central Plains. Their influence extended from the East to the West, from Fulin to as far as the Black Sea. The man who made countless countries from the east to the west tremble had a pair of light golden irises.
Bemutai was Haidu Aling.
The chief of Northern Rong who finally ran out of enemies after the death of the Western Regions’ Tumoroga and the Central Plains’ Li Xuanzhen. A tyrant who took pleasure in killing, who led his iron horsemen to drag the Central Plains that had not had peace for three generations into war once again, and mercilessly oppressed the people of the Central Plains.
Yaoying could not escape from his grasp.
But she still had to fight with her all to escape.
Not only that, she had overestimated her strength and was attempting the impossible, trying to stop Haidu Aling’s plan with her insignificant and weak strength.
She did not know how to lead soldiers to war, did not know how to dispatch soldiers. She was just a weak woman with only a few dozen personal soldiers around her. She could not stop Haidu Aling.
Then have those who could stop him do so!
The Central Plains was her homeland, the place she grew up. It had her mother and her elder brother, had countless ordinary people like her longing for peace, had strangers who once gave her a hand when she was in danger.
May the times be peaceful and the years abundant, the river clear and the sea calm.
May the rivers and mountains be picturesque and peaceful.
The peace of the Central Plains was the result of tens of thousands of heroes, was the result of the sacrifice of the country’s loyal and righteous men like Xie Wuliang who has the country in their thoughts. It should not be trampled on and destroyed so soon.
She had to go back, to reunite with her elder brother.
Yaoying’s breaths evened out and she continued to command her personal soldiers: “You also go to Jin City… Haidu Aling must have blocked the main east-west road… You have to pay attention to hide your trail on the way… Quickly… Do not delay…”
The personal soldiers looked at each other. Before they could say anything, Yaoying’s eyelids had gotten heavy and her body swayed, looking like she was about to fall off his horse.
Xie Qing rushed forward and mounted the horse to steady Yaoying.
Yaoying dizzily tugged his sleeve: “Go to Liangzhou… Tell… tell Li Xuanzhen… Haidu Aling is coming…”
Xie Qing gave a low ‘en’, “Princess, you have sent many people. There will inevitably be someone who can find the Crown Prince.”
From the moment the man under the alias of Bemutai had left the tribe, the princess had begun devising ways to send out information and had used every method and means she could think of.
Now, it was time for her to consider her own situation.
Yaoying’s breathing was weak, and she passed out.
She had barely closed her eyes this past half month. With last night’s nonstop riding, she could not endure such exhaustion.
Xie Qing lowered his head, shook out his cloak, and gently wrapped it around Yaoying.
He glanced at the remaining personal soldiers: “In addition to the Yelu tribesmen, we do not know how many Northern Rong soldiers are behind us. The east may also be blocked… and retreating is also not possible. The journey ahead is difficult and dangerous. We will face not a tribe, a group of warriors, but an army of tens of thousands of people, a cavalry sweeping the grassland. You all can go your own ways.”
The soldiers clenched their fists and said angrily, “Do you think you are the only one with loyalty and courage, Xie Qing! We will not leave the Princess behind! If worst comes to worst, it’s only death!”
“Yes! We all took an oath to protect the Princess, ready to risk limb and limb. If you want to run, you run!”
“Very well.” Xie Qing nodded and brought the sleeping Yaoying into his robe so that she wouldn’t be assailed by the cold wind, “Let’s send the Princess back to the Central Plains.”
No matter how many enemy troops there were to face, how many trials and tribulations to go through.
He wanted to send the Princess home.
The endless winds wailed, and the personal soldiers silently climbed onto their horses and followed after Xie Qing.
The snowy plains covered as far as the eye could see, and the wind roared.
They escorted the sleeping Seventh Princess on her way back east.
1 The raws used 金帐北戎 and 金帐 is part of 金帐汗国 meaning Golden Horde. The Golden Horde was a group of Mongols who were in power for centuries and dominated large areas of land. I believe the Northern Rong is one of the branches of this group.