Rongyao set down her brush and looked up at Daoxiang. “Where’s Mother?”
“Her Highness just went to pay her respects to Her Majesty the Empress. Judging by the time, she should be back soon.”
No sooner had Daoxiang finished speaking than footsteps sounded outside.
“Yaoyao, Mother’s back.”
Rongyao ran over to her mother and tugged at her sleeve. “Mother, Yaoyao wants to leave the palace!”
Cui Huaiyin froze. Looking at her daughter, she noticed for the first time that the girl wasn’t even wearing shoes. She hurriedly scooped her up and frowned. “Why didn’t you put shoes and socks on the princess?”
“Your Highness, I…”
“It was me! I ran off by myself. Don’t blame Aunt Daoxiang.”
Cui Huaiyin had naturally guessed what happened and said no more. She simply carried her daughter to the bed and helped her put on her shoes and socks.
Rongyao tugged at her mother’s arm. “Mother! I want to leave the palace!”
“What for?”
“Yaoyao dreamed about the White-Bearded Grandpa again. He told me to hurry out of the palace and save someone. If I’m too late—too late…”
Cui Huaiyin dropped the shoe in her hand and asked anxiously, “What will happen if you’re too late?”
Rongyao glanced at her mother, lowered her head, and picked at her fingers. In a small voice, she said, “If I’m too late, Yaoyao will become seriously ill…and die.”
Cui Huaiyin sprang to her feet, her face deathly pale. Without another thought, she rushed outside.
Rongyao watched her mother’s retreating back guiltily, then patted her own little face and sternly warned herself that she must never frighten Mother like that again.
Cui Huaiyin hurried to the front hall. An attendant led her inside, and she quickened her pace. The moment she entered, she fell to her knees before the Emperor.
Dantai Ji hurriedly rose to his feet in alarm. “You…”
“Your Majesty, I beg you to permit Yaoyao and me to leave the palace.”
Dantai Ji frowned. “Why do you want to leave the palace?”
Cui Huaiyin raised her head and looked up at him, her palms clenched tightly. Though the Emperor was Yaoyao’s father, he was not Yaoyao’s father alone, nor was he her husband alone. She still couldn’t let him know that Yaoyao’s dreams could foretell the future.
Who knew whether he might regard Yaoyao as some kind of demon?
Cui Huaiyin tightened her grip on her handkerchief. “The palace is too stifling. It is spring, and Yaoyao and I would like to leave the palace to enjoy the flowers and the fresh air.”
Dantai Ji’s expression turned slightly cold. “Is that truly the reason?”
Cui Huaiyin bowed her head to the floor. “I beg Your Majesty to grant permission for me and my daughter to leave the palace.”
The hall fell silent for quite some time. At last, Dantai Ji let out a soft sigh and asked, “When will you return?”
“Before the palace gates close today.”
“Very well. I’ll send several guards to accompany you.”
Cui Huaiyin had been about to refuse, but remembering something, she quickly swallowed her words.
After receiving permission, Cui Huaiyin hurriedly took her leave, never noticing the dark look on the Emperor’s face.
Nothing mattered more than Yaoyao.
Yaoyao’s dreams had never been wrong. If she said they needed to save someone, then they had to hurry. What if they arrived too late? What if that person was already dead…?
No, no, no! Yaoyao had only just dreamed it. They would definitely make it in time!
The mother and daughter boarded a carriage out of the palace.
Several of the Emperor’s personal guards followed behind them.
Before leaving the palace, Rongyao had already calculated the route and the time. She ordered the carriage to head straight east and leave the capital.
The people of the Marquis of Zhenxi’s household had been exiled to a bitterly cold region. They would certainly be moving slowly, and since they had only set out today, they ought to be able to catch up if they hurried.
Prince Rui’s men should attack them somewhere in the outskirts.
Rongyao was anxious, but Cui Huaiyin was even more so. She held her daughter’s hand and kept saying, “Don’t be afraid, Yaoyao. We’ll make it in time. We’ll definitely make it in time! Mother won’t let anything happen to you.”
Rongyao’s gaze darted away, her conscience troubled. She wanted to confess everything to her mother, but had no idea how to explain it. In the end, she could only let the lie continue.
“Yaoyao, who are we going to save? Why do we have to leave the capital?”
Rongyao’s little hand wrapped around her mother’s larger one. “If…the person we’re saving is a criminal being exiled, then…”
“Save them! We must save them!” Cui Huaiyin’s face went pale, but her tone was resolute. “As long as it concerns my child’s life, then even if he’s the most vicious criminal in the world, he must live!”
Rongyao fell silent.
Cui Huaiyin stared outside and felt that the carriage was moving far too slowly. She urged the driver, “Faster!”
…
On a deserted road outside the capital, a group of men, women, and children dressed in thin prison garb trudged forward beneath the weight of the iron shackles on their hands and feet.
The oldest among them was a white-haired woman of about sixty. Her steps were unsteady, and two teenage boys carefully supported her on either side.
Behind them walked a woman whose eyes were vacant and whose face was filled with despair. Several boys and girls followed her, their faces smeared with dirt.
A few guards held whips and constantly urged them onward.
“Keep moving! If you don’t reach the relay station before dark, you’ll all be wolf food!”
One of the guards cracked his whip against the ground. The white-haired woman, already past sixty, collapsed unconscious.
“Grandmother!”
“Mother!”
Everyone crowded around the fallen woman, their eyes red as they called out to her in panic.
But the old woman’s face was deathly pale, and she showed no sign of waking.
The Marchioness of Zhenxi knelt on the ground, her shackles clinking as she kowtowed to the guards. “Please, gentlemen, have mercy. Could you help us find a doctor? My mother-in-law is old and was already ill. She cannot endure such a long journey.”
One of the heavier guards cracked his whip against the ground. “Where are we supposed to find a doctor in this wilderness? What a pampered bunch you nobles are! You can’t even manage half a day’s walk.”
The Marchioness of Zhenxi kept kowtowing desperately. “Please, I beg you! Save my mother!”
The guards exchanged glances. The heavier one wrapped his whip around his arm, a calculating gleam flashing through his eyes. Lowering his head, he said, “It’s not impossible to make a deal. Tell us where your husband hid the money he embezzled while colluding with the enemy. If you tell us, perhaps we brothers can escort you safely to the northern wasteland.”
The Marchioness of Zhenxi suddenly raised her head. “My husband never colluded with the enemy! He couldn’t have! Someone framed him!”
The guards looked at one another, then burst into laughter.
“The evidence is conclusive! What’s the point of arguing with us here?”
“Madam, you really are devoted to your husband. Even after bearing him several children, you’ve kept your charms. Since there’s no one around, why don’t you…”
“Get away from my mother!”
A young boy of about eight or nine suddenly charged forward like a little wolf. Dragging his iron chains behind him, he slammed into the guard who was harassing his mother and actually knocked the tall, burly man to the ground.
The guard recovered and scrambled to his feet, furious. He threw aside his whip and drew his knife.
“You little bastard! How dare you lay hands on me!”
The sharp blade flashed in the sunlight. The boy thrust out his hand to defend himself.
The knife sliced into his palm, spraying blood.
“Shen’an!”
“Fourth Brother!”
“Fourth Brother!”
The boy collapsed to the ground, clutching his hand. His face was deathly pale, and bright red blood continued to seep between his fingers, impossible to stop. Before long, it had soaked through his coarse cloth clothes.
