Zhangsun Tai accompanied the imperial party and stepped forward, bowing, "Your Majesty, the King of Wu and his wife must have taken the King of Jing back to Yanzhou. Sending troops to pursue them now might still catch them!"
Cui Jie's face turned livid with anger. Turning around, he asked, "Ziyang, what do you think?"
The portly middle-aged man stepped forward upon being addressed, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, both the King of Wu and Jing are filial sons. They wouldn't abandon Lady Heqing and escape alone. Although we missed them, they will surely return. We just need to wait patiently."
Zhangsun Tai argued sternly, "Minister Guo, your view is mistaken. The King of Wu traveled thousands of miles from Yanzhou with limited troops. Taking the King of Jing was already the limit. Adding the sick Lady Heqing makes escape impossible. They must believe Your Majesty's benevolence prevents harming Lady Heqing, so they left her behind. I implore Your Majesty to send troops to pursue them immediately. Otherwise, once they escape, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Guo Ziyang smiled dismissively, "That's mere speculation. Lady Heqing is ill and cannot endure long journeys. If I were the King of Wu's strategist, I'd head south to Jiangzhou for protection from the Zhong family. Blindly heading north would only exhaust them, leading to certain doom."
Zhangsun Tai insisted, "But the Zhong family has always been loyal to the royal family..."
"Minister Zhangsun, don't forget one thing," Cui Jie interrupted coldly, "The King of Wu's mother, Empress Xiaoling, was from the Zhong family."
Zhangsun Tai shuddered and knelt, "Forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Cui Jie stood tall, scanning the imposters repeatedly, then shouted toward the room, "Lady Heqing, is the Second Prince hidden somewhere?"
Ye Shi's indignant voice came from inside, "Your Majesty jests. How could I hide a living person? These are merely my nephews visiting. Who told you the Second Prince returned, prompting this grand entrance?"
Cui Jie slowly entered the room, smiling mockingly through the pearl curtain, "Truly, the Second Prince hasn't come? Then where is Seventh Prince? He's been serving you since the Lantern Festival, and the guards haven't seen him leave. A live person can't simply vanish."
Ye Shi replied coldly, "Your Majesty knows Xiang'er is alive. Do you expect me to chain him to my side?"
Cui Jie laughed to himself, "I hear Lady Heqing has been bedridden and weak. Yet, you sound full of vigor. Are you not unwell?"
"If one is happy, one feels energetic. Seeing my nephews lifts my spirits. Is that not allowed?" Ye Shi retorted.
"Of course," Cui Jie said leisurely, "I received a letter from the Second Prince saying he returned to visit your illness. Since I haven't visited the palace in a while, I wanted to see him. Since he hasn't arrived, I'll wait. Rest well, I'll pay respects to the other ladies."
Ye Shi, hearing he intended to stay, felt anxious but had no choice but to pretend indifference, "Please take your time, Your Majesty. I won't see you off."
After they left Ye Shi's quarters, Cui Jie quietly ordered, "Surround Mount Zhu Die entirely. Search every inch until you find them!" The commander of the imperial guards immediately carried out the order.
Guo Ziyang smiled, whether habitually or out of satisfaction. Zhangsun Tai, walking beside him, felt dissatisfied and secretly sent people to pursue northward while Cui Jie paid respects to other ladies.
After paying respects to several ladies, Cui Jie rested in the designated imperial residence. A guard reported finding numerous horse tracks halfway up the mountain, currently tracking them. Cui Jie seemed satisfied, relaxing slightly.
Meanwhile, on the road to Jiangzhou, Cao Qian drove a carriage at full speed.
Inside the carriage, two sat and one lay bound and gagged.
Mouth, despite this, still struggled incessantly, making a series of "uh-uh-uh" sounds from his throat—it was Cui Xiang.
Holding Ying advised, "Huai You, calm down. If you keep causing trouble and someone finds out, what will we do?"
But Cui Yi had no such patience and cursed, "I said we should have used knockout drops."
"If we used those, he wouldn't have any appetite for the next few days. You don't understand; I've experienced it," Holding Ying rolled her eyes at him. "Huai You, listen to us. Your second brother would never harm you. We have no choice. If you cooperate, we wouldn't need to tie you up."
Tears seeped from the corners of Cui Xiang's eyes, his expression one of despair. He began banging his head against the carriage wall. Holding Ying hurriedly held him back, but Cui Xiang was stronger than her. His head repeatedly hit the bumpy carriage wall until it broke skin and started bleeding.
Finally, Cui Yi couldn't take it anymore and kicked him in the buttocks, sending Cui Xiang rolling inside the carriage. Holding Ying exclaimed, "What are you doing!" "He won't learn unless he suffers," Cui Yi stomped on his younger brother's abdomen. Cui Xiang almost vomited, but with a cloth stuffed in his mouth, he could only make choking sounds.
The carriage sped along and finally arrived at a remote village after dark. The four dared not seek lodging at a farmhouse and instead had Holding Ying go to beg for some hot water to eat with their dry rations.
Cui Xiang had been rolling around in the carriage all day and was now too exhausted to struggle. He lay on his back like a dehydrated frog, weak and gasping for breath. Cui Yi reached over to pull out the cloth blocking his mouth and said, "Brother is doing this for your own good, understand?"
Cui Xiang immediately started crying again. "You say it's for my good, but what about Mother? Are you just going to leave her alone in the capital? Our eldest brother is ruthless. He killed Third Brother without batting an eye. Now that we're gone, Mother will be at his mercy—she'll surely die! She's your mother too!"
Cui Yi impatiently shouted, "I know! No one wants to abandon her. But if we don't get you to safety first, how can she come with us? Don't you understand?"
Cui Xiang sobbed, "I don't believe it... You said we'd hide in the mountains for a while and return when the Emperor left. You lied to me—I won't trust you anymore!"
Cui Yi, annoyed, kicked him again to shut him up.
Shortly after, Holding Ying returned with a basin of hot soup. The four hastily ate their dinner in the carriage. Cui Xiang, tired from rolling around all day, was too weak to struggle anymore. Seeing him finally calm down, Holding Ying untied his bindings and said, "Sleep well tonight. Tomorrow, we'll reach Song County where Zhong family members will be waiting to escort you. Once you're safe, your brother and I will return to fetch Her Majesty, okay?"
Cui Yi was still uneasy about his younger brother and suggested tying his hands. "If we untie him, he might run away at night and cause more trouble."
Upon hearing this, Cui Xiang secretly plotted, feigning obedience. "Don't tie me. I won't run. I'll listen to you and wait in Jiangzhou for Mother."
Seeing him finally settled, they all breathed a sigh of relief and didn't think much of it as they tried to sleep in the carriage.
However, the next morning, Cui Yi woke up to find Cui Xiang missing. He rushed to open the carriage door and saw that even the horse pulling the carriage was gone. Enraged, he couldn't help but curse loudly.
Cao Qian and Holding Ying woke up soon after and learned of Cui Xiang's escape. Their faces turned grim, realizing how immature he was. Stealing the horse, he must have returned to Drunken Butterfly Mountain alone.
"I told you we should have tied him up!" Cui Yi angrily kicked the wheel several times.
Holding Ying felt somewhat guilty. Cui Yi's instincts were often accurate, especially regarding Cui Xiang. She regretted not listening to him yesterday.
Cao Qian scratched his head anxiously, "Your Highness, what should we do now?"
Cui Yi was furious, "How should I know!"
Holding Ying tried to mediate, "Now isn't the time to lose our temper. Without a horse, we can't catch up with him on foot. Cao General, quickly ask the villagers if there are any animals available to pull the carriage. A horse would be best, but a mule or donkey will do. We need to intercept him before he reaches the capital, or if Huai You falls into the Emperor's hands, our mission will be in vain."
"What about the Zhong family?" Cao Qian asked.
Holding Ying pondered for a moment, "I'll go after Huai You. You, Your Highness, should go to Song County to meet the Zhong family."
Cui Yi and Cao Qian both exclaimed, "No way!"
"You don't even know how to ride a horse. How can you chase him?" Cui Yi firmly disagreed. "Zhong Xing, escort Lady to Song County. I'll go after Huai You."
But Cao Qian insisted, "Let me go after Prince Jing. Your Highness and Lady must go to Song County to meet the Zhong family. If I catch up with Prince Jing, I'll bring him back. If I encounter the imperial army, my life isn't worth much, but it's better than letting Your Highness and Lady fall into their hands."
Holding Ying laughed and cried at the same time, "What are you saying? Life isn't cheap. Listen to me, Your Highness must go to Song County as soon as possible. Once you persuade the Zhong family to send troops to attack Xuancheng, everything else will fall into place. We need a stable food supply to achieve our goals, so there's no room for error."
Cui Yi frowned, still reluctant, "I'll go after Huai You. You're better at persuasion; you should talk to the Zhong family."
Holding Ying pleaded, "Please listen to me this once. What convinces the Zhong family to rebel isn't eloquence but Your Highness himself. As a concubine without a son, I'm useless. This task must be done by you personally. Cao General, hurry and borrow a horse; we can't delay any longer."
Cui Yi fell silent, clearly wavering. Seeing this, Cao Qian ran off to borrow a horse.
"Your Highness, why are you still hesitating?" Holding Ying could see he was convinced but couldn't make a decision.
Cui Yi looked at her for a long moment, then spoke bitterly, "Maybe we shouldn't chase Huai You. If you die, what's the point of me living?"
This heartfelt confession made Holding Ying's heart race. She embraced him, "Don't talk nonsense. I won't die. I won't die until I see you on the throne."
She looked up earnestly, "What benefit does killing me bring to the Emperor? My sister Lingfang won't let me die. It's best for me to go after Huai You. You and Cao General go to Song County. Once you convince the Zhong family, everyone will be safe."
At that moment, Cao Qian returned, "Your Highness! There's a villager with a mule!"
There was no other choice now. If Cao Qian went after Cui Xiang and was captured, Cui Jie would surely execute him to weaken Cui Yi. The only person who might survive was Holding Ying, being the Empress's elder sister.
Cui Yi took a deep breath and made his painful decision, "Alright, follow your plan. Be careful on the road. Once I persuade the Zhong family, I'll come back to find you."
A farmer brought the mule and hitched it to the carriage. Cui Yi helped Holding Ying onto the carriage and squeezed her hand tightly, "Take care!"
"You too," she replied, squeezing his hand back.
Cui Yi gave the farmer a silver ingot and instructed him to deliver Holding Ying to her destination and bring her back safely. The farmer, unaware of their identities, gladly accepted the money.