"Speak slowly, Physician Lu. My head hurts from all these talks. I need to get water and sit down," Chu Mian muttered, clutching her stomach as the ache from the day's exhaustion began to settle in. It had been far too long since she had eaten, her focus taken completely by the many tasks she had to tend to.
She stumbled forward, barely keeping pace with the physician as he rushed through the hallways. "Hey...You are not fit to run like that Physician Lu!"
He didn't respond to her yells and quickened his pace, his robes swishing behind him as he pushed forward. He swung open the royal court's door, running in and the door slamming behind before Chu Mian could catch up.
He stopped to catch his breath and next thing, his eyes searched the courtroom finding it empty except for Lady Shu there at the corner. "Shu shu, where exactly did they report Yan Rou dashed off to?"
Her head raised up from the containers of herbs and steam radiating from her concoction. She sneezed, her eyes becoming clear to see her father. "Greetings Father. You must have good news or bad one for you to rush to see Yan Rou. I hate to break it to you but she has gone to welcome her husband, Master Ji."
"Ji Weilan is alive?" He breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Yes, his subject blew the trumpet an hour ago. The news of him being found made Yan Ruo to go look for him. They should have arrived at the border of LangJu and then they would take a walk to the moonhills. Did you have something to tell her?"
"I was late. Call and order, make a smoke to get Yan Rou back to the palace. Whatever story you can cook up to bring her back do it. I command you, Shu shu!"
"Father is everything alright?" Her lashes flustered as she squinted, trying to reason why of all people Lu Mo wasn't happy that Ji Weilan has been found. "Even if I was to let the smoke out of the chimney at the royal tower, they wouldn't see it. They have gone far away. Maybe telling me the gravity of this situation would be better."
"Shi Cou... Shi Cou followed Yan Rou right?"
"Yes. Any issue? If you are afraid that Yan Rou will be betrayed on the road, I did a binding loyalty spell on her. If she betrays the highness, she will run mad at once."
"It won't work because Shi Cou died days ago! I visited her hometown to lay her to rest performing the last death ritual on her soul. That lady disguised as Shi Cou is an imposter or worse, from dark origin."
Lady Shu's eyes widened in disbelief. "Shi Cou… died?" She nearly dropped the ladle from her hand, the swirling brew momentarily forgotten as her breath caught in her throat. "Are you certain, Father?"
Physician Lu Mo's voice was grim. "I wouldn't lie about something so severe. I stood before her grave and placed the coin of passage on her tongue myself. Whoever is with Yan Rou now... she is not Shi Cou."
Lady Shu stared at him, trying to absorb the weight of his words. "Then—Yan Rou is alone with someone who might be an enemy in disguise?"
Lu Mo nodded tightly. "Or worse, someone under the influence of the devil's bone."
Before she could respond, the sudden, resounding clang of a bell shattered the air.
Both turned sharply.
Lady Shu's eyes flew to the open balcony above the court.
"No," she whispered, already rising to her feet. "The bell… it only rings when someone royal or of great importance has been found dead."
Without a word, she motioned to Chu Mian, who had just barely made it inside the court. "Chu, come with us!"
Chu Mian, still winded and pale, followed them as they rushed through the stone halls to the outer court balcony that overlooked the palace gates.
Down below, guards were already pouring out from their posts. On Lady Shu's urgent orders, the palace gates creaked open. From the morning mist emerged a hunched figure—a commoner, dressed in tattered sackcloth, his face smeared with dirt, and his feet bare and bleeding.
Behind him, tied to a broken wooden sled and dragged over gravel and stone, was a dead body, its armor dented, its limbs limp.
"I found this body on my hunt for wild meat," the man announced loudly, dropping to his knees. "Near the spring fall of Gonshu. The winds guided me. I don't know who he is... but something told me he belonged to the palace."
The guards stepped forward to inspect the corpse. One of them immediately gasped, falling to his knees in shock.
"That's one of Master Ji Weilan's guards!"
Chu Mian leaned over the balcony, her eyes narrowing.
"Wait… isn't that the same guard who blew the trumpet to announce Master Ji's return? How can he be dead… and in different armor?" Her voice trembled, the implications sinking in.
Lady Shu's face darkened. "You may go," she said to the commoner. "The palace will take it from here."
The man nodded gratefully and retreated with a bow.
Turning to her father, she hissed, "We've been played. Someone manipulated the trumpet to lure Yan Rou into a trap."
Lu Mo's jaw clenched. "Then we have no time left. Whatever is moving behind the shadows, it has already begun to claim lives."
Lady Shu nodded. "Prepare the birds. Send a warning to Moonhills. Tell them to bring Yan Rou back at once. We don't have days. We have hours."
********
"Madam Yan, the horses can not go up to the hills. It's slope is too dangerous and would reck the entire carriage. It's best we continue on foot." He narrowed his eyes, widening the curtains of the carriage as he announced the news to Rou's ears.
Not hesitating, she climbed down from the carriage, asking Shi Cou not to step out. She lifted the ceremonial trumpet and blew it twice into the mountain air. The sound echoed, then died in silence. She waited, her ears straining—no answering call came.
"He didn't hear it," she murmured, her brows furrowing. "That means he's either too far… or he's trapped." Her grip on the trumpet tightened. "How long did you say he's been at Moonhills?"
"Three days," the man replied. "We were captured near Hanzhen City. When we escaped—losing a guard in the process—we made it to Moonhills. But the people there, they wouldn't let us leave easily. Master Ji sent me to get you. He hoped that if they saw their Queen… they might relent."
Yan Rou looked to the jagged trail ahead, a chill creeping down her spine despite the sun-drenched path. "Then we must hurry."
"Your Highness, I can't have you go up there while I sit in the carriage. I must follow you." Shi Cou climbed out, her lips pouting as she fell to the ground. "I insist!"
"I don't have time for all this. If you are coming along, take some spears and daggers. On your right is an ethereal poison incase we run into an enemy or a blightwrought, don't refrain from using it." Yan Rou instructed, wearing her military sache and then placing the crown of command on her head just like in the days.
Two years ago, she was on the battlefield fighting for the lives of her people and years after, became the Prince's wife. Two years wasn't long enough to get Rou back into shape.
"Shi Cou should be with you. I'm entrusting her life to you." Rou uttered, placing Shi Cou's palms in her guard's hand. "She is my mom's favorite maiden. My mother will ache in sorrow if anything happens to her."
"Nothinh will happen to her, your Highness. I will protect her even if it costs my life."
Yan Rou nodded with pride at his response. She could trust her guards so much as they were the ones who trained her and sharpened her to be the military warrior she was now. Lifting the only Yan Empire emberstone above her head, dozens of the guards fell to the ground.
"General Yan! General Yan shall bring victory to us!"
"From this point, we move without delay. Every second we spend idle, Ji Weilan's life may hang in the balance," she said sharply, slipping the emberstone into the hidden fold of her sash. "Form a loose V formation. If we're ambushed, fall back and regroup at the foot of the Blackroot tree."