Chapter 67: He Would Be Happy to Be of Use to Her…

A bird’s wings fluttered as it landed on a branch, shaking off a clump of half-melted snow when it flew away. The snow fell and struck Guan Xuan’s forehead. Guan Xuan silently wiped the melted snow from his face. Judging by the temperature around him, more than an hour had already passed.

In the Princess’s eyes, he could no longer protect her—instead, he needed her protection.

In truth, he could guess that the recent events were no accident.

After losing his sight and hearing, the only way he could understand her life and circumstances was through the strokes she traced on his body. He had no way of knowing who she faced each day or what matters she needed to handle, and the Princess almost never spoke of such things to him. However, judging by the meals, medicine, and clothing she prepared for him, the Princess must have achieved the goal she had set from the beginning—she had reached a partnership with Su Tan and established her own sphere of influence. This also meant she had gained more enemies.

Those enemies would certainly notice how excessively concerned the Princess was with him. Aside from handling official duties, she spent the rest of her time on him, a blind and deaf man. Regardless of his actual value to the Princess, they would inevitably try to target her through him.

And based on his understanding of the Princess, she was exceptionally clever, daring in thought and action. Turning the tables and using him to punish her enemies was a method she would decisively employ. That was why she had suddenly taken him out today to see the rime, accompanying him up the mountain to admire the snow.

In truth, she could have told him about this. He wouldn’t have harbored any negative thoughts about being used by her—he would have been happy to be of use to her.

Was it because she found it too troublesome, or simply unnecessary to tell him?

Another clump of snow shook loose, the chill on his forehead pulling Guan Xuan out of his thoughts. He sensed an unusual shift in the airflow around him—the presence of people approaching. But they were not the Princess’s people.

Guan Xuan warily gripped the hidden blade in his sleeve.

Half a day earlier, Zhao Rongzhang had already dispatched a group of people to conceal themselves around Bixi Mountain. According to the plan, once Zhao Yu’s men made their move, she would capture them, interrogate them for the mastermind, then bring them to the military for ruthless handling as a warning. As for Guan Xuan, she had specifically arranged several hiding spots and stationed people nearby to ensure no one could harm him.

The plan proceeded smoothly—they had indeed captured several assassins who had come to carry out the attack. But to her surprise, Zhao Yu’s methods were ruthless. Seeing their mission had failed, the assassins all bit into their poison capsules and committed suicide before any useful information could be extracted.

It seemed they would have to find another opportunity. But by the next time, the enemy’s methods would surely be even harder to deal with.

Zhao Rongzhang kicked aside the assassins’ corpses in frustration, climbing the steps with a heavy heart to find Guan Xuan, who was in hiding. Thinking of Guan Xuan, her mood lightened somewhat. At least he was safe.

Reaching the corner where she remembered pushing him into hiding, Zhao Rongzhang personally pushed aside the tangled branches and leaves that blocked the view. After clearing them for a while, she saw no sign of anyone. Thinking he might have hidden deeper inside, she patiently had others help remove the obstructive debris, then reached in herself, groping carefully. But the more she searched, the more Zhao Rongzhang felt a growing sense of unease.

Her hand touched a piece of cold, sticky fabric—like blood. Zhao Rongzhang steeled herself and yanked it out forcefully, shouting for the attendants to clear away the debris immediately. Dragged into the light, it turned out to be a corpse. Fortunately, it wasn’t Guan Xuan.

The corpse was dressed in the same black nightclothes as those assassins, with a knife wound on the leg and a twisted, grimacing face. It had been strangled from behind by someone using brute force.

“Where is Guan Xuan? Didn’t any of you see him? How were you guarding this place? You didn’t even know there was an assassin here?!” Zhao Rongzhang panicked, questioning the guards while swiftly moving through the woods, searching for any sign of Guan Xuan.

Soon, someone discovered the bodies of two guards at the foot of the cliff, along with several pieces of clothing torn by branches and a few hidden weapons left behind.

All of Guan Xuan’s clothes had been personally selected by Zhao Rongzhang, so she could tell at a glance that these items were his. Rubbing the familiar black iron short arrows in her hand, she realized that the person who had found him was not just the already-strangled assassin—there must have been more people hunting him, and they were no ordinary fighters, capable of easily killing even the guards she had carefully chosen.

“Send people to search the surrounding area immediately. Detain anyone suspicious with a southwestern accent,” Zhao Rongzhang calmed down slightly. “Arrange for a coroner to examine the bodies. Within three days, I want the mastermind behind this uncovered.”

She had underestimated Zhao Yu and fallen for his diversion. His people had likely been watching the hiding place she had arranged for Guan Xuan all along.

Zhao Rongzhang examined the pieces of fabric and hidden weapons over and over before putting them away. In the past, no matter how dangerous the situation, he would never have left such obvious traces. But now, blind and deaf…

On the training ground, Zhao Yu listened silently as the commander reported, “He escaped… We lost four of the ten assassins on the mountain. The rest kept chasing, but who would have thought that cripple would be as slippery as a fish in a wild river? Now we don’t know where he’s hiding.”

“Are you saying that six people, outside Bixi Mountain, couldn’t catch a blind, deaf, and injured cripple?” Zhao Yu shot a skeptical glance at the commander, his tone betraying anger and hidden worry.

“Fortunately, Princess Yingrong hasn’t found him either. Send more people and capture him alive as quickly as possible before she does. And,” Zhao Yu felt somewhat better hearing that Zhao Rongzhang was now in disarray, “we’ve already achieved half of our goal. Since we’ve started this ruthlessly, we must see it through. We’re capturing Mysterious Cat to threaten her and capture her alive. But if we can’t capture Princess Yingrong alive, we can kill her in the chaos.”

After all, his father had already obtained the blueprint to bypass Haishan Pass. If Su Tan and the others refused to submit after the princess’s death, he could easily lead the Independent Battalion to join forces with his father and suppress them from within and without.

After searching for two days and two nights, turning the entire Bixi Mountain and even Suzhou City upside down, Guan Xuan was still nowhere to be found. Zhao Rongzhang sat in her study, barely managing to handle the long-accumulated official duties on her desk, and instinctively walked to the courtyard where Guan Xuan usually recuperated.

As usual, Old Man Wu prepared the fresh herbs and medicinal packets needed for his daily medicinal baths and acupuncture before heading out for his consultations. Nearby stood a row of ointments for applying to his scars. The weather was clear and fine today, and attendants had taken all his clothes from the cabinets, hanging them on racks to be scented with incense. Unconsciously, she had actually acquired so many clothes for him. How could he possibly wear them all?

Accustomed to having him always waiting for her here, losing him again left Zhao Rongzhang feeling desolate. On sleepless nights, unreasonable thoughts began to plague her mind—for instance, was heaven repeatedly taking him from her as a kind of warning? Since she cared for him, should she not have used him? Moreover, if his survival last time was a stroke of luck, what about this time?

Bixi Mountain was only so high, and Suzhou City was only so large. Unable to see, hear, or speak, where could he possibly hide? Had he already been abducted? If Zhao Yu intended to use him to threaten her, why not bring him out?

Clenching her teeth, Zhao Rongzhang went straight to the prefectural office handling the case.

With the Princess’s arrival, the officials knelt in welcome. Standing in the center of the hall, Zhao Rongzhang neither took a seat nor acknowledged them, merely glancing coldly at the kneeling prefect and sneering, “So you are the mastermind behind this?”

The prefect was horrified. “I am wronged, Your Highness! This humble official absolutely is not!”

“Then you are deliberately shielding someone? With such a straightforward case, witnesses and evidence all present, and the bodies already examined, you still cannot solve it in two days. Who have you taken bribes from?”

The prefect was on the verge of tears, frantically racking his brains. He knew the Princess was speaking with hidden meaning, so he desperately tried to figure out who she truly wanted to target and what the real purpose of this investigation was… The purpose, he realized, was likely just to establish a formal pretext, to have just cause for action.

He quickly kowtowed and said, “Actually, the suspect has already been identified! It is precisely Li Tong, the honored guest of Prince Su’s heir and the commander of the Independent Battalion! It is just that the chain of evidence has not yet been fully organized. We were just about to compile the case file and present it to Your Highness!”

“Oh, so it has already been uncovered.” Zhao Rongzhang accepted the tea brought by a constable, took a few sips, and had Ming Luo open two wooden boxes unloaded from the carriage, both filled with gleaming silver ingots. “You have performed your duties diligently, and I have personally delivered the reward. As for the arrest, I know your manpower is insufficient to apprehend the general under the heir’s command, so I will personally assist you.”

Zhao Rongzhang turned to leave, and just as she reached the door, Su Tan’s people hurriedly arrived. A servant dismounted and rushed to her, lowering his voice to report, “Traces of those assassins have been found in Liuye Village, Changfu County, three hundred li away! Guan Xuan is likely there as well!”

“Three hundred li away? Liuye Village?” Could it be that he remembered something?

Zhao Rongzhang turned and ordered, “Prepare the horses!”

But before the horses were brought, Zhao Rongzhang had mostly calmed down. She realized this could be a good opportunity to counter Zhao Yu, eliminate Li Tong in one move, and intimidate Prince Su.

She would rescue him, but she would also achieve her goals. When it came to fish and bear’s paw, she had always wanted both.

When the horses were brought, Zhao Rongzhang ordered Guan Xuan’s whereabouts to be quickly spread, instructed the prefect to complete the case file as soon as possible, and had notices posted throughout the city for the arrest of the suspect, Li Tong.

With everything prepared, Zhao Rongzhang slung her bow and arrows over her back, mounted her horse, took the reins, and galloped toward the city gates.

They traveled almost without stopping. By the time half of the hour of you had passed, the sky was already pitch black, with guards holding torches beside them. Heavy snow began to fall from the sky, and Zhao Rongzhang wrapped his face tightly.

They trudged through the snow until the hour of xu, when Zhao Rongzhang faintly spotted a small village in the distance.