In the night, amid the heavy snow, Bai Li was no longer lively.
Her hair was disheveled, and her white clothes had beco stained with dust.
Han Tong stood atop the mast, looking at Bai Li for a long ti without speaking. He hadn’t expected the Spy Departnt to use Bai Li to threaten him. Who had betrayed him? Was it Ayun? Or the person who had arranged for him to go to Baiyi Lane tonight?
Yun Yang held a torch, illuminating Bai Li’s face with its light to let Han Tong see her more clearly. "Sect Leader Han, in the spring of Jianing 24th Year, you secretly appeared outside the gate of Prince Jing Mansion and left after glancing at the Commandery Princess; on the Lantern Festival of Jianing 25th Year, you waited in secret at the City God Temple, left after glancing at the Commandery Princess; in Jianing 26th Year... you saw the Commandery Princess a total of twelve tis, seven of which were on her birthday, and five were during the Lantern and Double Ninth Festivals. Why do you think that is?"
Han Tong’s pupils constricted. He thought his secret visits to Bai Li had been well-hidden, but it turned out they had been observed by the Spy Departnt all along.
This was not a betrayal by soone he knew; even Ayun didn’t know when he had secretly visited Bai Li. The young man who had set him up tonight couldn’t possibly know either.
Yun Yang looked at Han Tong with a half-smirk, half-grimace, the torchlight casting half of his face in brightness and the other half in darkness, making him look particularly ferocious. "Sect Leader Han, my Spy Departnt monitors the entire realm, and no spirits or demons can escape our sight. It was only a matter of ti before we captured you. Why not make a trade now and save the Commandery Princess’s life?"
Upon hearing Yun Yang’s words, Bai Li looked up dazedly at Han Tong, high upon the mast. She had told Chen Ji that this man had secretly watched her several tis, as many tis as she had noticed.
Yet in the corners she hadn’t noticed, he had secretly watched her many more tis. And these were only the tis the Spy Departnt knew about Han Tong; what about those tis they hadn’t discovered?
From a distance, Han Tong asked, "How would you propose to save her?"
Yun Yang continued, "You trade your life for the Commandery Princess’s."
Han Tong remained silent.
The next mont, Jiao Tu pulled out a short knife from her sleeve and sliced through Bai Li’s thigh, soaking the leg of her pants with blood. Bai Li rely bit her lip and did not utter a sound.
Han Tong’s body tensed, but he held himself back.
Jiao Tu turned to look at Han Tong. "Co down and switch places. Follow us, and my Spy Departnt will allow your people to take her away."
Jin Zhu stood not far behind, glancing coldly at the silhouettes of the two. He knew they were lying again; even as the Twelve Signs, they had no authority to release the Commandery Princess.
He looked at Han Tong, uncertain if Han Tong would surrender without a fight. He then glanced at the wound on Bai Li’s leg and thought to himself that Chen Ji must not learn of this, otherwise there was no telling how much commotion it would cause.
Yun Yang called out loudly, "Sect Leader Han, do you truly not wish to exchange her life for yours?"
However, Han Tong just silently stared at Bai Li for a long ti. He saw the wound on her leg and her stubbornly silent expression and suddenly dug his fingernails into his palm, drawing blood.
But in the end, he did not trade life for life, and said grimly, "The acts committed by the Spy Departnt today will be richly rewarded in the future."
With that, he took one last look at Bai Li, turned, and leaped, vanishing into the icy river.
Yun Yang and Jiao Tu were stunned, while Bai Li slightly lowered her head.
Han Tong had gone—only in the face of life and death does one genuinely understand their heart’s true choice.
Jin Zhu quickly stepped forward to Jiao Tu, "Hurry and bandage the Commandery Princess’s wound. Whose terrible idea was this, anyway? What kind of relationship could the Commandery Princess and Han Tong possibly have?"
Yun Yang coldly retorted, "If they had no relationship, why would he have sneaked glimpses of the Commandery Princess so many tis? Do you really believe they have no connection?"
Jin Zhu argued, "Who is Han Tong? He is a renowned figure in Jianghu, with countless followers under his command. How could he possibly throw away his life over a fleeting emotion?"
Yun Yang sneered, "Just now, soone broke the Princely Heir out of prison, and no one knows where he’s hidden. You saw it too; Han Tong just secretly summoned a fast boat, clearly planning to send soone away. I’m sure it’s the Princely Heir he plans to send."
Bai Li turned to look at Yun Yang. A jailbreak? The Princely Heir? Who could it be?
A possibility popped into her head, just as it always instinctively did. Only this ti, she was inclined to negate it.
Jin Zhu feigned ignorance, "Han Tong simply summoned a boat—that links him to the Princely Heir?"
Yun Yang shot him a sidelong glance, "Wait and you’ll see."
"What are we waiting for?"
"Wait for Zhang Zhuo, Lord Zhang."
...
...
In the heavy snow, the City God Temple soldiers grumbled as they escorted grain to the dock, their ears and hands red with cold, toes also chilled through.
One of them whispered, "Such heavy snow—if only we could go ho for a drink, cozy up with our wives and children by the warm kang. Why does Lord Magistrate insist on transporting grain today?"
"Yeah, with the snow this heavy, isn’t it better to wait until it stops and avoid such a long detour?"
"Stop talking. The dock is just ahead. Let’s hurry and oversee the strong n loading the grain onto the ship so we can go ho to sleep... Keep your voices down, here cos Lord Magistrate."
Behind the ox carts they hurried, Lord Magistrate rode atop a horse in his red official robe, a red fox fur cloak draped over his shoulders and a copper hand warr in his hand.
He looked anxiously at the brightly lit dock ahead, feeling sothing was amiss.
After a mont of contemplation, Zhang Zhuo hesitated, "Wait, stop the grain!"
The governnt soldiers turned their heads in confusion and could only stop the ox carts.
Zhang Zhuo waved his hand, "We’re not transporting grain today—take it back to the granary!"
Luocheng Mansion soldiers suddenly burst into a frenzy as a high-ranking officer shouted, "My lord, we have walked from dusk until now, and we are about to reach the dock. Why stop the delivery?"
Zhang Zhuo looked on coldly, "Why don’t you take over as the fifth-rank Lord Magistrate then?"
The Luocheng Mansion soldier shrank his neck, "This subordinate spoke out of turn."
Zhang Zhuo waved his hand, "Let’s go!"
However, just at that mont, laughter ca from the rooftop, "Lord Zhang, where are you off to now?"
Zhang Zhuo suddenly looked up, only to see Yun Yang and Jiao Tu standing on the roof of a house by the road, looking down at the long grain transport convoy. As they spoke, countless Jiefan Guards erged from the small alleys nearby, completely surrounding the convoy!
Zhang Zhuo said sternly, "What is this, you want to rob my convoy? According to Daning’s law, volu eighteen, section seven, anyone who disturbs or steals the taxed grain transportation over twenty-five coins will be beaten a hundred tis, branded with ’Thief of Official Grain’, and exiled three thousand miles!"
Yun Yang said with a grin, "I know Lord Zhang can recite the laws of Daning fluently, there’s no need to casually scare people with them. We have also received information that there might be suspects hiding in this convoy. Since you know the laws so well, do you know the cri for harboring rebels?"
Jiao Tu, sitting on the roof, asked nonchalantly, "Lord Zhang, harboring a rebel party, could that also lead to one’s entire family being executed?"
Zhang Zhuo stared coldly at Yun Yang, "You say I am harboring rebels, what evidence do you have?"
Yun Yang smiled, "Simple, we’ll search the convoy then we’ll know. Take action!"
"Wait!" Zhang Zhuo raised his right hand high, stopping the Jiefan Guards’ movents, "These are court’s official grains, I dare to see who dares to touch it?"
Yun Yang raised an eyebrow, "What, Lord Zhang won’t shed tears without seeing the coffin?"
At that, he took out a King’s Command Flag from his chest, "Lord Zhang, do you recognize this? Holding the King’s Command Flag, the Spy Departnt can perform imperial inspections and execute first before reporting!"
Zhang Zhuo said gravely, "It’s true you hold the King’s Command Flag, but you can’t act recklessly. I can allow you to search the convoy, but if you haven’t found any rebels afterwards, I must file charges against you. I rember that both of you just committed a major mistake recently. If you ss up again this ti, I wonder if you could lose your zodiac position?"
Yun Yang and Jiao Tu exchanged glances, hesitation evident in their eyes.
They weren’t afraid of being exiled or reported by civil servants, but the Pri Minister there never gives a person a third chance to make the sa mistake.
But after thinking it over, Yun Yang said firmly, "Search!"
The Jiefan Guards started moving, commanding the soldiers of Luocheng Mansion to unload sacks of grain from the carts and pile them up in the snow.
As ti slowly passed, after all the grain trucks had been unloaded, no one hidden was found.
Yun Yang paced fretfully back and forth on the roof, shouting loudly, "Check inside the sacks for hidden people!"
As the Jiefan Guard drew his waist knife to rip open a sack, Jiao Tu suddenly saw a hint of mocking cold smile on Zhang Zhuo’s lips and sensed sothing wrong, "Wait, stop stabbing, the bags of grains are so big, they can’t hide anyone!"
If the grains were safe, they still had so room to maneuver. If they really had caused the grain to scatter everywhere, they might indeed be exiled to Lingnan!
In the next mont, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu gently landed on the ground, Jiao Tu shouting loudly, "All Luocheng Mansion soldiers, take off your helts, one by one check, see if the rebels are hiding among them!"
Zhang Zhuo no longer pretended, saying lazily, "Take off your helts and let these lords have a good look, let them look to their hearts’ content."
Yun Yang and Jiao Tu checked each Luocheng Mansion soldier, but the Princely Heir was nowhere to be found.
Yun Yang whispered, "It’s over."
His heart gradually sank, feeling that nothing had gone smoothly since he arrived in Luocheng City. What exactly was wrong?
Jiao Tu wondered, "Could he have run off sowhere else mid-way?"
Yun Yang said fiercely, "Search, even if we have to turn the whole Luocheng City upside down tonight, we must find the Princely Heir!"
As the Jiefan Guard retreated like a tide, Zhang Zhuo coldly watched their backs and shouted loudly, "Lords of the Spy Departnt, this ti you really might not make it as zodiac mbers."
...
...
In front of Tuoluo Temple, thirty-two monks were chanting while carrying the huge Suru Base back into the temple.
They shook the Copper Vajra Bell, with downcast eyes and lowered heads, as if they were indifferent to everything that happened in Luocheng City tonight.
Once inside the temple, the monks moved the Suru Base and the Free Guanyin statue into the Great Hall.
A young monk closed the eight red-lacquered doors of the Great Hall, blocking out the wind and snow.
At that mont, Zhang Xia, dressed in bright red, walked out from behind the curtains and instructed the young monk, "Let them out."
The young monk looked at the elderly abbot, who waved his hand, "Do it."
The young monk brought his hands together in prayer, "Yes."
The young monk went behind the Free Guanyin statue and opened the normally hidden compartnt.
When creating a Buddha statue, monks leave a hollow space behind the statue. During the eye-opening ceremony, the abbot fills it with treasures, sacred flowers and plants, sutras, jewels, grains, and tals, a ritual known as "filling."
And now, the Princely Heir, She Dengke, Chunhua, Liang Gou’er, and Liang Mao’er were all hidden inside the imnse Free Guanyin statue, which remarkably concealed five people.
The old abbot said softly, "Second Miss Zhang, please take your friends and leave the city through the secret passage. From now on, Tuoluo Temple no longer owes Xu Shu any karmic debts. I hope he will devote himself to cultivation, avoid mundane affairs, and return to the Forty-nine Heavens soon."
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